MU -2.5 vs Johnnie’s

[Dish]

It opens at MU -2.5, I'd be shocked if it isn't close to a pick em by tip. Getting the Johnnie's at +2.5 feels like free money (hope I'm wrong).

[BCHoopster]

If you play man all game, MU will lose again, do not have enough team quickness to guard them, have to try something different, much like St. John's played DePaul and played a different D on DePaul, basically only guarded 4 of DePaul players and let there point shoot the ball which they could not and lost, lots of double teams.

[BCHoopster]

Cain has to play as well, put Joey on Clark and guard him tight, does not drive.  Play small or get the ball inside to Theo or Morrow and dominate the inside, can Howard play team ball?

[MUMonster03]

can Howard play team ball?

I think Marcus has proved this all year when the team as a whole has played well. When we fall behind is when Marcus seems to think he has to play hero ball and single handedly bring us back. That's when he seems to tense up and looks like hes being selfish.

A few ill timed shots in the course of a game is just a scorer being a scorer, they think they can make everything.

[We R Final Four]

Cain has to play as well, put Joey on Clark and guard him tight, does not drive.  Play small or get the ball inside to Theo or Morrow and dominate the inside, can Howard play team ball?

Neither Ed nor Theo have dominated inside all year. I certainly am not expecting that to change tonight.

[NickelDimer]

Cain has to play as well, put Joey on Clark and guard him tight, does not drive.  Play small or get the ball inside to Theo or Morrow and dominate the inside, can Howard play team ball?

They've beat us twice and we've lost four straight. Wojo sure as hell better have some new wrinkles planned

[jesmu84]

They've beat us twice and we've lost four straight. Wojo sure as hell better have some new wrinkles planned

Or what?

[HowardsWorld]

Or what?

Or he will be shown the door.

[CTWarrior]

Neither Ed nor Theo have dominated inside all year. I certainly am not expecting that to change tonight.

IMO, this is why we have trouble with SJU.  Other teams make them pay for their lack of size inside to help offset their speed.  We don't do that.

[SERocks]

Or he will be shown the door.

LOL.  Not a chance.

[4everwarriors]

We gonna finda out reel fast watt Wojo's coachin' fabric consists of, aina?

[HowardsWorld]

We gonna finda out reel fast watt Wojo's coachin' fabric consists of, aina?

I have been saying this for the last 4 games all with disappointment. I understand that St. Johns is just mismatch for us but seriously if MU cannot beat St. Johns after finishing a game 20 hours before the tip of todays game then I truly have no faith in Wojo. Lets not pretend that St. Johns is Duke or North Carolina. This St. Johns team was 8-10 in a very weak Big East and lost to Depaul 2x. Had St. Johns lost yesterday they would have been in the NIT.

Today marks the start of a new season. Whether or not the team we want to show up actually does it so be seen.

[NickelDimer]

Or what?

We likely lose. See insanity definition

[MU82]

The last time we played them, despite shooting like shyte, we lost by 1.

Don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just have to use it better.

Oh, and the last time we just let a player who "can't shoot" shoot, it was Jermaine Samuels. He had been scoreless the previous three games, was averaging 4 points on the season, and was a career sub-30% shooter from 3. It was a perfectly sound strategy. Of course, Samuels scored 29. That, and turnovers, resulted in the loss at Nova that kept us from wrapping up the BEast three weeks ago.

I actually am a big fan of leaving the non-shooter open, but that's a perfect illustration of how it doesn't always work very well. I'm also a fan of mixing in a little zone, but the Johnnies have six players shooting 34% or better from 3.

We lost the last time by 1. We only had 9 turnovers. We outrebounded them. Nobody fouled out. If we play similarly but shoot to our averages, we win, probably by double-digits. Heck, even if only the Hausers (who were 3-for-14 from 3) shoot to their averages, we win.

Or we can dramatically change everything we did to get us to 23-4 -- which also happened to get us leads with a few minutes to go in each of the last 4 games.

[NickelDimer]

Reinvent the wheel? No. Make adjustments? Absolutely. Ponds had his way when it mattered both times and we couldn't stop him. We're also coming off four straight losses where the wheel that won us a bunch of games wasn't effective. Agree with Doc. This will be a huge test for Wojo's coaching chops

[wadesworld]

I have been saying this for the last 4 games all with disappointment. I understand that St. Johns is just mismatch for us but seriously if MU cannot beat St. Johns after finishing a game 20 hours before the tip of todays game then I truly have no faith in Wojo. Lets not pretend that St. Johns is Duke or North Carolina. This St. Johns team was 8-10 in a very weak Big East and lost to Depaul 2x. Had St. Johns lost yesterday they would have been in the NIT.

Today marks the start of a new season. Whether or not the team we want to show up actually does it so be seen.

You think 18-22 year olds can't turn around and play well 20 hours after playing a basketball game?

