Just back from VANDY

[Marquette65]

and my first in person look at this years team. As to the game, we have very big problems that can not/ should not be passed over with a well" we only lost by 1 at their place" remark.

POINT GUARD--Mu does not have one. There is no one who can get the team into its offense nor stop the other team's point.  How many layups did Tinsley( No1) have yesterday.  he was able to get anywhere he wanted

and constantly got to the basket w/ ease. JC is simply not quick enough, looks lost on D, shows no ability to get into the offense, nor shot the ball.  JB is clearly the best option even w/ his lack of D and ball handling.

Lack of DEFENSE---MU gave up lay up after lay up.  How many times, even after a made basket, did VANDY take the ball r down the court for a uncontested layup? How many times did MU allow an entry pass, that enabled Festis( Vandy center) to shot his little 2 foot jump hook?  How many times was MU late on the rotation that resulted in wide open Vandy shots?  The winning Vandy basket was a micro-look at MU D( or lack thereof) in the game.   A wide open lay-in.

Lack of OFFENSE--No movement against a zone.  NO attempt to get in the gaps --No posting at the foul line( a perfect Jae location)  No outside shooting.  No one even looking for a shot.

[ATL MU Warrior]

and my first in person look at this years team. As to the game, we have very big problems that can not/ should not be passed over with a well" we only lost by 1 at their place" remark.

POINT GUARD--Mu does not have one. There is no one who can get the team into its offense nor stop the other team's point.  How many layups did Tinsley( No1) have yesterday.  he was able to get anywhere he wanted

and constantly got to the basket w/ ease. JC is simply not quick enough, looks lost on D, shows no ability to get into the offense, nor shot the ball.  JB is clearly the best option even w/ his lack of D and ball handling.

Lack of DEFENSE---MU gave up lay up after lay up.  How many times, even after a made basket, did VANDY take the ball r down the court for a uncontested layup? How many times did MU allow an entry pass, that enabled Festis( Vandy center) to shot his little 2 foot jump hook?  How many times was MU late on the rotation that resulted in wide open Vandy shots?  The winning Vandy basket was a micro-look at MU D( or lack thereof) in the game.   A wide open lay-in.

Lack of OFFENSE--No movement against a zone.  NO attempt to get in the gaps --No posting at the foul line( a perfect Jae location)  No outside shooting.  No one even looking for a shot.

You must have had really bad seats.

[Marquette65]

sorry had computer problems.

NO REBOUNDING--same old story.  Lack of effort, proper positioning.
Personal--DJO- not looking for his shot.  Intent on driving and  not taking the open jump
              JAE-  is really a 3 or a big 2. Not a 4 and certainly not a 5.  At best 6'5"
                      should be looking for his out side shot more
               VB--  needs a lot of work on both ends. Just terrible form on his 3 point shot. Looks lost at times on offense.  On D loses his man often because he is cheating into the passing lanes and trying to help on the boards
              Chris O and DG-- no D at all. For their size no effort on the boards.  Lock of awareness and foot speed really showed.

MU looked " small" and very overmatched.  VANDY was crisp on O and simply pushed MU around.  VANDY got many open looks.  MU got out-hustled on the boards and loose balls.  In shot, is going to be a VER long season.

[MilWarrior]

and my first in person look at this years team. As to the game, we have very big problems that can not/ should not be passed over with a well" we only lost by 1 at their place" remark.

POINT GUARD--Mu does not have one. There is no one who can get the team into its offense nor stop the other team's point.  How many layups did Tinsley( No1) have yesterday.  he was able to get anywhere he wanted

and constantly got to the basket w/ ease. JC is simply not quick enough, looks lost on D, shows no ability to get into the offense, nor shot the ball.  JB is clearly the best option even w/ his lack of D and ball handling.

Lack of DEFENSE---MU gave up lay up after lay up.  How many times, even after a made basket, did VANDY take the ball r down the court for a uncontested layup? How many times did MU allow an entry pass, that enabled Festis( Vandy center) to shot his little 2 foot jump hook?  How many times was MU late on the rotation that resulted in wide open Vandy shots?  The winning Vandy basket was a micro-look at MU D( or lack thereof) in the game.   A wide open lay-in.

Lack of OFFENSE--No movement against a zone.  NO attempt to get in the gaps --No posting at the foul line( a perfect Jae location)  No outside shooting.  No one even looking for a shot.


Lack of offense and defense? Our waterboy must be awesome to keep us in these games against Duke and at Vandy.

[Marquette65]

as a matter of fact, had really good seats

Waterboy did a great job, or else the score would have been a lot worse

[brewcity77]

and constantly got to the basket w/ ease. JC is simply not quick enough, looks lost on D, shows no ability to get into the offense, nor shot the ball.  JB is clearly the best option even w/ his lack of D and ball handling.

