Game Impressions

[willie warrior]

Granted it was Prairie View, but there are some great positives from this:
~~We will have great depth this year, and not much drop off from first 5 to next 5
~~Cadougan is the best ball distributor on the team
~~Gardner will be a stud when he gets conditioned and some maturity. He has very good hands and a soft touch--give him minutes.

[nyg]

Blue is real special.

Gardner played great, even though level of competition, but when was last time an MU center had 17 points and did not miss a shot.

Junior may be a good passer, but he is not an offensive threat at all. 

Exceptional defensive pressure, PV did not have a prayer.

Only issue was free throws, 22 for 33 for a 66%. 

Great start for the newcomers.

[willie warrior]

Blue is real special.

Gardner played great, even though level of competition, but when was last time an MU center had 17 points and did not miss a shot.

Junior may be a good passer, but he is not an offensive threat at all. 

Exceptional defensive pressure, PV did not have a prayer.

Only issue was free throws, 22 for 33 for a 66%. 

Great start for the newcomers.

Don't need JC to score with the rest of the firepower. He is the best ball ditributor.

[romey]

The graphic at the end of the game had us 22 for 35 from the line - even worse.  But let's not start that again.  17 Turnovers.  Otherwise - I thought we were solid in all facets.  Crowder looks very solid.  DJO somewhat invisible tonight.  loved Devante.

[StillAWarrior]

11 players scored - five in double figures.  Nice.

This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Buzz, bring a change of clothes.  Buy two of each suit if necessary of you don't want people to know you changed.  Wear white shirts - they don't show the sweat as much.  And for the love of all that is good and holy, don't ever remove your suit coat on the floor again. 

[esotericmindguy]

Hopefully buzz is on blood pressure meds, up 30 at half and he's sweating through his suit coat. Good grief.

[chapman]

Don't need JC to score with the rest of the firepower. He is the best ball ditributor.

IMO, he's got the 08-09 Mo Acker syndrome going.  Run the floor, distribute, don't make mistakes.  It's great for a backup, but the lack of explosiveness just doesn't cut it for a starting point guard earning the majority of minutes.  Without a playmaker like James we didn't have the "firepower" with Matthews, McNeal, and Hayward to make up for not having a playmaking point guard who can put some points up when he needs to and certainly wouldn't now if Cadougan would get a majority of minutes.       

[brewcity77]

Gardner was far better than expected. Blue is a heck of a defender. It's easy to say this was a cupcake, but this team did give Cincy all they could handle a year ago. If tonight's any indicator, this will be a very fun and deep Marquette team to watch. Hopefully they can keep this level of play up against a (likely) much more competitive Bucknell squad.

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

Overall, very impressed.  Blue looks like he has a year under his belt already.  My one concern is none of Cadougan, Reggie, or Buycks looks like they can really initiate the offense right now.  I noticed a lot of dribble up and hand it off on the perimeter (reminiscent of last season).  It may not hurt us badly but it really does make you realize what a great job Acker and Coobs did for us last year.  Gardner looked more comfortable at the line than anybody tonight.  Jimmy was very good but not very aggressive in the half court.  I think we will have some scoring by committee this year.  DJO attacked the rim a lot which is good as long as he can draw fouls.  Generally, they looked tough, athletic and ready to play.  I think we are going to be a tough game for anybody we play.  

[AZWarrior]

~~Gardner will be a stud when he gets conditioned and some maturity. He has very good hands and a soft touch--give him minutes.

Heck, if he's not a stud now, he's at least a "junior stud".  If he was a junior, we'd say he was a stud now.  Gives us something we haven't had in a looong time.  He moves to the hoop as one of our other studs does a dribble drive, he then catches the pass!!!, (man, I'm still excited) and fluidly (no bobbles) puts up a soft shot.  And he made every one!!

Nice asset.

[AZWarrior]

11 players scored - five in double figures.  Nice.

This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Buzz, bring a change of clothes.  Buy two of each suit if necessary of you don't want people to know you changed.  Wear white shirts - they don't show the sweat as much.  And for the love of all that is good and holy, don't ever remove your suit coat on the floor again. 

It looks as though he is not wearing an under shirt.  He needs to be wearing an under shirt.  Can someone get word to him?   

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

Also, Jae Crowder is very good.  He's going to really be about as good as we could have ever hoped to step in and replace Lazar's toughness on the glass.

[MU Ted]

Loved Jae's work. Thought that DJO and Buycks were both a bit off tonight.  Liked Jr's distribution though he looked a step slow.
I'm glad to see EWil get some minutes. The depth is impressive.

[Jay Bee]

Blue is special.  Luckily it may take a couple of years for this offense and everything to catch up and be enough for the next level, but he is incredible.  He is a hard worker and when you match his work ethic plus that talent with this program, the sky is the limit.  If he keeps working like he has been, look out.

Butler is on another level.  He is very impressive.  Looks like a senior leader

Jae is a winner.  We are blessed with some great JUCO kids.

I love this team. 

[Mr. Nielsen]

Staring lineup with E. Williams, good for him! He played well.

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

Some things I really liked beyond the box score:

I saw why the guys at Draftexpress thought so highly of Vander's defense.  He will play a lot because of his ability there alone.  I also saw why there were reports of him being as tall as 6'5" now because he definitely looks bigger than the average shooting guard!

The Ox was even more impressive in getting himself in a position to score as he was in the actual finishes.  He really showed great awareness going towards the hoop off the ball.

Jamil Wilson was SUPER into the game,  greeting the guys every time they were subbed out and joking with Buzz on occasion. It looks like he's happy with his decision to come home!

