Excitement for Season

[NCMUFan]

I have this feeling of an inaugural big east/3 amigo type of season with Luke playing the role of Novak. 

[tower912]

That is the Mexican pizza talking.  Lie down and take a couple of antacids.

[NCMUFan]

Ok, sorry, I am looking forward to a 7th place Big East finish this year.

[muwarrior69]

Ok, sorry, I am looking forward to a 7th place Big East finish this year.

Wow! Optimistic you are. Our "shooters" could not even score in practice.

[tower912]

You're right, NCMU.  There is a lot to be optimistic about.  Marquette is returning 4 starters from a 20 win team and has brought in 4 guys who can shoot the three.  We won't be the youngest team around, the freshmen will be sophomores, we have an abundance of talented guards.
I can't get past the notion that MU is going to get blown up on the boards and therefore is going to be unable to make the crucial stop.  If MU DOES rebound well, this is a tourney team and possibly a second weekend team.  But i keep picturing JjJ attempting to rebound against a 6'8, 230 lb PF.

[Brewtown Andy]

I have this feeling of an inaugural big east/3 amigo type of season with Luke playing the role of Novak.

Oh, man, if Fischer shoots 121/259 from three this season, it's going to be the weirdest season ever

[dgies9156]

I can't get past the notion that MU is going to get blown up on the boards and therefore is going to be unable to make the crucial stop.  If MU DOES rebound well, this is a tourney team and possibly a second weekend team.  But i keep picturing JjJ attempting to rebound against a 6'8, 230 lb PF.

Two thoughts:

1) Rebounding is about positioning and about blocking out. Height helps, yes, but strength and positioning is key.

2) If we have not hit the weight room, it will be a long season. If we have, second week here we come!

Look, we will be more challenged than last year on the boards, but if our guys are committed to doing it right and Wojo and his team have worked with them in the off-season, we'll be fine.

[GGGG]

19 days out.  I'm going to be excited and an irrational optimist.  We'll be fine.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Wow! Optimistic you are. Our "shooters" could not even score in practice.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2016/10/13/marquette-practice-notes-shooters-all-around/92028080/

Not sure where you are getting the notion that our shooters can't score in practice...

[Brewtown Andy]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2016/10/13/marquette-practice-notes-shooters-all-around/92028080/

Not sure where you are getting the notion that our shooters can't score in practice...

From one practice where fans could attend, obviously.

Isn't the bigger take away from that one poor performance that Marquette's defense prevents a lot of made three pointers?

[bilsu]

Excitement vs. realism. Generally, we are predicted to finish 7th. I do think we finish better than that. I think 5th or 6th is realistic. What makes me excited about this team is I think we have a real chance to not go 0-6 against the top 6 teams. Every game we will have a chance to win, if we are shooting very well. Now I am not crazy enough to think we are going 6-0 against Villanova, Xavier and Seton Hall, but I see 2-4 as a reasonable possibility. We may lose, but at least at the start of the game, I will feel like we have a reasonable chance to win.

[fjm]

From one practice where fans could attend, obviously.

Isn't the bigger take away from that one poor performance that Marquette's defense prevents a lot of made three pointers?

What? That would make too much sense dude...

[Marcus92]

Now I am not crazy enough to think we are going 6-0 against Villanova, Xavier and Seton Hall, but I see 2-4 as a reasonable possibility.

If we go 2-4 against Nova, Xavier and Seton Hall I'd be thrilled (assuming we take care of business elsewhere). Even 1 win would be an improvement over last season.

[bilsu]

From one practice where fans could attend, obviously.

Isn't the bigger take away from that one poor performance that Marquette's defense prevents a lot of made three pointers?

Actually MU did not shoot poor from three in the 5 on 5 scrimage. They took less three point shots than I was expecting. I lost count at 5 out 9. They were 3-5 with Hauser hitting 3 and two others missing. After that Carter hit three threes and Wilson hit three threes, so there were three players that hit three threes. I believe Howard, Rowsey, Cohen JJJ and Reinhardt missed all of their threes, but I could be wrong. That is the way I see this team. Some games players A, B & C will be on and the next game players D, E, F will be on or some mixture of our outside shooters. One practice does not mean a lot, but it is the first time I watched this team play. Prior to that I was expecting Rowsey to be better than Howard and in this practice Howard was clearly better than Rowsey. Howard had some nice drives, while Rowsey faked on a three and got called for traveling and on another drive his shot was blocked. I also heard Wojo praise Howard during the scrimage. I am now willing to concede to the other posters here that said Howard is going to be a big difference maker this year. He definitely does not play like a 17 year old. The other interesting thing was Wojo said he was going to experiment with playing Fischer and Heldt together.

