Chalk this one up to coaching

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

What elite college basketball does not use his timeouts? 

By the time Buzz started calling them tonight, Villanova was well on their way.  If this guy is as good as we're all hoping, that shouldn't happen.  I've been happy with how he's actualized the potential of our guys at times this year but this is where he proves himself as a coach.  Call a timeout, make an adjustment, and hunker down on D. 

If we think we can outscore people and win games, this year is going to be another heartbreaking one for us.  DJ has been horrible for the past 2 games and McNeal couldn't have had a more lackluster night to break the scoring record.

Buzz has done a very good job this year but it's a long season and now is where he can really show us that he deserves this opportunity as a coach.  Great coaches make adjustments during the game.  Buzz didn't do that tonight and what's worse, the players were out of control and were too busy complaining about no calls to realize what wins you games on the road, in conference, in mid-february.

I'd hate to think that we can have as talented a team as we've had these past four years and won't make it to the sweet 16.  Now's the time to pull the team in and get them to refocus. 

 

[TallTitan34]

You can't coach free throws.  Well I guess you can have your guys practice free throws but that's another can of worms.

If we make our free throws the game is played a lot differently.

[CTWarrior]

While I agree I would like him to use timeouts to snuff out runs more often, no effect tonight.  Villanova got easy shots at will after timeouts, before timeouts, I think even during timeouts.  They got wide open shots when we zoned and when we went man-to-man.  They got uncontested layups when we fronted the post, and uncontested 8 footers when we didn't.  If you're going to pick on Buzz for anything, pick on him for not coming up with a defensive scheme that could slow them down.

[MU_Navy]

I'd hate to think that we can have as talented a team as we've had these past four years and won't make it to the sweet 16.  Now's the time to pull the team in and get them to refocus. 

Maybe the team just isn't as talented as we all thought...

[Lennys Tap]

Agree with much of what you say, but John Wooden and 20 timeouts wouldn't have been enough tonight. Vill was just too good and shot it too well. That said, we do need to re-focus.

[Sir Lawrence]

DJ has been horrible for the past 2 games and McNeal couldn't have had a more lackluster night to break the scoring record.

Yes, McNeal with 23 points and James with 14 points and 9 assists sure had lousy nights.

Lack of defense, and, let's face it, a VERY hot 'nova beat us tonight.  

[MUfan12]

What elite college basketball does not use his timeouts? 

By the time Buzz started calling them tonight, Villanova was well on their way.  If this guy is as good as we're all hoping, that shouldn't happen.  I've been happy with how he's actualized the potential of our guys at times this year but this is where he proves himself as a coach.  Call a timeout, make an adjustment, and hunker down on D. 

Buzz has done a very good job this year but it's a long season and now is where he can really show us that he deserves this opportunity as a coach.  Great coaches make adjustments during the game.  Buzz didn't do that tonight and what's worse, the players were out of control and were too busy complaining about no calls to realize what wins you games on the road, in conference, in mid-february.

Absolute horsesh*t.

He threw every defense they had at them, and it wasn't executed well or VU just hit a crazy shot. There was nothing Buzz could have done differently that would have made a lick of difference.

[Pardner]

Buzz used all his time outs tonight...now, about his use of the bench. Small ball played right into Nova's hands...bring in Otule and Fulce so we can go bigger and sloooow it down.  Is their defense any worse than we saw tonight?  All those lay-ups after the D broke down or a post-up mismatch with the kick-outs or reversals for three?  

Seriously, why don't any of these guys see any PT?  What is going on there?

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

You can't coach free throws.  Well I guess you can have your guys practice free throws but that's another can of worms.

That's true but you can coach defense and teach guys that consecutive stops are more effective than chucking threes after giving up uncontested layups.  Buzz still needs to coach these guys throughout the game.  He's got an experienced team now that was embarrassed tonight by a team that I don't think is as good as we are.  Don't let this opportunity slip by.  D-Wade is not on this team.  We're good but we don't have a killer of that caliber.  We need to be refocus and constantly be reminded of what will keep us playing at our best.    

[mug644]

If we make our free throws the game is played a lot differently.

