Bilas on Marquette

[MisterJaylenBrownMU]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/bilas_jay/id/7655880/marquette-final-four-chances-more-big-east-questions-ncb

1. Are the Marquette Golden Eagles a Final Four-caliber team?

Yes, with a good draw. Marquette does not have great size, but Buzz Williams has two star-caliber players who can take over a game in Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom, and Marquette does a great job of punching the lane off the bounce and getting to the foul line. This is a dangerous team that is capable of beating anyone.

[Warriors 79]

Well, there you go.  I mean, if St. Jay (Dukie but he likes Marq) Bilas says it, it must be true.

What say you to that Digger (How I got a gig at ESPN I'll never know) Phelps?  (Ans: he was hired for comic relief)

[Goose]

DREAM BIG!!! Seasons like this do not happen often. BE tourney is nice but the real games are a week away.

[boyonthedock]

Its kinda cool that Jay Bilas has liked every MU team for like 7 years now. Its about time we make him look smart!

[klyrish]

DREAM BIG!!! Seasons like this do not happen often. BE tourney is nice but the real games are a week away.

Seriously...I'm trying to keep my hopes in/down but it's just so incredibly difficult to do so, especially considering how much Jae and Wilson have stepped up since Gardner went out. I really think everything is coming together for this to be our year. And the fact it's in NOLA again only further helps cement that thought in my head and make me want it more...it's almost like a redo for 2003.

[Dawson Rental]

Well, there you go.  I mean, if St. Jay (Dukie but he likes Marq) Bilas says it, it must be true.

What say you to that Digger (How I got a gig at ESPN I'll never know) Phelps?  (Ans: he was hired for comic relief)

My plan to hit it big and retire is to develop a line of pinstripe highlighters and get Digger to endorse them.

[gmhfordham1015]

Team from 2003 got a 3 seed and finished as 16th in Kenpom rankings.
2012: in line for 3 seed and 16th right now.
Coincidence?

[dwaderoy2004]

Yes.

[thekahoona]

What I've always liked about Bilas is what I like about Buzz. They're both  "You gotta earn everything" guys.

[the eagle]

Team from 2003 got a 3 seed and finished as 16th in Kenpom rankings.
2012: in line for 3 seed and 16th right now.
Coincidence?

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't that final four in New Orleans?  Hmmmm......

[MU82]

Bilas is the best.

While the rest of the ESPNers shill for "their schools" and kiss every coach's ass, you'd really never know Bilas was a Dukie if his broadcast partners didn't mention it to him. And he gives coaches credit for good work but doesn't automatically think they're all wonderful.

His analysis, whether in games or in the studio, is always intelligent and insightful. As is the case with everybody who is asked to make predictions, his prognostications will be wrong fairly often, but that doesn't mean he lacks knowledge.

If only they all were as good as Bilas.

[NCAARules]

His analysis, whether in games or in the studio, is always intelligent and insightful.

When it comes to basketball analysis, I totally agree.

However, I hate it when he goes off on an NCAA critique/rant, which he does far too often, and with too narrow a lens.

[ringout]

When it comes to basketball analysis, I totally agree.

However, I hate it when he goes off on an NCAA critique/rant, which he does far too often, and with too narrow a lens.

Don't always agree with Bilas on his NCAA rants, but these rants are always well thought out.

[klyrish]

Bilas is the best.

While the rest of the ESPNers shill for "their schools" and kiss every coach's ass, you'd really never know Bilas was a Dukie if his broadcast partners didn't mention it to him. And he gives coaches credit for good work but doesn't automatically think they're all wonderful.

His analysis, whether in games or in the studio, is always intelligent and insightful. As is the case with everybody who is asked to make predictions, his prognostications will be wrong fairly often, but that doesn't mean he lacks knowledge.

If only they all were as good as Bilas.

Couldn't agree with this more. Especially when it comes to his NCAA rants.

