Wrapping up UConnStorrs, Conn. - The Marquette Golden Eagles have lost their first three Big East road games by 15, 20 and 16 points, which is curious considering they return every key player from last season's team that went 4-4 away from the Bradley Center and won at Louisville and Connecticut - the same two places they lost last week, against most of those teams' same key players.
I asked Dominic James what's changed between last year and this year, especially considering the team's core consists of juniors and seniors who have been through the wars.
"Going back home is not going to be a cure," he said. "I feel like we're a better team. I know that. But we've got to go out there every night and play like that. Nothing's going to be given to us. I feel like that's the way that we're playing - just because we're ranked so high we're going to get certain calls and we're going to play a certain way.
"We've got to come out a certain way every game and right now we're having a hard time to find our identity. We know what it is, but we're not playing that way."
I then asked coach Tom Crean if he was expecting more out of James, McNeal and Matthews, especially when the Golden Eagles are searching for confidence and consistency on the road.
"Eight, nine days ago we beat Notre Dame by 26," he said. "I know it was at home but Notre Dame was playing as well as anybody in the league going into that game. I think it's consistency. Every coach in America talks about toughness - mental toughness, physical toughness. Every coach does. The greatest form of toughness is consistency, and it's also the hardest to achieve. That's what you have to try to get to with your team every day.
"We had great practices leading up to this, a lot of energy, a lot of fire, everybody was ready to play. We just can't get quiet, we can't defer, but most important we just can't not be physical when that shot goes up. We've got to use speed and quickness to get to the rim."
-- As to whether this is the low point of the season to date, James was quick to offer the fact that there's still a long way to go.
"It can get worse," said James. "This team has to find out how it responds to adversity. The team that I know, we're all going to respond to it. But going home is not going to cure that. We've got to come out here and play, play like Marquette. And right now we're not playing Marquette basketball."
Coach Tom Crean agreed it's too early to begin panicking.
"I think it's going to be incredibly competitive the entire year," he said. "We're not going to hang our heads with where we stand in the league race, not with as many games as we have coming up and as many games as everybody else has got. We'll just see where it goes. Now we have to have a week of getting better before we play again at home."
-- James was part of the five-guard alignment that Crean utilized late in the game, along with McNeal, Matthews, Maurice Acker and David Cubillan. It was the first time Crean went all small this season, and might not be the last if MU's big men continue to struggle the way that they have.
James' reaction when he saw five guards on the floor of Gampel Pavilion was telling.
"Just trust, knowing that regardless of who was out there on the floor at the time that we could trust each other because we knew that we were going to give 110 percent out there at all times, the guys that were out there," he said. "That's a better feeling than having people out there that we're not feeling all that confident about. And if we've got to continue to play like that then, hey, we're going to do it. But it's a wake up call for everybody - not just the bigs."
-- MU played pretty well down the stretch, but with the game well in hand for UConn by that point it was lost in the shuffle to many. To Crean, the late burst will serve as another teaching point.
"Hopefully we're going to gain something from the last 10-12 minutes today. Because we played the last 10-12 like we need to play the 40," he said. "If we're not playing like our hair's on fire, we're not real good. And we have to be there."
-- MU got off to another slow start, and Jerel McNeal's struggles certainly didn't help.
He was 0 for 5 with zero rebounds, 1 assist and one steal in 15 minutes. Against Louisville he had six points, three rebounds and two steals to go along with six turnovers.
As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 27.6% (8 for 29) against the Huskies in the first half. Against Louisville, they shot the exact same 27.6%, going 8 for 29.
"I'm more concerned that we're not making the stops that we need to make defensively," Crean said of the slow starts. "(And) we should be better with our game planning, there's no question."
-- Crean started Dan Fitzgerald at the 5 against UConn, and again used Trend Blackledge for spot minutes in relief of the ineffective Dwight Burke and Ousmane Barro.
Blackledge had two points, a rebound and a blocked shot in eight minutes against the Huskies, and here lately has seemed to provide a spark -- even if he isn't ideally suited to be defending true big men.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/01/20/wrapping-up-uconn.aspx
