Georgetown thoughts

[NavinRJohnson]

No students in the 218 section until 8:30p.  Upper deck, barely touched.  We've lost the students. 

The alumni lower bowl was full. Typical pyramid in the upper deck.  8p on a Tuesday makes Chicago travel hard.   No excuse for the 2500 students who no-showed.

You mean aside from the fact that this team isn't very good and headed nowhere this year? I get it, as a student a rarely missed a game during the dukiet/Oniell era. Now, 25 years later as a season ticket holder, I made the decision to stay home last night as I have done many times this season. Is my time far more limited than those students, yes, of course it is, but I have a hard time judging them as the games just don't have a ton to offer right now.

All of that said, it is an issue that is going to need to be addressed. Crean for all of his warts, was a master at turning people out. That slipped significantly under Buzz and has continued under Wojo. Even Saturday with the big crowd, I thought there was a serious lack of juice in the building. Getting outclassed can do that - at no point did I think MU would win the game, but improving attendance an game day experience has to be prioritized right after improving the team.

Quite honestly, They have what could be a valuable resource right in town in the Brewers. They have obviously had some success on the field, but have suffered through some bad seasons as well, while attendance has remained quite solid. They've been able to maintain the Brewer game/Miller Park brand as an event and a thing to do. Marquette will need to figure this out. I fully expect attendance to decline again next season. Winning is obviously key, but the lack of atmosphere, and lack of event/place to be is contributing to that (Note: the lack of Louisville, Pitt, UConn, etc hasn't helped any either).

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I count 8.  In addition to the starters, Du, Wally and Chief played.

I could be wrong but I think he omitted Chief on purpose.

[Lighthouse 84]

I could be wrong but I think he omitted Chief on purpose.

Could be right, but Chief played 2 minutes per the box score and I remember him in the game.  I'm just wondering why it's being made to look like Wojo only had 7 scholarship players available when we had 8.  Maybe there's a reason, I just don't know it.

[MUfan12]

Quite honestly, They have what could be a valuable resource right in town in the Brewers. They have obviously had some success on the field, but have suffered through some bad seasons as well, while attendance has remained quite solid. They've been able to maintain the Brewer game/Miller Park brand as an event and a thing to do. Marquette will need to figure this out.

All MU has to do is figure out a way to make it 70 degrees and let people tailgate. DONE AND DONE.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Quite honestly, They have what could be a valuable resource right in town in the Brewers. They have obviously had some success on the field, but have suffered through some bad seasons as well, while attendance has remained quite solid. They've been able to maintain the Brewer game/Miller Park brand as an event and a thing to do.

The retractable roof on Marquette's new stadium should help then.

[GGGG]

Great offensive game plan in the first half.  Best all season.

Same crappy defense all season.

Wojo still can't make adjustments.  That last play was not an adjustment, it was a diagrammed play that has been practiced and was executed.  The way Fischer was used tonight is how he should have been used all year.  Part of the problem is his foul trouble but part of that is lack of commitment to go down low time and time again. 

In the second half, Gtown guards were sagging down on Luke the entire time.  That is why Carter had a couple wide open looks, a couple of which he sank.  JT3 made an adjustment.

And after that adjustment was made, MU started running their guards off of pick and rolls at the top of the key to get penetration.  That is an adjustment Wojo made.  Six weeks ago this team would have handled the double down on Luke by simply hoisting shots.  They didn't do that yesterday.  They attacked most of the time.

This team is improving.  Wojo has done a nice job.  To say he didn't make adjustments is wrong.

[The Man in Gold]

Probably the most impressive/crazy stat of the game, was Marquette scored all but 4 of their field goals inside the paint.  Just 2 three pointers and 2 jump shots while still scoring 88 points. 

Between Luke's touch shots and JJJ's slashing it was still pretty impressive to watch.

#PaintTouchesMatter

[NavinRJohnson]

All MU has to do is figure out a way to make it 70 degrees and let people tailgate. DONE AND DONE.

