Blue Jay Way

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Sam's missed 3 - which would have put us up 6 - seemed big at the time. I think I may be a little psychic. (Wait, if I was a little psychic, I would have known that at the time of the missed 3! My head hurts - nap time.)

[Class71]

Some many games with so many Turnovers. It finally caught up with us today. There should be no excuses. Learn to value the ball or expect more of this.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The Meat Summit came a week early.  That was one bad stinker.  From the players to the coaches to the refs to the student who could only filll 70% of their seats on a Sunday.

It will take a team of managers to flush this one.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

Hate these Sunday games. Just doesn’t have the same vibe. The team never got into a flow.

[#UnleashSean]

New strategy:  Play rugby defense against Markus and beat the crap out of him.  See if anyone else steps up.  Oh, for anyone else to step up, they would need the ball.  From Markus.  Who cannot pass.

This means not wrong. Howard was horrible against the trap

[TVDirector]

Well that was a sh*t show. 

Even the old curmudgeon next to me ran out of gas complaining play to play. 

Didn’t look like a top 10 team. 
Won’t have to worry about that when the new polls come out. 

Stink.  Stank. Stunk.

[nyg]

Last 5:30 of Nova game, one point.

Last 5:30 of CU game, one field goal (didn't count Bailey's prayer), one free throw.

[Big Papi]

Its one bad game but what a bad game.  Bad turnovers.  Bad offense.  Bad supporting cast.

Repercussions?  Bye bye 3 seed.  Probably bye bye sole position of Big East title. 


Need to right the ship.  Need better play out of our players.  Need better coaching out of our coaches.  Too good of a year to go into a funk now.

[Herman Cain]

This team needs athletes in the worst way. Turning the ball over 20+ times at this point is pathetic. Give credit to CU and Wojo showed, once agin, that he's a work in progress. Oh, and as for Howard, collegiate guards just show how to neuter him. Don't book your FF airfare and hotel rooms yet, 'cuz the sole is rippin' away from da shoe, hey?

Pogo Sticks are on the top of my recruiting wish list.

[NickelDimer]

When I saw we had 21 TO’s late and it showed we were one off our season high (22 twice) I threw up in my mouth. We now have 3 games this year with 22 TOs. That’s unnatural carnal knowledgeing unreal

[Its DJOver]

As bad as Markus' worst moment were, I'm okay with 6 TO as long as he drops 33.  We've had more than a few high scoring high TO games from him where we've won.  What lost us was Sam, Joey, and Sacar combining for 10 TOs and only 15 points.

As bad as his one TO was, I would have ridden JC more instead of Joey.  Better defense, and it at least gives Markus the option of going off the ball.  If he can catch, running around a curl, and already be a full speed driving to the lane, he is more effective than just trying to beat his man straight off the dribble.

Man, oh, man do I hope that one of Koby, Dexter, or Symir can really keep the ball on a string because we need more folks that can beat their man off the dribble.

[connie]

Defense wasn't bad.

[NickelDimer]

As bad as Markus' worst moment were, I'm okay with 6 TO as long as he drops 33.  We've had more than a few high scoring high TO games from him where we've won.  What lost us was Sam, Joey, and Sacar combining for 10 TOs and only 15 points.

As bad as his one TO was, I would have ridden JC more instead of Joey.  Better defense, and it at least gives Markus the option of going off the ball.  If he can catch, running around a curl, and already be a full speed driving to the lane, he is more effective than just trying to beat his man straight off the dribble.

Man, oh, man do I hope that one of Koby, Dexter, or Symir can really keep the ball on a string because we need more folks that can beat their man off the dribble.

Preach

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Also one of my Markus' 6 TOs was that lazy pass that Joey threw him the closing moments. ESPN credited that to Markus instead of Joey. Another one of his TOs was the charging call that looked the exact same as the block that Creighton had just gotten on the other end.

Defense wasn't bad.

It was quite good. Held one of the best offensive teams in the country to 39.6%. I can't even imagine how low that number would be if you just looked at half court defense. It was all about the turnovers today (and Orebs and reffing to a lesser extent).

[skianth16]

These last 2 games the team just doesn't seem to have an edge. I don't think they've peaked, and I don't think other coaches have just figured out the game plan just yet. But something does need to change between today and March 14th for us to have a chance to make a run. Maybe it's a week of white t-shirt practices; maybe it's extra film time; maybe it's just days off to rest. I don't know what it takes, but I'm sure hoping Wojo does.

[CountryRoads]

These last 2 games the team just doesn't seem to have an edge. I don't think they've peaked, and I don't think other coaches have just figured out the game plan just yet. But something does need to change between today and March 14th for us to have a chance to make a run. Maybe it's a week of white t-shirt practices; maybe it's extra film time; maybe it's just days off to rest. I don't know what it takes, but I'm sure hoping Wojo does.

