Oh, how the worm can turn.

[Cheeks]

We lost players to MSU & UVA...

But just keep pretending it’s all no big deal.

Wojo got them here in the first place....he just landed two more good players....dwell in the past if you wish....

[Uncle Rico]

The Murray State game was most definitely a crap chute.

It was.  Ugly game.  It was simply a terrible matchup and matchups matter.  Davidson in ‘13 was a terrible matchup.  FSU in the round of 32 would have been just as bad.

Losing by 19 was inexcusable, losing wasn’t. 

[Cheeks]

Agree that Wojo very badly needs a tournament win. But

that Murray State game was no crap shoot, it was a solid ass-kicking.

Yup...it happens....we could go through lots and lots of coaches, including Hall of Famers that got their ass kicked in the tournament.....

Whether he needs to very badly win a game or not I am not worried about.  No one on this board from what I can tell has any juice to make that decision, let alone influence it. 

[Cheeks]

I'm with you, Tower.

And to answer, Chico, I've already expressed my excitement regarding the 2020 class so far. Very hopeful that Wojo and co. finish things with a flourish.

Go, Marquette, indeed!

Thanks Lenny, glad you are excited.

[Lennys Tap]

So you're backtracking on what you said. 

No, not backtracking at all. You distorted what I said by adding your own words and then attributing them to me. That's dishonest and/or willfully ignorant. NBD, just try to refrain from it in the future. Have a nice weekend.

[dgies9156]

Losing by 19 was inexcusable, losing wasn’t.

Bullcrap.

It was Murray F***ing State. Losing to any OVC team by a Big East team is inexcusable. I don't care if it is DePaul. Big East teams do NOT lose to Murray F***ing State.

Al would have killed for less than that!

[Cheeks]

Bullcrap.

It was Murray F***ing State. Losing to any OVC team by a Big East team is inexcusable. I don't care if it is DePaul. Big East teams do NOT lose to Murray F***ing State.

Al would have killed for less than that!

Marquette losing to Miami (OH)

[79Warrior]

Marquette losing to Miami (OH)

Al was gone.

[Cheeks]

Al was gone.

Understand, his players still there and his X’s And O’s guy coaching the team....someone with a ton of experience.  It happens.

[Lennys Tap]

Understand, his players still there and his X’s And O’s guy coaching the team....someone with a ton of experience.  It happens.

Hank was a rookie D1 head coach, Wojo was in year 5. Both had tons of experience in D1 as assistants.

[Cheeks]

Hank was a rookie D1 head coach, Wojo was in year 5. Both had tons of experience in D1 as assistants.

Hank had 6 years as a college head coach, and had a team loaded with talent that lost in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.  MU was ranked 3rd in the nation...this was akin to losing to a 16 or 15 seed.

[real chili 83]

Bullcrap.

It was Murray F***ing State. Losing to any OVC team by a Big East team is inexcusable. I don't care if it is DePaul. Big East teams do NOT lose to Murray F***ing State.

Al would have killed for less than that!

This ^^^^^

[Cheeks]

ACC teams like Duke don’t lose to Mercer or Lehigh...until they do.  ACC teams like UVA don’t lose to UMBC...until they do.

Big East teams like #1 UCONN don’t lose to George Mason....until they do.


And on and on and on.....examples for a long time.

[79Warrior]

Hank had 6 years as a college head coach, and had a team loaded with talent that lost in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.  MU was ranked 3rd in the nation...this was akin to losing to a 16 or 15 seed.

Except there were far fewer teams in the tourney then. You were not there obviously.

[Lennys Tap]

Hank had 6 years as a college head coach, and had a team loaded with talent that lost in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.  MU was ranked 3rd in the nation...this was akin to losing to a 16 or 15 seed.

17 - 23 years earlier he coached at the NAIA level (DIII today). Hadn't had his own whistle since then. Only 32 teams, so hardly like a 15 or 16 seed - more like 13. Lots of bad conferences didn't get automatic bids then. No seeding then - we were #3 and would have met #1 (and eventual National Champ) in our S16 (next) game.

Awful loss, but as someone pointed out, Al wasn't the coach. And the double technical/ejection of Jerome which made it all possible was a joke. Wojo's only had 2 bites at the apple, not enough to establish a trend, but when you lose a pick em by 20 and as a 4 point favorite by 19 on the big stage that's just not good.

