Rutgers post-game thoughts

[connie]

Then you better be there in your blue spandex to provide the team with the energy they will need!

The new Blueteaux!

[Golden Avalanche]

I thought their crowd was terrible. My high school had a bigger student section.

Agree. People are just writing that it was hostile and RAC is so hard to play in because its regurgitated non-knowledge.

RU hasn't had a good crowd in there since Rice's first season. Even tonight when they pulled it up to 12 point lead the people weren't exactly fired up. Why? Because they knew what would happen.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Agree. People are just writing that it was hostile and RAC is so hard to play in because its regurgitated non-knowledge.

RU hasn't had a good crowd in there since Rice's first season. Even tonight when they pulled it up to 12 point lead the people weren't exactly fired up. Why? Because they knew what would happen.

Not saying the crowd was amazing or anything, but the venue is definitely tough.  We haven't exactly fared well there over the years (regardless of coach).  The three amigos' senior year we ***GASP*** only won by 5, their frosh year we lost by 7 (crazy snowstorm if I recall correctly). And some very good conference mates have struggled there this year.  11-6 (defacto 12-6 since they play DePaul next) Pitt lost by 5 and conference leader Georgetown only won by 6, just like us.  Yes we looked like crap in the 1H.  It was basically the same start as @SH except Mack hit a couple bombs to make it 10 instead of a much more manageable 4 (tied at half @SH).  We won tonight's 2H by 16, we won the 2H @ SH by 21. 

KenPom had us by 6, Vegas had us by 7.  We won by 6.  The sausage got made.  On to scoreboard watch Georgetown tomorrow night and spank a spiraling St. John's on Saturday.

[Niv Berkowitz]

A road conference win us a road conference win. Period. If u look at other top 25 teams and see they win on the road, most people say, "wow, so-and-so really got a scare but they pulled it out." Happens all the time.

In 48 hours this will be considered a tough road win that the better team stepped up when it counted. End of story. Take the W and move on.

[BCHoopster]

This is a perfect game for MU, the bigs (O'Tule and Gardner) got taken out of the game, won from the outside against a tough Mike Rice team, Rutgers hit shots in the first half,
particularly long 3's, second half MU D took over.  You need players to make shots,  Blue and Wilson were the leaders.  It would be nice if ever Anderson or Lockett could make
a shot, but they do not.  It is amazing how Lockett keeps trying to get to the hoop but is not quick enough.   Steve Taylor is a gamer, not sure why Lockett, plays as much as he
does, with Taylor and Wilson, but Buzz likes his toughness.  How many teams can substitute 5 players at one time?  Amazing.

[Wade for President]

How many teams can substitute 5 players at one time?  Amazing.

Loved that move.  It totally dumbfounded the commentators, and sparked a solid run to close out the game.

How many coaches have the team to pull that off, and if they do, how often do you see it?!?  Amazing indeed. 

[brewcity77]

Preseason I had us losing this game. Suffice to say, Rutgers hasn't met expectations, but I didn't think it'd be a walkover (picked us by 5 in prediction). There were times we could have let RU run away with it and didn't. I liked that. We got to 13 Big East wins, that's a big number, and have a chance to equal our best ever win total Saturday.

I never expect the road to be easy. Got a win, got a reminder we can't overlook anyone, let's go beat SJU Saturday.

[downtown85]

I think the key to taking this team out of its offensive rhythm is to play extended man-to-man way out to (and beyond) the 3 pt line.   Villanova and Rutgers did this and they actually stopped paint touches and passes into the post.  The only way to beat this is beat it off the dribble and then pass to the open guy when the defender helps. This is the difference between H1 and H2.   We started beating them off the bounce.  It really looked like we game planned Rutgers to zone us. 

[CTWarrior]

My thoughts...

**Crappy, crappy interior defense
**Gave up way too many offensive rebounds.  
**Too many turnovers

Grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind....find a way to win.

My thoughts exactly.

Also, after Steve Taylor rolled his ankle Jamil Wilson was wincing and flexing his arm and asked to be taken out and sat for a good stretch.  The announcers siad nothing about it, but for a few minutes there I was worried about a remainder of the season without Jamil Wilson and Steve Taylor.  Glad to see both came back.

Oh, yeah, we settled for too many outside shots for the first 25 minutes, too.  We are best when we force it inside.  Otule/Gardner both with poor nights on both ends of the floor.

[Blackhat]

Steve Taylor showed some offensive talent that I haven't seen out of a guy his size at MU in a long while.   Kid is gonna be as stud.

[damuts222]

Steve Taylor showed some offensive talent that I haven't seen out of a guy his size at MU in a long while.   Kid is gonna be as stud.

