Last night was awesome

[Wade for President]

Huge thank you to MUTV for making it possible to enjoy Madness while living in Indiana.  Great job by the young crew.  I was dying listening to Buzz bust Frozena's hump (having him chase him to get the ring "C'mon Rob!  Come and get it baby!").  That little praise and tease for Rob, gave everyone an opportunity to see the other side of Buzz...the personality side that immediately encourages players to gravitate to coach.

To have five players in the NBA, comeback to show support to the team and to the university that made them who they are today, is incredibly unique.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but MU has never had five players on NBA rosters at the same time, right? 

Between Buzz coaching @ DWade's camp this summer, to having #3 join in the festivities last night, I love the relationship forged between the two most visible people in our basketball program.  Not to sound like a broken record, but that has to help recruiting.

It's pretty cool to see Novak (you know, #21) take a vested interest in this team.  Clearly one of the unforeseen benefits of the lockout, is that it's given him (and others) the opportunity to train & practice with the team.

It's hard to describe to people not affiliated with this university what the Marquette family means to everyone.  Last night's event totally personifies the MU family.  Thanks to Stevie, Lazar, JFB, Wes, and DWade, to make last night special.

The dunk contest was a let down, but I'm curious to hear your takeaways on the scrimmage and the players (is Devante our best three point shooter?!?).  Last night was another example of why I want Jamail to get an earned opportunity this year.  He has so much talent.

What y'all got?

[brewcity77]

Ox as a trailer three shooter could be awesome. He is a very good shooter, though admittedly, it's odd watching him do it. I'm so used to the classic jump shooter form, that his hop-shot just looks so lethargic in comparison. But there's no doubting he's a good shooter. It wouldn't surprise me if he had the highest percentage on the team this year, though there's no doubt the best three shooter Marquette has right now is Jake Thomas.

Last night was great to watch. The karaoke was hilarious. Junior had the entire team dancing, and it seemed like Buzz had half the audience down there with him. Really entertaining, I expected it to be cheesy, but it was one of the highlights of the night.

Haven't yet seen a list of which all recruits were there. I really think that having Wade and company on hand had to be a plus. Watching them scrimmage was a lot of fun, and you could see we have some really good alumni players. The three-point shootout, though it started out rocky, was awesome. Mike Jakubowski seemed to have no clue of how there were going to run it, but once everyone got in line and started shooting, it was just fun. I told my girlfriend Novak should've been picked first, which she seemed skeptical, until she saw him take his first three. What a perfect stroke he has. And when he hit the winner, his running airplane celebration was great...it looked like he was really stoked to be back.

Great event, no doubt.

[AZWarrior]

Ox as a trailer three shooter could be awesome.

Good call, Brew City.  I recall Damon Key playing this role quite effectively.  I can definitely see Ox doing so as well.

[thanooj]

Ox as a trailer three shooter could be awesome.

Good call, Brew City.  I recall Damon Key playing this role quite effectively.  I can definitely see Ox doing so as well.

Damon key had the best 10-15 foot baseline stroke I have seen.  his threes trailing the break at the beginning of the sweet 16 Duke game were awesome.  But for some reason I think Ox might be a better shooter, especially from distance.  I've got no facts to back this up, just a feeling.

[Clam Crowder]

Carmelo Anthony was at Syracuse's Midnight Madness, of course it's a top story on ESPN's NCAA BB page. Any mention of Dwyane on there? nah of course not.

[TallTitan34]

Best Madness I have ever been too.

It was great seeing the old guys playing alongside the current team.  I mean how often do you get to see Vander Blue throw up an ally-oop for Wade?

Well done Marquette.

[AZWarrior]

This is by nature a qualitative statement, but boy - our team looked to me to be much more effective during the scrimmage than in years past.  The quality of play was significantly better than I expected given no practices (boot camp is endurance exercise). 

Liked it!!

[RyanConroy]

A great crowd and a great time. Definitely the best madness I have been to!

[Wade for President]

Carmelo Anthony was at Syracuse's Midnight Madness, of course it's a top story on ESPN's NCAA BB page. Any mention of Dwyane on there? nah of course not.

I have to wonder if it was due to MU not having any tv coverage (outside of it being streamed online).  Cuse, UK, and UNC all were clearly professionally televised...therefore making it easier to get material/clips to ESPN.  Just a thought.

Buzz signing 'Sweet Caroline' will definitely get a lot of play in the media.  When he initially invited virtually everyone down to the floor, I thought it was going to be a train wreck.  However, if you watch the vid of it on YouTube it looks like a concert.  Would've loved to have seen Wade in the front row for that one.

[8796CHAVEZC]

Davante just tweeted: "I think I got my Dirk Nowitzki game down pack, well almost" <-- Someone's hyped up.

Buzz singing has to make ESPN or something very soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcoMcssZx3g&feature=channel_video_title

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

I didn't have high expectations so was pleasantly surprised at the event.  Here's a few thoughts:

1. The women's team is sooooo young - 6 freshmen, 4 sophs, & 1 junior.  Could be a long year, but kudos to Courtney Thomas on that hair.
2. The short video on boot camp was good.
3. For players coming out of the tunnel, those lights made it difficult to see their moves once the shroud was lifted.  I do like the shroud effect.
4. Ring presentation was nice, but a little long. Frozena bit was very funny.
5. Having the NBA players there was great!  Really pumped up the building.  Too bad couldn't understand much of what they said into the microphone.  They really seemed to enjoy themselves.  Too bad we couldn't get autographs.
6. Place went up for grabs when #3 came out!
7. The 3-point contest with the 3 teams may have been the highlight of the night.  The way it went down - started slowly then the competitive juices of all involved ramped up as the contest became a 3-way tie with the next basket winning it - had the crowd going nuts.
8. Karaoke was also a highlight.  It could have been lame, but all involved made it a big laugh.
9. 3-point contest was a letdown.  Have to give props to Mayo for that creative dunk attempt even though he couldn't quite nail it.
10. Scrimmage with the NBA players was fun to watch, but went a little long.  Couldn't believe I saw Jake Thomas argue with the ref over a no-call on #3!
11. T-shirts are nice - a pleasant surprise.
12. Team scrimmage went too long. We left with 5 minutes left for some food.
13. I have to believe any recruits who attended had to be impressed.  The building was full even with the Brewer game conflict.

My suggestion: cap the event at 2 hours next year.

As to players, Gardner looked good and his threes were a surprise.  It remains to be seen if he's given the green light during a game.  Otule still is all defense and no ofense (that's not meant to be a criticism). Didn't see Blue make a basket other than a layup all night.  Same with Jones.  Of the freshmen, Juan looked the most ready.DJO hit some nice pullup jumpers. Jake Thomas looked good on  his threes. Dude's got range.

[PaintTouches]

One my favorite pictures of the night. Jamail can really fly.

[SaveOD238]

I saw Blue hit a three in there somewhere.  His stroke looked much improved...enough so that I texted my friend who graduated last year and bragged that with a VB who can shoot this team can be very very good.

[Skatastrophy]

I saw Blue hit a three in there somewhere.  His stroke looked much improved...enough so that I texted my friend who graduated last year and bragged that with a VB who can shoot this team can be very very good.

His stroke looked much more smooth, but he still missed most of his shots.  Definitely still a work in progress

[Mr. Nielsen]

How about PA man (Mike J.) with his Craig Sager suit on. Priceless.

[Mr. Nielsen]

NBA players intro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-asuPDjvs

[Skatastrophy]

How about PA man (Mike J.) with his Craig Sager suit on. Priceless.

I really hope he loses his job.  Absolutely awful.

[karavotsos]

Damon key had the best 10-15 foot baseline stroke I have seen. 

Better than Jack Sikma??

[augoman]

any feedback on recruit attendance?

[TallTitan34]

I also liked when Jones and Gardner were asked to come up to get their rings.  Everyone gave a loud cheer and Buzz said, "you guys have a lot of fans for never getting off the bench".

[Mr. Nielsen]

I really hope he loses his job.  Absolutely awful.

Really? Remember when Gene Mueller wanted the job. That was painfull.

[Skatastrophy]

Really? Remember when Gene Mueller wanted the job. That was painfull.

Every time we had a guest announcer last year the game was significantly better to be at.  Our current announcer really bothers me with his affectations and I'm not sure why it gets under my skin so much. 

[Mr. Nielsen]

Every time we had a guest announcer last year the game was significantly better to be at.  Our current announcer really bothers me with his affectations and I'm not sure why it gets under my skin so much. 

Most of the time the guest pa announcer is Bob Brainerd. Who was MU's pa announcer during the early 2000's and is now UWM pa announcer.

I think Mike J. is great, but you are correct he has been getting a bit silly for the past 3 years.

[brewcity77]

Most of the time the guest pa announcer is Bob Brainerd. Who was MU's pa announcer during the early 2000's and is now UWM pa announcer.

I think Mike J. is great, but you are correct he has been getting a bit silly for the past 3 years.

Bob is great. How he doesn't have the MU job is beyond me. Jakubowski is just a bit too cheesy, and seems to have more of a focus on being a character himself rather than a narrator.

[Ari Gold]

Bob is great. How he doesn't have the MU job is beyond me. Jakubowski is just a bit too cheesy, and seems to have more of a focus on being a character himself rather than a narrator.

Maybe now that Jakubowski isn't saying Jimmy Butler, he'll become tolerable?