Did we seriously underperform in 2008-09?

[ATWizJr]

With the 3 amigos, Zar, and Jimmy plus Cubie and Acker shouldn't we have made it further in the NCAA tourney?  I mean, Wes is killing it, Zar and Jimmy are both first rounders...?

[NersEllenson]

Seriously?  Jimmy as a first year sophomore is the same player Jimmy as a 3rd year senior?  Ranked 8th in the country before James injury?  Cooby not being able to shoot as a junior?  Ridiculous.

[GGGG]

Had DJ not gotten injured, assuming they would have had the same placement in the tournament, MU beats Missouri and Memphis before facing UConn in the Elite 8.  As it stands, if they *would* have beaten Mizzou without DJ, I think they would have beaten Memphis anyway.

[bilsu]

Look at all the players drafted this year from Texas and Kansas and they did not make the final four. Last year Kentucky.

[kmwtrucks]

We were 23-4 and 12-2 in the Big East before DJ broke his Foot.

[Skatastrophy]

We were 23-4 and 12-2 in the Big East before DJ broke his Foot.

Yeah, when DJ went down we should have been dead in the water.  Still amazing we stumbled over the finish-line that year.

[GOO]

We have to remember too that DJ as a senior under Buzz, was playing his best ball.  He rarely took bad shots like the did his first three years.  He was running the point well and playing great D.  DJ going down was a hugh blow to that team.

[Henry Sugar]

We were 23-4 and 12-2 in the Big East before DJ broke his Foot.

I had run some simulations, and Marquette had a chance to win the Big East that year before the injury.  It was about a 10% chance to win it all, but considering that year the top three teams all earned 1 seeds, I think that's saying something.

[Golden Avalanche]

I had run some simulations, and Marquette had a chance to win the Big East that year before the injury.  It was about a 10% chance to win it all, but considering that year the top three teams all earned 1 seeds, I think that's saying something.

Absolutely they did. It was all right in front of them. They were facing down the stretch the teams they needed to jump to win the title. In my mind, certainly a 50/50 shot they could've got the conference title. That is a real achievement. One we may never experience.

[goldeneagles09]

Did we fall short of expectations coming into the year and the build up since the 3 amigos were freshmen? Yes, of course. Many of us thought we'd have a few deep runs in the tournament. During the 2008-2009 season were we meeting, or potentially exceeding expectations as the #8 team in the country? Yes. Would we have continued to perform when we went through the gauntlet of top tier Big East teams WITH James in the line up? Personally I think we were playing well enough to do so.

Bottom line, the injury changed expectations. Many of us still had a glimmer of hope, but once we heard he was out for the season reality started to hit. We thought the season would be over, and we'd get outplayed by simply better teams. Combine the last 8 games being typical Marquette heart attack inducing games without arguably our most important (not necessarily best) player and and I think we about met some of our hopeful expectations.

Also, as stated earlier, you can't compare the non-seniors to their senior years, as they matured 10-fold from where they started. Especially after multiple years in Buzz's system.

[tower912]

The 08-09 team was essentially 6.5 players deep.   We were 23-2 and #8 in the country.    We lost down a lockdown defender and our PG with one misstep.      We finished as we should have. 

[lurch91]

Of all the teams I've cheered for, that team was the one I felt the worst for when Dom went down.  While Acker was a nice solid player HIS senior season, he just wasn't ready to step in for Dom - besides the entire offense was built around what Dom could do, not around what Acker could do.  Call it poor recruiting, running players off, we just didn't have the players to absorb an injury to Dom at all.

MU was 1.3 seconds away from the Sweet Sixteen in 2007-2008, and a broken foot away from at least a Sweet Sixteen in 2008-2009.

[GGGG]

Of all the teams I've cheered for, that team was the one I felt the worst for when Dom went down.  While Acker was a nice solid player HIS senior season, he just wasn't ready to step in for Dom - besides the entire offense was built around what Dom could do, not around what Acker could do.  Call it poor recruiting, running players off, we just didn't have the players to absorb an injury to Dom at all.

I guess Tyshawn Taylor would have been DJ's back-up huh?  Not sure about if Nick Williams would have been able to take up much of the slack...probably not.

[lurch91]

With out a doubt Taylor would have helped, but Hurley saw to it that he wouldn't be at Marquette.

I know Taylor won a championship his freshman season at Kansas, but I wonder if he still would have been better off at Marquette.  I know he's had some problems and all, but if he were at Marquette would those have even occurred?

[GGGG]

Taylor got to KU the year *after* they won the title.

[BubbaWilliams]

Amen Brother. Thats what I was saying a few weeks ago and these people were nearly in tears

[GGGG]

Amen Brother. Thats what I was saying a few weeks ago and these people were nearly in tears

Well, you called them "losers" and "underachieving chokers."  A little different...

[brewcity77]

Others have mentioned it, but James' injury was the story of the end of the season. I think we beat Louisville and Syracuse, no question, with James. Good chance we beat UConn, too. Probably go in as a 2-3 seed instead of a 6 and have a very good chance of making an Elite 8.

Neither Acker nor Cubes were ready to take over for James when he went down. I realize Acker played fairly well, but it was still a huge dropoff from James. Too bad we didn't have 2009-10 Acker in there, we'd have been fine. He gained a lot of confidence from that and from another year of seasoning, but there wasn't anyone who could play at James' level when he went down.

Maybe we should have done better, but James was probably our most important player (3rd or 4th best, but still most important) and losing him was a huge blow. Simply a case of what might have been.

[bilsu]

Of all the teams I've cheered for, that team was the one I felt the worst for when Dom went down.  While Acker was a nice solid player HIS senior season, he just wasn't ready to step in for Dom - besides the entire offense was built around what Dom could do, not around what Acker could do.  Call it poor recruiting, running players off, we just didn't have the players to absorb an injury to Dom at all.

MU was 1.3 seconds away from the Sweet Sixteen in 2007-2008, and a broken foot away from at least a Sweet Sixteen in 2008-2009.

I think in hind sight, you can say playing Dom too much resulted in Acker not being as ready if he had gotten more playing time. Also, if James played less his foot may not of broken.

[MUfan12]

There have been a lot of "what-if's" in recent years with all the excruciating losses/tourney exits.

"What if James didn't get hurt?" is the worst of them. That team was special. It had unbelievable synergy on the court with the starting 5, and then Jimmy started to blossom at the end of the year. My favorite game from that season was the Georgetown game at home. Back and forth until the 12 minute mark of the second half, then MU just hit another gear and ran them out of the gym. The only team in recent memory that could do that was the 2003 team. That extra gear was gone with one step against UConn.

Damn. What could have been...