Is this year's team better than last year's team?

[willie warrior]

Yeah the only roster change at Marquette over the last 5 seasons is Derrick Wilson has become the point guard.

Some people are really, really dumb.

....Says Wadesworld looking in a mirror. When your argument is failing always resort to slapping the table and  name calling.

[wadesworld]

....Says Wadesworld looking in a mirror. When your argument is failing always resort to slapping the table and  name calling.

...my point exactly.

[mu03eng]

I think we will be hard presses to exceed 9-9 in the Big East. Whereas last year Derrick was an anchor , this year he is a ceiling.

I agree with your Big East prediction, but Derrick Wilson is not what will limit this team.  Carlino, and Steve Taylor are bigger liabilities currently in this season than Derrick Wilson is.  For example there is a noticeable difference in the 1-3-1 without Derrick running the baseline 1, that's not something that shows up on stat sheets.

If Derrick played exactly as he is, but Teve were able to produce 25 min a game at 8 pt and 7 boards(which isn't that much higher than his 23.9, 5.7, 4.9 averages) a game I'd up my prediction to 10-8 or 11-7.

[mu03eng]

You do realize that last years team was picked to win the BigEast and went 17-15 with Derrick playing 30.8 minutes per game.
You do realize that last years team did not make a post season tourney with Derrick playing 30.8 minutes per game.
So please don't get carried away with Derrick playing 30.8 minutes per game and making the team much better than last year.

You do realize your point means nothing right?  I don't think Derrick is playing all star basketball by any means, but he is playing as many minutes as Texas had as his threshold and is contributing more this than last year with less talent especially in the front court.  Marquette is not at it's record because Derrick is awesome, but Derrick is also probably ranked 14 out of 15 reasons why Marquette isn't playing better.

[mu03eng]

I am not sure I agree with this analysis of the Big East.  You can't just say some teams are better and some are worse.  The average Sagarin rating for the Big East in 2013-14 was 80.63 which was good for 5th place.  This year it is 82.98 which is good for 2nd place.  RPI last year was .5570 (4th place).  This year:  .5902 (2nd place).

The Big East is better this year.  Thus, if we finish 9-9 we will have played better than the year before.  Especially considering we have had a better non-con this year than last year.  Our two best non-con wins last year were GW (RPI#36) and Southern (#176).  This year they are Tenn (#53) and G'Tech (#74).  Even the ASU win is rated higher than Southern.

If we finish 7-11 in the Big East I would agree we are about equal to last year.  If we win eight games or more in the Big East then this team is better.

I agree with everything here.....which is why we have to respect the process.  That's where I don't get where Texas is coming from.  Under any metric I can think of as well as the eye test this team is better than last year AND is showing signs of improvement through the season.

Yes the Creighton game was somewhat crap, but they won the game, last years team wouldn't have(subjective opinion alert).  Also watching the games, I see the strategies morphing and adjusting, last year I didn't.  I think Wojo is coaching his butt off, he's got plenty of places to improve but I've seen improvement in all those places so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't continue to improve.

[MU82]

This year's team gives hope.

Last year's team stole hope and replaced it with resignation.

[UticaBusBarn]

Paint Touches ‏@PaintTouches  2 hours ago
Looking at KenPom, #mubb has the best defense (95.6 D Efficiency) and worst offense (95.6 O Efficiency) in Big East play.

To be a good offensive team you need, more than anything, talent. The only way to be good defensively is to play as a team. The first is all about recruiting, and the second is all about coaching.

This year is the better team, as a team. And, as with all defensively orientated teams, when they win, it is often ugly.

I like tend to like ugly sports teams.

[Lennys Tap]

This year's team wins 51-50 as Derrick '15 nails a last second three over the outstretched hand of Derrick '14. Many (Ners, Wojo's Mojo, Willie, etc., etc.,) blame the 2014's team loss on Derrick '14 and say they would have won easily if John Dawson had played 30 minutes at the point. Willie calls Derrick '14 and Derrick '15 an elite game changer and Buzz a lonesome cowboy.

[bilsu]

I am not sure I agree with this analysis of the Big East.  You can't just say some teams are better and some are worse.  The average Sagarin rating for the Big East in 2013-14 was 80.63 which was good for 5th place.  This year it is 82.98 which is good for 2nd place.  RPI last year was .5570 (4th place).  This year:  .5902 (2nd place).

