Creighton cogitating

[brewcity77]

This is still effectively year one for the staff. I'm not ready to give up on them yet. We haven't seen the kind of in season improvement we were used to under Buzz, but that always occurred with more veteran teams. 2010 and 2012 really stand out, but those years had numerous key seniors.

The only other worry I have is those teams had other guys to teach them the way. Novak showed the Amigos, they showed Lazar, who showed Jimmy and DJO, who showed Jae and Van, but now we're left without that experience.

Trying to respect the process. Just been really tough with our home form this year.

[Big Papi]

Good lord get a grip.  Maryland has been a disappointing team most of the year.  MU beat Wisconsin at Wisconsin.

This forever, always, never talk is for lazy people.  Seriously, relax and have a brew.  Way way way too many of you bought into crazy expectations this year.  We tried to warn you.  Same thing some of us tried to warn you on Luke...nice player, but not the savior some of you proclaimed last year.

Are you fricking kidding me?  Maryland is a disappointing team being ranked #2??? 

Stop drinking the Wojo Kool Aid!!!! 
Stop making excuses for a team that is clearly underachieving while downplaying a great win by a rival.
You make it sound like we have no talent and absolutely no experience on this team.  This was game number 26 on top of a trip to Europe!!!

I didn't expect a Final Four run but I did expect us to be on the bubble for NCAA and not on the bubble for the NIT. 

I did expect more out of Wojo than what I am seeing.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Another irritation for me tonight was the post game. All I heard Wojo talk about was the players needing to be better, stick to the game plan, be tougher...same old crap with no ownership that HE, not the players, cost us that game. I'm okay with people screwing up. Tonight was on Wojo. Take ownership.

"Ultimately I'm responsible for all of this," he said. "Our kids are learning, so I'm responsible for getting the message across so they do the things they need to do to win. Our guys are busting their butts and they're trying and they work hard and they're good kids — we need to get more from it.

"That's my responsibility. It's my responsibility; I take full responsibility for it. I'm not saying that to blame anyone — I'm responsible. I need to help these kids better."

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I don't know if this is true, but I don't think Wojo has a good track record of running successful plays off of timeouts. ]

I don't think it is true. I don't have the data to back it up, but as fans we tend to remember the ones that don't work and forget the ones that do. The ones that fail are on the coaches the ones that succeed are on the players.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This part concerns me.  I dont know if the staff is learning.  The is little evidence of adaptation and in game improvement and adjustments. I think Wojo would call that timeout today if put in the same situation.
Additionally, his end of game/out of timeout offensive plays are suspect at best.[/list]

Xavier, Butler, and Providence were very well coached games. Sounds like this one was a step backwards. It happens with young coaches (and older ones too)

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

At marquette we have pretty high expectations. to say wojo hasn't been good enough at this point would be an understatement. many thought this team would be really coming together at this point in the season, but they haven't. they are a decent team that is inconsistent. they win a big game to get the fans hopes up that they are turning the corner, and then they let the fans down with a poor performance (that usually occurs at home). I agree wojo needs to start taking some ownership, he hasn't done a good enough job with this squad

last year we sucked and we all knew it, but this year has been pretty disappointing

Fans have unreasonable expectations. Wojo has met the administration's expectations as well as the expectations of any fan who stopped and looked at our roster honestly before declaring we were good.

[MUfan12]

God do we have such an oversensitive fanbase.  I don't care if UW wins the next ten NCAA championships.  Marquette is proudly my team and will always be my team.

Bunch of chicken littles.

Hoops went overboard, but it is different when you live in the state.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I would swap coaching staffs in an instant.  Gard is proving he is a very good coach and would have this team thinking about seeding in the NCAA tournament not fighting to make the NIT.

Sigh. I know people want to believe that we are secretly good and if only the coach would change his strategy we would start winning. We went through this last season. And Buzz' last season. Its not the coach. We don't have the players yet. I know that sucks, because it means we won't be better until next season. But its the truth.

[KenoshaWarrior]

I'm sorry you bought into the hype that he was the 4th best high schooler in the country.  He is good, but not that level good.  He is also a big and they take longer to develop.  Even saying that, he's had a very good freshman year.  Is LSU going to the NCAAs with clearly the best freshman in the country? 

