Nova Thoughts

[tower912]

Maybe.   Depends on who Wojo can sign with the last 3 schollies. 

[mu03eng]

What? Quality looks early and we had dead legs? Seriously? This team is pretty bad. Plain and simple. No shooters other than Carlino. We have basically four guys coming back (STJ has checked out) Next year will be just as bad as this year.

Yes seriously, they had at least 15 chances at the rim they didn't convert.  Duane and Luke got to the rim pretty regularly in the first 10 minutes and couldn't finish.  The team's not good, but they are not nearly as bad as the record or the stats.

Respect the process.

[Lennys Tap]

JJJ, Du Wilson, Fischer, Cohen all need to hit weight room for next year.  Every other team seems much stronger and built better.  Like men against HS players.

Sandy is only months out of high school, he gets a pass for this year but better show up bigger and stronger next year. Don't think strength is the most pressing problem for JJJ and Duane, but time in the weight room wouldn't hurt. Luke is another story altogether. A 2nd semester sophomore shouldn't be getting pushed around like this. When this season ends he should hit the weights and pretty much forget the gym for a while.

[Nukem2]

JJJ, Du Wilson, Fischer, Cohen all need to hit weight room for next year.  Every other team seems much stronger and built better.  Like men against HS players.

JJJ played a lot and was 4 for 12.  At least he showed some offensive initiative/option besides
Carlino.  

MU has some tough games coming up, hope they can win a few to close out season, but we shall see.  It will be a significant challenge

Yep.  My first impression last Fall was that this is a small and non-physical team.  I still ave that impression.

[We R Final Four]

Box score.  Oy. 
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588443

Wow--Oy is right. One guy with 10 pts.

[4everwarriors]

Yeah but, everyone scored.

[Earl Tatum]

Outmanned! Weight Room.

[muwarrior97]

No more "Practice Free Throw" threads.....it is time for a "Practice Layups" thread or two-hundred.

This was the 1st putrid game of year.

Two positives I got tonight were: 1) JJJ looks like he may still have something to offer and the future looks bright for MUBB w/Du, Luke, Sandy and that Henry McStud

[MerrittsMustache]

Sandy is only months out of high school, he gets a pass for this year but better show up bigger and stronger next year. Don't think strength is the most pressing problem for JJJ and Duane, but time in the weight room wouldn't hurt. Luke is another story altogether. A 2nd semester sophomore shouldn't be getting pushed around like this. When this season ends he should hit the weights and pretty much forget the gym for a while.

Fischer had a shoulder issue coming from IU. I'd imagine that has at least something to do with his relative lack of strength at this point in his career. Tough to add much muscle and bulk with that type of injury.

[Lennys Tap]

Fischer had a shoulder issue coming from IU. I'd imagine that has at least something to do with his relative lack of strength at this point in his career. Tough to add much muscle and bulk with that type of injury.

Forgot about that. If that's what kept him out of thr weight room he gets a pass.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I think we're St. Louis right now.

Shut the unnatural carnal knowledge up with this narrative. St. Louis's dont get top 5 recruiting classes.

[CTWarrior]

We kept the score down because we take up a lot of time with each offensive possession, but I think our defense was at least as big a problem as our offense, particularly after it was tied 12-12.  Their guards got wherever they wanted on the floor, open threes in abundance, lots of drives and dishes for easy buckets and we had atrocious defensive rebounding.

Just outmanned.

[brewcity77]

The staff seems to be really pushing hard for a JUCO PG, but games like this illustrate how badly we need a rebounder. Doesn't have to be a great scorer, but someone like Dwight Burke would work wonders here. We're 332nd in allowing offensive boards and are losing 3 of our top 5 rebounders. Get a point that can complement Duane and a guy that can provide some width and physicality down low to help Luke and Henry and we'll be in much better shape.

At this point, someone who can get boards is more important to me than someone else who can score. Duane, Luke, Sandy, and Henry will all get at least some points. Maybe 40-50 per game between them, conservatively? But there doesn't seem to be much relief coming on the glass. Can't expect freshman Henry to do it all.

[jsglow]

Side note, not even close to an impact this game, but Wojo has got to get some respect from the officials somehow.  There were calls that just should be made(when Sandy was taken out mid-court in this game) and egregious ones missed the previous 3 games.  Not saying there is a bias but we are getting no respect whatsoever.

