Grinding out a win on a night of upsets

[Johnny B]

Joey is much slower than JC.  When someone is going off for 27, it's probably a good idea to throw a different defensive look at him, and it's not like JC could have been much worse than Joey tonight.

Why would the 6"2 guy do any better than the 6"9 guy

[nyg]

I wasn't trying to be snarky or anything I was just kinda surprised.  I agree with the decision to leave Sacar on Baldwin, but JC is our next best perimeter defender, and it was clear that Joey was not up to the task of chasing McD.  I think JC could have done that very well, and at least made his shots tougher.

Butler up 23-18, Joe made a bad turnover and Jorgensen dribbled up court and hit a three, made it 26-18.  That's what did Joe in. 

McD got his points tonight, but the other guys on Butler did not.  Thats a good thing. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Why would the 6"2 guy do any better than the 6"9 guy

Because the 6'3" guy is quicker and a better defender.

That being said, I think the right move was putting Cain on him which Wojo did.

[Its DJOver]

Why would the 6"2 guy do any better than the 6"9 guy

Because the 6'-9" is a relatively slow Freshman, and the 6'-2" guy is a significantly quicker 5th year Senior, that is also a significantly better perimeter defender, and has more experience running and fighting through screens.  If McD had any post presence it might be a different scenario, but he is strictly a catch-and-shoot guy.  Having your starting Power Forward try to chase him around all night is not going to end well.

[MULaw14]

1. Wins are fun any way you get them. When's the last time MU controlled their own destiny?
2. Theo showed what he can do without foul trouble and regular minutes. Oh yeah, he's just a sophomore.
3.  Welcome back, Jamal. Watching him look for his shot first, versus playing hot potato with the basketball looking to pass immediately, was the most enjoyable thing to watch all night.
4. Bailey and Jamal on the same floor was the most underrated move of the night. Those 2 on the floor with Sacar locks down the perimeter for days.
5. Ed still solid in limited minutes, his depth behind Theo is gonna be huge come March.
6. On to the next one, let's get that 2 seed!

7. (Bonus) Blame the beer, did I miss Shake Shack tonight?!

[DoctorV]

That pass from Theo at the top of the key to Sacar in the corner for the 3 was real nice.

There's a reason teams don't urgently press all game.  They would get into foul trouble and worn out very quickly.  I'm not worried about it.  A lot of teams will look bad when a team is urgently pressing in the closing minutes of a game.  Good to have it happen when you defense is getting stops and you have a double digit lead than it is when you're up only 2 possessions and can't get stops.

Yes, that pass was awesome. Followed it up forcing a to on a step oob on the sideline. Tack on a double double. Theo you are the man that we need, the man that we deserve

[Marcus92]

The team took advantage of a big opportunity tonight, claiming sole possession of first place in the Big East. A well-earned win.

[forgetful]

Early in the 2nd half, the announcers were talking about how Butler was shutting us down. That we were on pace for our worst scoring game by far for the season, way short of our average of 79.

We scored 79.

Massive turnaround after the early 2nd half timeout.

[barfolomew]

6.  Sacar taking the foul at the end of the first half affected the second half.    Of course, it meant more minutes for Cain and Bailey.   So, it worked out, but that wasn't always a given. 

Without question Wojo's worst call of the night.
Joseph or Jamal should have been in giving that foul. If I still screamed at the TV during basketball games, that's when I'd have been doing it.
That said, any win is a great win, but a 10pt win is a NET win!

[MU82]

++ Wojo has showed he's willing to give JCS a chance, but when he commits a super-sloppy turnover and then gets beat on D, and then his replacement plays well, Wojo is all about performance and he decided he had seen enough. I don't blame him.

++ It was nice to see Sam be more assertive in the second half, especially after the big time-out Wojo called.

++ Morrow actually played well when he was in the game, but Theo was so good it was impossible for Wojo to get Morrow back in. If Theo stays out of foul trouble, we are such a good defensive team.

++ 2 straight nice contributions from Cain. I'm very happy for the young man.

++ Joey was doing OK for awhile but the second half was rough to watch.

++ As usual, Sacar did a heck of a job defending a very tough player. He gets the big defensive assignment game after game, and he makes his man work for every single thing. A nice luxury for a coach to have.

++ Markus took 3-4 silly shots and was too loose with the ball, but he still scored 28 points and played a good all-around game, including several fine defensive plays. Such a fun player to watch. So glad he's a Warrior.

++ We were 2-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, 7-for-11 in the second half. It's not easy to keep a good 3-point shooting team down, especially when we get contributions from Sacar and Jamal.

++ I'm not overly concerned about facing a press. Joey is a huge part of our press break because he gives Sam a big target and he makes his FTs. Most games, he will be out there. I feel very good about a press-break unit that includes the Hausers, Markus and Bailey.

++ I thought Wojo had a very good game except for having Sacar commit that foul at the end of the first half. I hated that, and I screamed at the TV (take THAT, TV!). And I wasn't a fan of the next one, either. You put yourself in position where a touch foul in the final 8 seconds sends Butler to the line. Thankfully, it didn't come back to bite us too badly.