A lot of us thought you guys were crazy predicting NCAAs this year.  Too many holes on the team and way too much youth.  Being a homer is fine, ignoring those stark realities is your undoing.

Yes. LSU is going to the tourney. 

[KenoshaWarrior]

God do we have such an oversensitive fanbase.  I don't care if UW wins the next ten NCAA championships.  Marquette is proudly my team and will always be my team.

Bunch of chicken littles.

You must not live in this state

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yes. LSU is going to the tourney.

Expected RPI of 76...doubtful.  Only two teams in history with a 70+ RPI have made it, and none since 2005 when the RPI formula was changed.  They have work to do.

[KenoshaWarrior]

Fans have unreasonable expectations. Wojo has met the administration's expectations as well as the expectations of any fan who stopped and looked at our roster honestly before declaring we were good.

We have a McDonald's all american and a roster chock full of 4 star players. The roster is not the issue.  Badgers have a roster chock full of 3 star players and 1 5 star no McDonald's all Americans and are leaps and bounds better

[ChicosBailBonds]

I would swap coaching staffs in an instant.  Gard is proving he is a very good coach and would have this team thinking about seeding in the NCAA tournament not fighting to make the NIT.

That is an opinion only. Since we don't know how Gard would do with a team that is this young.  He is starting a team with red shirt junior, junior, junior, junior, redshirt freshman.  That is miles different than what we are starting.

Yet despite that, Gard was on the staff at UW when they couldn't figure out how to beat us....at home.

[GGGG]

We also have no idea how Gard is going to recruit.

[brewcity77]

Do you think McDermott was happy that we called timeout?  I do.

And yes, absolutely. Feel it helped him more than us.

[WarriorPride68]

That is an opinion only. Since we don't know how Gard would do with a team that is this young.  He is starting a team with red shirt junior, junior, junior, junior, redshirt freshman.  That is miles different than what we are starting.

Made me curious to look it up...(Kenpom)

MU is 344 in youngest team
Wisconsin is 299 in youngest team

Marquette is 228 in returning minutes
Wisconsin is 277 in returning minutes

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We have a McDonald's all american and a roster chock full of 4 star players. The roster is not the issue.  Badgers have a roster chock full of 3 star players and 1 5 star no McDonald's all Americans and are leaps and bounds better

What 5 star do the Badgers have? I think the Badger with the highest high school ranking was Brevin Pritzl and he was a four star. He barely plays too.

More importantly...so?

High school rankings mean jack crape once they get to college. Pretty much the top 20 are a lock to be good and the rest our a crapshoot. Also, I would take a team full of three star juniors over a team of 1 five star and the rest four star freshmen every day. Very few freshmen come in BEast ready from day one. Everyone on our team is being required to do more than they are reasonably capable of doing. Give em a year to develop and a full roster and you'll see a night and day difference.

On a side note, have you made any posts this year that don't involve the Badgers? It seems like all you've done since Buzz left is compare us to Madison. To each their own but their are other discussions you can have on here.

[willie warrior]

• The moment any realistic hope of getting an at-large vanishes always sucks.
• Absolutely killed in transition. I think Maurice Watson just blew through our defense again.
• JJ made some mistakes, but I'm surprised he couldn't get in at all at the end.
• Final two minutes coaching mistake #1 was the timeout. Duane had just given us back the lead, we get a defensive stop, the BC had energy. It never quite got that energy back.
• Final two minutes coaching mistake #2 was the play out of the timeout. We had what, 20-21 seconds on the shot clock and couldn't get a decent look? As the time ticked away, I couldn't help but wonder what was drawn up in that huddle. Either the play didn't work or it wasn't effectively communicated to the players. Either way, that's on the coaches.
• Final two minutes coaching mistake #3 was not fouling after Creighton had the ball up one. I know, "8.5 seconds is plenty of time", but why would you think that when 20 seconds wasn't enough time?
• That said, I'm glad Duane took the last shot. He didn't have a perfect night, but he hit the shot that put us ahead for the last time. He should have taken the shot before that as well.
• This is a learning process for everyone. The players are learning and the staff is learning.
• Doug McDermott has built a very nice program. Definitely an asset in the Big East. You can see the line of bigs from Artino to Groselle (straight beast) to Hanson to Hegner. Their upperclassmen always step up. Milliken now, and next year that Watson/Zierden backcourt will be tough to handle. Different skillsets, but his ability to harness veteran potential reminds me a lot of Bo Ryan.
• If we want to make the NIT, we can probably only afford one more loss. I have a tough time looking at the schedule and realistically envisioning that right now. We won't play in the CBI because of pride, not sure if we'd take an invite to Vegas or not, but barring winning four at MSG, we're likely out of the postseason for the third consecutive year. That sucks.

