Creighton thoughts

[Dr. Blackheart]

As was I.  Absolutely crazy that they were allowed to get out of the backcourt without us committing multiple fouls forcing yet another inbound as the final 10 seconds drained.  Crazy that guys with supposedly high basketball IQs didn't recognize that.  Now from where I sit I was unaware that Wojo was calling for it.  At the time I was actually disappointed in him for not recognizing the situation himself.  Glad that's straightened out.

Two ways to go here I thought. To play aggressive Defense around the 1:40 mark where CU's lead was cut from four to two. Two quick fouls trying to trap. This would result in a reset shot clock so foul early each time and then play the full possession NU be in a position to be in the bonus in the last minute. If Carlino missed that three at the end, we would have been calling for Wojo's scalp for not fouling earlier.

Second was to call a time out immediately after Carlino's miss. Have them inbound in backcourt. Foul. Inbound again. Foul. Inbound again and play defense. Three inbounds plays would have taken up about 8 of the 11 seconds.  This is also why McD did not use his time outs.

As it was, CU took 8 seconds to get their first shot off, a pretty good look, and a tip at the buzzer. I can attest Wojo was running the sidelines grabbing his forearm indicating  tofoul but that should have been handled in the huddle like McD did as Wojo admitted post-game.

[MerrittsMustache]

2. Also glad Wojo has him playing vertical defense and getting his hands up.  However, he is now so interested in getting vertical that when someone simply sidesteps him he is not affecting the shot other than the sidestep.  He should be swatting at a shot whenever someone is physically separated from him.

Point is Luke is sometimes so focused on fundamentals that I feel like he is missing opportunities in rebounding and blocking/altering shots.

He needs to stay out of foul trouble. Get in the way, get those hands up, make the driver adjust and avoid the foul. If he attempted to block a shot whenever someone drove, he'd play about 10 minutes a game before fouling out.

[esotericmindguy]

Carlino always wants the ball. He is a huge CHUCKER!

Is this a joke? I ask honestly because you guys have a lot of dumb "inside" jokes that aren't funny. He shot 10 times and scored 19 points. His offensive rating this game was 145 and is 111.3 for the year. 111.3 is good for 465th in the country and 14th in the big east. But he's a chucker? Who else would you like taking the final shot, or any shot for that matter? Maybe Duane, but I'll still go with the Senior.

It's funny how people make opinions of a player early in the year, or after certain games and then feel the need to validate that opinion. Just admit he's a good offensive player, numbers don't lie.

[MUMonster03]

1. We need others to start hitting sots otherwise every coach will continue to double and triple team Luke.
2. Some of Luke's focus on fundamentals may be from Wojo on trying to cut down bad fouls.
3. JJJ may have not done anything on offense but seemed to be everywhere on D.

[Golden Avalanche]

1. No production from Fischer, Taylor and Anderson.   Turnover machines tonight.
2.  Fell in love with the 3 early and struggled to find an offensive rhythm the rest of the game.
3.  Not a ton of energy, except when in the 1-3-1.
4.  At some point, some home cooking officiating would be nice.  Couldn't get the 50-50 calls.
5.  1-3-1 is only effective in short bursts.
6.  Duane was the only one who wanted the ball in the second half. 
7.  Must make free throws.   Can't even blame Juan or Derrick tonight.
8.  But one miracle make and all is forgiven.
9.  Didn't deserve it, but take it and run.

I didn't see a miracle make. A miracle make would be everybody's love child Cadougan hitting from halfcourt to take UConn to overtime. Carlino made a contested three point jump shot going to his preferred side. Took balls to take and make. Silly to call it a miracle.

And silly to write Marquette didn't deserve to win. Both teams were atrociously bad on offense. Recency bias makes you think MU didn't "deserve" a win since it was the second half that they sucked but it takes some gumption to overcome playing that poorly in losing a double digit lead at home and not simply giving in to a subdued crowd.

[jsglow]

Two ways to go here I thought. To play aggressive Defense around the 1:40 mark where CU's lead was cut from four to two. Two quick fouls trying to trap. This would result in a reset shot clock so foul early each time and then play the full possession NU be in a position to be in the bonus in the last minute. If Carlino missed that three at the end, we would have been calling for Wojo's scalp for not fouling earlier.

Second was to call a time out immediately after Carlino's miss made 3. Have them inbound in backcourt. Foul. Inbound again. Foul. Inbound again and play defense. Three inbounds plays would have taken up about 8 of the 11 seconds.  This is also why McD did not use his time outs.

As it was, CU took 8 seconds to get their first shot off, a pretty good look, and a tip at the buzzer. I can attest Wojo was running the sidelines grabbing his forearm indicating  tofoul but that should have been handled in the huddle like McD did as Wojo admitted post-game.