Then again, Villanova can say the same thing. The leader in FT shooting in the conference, and they too were under 60% from the line tonight. Perhaps their only weak spot.

[Big Papi]

free throws didn't play a role in this game.  Out of control offense, bad defense and hot shooting by Nova were the significant factors in this game.

[77ncaachamps]

Buzz used all his time outs tonight...now, about his use of the bench. Small ball played right into Nova's hands...bring in Otule and Fulce so we can go bigger and sloooow it down.  Is their defense any worse than we saw tonight?  All those lay-ups after the D broke down or a post-up mismatch with the kick-outs or reversals for three?  

Seriously, why don't any of these guys see any PT?  What is going on there?

What bench?

Besides Butler, only Acker has seen lots of time.

MU's bench is in NO shape to compete with better, well-experienced benches of the Big East's best teams.

[Big Papi]

What bench?

Besides Butler, only Acker has seen lots of time.

MU's bench is in NO shape to compete with better, well-experienced benches of the Big East's best teams.

Considering we didn't play any defense tonight, Fulce would have blended right in.  It would have been interesting to him out there on the court in a game like this. 

[79Warrior]

Buzz used all his time outs tonight...now, about his use of the bench. Small ball played right into Nova's hands...bring in Otule and Fulce so we can go bigger and sloooow it down.  Is their defense any worse than we saw tonight?  All those lay-ups after the D broke down or a post-up mismatch with the kick-outs or reversals for three?  

Seriously, why don't any of these guys see any PT?  What is going on there?

They do not play becuase they are not ready to contribute. Give me a break. Fulce and Otule are a pipe dream. They are done for the season.

[Pardner]

What bench?

Besides Butler, only Acker has seen lots of time.

MU's bench is in NO shape to compete with better, well-experienced benches of the Big East's best teams.

How do we know?  They never, ever see any PT.  Nova just ripped us for triple digits in what was perhaps the worst defensive effort I have ever seen from a MU team.  Why not go big?  It was a slaughter out there, how could it be worse?  Buzz went small and tried to outrun them.  Stupid on the road against a team like Nova--Buzz said it pregame himself--we cannot get into a track meet.  Take the air out of the ball and cool them off.  

Seriously, would the outcome have been any different?  He really needs to show confidence in his bench.  His starters are gassed on D.  Acker and dcube used to give us energy off the pine...now nothing.  

[chapman]

I was glad to see Hazel back in there.  He knows how to hustle, and he doesn't get embarassed defensively. 

But I agree, I hope Buzz becomes less and less fixated and his small lineup.  How many times the past two games were we outrebounded underneath simply because out players were all 5 inches shorter?  No sense of having your tallest player at 6'6" on the floor and keeping 6'7", 6'7", 6'8", and 6'10" on the bench. 

[bma725]

What exactly do you want him to do?

MU went man, Villanova hit their shots.  MU went zone, Villanova hit their shots.  MU pressed, Villanova broke it.  MU didn't press and tried to pack it in, Villanova had no problem getting open shots.  The only thing MU didn't try was a box and one, and given how many different Villanova players were making shots, there was no one to put the "one" on.

The reality is, Villanova had an ungodly hot night tonite.  Guys made tough contested shots, they made shots they don't normally make, and at no point did they ever cool down as you would expect them to.  Corey Fisher is a 28% 3-Point Shooter, and he went 4-5 today.  Shane Clark is Nova's 8th leading scorer, and he didn't miss a shot tonight, including 3-3 from beyond the arc for a guy who hit a total of 6 for the entire year going into today.

That's not coaching, and there's nothing coaching could have done to change it. 

[yellow chickens]

this is the kind of game where an inside presence would have gone a long way

[Pardner]

What exactly do you want him to do?

MU went man, Villanova hit their shots.  MU went zone, Villanova hit their shots.  MU pressed, Villanova broke it.  MU didn't press and tried to pack it in, Villanova had no problem getting open shots.  The only thing MU didn't try was a box and one, and given how many different Villanova players were making shots, there was no one to put the "one" on.

