Depaul thoughts

[muwarrior69]

Hated Wintrust.
Have a second entrance, exit.
More concessions. People were still waiting 10 minutes into second half.
Bathrooms are half the size of Allstate.
Sight lines are much better.
Design seemed weird, why the breaks in the upper deck.

From what I heard, this wasn't yesterday where the lines were bad.

The beer line was pretty long, eh?

[T-Bone]

The beer line was pretty long, eh?

Given what happened on court, definitely.

[drewm88]

We arrived at the arena about 10:40. With garage A full, we were directed to C all the way down at 31st. Had to walk through all of McCormick Place (with about 50 others) only to be directed to the lines outside the Indiana/Cermak door. Didn't get to our seats until the 8 minute TV timeout, about 50 minutes after we first reached the arena. Awful.

Concession lines were 20+ minutes throughout the game. Keeping the curtains closed was dumb given the situation.

Beyond that, liked the arena. Sightlines were good. Much better feel than Rosemont.

On court performance made me wish we'd parked further away.

[Herman Cain]

The freshmen played like freshmen in a conference road game.  Cain taking off on a turnover and nearly getting hit in the back by a pass from Theo.   Elliott falling over while dribbling. 
      Markus was clearly still limited.  Rowsey getting two fouls in the first 90 seconds forced him MH into too many minutes.

    Thick bodies going through thin, small bodies for rebounds.

Sacar having a lead pass for a layup on a breakaway go off his fingers like a Lions wide receiver.
    MU will lose every game where they shoot that poorly.

Long suffering Lions fans understand this analogy well.

[The Thing]

I paid $20 for a spot with SpotHero right on Indiana about a block north of the Indiana/Cermak entrance. Easy in/Easy out. I like the arena. As others have said the concession lines were ridiculous. Went out at halftime and didn't get back to my seat until the 16 minute timeout. They should have left the curtains open and why can't the monitors by concessions show the score too?

[MU82]

In the second half against Creighton, the game against St John's, and the first half against DePaul, we went 1 midget and were the better team. In the second half against DePaul, we tried Rowsey and Howard together again and got decimated.

This was probably the most concerning game for me in the Wojo tenure, because he went away from what's been working and it cost us. Defensively, we got killed on the glass while our best rebounder sat. Maybe Froling wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe giving Howard some rest and going with a longer lineup wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe driving inside and not settling for threes wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know.

This wasn't just bad luck, this was going away from what's been working. Worse, it was going back to the tendencies that led to us losing games previously. My concern is that Wojo can't help himself from trying to make Howard and Rowsey work together when it hasn't been a recipe for success all season.

I stayed away from Scoop for nearly 48 hours because I felt badly enough and didn't need it to multiply x1000.

Since logging on about an hour ago, I haven't read everything on the board because ... well ... that would really suck and I also don't have the time.

I was trying to decide where I'd throw in my 2 cents, and this post by you, brew, was a good jump-in point.

I happen to agree with everything you say here.

I have been a big pro-Wojo guy, and I still believe he can get us where we need to go long-term. But as I was watching the last 10 minutes or so, and then thinking about it afterward, I kept thinking this was the worst coaching performance of the Wojo Era.

You said it well, brewski. Wojo had numerous opportunities to use a one-midget lineup in the second half but wouldn't do it for some strange reason. Change for the sake of change ... even if that's what it would have been, why the hell not? If what you're doing is failing miserably, you try something else - especially when that something else is exactly what helped you win the previous two games!

It almost felt like the way 6th-year Buzz said, "F-U, I'm playing Derrick and Jake 35 mpg and I don't care if we lose because of it." The big difference is that Wojo truly had a couple of good options who had helped us tremendously the two previous games. Plus, Markus obviously was limited; playing him so many minutes was foolhardy and counterproductive.

It really was odd, given what had happened in the previous 2 games. It really was odd, given that, in general, I believe Wojo has done a good job handling the rotation.

