We are so bad it's disgusting

[MarquetteBallin]

Can't hit water if we fell out of a boat, getting crushed by Providence without their best player and PG. Just embarassing. Gonna be a long season in the BE.

[MU gimp ONE]

you're support and confidence in this team is embarrassing and disgusting.  With "fans" like you, it will be a long season in the BE

[rocky_warrior]

And we're without our best 2 guard.  Nonetheless, hard to watch. 

Coming into the season I never would have figured scoring would have been a problem (just that 3s may have been a problem).

[bananahammock]

MU's half-court offense has not looked very good all year.  no transition= offensive ineptitude!

[drunken midget]

all we do is shoot 3's....yikes

[MarquetteBallin]

How can anyone have confidence in this team? Time again we prove that we are just flat out not that good. No big man, no 3pt shooting, and no toughness on D. It's a frustrating team to watch. I've said it all year, we won't win a BE road game, and have to hope to go undefeated at home for an 8-8 conference season. Tonight was our most winnable road game and we're gettin spanked.

[bean]

Well, at least their free-throw shooting improved this game, but you're not going to win by shooting close to 30%.

It looks like every game the rest of the way will be a struggle.  The team just doesn't have enough outside shooters or enough of a post presence to dominate anyone in the Big East.

[rocky_warrior]

Tonight was our most winnable road game and we're gettin spanked.

I'm not happy with the game tonight, but don't underestimate Providence, they'll be decent in this years BE.

[What-Would-Wade-Do]

I thought a large portion of this game showed creans inability to adjust to certain situations, mainly in his substitutions.  Anytime Kinsella was on the floor was a complete waste of minutes because all he did was hang out on the perimeter on offense, what good is a seven footer if he isn't inside. 

Also, Hayward should have played a majority of the game because he was one of the few players who could actually score on our team.  Early in the game, Marquette started making a little push due to two baskets by Hayward in I believe three posetions, so of course crean pulls him out, and providence started to controll the game again.

Putting in blackledge could have been an option that wasn't used,  when all of our big men are doing nothing, except ouse played an average ouse game.  Blackledge could have helped on the scoring end with putbacks and drives to the hoop.  But, why should we use a guy who we recruted last minute instead of banking a scholarship.

I do agree not to underestimate Providence, but we still should have won.

[TVDirector]

omg, were we awful or what?
I suppose I agree, that if you ain't big, you better be able to hit the j.
or vice versa.

this was an ugly game... period.

hopefully a big rebound on Sunday vs, a pretty darned good orange team.
if we're to prove a top team in the nation, TC had better make the adjustments with his talent.

[herboturbo]

How can anyone have confidence in this team? Time again we prove that we are just flat out not that good. No big man, no 3pt shooting, and no toughness on D. It's a frustrating team to watch. I've said it all year, we won't win a BE road game, and have to hope to go undefeated at home for an 8-8 conference season. Tonight was our most winnable road game and we're gettin spanked.

Why don't you ask the 13 teams we beat this year if we don't have any talent.  We lost tonight in the first conference road game for the frosh and without our best defender and some might say best overall player this year. 

Every game we've lost this year has been because of poor shooting.  I just guess I'm not willing to jump off a bridge becuase of a poor shooting game.   

And we still have a game at south florida and another home game at depaul left, both more winnable in my opinion. 

[Big Papi]

It looks like every game the rest of the way will be a struggle.  The team just doesn't have enough outside shooters or enough of a post presence to dominate anyone in the Big East.

I don't know about the Big East just yet but at least we can dominate the ACC and Big 12. 

[spiral97]

watching the cinci/memphis game was making me feel better.. until I realized that I should be rooting for cinci *sigh*

[Final Four or Bust]

How can anyone have confidence in this team? Time again we prove that we are just flat out not that good. No big man, no 3pt shooting, and no toughness on D. It's a frustrating team to watch. I've said it all year, we won't win a BE road game, and have to hope to go undefeated at home for an 8-8 conference season. Tonight was our most winnable road game and we're gettin spanked.

Why don't you ask the 13 teams we beat this year if we don't have any talent.  We lost tonight in the first conference road game for the frosh and without our best defender and some might say best overall player this year. 

Every game we've lost this year has been because of poor shooting.  I just guess I'm not willing to jump off a bridge becuase of a poor shooting game.   

And we still have a game at south florida and another home game at depaul left, both more winnable in my opinion. 

Many of those 13 games should have been blowouts -- and there have been far too few games that this team has played up to expectation.  We've all sat through them on the edge of our seats, and I think we all feared this result, but were cautiously optomistic because of the UConn game last year.

Yes, they lost because of poor shooting.  Well, I think we've all seen enough this year to know that none of these players should be jacking up threes with consistancy.  Hell, at this point the ONLY player I want taking a three and I have any confidence in in that role is Cubillian.  He is virtually the only one with any consistancy.

Point being, we have all seen enough of shooting threes, especially by James.  He can't hit them and hurts the team when he takes it upon himself to do it.  McNeal shot too many last year, but James seems to have taken his role this year.  I don't know what Fitzgerald's problem is, because if he can't hit them he shouldn't be out there in the first instance.  The scary thing is he is one of the only players out there who has some skills in the post.

And a few other questions:

1)  Cubillian and Hayward should be out there more often -- besides Matthews they seem to be the most consistant.  McNeal, despite the bashing, is a good player, he just needs to be worked into the offense more appropriately -- same with James.

2)  No one can convince me that Blackledge is worse than Kinsella, yet Blackledge sits.

3)  We are going to get beat up inside all confernece season long.  Crean better develop a better plan than the "run around and have a poor 3pt shooter jack up a 3 offense."

4)  What are our strengths defensively?  We have some really good, quick guards.  Why can't Crean press?  I have been waiting for that all season, and he seems incapable of using that potential strength (except for one game, early on to spark a comeback).  Yes, I know we have to hit shots to set it up, but even then we don't.  Teams will punish us outside, let's punish them bringing the ball up the court.  Hell, we played a FROSH pg last night, of all times to pressure the ball that was it, even the announcers were wondering about it. 

5)  Again, we use our all-conference PG as a shooting guard most of the game.  Sheesh.  Wouldn't be bad if he could shoot, but . . . . 

Frankly, I don't think anyone should be criticizing those who are critical of this team right now.  Except for a few early season games, this team has looked horrible for the better part of a month now, and we are in a stretch that we could very well lose the next 5 games or so.  Simply put, it is about time we either see some adjustments, or we will have to accept the coaching staff can't make them.  And in the interim, someone should get the James to the NBA stuff out of his head.  Frankly, if he and David came in together last year, from what I've seen this year (except for a handful of games), David would be starting for us.

[spiral97]

Final: when you say

I don't know what Fitzgerald's problem is, because if he can't hit them he shouldn't be out there in the first instance.

you mean "out there" as in "at the three point line" rather than "on the floor" right?

[Final Four or Bust]

Well, if he ain't hitting threes he shouldn't be shooting them.  Since that was what I perceived as his role I would be inclined to sit him -- but since our inside play has been so atrocious and he has looked ok at times down there rebounding and getting putbacks, I would keep in in for the time being.  He really isn't an inside player though.