Buzz Post Game - Shot Selection

[Niv Berkowitz]

I heard Buzz' post game. His take on the final shot was (and I'm summarizing):

• That he instructed the team to take a shot with five seconds left in the shot clock.
• That way, it was a good quality shot
• He got what he wanted...Jerel getting one-on-one coverage and blowing by the guy

Unfortunately, that strategy with 'Nova without a timeout was horrible. Then again, Buzz losing track of his own and his opponents time outs isn't anything new.

[rocky_warrior]

I heard Buzz' post game. His take on the final shot was (and I'm summarizing):

• That he instructed the team to take a shot with five seconds left in the shot clock.
• That way, it was a good quality shot
• He got what he wanted...Jerel getting one-on-one coverage and blowing by the guy

Unfortunately, that strategy with 'Nova without a timeout was horrible. Then again, Buzz losing track of his own and his opponents time outs isn't anything new.

Not a horrible strategy, a horrible execution.  Jerel took the shot to early.

[MUBasketball]

I heard Buzz' post game. His take on the final shot was (and I'm summarizing):

• That he instructed the team to take a shot with five seconds left in the shot clock.
• That way, it was a good quality shot
• He got what he wanted...Jerel getting one-on-one coverage and blowing by the guy

Unfortunately, that strategy with 'Nova without a timeout was horrible. Then again, Buzz losing track of his own and his opponents time outs isn't anything new.

Your blasting on Buzz? Wow, that's rare.

[MR.HAYWARD]

the last possesion was absolutely not the problem Jerel makes the layup and its all good.  the porblem was the possesion before.  Jerel never passes the ball...a zero pass possesion..before jerel pulls up for a NBA three off the dribble with 15 seconds left on the shot clock...classic Jerel.  Then his second grader ball watching defense capped it off.

[NavinRJohnson]

Then his second grader ball watching defense capped it off.

This is what was the real problem, we can argue flat or round on shot selection, going 2-for-1, etc. all day long. If Jerel stays anywhere near his man at the end, no way he gets it up and in before time expires.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Your blasting on Buzz? Wow, that's rare.

Let's be fair, if Crean was coaching this team and this ending happened, what would people be saying?  Be honest. 

[bma725]

I heard Buzz' post game. His take on the final shot was (and I'm summarizing):

• That he instructed the team to take a shot with five seconds left in the shot clock.
• That way, it was a good quality shot
• He got what he wanted...Jerel getting one-on-one coverage and blowing by the guy

Unfortunately, that strategy with 'Nova without a timeout was horrible. Then again, Buzz losing track of his own and his opponents time outs isn't anything new.

Shocking that you blame Buzz's strategy and ignore the fact that the players on the court didn't stick to the strategy that you just listed.  Read it again.  If he instructed the team to take a shot with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, and McNeal took the shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, that's not a strategy issue that's an execution issue.

[MUBasketball]

Let's be fair, if Crean was coaching this team and this ending happened, what would people be saying?  Be honest. 

Oh no question. I'm not just upset because people blast Buzz. I thought that same way when Crean was the coach.

It's sports. The guys play the game. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't. This is a veteran team, don't need to hold their hand. Jerel made some questionable decisions down the stretch. He hits em, he's the hero. Misses em, people piss and moan.

Hell of a game, great comeback, awesome effort. Never quit.

I'm proud of the guys, let's hope for the best Sunday.

[muhoops1]

They never quit, but they still lose.  People have been saying that for two weeks now.  SU and Nova were winnable games.  They are finding ways to snatch defeat out of the arms of victory.  That is coaching.  Butler has played great.  Acker has improved in a v. short period of time.  How come they never saw the court during the year?

Look the quotes after every loss are the same (Buzz, Wes, McNeal) and yet the same mistakes are repeated night in and night out.  If they don't execute the coach's strategy properly they need to hear about it. When was the last time McNeal was pulled for doing something stupid?  Never.  He believes he is above the law.

Look at him when he turns the ball over.  His first reaction is to look at the official, throw up his hands and bitch.  He's already in the NBA. 

[DanceHallPlayer]

Shocking that you blame Buzz's strategy and ignore the fact that the players on the court didn't stick to the strategy that you just listed.  Read it again.  If he instructed the team to take a shot with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, and McNeal took the shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, that's not a strategy issue that's an execution issue.

No, McNeal didn't take the last shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. He took it with about 5 seconds left as Buzz said he instructed. The early three-pointer came on the previous Marquette possession.

[avid1010]

Shocking that you blame Buzz's strategy and ignore the fact that the players on the court didn't stick to the strategy that you just listed.  Read it again.  If he instructed the team to take a shot with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, and McNeal took the shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, that's not a strategy issue that's an execution issue.

+1, the only thing you can criticize Buzz for is putting the ball in McNeal's hands, and obviously that's debatable.  What kills me is our leading scorer is allowing his offensive slump to effect his defense in a negative manner.  We typically were seeing the opposite from DJ.  I'll be interested to see how McNeal plays in the tourney.

[NavinRJohnson]

They are finding ways to snatch defeat out of the arms of victory.  That is coaching.  Butler has played great.  Acker has improved in a v. short period of time.  How come they never saw the court during the year?

Is that a joke? Did you miss the first half? They had no business being in that game.

That is coaching.  Butler has played great.  Acker has improved in a v. short period of time.  How come they never saw the court during the year?

I'm thinking the 12-2 conference record might have had something to do with it.

Do you listen to yourself?

They are losing games because the teams they're playing are better than they are. Is that difficult to understand?

[MUBasketball]

They are losing games because the teams they're playing are better than they are. Is that difficult to understand?

Exactly! People don't get that. Some people put the blinders on and all they hear is "Marquette great guards" and think this team is so much better than everybody they face. It wasn't the case prior to DJ's injury, and it sure as hell isn't the case after it either.

Having said that, there are still some real nice pieces. Let's hope we dont get the seed of death and can still make a run. This year more than any in recent memory is as wide open as ever. If we don't get an 8/9 and can avoid UNC and potentially Oklahoma, we have as good a chance as any.

[bma725]

No, McNeal didn't take the last shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. He took it with about 5 seconds left as Buzz said he instructed. The early three-pointer came on the previous Marquette possession.

According to ESPN, both the play by play and gamecast, McNeal's final shot came with 21 seconds left in the game.  Given that there 40 seconds on the clock when MU inbounded the ball, that means he used 19 seconds after inbounding, and there were 16 seconds left on the shot clock. 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=290710222

[Big Papi]

They never quit, but they still lose.  People have been saying that for two weeks now.  SU and Nova were winnable games.  They are finding ways to snatch defeat out of the arms of victory.  That is coaching.  Butler has played great.  Acker has improved in a v. short period of time.  How come they never saw the court during the year?

We also lost the player who would be handling the ball in these end game situations.  This team is still learning how to play without DJ. Its only been 5 games.

[Pakuni]

They never quit, but they still lose.  People have been saying that for two weeks now.  SU and Nova were winnable games.  They are finding ways to snatch defeat out of the arms of victory.  That is coaching.  Butler has played great.  Acker has improved in a v. short period of time.  How come they never saw the court during the year?

Are these serious questions?
Butler has been getting double-figure minutes consistently since December, and in many cases more than 20 minutes per game (21 vs Tennessee, 28 vs W. Carolina, 23 vs Cincy, 27 vs. West Virginia). Obviously he's seen more time lately because if the injury situation (Buzz said today Wes is playing some point, meaning Butler is playing the three when Acker is out) and his improved play, but you're not paying attention if you think he "never saw the court during the year".
The reason Mo didn't see more time is simple: Dominic James is a much, much superior point guard. I kind of feel stupid for having to point out something so obvious.

As for snatching defeat from victory ... that's an interesting to way to look at nearly pulling off the biggest comeback in BET history. As Navin correctly points out, MU really had no business being in that game after the first half. Kudos to the players and, yes, to Buzz Williams for staying in the game.

[ecompt]

The shot clock was at 16 (21 seconds left in the game) when he started his drive. Nova grabbed the rebound with :17 left. Had McNeal taken his shot with five seconds left on the shot clock, Nova would only have had 10 seconds to work with. As it is, they had 17.
Looking at it again, in the final minute it was as if McNeal was ticked off that Hayward, Butler and Mo had brought the team back to a winnable position, and he was going to win it, no matter what.

[Pardner]

An underachieving team is leading the #3 team (the previous year national runner-up) in the country at half time during the last game of the regular season, getting word then at half time that they sneaked in with a NCAA bid with the feeling that their showing in the first half put them over the top.  The team ends up losing the game at the end 69-68 to finish what their tough to please fans consider the fitting end to a disappointing regular season--a season which half way through the coach decides it is time to give it up.  

The year:  1977

[Big Papi]

Looking at it again, in the final minute it was as if McNeal was ticked off that Hayward, Butler and Mo had brought the team back to a winnable position, and he was going to win it, no matter what.

Yea I don't know about that.  McNeal made some very good passes to those guys in the second half to get us in that situation. It was his backward pass to Hayward for the 3 to get us the lead.  If he wanted to win it all by himself, he would have forced a shot there too.  He is trying to do to much.  He is not a point guard yet without DJ he has been put in that position which is not his strong suit.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Exactly! People don't get that. Some people put the blinders on and all they hear is "Marquette great guards" and think this team is so much better than everybody they face. It wasn't the case prior to DJ's injury, and it sure as hell isn't the case after it either.

Having said that, there are still some real nice pieces. Let's hope we dont get the seed of death and can still make a run. This year more than any in recent memory is as wide open as ever. If we don't get an 8/9 and can avoid UNC and potentially Oklahoma, we have as good a chance as any.

The frustration is that Syracuse and Nova are on MU's par, not that much better IMO.  Those were games we had.

[Pakuni]

The frustration is that Syracuse and Nova are on MU's par, not that much better IMO.  Those were games we had.

With DJ, Villanova is on MU's par. Syracuse isn't.

Without DJ, Villanova is much better and Syracuse probably is slightly better.

Mo played really well today, and has been playing at a high level, for his ability, since DJ went out. But if you lined up all the point guards in the Big East and held a draft, he'd be one of the last kids chosen. Burke gives his all, but his all makes him the lowest-scoring starter in the conference. MU's quality bench players are Jimmy Butler and ....?
One thing Buzz has said all year - and been right about all year - is that this team has very little margin for error. And, to their credit, they didn't make many errors (USF notwithstanding) and, as a result, had a great record heading into the UConn game. Then DJ went down and the margin for error vanished. For this team now to beat a quality opponent, they need to play at a very high level for 40 minutes .... and even that may not be enough.

[Big Papi]

With DJ, Villanova is on MU's par. Syracuse isn't.

Without DJ, Villanova is much better and Syracuse probably is slightly better.

Mo played really well today, and has been playing at a high level, for his ability, since DJ went out. But if you lined up all the point guards in the Big East and held a draft, he'd be one of the last kids chosen. Burke gives his all, but his all makes him the lowest-scoring starter in the conference. MU's quality bench players are Jimmy Butler and ....?
One thing Buzz has said all year - and been right about all year - is that this team has very little margin for error. And, to their credit, they didn't make many errors (USF notwithstanding) and, as a result, had a great record heading into the UConn game. Then DJ went down and the margin for error vanished. For this team now to beat a quality opponent, they need to play at a very high level for 40 minutes .... and even that may not be enough.

+100000000000000

[77ncaachamps]

Let's be fair, if Crean was coaching this team and this ending happened, what would people be saying?  Be honest. 

"There goes Chicos again introducing Crean into a thread..."

[77ncaachamps]

With DJ, Villanova is on MU's par. Syracuse isn't.

Without DJ, Villanova is much better and Syracuse probably is slightly better.

Mo played really well today, and has been playing at a high level, for his ability, since DJ went out. But if you lined up all the point guards in the Big East and held a draft, he'd be one of the last kids chosen. Burke gives his all, but his all makes him the lowest-scoring starter in the conference. MU's quality bench players are Jimmy Butler and ....?
One thing Buzz has said all year - and been right about all year - is that this team has very little margin for error. And, to their credit, they didn't make many errors (USF notwithstanding) and, as a result, had a great record heading into the UConn game. Then DJ went down and the margin for error vanished. For this team now to beat a quality opponent, they need to play at a very high level for 40 minutes .... and even that may not be enough.

Pakuni, correctamundo.

When you play Mo, you get a steady guard who can shoot, but give up size, strength, and hops.
The opposite is true with DJ.

If this team is unselfish, we will do a lot better than today. And today wasn't that bad overall considering no DJ.

[MUSig54]

With DJ, Villanova is on MU's par. Syracuse isn't.

Without DJ, Villanova is much better and Syracuse probably is slightly better

And that's why we came back from 16 down at the half and had a chance to win if Nova didn't make a last-second shot.

And that's why we took Cuse to OT.

I seriously question whether most of you guys are MU fans or just people who like to complain all the time.

We may not have won, but look at the big picture. Who are we going to face in the first weekend that is as tough as what the last 6 games of the BE put us through?

Some of you guys are really questionable as MU fans.