NJIT thoughts

[tower912]

1.  Ugly wins are better than ugly losses.
2.  Wojo has a quick trigger for dumb mistakes.   (Deonte, Sandy, Carlino, Derrick)   He just doesn't have options to replace them.
3.   There were a couple of possessions in the second half with actual defense.   Not many, but a couple.
4.   Rebounding?    Time to bring back the tackling dummies.   Try not to break any bones.
5.   Duane continues to show flashes on offense.   I would be critical of his defense, but nobody is playing it well right now.   So celebrate the offense.
6.  STjr has to make bunnies against little guys.   And not get beat to so many rebounds.   
7.  Where would this team be without Juan?    Reading that, I just threw up a little in my mouth. 
8.  Anybody still predicting 20 wins and a tourney team?

[RubyWiscy]

Let's forget for a minute who we were playing. This was a gut check, character building win. This team is in new territory for MU vs. last 10 teams. Got a lot to figure out and little experience to fall back on. I say forget about post season and focus on the excitement of seeing players and the team develop. There is talent there and with experience it will eventually start to show. Relax and enjoy the ride.

[dgies9156]

I'm not optimistic but not giving up either.

This team needs Luke Fischer.

This team needs a leader.

Maybe we'll learn to play defense.

[jsglow]

Well said Ruby. We're going to lose a bunch this year. I want to see our team develop and will he focused on how Wojo holds them together through the process.

[Avenue Commons]

A Win Is A Win. Onto the next game.

[brewcity77]

1. Yes
2. Fischer will help. Marginally with depth, more by allowing guys to pay their natural positions.
3. Loved seeing it, even if sporadically.
4. Hopefully Fischer helps here too. In the short term, Georgia Tech will be a pain.
5. Of the younger players, Duane is the one I think Wojo would have recruited. Hopefully he can mostly play off the ball this year and be a true PG next.
6. Can we trade him for a clone of Dwight Burke?
7. Took Juan 4 years to look like that kid we saw YouTube clips of in high school.
8. I'll be happy with double digit wins and visible progress. Actually, I'll just take the progress. Ten wins may be too much to ask.

[BCHoopster]

The lack of growth from Deonte, JJJ and Dawson is perplexing. They are showing nothing, with the typical game from Derrick, and Carlino not really a point guard this team is going to struggle.
It is hard to believe that Derrick will not pull the trigger after taking 20,000 jump shots this summer, he has open looks all the time.  Can not see them winning any games until Fisher joins
the team.  Hope he brings more offense then Steve Taylor in the post.  Overall, pretty weak team.  As much as I like the recruits coming in, still needs a mid-size kid as Burton is not tall enough
and good enough to be a rebounder.  Should be interesting that is for sure.

[tower912]

I have been bearish on this team and counseling patience. Focus on the process and not the results.   I hold to that.    I think this team will get better.   I think that Wojo can coach.  I think there is talent, but the combination of talent isn't the best.   I think Luke will help, but he is not a savior.     I think that having only one proven scorer (who isn't scoring right now), no size, no depth, a new coach and a new system is inevitably destined to have struggles.   I have been saying it all along.   I didn't expect the struggles to start so soon, but I have always said that .500 was the ceiling for this team.    May they pull together and prove me wrong.  

[Anti-Dentite]

1.  Ugly wins are better than ugly losses.
2.  Wojo has a quick trigger for dumb mistakes.   (Deonte, Sandy, Carlino, Derrick)   He just doesn't have options to replace them.
3.   There were a couple of possessions in the second half with actual defense.   Not many, but a couple.
4.   Rebounding?    Time to bring back the tackling dummies.   Try not to break any bones.
5.   Duane continues to show flashes on offense.   I would be critical of his defense, but nobody is playing it well right now.   So celebrate the offense.
6.  STjr has to make bunnies against little guys.   And not get beat to so many rebounds.   
7.  Where would this team be without Juan?    Reading that, I just threw up a little in my mouth. 
8.  Anybody still predicting 20 wins and a tourney team?

There were flashes of defense in the second half, particularly when the run was made to get our huge 4 point lead and then...they let up again. Picked it up again with the game on the line at the end. It's a mindset that is just not there yet. This is gonna take a while....

[BCHoopster]

I have been bearish on this team and counseling patience. Focus on the process and not the results.   I hold to that.    I think this team will get better.   I think that Wojo can coach.  I think there is talent, but the combination of talent isn't the best.   I think Luke will help, but he is not a savior.     I think that having only one proven scorer (who isn't scoring right now), no size, no depth, a new coach and a new system is inevitably destined to have struggles.   I have been saying it all along.   I didn't expect the struggles to start so soon, but I have always said that .500 was the ceiling for this team.    May they pull together and prove me wrong.  

Tower, if that happens, 500 season, then Wojo is one of the great coaches of all time. 

[tower912]

I agree.   I thought .500 was the ceiling, not the starting point.   Right now, the only way that happens is if Luke is really good, really fast.    And that isn't fair to him. 

[Blackhat]

Duke defense isn't going to work here. Right now at least.

We need to play more of a condensed, pack line defense.    

Wojo needs to learn.   The good thing about Buzz was he had been around seen a lot of different ball.  Self made coach.

Wojo has seen McD's execute his high pressure d.   It does not work for all talent levels, especially when you haven't taught them/they haven't executed basic tenets of help defense.

[Dawson Rental]

The lack of growth from Deonte, JJJ and Dawson is perplexing. They are showing nothing, with the typical game from Derrick, and Carlino not really a point guard this team is going to struggle.
It is hard to believe that Derrick will not pull the trigger after taking 20,000 jump shots this summer, he has open looks all the time.  Can not see them winning any games until Fisher joins
the team.  Hope he brings more offense then Steve Taylor in the post.  Overall, pretty weak team.  As much as I like the recruits coming in, still needs a mid-size kid as Burton is not tall enough and good enough to be a rebounder.  Should be interesting that is for sure.

"The lack of growth from Deonte, JJJ and Dawson is perplexing"

Nah, it's just that Wojo has decided to throw the season.

[tower912]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588342

Box score.

[JTBMU7]

Again, I'm not sure everyone understands how short(talent, and height) this team is or bad it will be this year. It took a pretty marginal charge call to escape a disaster to ITT Tech. Forget all the rankings and Wojo  talk, this group will have over achieved if it matches last years record. The big east is pretty good so far, which is good for the conf, not for MU... Going to be a tough and humbling season...

[kmwtrucks]

You need more from SR guards then 0-10 and 1-5 for 1 point in 54 minutes.    they have played about 4500 minutes of HM Div 1 basketball between them, could you have a more experienced back court than that?   Also we got lucky with Derrick bringing up the ball late in the game.  Somebody should have fouled him.  That is bad scouting from the other coaching staff.  he is 56-128 for his career. 43%.  I give Duane credit for making his FT's and NJMITTI or what ever there name was for missing some easy mostly uncontested shots from in close and got a pretty bad call on the late charge.  I thought They changed that rule and I think that REf was calling it like it was 2-3 years ago.  He was in the air long before Juan was set.

[Blackhat]

Really surprised Wojo was actively calling for Derrick to get the ball in the last minute.  Trying to give him the benefit but that is just a dumb move.

[madtownwarrior]

Derrick playing this much, this team does suck...

[mattyv1908]

1.  This is not a good team, or at least the whole is playing worse than the collection of parts.  There is talent on the roster but little semblance of a team.

2.  I think Carlino is a detriment and not a benefit.  He doesn't fit with this group and if he was a sophomore I'd be ok with it as a rental senior on a bad team I don't get it.

3.  I think it's obvious that the Duane Wilson redshirt was really due to injury as I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have been one of our three best backcourt options last season.

4.  I wish Jamil Wilson played with Juan Anderson's heart last season and we might have been looking at a vastly different year last year.

5.  Defense is still as bad as I've ever seen.  Thankfully NJIT's shots didn't fall in the second half because they were open.

6.  The officials calling a much tighter second half should be the SotG.

7. The better team - the group of players that executed as a cohesive unit - lost tonight.

8.  Anybody clamoring for a little bit of Dawson need not worry, but it won't be in the games expected.  Since we're either losing or barely beating 200+ RPI teams he'll have plenty of garbage time when we get obliterated by any meaningful competition.

Sorry for being negative but this team is vastly underperforming to already extremely low expectations.  This team has the personnel to win 14-17 but will be lucky to win 10.  Wojo makes Mike McCarthy look like a fabulous x's and o's coach and that's saying something.

[brandx]

1.  This is not a good team, or at least the whole is playing worse than the collection of parts.  There is talent on the roster but little semblance of a team.

2.  I think Carlino is a detriment and not a benefit.  He doesn't fit with this group and if he was a sophomore I'd be ok with it as a rental senior on a bad team I don't get it.

