Poll: This Year's Team Vs Last Year's Team

[Tugg Speedman]

Vote early and vote often

[mu89]

i feel this year's team is better because it's almost as if Jimmy never left if what they say about J. Wilson is true. Buzz can only get better with time. I hope our high expectations don't come back to haunt us. 

[PBRme]

I'll believe Jimmy (NBA 1rst rounder) can be replaced when I see it with my own eyes.

[avid1010]

I'll believe Jimmy (NBA 1rst rounder) can be replaced when I see it with my own eyes.

Did you say that about Lazar (NBA 1st rounder) as well?  I'm hoping history repeats itself. 

[AZWarrior]

Vote early and vote often

Well, of course I will.  I was born in Chicago (Evanston, actually) where that is the city's motto!

[PGsHeroes32]

It's not about replacing Jimmy.

We are adding Jamil, Juan and Mayo would all could contribute on top of..

Gardner, Junior, Jones, Vander(cant really regress) and Otule all with a year added experience and also should be much improved(Davante and Junior forsure since they improved big time throughout last season even)

Now DJO who is not only going to be better but hes also now the focus. We have seen Jae's all around production and can expect that and more.

This team should no doubt be better even without Jimmy for the fact that all the returnees should be far improved and 1 new comer especially is expected to turn heads.

Needs to be proven on the court though.

[brewcity77]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the main reason we should be better in 2011-12. It's Junior Cadougan. Buycks and DJO are both natural 2-guards. Buycks did pretty well, considering, but I think we will be much improved with a pass-first point.

Our team is largely unchanged. DJO at the two, Crowder at the four, Otule and Gardner at the five. All of them should be better with another year under their belts. Wilson is reportedly as close as we'll get to a Butler clone. The real change is Cadougan replacing Buycks.

It's ironic, but last year's team was probably the least like what Buzz wants yet managed the most NCAA success. After having great point play from James, Acker, and Cooby, we had far less consistent play at the most important position. If Cadougan can be the player we expect, we should be much improved.

[PGsHeroes32]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the main reason we should be better in 2011-12. It's Junior Cadougan.

I kind of touched up on this. Agree completely though.

[Murffieus 1]

To be better than last year Junior will have to shoot much better(last year I'd give him a lot of room on the perimeter)-----J Wilson will need a culture shock to force him out of "soft play"----------Crowder will have to be more consistent-----and the defense will need to be significantly improved----MU near the BE cellar last year in shooting percentage allowed.

[avid1010]

To be better than last year Junior will have to shoot much better(last year I'd give him a lot of room on the perimeter)-----J Wilson will need a culture shock to force him out of "soft play"----------Crowder will have to be more consistent-----and the defense will need to be significantly improved----MU near the BE cellar last year in shooting percentage allowed.

I thought it was interesting to hear Buzz compare JB to J Wilson...I just don't see J Wilson having that kind of game in him.  Not that he can't be very good for MU, but I don't see him getting huge rebounds down the stretch, etc.  If Buzz can get J Wilson from being soft to being as hard-nosed as JB, there isn't much Buzz can't do.

[bamamarquettefan]

On crowder's consistency, his overall numbers were phenomenal and I'd say crowder, djo and Gardner (see several early games but more importantly unc) were dominant on given nights. In addition to the unc performance remember that coach k said duke couldn't find a way to stop Gardner, and he was basically playing with one arm until he doubled over in pain.  So when you have three guys like that who can dominate on any given night, it's ok if 1 or 2 of them are dominant on a given night, since obviously its unlikely all three will go ou and score 25 on the same night.

While Jimmy is a great loss, just the typical improvement you see from year to year, a likely bigger improvement from Gardner with the conditioning, plus the new players points to a big improvement on a 22-15 mark.  Let's just hope they can also be peaking again at the end (win at national champion uconn and sweet 16) since a 25-10 mark and exit on the first weekend exit wouldn't seem like improvement.

[NersEllenson]

Voted this year's team.  The roster, top to bottom, looks more like a serious Big East contender than at any time in Buzz's career - though the Big 3 certainly were poised to contend.

I see a good degree of upward growth/production in the games of:  DJO, Crowder, Cadougan, Gardner, Otule.

Jamil Wilson, Vander and Jamail Jones are the wildcards - if those guys can produce at a decent level on both ends of the court - MU will be a formidable opponent for anyone in the Big East, and very well could challenge for a Big East Title/Final Four berth.

[nyg]

I voted this year based upon my hope that Otule and Gardner will have more experience and developed into servicable/competent duo at the 5 position.  Something that has been lacking over the years. 

[Skatastrophy]

To be better than last year Junior will have to shoot much better(last year I'd give him a lot of room on the perimeter)

Junior got his 3 swatted into the stands pretty hard by Hayward during the scrimmage against the pros.  He had a nice looking shot, but he takes forever to spot up and he may not make the best shot choices if he thinks he can shoot over a player like Hayward

[brewcity77]

To be better than last year Junior will have to shoot much better(last year I'd give him a lot of room on the perimeter)-----J Wilson will need a culture shock to force him out of "soft play"----------Crowder will have to be more consistent-----and the defense will need to be significantly improved----MU near the BE cellar last year in shooting percentage allowed.

In order...

Why does Junior have to shoot much better? He won't be relied on to score. One of the problems we ran into last year was Buycks shooting too much when he was slumping. Improved accuracy is needed, but it doesn't need to be much better. If Junior can hit 25% of his threes and 40% of his overall shots, we'll be fine. That's a 10% improvement on threes (but he only took 13 all last season) and a decline of 2% on his overall shooting. I think it's far more important that he get the ball to the right guy at the right time.

Kind of hard to assess Jamil for "soft play" when he hasn't yet played a minute for Marquette. If you're basing everything on what he did in limited time 2 years ago at Oregon, or what he did in a Pro-Am league that has very limited contact, I think you're being a bit harsh. Have you been sitting in on practices to see this? Different story I'd say if you're a MU staff member who has access to this, but if you aren't, no way this is a fair assessment.

Crowder slumped at the end of last year. He had some real clanker games starting around mid-late February. Hopefully two full years in the system will have him ready to play a full season.

It's hard for me to not expect the defense to be better, even with the loss of Jimmy. This team is much more experienced than we were last year. Guys like Blue, Crowder, and Gardner played major roles with only one year of experience. I think added experience for them, along with DJO, Cadougan, and Otule all now having 3 or more years of experience will really help. Even Jamil Wilson isn't a newcomer to the system. The experience should be a big plus.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

It's not about replacing Jimmy.

We are adding Jamil, Juan and Mayo would all could contribute on top of..

I agree.

The interesting part will be if/when Buzz can integrate 9 guys into his normal rotation.

I know Buzz likes to play match-ups a lot, and this team gives him the depth to do some of that. Buzz will have some opportunities to be a strategist.

[Daniel]

De[thwise, down the bench, we are stronger and deeper.  I think we miss Jimmy as Jamil comes up to speed.  No way Jamil starts where Jimmy left off, but he will fill the role nicely and by conference should be 3/4s of Jimmy.  We also have great subs.  So, we should have fresh legs all the time, and an interesting mix of freshmen who could contribute. 

I feel good about the team this year.  We are in good shape.