  Love the confidence he is starting to show and the confidence his team is showing in him as well.  There was a couple of times down low I thought he should've gotten the ball 1v1 where he had body position for an easy layup.  His play may be key tourney time, however I will be interested to see how his low post moves develop as next year he might be playing down low more.

[DCWarriors04]

How about the one time late in the game when he was wide open under the basket for a solid 5 + seconds and all Derrick Wilson did was dribble the ball and direct the offense. If I remember correctly I think that wound up being an empty possession. Taylor saw the opening in Rutgers defense but unfortunately D. Wilson showed why he is at best a backup point guard.

[Silkk the Shaka]

How about the one time late in the game when he was wide open under the basket for a solid 5 + seconds and all Derrick Wilson did was dribble the ball and direct the offense. If I remember correctly I think that wound up being an empty possession. Taylor saw the opening in Rutgers defense but unfortunately D. Wilson showed why he is at best a backup point guard.

I know exactly what you're talking about, and yes that was an empty possession.  I was screaming at DWilson to dump it down to him.  Instead, he passed it around the perimeter after dribble staring at STJr til he lost position.  I might be a bit overzealous in my Taylor fandom, but as a PG you gotta feed a guy when he works for that positioning, especially when we were starved for easy buckets at the time.

[Goose]

It is what it is. We played great second half against Syracuse and first half against ND and got me fired up. Reality is this team can beat all but 3-5 teams on a given night and lose to almost anyone on given night. We are a lovable but frustrating team if you like watching good basketball, which I do. Got the win and hit the bricks and move on to next one.

[MUWarrior4Life]

All I can say is chalk it up as A WIN........and also get well soon Fr Kelly!!!

[muarmy81]

Steve Taylor showed some offensive talent that I haven't seen out of a guy his size at MU in a long while.   Kid is gonna be as stud.

Steve has the natural talent to be a great one...you can see that.  he just makes things happen with the ball.  Unfortunately, you can also see that he was sometimes lost out there, mostly on some of the offensive sets.  Gardner or JWil pointing at him to get to a spot...but once he gets it, man he should be scary good.

[jficke13]

Steve has the natural talent to be a great one...you can see that.  he just makes things happen with the ball.  Unfortunately, you can also see that he was sometimes lost out there, mostly on some of the offensive sets.  Gardner or JWil pointing at him to get to a spot...but once he gets it, man he should be scary good.

He'll get it. It's a big jump from major HS bball to major college bball. The sky's the limit for STJr

[muarmy81]

He'll get it. It's a big jump from major HS bball to major college bball. The sky's the limit for STJr

agreed...I think he'll be a great one for us!

[DCWarriors04]

He'll get it. It's a big jump from major HS bball to major college bball. The sky's the limit for STJr

We'll notice a big leap next year I think out of Taylor, but I think it'll be his junior year when we see the biggest leap. 2 years of practice and learning from J. Wilson and Gardner will show by then.

[Tugg Speedman]

All I can say is chalk it up as A WIN........and also get well soon Fr Kelly!!!

+1

If you did not see the highlights on Sports Center last night, Alex Van Pelt made to comments ...

"Marquette is outperforming this year ... Marquette always outperforms, what else is new!"

"Marquette struggles on the road ... like every other team in college basketball."

The second comment is so true ... please keep that in mind.

[We R Final Four]

The one thing that I didn't understand about the game last night was the timing of our perimeter passing and the location of the #5.  I saw so many times last night--mostly with DG when he would slide over from the left to the right block and post up, just as the ball would be reversed to the opposite side around the perimeter.  DG would realize this and make his way back to the left block a few seconds later--just at the time the ball was been reversed back. Not on the same page. 

Say what you want about the road, but this aspect of our offense can be controlled whether it is on the road, home or neutral court.

[NavinRJohnson]

"Marquette struggles on the road ... like every other team in college basketball."

The second comment is so true ... please keep that in mind.

I don't know. You might want to go back and read the game thread. It's clear that being "terrible on the road" is something unique to Marquette. Of course there road record relative to the rest of college basketball supports that, so who am I to argue?

[mileskishnish72]

Thank God it wasn't on national TV or we would never have pulled it out.
Gotta start playing two halves of ball in this part of the season.

[radome]

It seems like I have watched so many games in which MU takes the lead and it is slowly whittled away be a superior team, ultimately resulting in a loss. It is nice to be on the good side of this one.

[Dr. Blackheart]

According to KenPom, MU has the #1 SOS in terms of opponents' defenses...although MU is #12 overall. No other team has played a bevy of better defenses. MSU is # 2 followed by USC and Nova. As a result MU has played at a lot slower tempo this season, so these road cloggers happen. It seems that when MU applied the press, the tempo increased, and MU moved into position for the win.

For subscribers:
http://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankSOSD