Providence Minutes/Thoughts

[Boone]

Jake didn't deserve his 2nd half minutes. Certainly wasn't one of the vets who helped right the ship.

[chapman]

Forgot who it  was JJJ or dawson I believe that saved him from the most moronic pass I have seen in a while at half court while they were on their run.

JJJ.  One of several loose balls, saves, and deflections he had.  Hope Buzz sees them on tape since it's the kind of stuff he salivates over.

[PGsHeroes32]

JJJ.  One of several loose balls, saves, and deflections he had.  Hope Buzz sees them on tape since it's the kind of stuff he salivates over.

Yeah that's what I thought because I think the ball shortly went to dawson.  Great save.

[GGGG]

Jake didn't deserve his 2nd half minutes. Certainly wasn't one of the vets who helped right the ship.

Yeah I can go with that.

[brandx]

We don't need to win 3 games at the end of the season. 8-2 down the stretch. Losses at home vs Creighton and @ Nova. 20-11 (12-6). All 11 losses to top 100 RPI teams. We're in. To steal one from legs......doable

In the old BE, 20-11 gets you in. I don't think it does this year. They might have a chance with it if they win 2 BET games, but I still think they  need the conf. title.

[madtownwarrior]

Ners said:  "Saw Buzz put him in after a timeout... Providence came with full court pressure...we couldn't inbound..Dawson couldn't shake free..call timeout....Buzz yanks him.  That's the exact type of move I feel is too short of leash."


The person who sat next to me was all over Buzz for that one....

No why idea Jake play so many minutes...

[MU82]

My only real quibble was Jake playing so much in the second half.

If he's not making wide-open 3-pointers -- especially the time he hesitated for about an hour before he hoisted a brick -- he can't be on the floor. Buzz says he trusts Jake's defense, but those were two awful fouls.

I thought JJJ was really active defensively when he was in the game, especially in the first half, and would have liked to have seen him get a little run with the Gardner-Jamil-Mayo-Derrick unit in the second half. Maybe Dawson could have had a few minutes with that group, and/or Taylor.

Too much Jake.

As I've said numerous times: We will know we're finally a good team again when Jake isn't playing 15+ minutes because it means Buzz trusts somebody enough to leave Jake on the bench.

[Newsdreams]

Pretty good points (except #2), but getting a good win made me more pessimistic for the season. I see no way into the tournament since we have to win 3 in a row at the end of the season. We saw that when a game is competitive, it's gonna be Derrick (who had the best game of his career) & Jake on the floor and I don't see beating Creighton, Xavier, Nova with that lineup.

Buzz had a great game plan in the 1st half and it worked so well he abandoned it at halftime. I believe JJJ & Dawson had a combined 7 minutes in the 2nd half and I also don't see that changing.

No he did not abandon the game plan. He played ten different guys even during the Providence 16-0 run and then he went with the upperclassmen. Because Cotton was being ineffective, Providence adjusted and went to Henton. Henton had 0 pts in the first half and went for 18 in 2nd half. That helped Cotton who started being more effective.

[Rollout-the-Barrel]

Maybe it was because Marquette won, but I liked the way the game was officiated. Let them play a little, but didn't get out of hand. Better than a lot of the previous games IMO.

[BM1090]

In the old BE, 20-11 gets you in. I don't think it does this year. They might have a chance with it if they win 2 BET games, but I still think they  need the conf. title.

In the old BE 20-10 got us a 6 seed. 18-13 (9-9) got us in. Both of those records are without any BET games.

Two weeks ago I would have agreed with you, until I started checking out Lunardi's bracket. SMU and Saint Mary's are the last two in right now. THAT is how weak the field is at this point.

[PGsHeroes32]

I think it is well known here that Jake is one of 4 players I strongly dislike. But I thought he was fine.

For his size and athleticism he does get some nice boards and can control the ball without panicking.

I truly thought tonights lead was a team effort and the breakdown was a team effort. The one person s I said and even he wasn't horrible was Juan. He didn't show much but wasn't  very good.

[esotericmindguy]

Jake Thomas & Juan Anderson should NOT see the floor. I don't care if they work hard in practice, they aren't good enough to play for Marquette. Plain and simple.

As far as "vets" righting the ship. You need to rewind the tape. Marquette was up 17 when Buzz went back to the Wilson/Thomas back court and they made a run. I don't think its coincidental that Marquette had a great first half not playing Wilson and Thomas together.

[jesmu84]

I thought Buzz's choice of lineup in the second half was interesting. Against GT's zone, we went Dawson/Derrick, Thomas, Jamil, STJ, Gardner. Tonight we went Derrick, Jake, Mayo, Jamil, Gardner.  I honestly wonder what the decision behind that was. Personally, I think STJ is way better at the high/low against a 2-3 compared to Jamil. Especially when it was evident Jake wasn't hitting from the outside, plus Providence was scoring on the inside and still getting offensive rebounds, swapping Jake for STJ makes sense to me.

Edit 1: Perhaps Buzz wanted 4 ball handlers in for the press?

Edit 2: 2nd half offensive ball movement against the zone was awful. We were really only effective offensively in the second half off providence misses (so they didn't have time to set up the press or zone)

[MUfan12]

Buzz doesn't seem to want Mayo on the floor without Jake. I first noticed it in the Butler game, but their minutes tend to coincide.

At this point, I think their best five is Wilson, Mayo, Wilson, Taylor, and Otule. Todd has played mature basketball the past couple games, and I like Taylor on the glass. Otule might not score as much, but does a great job sealing driving lanes for Todd and Jamil.

Regardless, glad to see Buzz give the frosh some run tonight. I think he got a little scared by JJJ's quick 3 early in the second half, and didn't want them to start chucking. Unfortunately, the energy level dropped without those guys on the floor, and it took awhile for the vets to pick it up.

