Chicago St thoughts

[tower912]

1.  MU played like a young team after a 9 day layoff.   Lots of energy, sloppy.
2.  Defensive intensity was lacking.
3.  Nice to see 3 pt shots go in. 
4.  Lots of guys in double figures.
5. Glad to see Wally, JJ, Heldt, Sacar, get run.
6.  Freshmen look good, freshmen look like freshmen.   
7.  Some cringeworthy moments.
8.  I think that seeing Luke roll the ankle inspired Wojo to clear the bench.   Hopefully, he is ok.
9.  I admired how Chicago St attacked and shot the ball tonight.   
10.  Merry Christmas to all.   

[BM1090]

I really don't have any thoughts. Sloppy offense, but we put up 91 points because we got to the line. Our defense was good but they just made a lot of contested or deep jump shots.

It was an irritating game to watch, but we won and if Luke's injury is nothing then it was successful. One more game until conference season.

[brandx]

We played so-so.

Chicago St. played their best game of the season.

[Nukem2]

Defense was terrible...CS had wide open looks all night.

[GooooMarquette]

Close and sloppy enough for Wojo to keep their attention.

Take the W and run.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

We played so-so.

Chicago St. played their best game of the season.

And last year that would have resulted in an Omaha or at best NJIT sort of game.  Instead it was a comfortable if not dominating win.  It's nice to be able to watch again without throwing up every game.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Love to see the talent and depth on this team.  Much, much better than last year.

[MuMark]

Chicago State made a lot of contested shots......and some bombs by Simms. They played like they had nothing to lose and it worked for them. MU missed a bunch of no footers.

Teams that press are going to give us problems.

[tower912]

Chicago State made a lot of contested shots......and some bombs by Simms. They played like they had nothing to lose and it worked for them. MU missed a bunch of no footers.

Teams that press are going to give us problems.

Great point about the press.   

[PGsHeroes32]

JJJ is probably our best ball handler and a crafty passer.

He can't play PG obviously but I'd have him be more active against pressure rather than the other 3.

[mug644]

I only heard it on the radio, but was definitely wondering and worried about breaking the press. Mac or Homer asked when Henry might come back to help on the press. What were they trying to do to break it? Seems like Henry would be great placed between the midcourt circle and the three point line to receive a pass and either distribute or get it across himself.

Is this another area for Traci to work on?

[tower912]

It is particularly noticeable when Traci is out of the game.   The combo of Haanif and Duane struggle.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We played so-so.

Chicago St. played their best game of the season.

And we still won by 17 and it was never close.

[We R Final Four]

I can't tell you how disappointed I was on Duane's lazy, soft passes against that press. And this was after I saw the old DWill jawing with other players showing the swagger he plays best with. Good Duane, bad Duane. Waiting for it all to come together.

[tower912]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400840283

Box score. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I question #2. We forced 21 turnovers with 14 steals. That's plenty of defensive intensity. They were just hitting shots like nobody's business. I saw hands in faces, they just went in anyway.

Obviously their were things to work on but if Chi state has a normal shooting game, we would have been praising our d.

[MUfan12]

I question #2. We forced 21 turnovers with 14 steals. That's plenty of defensive intensity. They were just hitting shots like nobody's business. I saw hands in faces, they just went in anyway.

Obviously their were things to work on but if Chi state has a normal shooting game, we would have been praising our d.

Agreed... They shot 32% from three going into tonight. Bombed away and made a bunch of em.

[bilsu]

The game made me worried about how we are going to play defense against Villanova? Villanova likes to shoot a lot of threes.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I don't get how people are criticizing MU'S 3 point defense. There were some open looks but my god, a lot of those 3s were with hands in faces and from NBA range.

[PGsHeroes32]

The game made me worried about how we are going to play defense against Villanova? Villanova likes to shoot a lot of threes.

Hope that they go 4-31 like against Oklahoma?

[CTWarrior]

Hard to tell much from games like these, weak opponent, coupled with the layoff and upcoming Christmas break.  Didn't like how we handled the press, how we came out in either half, and early shooting and finishing.

OTOH, we didn't play that well, and we coasted with about 10 dominating minutes in the first half.  Good enough, I suppose.  Once we got going we started making 3s which was nice.  I'm starting to think good things when Sandy takes a 3.

I can't wait until we get to the Big East.  These games aren't much of a barometer.  I'm starting to think we are pretty good, but it is hard to tell.

[forgetful]

It is particularly noticeable when Traci is out of the game.   The combo of Haanif and Duane struggle.

Tower, I almost always agree with your assessment, but Traci was bad against the press today.  He had 3 TOs  and Wojo was playing Duane in his place because of some lazy passes that led to TOs.

Duane was far from perfect, but he did better against the press tonight than Traci.

[MU82]

Chicago State made a lot of contested shots......and some bombs by Simms. They played like they had nothing to lose and it worked for them.

My wife said, "Holy crap, do they always shoot like this?"

I went and looked it up. They came in shooting 41% from the floor and 33% from 3. They were throwing it in with some crazy, contested shots.

Sims came in shooting 37% from the floor and 34% from 3. Tonight he was 10-16 from the floor, including 6-9 from 3. And the funny thing is most of his misses were when he was open. It was the hand-in-face, 25-footers he was draining.

I don't think we played stellar defense, but Sims especially was out of his mind tonight. It happens.

[brandx]

Sims came in shooting 37% from the floor and 34% from 3. Tonight he was 10-16 from the floor, including 6-9 from 3. And the funny thing is most of his misses were when he was open. It was the hand-in-face, 25-footers he was draining.

I noticed that, too. Reminded me of the Big O. Very average on wide open shots, but put a hand in his face and he was money.

[brandx]

Tower, I almost always agree with your assessment, but Traci was bad against the press today.  He had 3 TOs  and Wojo was playing Duane in his place because of some lazy passes that led to TOs.

Duane was far from perfect, but he did better against the press tonight than Traci.

I think I agree with Tower, here. I thought Traci had a rough game - but weren't all of his turnovers in the front court? I know at least two of them were.