That'll happen when were not a 9th place team regularly relegated to FS2.

[jsglow]

Sandy is only months out of high school, he gets a pass for this year but better show up bigger and stronger next year. Don't think strength is the most pressing problem for JJJ and Duane, but time in the weight room wouldn't hurt. Luke is another story altogether. A 2nd semester sophomore shouldn't be getting pushed around like this. When this season ends he should hit the weights and pretty much forget the gym for a while.

I agree that the injury might have a lot to do with Luke's lack of off season weight room work.  If he hopes to make the NBA, he must get much stronger.

[MerrittsMustache]

The staff seems to be really pushing hard for a JUCO PG, but games like this illustrate how badly we need a rebounder. Doesn't have to be a great scorer, but someone like Dwight Burke would work wonders here. We're 332nd in allowing offensive boards and are losing 3 of our top 5 rebounders. Get a point that can complement Duane and a guy that can provide some width and physicality down low to help Luke and Henry and we'll be in much better shape.

At this point, someone who can get boards is more important to me than someone else who can score. Duane, Luke, Sandy, and Henry will all get at least some points. Maybe 40-50 per game between them, conservatively? But there doesn't seem to be much relief coming on the glass. Can't expect freshman Henry to do it all.

MU is not very good at boxing out. There were a few times during the second half when Nova would put up a shot and I'd pause the game (that's what you do during blowouts) and see at least 2-3 MU players watching while 2-3 Nova players were getting position and/or making a move toward the basket.

Luke needs to hit the boards harder. Plain and simple. An athletic 7-footer should be averaging significantly more than 5 boards in 28 minutes. Steve Taylor is averaging 4.6 in nearly 7 fewer minutes. Luke's rebounding total needs to be at least 7.5-8/game.

[GGGG]

One thing is for certain.  No one can bitch about minutes after that game.  Everyone played 20+ but STJ.  There are no hidden weapons available for Wojo.  Incomplete team.

[jsglow]

Wojo needs a Point Guard and a rebounder for next year.  My take is neither is currently on the roster and relying on Frosh is dangerous.  I suspect he'll find both as any JUCO or Grad Transfer will be able to see immediate high D-1 playing time.  Any inability to reel those couple kids in would worry me.

[GGGG]

Wojo needs a Point Guard and a rebounder for next year.  My take is neither is currently on the roster and relying on Frosh is dangerous.  I suspect he'll find both as any JUCO or Grad Transfer will be able to see immediate high D-1 playing time.  Any inability to reel those couple kids in would worry me.

Marquette isn't physically strong enough for the BE right now.  And I don't see that physicality coming in next year either.  They need a badass rebounded forward. 

[RubyWiscy]

Agree with everything being said. Would only add that the losing streak is certainly weighing on this team. They need something good to happen to get their heads back up.

[paddyquakes]

They are called dumbells and they work, even for dummies. We are the scrawniest team in D1. (Derrick not included)
This can be fixed by next year but Wojo needs to push it now. Why wait.

[GGGG]

They are called dumbells and they work, even for dummies. We are the scrawniest team in D1. (Derrick not included)
This can be fixed by next year but Wojo needs to push it now. Why wait.

You can only put so much weight on a frame.  JJJ and Duane are slight.  They can get stronger, but they aren't going to get "bulky" like Derrick because they don't have the frame.

[MUfan12]

A Faisal Abraham type would be perfect.

Maybe something will get STJ pissed and he'll turn into that badass rebounding machine. [/wishful thinking]

[brewcity77]

MU is not very good at boxing out. There were a few times during the second half when Nova would put up a shot and I'd pause the game (that's what you do during blowouts) and see at least 2-3 MU players watching while 2-3 Nova players were getting position and/or making a move toward the basket.

There were a couple times also when we had numbers under the boards. 4 gold shirts standing there on a missed shot and the 1 guy in white would pop up and get the put back attempt. Someone box him out and ANYONE else grab the damn ball.

[willie warrior]

Yep.  My first impression last Fall was that this is a small and non-physical team.  I still ave that impression.

Thanks to the phony cowboy, Burt, for leaving the program in such pee poor shape.