I think I corrected your typo.  I agree on both counts.  I hated watching that time slip away when we needed more rather than fewer possessions.  When that worked out on a 'one shot deal' following the travel and the made Car3no, I would have taken the 5th and 6th team foul in the backcourt and/or on the distant perimeter.  With fouls to give, Creighton should not have gotten a good look. 

[MU82]

I didn't see a miracle make. A miracle make would be everybody's love child Cadougan hitting from halfcourt to take UConn to overtime. Carlino made a contested three point jump shot going to his preferred side. Took balls to take and make. Silly to call it a miracle.

And silly to write Marquette didn't deserve to win. Both teams were atrociously bad on offense. Recency bias makes you think MU didn't "deserve" a win since it was the second half that they sucked but it takes some gumption to overcome playing that poorly in losing a double digit lead at home and not simply giving in to a subdued crowd.

Agree on all of this.

We deserved to win every bit as much as Creighton did. Actually more, because, in the end, our boyz did what they had to do to win. Carlino hit the shot, their guy missed the much easier shot. Most of the time in sports -- not all of the time, but most -- the team that "deserves" to win does win.

As for Carlino's "miracle shot" ... he has taken -- and made -- many other shots this season that were at least as difficult as yesterday's game-winner. It's part of his role within our offense, similar to Mayo's role last season. Somebody has to be willing to take the contested jumper with the shot clock running down or with the game on the line.

Count me among those who doesn't get the Carlino-bashing on this board. Given everything I heard about him coming into the season, he actually has exceeded my expectations. Although he throws some bad passes (who doesn't?), he's a better passer than I thought he'd be. And though he occasionally loses the ball dribbling in traffic (who doesn't?), he is better at taking it to the hoop than I thought he'd be.

Has his defense and other shortcomings lost us any games? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure anybody can provide real evidence to say it has.

But I can confidently say that without him we'd have lost at least two of the games we have won (Georgia Tech and Creighton).

IMHO, Carlino has done exactly what Wojo brought him here to do. I'm glad he chose to finish his college career as a Warrior.

[jsglow]

Agree on all of this.

We deserved to win every bit as much as Creighton did. Actually more, because, in the end, our boyz did what they had to do to win. Carlino hit the shot, their guy missed the much easier shot. Most of the time in sports -- not all of the time, but most -- the team that "deserves" to win does win.

As for Carlino's "miracle shot" ... he has taken -- and made -- many other shots this season that were at least as difficult as yesterday's game-winner. It's part of his role within our offense, similar to Mayo's role last season. Somebody has to be willing to take the contested jumper with the shot clock running down or with the game on the line.

Count me among those who doesn't get the Carlino-bashing on this board. Given everything I heard about him coming into the season, he actually has exceeded my expectations. Although he throws some bad passes (who doesn't?), he's a better passer than I thought he'd be. And though he occasionally loses the ball dribbling in traffic (who doesn't?), he is better at taking it to the hoop than I thought he'd be.

Has his defense and other shortcomings lost us any games? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure anybody can provide real evidence to say it has.

But I can confidently say that without him we'd have lost at least two of the games we have won (Georgia Tech and Creighton).

IMHO, Carlino has done exactly what Wojo brought him here to do. I'm glad he chose to finish his college career as a Warrior.

+1.  I've not studied his tape from BYU but I suspect Matt's made real progress this year.  And if true, I'll give our coaching staff credit getting him more ready to potentially earn a paycheck somewhere next year.

[GGGG]

People who were bitching and moaning last year about needing a PG who can score, are now bitching and moaning that the point guard shoots too much. 

[Badgerhater]

Should have lost this one, should have beaten DePaul.  That is how it works with a team that is rebuilding.  Bad teams would have lost both because they wouldn't have been in a position to win or lose either one in the last minute.

Enjoy the win!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

People who were bitching and moaning last year about needing a PG who can score, are now bitching and moaning that the point guard shoots too much. 

People are the worst.

AND, for the record, Derrick (the guy everybody used to hate) had a pretty nice line last night:
6 pts
5 ast
3 Reb
3 stls
1 block (a HUGE block late in the game)

He missed a good look at a layup later in the game, and he had 2 turnovers as well, but overall, MU can live with a performance like this from Derrick.

With this said, overall, MU was pretty bad offensively last night, and Derrick played a role in that as well... so it's not all praise.

[MUfan12]

People are the worst.

