The morning after

[Dr. Blackheart]

Live from Nville...a really fun town with plenty of friendlees.  UNC and UT fans also in town for their bowl game.  Know MU and hoops...even some made it to the game last night.  Checked out Tootsies and a few other honky tonks, Jacks' for BBQ, Grand Ole Opry.

• Memorial Gym an interesting place to  play.  Set up is more like a theater with the floor elevated.  Sold out but MU travelled well.  Plenty of chants for the Warriors
• The boys played hard. Vandy just may win the SEC. They are the complete deal and Stallings is just a great coach
• Vandy has not lost here in two years out of conference
• Every one in the gym thought Vandy fouled DJO except Jim Burr--who we are now 1-7 with over the past two seasons (btw, I hate Burr for the four walks he missed and the style of game he calls which does not favor MU). That said, he was right on the play.  And, the refs let both teams play tight and physical on the ball all game.  DJO did have the seam, though.
• The intentional fouls or lack of them were the brutal ones.  So much for the NCAA cleaning up the interpretation of that rule.  Two times MU had a clean breakaway and Vandy grabbed our jerseys instead of going for the ball.  
• Key for me is when Ezeli was pulled with foul trouble in the 2nd and Tchiengang came in and just killed us.  Buzz went small and they went zone.  We got flatfooted and no one looked like they wanted to shoot.  Jimmy and Jae need to step up their perimeter play...and Dwight needs to learn to step back for the trey rather than step up for the pull-up two.  
• Stallings said post-game that MU is one of the best in the country getting to the line--quoting Buzz's stat.  He thought that was key in limiting us...even quoting that Vandy did the best job all year vs. MU last night. Props to MU and Buzz too. Class Act.
• Stallings said their game winning play was one they practiced all week...they had five options as the play developed and they broke down our defense as they primarily planned to in the huddle based on how we usually switch.
• Vander stepped up and played some great D on Taylor. We really limited Jenkins with strong D. We had to pressure their backcourt with our quickness if we wanted to win, but they were ready.
• Last time out by Buzz I was fine with to adjust after he had a look at their defense.  I am not a fan of getting the ball to half-court for another time out with only two seconds left to in-bound and shoot....would prefer the scramble with our line-up and only 4 seconds--otherwise we waste three of those seconds in-bounding the ball twice.  
• People here knew MU hoops, really impressed with our team.  We are not that far off.  Need Otule and Gardner to step up (like Chris did last night) since we don't have the threes shooters.  
• Jimmy is a stud and needs to take over on offense vs. DJO. JFB scored with 2-3 guys on his arm where DJO is out of control.  Dwight was POG and at least two of his TO's were perfect passes to guys (Gardner) who were not expecting the rock.  

[79Warrior]

Help defense and rebounding still suck.  Big problems.

I like Buycks as a shooter

Otule was a man child...impressive to see his development.

Gardner should never see the floor until he learns how to move his feet and actually defend and box a man out. 
Haven't figured out if he's just lazy on D or has no athletic ability.

Agree with Gardner assessment. He does not even leave his feet.

[willie warrior]

I guess i saw it differently--Taylor burned Blue at least twice early and then DJO was guarding him.

I do agree that DJO was fouled--it happened quickly though. Good to hear that many at the game thought so also. Several of our people on this board did not see it that way.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I guess i saw it differently--Taylor burned Blue at least twice early and then DJO was guarding him.

Taylor had 14 of Vandy's first 28.  While Vander may have lost him a couple of times, his quickness really bothered Taylor when VB switched on him--as JB could not stop him.  Taylor has an NBA body and talent and is a couple of inches taller than Jimmy--so Blue was giving up a lot to him.  I thought VB limited Taylor on ball touches--which may be harder to see on TV.  This got us back into the game in the 1st.

[NickelDimer]

I thought Crowder would be that guy, maybe my expectations of him were too high, but he's not a team leader right now.

Vander Blue will be the team leader by Feb.

I actually thought Jae did a nice job of leading by example last night, particularly in the first half.  In the early part of the game he was the only one who came to play and he set the tone for the rest of the team. 

[ATWizJr]

-1
Buycks Sr
Butler Sr.

Arguably our two best players, at this moment, and will be gone next year. Can't say we are a year away, since they obviously will be gone. That's what happens when you take more than 1 JUCO each class, it's a win now, or else you are constantly chasing.

That being said, I am not too upset. Our first tough road game, and had a chance to pull it out. These guys competed. I still think we are a tournament team, and we will be playing our best ball at the end of the year.

Guys who are being asked to play a major  role lack experience:

Otule
Cadougan
Blue
Crowder
Gardner

also - love Butler, BUT, he is a great complementary player, NOT a guy who can carry a team.  Not a knock, just a fact.  Also, Buycks is relatively new to the PG position which means we are inexperienced at virtually 4 of 5 positions.

