Its the Zone Stupid

[NotAnAlum]

Love this team but some things never change.  Throw a zone at them and they become lethargic.  A couple passes around the perimeter and then someone settles for a 3.  The best zone buster we have is Gardner.  Sure glad we hung on to win.  Losing on a desperation 3 after the guy gets the ball rolled to him would have been though to take.

[MUMac]

Love this team but some things never change.  Throw a zone at them and they become lethargic.  A couple passes around the perimeter and then someone settles for a 3.  The best zone buster we have is Gardner.  Sure glad we hung on to win.  Losing on a desperation 3 after the guy gets the ball rolled to him would have been though to take.

Yeah, just like Syracuse last year.  It never changes.

[RJax55]

Just want to point out that Winthrop played a 2-3 zone against MU for most of Friday's night game. MU torn their zone up. Credit to Norfolk St, they executed their zone very well and the pressure in the back court was an excellent adjustment.

[MUMac]

When Marquette got the ball inside, Otule could not finish.  I think Buzz wanted him in for his defense.  When he did change to Gardner, MU got some nice inside hoops.  Buzz may have to trade some defense for offense when facing a zone in the future.

[Freeport Warrior]

Lazar was the best zone buster -- you need a guy that can drain that elbow shot consistently.

[PGsHeroes32]

When Marquette got the ball inside, Otule could not finish.  I think Buzz wanted him in for his defense.  When he did change to Gardner, MU got some nice inside hoops.  Buzz may have to trade some defense for offense when facing a zone in the future.

This exactly. If we're playing fast its good to have Otule for his defense and shot blocking that can lead to transition. If it is more of a half court game and allows Davante to get back.........HE NEEDS TO BE IN THE GAME. He catches the ball, has way better moves, draws more fouls, finishes better and gets lose balls WAY better....not too mention hes pretty damn good at the line.

[karavotsos]

Both Otule and Gardner are one way players right now, and they're both very fun to watch on the end of the floor on which they play well.  Otule needs to take his time on offense.  He can get great position.  It would be great to see him go up with the same confidence that he goes up with to block a shot to dunk a ball in traffic.

I'm not worried about zone offense.  Buzz has done a great job with it every year he has been here.  Experience levels of the different players showed.  Norfolk State has a lot of seniors.  MU still has a lot of young guys learning their roles.

[MerrittsMustache]

Just want to point out that Winthrop played a 2-3 zone against MU for most of Friday's night game. MU torn their zone up. Credit to Norfolk St, they executed their zone very well and the pressure in the back court was an excellent adjustment.

Exactly. MU also missed a lot of bunnies in this game. Otule went 1-5, Crowder and Gardner missed a couple close ones and Blue missed all 7 of his shots with 4 of them being from close range. If MU hits just half of those close-range shots, that's another 12 points and the game is not in doubt.

Perfect early season game for a coach like Buzz. Played a tight game, faced some adversity, lots of teaching points and, most importantly, got the win.

[BCHoopster]

The win is the most important.  Buzz really was out coached tonight.  The other coach made a defensive change and Buzz did nothing to really beat it.  Looked like a high school team
that did not know what to do.  Also, the passing against the semi press was atrocious.  The cross court by Cadougan was a high school freshman mistake, not even a college mistake.
The best thing you can take from this win is the ability to go back to the gym and coach there mistakes.  They have another cupcake, at least an average cupcake next week, then the
Badgers.  They will not play zone so MU will not have to worry about that.

[rocky_warrior]

Buzz really was out coached tonight

"I didn't do a great job of protecting our guys in the first half and I did that on purpose," said Williams. "I didn't use a timeout in the first half. This was the first time so far this year and there will be many times from here that we've been put to the fire a little bit and that's good for us. And this experience will grow us up. We were able to still win. But the experience will be helpful for us."

[TVDirector]

it looked to me that we started running on fumes after about 10 minutes or so..
4 games in 8 days--- travel--- smothering d and scoring nearly 100 3 games---

then a pretty effective zone just took its toll.

we seemed listless and lazy with passes and movement-  unlike when one guy could shake and drive man/man.

that lack of intensity carried over to defense as well.


no one looked crazy winded, but certainly more lethargic.


good to get that stretch out of the way and a title belt on.
and they figured out a way to hold on for the W.