When the thrill of the win wears off

[NotAnAlum]

We're going to have to acknowledge how truly pathetic our offense was particularly in the second half against the worst team in the BE.  I'm starting to get a little concerned about whether Wojo and staff can come up with an offensive game plan that will work with this team.  Now its true that as a whole these guys are very poor passers and not particularly good shooters.  But McDermott has to deal with even greater limitations on their end and he is able run offensive plays that get his guys open looks.  We had 8 days to prepare for this game, most of which was without school in session.  Watching the games from the stands I don't remember one time thinking "Wow that worked well".  I'll give the staff credit on the defensive side.  Some of the variations of the zone show some innovation and seem to be working well.  But the offensive seems to worse now than in Orlando and that is concerning.

[PGsHeroes32]

Hopefully things will never reach the levels of awfulness from tonight again but we will be inconsistent.

We were really nice against Prov who has a tone of length and pretty good just sloppy vs Gtown. But we are also prone to long ineptness like DePaul and today.

The issue is we have inexperience, not enough shooters and lack of size next to Luke. So we can be prone to bad games.

Next year things should look a lot better as we have way more experience for 5 of our guys. More size to help out Luke and really give us some down low strength. And some more shooting.

Things will be tough this year. But tonight was pretty inexcusable how bad things were.

[MUfan12]

When they watch the film, I want them to see how quickly Creighton moves the ball in the halfcourt offense.

MU either plays at 1000 mph or at a snail's pace. Need to find a middle ground the halfcourt. Part of the problem is the guards are in love with the dribble, sometimes they just need to keep the ball moving.

[Wade for President]

We're going to have to acknowledge how truly pathetic our offense was particularly in the second half against the worst team in the BE.  I'm starting to get a little concerned about whether Wojo and staff can come up with an offensive game plan that will work with this team.  Now its true that as a whole these guys are very poor passers and not particularly good shooters.  But McDermott has to deal with even greater limitations on their end and he is able run offensive plays that get his guys open looks.  We had 8 days to prepare for this game, most of which was without school in session.  Watching the games from the stands I don't remember one time thinking "Wow that worked well".  I'll give the staff credit on the defensive side.  Some of the variations of the zone show some innovation and seem to be working well.  But the offensive seems to worse now than in Orlando and that is concerning.

While I will not discredit anything that you are saying, I would simply request hitting the 'enter' button a time or two.  Just looking at your post makes me tired.

[brewcity77]

A win is a win. At the end of the year, no one will pine about the second half offense, but if it comes to a postseason bid, we'll be glad we got this one. Not pretty, but I'd rather an ugly win over a pretty loss every day of the week. Because no one's greatest memories are ever "that time we almost beat" anyone.

[Texas Western]

We're going to have to acknowledge how truly pathetic our offense was particularly in the second half against the worst team in the BE.  I'm starting to get a little concerned about whether Wojo and staff can come up with an offensive game plan that will work with this team.  Now its true that as a whole these guys are very poor passers and not particularly good shooters.  But McDermott has to deal with even greater limitations on their end and he is able run offensive plays that get his guys open looks.  We had 8 days to prepare for this game, most of which was without school in session.  Watching the games from the stands I don't remember one time thinking "Wow that worked well".  I'll give the staff credit on the defensive side.  Some of the variations of the zone show some innovation and seem to be working well.  But the offensive seems to worse now than in Orlando and that is concerning.

I have deep concerns about our offensive strategy , tactics and substitution patterns. I agree that the defensive strategy and tactics are viable.

[MUfan12]

I have deep concerns about our offensive strategy , tactics and substitution patterns.

They have 8 f*cking players.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I have deep concerns about our offensive strategy , tactics and substitution patterns. I agree that the defensive strategy and tactics are viable.

I might of played Sandy for a minute or two more but other than that I don't think I would have changed the substitutions at all.

[MUeng]

Wasn't able to watch the game. Can someone explain why luke only took 3 shots??  The guards still learning how to play with an actual center? I guess I ruin myself with the NBA sometimes...

[Daniel]

Wasn't able to watch the game. Can someone explain why luke only took 3 shots??  The guards still learning how to play with an actual center? I guess I ruin myself with the NBA sometimes...

Got two fouls early in first half and sat out a lot He scored the first two points of the game and never again. We did a poor job getting him the ball, and he bobbled the ball a couple of times. Not a good night for offensive execution, but we take the win!

[79Warrior]

They have 8 f*cking players.

We had seven players. Steve Taylor does not count as he does absolutely nothing.

[westcoastwarrior]

I don't get why next year we will be better.  Next year our bench is going to even shorter.  We will only have 6 guys with college ball experience....one who has sat out a year....plus no true point guard. 

Tonight's game was a gift.

[PGsHeroes32]

I don't get why next year we will be better.  Next year our bench is going to even shorter.  We will only have 6 guys with college ball experience....one who has sat out a year....plus no true point guard. 

Tonight's game was a gift.

You drunk? How will the bench be shorter? We have 10 guys on roster already with 1 of the new guys being a Top 10 recruit. This is all before we even get into the real possibly of a grad transfer and/or JUCO.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The 88 MU offensive efficiency was the lowest in a win since the Murray State game (87).  Very rare to win playing that way offensively.

[kryza]

We will only have 6 guys with college ball experience

As opposed to the four guys we had this year? Add in all the playing time those 6 are getting and it seems like a big step up IMO.