Right, which is why they drew 3 million at County stadium, and even at MP under the seligs. Pretty silly comment on your part. Fact is, the Brewers have successfully found ways to leverage that and plenty of other things to get 2.5 - 3 million people through the doors for years. They bend over backwards to draw fans and it works. As far as I can tell, MU has taken the lather, rinse, repeat approach in an era where they are facing increased competition for entertainment dollar (including staying home and watching on TV), decreased success on the court, and a decrease in the quality of opponent, and that approach is failing misserably. They can't even get students in the building, and season tickets seem likely to continue to decline.

Scoff  all you want, but the general attitude about the program seems to be apathy at best, and it's a problem.

[GGGG]

Right, which is why they drew 3 million at County stadium, and even at MP under the seligs. Pretty silly comment on your part. Fact is, the Brewers have successfully found ways to leverage that and plenty of other things to get 2.5 - 3 million people through the doors for years. They bend over backwards to draw fans and it works. As far as I can tell, MU has taken the lather, rinse, repeat approach in an era where they are facing increased competition for entertainment dollar (including staying home and watching on TV), decreased success on the court, and a decrease in the quality of opponent, and that approach is failing misserably. They can't even get students in the building, and season tickets seem likely to continue to decline.

Scoff  all you want, but the general attitude about the program seems to be apathy at best, and it's a problem.

It's just a matter of winning.  People will show up when the team wins more.  Hell they had a sell out on Saturday.

[jsglow]

In the second half, Gtown guards were sagging down on Luke the entire time.  That is why Carter had a couple wide open looks, a couple of which he sank.  JT3 made an adjustment.

And after that adjustment was made, MU started running their guards off of pick and rolls at the top of the key to get penetration.  That is an adjustment Wojo made.  Six weeks ago this team would have handled the double down on Luke by simply hoisting shots.  They didn't do that yesterday.  They attacked most of the time.

This team is improving.  Wojo has done a nice job.  To say he didn't make adjustments is wrong.

That's exactly what happened.  GTown played dramatically better in the second half, especially on the defensive end.  I'm always amazed at the pessimism on this board.  The Warriors of March 1 bear little to no resemblance to the team that played Belmont or Iowa.
 

[frozena pizza]

That's exactly what happened.  GTown played dramatically better in the second half, especially on the defensive end.  I'm always amazed at the pessimism on this board.  The Warriors of March 1 bear little to no resemblance to the team that played Belmont or Iowa.

As much as people rip on Luke, last night he showed why he is still one of our most valuable pieces.  If not respected, he can be absolutely dominant and is also very disruptive on the defensive end.  Obviously the clinching play and free throws were huge. 

[RubyWiscy]

5.   Why did everybody stop looking for Luke?

I see this kind of thing all the time and it drives me crazy. A player goes off the first half and then seems forgotten in the second. Probably more to do with the other team's coaching staff making defensive adjustments rather than his team forgetting to pass him the ball.

[WarriorInNYC]

Yes, we all feel so bad for them..

Whatever happened to Mourning for them?

I thought this was a hilarious pun at first and not a serious question.

[MUfan12]

As far as I can tell, MU has taken the lather, rinse, repeat approach in an era where they are facing increased competition for entertainment dollar

I agree with you on this.

As far as the Brewers go... they started winning in '07, the fans came back, and now it has become a place for young people to get sh*tfaced while a game goes on. Yeah, they have a lot more promotions, but they also have a far bigger budget to do those things.

[NavinRJohnson]

It's just a matter of winning.  People will show up when the team wins more.  Hell they had a sell out on Saturday.

I understand, and generally, I agree. New arena should provide somewhat of a bump as well (temporary at least). However, they've been irrelevant for 3 years now, and as the season ticket base erodes, I don't necessarily see it coming back. Fact is, people don't want to give up their rare free time to go sit in a boring, half empty arena. To the earlier point, on paper, last night was a good game. Competitive, Quality, name opponent, and it was an exciting game. Yet people didn't show up. I guess my point is, if MU is sitting there saying, all we have to do is win, I think they're mistaken. It'll help, but their approach is going to have to change.

[tower912]

I see this kind of thing all the time and it drives me crazy. A player goes off the first half and then seems forgotten in the second. Probably more to do with the other team's coaching staff making defensive adjustments rather than his team forgetting to pass him the ball.