[john31]

DREAM BIG!!! Seasons like this do not happen often. BE tourney is nice but the real games are a week away.

Dream Big... no way this the pleasant reality that we face.. Sweet 16 or better!! For years to come.... Go Warriors!!!

[bilsu]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

[brewcity77]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

Cincy has a good team. They're a tourney lock. Are they much worse than the Miami team that beat Duke, or the Davidson team that beat Kansas, or the Oklahoma State team that beat Missouri, or the Illinois team that beat Michigan State and Ohio State?

Cincy's better than any of those teams, honestly, it's not even close. Good teams can beat great ones. Just because we lost a game doesn't make us any less of a contender than those other top-ten teams.

[MUrugger]

The comment before the previous one sounds like it's coming from one of those guys who has his "I-told-you-so" locked, loaded and ready to fire.

Thing is, when that gun jams, the would be marksman often goes mute.  "Hey, I was wrong," just isn't in their vocabulary.

I'd rather be overly optimistic-especially about this team, and then feel miserable if things go south.  I'd take that any day over a smug statement predicting doom that I can somehow feel good about if it comes to fruition.

[mug644]

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't that final four in New Orleans?  Hmmmm......

In the immortal words of Steven Wright, "24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not."

[tower912]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

Or, you could look at it as we are 72 hours away from a 25-6 regular season with no 'bad' losses.   5-6 losses to shoo-in tourney teams, 5-6 losses away from home.   Sorry, bilsu, but this is a season to celebrate, not lament the fact that we lost on the road to a tourney team on their senior night.     This is a good team.   If things fall into place and they continue to perform.......

[NavinRJohnson]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

And even more recently we looked very good against Georgetown. If you're silly enough to base your assessment on one game, why not that one?

Sometimes you lose, and they may well do so tonight, but that doesn't suddenly make you a bad team, it means you lost. Just as an impressive win over Georgetown doesn't guarantee them a spot in the Final Four. Marquette is a very good team that is more than capable of winning this tournament, and as I said earlier, if they win tonight, I believe they will win this tournament.

[MUMac]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

Some choose the outlier as the norm, others view it for what it was ... an outlier.

[MU82]

We are one game away from looking very bad against Cincy. I do not know where your confidence comes from.

And we are only 24 years removed from being 10-18 under Bob Dukiet.

About as relevant.

[mu_hilltopper]

The Cincy game showed Marquette that .. a solid team that comes out and plays with their hair on fire can beat Marquette if they don't match the intensity.

The season as a whole shows that MU can come out flat, get down early (and triumph) .. that formula may or may not work when the loser gets on a bus and is done for the year.

#3 seeds have lost 16 times since they went to 64 teams.   It happens.

Play 40 minutes, play hard, no injuries = optimistic.   Don't do that, and the chances go down.

[Hoopaloop]

Some choose the outlier as the norm, others view it for what it was ... an outlier.

How about both of you are right?  In my view you both are.

Consider the following.  All NCAA games are on neutral or semi-neutral courts.  Not home games for MU.   In the last 5 games MU played away from the Bradley Center against sure fire NCAA teams, we lost four and won one.

At Georgetown  lost 73-70
At Syracuse  lost 73-66
At Notre Dame lost 76-59
At Cincinnati lost 72-61
At UCONN  won 79-64  (honestly, would anyone have said they were a sure fire NCAA team as of last week?)

If we believe West Virginia is a sure fire selection to the dance, then we would be 2-4 with a win 61-60.

So that data lends to Bilsu's concern.  He's not saying we are going to lose, in my opinion.


On the other hand, if you don't view things from a home vs away perspective, then the confidence should be soaring after MU's wins over a number of NCAA teams

Louisville at the BC
Georgetown at the BC
South Florida at the BC (assuming USF gets in)
Wisconsin at the Kohl
Washington at a neutral site (assuming they get in)


I say you're both right, and there are arguments to support both positions.