ugly win

[muarmy81]

We really disappeared in the 2nd half.  FT's still stink but 6 - 0 is 6-0.  Wish we could have rested the big 4 as well but we just looked flat.

[AlumKCof93]

The team played well in the first half, but laid an egg in the second.  MU was unable to establish any rhythm in the 2nd as McNeal seemed more interested in getting his points than in playing team ball.  He shot selection in the first 5-7 minutes of the 2nd half was awful and it really hurt the team.  After that, he seemed out of it and made some bad turnovers.  A good game for most overall, but not a good game for McNeal.

[baltimoremufan]

Hats off to Dwight Burke for the 10 pts and 7 boards. I unfortunately didn't see the game but kept up with it over espn.com.   A little frustrating but hopefully this was the sloppy one that was bound to come sooner than later. Espn doesn't have Fulce on the bench in their lineup (online). Was he out there or.....

[nyg]

21 for 36 in free throws.  DJ was 3 for 9. 

[nyg]

Fulce did not play, Otule played 30 seconds, Cube, Hazel and Acker about two minutes.  Butler considerable time.  No rest for starters.

[muole]

again.  jerel goes for 21 and has 5 steals and people are ripping his game.  what a blessing........

[77ncaachamps]

Ugly? Yes.

But a win...I'll take it.

Let them get their FLOW @ ND.

GO MU!

[ecompt]

Buzz wasted no time getting out the subs if he saw something he didn't like. Cubes played one munute, forced a shot, and never played again. Otule played 30 seconds, walked with the ball, and that was it. Fulce never got in.

[Warrior Forever]

I am a fan of Buzz and look forward to a long, successful run.  My only questions is his rotation.  He has to get the bench more minutes.  Not only for this season but also for next year.  O'Tule, Fulce, etc need to gain crucial minutes this season to prepare them for '09-'10.  

If the bench can't get minutes against DePaul, when are we going to see them.

Outside of that, a win is a win.  Congrats Buzz and the Warriors on the 6-0 start.  Fantastic start.

Lets get the Irish.

Go Warriors.

[nyg]

Maybe at some point Buzz turned and spoke to the recruit Riley and said, "See kid, I need a 6 10 center with talent here, lots of PT, I'm scared to play mine".

[Big Papi]

I am a fan of Buzz and look forward to a long, successful run.  My only questions is his rotation.  He has to get the bench more minutes.  Not only for this season but also for next year.  O'Tule, Fulce, etc need to gain crucial minutes this season to prepare them for '09-'10.  

If the bench can't get minutes against DePaul, when are we going to see them.

Outside of that, a win is a win.  Congrats Buzz and the Warriors on the 6-0 start.  Fantastic start.

Lets get the Irish.

Go Warriors.

It was only a 9 point win with our starters.  What would have happened if Buzz played the subs more minutes??  Bottom line is we need to win this year and worry about next year, next year.

[Badgerhater]

I am tired of folks speaking of Fulce and Otule as if they are some superstuds and think it is a travesty that they don't play.   Anyone who has done high level sports knows that chances of success are small if:

1)  You are new to the program and the rigors of D1 ball
2)  Suffer a significant injury at the start of the year
3)  Miss the first half of the season's practices and games.

They are not ready to play significant minutes and should be considered role players for the rest of the year....not significant options of the bench.   Yes, Fulce helped a bit against Providence, but that was a situation right for him at the time and yet his defense was horrible.  Otule is a project that would have been redshirted in a normal year.  He was absolutely lost the 30 seconds he was out there today.  BE conference play is not On The Job Training.

One thing that must be remembered is that not only are these two not yet ready as individuals, they are not yet integrated into a team that plays a fast style of basketball and has played together as a group for the last two years.  We have all seen that Butler, who has been healthy, has taken some time to get integrated into the rotation

I will be happy for anything that Fulce and Otule give MU, but look at as a bonus, rather than something to be expected.

[bs4173]

it wasn't THAT ugly. honestly, they just had a few bad stretches, especially to start the 2nd half.

otherwise, MU destroyed DP on the boards, 41-28, Lazar had one of his best games this season, Buzz said in his postgame that Burke definitely had his best game all season, and we had 14 steals to their 4. Jerel and Wes scored more than their season averages, and overall we shot 46%.

58.3% for freebies, though? yikes...