[muguru]

If Wojo doesn't change some things tonight...then he's flat out an idiot that doesn't know how to Coach. Let's see some trapping of Ponds(particularly with Bailey in there), let's see some full court pressure(doesn't have to be balls to the wall, but enough to make them not get in their sets when they want), let's see some zone(NOT saying all game long). And for cripes sakes GO INSIDE EVERY possession. Particularly with Sam and Joey post ups, but dump downs to Theo and Ed will work too. They have NO size.

[HowardsWorld]

You think 18-22 year olds can't turn around and play well 20 hours after playing a basketball game?

OK then tell me if tonight MU doesn't have the advantage of rest of St. Johns then when exactly is MU going to beat them?

[wadesworld]

OK then tell me if tonight MU doesn't have the advantage of rest of St. Johns then when exactly is MU going to beat them?

I'll go out on a limb and say we'll either beat them tonight or we won't beat them this season.

Playing a second game in a second night isn't hard.

[willie warrior]

We gonna finda out reel fast watt Wojo's coachin' fabric consists of, aina?

Wojo is the man. Forget about the last 4 games, a new season starts now. Mullen and the Johnnies cannot hold a candle to Wojo and the lads. remember, you heard it on scoop.

[willie warrior]

I have been saying this for the last 4 games all with disappointment. I understand that St. Johns is just mismatch for us but seriously if MU cannot beat St. Johns after finishing a game 20 hours before the tip of todays game then I truly have no faith in Wojo. Lets not pretend that St. Johns is Duke or North Carolina. This St. Johns team was 8-10 in a very weak Big East and lost to Depaul 2x. Had St. Johns lost yesterday they would have been in the NIT.

Today marks the start of a new season. Whether or not the team we want to show up actually does it so be seen.

Think the Johnnies also lost to Duke by about 30. We got this, because we have a Duke coach, who is the man.

[wadesworld]

Wojo is the man. Forget about the last 4 games, a new season starts now. Mullen and the Johnnies cannot hold a candle to Wojo and the lads. remember, you heard it on scoop.

Mazos Burgers should definitely make a Snickers style commercial out of wee wittle willie's posting habits on Scoop.  Maybe eating something called the W burger.  Show Marquette losing a close game on his TV, cut to wee wittle willie hammering a laptop's keyboard with MUScoop up on a screen, have wee wittle willie's mom calling from upstairs, "wee wittle willie, we can hear you striking those keyboard keys again!  Eat your Mazos burger!"  Cut to wee wittle willie leaning back taking a big old bite out of his Mazos burger and Marquette closing out a win on the television screen in front of him, wee wittle willie closing the laptop and relaxing.

[MU82]

If Wojo doesn't change some things tonight...then he's flat out an idiot that doesn't know how to Coach. Let's see some trapping of Ponds(particularly with Bailey in there), let's see some full court pressure(doesn't have to be balls to the wall, but enough to make them not get in their sets when they want), let's see some zone(NOT saying all game long). And for cripes sakes GO INSIDE EVERY possession. Particularly with Sam and Joey post ups, but dump downs to Theo and Ed will work too. They have NO size.

Histrionics about Wojo's coaching ability aside, yes, we should get the ball more to Sam and Joey pretty much every game. Sam is especially effective just rising up over his defender. Joey tends to make it more complicated than it is, attempting every post move in the book -- just rise and shoot, young man. I will say that if Joey isn't scoring or doing something else to positively impact the offense, he probably can't play much in this game because he has trouble defending any Johnnie.

And sure, a little trapping or a little zone would be worth a try. But again, we lost to them by 1 on a night we shot like shyte.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If Wojo doesn't WIN change some things tonight...then he's flat out an idiot that doesn't know how to Coach. Let's see some trapping of Ponds(particularly with Bailey in there), let's see some full court pressure(doesn't have to be balls to the wall, but enough to make them not get in their sets when they want), let's see some zone(NOT saying all game long). And for cripes sakes GO INSIDE EVERY possession. Particularly with Sam and Joey post ups, but dump downs to Theo and Ed will work too. They have NO size.

FIFY. I know this is what you actually meant.

Wojo tried a bunch of adjustments during the 4 game losing streak (and in the second game against St. John's). We still lost. We ignore those and claim that he didn't make any adjustments because that's easier to blame than "we played like crap" or "the other team played really good." And let's be honest, Wojo could make all the adjustments you suggest....but if we lost, you would still think he was an idiot who couldn't coach. So let's cut out the noise and get to the heart of it. If we lose, he can't coach, if we win, maybe he can coach but he still has to make up for the unacceptable losses.

[MU82]

Mazos Burgers should definitely make a Snickers style commercial out of wee wittle willie's posting habits on Scoop.  Maybe eating something called the W burger.  Show Marquette losing a close game on his TV, cut to wee wittle willie hammering a laptop's keyboard with MUScoop up on a screen, have wee wittle willie's mom calling from upstairs, "wee wittle willie, we can hear you striking those keyboard keys again!  Eat your Mazos burger!"  Cut to wee wittle willie leaning back taking a big old bite out of his Mazos burger and Marquette closing out a win on the television screen in front of him, wee wittle willie closing the laptop and relaxing.

That's our joyless willie! Hasn't enjoyed a Marquette game since March 28, 1977.