more andy katz

[spartan3186]

Marquette: Coach Tom Crean was matter-of-fact about Dominic James' deciding Sunday to return to school. The reality is that the Eagles now can essentially be the exact same team that beat Duke earlier last season and was a pest in the Big East and in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Michigan State.

James' return means the Eagles' four guards -- James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and David Cubillan -- are all back to cause havoc in the league. The key will be the continued development of forwards Ousmane Barro, Dan Fitzgerald and Lazar Hayward.

Crean was pretty high on the work ethic of this crew since the NCAA Tournament loss. Marquette will be one of the more experienced squads in the Big East, and with a loaded slate of home games the Eagles look ready to repeat last season's success and weakness -- tough to guard off the dribble and able to defend, but still looking for that consistent play in the post. If they find that, the Eagles could be a Final Four team.

[ecompt]

Loaded slate of home games? How does he know? I know we're playing at Madison and a pre-season tourney, right? And isn't the Big East going to 18 games, or is that the following year? So many questions.

[77ncaachamps]

Loaded slate of home games? How does he know? I know we're playing at Madison and a pre-season tourney, right? And isn't the Big East going to 18 games, or is that the following year? So many questions.

Sounds like a bunch of "cream puffs" at home a la 06-07 UCONN.