[brandx]

No he did not abandon the game plan. He played ten different guys even during the Providence 16-0 run and then he went with the upperclassmen. Because Cotton was being ineffective, Providence adjusted and went to Henton. Henton had 0 pts in the first half and went for 18 in 2nd half. That helped Cotton who started being more effective.

I believe Jake and Derrick had 34 out of 40 minutes in the 2nd half - in the first half, each of the 11 players had 7-12 minutes. Different game plan. Derrick played well tonite and deserved the minutes, but it does not bode well down the road because we know which way Buzz will go.

[brandx]

In the old BE 20-10 got us a 6 seed. 18-13 (9-9) got us in. Both of those records are without any BET games.

Two weeks ago I would have agreed with you, until I started checking out Lunardi's bracket. SMU and Saint Mary's are the last two in right now. THAT is how weak the field is at this point.

That is the one thing we got going for us. But I can see 6-4, but have a hard time seeing 8-2.

[T.V. Diener 34]

It's easy to say negative things about Jake after tonight... but let us not forget some of the big shots he has hit in a few games that have single handedly kept us in some games this season as well.  He's a streaky shooter and has the potential to get it going from beyond the arc... I agree that he didn't play well tonight but we still won.  While I don't think he should play 30 minutes per game, there's no way that I can agree that the guy shouldn't be seeing the floor.  He moves the ball quickly and plays hard on defense, even if his abilities are limited when it comes to the likes of JJJ... but even early in the game JJJ got beat on a backdoor cut to Cotton.  I think he makes a good option off the bench to spell JJJ/Mayo and play 15-20 a game with more minutes if he's knocking his 3's down.

[thehammock]

I like that Buzz shook things up a bit tonight; everyone contributed. Derrick played well. It wasn't always pretty but a solid W.

[forgetful]

JJJ.  One of several loose balls, saves, and deflections he had.  Hope Buzz sees them on tape since it's the kind of stuff he salivates over.

Yes he played good on the ball D and put on a lot of pressure.  Hustled non-stop.  Buzz loves that.  But he also repeatedly lost his man when playing off the ball. Fortunately, the guy with the ball didn't see it, so no harm done...but Buzz hates that.

That's the reason some of these kids aren't playing more.  They do some things great, but then give it all back with mistakes. 

[BallBoy]

As far as "vets" righting the ship. You need to rewind the tape. Marquette was up 17 when Buzz went back to the Wilson/Thomas back court and they made a run. I don't think its coincidental that Marquette had a great first half not playing Wilson and Thomas together.

I posted this in another thread but this is not true.  Wilson left up 14 and returned up 3.  The rest of the way MU was +8.  So the Vets did right the ship.

According to stat sheet play-by-play, Wilson played from 20 to the 15:43 mark.  Score 8-2. Team 8 points scored in 4:17 minutes

Dawson entered at 15:43.  Dawson played until the 11:45 (4 minute run).  He scored 2pts.  Score 11-5.  Team 3 points scored in 4 minutes

Wilson entered at 11:45 and played until 7:09 (4:30 run) Score is 20-10. Team 9 Points in 4:30. 

Dawson game in a 7:09 and played until 4:54 score is 24-10 (2:15 run) Team 4 points

Wilson comes in a 4:54 and plays to 2:12 (2:40 run) score is 26-12 Team 2 points

Dawson from 2:12 - 1:46 (:26 run) score is 28-14 Team 2 points

Derrick 1:46 - :55 (~1:00 run) score is 31-14 Team 3 points

Dawson :55 - 0 (:55 run) score is 31-14 0 points

First half
Derrick 21pts for but 9 points scored against
Dawson 10 points and 5 points against

Second half
Wilson plays 20 - 15:02 Team points 6 Score 37-23
Dawson plays 15:02 - 11:33 (3:30) Team point 0 score 37-34
Wilson plays 11:33 - end of game Score 61-50 24 Team points

Derrick Wilson 30 points.  Points against 25 points
Dawson 0 points  Points against 11 points

Overall
Wilson 51 points while in game. 34 point against
Dawson 10 points while in game.  16 points against with  3:30 offensive dry spell and 11-0 run

[Norm]

At this point, I think their best five is Wilson, Mayo, Wilson, Taylor, and Otule. Todd has played mature basketball the past couple games, and I like Taylor on the glass. Otule might not score as much, but does a great job sealing driving lanes for Todd and Jamil.

What? Your best 5 does not include the team's leading scorer, who led the team in points again in tonight's win? Oh, and he leads the team in rebounding too. No way Otule is playing better than Gardner.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I told you to inbox me... You didnt.. so guess we didnt... because we never set the stakes....

Great game tho.... I wanna be wrong on that for the rest of the year... As long as we win...

Fair enough. But for the record I did respond in the thread and laid out my offer for stakes.

[🏀]

I think the McDonalds All Americans should have received more minutes.

There's none on this team.

[CTWarrior]

Juan Anderson rarely has any positives. 

The one thing about Juan last night is that it looked like Buzz took his leash off and let him play.  He was aggressive.  He didn't accomplish much (anything), but I want every guy on the floor to have the mindset that it is OK to attack.  I think it pays off in the long run.

[Lennys Tap]

The one thing about Juan last night is that it looked like Buzz took his leash off and let him play.  He was aggressive.  He didn't accomplish much (anything), but I want every guy on the floor to have the mindset that it is OK to attack.  I think it pays off in the long run.

+1. While I totally understand playing within the system and to the scouting report, I don't like to see our guys playing scared. Aggressive but under control is the ideal - but it's a fine line not easy to walk.