++ We're No. 1, baby! brewski, feel free to be right about it now!!

[82fanatic]

What's up with Chartouny?  I get that Jamal has played better and is earning his increase in PT, but I didn't think JC looked bad when he got his chance in the first half.  Didn't get any second half minutes until Joey fouled out and we went without a big.

He had a wide open three, he turned it down, 2 dribbles, turns it over, Butler runs down and get a 3.

My interpretation.... "joe, if you are not going to shoot when we get you a great look, someone else will.   Have a seat!"

[Loose Cannon]

The press break is a huge problem.  We would be embarrassed by an elite team with that kind of press break im the tourney. They better figure that out.  Was a huge wound to open up for people game planning for us

They Better

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

He had a wide open three, he turned it down, 2 dribbles, turns it over, Butler runs down and get a 3.

My interpretation.... "joe, if you are not going to shoot when we get you a great look, someone else will.   Have a seat!"

I think Wojos leash is very short with chartouney at this point.  And i dont know that i disagree.  It seems u can tell first trip down the floor if JC has it that night.  He is either attacking and agressive or he is afraid n timid.  One is a huge asset the other will kill u.  Ive not seen a game this yr where joe started poorly n ended strong. 
He did come in late during the end game debacle

[JakeBarnes]

Jamal with nice minutes again. Very happy to see Sam get his in the second half. Needs to get that assertive nature going early for a bigger game, it seems.

Ed played great but Theo was just having a night. Loved it.

Nice to be atop the BEast standings. Keep it going, boys

[Herman Cain]

I went to the game tonight. Was impressed by how the team battled back after a sluggish start. The time off was evident .

It was great to see Jamal doing good things, love that kid. Also enjoyed Theo very much. Butler worked hard but at the end we simply had more talent. Glad MU is taking full advantage of their roster strength this year, in the future the talent gap is going to narrow with several teams in the Big East . 

First time in the new arena and had fun with our group in one of the suites. Was a nice experience. Decent crowd for a late start Wednesday game.

[brewcity77]

++ We're No. 1, baby! brewski, feel free to be right about it now!!

The announcers said we were a half game up on Villanova.

Which by default means I'm right now but was also right then. In sports standings, a tie in the margin between wins and losses is a tie.

[MU82]

The announcers said we were a half game up on Villanova.

Which by default means I'm right now but was also right then. In sports standings, a tie in the margin between wins and losses is a tie.

I'll take the obvious, all-alone-in-first-place scenario we're in now. But you're right a lot, so claim whatever you want.

[wadesworld]

The announcers said we were a half game up on Villanova.

Which by default means I'm right now but was also right then. In sports standings, a tie in the margin between wins and losses is a tie.

So an announcer has never said anything that is inaccurate on a broadcast.

We're currently in first in the Big East by 1/2 of a game. If we were 1/2 game up on Nova during our game then our win over Butler did not change our record in the BE somehow.

[muwarrior69]

Boy, if we could make our open shots we would blow most opponents out of the water. Is there an open shot stat?

[brewcity77]

So an announcer has never said anything that is inaccurate on a broadcast.

We're currently in first in the Big East by 1/2 of a game. If we were 1/2 game up on Nova during our game then our win over Butler did not change our record in the BE somehow.

It was Homer in the post game. He wasn't inaccurate, he was correct. You confirm that in the second paragraph, which in turn confirms my original post in the "We're Number One!" thread.

[We R Final Four]

Without question Wojo's worst call of the night.
Joseph or Jamal should have been in giving that foul. If I still screamed at the TV during basketball games, that's when I'd have been doing it.
That said, any win is a great win, but a 10pt win is a NET win!

Worst call of the year.

[tower912]

Hopefully, you are correct.     If that is his worst call of the year, everything is going to be OK.     

[MU82]

Boy, if we could make our open shots we would blow most opponents out of the water. Is there an open shot stat?

We are a great shooting team and our guys make a ton of open shots. We miss some, too, obviously, and those misses seem to come in bunches.

In my 40-plus years of closely watching basketball, I haven't seen a team make all of its open shots ... except maybe the Hickory Huskers. And they had both Jimmy Chitwood and the picket-fence play working for him. Hell, they had an assistant coach named Shooter!

[tower912]

We are a great shooting team and our guys make a ton of open shots. We miss some, too, obviously, and those misses seem to come in bunches.

In my 40-plus years of closely watching basketball, I haven't seen a team make all of its open shots ... except maybe the Hickory Huskers. And they had both Jimmy Chitwood and the picket-fence play working for him. Hell, they had an assistant coach named Shooter!

The team from Pleasantville was pretty darned good.   Until they discovered sex. 

[MU82]

As an aside ...

Another 3-game BEast winning streak for Wojo.

Not bad for a coach who shoulda been behind Danny Manning on our list of candidates.