Depaul thoughts

[tower912]

1.  They weren't prepared for this large of a crowd.  Poor planning.
2.  11 year old, midway through the second half.  " you're right dad.  First team to stand still on offense loses."
3.  Markus clearly not right.  Forced to play too many minutes.
4.   Shoot like crap, lose.
5.  Actually like the arena.
6.  Sat with two old roommates.  The last time we watched a game together was the Kansas final four game in a suburban bar.  Joking we may never do this again.

[willie warrior]

6. Wojo honks as a coach.

[RJax55]

Got little from the freshman today. That hurt.

[tower912]

Same genius who beat SJU.   Too much standing still.  Haven't lost many games because of bad offense.  Did today.

[Danny Noonan]

I just got back from the game. Only the second game I have been able to watch live this year but my thoughts:

-New arena- Good view and the seats are close to the court. Entry, concessions and bathrooms congested but doable. It could have been Bradley Center South but there was very little to cheer about.
-Poor decisions, shot selection and turnovers lost this game.
-The team needs to value each possession and play smarter, which is a reflection of the coach.
-If some of the open looks earlier in the second half would have fallen, the momentum may have swung, but when it did, it was too little too late.
-Rowsey is a fifth year Senior but makes poor decisions with his early fouls, shot selection.
-Rowsey complained to the refs throughout the game.
-Rowsey and Howard need to be held accountable for chucking up shots they could get at any time.
-Not sure why Hauser did not get more touches- especially in the first half-but he did miss some open looks.
-Elliot appears to be weak with both hands at this time.
-Cain would benefit from becoming a stronger dribbler so he could get to the rim.
-Anim has put more arc on his FT's and looks better at the line. I am looking forward to his continued development.
-Getting beat by Maric and Strus was difficult to swallow as they look like they should be playing at the YMCA or at least "The Valley".
- Wojo will work out but this loss was unacceptable.

[RJax55]

Cyrus and Cain are bigger guards and they gave Howard and Rowsey problems on both ends.

[RJax55]

I just got back from the game. Only the second game I have been able to watch live this year but my thoughts:

-New arena- Good view and the seats are close to the court. Entry, concessions and bathrooms congested but doable. It could have been Bradley Center South but there was very little to cheer about.
-Poor decisions, shot selection and turnovers lost this game.
-The team needs to value each possession and play smarter, which is a reflection of the coach.
-If some of the open looks earlier in the second half would have fallen, the momentum may have swung, but when it did, it was too little too late.
-Rowsey is a fifth year Senior but makes poor decisions with his early fouls, shot selection.
-Rowsey complained to the refs throughout the game.
-Rowsey and Howard need to be held accountable for chucking up shots they could get at any time.
-Not sure why Hauser did not get more touches- especially in the first half-but he did miss some open looks.
-Elliot appears to be weak with both hands at this time.
-Cain would benefit from becoming a stronger dribbler so he could get to the rim.
-Anim has put more arc on his FT's and looks better at the line. I am looking forward to his continued development.
-Getting beat by Maric and Strus was difficult to swallow as they look like they should be playing at the YMCA or at least "The Valley".
- Wojo will work out but this loss was unacceptable.

You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.

[BM1090]

You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.

Yep if he played for a team where he could get more open looks he'd be very good

[NotAnAlum]

I think the game was lost by failing to play like a disciplined team and instead playing more like DePaul with the sloppy turnovers and ill-advised shots.  There was a time when MU was shooting well in the first half and threatening to put the game away.  If continue to play that way we go into the half with a 10+ point lead and DePaul starts to feel the game is a loss.  The rebounding was terrible and I feel that the zone would have helped that even though zone is usually bad for rebounding.  Our guys are not good at getting into position during the scramble that results from a guy getting into the paint with all the switching etc.  The zone allows our center and forwards to stay in decent rebounding position.  We're not very good at box outs anyway in man or zone.  And for what ever reason when Andrew and Markus are on the floor at the same time neither seems to play well of each other and the other guys just stand around setting picks which makes the offense stagnant.  Bottom line we are a low level BE team this year more equal to DePaul than the top half of the league.  Hopefully next year its different.

[Dawson Rental]

I don't think it was coaching, and I don't think it was talent.  Too many guys with bad days at once.  Not everyone has their "A" game every day, today no one did.  In particular, Elliott seemed out of it.  And Rowsey.

We lost it on offense, not defense.  How often has that happened?

[connie]

That second half was brutal.  Rebounding seemed non-existant.

[NickelDimer]

Why do people keep saying our defense wasn't an issue? We played DePaul. Defensive rebounding was atrocious (that's defense). Playing man without fouling was atrocious (that's defense). Obviously our offense was really bad but so was our d

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Observations from the game:

• Rebounding was brutal to say the least. Tough to watch. Not sure how that was Wojo's fault.
  Shooting was just slightly less brutal, especially the first 10 minutes of the second half. Way too many open looks that these shooters normally hit just were not going in. While can't blame Wojo for the shooting woes, he is responsible for not making adjustments to get us out of the shooting funk. That's where he failed the team today.
  DePaul is a better team this year than in the past. I don't think they are any immediate threat to the top of the BE in the immediate future but they are taking baby steps in the right direction.
  This was my third time at their new arena and it is a nice place to watch games. Not ruling out a trip there next weekend for the women's BE tournament but the parking does stink.