In one of Wojo’s post game press conferences, he alluded to the fact that he gives Howard and Sam Hauser substantial rest in practice. I’m not sure on the other guys. I think the team looks a bit mentally/physically exhausted right now but when the lights turn on at MSG I think they will get a second wind from that point forward. These next two games may be brutal though.

[GooooMarquette]

Yeah, the team looked exhausted Wednesday and today.

But why would we be any more tired than Nova or Creighton? They both seemed to have plenty of energy. Frustrating.....

[DoctorV]

Yeah, the team looked exhausted Wednesday and today.

But why would we be any more tired than Nova or Creighton? They both seemed to have plenty of energy. Frustrating.....

We are more tired because MU plays much tighter rotations. Markus and Sam especially, but wojos style is a short bench (much like his mentor).

Not sure I blame it as much on tired legs as I do on simply deferring/being passive for whatever reason.

I mean there are time that it seems like if we don’t get sam a decently open catch and shoot he just isn’t taking the shot. He does good work inside, but for whatever reason MU went away from feeding him/Joey/Theo in the post.

Imo gotta get back to some of that to open things up for everyone else

[Goose]

4ever
I did not see the game, but followed online. I agree there is a very big need more athletic players. Cannot count on one guy scoring 40 and carrying a team, especially when he turns the ball over. That said, a lot of not very good teams out there this season and hope they turn it around quickly.
As for FF, funnier things have happened, but have always felt second weekend might be a stretch.

[mileskishnish72]

Worried about Wojo. I know we don't see or hear everything in the "in the huddle" segments, but McDermott was communicating with his players, do this, do that. Wojo was telling them (twice, of course) how much time was left (as if they couldn't read the clock). Wouldn't you think that somewhere in the course of 40 minutes there would have been some sort of answer to "What happens when they double Markus?" I know I deal with losses as well as Guru, but Jesus, it does seem to me that there were coaching opportunities today that just didn't happen.

I've been a supporter of his, like what he has been doing for the program, but do not see anything positive happening in the X's and O's, in-game adjustments. It was clearly obvious what McDermott's strategy vis a vis Markus was, yet nothing changed. He got his ass out-coached today.

[tower912]

It hurt that every time somebody else touched the ball they turned it over.    You can have all of the schemes in the world and if your players don't execute them, instead being passive and careless, it will end poorly. 

[muguru]

Worried about Wojo. I know we don't see or hear everything in the "in the huddle" segments, but McDermott was communicating with his players, do this, do that. Wojo was telling them (twice, of course) how much time was left (as if they couldn't read the clock). Wouldn't you think that somewhere in the course of 40 minutes there would have been some sort of answer to "What happens when they double Markus?" I know I deal with losses as well as Guru, but Jesus, it does seem to me that there were coaching opportunities today that just didn't happen.

I've been a supporter of his, like what he has been doing for the program, but do not see anything positive happening in the X's and O's, in-game adjustments. It was clearly obvious what McDermott's strategy vis a vis Markus was, yet nothing changed. He got his ass out-coached today.

Thank you...what in the hell was Wojo exactly doing today anyway?? As was said above, he should have played Chartouny more to allow Markus to be off the ball, to counteract some of those double teams/traps. Another thing he could have tried was...put two guys right up top with Markus...I mean right next to him..you wanna double team him, you are going through us first...almost bodyguard like. They set screens, Markus goes around them. I watched Wojo's presser online and the first thing he said was "this is on me, anything that happens with this program is on me, so don;t be asking my players". Well wojo, we are what?? 30 games into the year and you have yet to figure out how to cut down on the TO's, you have yet to figure out how to stop the slow starts to halves, and you have seemingly have no plays in your play book for Sam/Joey post ups.

Throwing it in to Theo is an absolute LOST cause. every time it happens I want to pull what little hair I have...out. Anytime it happens, unless he is wide open and dunks it, it isn't going to end well..and if he gets fouled, he is most likely not making both(today not withstanding). Or even one. Sam and joey make their FT's, and they also are money with that short jumper in the lane...POST THEM UP more. Morrow is a FAR better offensive player than Theo.

Think about it...22 TO's, that's 22 lost possessions...if you take 4 of those back...and score on them...ONLY 4, you win the game. Pathetic.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Compared to who exactly?

He played ten minutes.  Took no shots.  Had one rebound.  One assist.  One turnover. 

He's a non-entity.  Sure he "values the basketball," but he doesn't create anything either.  Do you understand that in a pick-and-roll offense that having a PG that doesn't do anything offensively is pretty much useless?  Why do you think that even when he is in the game, as soon as he brings it across the line he gives it up to Markus?

Look, this is what this team is.  Markus is going to be the PG.  They are going to run him off picks and get him either open or down the lane.  Sand Knit is right that he has to get the ball out of his hand faster on double teams.  And this isn't unique to Markus.  The ball stops too much with a lot of guys. 

Playing Jamal Cain or Joseph Chartouny isn't going to stop that.