[ATL MU Warrior]

gardner can move his feet better now than Otule can. He is not as tall. I do not believe his d is any worse than Otule's--other than Otule is a better shot blocker. Otule gives up plenty of rebounds to the offense--last night, Duke, Gonzaga, etc.

Do you actually watch any of our games?  Or do you just have a man-crush on the Ox? 

He is nowhere near the defender that Otule is.  Not even remotely close. 

[willie warrior]

Yeah, I have watched the gamesd and been to a few. You are wrong.
And only playing 3 minutes is not going to improve him.
Otule is a better shot blocker and can jump better.

It is amazing how people are now pissing on Gardner, pissing on Cadougan and pissing on Smith.

[Lennys Tap]

It is amazing how people are now pissing on Gardner, pissing on Cadougan and pissing on Smith.

I agree. It's also amazing how regularly you piss on the coaches and the players that you don't like.

[chren21]

Yeah, I have watched the gamesd and been to a few. You are wrong.
And only playing 3 minutes is not going to improve him.
Otule is a better shot blocker and can jump better.

It is amazing how people are now pissing on Gardner, pissing on Cadougan and pissing on Smith.

I dont feel like I / we / anyone was pissing on Gardner but just pointing out his deficiencies.   I look at it as something the player and coaches need to address to get them where they / we want them to be.

I pointed out ewill's issues with D and rebounding as well.

Why cant we be critical of them?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Yeah, I have watched the gamesd and been to a few. You are wrong.
And only playing 3 minutes is not going to improve him.
Otule is a better shot blocker and can jump better.

It is amazing how people are now pissing on Gardner, pissing on Cadougan and pissing on Smith.

Let's try this.

In what way(s) is DG better than Otule on defense?  Come up with as many as you can.  This should be interesting.

BTW, I am not in any way "pissing on" (lovely) any of the above players.  At times I feel that I am one of the more vigorous defenders of the guys on our team on this board.  I think my posts back that up -- two today on Otule and Cadougan. 

And you are one to talk...you and your constant "man-crush" posts on Buycks...who is clearly one of the best players on our team and one of the few who seems willing to at least try to throw the team on his back and carry them.

[warriors1991]

I'll reply to the DG questions, I wrote almost the same thing in a different thread.

DG is a good offensive player. Defensively he's a massive liability. I specifically watched him last night on the defensive end and it's like he's not even trying or moving. He gets schooled on offensive rebounds like a 4th grader (no jumping at all) and then when he gets hit with a foul he drops his shoulders and has the body language of a little kid. It looked like Jae yelled at him when he did that last night.
And don't tell me about conditioning and he's still too heavy and blah blah. He's playing about 3 minutes of defense, he's really going to have to work harder and try a LOT harder or he's not going to see the court and that's our loss because there's a lot of good things about DG and loads of potential.
I'm not trying to hammer a 19 year old kid; I really like him and his potential but wow his laziness on the defensive end is concerning.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I'll reply to the DG questions, I wrote almost the same thing in a different thread.

DG is a good offensive player. Defensively he's a massive liability. I specifically watched him last night on the defensive end and it's like he's not even trying or moving. He gets schooled on offensive rebounds like a 4th grader (no jumping at all) and then when he gets hit with a foul he drops his shoulders and has the body language of a little kid. It looked like Jae yelled at him when he did that last night.
And don't tell me about conditioning and he's still too heavy and blah blah. He's playing about 3 minutes of defense, he's really going to have to work harder and try a LOT harder or he's not going to see the court and that's our loss because there's a lot of good things about DG and loads of potential.
I'm not trying to hammer a 19 year old kid; I really like him and his potential but wow his laziness on the defensive end is concerning.

These are good observations.  And I hope he figures out how hard he needs to go sooner rather than later.  We're a much better team with him getting minutes if he can hold his own on the defensive end. 

[Stretchdeltsig]

Loved Marquette's effort last night.  Thought we should have won.  Thought DJO was fouled on the last play.  Attribute it to the home field advantage.  Was impressed with Otule.  He played hard and tough.  Otule definitely makes the Warriors a tough team to beat.  Crowder definitely leads by example.  Like to see him get more vocal.  Jimmy never quits.  Plays hard.  Buycks played really well at point guard.  Junior plays weak.  It seems like he doesn't have any game.  Vander played well.  Gardner played slow.  Someone's got to stick a match up his butt to get him to play harder.  Would like to see more of Erick Williams and jamail Jones to spell the starters.  Both are long and can score.  Need the players to push each other to play harder.  If Marquette plays hard, they can win.

[mu-rara]

Dr. Blackheart...nice re cap with unemotional, intelligent analysis that I can trust.

Thanks man.