Butler thoughts

[leever]

The answer to this, IMO, is getting Harry heavily involved in the offense early.  Feed the guy and let him put it 10-12 points by the 2nd media timeout. Hopefully that'll open things up.

Of course he'd have 10-12 points and 5 fouls.  And the man he's "guarding" would have 20 points.

[lawdog77]

It's not because they're small it's because they don't pass to anybody...ever.

I beg to differ. Rowsey had several nice passes last night...to the guy in the second row.
IN all seriousness, our guards seem to have no confidence in our bigs finishing. Our bigs just dont have a feel for the game. they are too mechanical.

To your point, research the play where Howard got hurt. He should.have.passed it to a cutting Sacar before the.injury

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I can see Greg or Jamal wanting to leave for greener pastures.

Uhhhh, simply a silly statement.  Both are getting a ton of run and are solid contributors as frosh for a top 50 team.  You think they're gong to jump to different, better team?  Oh boy, talk about overreaction.

[Hubert Davis]

I've been trying my hardest to refrain from posting this season. Haven't overreacted after losses and haven't gotten too high after wins....BUT last night was bad. Really bad. And  a terrible sign. Last night's game was arguably a must win game and that's how Marquette and Wojo come out and perform. Embarrassing. Terrible. everything you can think of. An absolute beatdown at home.  a major letdown.

You guys can defend Wojo all you want. but this is his fourth season at the helm. That's a long time in college hoops. Mediocrity is what we're getting again. It's getting old and frustrating. I understand that he's not going to get fired and that NEXT YEAR we should be better (hopefully?) but just the fact that in year 4 we're talking about next year is kind of pathetic and sad.

VT has turned it around. Wojo is clueless.

[Lennys Tap]

Also, Buzz took all of his recruits with him and left us with a dumpster fire. His team *should* be better than us. There's plenty of basketball left to be played before the tournament.

Fake News. Buzz took Ahmed Hill (good player) and Satchel Pierce (stumblebum who transferred from VT). Mariol Shayok went to Virginia, Sandy Cohen stuck with Marquette.

[GGGG]

And it's really irrelevant now what VT is doing.  Not sure why it keeps getting brought up.  Buzz left on his own.

[skianth16]

Uhhhh, simply a silly statement.  Both are getting a ton of run and are solid contributors as frosh for a top 50 team.  You think they're gong to jump to different, better team?  Oh boy, talk about overreaction.

I think they might bolt exactly because they're getting a ton of minutes now. When Joey and Bailey get added into the mix, and we increase the minutes for our bigs with Morrow coming on board, I expect one, if not both, of them to end up with fewer minutes than they're getting this year. Throw in a transfer PG, which seems like a real possibility, and the allocation of minutes gets tough for Greg and Jamal. That kind of reduced PT can create issues in the locker room.

[GB Warrior]

My West Bend silver lining is that I probably only have to listen to all of the guys coming out of the woodwork with pitchforks until Saturday. If we lose then in a similar fashion, I will join them.

Look, last night was embarrassing. You'll have to tell me how embarrassing, because I turned it off at halftime. But we knew coming into this year that this wasn't "our year". Now, we're an exciting team to watch, with all the peaks and valleys that brings, and we still have everything in front of us. But this year is all about just getting better for what, hopefully, is a special couple of years coming up.

All of this being said: It feels weird to say, but I think Wojo needs to bring in a coach that is focused exclusively on defense. We know we'll get better by subtraction of Rowsey (can we get worse???), but even with him, our current output is still unacceptable. Even replacement level defense would mean we'd be guaranteed to be dancing.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Jamil

I'll stick with my taking Rick's SLU program at the moment. One year later and not much improvement.

Good for you.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Wojo knows defense! For chrissakes he was a defensive player of the year!

Guys have to want to play defense. Howard and Rowsey do not.

I actually think we miss Traci Carter.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The fact that the jury is still very much out on just how good of a coach Wojo is is very alarming

The jury is still out on every coach other than maybe a dozen of the top coaches....and even their fans think the jury is still out on them.

[tower912]

Right now, the UNC fanbase is ticked at Roy, the Kentucky fanbase is frustrated with this year's team and pondering whether Calipari's one and done philosophy is the best long term idea,  Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa fanbases are ticked at their coach, MSU is reeling and split between seeing Izzo as the problem or solution.    UConn, oy.     There is not an abundance of ready made, guaranteed successful coaches out there just waiting there opportunity to come to Marquette.   


  Any coaching decision, be it fire and start over or stay the course, is a crapshoot. 

[MUfan12]

I actually think we miss Traci Carter.

100% correct.

[Big Papi]

Howard and Rowsey need some bench time until they learn that defense is as important as offense.  There is no way that Howard gets beaten off the dribble as easily as he does.  I would make it a contest between Rowsey and Howard on defensive intensity, technique and effort at practice and winner gets the start.  The other subs in whenever.  A message needs to be sent about the importance of defense.

