Blue Jay thoughts

[mattyv1908]

Really?  So what point were you making in your earlier post?  

Don't rip me after you've been busy posting like a raving idiot and I've called you on it.

Hutch, was JJJ ever talked up by multiple posters on this forum (with the exception of Ners and TW) about being an immediate impact player this season like Fischer was?

Why is Fischer's pathetic play in conference not a topic on this forum?  Quite frankly he's far more disappointing to watch than either Derrick or JJJ, and those are the two most maligned players on this board.

[brewcity77]

Hutch, was JJJ ever talked up by multiple posters on this forum (with the exception of Ners and TW) about being an immediate impact player this season like Fischer was?

Why is Fischer's pathetic play in conference not a topic on this forum?  Quite frankly he's far more disappointing to watch than either Derrick or JJJ, and those are the two most maligned players on this board.

Fair or not I think Fischer gets a bit of a pass because he's so alone down there. Juan is a rotation player being asked to do more than he should and Steve never seemed to fully recover and simply hasn't been very good. With Luke, there are literally no other options. Posters can spin that Derrick's minutes could be cut to give Duane or JJJ more time, or that JJJ is awful and Juan and Sandy should get all his minutes, but you simply can't argue in favor of anyone over Luke because no one else is capable of playing the position.

[willie warrior]

Not sure what others are saying on that topic, but all of this season's woes are not on Buzz.

Rookie head coach, not his players nor his style of play, tough to adjust.  Goes with the territory that partial blame goes there.

I do find it interesting, however, that the pieces who have left \ decommitted or largely have continued to underperform are from the previous GM....that includes your favorite whipping boy who happens to play the MOST important position for a college basketball team.

Disagree. Most of this year's problems are on the phony cowboy.  His players and he left the program in bad shape. Do agree that Wojo right now is not getting the job done, but he was left with what he has, and lost some. My biggest problem is that as a team, we are not improving. Duane has been up and down, Fischer the same, as well as JJJ. Carlino has helped, but Wojo's crunch time strategy is for Carlino to try to do it all, even when double and triple teamed. Another rookie coach who has to learn on the job.
As I have said previously, we will know quite a bit more about Wojo by the end of next year.

[HutchwasClutch]

Hutch, was JJJ ever talked up by multiple posters on this forum (with the exception of Ners and TW) about being an immediate impact player this season like Fischer was?

Why is Fischer's pathetic play in conference not a topic on this forum?  Quite frankly he's far more disappointing to watch than either Derrick or JJJ, and those are the two most maligned players on this board.

Please, literally almost everyone but me was talking up JJJ prior to this season, how he never got a fair shot under Buzz, etc.  It's just recently that many have finally accepted that he stinks overall because it's painfully to obvious to ignore and pretend otherewise anymore.

Again, besides expecting Wojo to work miracles, you expect the same of Fischer.   Of course he's not a finished product yet, but more disappointing than Derrick and JJJ????  He's the lone legit big man on the team, and on the perimeter, the only guy who opposing teams have to consistently account for is Carlino.   That's not a recipe for opening up the post for Fischer to have success.  He's had foul trouble many conference games as well, and some of that is due to him being our lone big.  

But he's had a lot of good moments and reasons to feel encouraged about him.  

What sort of numbers did you want/expect out of Luke exactly that would make you happy?  

[ChicosBailBonds]

Being a successful NCAA basketball program like Marquette has been there is no need to reach for an assistant coach with no head coaching experience hoping he pans out because he interviewed well.  Better alternatives were out there.

Hey, at least now under Wojo we'll be losing the 'right' way.

That has been my beef for a long time, but it is what is in how we hire.

That being said, it is surprising to me that you are making some assumptions this early.  Way way too early.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Disagree. Most of this year's problems are on the phony cowboy.  His players and he left the program in bad shape. Do agree that Wojo right now is not getting the job done, but he was left with what he has, and lost some. My biggest problem is that as a team, we are not improving. Duane has been up and down, Fischer the same, as well as JJJ. Carlino has helped, but Wojo's crunch time strategy is for Carlino to try to do it all, even when double and triple teamed. Another rookie coach who has to learn on the job.
As I have said previously, we will know quite a bit more about Wojo by the end of next year.

I'm not sure you and I are saying much that is different.  I am ascribing much to Burt, but not all. 

[brewcity77]

Marquette could have had Martin or Howland. While Martin gave a massively underwhelming interview, Wojo knocked it out of the park. Would Howland have been a better call? Maybe, but considering how things went at UCLA and all the dirty laundry that was aired after he left, I understand why Marquette stayed away.

