This is not a strong, disciplined, well-coached Marquette team

[MU Avenue]

Marquette has looked weak, vulnerable and poorly prepared in each of its first three games. There is no leader on the floor and little leadership coming from the bench.

For all the years I have been a Marquette fan, MU has played to the level of its weakest opponents. This has remained the case in every preseason and regular season game this year.

Tonight we saw Marquette deliver ridiculously bad shooting, three-point shooting and free-throw shooting. About as bad as it gets.

This MU team is far, far, far from where it needs to be to compete against marginal teams, forget against Big East powers.

I had uneasy feelings coming into this season, which I hoped were misplaced. They weren't.

[4everwarriors]

held responsible for all this chaos?

[dwaderoy2004]

tom crean.  this team cannot play a half court offense right now.  if the break fails, they can't move the ball.  they don;t even drive and quick.  i think they'll pull it together, but right now they only play at one speed: too fast.

[maxpower773]

I think it's mostly Creans fault for what you said. But also, he's not the one shooting. He has no control over one of the players making a stupid mistake or taking a dumb shot in a game or even not being able to make a wide open shot, he can only coach.  When it comes down to it though, everyone is to blame in different ways, but it usually starts at the top and goes down from there.

[Big Papi]

tom crean.  this team cannot play a half court offense right now.  if the break fails, they can't move the ball.  they don;t even drive and quick.  i think they'll pull it together, but right now they only play at one speed: too fast.

I think our troubles on offense are a result of the 20 second shot clock in practice.  I would imagine the team threw up a ton of bad shots and didn't play zone defenses during the scrimmage. 

[LastWarrior]

I'll excuse the poor shooting as this is a young team and perhaps they haven't learned shot selection yet.  That said, I cannot tolerate the piss poor free throw shooting at home.  To me, it's unaccpetable and inexcusable and pisses me off to no end.  They've played at home before... they know this court and these rims.  These are FREE throws!!  Shaq shoots at a higher percent than we didn last last (or pretty darn close).

[bartmiller#1]

I think the constant practice with the 20 second shot clock may contribute to the absolute lack of flow on offense.  Everything feels forced (and is forced in the half-court).

I think Crean has these guys prepared to play fantastic D, but there's nothing going on on offense-- not a new problem at MU. 

This team is too talented to not have some semblance of an offensive game plan. 

[Chili]

I think part of the quick offense is that we are not a good shooting team. By forcing the uptempo game you are hoping to get easy shots. My only thoughts are if you are going to play fast at one end, I think you should do it at the other. Slowing the game down is not going help bad shooters.

[ToddPacker]

Just curious if you all still believe this to be the case.  Very quick to cast some stones after a very poor performance but I have not heard a peep out of most of the above commenters today.

[WashDCWarrior]

I didn't post prior to yesterday's game, so it's easy for me to say, but...

I still think speed and depth are great assets for this team.  I still see this as a 82 ppg team and as shot selection improves and player's roles become better defined, the game will be played fast but not rushed.   I liked what Crean did practicing with the 20 second shot clock, as it forces players to be decisive offensively.  Slowing a team down and working for a better shot is much easier than having to speed a tentative team up.

[Djgoldnboy]

Todd, you mean there are hot/cold streaks in basketball and perhaps that's how MU started off (a little cold)?  No way....  

(sarcasm on)Thank God, because I was about to write this season off. (sarcasm off)

[SoCalwarrior]

I agree with you that speed and depth should be a great asset for this team.  I've been impressed with Cubillan and Hayward.  Much better than I thought.  While I agree that it is easier to slow things down, then speed them up, I'm worried that Crean doesn't always make the adjustment early enough.  In my opinion, he never adjusted offensively in the Idaho St. game.

[dwaderoy2004]

I was quick to fault crean.  crean admitted that it was his fault in postgame interviews and DJ even said that the team "was not used to playing a halfcourt slow-down offense."  of course i realized that it was just one of those times when players miss shots, but it is on the coaching staff to correct those mistakes.  which it appears crean did for game #3.  the difference was that we were making the extra pass.  instead of jacking up threes early in the shot clock, we were waiting for the best shot, not just the first shot.  they were selective in when to run and when to pull it back, again signs that crean stressed some offensive philosphies.  i never had any doubt this team would be just fine.  i've posted as much all over this site before the detroit game...

[IAmMarquette]

of course i realized that it was just one of those times when players miss shots, but it is on the coaching staff to correct those mistakes. 

it's the coaching staff's job to make shots...?

[MU Avenue]

... this does not erase concerns coming out of the first three games. Marquette, for example, must get more from its big men -- especially scoring -- or it will struggle against many of its opponents this season.

It was fantastic watching Marquette roll over the University of Detroit Mercy. Consistency now becomes the concern.

We have seen two very different Marquette teams this season. We will soon see which one shows up to play Eastern Michigan and then Texas Tech, coached by Sugar Ray Knight.

[dwaderoy2004]

poor wording.  i meant correct the half court offense, which was forcing bad shots.  you know what i meant...