What I will add is that, just like players, coaches occasionally have bad games, too. Unfortunately, this was a bad game for our head coach to have a bad game. It was a devastating loss, and it's hard to believe that an NCAA bid would be in the offing even if we win our last two plus one BET game.

I'm still a long-term hopeful Warriors fan, still think we will be very good next season (though would feel better about it being an excellent season if we get a legit PG), still think Wojo has made progress as a coach.

And I still think those saying Wojo should be fired are goofy - if for no other reason than it simply is not going to happen. It's as practical as guru saying Kate Upton should date him; sure, it sounds wonderful to him, but I think she's busy that night.

But yeah, that second half sure was hard to watch, and a big chunk of that is on Wojo.

[brewcity77]

I guess people will continue to ignore that Wojo started the second half with the lineup people are crying about him going away from and the fact that DePaul went on a run against that lineup.  Which is fine and fairly expected here.

DePaul started the run against that lineup, but Howard came in pretty early in the second half. No later than the under-16 timeout when the score was tied. As soon as he came in, we went to a zone with Howard and Rowsey together at the top of it. We shifted into man shortly thereafter, but the 15-3 run that turned a 37-37 game into a 12-point MU deficit absolutely happened after Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey were both put in the game together.

[wadesworld]

DePaul started the run against that lineup, but Howard came in pretty early in the second half. No later than the under-16 timeout when the score was tied. As soon as he came in, we went to a zone with Howard and Rowsey together at the top of it. We shifted into man shortly thereafter, but the 15-3 run that turned a 37-37 game into a 12-point MU deficit absolutely happened after Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey were both put in the game together.

Yes, their biggest run of the game came when both midgets were back in the lineup.  But I believe we went up 10? very late in the second half, and by half time the lead was already cut in half, and before Markus checked in for the first time in the second half it was cut to one, and maybe even zero (cut to one with 17:24 left in the second half, tied with 16:43 left in the second half...don't know exactly when Howard checked in, but he doesn't show up on the play-by-play before either of those times).

We were up 9 after our first possession after the under 4:00 timeout in the first half and then we were trailed after the first possession out of the under 16:00 timeout of the 2nd half, almost all of which had only 1 of Markus or Rowsey on the floor.

We had 31 points with 3:21 left in the first half and 35 points until 16:25 left in the second half.  4 points in 7 minutes of game time, in which we saw our 9 point lead turn into a tie game, with only 1 midget on the floor for almost that entire time.  Maybe Wojo was trying to change just to change because what he had been doing wasn't working?

The fact of the matter is, outside of about 8 minutes in the first half, we played absolutely horrible basketball no matter who was on the court.  Two midgets, one midget, going big, going small, it didn't matter.  We played a horrendous game.  We also saw one very good half of basketball with a one midget lineup and then we saw our team beat the worst team in the Big East at home.  So I'd say the sample of that lineup is pretty questionable.

[skianth16]

The fact of the matter is, outside of about 8 minutes in the first half, we played absolutely horrible basketball no matter who was on the court.  Two midgets, one midget, going big, going small, it didn't matter.  We played a horrendous game.  We also saw one very good half of basketball with a one midget lineup and then we saw our team beat the worst team in the Big East at home.  So I'd say the sample of that lineup is pretty questionable.

Sure, the game against SJU at home was against a lower-tier opponent, but it was such a good, complete game. We looked like a totally different team compared to Saturday. Maybe it's just a fluke that arguably our best 40 minutes (60 minutes, if you include the second half at Creighton) of basketball came while playing more zone and with a longer lineup, but I think the smart money would say it's not.

[GoldenDieners32]

We need these last 2 games. Win these last 2 and get 1 in the BET then i think we're in dayton

[Eldon]

You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.

[drewm88]

You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.

Thoughts and prayers.

[Dr. Blackheart]

You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.

Has MU hit a shot yet?

[GooooMarquette]

You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.

First post since the game that made me smile.

Thanks!