[willie warrior]

I'm not sure you and I are saying much that is different.  I am ascribing much to Burt, but not all. 

Probably. Likely we just differ on the degree of responsibility for the problems lie. I say El Buzzo.

[tower912]

Back when Deonte and Dawson transferred a number of Scoopers said that the team was now one major injury away from a disaster.  Well boys we had that major injury and now we are having that disaster.  We didn't just lose another player, we lost the team's leading scorer. 

That would have been me.

[Stretchdeltsig]

I like our coachrs and players.  I hate losing.  The Big East is tough.  I like our future.  The questions I have after today's game are:  where is our rebounding?  Where is our defense?  And why don't we have the ball in the hands of our shooters instead if Darryl ehen the clock winds down?

[MU1980]

I like our coachrs and players.  I hate losing.  The Big East is tough.  I like our future.  The questions I have after today's game are:  where is our rebounding?  Where is our defense?  And why don't we have the ball in the hands of our shooters instead if Darryl ehen the clock winds down?

I agree.  Darryl ehen has probably been the biggest disappointment so far this year.  And some people think De Wilson's offense is weak. 

[79Warrior]

Marquette could have had Martin or Howland. While Martin gave a massively underwhelming interview, Wojo knocked it out of the park. Would Howland have been a better call? Maybe, but considering how things went at UCLA and all the dirty laundry that was aired after he left, I understand why Marquette stayed away.

Very interesting article on Ben this past week in the LA Times. Laundry aside, the guy was super successful. It is not like we did not have some "laundry" under the prior coach. That laundry stay buried in the hamper.

Bottom line, I am sick of the "we should be better with the talent we have" argument. Outside of Duane Wilson and Luke, there is not much other talent. Some Marquette fans are suckers for "rankings". What we have seen on the floor is the "talent" we have. Some will get better, but other than the two I mentioned, none are going to make major contributions next season. And Yes, next season we will again depend upon all out high rated players to bail us out. Problem is, they are all Freshmen and we have seen the last several years how that has worked out. Buckle up MU fans, next year will be more of the same based on what is coming back.

[tower912]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588455

Box score. 

[connie]

Marquette could have had Martin or Howland. While Martin gave a massively underwhelming interview, Wojo knocked it out of the park. Would Howland have been a better call? Maybe, but considering how things went at UCLA and all the dirty laundry that was aired after he left, I understand why Marquette stayed away.

I don't see the stampede to Howland by anyone else.  If he is such a savior you would have thought someone would have snapped him up.  Instead we hired an assistant with a great pedigree.  That has worked pretty well in the past for us.  Everyone needs to chill the f)(k out.

[GGGG]

Being a successful NCAA basketball program like Marquette has been there is no need to reach for an assistant coach with no head coaching experience hoping he pans out because he interviewed well.  Better alternatives were out there.

Hey, at least now under Wojo we'll be losing the 'right' way.

Yeah I mean its not as though Marquette has had any success previously hiring assistant coaches with no previous head coaching experience...

I think people should calm a bit down about Wojo.  Rookie head coaches aren't perfect.  They have to grow as well.

[79Warrior]

I don't see the stampede to Howland by anyone else.  If he is such a savior you would have thought someone would have snapped him up.  Instead we hired an assistant with a great pedigree.  That has worked pretty well in the past for us.  Everyone needs to chill the f)(k out.

I am fine with Wojo. I was just responding with a comment to the poster who mentioned Howland. I have never said anything negative about Wojo. This mess is not his fault.

[Eldon]

8. Last place in the BEast. Shades of Dukiet. There is no excuse for being in last place with our talent.
9. Taylor had a nice game. Might as well give him more of Juan's minutes.
10. Duane played about 3-4 minutes at point. Looked OK. He can create shots. Derrick can't.
11. Our seniors were about 2-15.
12. Should go man more than zone.
13. Sandy had flashes but is not good defending.
14. Fischer and Steve need to learn to kick it out when double teamed. Very rarely do that.
15. Derrick is a good kid, a good defender but nobody guards him 15 feet out. Announcer mentioned that 3 times.
16. Had our ass kicked on the boards. 42-26. Luke needs to get stronger.