The reality is, Villanova had an ungodly hot night tonite.  Guys made tough contested shots, they made shots they don't normally make, and at no point did they ever cool down as you would expect them to.  Corey Fisher is a 28% 3-Point Shooter, and he went 4-5 today.  Shane Clark is Nova's 8th leading scorer, and he didn't miss a shot tonight, including 3-3 from beyond the arc for a guy who hit a total of 6 for the entire year going into today.

That's not coaching, and there's nothing coaching could have done to change it. 

Nonsense.  Nova made the same amount of FT's and only two more treys...the rest was from inside.  Buzz went small and had us sag and help on the inside which left open looks or severely mismatched on the inside.  He tried everything but going taller, taking the air out of the ball--which is exactly what we should have done against Nova.  Defense is built from the inside out.  A total of 76 possessions tonight--way above average pace for both teams.

Fulce helped at Providence, Otule vs. Cinnci.  But neither have seen time since.  Hazel played well in the 1st half, never to be seen again.  Mo led the team in 3pt % last year but has made one shot in the BE. dCube used to be a good bench player.  Believe me, I know they aren't the second coming, but to say they could not help when they never, ever play is ridiculous.  No confidence shown.  Why? 

The coaching staff deserves a failing grade for their gameplan tonight.  Buzz has done a lot of great things, and he had to deal with injuries, transfers, but his failure to even try to develop his bench is coming back to hurt.  He has his starters running around all over the place on D, totally gassing them.  We shot 51% tonight and lost by 18.  Embarrassing.

[bamamarquettefan]

Dominic had 9 assists to 2 turnovers to make it 50-12 (4.2-1 ratio in last 10 games).  He put down the most incredible alley-oop of the year off a pass way behind him.  He hit 6 of 11 shots, including 2 of 3 in control three-pointers.  Do some of the James haters write their posts before games and then paste them in when the game is over?  Unreal that you can point the finger at him after watching tonight's game.  Yes, the 0 for 4 from the line is getting scary, but even onthat tonight he got one of the misses back and nailed a trey, so that didn't cost us anything tonight.

[StillWarriors]

DJ has been horrible for the past 2 games

Other than the free throws, not much to criticize about his game tonight. The assist to TO ratio is off the charts. It is truly amazing how people take DJ for granted. Solid game tonight for DJ.

[bma725]

Nonsense.  Nova made the same amount of FT's and only two more treys...the rest was from inside.  Buzz went small and had us sag and help on the inside which left open looks or severely mismatched on the inside.  He tried everything but going taller, taking the air out of the ball--which is exactly what we should have done against Nova.  Defense is built from the inside out. 

Actually, if you look at the numbers and break down the shots, Villanova actually scored more from the inside during thefirst the first game, and that wasn't what cost MU.  The difference was the perimeter makes, where they nearly doubled their output from the first time, and the mid-range game which was nearly non-existent in the first game.  Cunningham's fadeaway, Stokes' buzzer beater, Reynolds pull ups...they didn't have those in the first game, today they did.

Fulce helped at Providence, Otule vs. Cinnci.  But neither have seen time since.  Hazel played well in the 1st half, never to be seen again.  Mo led the team in 3pt % last year but has made one shot in the BE. dCube used to be a good bench player.  Believe me, I know they aren't the second coming, but to say they could not help when they never, ever play is ridiculous.  No confidence shown.  Why? 

Fulce, if healthy would be doesn't make sense.  But given how his injury has been described, there's no way of knowing whethere this was a DNP-Coaches Decision, or he was in so much pain that he couldn't play.  Otule doesn't have it defensively to be in there. He's got okay hands, and he at least calls for the ball in the post offensively, but he gets pushed around on the board and commits too many stupid fouls in his limited time.  It's not as if Mo hasn't been in there and doesn't have the opportunity to shoot.  They even set up a play for him against USF, and he couldn't hit a wide open three.  He's a situational player at this point.  Against slower guards that make their living beyond the perimeter, he's great because he can get in their face and keep up with them at all times.  But gets abused by guys that are fast and strong because of his size.   His minutes were limited tonight because he committed two stupid fouls when he couldn't stay in front of the player he was guarding.  Cubillan has proven not to be a point guard, which means you can't put him in without Acker or James, and when he's with either one of those two with the way all three of them are shooting, MU is at a disadvantage.