I'm thinking we're done for the NCAA and maybe can get into the NIT.

(I'll just never understand the vitriol of some of the posters here.)

[jsglow]

Baseball season.

(I hope they play well down the stretch and I might even consider attending an NIT game.)

[4everwarriors]

Ma and Pa throwin' in da towel. Da equivalent of da fat lady singin', aina?

[Herman Cain]

I give credit to DePaul and their Coaching Staff. The Blue Demons played well and had a clear idea of what they sought ought to achieve . In particular , their defensive structure really made it hard for our guys to get clean looks.  They had some big guys on our little guys. The reason MU shot so poorly was we rarely had an open shot. As the shot clock went down we were forced to chuck it. Obviously DePaul really worked hard for the boards. They kept getting multiple put backs and enough of those eventually went down which really made a huge difference in the outcome. Tough to lose a game with so many of our good fans in attendance. 

At this point we now have to beat Georgetown and Creighton , then we need to make it to the final of the Big East Tournament if we want to go dancing. Not sure that would be enough, thus we may have to win out through BET.

BET is going to be a gauntlet, because right now it looks like we would be playing St. Johns in the first game. 

[Danny Noonan]

You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.

Yeah, that may have been a bit of an over-reaction to the loss.  He does have size and can hit the shot when left open.

[dgies9156]

Baseball season.

Yeup, how about those Cardinals!

[nyg]

I give credit to DePaul and their Coaching Staff. The Blue Demons played well and had a clear idea of what they sought ought to achieve . In particular , their defensive structure really made it hard for our guys to get clean looks.  They had some big guys on our little guys. The reason MU shot so poorly was we rarely had an open shot. As the shot clock went down we were forced to chuck it. Obviously DePaul really worked hard for the boards. They kept getting multiple put backs and enough of those eventually went down which really made a huge difference in the outcome. Tough to lose a game with so many of our good fans in attendance. 

At this point we now have to beat Georgetown and Creighton , then we need to make it to the final of the Big East Tournament if we want to go dancing. Not sure that would be enough, thus we may have to win out through BET.

BET is going to be a gauntlet, because right now it looks like we would be playing St. Johns in the first game.

Yeah, that #3 seed and Sweet 16 sort panned out.  Maybe Ike will be the savior next year.......

At least you have now come back to earth about what has to be done in next two weeks. 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Yeah, that #3 seed and Sweet 16 sort panned out.  Maybe Ike will be the savior next year.......

At least you have now come back to earth about what has to be done in next two weeks.

I definitely preferred his 0-30 prediction that lead to an NCAA bid.

[Herman Cain]

I definitely preferred his 0-30 prediction that lead to an NCAA bid.

Fake News.

[mileskishnish72]

TAMU loves to talk about a team's floor and a team's ceiling.
Today we saw the bAsement.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Zero 2nd half offensive rebounds.  Zero.

Andrew taking 12 of the 26 2nd half shots. Andrew seems to only play well at home.

Soon after half, MU had a 80% chance of winning. This game was lost in the 10 minutes out of the halftime.

Defense was good. Offense horrid.

Thought in game adjustments and substitutions poor in 2nd.  As a simple philosophy, you drive to the hoop and try to get fouled if not hitting. DePaul pressed way out on the perimeter and we didn't take advantage of it. We did none of that. Statistically worst offensive game of the year.

A nit.  In a three possession game (7points), wtf are we waiting 10 seconds to foul?  Making two free throws is still a three possession game.

[real chili 83]

Yeup, how about those Cardinals!

Who?

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

I don't think it was coaching, and I don't think it was talent.  Too many guys with bad days at once.  Not everyone has their "A" game every day, today no one did.  In particular, Elliott seemed out of it.  And Rowsey.

We lost it on offense, not defense.  How often has that happened?

Totally agree.  I think everyone is frustated by the loss.  I too was there and we had an outstanding MU home crowd.  Lately, Wojo has been the target of peoples frustration and i think at times well deserved.  Today i really dont believe so. 
First half if we simply rebound the ball and dont turn it over we are up 15+.  Now Wojo is ultimately in charge butmany of those turnovers were simply unforced and many if the rebounds were thru our hands. Wojo didnt tell them to fumble rebounds or too throw the ball away on half of our firt half breaks.
Second half Rowsey was terrible, wojo has stressed Rowsey as a pass first PG.  16 assists in our two wins, 1 today and many many stupid im going to put the team on my back shots.  Howard too, great shooter last year within the offense, this year a hero ball chucker. 
Whats Wojo gonna do bench them both?  And play whom?  Elliott and Cain?  They are Freshman matching up against bigger strionger upper classmen and struggled today.  No one clicked.  Wojo kept trying different things.  Went big, went small, tried zone, the zone didnt werk either.  Man defense was sufficient but could finish the possesions with boards.
We struggled offensively an howard and especially Rowsey decided to shoot us out of it. 
Alot of credit goes to Depaul, they had 6" and 20lbs and at least two yrs of experience on their matchup across the board today, on top of it and most importantly they played smarter than  us.  In a year or two sam, jamal, theo, joey, cain, morrow etc will all be older, stronger and smarter. 
I understand No one wants to give depaul any credit and the only reason we could have lost is because Wojo sucks.  But depaul does have BE players n they out played us today with physical n mental maturity.  Coaches lose gamrs but not this one.