[#UnleashSean]

If we go 2-4 against Nova, Xavier and Seton Hall I'd be thrilled (assuming we take care of business elsewhere). Even 1 win would be an improvement over last season.

But Seton hall is back to the basement.

[bilsu]

But Seton hall is back to the basement.

Seton Hall is predicted to be a boderline NCAA tournament team

[brewcity77]

But Seton hall is back to the basement.

Well, Pomeroy has them at 38, but personally I don't see them dropping much. They lost Whitehead, but getting more shots for Carrington and Rodriguez should actually be an improvement. Can they overcome Whitehead's distribution ability is the question. They have two newcomers to audition for the point role.

Whitehead's loss could prove to be addition through subtraction, getting shots into the hands of more efficient players, though he was fantastic once Big East play started, and his efficiency was largely dragged down by sub-par play in the non-con. I don't think his loss will hurt as much as many experts seem to think.

There's a gap after Villanova, but I'm not sure it's as big as some seem to think, and I think Xavier, Seton Hall, and Creighton could all be right there if the Wildcats slip after losing Ochefu and Arcidiacono (especially without Spellman).

[Goose]

Not overly hyped and hope that changes. Ton of traveling and still not hyped for Packer season and hope when back in two weeks I get my optimism back.

[muwarrior69]

Not overly hyped and hope that changes. Ton of traveling and still not hyped for Packer season and hope when back in two weeks I get my optimism back.

Well it looks like the Mods are excited. They have us in first place in the standings.

[keefe]

I am guardedly optimistic for this season. I am hoping for a ticket to the Dance but won't be shocked if we fall short.

People need to understand that Marquette has never had a Death Valley stretch of four years. Never.

[Goose]

Keefe

Not sold on Wojo as a coach here. Expected a great deal more last year and year was another disappointment. This is big year for the program. Who knows, maybe they want to be SLU after all.

[BM1090]

Keefe

Not sold on Wojo as a coach here. Expected a great deal more last year and year was another disappointment. This is big year for the program. Who knows, maybe they want to be SLU after all.

I'd argue that's more of an indictment of your expectations then anything else. You expected more than 20-13 and a jump from 4 to 8 conference wins a year after he was left with 8 players, 2 of which were senior starters?

If we don't improve on last year then I'll be concerned, but last year we had a team with 3 freshman starters and showed great improvement. I expect more improvement this year.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I'd argue that's more of an indictment of your expectations then anything else. You expected more than 20-13 and a jump from 4 to 8 conference wins a year after he was left with 8 players, 2 of which were senior starters?

Not to speak for Goose, but that is a strong word there -- maybe some just have the opinion that the rebuild didnt need to be as deep, it could have happened quicker with a different recruiting strategy or more could have been done with the talent ...Nothing wrong with that.  No indictment just a healthy dose of skepticism.

I agree with you that that its results time from here forward and the academic discussions about the cupboard or judging just how deep of a hole we started in is done.....time to once again feel like we have a chance at the tourney every year.

[bilsu]

Keefe

Not sold on Wojo as a coach here. Expected a great deal more last year and year was another disappointment. This is big year for the program. Who knows, maybe they want to be SLU after all.

It is hard to be a successful coach with the teams he had the first two years. Last year we were usually starting three freshmen. I never thought that a Wojo team did not show up to play in a game. We simply have had less talent and/or experience than most Big East teams. I am not sure if this team does not get a bid it will do with actual coaching. The players need to hit threes and get a reasonable number of rebounds. A coach can teach the team to play defense and take good shots, but that does not matter if the players do not shoot well. However, if he loses this team like Buzz lost his last team, then there is a coaching problem.

[Goose]

IMO at this point we are just at the beginning of the rebuilding process and think vast improvement is needed sooner than later. I honestly am not sure Wojo can coach or not. One thing I do know is that it took Wojo an awfully long time to a HC gig and that worried me at the time.

As far my expectations for the program, I want to see us win and win big. I can handle a rebuild if the end game is better than the pre-rebuild. Buzz had two S16 and E8 and some big wins. Buzz one upped TC and Wojo has yet to get us out of the batters box.