[Tums Festival]

Scoop is only happy when we win by double figures. If we lose, even to a better team, or don't win by enough Scoop is there to find fault in something. Early in the season everyone was complaining about the team's defense. Wojo and staff have worked hard with the team and with Luke's addition, the team is now better defensively than it was back in November.

So now the complaint is the offense and how certain players have become "useless" because they don't score enough. Never mind that EVERY team has bad games and it will certainly happen again because this team just doesn't have all the parts.

This season we will continue to see inconsistency but help is on the way and things will get better.

[rocket surgeon]

Scoop is only happy when we win by double figures. If we lose, even to a better team, or don't win by enough Scoop is there to find fault in something. Early in the season everyone was complaining about the team's defense. Wojo and staff have worked hard with the team and with Luke's addition, the team is now better defensively than it was back in November.

So now the complaint is the offense and how certain players have become "useless" because they don't score enough. Never mind that EVERY team has bad games and it will certainly happen again because this team just doesn't have all the parts.

This season we will continue to see inconsistency but help is on the way and things will get better.

right on!!  cheezus, we didn't know what we were getting this year and  notanalum is acting as though we were a preseason top 10?  i am really pleased to see that wojo has shown that he is the real deal in his first year.  how?  the guys play hard for him, we've won a few nice games, and he has attracted some good/great potential recruits-they've had enough confidence in him to make probably the most important decision of their life at this point-to come to the warriors

[MU82]

We're going to have to acknowledge how truly pathetic our offense was particularly in the second half against the worst team in the BE.  I'm starting to get a little concerned about whether Wojo and staff can come up with an offensive game plan that will work with this team.  Now its true that as a whole these guys are very poor passers and not particularly good shooters.  But McDermott has to deal with even greater limitations on their end and he is able run offensive plays that get his guys open looks.  We had 8 days to prepare for this game, most of which was without school in session.  Watching the games from the stands I don't remember one time thinking "Wow that worked well".  I'll give the staff credit on the defensive side.  Some of the variations of the zone show some innovation and seem to be working well.  But the offensive seems to worse now than in Orlando and that is concerning.

Every perimeter player except Carlino had open shots -- often wide-open shots -- all game long. When the shots go in, we look OK. When the shots don't, we look bad.

We need lots of things, and we will be adding lots of things for next season. What we desperately need are more people who can make shots and more who can move the ball quickly and accurately.

[bilsu]

Got two fouls early in first half and sat out a lot He scored the first two points of the game and never again. We did a poor job getting him the ball, and he bobbled the ball a couple of times. Not a good night for offensive execution, but we take the win!

Creighton had a big center and he does not play well against big centers who play in position. One of the reasons Fischer has high shooting percentage is that he will not force shots. He reminds me of Novak in that I always thought Novak refused to take any shots he was likely to miss. A few passes to Fischer were horrible passes that he did not have much chance of grabbing. You do not pass to a 7 footer's feet.

[jsglow]

I remind myself that were simply not very good this year.  But the kids play hard and represent the program well.  I hope we can string together enough to earn an NIT bid.  Reinforcements will be on the way after that.

[hairy worthen]

Creighton had a big center and he does not play well against big centers who play in position. One of the reasons Fischer has high shooting percentage is that he will not force shots. He reminds me of Novak in that I always thought Novak refused to take any shots he was likely to miss. A few passes to Fischer were horrible passes that he did not have much chance of grabbing. You do not pass to a 7 footer's feet.

Or he caught the ball in a difficult position, where he couldn't do anything with it.

[4everwarriors]

Even a bad BJ, is still a BJ, aina?

[21rooster]

Whiners will whine. 

MU won an exciting game.  MU has one more loss than conference leader Nova.  MU has held court at home, and was right there in each of its road games.  Was tonight pretty?  No.  Does it count in the win column?  Yes.  Were those last 20 seconds as exciting as it gets?  Yes...and I'll take that all day. 

Anyone complaining the offense, substitutions or the number of shots by Luke...teams are packing it in, challenging our guards to hit open threes.  We are getting wide open looks...but guys have to knock down the shots. My guess is that Wojo's recruits will have a greater focus on shooting, but he's playing the hand he was dealt this year.  He can design the offense to get the open shots, but he can't make the shots for them. 

And to the poster complaining about Derrick's game (can't remember if that was this thread or the other one), he hit two of three 3-point attempts (at a key point in the game), had five assists, three steals, and a block easily offset his two turnovers.  Last night was another addition to Derrick's solid senior season.  Other guys struggled last night, but Derrick was pretty good. 

[mu03eng]

I have deep concerns about our offensive strategy , tactics and substitution patterns. I agree that the defensive strategy and tactics are viable.

What strategy and tactics would you deploy that Wojo hasn't?  We had a ton of open looks last night that didn't fall.  Creighton packed the lane and game planned to eliminate Luke, what tactics would you use to counter act this?  What is your concern with Wojo's offense?

Honestly, while the results haven't always been pretty, my biggest concern was Wojo's game planning and in-game adjustments.  I think he has exceeded my expectations and has shown an ability to learn and adjust.  I'm confident that 3 years from now we will look back on posts like yours as a thing of wonder that we ever doubted him.

[MerrittsMustache]

Marquette really has no one who can consistently create his own shot. MU is 13th in the nation in Assists per FG (top 4%). That's not because of having dynamic PGs who constantly drive and dish/kick for open looks. It's because they don't have a guy to give the ball to and let him work. There's not much margin for error when your team is built that way offensively which is why MU is prone to long stretches of empty offense. I really think that Duane can be that type of player eventually, but he's not there yet. JJJ has some of it in his game as well, but is a bit out of control.