[MU82]

++ Funny/sad to see criticism of the guy who scored 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting despite being the complete focus of the opponent's defense. Markus is Markus. He has the ball 95% of the time and doesn't have great court vision or handle; we knew that a week ago when we were looking like undisputed Big East champs. He is who he is. Not sure why folks think that if he passed it more the rest of the Keystone Kops would have karried us to victory today. He was the only reason we didn't lose by 15+.

++ I was watching in a bar with several other MU alums; although I was paying pretty close attention, it was a social function and I might have missed a few plays. But by my count, Sam and Joey combined for one post play, with Joey scoring. One. Maybe some of that's on Markus, maybe some is on Wojo and maybe Creighton deserves some credit, but by my eye Sam and Joey didn't even seem interested in going to the post. Sam ... he has been super-effective there when he's done it, but he passed up 3 or 4 opportunities to even try today, got it at the elbow and either backpedaled, passed or both. Mystifying, really.

++ Probably Wojo's worst game of the season. He needed to try something personnel-wise -- anything -- to break the funk. In his defense, though, one minute we were up 4, then Joey got big-time butterfingers and bing-bang-boom we were down. It all unraveled quite fast and then we never could get it back. One thing I'm not worried about: what Wojo says in the televised cuddles.

++ Second straight game Sam missed a wide-open 3 that could have been  huge. 3s are 3s, not layups, and even the best only hit 45% of them, but Sam has developed an almost mythical following here, like he can't do any wrong. I love that we have Sam, but in the end he's still just a regular human, and a young one at that. Very good basketball player most days; not so good today.

++ We managed to go through an entire game getting only 3 offensive rebounds. 3 O boards, 22 turnovers, only one double-figure scorer. Pretty good recipe for a loss.

++ I am not going to say stuff like, "Our guys didn't even show up" or "No effort whatsoever." Because I don't believe it's true. Stuff just happens in sports sometimes. It's not always a sign of "they wanted it more."

++ Capper for a really, really, really shytty weekend of basketball for yours truly. My HS team, playing in the 3rd round of the state tournament, fell behind by 15 late in the 3rd quarter, rallied to within 1 with about a minute to go, and had a couple of chances, but we just couldn't get it done and lost to a team I honestly believe we're better than. To rub salt in the wound, the No. 1 seed in our region lost, so if we had won we would have gotten to host the next game for a shot at the NC final four. Lots of tears flowing after the game. "Oh well," I told Mrs. 82 later, "at least Marquette will give me something to smile about this weekend." Ugh.

++ For those wondering how we could possibly lose a game like this ... again, just look around the country. Look at the games that ranked teams are losing to mediocre (or worse) teams. It happens. I know it doesn't make this one taste any better, but that's freakin' sports.

++ Look at the bright side, Scoopers ... guru can stop making his case that a conspiracy theory will keep us out of a 2-seed.

++ And having said all of this, I am STILL bullish on our boyz. We obviously are capable of playing bad and losing to just about anybody, but also capable of playing very, very well and beating just about anyone. We have talent, and most games we have toughness and good coaching and hoops IQ. We won 12 of 13 before this mini-skid, so obviously we are very capable of playing well enough and tough enough to win a stretch of games. I still believe we can and will put it together at the right time and do some damage in the NCAAs.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Thank you...what in the hell was Wojo exactly doing today anyway?? As was said above, he should have played Chartouny more to allow Markus to be off the ball, to counteract some of those double teams/traps. Another thing he could have tried was...put two guys right up top with Markus...I mean right next to him..you wanna double team him, you are going through us first...almost bodyguard like. They set screens, Markus goes around them. I watched Wojo's presser online and the first thing he said was "this is on me, anything that happens with this program is on me, so don;t be asking my players". Well wojo, we are what?? 30 games into the year and you have yet to figure out how to cut down on the TO's, you have yet to figure out how to stop the slow starts to halves, and you have seemingly have no plays in your play book for Sam/Joey post ups.

Throwing it in to Theo is an absolute LOST cause. every time it happens I want to pull what little hair I have...out. Anytime it happens, unless he is wide open and dunks it, it isn't going to end well..and if he gets fouled, he is most likely not making both(today not withstanding). Or even one. Sam and joey make their FT's, and they also are money with that short jumper in the lane...POST THEM UP more. Morrow is a FAR better offensive player than Theo.

Think about it...22 TO's, that's 22 lost possessions...if you take 4 of those back...and score on them...ONLY 4, you win the game. Pathetic.

Do you know why they can't cut down on turnovers?  Because Markus Howard isn't a PG and Joseph Chartouny is over his head.  You run Chartouny at the point and he isn't going to see those same double teams.  You know why?  He isn't a threat.  He's not going to shoot the ball if someone goes under the pick.  He's not going to drive the lane and pick out an open shooter.  Who would leave their guy to double Chartouny?

The ball has to move better.  Stop dribbling into double teams and into traps.  Not just Howard, but Sam, Joey and Sacar did that today.  And everything stalls.