[warriors1991]

1)Butler was so solid I almost forgot he was around. He's like Lazar last year, you just kind of assume he's going to make plays.
2)Crowder needs, and will get, more minutes. He's a horse inside.
3)Blue was outstanding tonight. Wow that kid can play defense (I know, the competition blah blah, but he really works hard). I told my kid to watch Vander play defense and sure enough right after I said that: blocks a 3pointer leading to a fast break, 2 deflections, a steal, and then a steal and a dunk. I'm really excited about him.
4)I'm not at all worried about DJO. Big deal a little bit of an off game. He's still going to be our offensive stud.
5)Gardner really did a nice job. Really soft hands and a good touch. Better FT shooter than a lot of our guards!!

Overall a really exciting start. A deep fast athletic team.

[MarquetteDano]

Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with.  Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...

Turnovers:  I know it is only one game but we will turn it over more this year.

Free Throws:  Not good.  Some of the new players need to be a little more focused.  Some real bricks tonight.

Three Point Shooting:  Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year.  We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.

Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff.  Impressive game by the Golden Eagles.  Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!

[MarquetteNation]

Threes will be harder to come by, but we are better on defense.

[El Duderino]

The thing that struck me most besides the fact that this team will be a nightmare for any offense with shaky ball handlers was that we just have much more overall length compared to last year.

At the guard spot except for Smith, we no longer will have two guys in there under six foot and at least Otule/Gardner offers Buzz the opportunity to put a big mans body in there if needed, even if neither is say 6'11 or 7' tall. Plus, if Erik Williams can consistently give Buzz say 10 solid minutes a game off the bench, he has the length via his long arms to potentially alter shots here and there.

Then next year if guys like Jamail Jones and Jamil Wilson can be regular pieces in the playing rotation, it will add two more 6'6-6'7 type of very athletic players who can help in Buzz's plan to have a defense that suffocates through long/lanky athletes at the wing spots and tough on ball pressure from the point guards. That hopefully will negate somewhat the lack of any 6'11-7' type of big man in the paint who alters shots.

[El Duderino]

Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with.  Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...

Turnovers:  I know it is only one game but we will turn it over more this year.

Free Throws:  Not good.  Some of the new players need to be a little more focused.  Some real bricks tonight.

Three Point Shooting:  Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year.  We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.

Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff.  Impressive game by the Golden Eagles.  Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!

For whatever reason, i didn't think much about the three point aspect going into this season. We really benefited on offense last year by having so many quality three point threats, it was the biggest strength of the offense and all those guys are gone besides DJO.

Speaking of threes and perimeter jumpers overall, wasn't Butler a pretty good jump shooter in Junior College? What kind of three point shooters were Vander Blue and Reggie Smith in high school?

Threes will be harder to come by, but we are better on defense.

Yea, the defense is going to have to create turnovers that leads to more transition points compared to last year, especially in games where we struggle from the perimeter.

[caltruda]

I liked the fact that Buzz instructed the guards to pick up 94 feet. It's something that will come into play more during Big East play when that shortens opponents' possessions going into the offense at 27 seconds on the shot clock as opposed to 30 or 31.

The thing about Blue defensively at first impression is that he seems to make one kind of mistake just once. If he gets caught out of position doing something, he corrects it in the next few possessions. It sounds strange to say for a freshman, but when his offense catches up to his defense, he will be more special than we already view him. I looked at the boxscore and he filled everything.

I know Cadougan is the best pure point, but there was something about his handle that didn't vibe right. He didn't seem comfortable crossing over to his left with his dribble between the circles. Also agree about the starting of the offense with the handoffs, that's something a good team (read as: Duke) will exploit by overplaying the wing.

I think Reggie Smith is going to give Buzz fits in a good way, like Eford did to O'Neill. You can see there are points where his talent just oozes, but there also points where you can do nothing but sit there bemused. He seems to be the living embodiment of Al's quote, "The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores."

Gardner's hands were a revelation. The three-point play where he caught the ball under the basket and switched to his left while being fouled was stunning. While I know it was a severely overmatched opponent, I like the fact he knows where to be with this offense.

In the halfcourt set, it's interesting that they may be better running a high-low than the 45-degree standard low post entry pass offense. That seems to depend more on the personnel (i.e., Butler catching the ball at the high post and having the confidence to look to the block for Crowder/Fulce), but it was nice to see variety in the sets.

Enjoyed watching Erik Williams play, just watching him blend into the action. The progress from offseason to Game 1 was incredibly encouraging. He may be the difference between this team being good and taking a step up.

Odd tangent...that new scoreboard is incredible. Also, great night all around for the athletic department...women's soccer advance, women's v-ball move closer to Big East title and a thorough whuppin of an overmatched opponent. A lot to like tonight.

[mileskishnish72]

Michael Webb of Prairie View had an interesting line:

Min   FG    3-pt    FT    Off   Reb   Ast    TO   Stl   Blk    PF   Pts
5    0-0    0-0     0-0    0      0      0       1     0     0      5    0

[willie warrior]

2)Crowder needs, and will get, more minutes. He's a horse inside.
3)5)Gardner really did a nice job. Really soft hands and a good touch. Better FT shooter than a lot of our guards!!

Overall a really exciting start. A deep fast athletic team.

Damn right Crowder should get more minutes than 15. He should be starting
And Gardner needs more minutes also.

[willie warrior]

Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with.  Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...

[Three Point Shooting:  Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year.  We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.

Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff.  Impressive game by the Golden Eagles.  Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!

Bucyks is not a three point threat.