The Big East is better this year.  Thus, if we finish 9-9 we will have played better than the year before.  Especially considering we have had a better non-con this year than last year.  Our two best non-con wins last year were GW (RPI#36) and Southern (#176).  This year they are Tenn (#53) and G'Tech (#74).  Even the ASU win is rated higher than Southern.

If we finish 7-11 in the Big East I would agree we are about equal to last year.  If we win eight games or more in the Big East then this team is better.

I do not care about the RPI. The argument is whether this year's MU team is better than last year's. I simply looked at each team and decided if this year's team would beat last year's team. It is clear cut that last year's Creighton team would beat this year's Creighton team. It is less clear cut that this years Villanova team would beat last years Villanova team. This years St. John's team might be better than last year's St. John's at the same time, but it is not better than how St. John's was playing at the end of last season. I believe last year's Providence team was better than this year's Providence team. 2015 Butler is definitely better than 2014 Butler and so on for each team.

[bilsu]

I do believe overall all that there are less goods teams in college basketball this year, which helps to inflate our conference RPI.

[willie warrior]

This year's team wins 51-50 as Derrick '15 nails a last second three over the outstretched hand of Derrick '14. Many (Ners, Wojo's Mojo, Willie, etc., etc.,) blame the 2014's team loss on Derrick '14 and say they would have won easily if John Dawson had played 30 minutes at the point. Willie calls Derrick '14 and Derrick '15 an elite game changer and Buzz a lonesome cowboy.

Once again Lenny, as usual, you are wrong. I never said we would have won easily with Dawson over Derrick. Last year, Derrick was our only option at point, thanks to the stubborn wanna be cowboy. This year, we have several options at point. If you want to fantasize about Derrick making a game winning 3, that's your business. Let me know when that happens.

[tower912]

If both teams played to the best of their ability, last year's team wins.    If this year's team plays the really good zone and last year's seniors stand around and coast like they did most games, this year's team wins. 

[willie warrior]

...my point exactly.

You have never made a point, exactly.

[willie warrior]

This year's team gives hope.

Last year's team stole hope and replaced it with resignation.

One faux resignation that was a good thing was the Buzzster's.

[MarquetteDano]

I do believe overall all that there are less goods teams in college basketball this year, which helps to inflate our conference RPI.

So you are saying the Big East is no better this year than last year, it is that the other conferences are down? Well that is hard to argue against as it is subjective.

[jsglow]

Next year's team is better than both.

[BM1090]

Hard to believe that we are the best defensive team in the conference after the Omaha debacle. Great adjustments and vast improvement.

[connie]

This year's team gives hope.

Last year's team stole hope and replaced it with resignation.

Amen.

I don't know that it is fair to compare the two.  I think it is pretty clear last year's team had more physical talent, and way more issues. I don't see how all of that "crazy" can be quantified. This year has less talent, and less issues, and is playing much closer to their ceiling.

[MuMark]

This year's team is ranked 101st by Pomeroy......Last year's was ranked 76th.

[BM1090]

This year's team is ranked 101st by Pomeroy......Last year's was ranked 76th.

Misleading given how bad we were the first 4 games. Take those out and it would be very similar.

[MarquetteDano]

This year's team is ranked 101st by Pomeroy......Last year's was ranked 76th.

Right now last year's team was better. Let's see our ranking at the end of year. This year's team doesn't have its full body of work yet.

[MuMark]

Misleading given how bad we were the first 4 games. Take those out and it would be very similar.

j

Last years team was pretty bad in the first 4 games as well IIRC.....I prefer to look at all the data when comparing teams....don't think it is fair to take out 3 games here and 4 games there

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Next year's team is better than both.

And that is the most important thing!

[Class71]

Last year's team established a very low bar which this is not a relative point of comparison.

Last year we worried about Depaul and if they would ever get out of the cellar. This year our concerns should be much closer to home. I hope for the best and some individuals have improved since the beginning of the year, however, as a team, like last year, painful to watch all the mental mistakes. Hope we see further development.

[Henry Sugar]

Yes, better than last year's team, based on my personal calculations.