[lab_warrior]

+1...we should play who needs to play...I don't care about minutes.  As much as I would like to see Fulce and OTule crack the roto, we have to have the lineups out there that can win us the game right now.

[cheebs09]

I was watching Gameday and fatigue was brought up for some team, I forget about who, but Knight pretty much said that it shouldn't be a concern. These are 21 year old kids playing a 40 minute game 2 or 3 times a week. He couldn't believe some even thought of it as an issue. Our guards are in such great shape I don't worry about it as much. However, practice is the spot to tone down minutes, not games.

[Badgerhater]

I was watching Gameday and fatigue was brought up for some team, I forget about who, but Knight pretty much said that it shouldn't be a concern. These are 21 year old kids playing a 40 minute game 2 or 3 times a week. He couldn't believe some even thought of it as an issue. Our guards are in such great shape I don't worry about it as much. However, practice is the spot to tone down minutes, not games.

+1   Also, with LONGGGG TV timeouts every four minutes and 5 time outs for each team, there are lots of chances to catch a blow.   These guys are in the best shape of their lives and are guards.....fast people who can run around alot.  I'm not too worried.

The body can do amazing things when managed with occasional light days in practice.  5 minutes of extra game playing will never wear a player down over the long haul.

Those of us who were athletes in college know this, while those of you whose only participation in sports involves a Wii paddle may not.

[Daniel]

Second half was not pretty - we only scored 31 points versus 48 in the first half - and most of it was shot selection.  But an ugly WIN is still a . . . WIN!  Let's learn from it, and now focus on beating ND.

GO MARQUETTE!!

[MR.HAYWARD]

i think the reason people rip Jerel or at least the reason I do is he really has an ability to do seemingly the worst possible thing at the worst time.  Something like Mu has missed 5 shots in a row and Depaul hits a coauple 3 and cuts the lead big time and Jerel soots a 3 off the dribble with 30 seconds on the shot clock.  Just things like that over and over and over again with that guy it gets so old bad shots and bad times even when they go in are bad decisions and he has got to be the career leader in bad decisons at Mu at least turnovers for sure.  I have said tit before if it was not for the decision making Jerel is aborderline lottery pick.

[muole]

take the good with the bad.  jerel is the best player on the team and will end his career as MU's all-time leading scorer.  i, for one, will give him a little slack if he makes some mistakes because of his assertiveness.  people need to understand this - i can't believe it isn't obvious.  JEREL'S ROLE ON THIS TEAM IS TO SCORE.  and to score you need to put up a fair amount of shots.

next year when you can't bank on him getting 20 a game you might realize this.

[mcnealfan1]

i agree, when you are aggresive as he is on offense your gonna make some mistakes, only 2 turnovers this game and almost all year he doesnt turn the ball over more then 3 times a game, except for a few bad games, its just funny to me that people only mention his bad plays but whenever anyone else has bad plays you rarely hear anyone say anything, eventually they will realize this team only goes as far as he takes em, ps mr hayward you are just a hater

[StillAWarrior]

Another ugly win

Fixed that for ya.

OK, it wasn't the prettiest win ever, but it was a win.  Like others have said, though, it was never in doubt.  I think they got caught looking ahead to the ND game.  I think that this is a game that they might have lost in the past, but the senior leadership will help us get some extra wins in trap games (today) and difficult road games (Providence).

We're 6-0 in the BEast.  If we just win the remaining games that we should (DePaul, USF, SJU, SH) that's 10 wins in conference.  After that, if we could just split the remaining games, that's 14-4.  This could be a great year.

Go Warriors.

[bilsu]

I am guessing that the reason Fulce did not play is that with his knee it would be hard for him to recover in time to play against Notre Dame two days later. I think Otule got taken out because he fouled on the defensive end, not because he traveled on the offensive end. Notre Dame basically only plays 7 players, so they have the same problem as MU. Their game was 5 hours later so they have 5 hours less time to recover, but they do not have to travel.

[Daniel]

One game at a time.  DePaul game is in the can, we won!

Now..... the only important game is the next one.  Let's beat Notre Dame!

GO MARQUETTE!

[MUfan12]

No such thing as an ugly win. Any conference win to me is beautiful.

They didn't bring the intensity they needed to in the second half, but I never felt like the game was in doubt.

[mviale]

A win is a win.  This is not a loss to east carolina in mid season.