3.  I think it's obvious that the Duane Wilson redshirt was really due to injury as I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have been one of our three best backcourt options last season.

4.  I wish Jamil Wilson played with Juan Anderson's heart last season and we might have been looking at a vastly different year last year.

5.  Defense is still as bad as I've ever seen.  Thankfully NJIT's shots didn't fall in the second half because they were open.

6.  The officials calling a much tighter second half should be the SotG.

7. The better team - the group of players that executed as a cohesive unit - lost tonight.

8.  Anybody clamoring for a little bit of Dawson need not worry, but it won't be in the games expected.  Since we're either losing or barely beating 200+ RPI teams he'll have plenty of garbage time when we get obliterated by any meaningful competition.

Sorry for being negative but this team is vastly underperforming to already extremely low expectations.  This team has the personnel to win 14-17 but will be lucky to win 10.  Wojo makes Mike McCarthy look like a fabulous x's and o's coach and that's saying something.

I think you just shot yourself in the foot. To make a point about bad coaches - maybe you'd want to use.... I don't know..... a bad coach rather than one who wins 2/3 of his games.

[mattyv1908]

I think you just shot yourself in the foot. To make a point about bad coaches - maybe you'd want to use.... I don't know..... a bad coach rather than one who wins 2/3 of his games.

McCarthy is a horrible situational coach, makes poor midgame adjustments and should have the challenge flag permanently stripped from his possession and he looks like a genius compared to what I've seen through four games so far with MUBB 2014.  You may disagree but the other serious candidate for the coaching job (Peyton) would have at least 2-3 Lombardi trophies in the same stretch.  If you think McCarthy is a good coach that's you're opinion.  He may be a great OC, but a quality head coach he is not yet get's bailed out by outstanding QB play regardless of if it was Favre or Rodgers.

[Ellisium]

McCarthy is a horrible situational coach, makes poor midgame adjustments and should have the challenge flag permanently stripped from his possession and he looks like a genius compared to what I've seen through four games so far with MUBB 2014.  You may disagree but the other serious candidate for the coaching job (Peyton) would have at least 2-3 Lombardi trophies in the same stretch.  If you think McCarthy is a good coach that's you're opinion.  He may be a great OC, but a quality head coach he is not yet get's bailed out by outstanding QB play regardless of if it was Favre or Rodgers.

Payton only has 1 superbowl trophy, all due to the fact that the Vikings gave away the NFC Championship game.  Take away Brees and that team is the worst team in the league.  Go win a game on the road Payton. 

[Tums Festival]

McCarthy is a horrible situational coach, makes poor midgame adjustments and should have the challenge flag permanently stripped from his possession and he looks like a genius compared to what I've seen through four games so far with MUBB 2014.  You may disagree but the other serious candidate for the coaching job (Peyton) would have at least 2-3 Lombardi trophies in the same stretch.  If you think McCarthy is a good coach that's you're opinion.  He may be a great OC, but a quality head coach he is not yet get's bailed out by outstanding QB play regardless of if it was Favre or Rodgers.

So after 4 games you've already decided Wojo is a bad coach? Should we fire him then and hire Ben Howland since he's known as a defense-first coach? Give me a break. It's way too early to accurately know what kind of a coach Wojo is going to be. He's learning along with the rest of the team and the chances are probably better than 50-50 he'll improve as time goes on. When K started out at Duke he went 17-13 his first year with a team that was 2 years removed from the NCAA title game. He then went 21-34 his next two seasons. Would you say K is a pretty good coach now? Is he a better coach today than he was when he first started out? Yes it sucks to lose, or barely beat a bad team, but things aren't going to be like this forever. There is help on the horizon.

[Avenue Commons]

To say that the season will be a disaster is to accept that this team will not improve. There's no where to go but up. They will get better and they will compete. Remember, this is the same team that was competitive with OSU.

[GGGG]

1. Mike McCarthy is a very good football coach.  He might be the best locker room coach I have seen in Green Bay.

2.  Wojo looks like a freshman coach. I think there are some things that he could have done better with regards to defense and rebounding. New coaches can struggle. If they are smart, and I think he is, he will get better.

3. Duane Wilson is going to be good. If Carlino doesn't stop sucking, Duane should be point.

4. Outside of Juan, I see no improvement from any returning player.

5.  I feel bad for Dawson and want to see him out there.