[willie warrior]

Yup...it happens....we could go through lots and lots of coaches, including Hall of Famers that got their ass kicked in the tournament.....

Whether he needs to very badly win a game or not I am not worried about.  No one on this board from what I can tell has any juice to make that decision, let alone influence it.

Good one there. Comparing Wojos mediocre performance to hall of Famers--deflection at its finest.

[willie warrior]

Marquette losing to Miami (OH)

Yes, dwell in the past if you wish
Some of us choose what era of the past we wish to dwell in.

[The Lens]

Wojo got them here in the first place....he just landed two more good players....dwell in the past if you wish....

Landed two more good players to once again backfill experience with youth.  We continue to never get old.  The key is to get old and stay old and we just cannot get there. That’s the sad part.  I’m not dwelling on it, I’m bringing up the reality. 

[dgies9156]

Al was gone.

I was on campus the day we lost to Miami of Ohio.

Worst day in the history of the Marquette Warrior basketball program.

Defending National Champions NEVER lose to Miami of Boondocks!

Well, almost never.

We went into a 30 year tailspin over that one.

[Dr. Blackheart]

We went into a 30 year tailspin over that one.

Don't tell Cheeks that the tailspin ended the year Crean left.

[bilsu]

My opinion
We lost to Murray St for two reasons.
First one was Howard. He came in with the mission to outplay Murray St.'s star and failed miserably. Just like he generally did when he came up against Powell and Ponds.
Second was that our forwards (Hausers) failed to or were not quick enough to cover the wings when the Murray St. guard pass to the corners for open threes.

It was very easy to see that Murray St. game plan was to suck MU's  defense in  and then pass the ball for open threes that MU could not get back to cover. MU's game plan was to stop Murray St's guard, which just played into Murray St.'s game plan. We simply could not cover the corner threes. Of course the plan fails, if Murray St. does not hit the threes, but MU's defense was exposed in this game.

Somewhat reminds me of Buzz's faulty game plan against North Carolina. Buzz, fearing UNC's fast break on missed threes, went away form our strength. We did not take any outside shots and repeatedly fed the ball to Otule, who failed to score.

Wojo's game plan against Murray St. was bad, but not as bad as Buzz's against UNC.

[tower912]

We lost to Murray State because of Ja and team quickness.   Sam was guarded by a 6'4 guy who was quicker and lived in his grill because he knew Sam couldn't go by him.  MU got beat by guards with size repeatedly down the stretch.  Ja was the best of the bunch.   I predicted a double digits loss because of those reasons.
Nobody could stay in front of Ja.   The help was slow, the recovery to shooters slower.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

If Marquette makes the tournament and doesn’t win a game, Wojo’s job is still safe.

[Cheeks]

17 - 23 years earlier he coached at the NAIA level (DIII today). Hadn't had his own whistle since then. Only 32 teams, so hardly like a 15 or 16 seed - more like 13. Lots of bad conferences didn't get automatic bids then. No seeding then - we were #3 and would have met #1 (and eventual National Champ) in our S16 (next) game.

Awful loss, but as someone pointed out, Al wasn't the coach. And the double technical/ejection of Jerome which made it all possible was a joke. Wojo's only had 2 bites at the apple, not enough to establish a trend, but when you lose a pick em by 20 and as a 4 point favorite by 19 on the big stage that's just not good.

Al told me and many others, Hank ran practices, Hank was the x’s and o’s....he had a whistle in his mouth all the time...he had the National player of the year on his team and guys that had just won the title....no way they should have lost that game.  Hank said after game, we were good enough to win the national title.

Miami had lost 2 of their last 3 games coming into that contest....to Eastern Michigan and Toledo.  I realize there were only 32 teams, but you have to remember how bids were given out back then....conference champions only.  Which meant a lot of very good teams, much better than Miami (OH) weren't even in the tournament.  It was equivalent to losing to a 15 or 16 seed.  It was that bad.  The fact that we publically complained about the bracket beforehand and basically dismissed Miami (OH) was not a good look, either.

57% of the betting public was with Murray State

Duke, meanwhile was favored by double digits over Mercer and Lehigh....they lost to both...it happens.

[Cheeks]

Good one there. Comparing Wojos mediocre performance to hall of Famers--deflection at its finest.

Hall of Fame coaches with Better talent can lose these games, but a young coach with less is inexcusable.....lol.  Jesus H