AND, for the record, Derrick (the guy everybody used to hate) had a pretty nice line last night:
6 pts
5 ast
3 Reb
3 stls
1 block (a HUGE block late in the game)

Could have had two. He had a great closeout to block a corner three and force a shot clock violation. Then, a huge play with 2:45 left, down three. He and Juan got back after a turnover and blocked Chatman's layup. Juan was credited with it.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Actually I like Carlino. he and Duane are the ONLY TWO guys on this team you can count on to create shots at crunch time. None of the others can. My comment about him was meant for all those who denigrate Carlino--and there are plenty of them on this board. Hopefully Wojo hs figured out who should be the shooters at crunch time. It is one of those two. It isn't Derrick, it isn't Juan, etc.
You sure as hell have not "proven" Carlino to me.

It certainly doesn't seem like you like Carlino. You have called him a chucker repeatedly, despite it not being true. You've also spent the entire conference season talking about how Duane should be played over Carlino, despite Duane having an eight game stretch where he shot 5% from three and 33% from the floor. You have also repeatedly accused Wojo of benching Duane for mistakes but giving Carlino free range. I apologize if you meant all of these with love and I was just misinterpreting. But you might want to work on your delivery.

I also never said I had proven anything, I said it has been proven. I think it was Sultan who calculated the shots per minute of each player and proved that Duane and JjJ are the biggest chuckers we have on the team. I did show you the stats on Duane when he was in 8 game funk. But last night was a stellar performance from the kid, hopefully he has shaken the cobwebs off.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

People are the worst.

AND, for the record, Derrick (the guy everybody used to hate) had a pretty nice line last night:
6 pts
5 ast
3 Reb
3 stls
1 block (a HUGE block late in the game)

He missed a good look at a layup later in the game, and he had 2 turnovers as well, but overall, MU can live with a performance like this from Derrick.

With this said, overall, MU was pretty bad offensively last night, and Derrick played a role in that as well... so it's not all praise.

Yep, plus this:

Could have had two. He had a great closeout to block a corner three and force a shot clock violation. Then, a huge play with 2:45 left, down three. He and Juan got back after a turnover and blocked Chatman's layup. Juan was credited with it.

AND, he really should have had a fourth steal but the refs called a ticky tack foul still. Really thought that call was going to seal it.

[MerrittsMustache]

Carlino IS a bit of a chucker, but you know what? Someone on this team needs to shoot the ball. You want Juan and Derrick to get more shots? Carlino is averaging 9.4 shots per game and shooting nearly 40% from 3. It's not like he's firing up 20 shots/game while Dwyane Wade twiddles his thumbs and Novak is standing wide open behind the arc. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if Wojo wanted Carlino to chuck it more.

[Nukem2]

Carlino IS a bit of a chucker, but you know what? Someone on this team needs to shoot the ball. You want Juan and Derrick to get more shots? Carlino is averaging 9.4 shots per game and shooting nearly 40% from 3. It's not like he's firing up 20 shots/game while Dwyane Wade twiddles his thumbs and Novak is standing wide open behind the arc. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if Wojo wanted Carlino to chuck it more.

Interestingly, Derrick is shooting  50% from 3 in BE play.  Duane's 3 point shot looked much nicer last night as well.

[Lennys Tap]

Carlino IS a bit of a chucker, but you know what? Someone on this team needs to shoot the ball. You want Juan and Derrick to get more shots? Carlino is averaging 9.4 shots per game and shooting nearly 40% from 3. It's not like he's firing up 20 shots/game while Dwyane Wade twiddles his thumbs and Novak is standing wide open behind the arc. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if Wojo wanted Carlino to chuck it more.

+1. We have 8 guys. One (Fischer) never shoots from more than 5 feet. Two (Juan and Steve) shoot occasionally from in and out and are bad at both. One guard (Derrick) is epic bad from the outside while another (who shoots more often - JJJ) may be worse. Sandy can shoot but rarely plays. The rules demand a shot every 35 seconds - given this team I say chuck away to Carlino and (to a lesser extent) Duane.

[MarquetteDano]

He needs to stay out of foul trouble. Get in the way, get those hands up, make the driver adjust and avoid the foul. If he attempted to block a shot whenever someone drove, he'd play about 10 minutes a game before fouling out.

But what he is sometimes doing when he "gets in the way" is getting a block or body foul call.  That is why he is getting in foul trouble.  Fundamentals say you need to get in position before the shooter does.  I will give him credit, he does do it quite often.  But sometimes he is so focused on getting into position when he has no chance to.  I think he would actually have less fouls if he let the guy sidestep him and take a shot at the ball.

[brewcity77]

Carlino came in with a chucker reputation because he was one. Averaged 12.2 shots per game last year. This year he's only taking 9.4 per game. Interestingly enough, all his other numbers (rebounds, assists, steals) are also down. The one number that did jump up is his 3P%, he's hitting over 39% after being a consistent 33% shooter from range.

More than a chucker, this year Matt has been streaky. When he's on, he's great, when he isn't, he can be as much a negative as a positive.