Deep Friar thoughts

[GGGG]

i don't see how this can be disputed (except it's scoop  )  This shifting defense of Wojo is also growing tired.  He didn't have his guys; he has his guys but they're too young to learn anything; he has his guys but they aren't the guys he needs to play defense the way he wants; or offense; and my favorite---I expect top performance but will continue to excuse this teams' failures because I am so smart that at the beginning of the year, I predicted that they would be better than than only DePaul, Georgetown and St. Johns! 

I don't think people understand what I am saying.  What I am saying is that the failures of this team were predictable given the personnel.  That's on Wojo.  But I think the short-comings of this team will be corrected by the players coming in the door starting next year, and with the players going through the fire now having one more year experience.

Put it this way.  I am expecting a top-half BE performance next year and a 5-7 seed.  I am expecting a top 3 BE performance the year after, a 3-4 seed, and at least a S16 run the year after.

[We R Final Four]

Sultan—prior to the Butler game you said we could go 7-2. I said no way in hell is this team going 7-2 down the stretch.
Now, after the game today, your posts resonate of what did you expect? Wait til next year......we don't have the horses this year......we are incomplete, etc.
What changed? Our deficiencies that you now speak of today were certainly there prior to the BU and PC game.
Still thinking 7-0?

[1SE]

1SE

I started the whole SLU thing six years ago, based off my belief the BOT wanted clean over winning. I am fine with that, spend less!!!

Yeah, but really only as a rhetorical devise. MU needs it's basketball. It puts it on the map. We just need to win.

[GGGG]

Sultan—prior to the Butler game you said we could go 7-2. I said no way in hell is this team going 7-2 down the stretch.
Now, after the game today, your posts resonate of what did you expect? Wait til next year......we don't have the horses this year......we are incomplete, etc.
What changed? Our deficiencies that you now speak of today were certainly there prior to the BU and PC game.
Still thinking 7-0?

I said we could go 7-2.  We likely will not.  What changed?  We lost two games.

[connie]

I don't think people understand what I am saying.  What I am saying is that the failures of this team were predictable given the personnel.  That's on Wojo.  But I think the short-comings of this team will be corrected by the players coming in the door starting next year, and with the players going through the fire now having one more year experience.

Put it this way.  I am expecting a top-half BE performance next year and a 5-7 seed.  I am expecting a top 3 BE performance the year after, a 3-4 seed, and at least a S16 run the year after.

I do understand, I just don't share your faith.  You are counting on the new guys to play defense and the current guys to develop.  Only we haven't really seen any defense in four years and I don't recall a player in the past four years where I said "Wow did that guy get better over the summer (or during the year)."  I do hope you are correct.  I just haven't seen much that leads me to believe you will be, and that makes me sad.

[79Warrior]

I thought the team would go 7-2 to finish out the season in 3rd place in the league. In order to do that they will have to run the table .  We have the talent , they all have to be synchronized to win. Every possession is a battle in the Big East. No room for error now.

Enough. We do not have the talent. We have some good players and promising freshmen. The talent is not there to compete for the top third of this conference. Our record reflects it. After every loss you keep harping on the talent. Our record indicates you are incorrect.

[D'Lo Brown]

Few things:

1. I disagree with the sentiment that Wojo messed up by letting Rowsey foul out. That was the absolute best outcome at that point in the game. Rowsey has been an absolute black hole the last several games; bad offensively, hopeless on defense, and plenty of turnovers. The game started to turn when he finally was taken out (by force of fouling out). IMO, he was more deserving of 10-15 minutes in this game, mostly off the bench to give Markus a breather. Markus & Rowsey on the court at the same time is absolutely devastating to our defense and if it's clear he has no offense to provide, what is the point? Huge mistake by Wojo.

2. We went periods of time with no center on the floor, where Rowsey was defending centers, etc. It was absolutely bizarre. We also saw Wojo force Theo onto the bench for long periods when he was having the game of his life. There had to have been a huge differential of points in our favor when Theo was in the game (just a guess).

I was so frustrated to watch this game, Wojo can say all he wants about "playing the hot hand" but that couldn't have been further from the truth today. He has fallen in love with the idea of having Rowsey & Markus on the court at the same time and is willing to go down with the ship on that decision.

[MattyWarrior]

Wow What an awful game stand around and wait for MH to yank a 3, hes tired the whole team lacks spark and theres no movement D has been bad all year and now everyone knows how to defend us no growth with this system next year really sick of hearing that

[ATL MU Warrior]

Rowsey was on a big on several possesions. That is dumb, especially with 4 fouls. Who drew that up?

Ed Cooley

[TSmith34, Inc.]

MU out of timeouts, with possession in the front court, was terrible today.

That spot around the 12 minute mark of the second half of:

-Hauser/Froling WTF play

That play was Markus' fault too.  He threw the bounce pass WAY in front of Hauser which forced him to be out of control and with a bad angle once he caught up to it.

Just a game where Markus truly sunk the entire team.

[Daniel]

Anyone know how long we signed Wojo up for?  I thought there was an extension Anne point.  Anyone know?

[We R Final Four]

I said we could go 7-2.  We likely will not.  What changed?  We lost two games.

Agreed. This team going 7-2 was ridiculous.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

And that they'd get better over the course of the season, with the addition of Harry Froling and game experience for the freshmen, enough to contend for a second straight NCAA berth.

The issue I see with Froling is that he is like most of the rest of the team--talented, but only on the offensive end.  He does rebound well, but he can't play a lick of defense.

I look forward to seeing the +/- from today's game. Wojo's biggest coaching mistake of the day was sitting Theo too long.

