Back from DC... (long)

[MUfan12]

Got back tonight from a last second roadtrip with 4 of my friends... drove through Friday night and spent the better part of today driving back. Still definitely worth it, despite the result.

Some thoughts on the game/weekend...

1. Our fans travel very well, and were out in full force on Saturday... The upper deck was full of MU fans from all over. Great to see some people I hadn't seen in awhile. MU fans took over a couple of the local establishments as well. Good to see The General from this board both at the game and Kelly's Irish Times.

2. I love Marquette people. Before the game our group went to a party and met up with my roommates brother and sister, and a bunch of other alums. On our way from the party to Union Station we struck up a conversation with another alum who was catching the Metro as well. When we got to our seats I was able to talk to another group, including a MU football alum. It's always a treat for me to talk with alumni, I love hearing their MU stories and seeing how much has changed and what has not. Great people, I am always impressed with people I meet from MU, makes me proud to be part of the Marquette family.

3. Georgetown's in-game experience was awful compared to MU's. I understand they are limited by the facility, but they have some of the worst gimmicks I have seen (i.e. the Eagle hunting video and the dog chasing after an MU chew toy or whatever the hell that was). They also use an in-game host for the giveaways and stuff, which was a bit much. It almost reminded me of a minor league baseball game. Intros were so-so, again not as good as the BC, which are some of the best in the business I have seen, pro or college.

4. The Verizon Center is too big for basketball. That place was quiet compared to the BC for a game of that magnitude. Their students were decent, but again not even close to where ours would have been for a game that big. For awhile in the second half I thought it would take the second coming to get the lower bowl to stand. It made me grateful for what we have at MU... our crowd knows how to rise to the occaision, and when it does it is special.

5. A few thoughts on the game itself:
-Only a couple things bothered me really. First was Crean not pulling Jerel with 2 fouls... pretty dumb considering how aggressively he plays on both ends. Had a feeling the third was inevitable and sure enough. Shot selection by both he and Dominic was pretty poor and hurt MU big time as Georgetown was able to get some easy buckets in transition from long rebounds.

-The other thing that got me is there was too much dribbling by DJ against a zone. There's dribbling, and dribbling with a purpose, and Dom was just dribbling. A lot of crossovers that went nowhere, and way too much lateral dribbling. Was not in any sort of attacking mode, even if he wasn't trying to score some penetration would have done wonders.

-That's not to pin the loss on him though, even with this we flat out got our butts kicked in the last 6 minutes. Just outplayed in every facet. Georgetown, when guys like Green are hitting threes, is almost impossible to guard, especially when Hibbert is finding people from the post like he was. This is not a bad loss. A missed opportunity, no doubt. But a loss on Wednesday would do far more damage.


Overall it was a great weekend in DC. Looking forward to the second of three basketball trips this month on Wednesday when we turn Allstate into Bradley Center South again!