 

Yes-ish.    Georgetown started fronting Luke in the second half.    In the first half, most of his points came off of drives and dishes.   Considering how few of MU's points came off of 3's or even jump shots, it stands to reason that the guards were still taking the ball to the basket.   So, did Georgetown refuse to help off of Luke or did the guards not look for him on their way to the basket?

[LON]

I understand, and generally, I agree. New arena should provide somewhat of a bump as well (temporary at least). However, they've been irrelevant for 3 years now, and as the season ticket base erodes, I don't necessarily see it coming back. Fact is, people don't want to give up their rare free time to go sit in a boring, half empty arena. To the earlier point, on paper, last night was a good game. Competitive, Quality, name opponent, and it was an exciting game. Yet people didn't show up. I guess my point is, if MU is sitting there saying, all we have to do is win, I think they're mistaken. It'll help, but their approach is going to have to change.

People did show up.  You didn't, but lots of others did. As mentioned, student section looked slightly better than Stetson.  Lower bowl was completely filled and baseline/mid-court of upper level wasn't empty, the corners mostly were.

[NavinRJohnson]

Opposing coaches have figured out that the way to beat MU is to neutralize and take Fischer out of the offense. With our lack of 3pt shooting, it is a very good strategy. Offense becomes very limited without him as an option. MU didn't forget about Fischer, Georgetown took him away.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I understand, and generally, I agree. New arena should provide somewhat of a bump as well (temporary at least). However, they've been irrelevant for 3 years now, and as the season ticket base erodes, I don't necessarily see it coming back. Fact is, people don't want to give up their rare free time to go sit in a boring, half empty arena. To the earlier point, on paper, last night was a good game. Competitive, Quality, name opponent, and it was an exciting game. Yet people didn't show up. I guess my point is, if MU is sitting there saying, all we have to do is win, I think they're mistaken. It'll help, but their approach is going to have to change.

I see this perspective and share the concern to some degree.  My view is next year is really, really important - we stay lost in the bottom half of the BEast and we have officially lost the momentum from the 3 straight sweet 16's.  I worry less though watching the nova game and seeing last night's result. However, we need to find a way to replace our best player.

[GGGG]

Opposing coaches have figured out that the way to beat MU is to neutralize and take Fischer out of the offense. With our lack of 3pt shooting, it is a very good strategy. Offense becomes very limited without him as an option. MU didn't forget about Fischer, Georgetown took him away.

My only question was why they didn't make that adjustment earlier.  They initially came out pressing our guards hoping for turnovers, but when that wasn't working, and they were getting the ball into Luke constantly, I would have made the change sooner.

[mu-rara]

It's just a matter of winning.  People will show up when the team wins more.  Hell they had a sell out on Saturday.

I thought all the made up promotions (Faculty of the game, Season Ticket holder of the game) takes the wind out of the crowds sails. 

Thoughts?

[MUfan12]

People did show up.  You didn't, but lots of others did. As mentioned, student section looked slightly better than Stetson.  Lower bowl was completely filled and baseline/mid-court of upper level wasn't empty, the corners mostly were.

Paid attendance was just under 13,000. To Naivin's point, in past years that game probably draws 15-16,000.

Next year is huge. Have to get some momentum back.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I thought all the made up promotions (Faculty of the game, Season Ticket holder of the game) takes the wind out of the crowds sails. 

Thoughts?

Jay Wright was really smart with his TO's as well.  Between the TO and then Nova responding to each move of aggression on our part with a little run, it was hard to stay loud.  Finally I think the ref's starting to call touch fouls in the mid-court made the 2H very choppy.

Trotting out the donors didnt help, but I would blame the game more

[Loose Cannon]

Doesn't matter.

Much more satisfying to rush to the keyboard and criticize our team and coach after a nice win.

Yep,  sometimes their agenda oozes out of their posts.

[Strokin 3s]

I agree with you on this.

As far as the Brewers go... they started winning in '07, the fans came back, and now it has become a place for young people to get sh*tfaced while a game goes on. Yeah, they have a lot more promotions, but they also have a far bigger budget to do those things.

Plenty of that going on during the Nova game as evidenced by the poor young girl that was comatose in the hallway outside my section and taken off on a stretcher....

And in the it's funny, but it's not funny comment section I actually heard a mother say to her college age daughter (as the passed out girl is getting wheeled out) "That's why you stick to beer"