Maybe I'm being naive, but IMO, this has a huge impact.  Clogging the lane changes the entire path of the game, from passing lanes, to rebounds, to cheating over to help D, etc.  This lane-clogging isn't adequately picked up by the "advanced" statistics like Ortg, eFG, FGTC, EKQRfg%, and whatever the hell else.  Compare Dewil to anyone else along any metric you'd like, but the one that matters most is Euclidean distance from man-sagging, aka, EDmS%

[4everwarriors]

Relax and respect the process.

[brewcity77]

Very interesting article on Ben this past week in the LA Times. Laundry aside, the guy was super successful. It is not like we did not have some "laundry" under the prior coach. That laundry stay buried in the hamper.

Howland was successful, but he burned a ton of recruiting bridges. His players generally seemed to hate playing for him. You're right about the laundry, but part of Wojo's appeal was the idea of actually washing the laundry and not just trying to hide it.

That said, while Duke has a squeaky clean reputation, there are plenty that assert they are just better at hiding it. Either way, whether truly clean or just giving the appearance of a clean program, after the incidents with Buzz and his players, it certainly seems like Wojo is a breath of fresh air, or will be once the air purifier can scrub the stink of this season away.

[Big Papi]

There is a big difference between "having" 7/8 players and "playing" 7/8 players.  Those teams that play 7/8 typically have 12/13 players to draw from.  More competition in practice, more depth.  When we have an injury (Carlino) we're down to 7 - other teams have the depth to cover it.  When Taylor and JjJ got banged up in the game today, we have nobody behind then.  Other teams choose their best 7/8 players - we don't have that luxury.  Big difference.

Dayton is down to 6 scholarship players and none over 6'6".

[Groin_pull]

Very interesting article on Ben this past week in the LA Times. Laundry aside, the guy was super successful. It is not like we did not have some "laundry" under the prior coach. That laundry stay buried in the hamper.

Bottom line, I am sick of the "we should be better with the talent we have" argument. Outside of Duane Wilson and Luke, there is not much other talent. Some Marquette fans are suckers for "rankings". What we have seen on the floor is the "talent" we have. Some will get better, but other than the two I mentioned, none are going to make major contributions next season. And Yes, next season we will again depend upon all out high rated players to bail us out. Problem is, they are all Freshmen and we have seen the last several years how that has worked out. Buckle up MU fans, next year will be more of the same based on what is coming back.

And I'm not even sold on the talent of Duane and Luke.

[dgies9156]

OMG, you people are more depressed than even I am. I admit that Saturday was a bad day, but geez, life aint that bad.  Put the pills and the guns away. Suicide now is a bit premature! Here's the reality:

1) We knew last year we had problems with the current team. Our point guard couldn't shoot; the guy supposed to step in ended up in hot dog colors after one practice and the vast majority of our offense -- Oxtule -- was gone. Nobody thought this team would challenge Kentucky for the NCAA championship and many thought this team was going the same place last year's team went -- home. After Dawson and Deonte transferred, we were behind the eight ball. And then Carlino was injured.

2) The biggest rap on this year's team is its basketball IQ is in single digits. As I pointed out elsewhere, daring Derrick to shoot and then being in a position at the end of a shot clock where he has to is no way to win basketball games.

3) Our coach is new. He makes mistakes. So did the Hillbilly, Crean and KO. So did Coach K when he first was at Duke. Be patient.

4) Any realistic timetable on a rebuild not headquartered in Lexington is at least two years.  As I said elsewhere, 60% possibility next year we're slightly better than this year. Wojo has to show he can recruit more than one class. That's been the rap on Crean.

5) Finally, forget Shaka, Cuonzo or Ben. They aren't here and the worst thing we could do in the next three years is dump our head coach. Shaka apparently thinks Wisconsin winters are brutal and Cuonzo is UT's sloppy seconds. Ben's so hot he's not coaching anywhere this year. We did good and we'll be fine down the road.

[Eldon]

^Weren't you the one who wrote the dear Wojo letter?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

JJJ was 1 for 7, 3 points, 3 turnovers, 3 assists.  Not a good day for the young fella.......

Must not have gotten 25 minutes

[WarriorFan]

If I'm Wojo with 4 open scholarships I would be delegating practice and game prep to the assistants so I can get out more for recruiting.  There's nothing more important than getting at least 2 PG's, at least 2 guys who can contribute immediately with over 12 mins per game, and at least 2 guys with size with those 4 scholarships.  He needs to replace 29 ppg, 9.1 apg, and 13.7 rpg and in fact probably needs to ADD about 5ppg, 1-2 apg and 2-3 rpg with these 4 new players.