Tell me I'm misreading that...are you saying Jimmy Butler is clearly the best option at point guard?

[National Champs]

This post is clearly a product of LSD use.

[NotAnAlum]

I was just watching on TV but I couldn't agree more.  Very surprised that we were able to have a chance to win.  We've got a lot of issues.
At this point I'm going to try to enjoy this team for what they are; a transition towards what we hope will be better times to come.

[Marquette65]

MY bad--DB is the best option at point

[Canadian Dimes]

and my first in person look at this years team. As to the game, we have very big problems that can not/ should not be passed over with a well" we only lost by 1 at their place" remark.

POINT GUARD--Mu does not have one. There is no one who can get the team into its offense nor stop the other team's point.  How many layups did Tinsley( No1) have yesterday.  he was able to get anywhere he wanted

and constantly got to the basket w/ ease. JC is simply not quick enough, looks lost on D, shows no ability to get into the offense, nor shot the ball.  JB is clearly the best option even w/ his lack of D and ball handling.

Lack of DEFENSE---MU gave up lay up after lay up.  How many times, even after a made basket, did VANDY take the ball r down the court for a uncontested layup? How many times did MU allow an entry pass, that enabled Festis( Vandy center) to shot his little 2 foot jump hook?  How many times was MU late on the rotation that resulted in wide open Vandy shots?  The winning Vandy basket was a micro-look at MU D( or lack thereof) in the game.   A wide open lay-in.

Lack of OFFENSE--No movement against a zone.  NO attempt to get in the gaps --No posting at the foul line( a perfect Jae location)  No outside shooting.  No one even looking for a shot.

Boy i have to really really disagree with your post.  I thought Buycks was outstanding last night.  I thought his defense was outstanding.  He was giving his man fits all night.  Yes two huge huge plays were Tinsley going coast coast but the real issue on those were the initial defender getting beaten in the first 20 feet and then Tinsley going the other 74 with out anyone else stopping the ball and both times we had defenders in the lane that never saw let alone stopped the ball.

Our interior defense was not great Otule is not as Athletic as barro, Burke or LAzar have been to front the post and then Ezeli is good enough to score when Oule gets caught behind him.  Our perimeter defense is good though and let to steals and transition baskets , where we outscored them.

Lastly, Buycks is not a traditoanl PG but he did well last night, we shot the ball well and scored 76 points on the road.  offense was fine defense and defensive rebounding just not quite good enough to beat atop 25 team on the road.  Our defense needs to get better our rebounding needs to get better but right now Buycks is one of our better players

[VegasWarrior77]

I've been critical of him in the past, but I thought DB played his best game of the year last night.  He hit a solid three to put us up late in the game (19 seconds?).

[NYWarrior]

Lack of OFFENSE--No movement against a zone.  NO attempt to get in the gaps --No posting at the foul line( a perfect Jae location)  No outside shooting.  No one even looking for a shot.

Agreed on your other points .... but lack of offense?  MU had an eFG of 60% last night on the road and a non-tempo adjusted 61% in the second half alone.  These are insanely good measures, in fact the team (just about any team) is unlikely to replicate that efficiency and productivity for months.....and MU did that on the road against a ranked team.  FWIW, MU leads the BE in scoring offense.  Simply put, MU is a very good offensive team by any measure.

Defense is the fundamental problem with the program under Buzz and it's not just this year's team.  Heck, MU made Vandy look like Phi Slamma Jamma last night.

[4everwarriors]

65er is dead on the money. No question lack of an adequate point guard is going to dog this team all season long. This is all on Buzz. Either he can't evaluate the position or his recruiting needs some help. Without the lead guard, even though its a big man's game, this is likely an NIT season.

[brewcity77]

sorry had computer problems.

NO REBOUNDING--same old story.  Lack of effort, proper positioning.
Personal--DJO- not looking for his shot.  Intent on driving and  not taking the open jump
              JAE-  is really a 3 or a big 2. Not a 4 and certainly not a 5.  At best 6'5"
                      should be looking for his out side shot more
               VB--  needs a lot of work on both ends. Just terrible form on his 3 point shot. Looks lost at times on offense.  On D loses his man often because he is cheating into the passing lanes and trying to help on the boards
              Chris O and DG-- no D at all. For their size no effort on the boards.  Lock of awareness and foot speed really showed.

MU looked " small" and very overmatched.  VANDY was crisp on O and simply pushed MU around.  VANDY got many open looks.  MU got out-hustled on the boards and loose balls.  In shot, is going to be a VER long season.