[D'Lo Brown]

That play was Markus' fault too.  He threw the bounce pass WAY in front of Hauser which forced him to be out of control and with a bad angle once he caught up to it.

Just a game where Markus truly sunk the entire team.

I think you fundamentally misunderstand how this team was built. For better or worse, Markus had to come through for us to have any chance. Rowsey was not going to make anything happen. Who else do ya got? Cam?

Also, I don't think you can blame the guy for his effort, the team has had low energy and morale for weeks.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

The issue I see with Froling is that he is like most of the rest of the team--talented, but only on the offensive end.  He does rebound well, but he can't play a lick of defense.

I look forward to seeing the +/- from today's game. Wojo's biggest coaching mistake of the day was sitting Theo too long.

+/- is a worthless star but you're right about sitting Theo too long. I don't know where Heldt gets minutes next season.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I think you fundamentally misunderstand how this team was built. For better or worse, Markus had to come through for us to have any chance. Rowsey was not going to make anything happen. Who else do ya got? Cam?

Also, I don't think you can blame the guy for his effort, the team has had low energy and morale for weeks.

I am not misunderstanding it at all.  I'm not saying Wojo has a better option than Markus, nor faulting his effort.  It was his performance which sunk the team.  Extremely lose with the ball, terrible shot selection, failed to find (or look for) the open guy.  He was tagged for 4 turnovers in the box score but could easily have had double that (the bounce pass to Sam which ruined the fast break, the ball he lost that Theo picked up for a bucket, a horrible pass that Greg saved with his athleticism, etc., etc.)

I'm not saying Wojo had someone else better to put in or that Markus' was dogging it, he just played really poorly.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

+/- is a worthless star but you're right about sitting Theo too long. I don't know where Heldt gets minutes next season.

Game to game perhaps, but I think the cumulative +/- that Paint Touches is compiling is a pretty good indicator so far for the season.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I mean this is really the only defense people can muster for Wojo. "I had really low expectations at the start of the season, and those are being met."

But did you also expect, when Wojo was hired, that we'd be expecting NIT in year 4? Was that on his PowerPoint to the BOT?

"Year 4 = NIT"

Actually yes.

At the time he was hired, we were set to graduate Jajuan Johnson, Deonte Burton, Luke Fischer, and John Dawson between year 3 and year 4. That could have been losing up to 4 starters in an offseason. Most teams who do that regress. Now the names and faces changed, but we still lost 3 starters and a rotation player this offseason. Most teams regress when that happens. So regression from a 10 seed would be bubble team to NIT.

You can check my posts but from the day Wojo was hired my expectations have always been NCAA by year 3, regression year 4, high seed with foundation for years of future success by year 5. He's right on schedule....which means he's been average. He certainly hasn't exceeded expectations but he's met them. I'd give him a C at this point. We'll see how the rest of this year and next season play out.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

+1,000,000

Rowsey with 4 fouls and you purposely put him in a position where he has to guard a big in the low post one on one.  What was he thinking?  That timeout with 1 minute to go was also a killer.  Lets Providence set the D and eliminates our last one in case we need it.

You aren't the only one who said this but I'll address this.

Rowsey wasn't guarding a big in Providence's lineup. He was guarding Isaiah Jackson who plays the 2 guard for Providence. Providence usually runs a lineup of one PG and four guys between  6"6 and 6"8. Isaiah Jackson is 6"6 and usually plays the 2 guard in those lineups. So if Rowsey wasn't guarding Jackson, he would have to guard either an even bigger guy (Diallo, Lindsey, or Bullock) or he would have to guard Cartwright who is one of the leaders in the Big East in FT rate.

We needed Rowsey's offense. Who exactly did you want him guarding?

[skianth16]

Enough. We do not have the talent. We have some good players and promising freshmen. The talent defense is not there to compete for the top third of this conference. Our record reflects it. After every loss you keep harping on the talent. Our record indicates you are incorrect.

FIFY

We have the talent to win big games. We have the 2 leading scorers in the conference, for crying out loud. Our team has so much upside, but there are too many weak spots to truly capitalize on that. We have poor defensive strategy (to put it kindly), and poor defensive effort. We have a coach who is too rigid right now to make the right adjustments mid-game.

We can play 30-35 minutes with anyone in the country. I truly believe that. But we lack the planning and the discipline to get through a 40 minute game against top-tier talent.

[GGGG]

Also, I understand people's issues with the small lineup, but Wojo was trying to get offense on the floor when they had none.  And I think MU was only -2 with that group on the floor. 

The one complaint that is legit is putting Heldt on the floor for as long as he did.  But the small line up wasn't the disaster that people are making it out to be.

[GGGG]

FIFY

We have the talent to win big games. We have the 2 leading scorers in the conference, for crying out loud. Our team has so much upside, but there are too many weak spots to truly capitalize on that.

This makes no sense.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This has been the heart of my beef. If BOT wants a bottom tier BE program we can get it for a lot less. Put the money elsewhere. You know how many tenure track lines 1,000,000 supports? How many scholarships?

The ROI for the $$$ spent on Marquette Basketball is 7:1 per Scholl. Why would we would put that money elsewhere when this generates more money for elsewehere?

[skianth16]

The ROI for the $$$ spent on Marquette Basketball is 7:1 per Scholl. Why would we would put that money elsewhere when this generates more money for elsewehere?

We could go 0-fer and still generate more money with basketball than we do elsewhere. Bad argument.

[GGGG]

We could go 0-fer and still generate more money with basketball than we do elsewhere. Bad argument.

No actually that's the point.