The coaching staff deserves a failing grade for their gameplan tonight.  Buzz has done a lot of great things, and he had to deal with injuries, transfers, but his failure to even try to develop his bench is coming back to hurt.  He has his starters running around all over the place on D, totally gassing them.  We shot 51% tonight and lost by 18.  Embarrassing.

The strategy tonight was almost exactly the same as it was in the first game that MU won.  The strategy itself wasn't bad, nor other than a few defensive possessions, was the execution.  The difference was that Villanova simply made shots they didn't make in the first game.


EDITED:  For redundancy, because I'm terrible proofreader.

[Pardner]

The strategy tonight was almost exactly the same as it was in the first game that MU won.  The strategy itself wasn't bad, nor other than a few defensive possessions, was the execution.  The difference was that Villanova simply made shots they didn't make in the first game.

BMA--good back and forth.  Here is what's different.  Nova has changed their line-up, sets, and rotations since our first game.  We employed the same strategy as Game 1.  Nova is starting taller and going deeper with different looks, exploiting the match-ups they get.   As a result, they totally broke down our defense tonight from the inside out.  We did not adapt our strategy the second time through the league.  Yes, they hit a lot of short range jumpers.  Did MU not scout their WVU game, though? 

We better adapt...here comes the big teams.  We are now 2-3 with the small line-up, and Buzz has left himself with few options by going with a short bench.  And, I really don't get the thoughts that Otule, Fulce, Hazel can't give us some "big" minutes to change things up.   Let's at least see, under the right situation.  Tonight was one of those.  Some one tell me what's going on here?  I could very well not know the whole issue....but tonight was indeed our worst defensive game.  Nova's offensive efficiency rate was a 134.2--or 1.34 points per possession versus a 1.09 average coming in.  Schooled!

[downtown85]

BMA--good back and forth.  Here is what's different.  Nova has changed their line-up, sets, and rotations since our first game.  We employed the same strategy as Game 1.  Nova is starting taller and going deeper with different looks, exploiting the match-ups they get.   As a result, they totally broke down our defense tonight from the inside out.  We did not adapt our strategy the second time through the league.  Yes, they hit a lot of short range jumpers.  Did MU not scout their WVU game, though? 

We better adapt...here comes the big teams.  We are now 2-3 with the small line-up, and Buzz has left himself with few options by going with a short bench.  And, I really don't get the thoughts that Otule, Fulce, Hazel can't give us some "big" minutes to change things up.   Let's at least see, under the right situation.  Tonight was one of those.  Some one tell me what's going on here?  I could very well not know the whole issue....but tonight was indeed our worst defensive game.  Nova's offensive efficiency rate was a 134.2--or 1.34 points per possession versus a 1.09 average coming in.  Schooled!

+1.  I agree with the premise that Buzz was outcoached tonight.  While I don't agree timeouts were a problem, he had to do something to mix it up.  Look at the moves he made during the providence game.  He played Fulce and he contributed quite a lot on both ends of the floor.  However, in the end, tonight MU didn't get the stops on defense.  I am sure we wouldn't have won this one even if he made all the right moves.  Villanova was on fire. 

[muarmy81]

The reality is, Villanova had an ungodly hot night tonite.  Guys made tough contested shots, they made shots they don't normally make, and at no point did they ever cool down as you would expect them to.  Corey Fisher is a 28% 3-Point Shooter, and he went 4-5 today.  Shane Clark is Nova's 8th leading scorer, and he didn't miss a shot tonight, including 3-3 from beyond the arc for a guy who hit a total of 6 for the entire year going into today.

That's not coaching, and there's nothing coaching could have done to change it. 

Agreed.
Everytime we'd make a short run Fisher or Reynolds would hit a contested 3 from about 3 ft beyond the arc.  They were extremely hot tonight and while we were 7-9 or something to start from beyond the arc we couldn't keep pace.  I think the only coaching change Buzz could've done that he didn't do (He went zone, he went man, he pressed) was put 6 out on the floor.

I also thought the officiating was a little biased...