While we were outrebounded 32-28 we mostly held our own on the glass, with the exceptions being when Gardner failed to keep his man off the offensive end. Playing against a ranked team in their gym, I think it's hard to say we were "very overmatched". Vandy played fine, but if a few calls go our way and we sink better than 54% of our free throws, we win that game. I do think it may end up relegating us to the NIT come March, but it's not like we were dominated. We lost by one, for Christsake.

[Marquette65]

I agree. I admitted , I made a mistake and hit the wrong key.  DB is clearly the best option at point and probably had the best all around game last night.

That being said, there is no excuse for letting the ball go the length of the court w/ defenders in the lane and no attempt to even stop the ball.  How about a hard foul?   And to say they  never even saw the ball, what  does that say about those individuals. Lack of effort? Lack of bball IQ? or don't belong on the court at all?

[Boone]

As substandard as our point guard play has been, I worry more about next season. Used to think Junior was no better than a middle-of-the-road BE point, but upon further reflection that's probably being too kind. Hoping against hope that Derrick Wilson is the answer next season.

[NCMUFan]

All those points you mentioned were able to be seen from watching the game in person or on TV.  However, this team did a lot right to have a chance to win.  Don't give up on them.  They sound like correctable things.  Hopefully Buzz  has them going in the correct direction.  I think the talent is there.  Buzz and the assistant coaches need to teaching fundamental defense, rebounding, scoring on a zone, etc..  I believe a trait of a good coach is to always be looking at ways to improve themselves first before asking their players to improve.  The old Packer coach Holmgren always asked that of himself and his assistants.  

[willie warrior]

As substandard as our point guard play has been, I worry more about next season. Used to think Junior was no better than a middle-of-the-road BE point, but upon further reflection that's probably being too kind. Hoping against hope that Derrick Wilson is the answer next season.

Yes, here we go again. Writing off Cadougan because now it is fashionable.

[brewcity77]

Yes, here we go again. Writing off Cadougan because now it is fashionable.

No reason at all to write off Junior or our PG play for next season right now. Look at the jump made by Acker and Cooby from their junior to senior seasons. Look at Buycks right now, who didn't look at all like a potential PG last year and now is doing the job pretty well. Between Blue and Cadougan, we should be fine next season.

[ATL MU Warrior]

No reason at all to write off Junior or our PG play for next season right now. Look at the jump made by Acker and Cooby from their junior to senior seasons. Look at Buycks right now, who didn't look at all like a potential PG last year and now is doing the job pretty well. Between Blue and Cadougan, we should be fine next season.

Don't even waste your time trying to reason.  The great basketball mind that is Willie Warrior has already formulated his opinions.  Due to Buzz's man-crush on Buycks and his refusal to let DG give up 10+ offensive rebounds per game, our season is already over.  And next year we will suck even more.  It's Willie's world, we are just visiting. 

[MU B2002]

Don't even waste your time trying to reason.  The great basketball mind that is Willie Warrior has already formulated his opinions.  Due to Buzz's man-crush on Buycks and his refusal to let DG give up 10+ offensive rebounds per game, our season is already over.  And next year we will suck even more.  It's Willie's world, we are just visiting. 

I thought it appeared Willie was mocking Boone for writing off Junior.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I thought it appeared Willie was mocking Boone for writing off Junior.

If so I apologize for my rant. I didn't interpret it that way.

[tower912]

We shot 56% for the game against a team that was allowing around 40%.  The ball movement was the best it has been all year, in stretches looking a bit like last year, without the extra pass every single time.    We had a few stagnant possessions against the zone, but we attacked it, both with someone at the foul line, and off of the dribble.   Defense, too many individual breakdowns and lack of rotation.   Bygones.   On to WVU.

[79Warrior]

65er is dead on the money. No question lack of an adequate point guard is going to dog this team all season long. This is all on Buzz. Either he can't evaluate the position or his recruiting needs some help. Without the lead guard, even though its a big man's game, this is likely an NIT season.

I think we will get a pretty good sense of the BE season tomorrow. If we cannot win at home agaist WVU, then my 9-9 might be optimistic.

[pillardean]

As substandard as our point guard play has been, I worry more about next season. Used to think Junior was no better than a middle-of-the-road BE point, but upon further reflection that's probably being too kind. Hoping against hope that Derrick Wilson is the answer next season.

He is only a sophomore who ruptured his achilles his freshman year. 

So, this is virtually his freshman year.

He is starting all over.  He looks slower than what he is capable due to his not knowing exactly what is going on in game experience.  He will become quicker on defensive rotations and switch quicker and easier when he is used to the rotations. 

I think we expect too much out of 18 year old boys when they play against 22 year old young men.  Be patient.  We lost a few tough games, games we had a chance of winning.  This team will surprise some people in the weeks to come.

Still believe the NCAA is in the future