Agree with most of this. Pretty frustrating up and down season. Three years now in the New BEAST and we are still middle of the pack to low tier. Don't care that we are young. With this talent, we should be beating teams like Creighton. No question that McDermott is a better coach. What did Wojo pick up in his nearly two decades at Duke? While we have shown some modest improvement from last year, and we should given the talent, Wojo still has a long way to go. The real question is, are we now a mid major?

[willie warrior]

"Ultimately I'm responsible for all of this," he said. "Our kids are learning, so I'm responsible for getting the message across so they do the things they need to do to win. Our guys are busting their butts and they're trying and they work hard and they're good kids — we need to get more from it.

"That's my responsibility. It's my responsibility; I take full responsibility for it. I'm not saying that to blame anyone — I'm responsible. I need to help these kids better."

Hmmmm....since Wojo is accepting all this responsibility, it must be time to give him another 4 year extension.

[brewcity77]

"Ultimately I'm responsible for all of this," he said. "Our kids are learning, so I'm responsible for getting the message across so they do the things they need to do to win. Our guys are busting their butts and they're trying and they work hard and they're good kids — we need to get more from it.

"That's my responsibility. It's my responsibility; I take full responsibility for it. I'm not saying that to blame anyone — I'm responsible. I need to help these kids better."

Not sure if that was in Homer's interview but if so I missed it. Thanks for sharing, it was really disappointing listening on the radio to what sounded like a very brief, stunted interview that gave the opposite impression.

[willie warrior]

Sigh. I know people want to believe that we are secretly good and if only the coach would change his strategy we would start winning. We went through this last season. And Buzz' last season. Its not the coach. We don't have the players yet. I know that sucks, because it means we won't be better until next season. But its the truth.

You may be right that we do not have the players, although this was highly rated talent. But what makes you believe that we will be better next year, since we likely lose HE, and the ranked players coming in are similarly/lesser ranked than current players?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Made me curious to look it up...(Kenpom)

MU is 344 in youngest team
Wisconsin is 299 in youngest team

Marquette is 228 in returning minutes
Wisconsin is 277 in returning minutes

The data I have says MU is 346th, but splitting hairs I suppose.

Wisconsin has 6 redshirts on their team.  We have one.

Wisconsin's starting 5 is Redshirt junior, junior, junior, junior, redshirt freshman
MU's starting 5 is Freshman, Redshirt Sophomore, Freshman, Junior, Junior

Most importantly....Wisconsin is starting Junior guards....the key to college basketball.  We are starting a freshman and a sophomore.

[willie warrior]

We have a McDonald's all american and a roster chock full of 4 star players. The roster is not the issue.  Badgers have a roster chock full of 3 star players and 1 5 star no McDonald's all Americans and are leaps and bounds better

Bingo!!!

[Jay Bee]

What 5 star do the Badgers have? I think the Badger with the highest high school ranking was Brevin Pritzl and he was a four star. He barely plays too.

Played one game. Injury has kept him out.

[ChicosBailBonds]

You may be right that we do not have the players, although this was highly rated talent. But what makes you believe that we will be better next year, since we likely lose HE, and the ranked players coming in are similarly/lesser ranked than current players?

Recruiting rankings suck.  Way too much stock in them, especially comparing one year to the next.  You could be the "30th" rated player one year and be worse than the 60th player the next year because that one year the crop of players coming out just weren't that deep or good. 

As for HE leaving, sure it will hurt, but there are plenty of examples of teams also improving when the best player left just as there are plenty of examples where it has killed a team.

For example

Carmelo Anthony leaves the Nuggets..when he was there, they won 54% of their games...when he left, they won 70% of their games that year

IU loses a lottery pick Noah Vonleh, team is better the next year

Etc, etc

Would I love to have HE back?  Sure.  Is next year a disaster if he is gone?  Time will tell.