Elliott and Anim should be seeing more time and being rewarded for their defensive effort. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I would make it a contest between Rowsey and Howard on defensive intensity, technique and effort at practice and winner gets the start a free cone from the ice cream truck.

Fixed it for you.

[tower912]

Howard and Rowsey need some bench time until they learn that defense is as important as offense.  There is no way that Howard gets beaten off the dribble as easily as he does.  I would make it a contest between Rowsey and Howard on defensive intensity, technique and effort at practice and winner gets the start.  The other subs in whenever.  A message needs to be sent about the importance of defense.

Elliott and Anim should be seeing more time and being rewarded for their defensive effort.

It isn't that simple.   Bench one of the two leading scorers in the Big East.    And bring back Derrick!

[Big Papi]

It isn't that simple.   Bench one of the two leading scorers in the Big East.    And bring back Derrick!

You have to send a message that defense is a priority not a way to get the ball back quickly in your hands to chuck up another shot.  Effort and technique are lacking from the both of them.  Trust me, some pine time will light a fire to get the intensity back up where it needs to be.

[skianth16]

You have to send a message that defense is a priority not a way to get the ball back quickly in your hands to chuck up another shot.  Effort and technique are lacking from the both of them.  Trust me, some pine time will light a fire to get the intensity back up where it needs to be.

That message should have been sent in the off-season or in non-con play. Deciding 20 games in that you're going to start sending a message about defense when it's been clear that defense is not a priority is a bad move. Rewarding defensive effort in practice and/or running guys who slack on D is one thing, but I don't like the idea of benching guys due to a change in focus this far into the season.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

That message should have been sent in the off-season or in non-con play. Deciding 20 games in that you're going to start sending a message about defense when it's been clear that defense is not a priority is a bad move. Rewarding defensive effort in practice and/or running guys who slack on D is one thing, but I don't like the idea of benching guys due to a change in focus this far into the season.

I could've sworn Howard was benched at the end of the Nova game, but I thought it was a shot selection thing.

[BM1090]

Last night sucked. It was probably the worst I've felt at a game for the past 3 years. That said, I'm going to look at it as more of an outlier than a sign of things to come. If we lay another egg against PC Saturday, then yeah the season is pretty much over and there should be some real concern.

Right now, we have a pretty clear path to the NCAA tournament here. Beat PC this Saturday. Win @ SJU. Even if we lose @ SH and @ Creighton which seems likely, we head into the final 4 games at 6-8. We'll be favored in each of the final 4 games. Win 3 and we have a shot. Win 4 and we're in.

The bubble is weak, as always. Look at the teams surrounding us in Lunardi's bracketology.

Just ahead of us? Providence, who we have a chance to jump this weekend. Texas AM, 3-6 in the SEC.

Just behind us? SMU, NC State, Boise State, Virginia Tech. None of those teams inspire confidence.

The first 8 out? Missouri, Georgia, Western Kentucky, Washington, Syracuse, UCLA, Utah, Nebraska. All have major flaws in their resume.

Some of these teams have to make the dance. None of them are impressive. In a year where we thought we'd take a small step back, we're right where everyone thought we would be. We knew the schedule was frontloaded. We knew the easy games were at the end and we'd likely have to make a run to make the tournament.

Last night was depressing. But I'd bet even the posters who had us at 9-9 or 10-8 in their preseason predictions would have us around 4-6 through ten games. Lots of time to steady our resume and earn a bid.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I believe the last time we saw a Bradley Center beat down was in 2005 to UAB or Memphis.

[BM1090]

I believe the last time we saw a Bradley Center beat down was in 2005 to UAB or Memphis.

Vandy in 2011? Iowa in 2015?

[WayOfTheWarrior]

Nights like last night just make me want to cuddle up with the Seton Hall postgame thread and pretend everything is gonna be ok!

Amazing how we can play at such a high level against a ranked opponent a few weeks ago and destroy them, then look like this.

FWIW Butler is a decent team, if that means anything. Makes me wonder if I'd rather get beat by 20 at home to them or beat with a buzzer beater at home by DePaul like a few years ago. I would hope most would say the former.

[GooooMarquette]

Vandy in 2011? Iowa in 2015?

Yep.  It's been all of two seasons since a 20+ loss at home.

In 2015-16, we lost at home to Iowa by 28 and Seton Hall by 20.
In 2014-15, we lost at home to X by 20.

Last night was ugly, but nights like that happen....

[Mr. Nielsen]

Vandy in 2011? Iowa in 2015?

Vandy was bad, yet they made a tiny run. I forgot Iowa was 20+ point beatdown. Yet, Marquette did make a run to start the 2nd half in that as well.

Last night, it was a shocking 15 halftime hole. Yet, it got worse.