Mc-Dammit

[1SE]

Disappointing. Would have like to see us better prepared and coming out with a bit more fire after a week off. Winning 2 of 3 from Butler, @Nova and Creighton would have had us in great shape. No need to pull the rip cord but we need to win 4 of the next 5 to get us "above" expectations.

5 points off the bench is tough.

[Shooter McGavin]

End of the day, Creighton is really good, and simply better than we are.  Those three guards they have are problematic.

Don't think we need to offer up the "we missed a bunch of open" shots explanation, that has now become the go to rationale for losses.  Creighton defended really well, just as we defended them pretty well.

Live and die by the three - yet tonight Theo was highly efficient inside and we rarely attempted to play through him.

Just watched the game. Knew we had lost ahead of time and had no emotional stake in the game because of it.   MU missed ridiculously wide open shots that had zero to do with Creightons defense. 

MU defense was also very good but Creighton just has the weapons on offense to make you pay for any mistakes or for leaving them open (which did not happen often).  They also made shots that were well defended, a credit to them.

My fear before the came was that MU would play well defensively in the beginning of the game and not be rewarded for it by having a poor offensive showing and that is how it played out.  Had we gotten off to a better start offensively and built some momentum the game is closer than 9 points and might have been a win.

Credit to Creighton.  They are the better team.  But I still think MU is a good team and could have an NCAA run if they get on a roll offensively.  Need to win this weekend!  Go MU!

[willie warrior]

Hmmmm...
Lots of excuses above for WORTHY Wojo
Does it appear that Wojo is heading toward another meltdown in the stretch? He has become polished at that, hasn't he?
Wojo again getting his ass handed to him by a mid major
Oh well...bring out the usual suspects...addition by subtraction...
Wojo has us trending in the right direction...if we made the shots...Wojo cant shoot for the players...etc
Another slip slop down the stretch. Having lost 2 in a row when wins are needed and we are now limping along in the middle of the pack while other are competing for the top of BEast
Will we be an 8th place team?
We are a mediocre team led? by a mediocre coach

[willie warrior]

The Projos can call names with no consequences. I love it.

But to address the spirit of your post. Do you really think the underlying point of my posts is to promote DePaul? That was one thread. At the end of the day, it's about how Marquette is mediocre and Projos like you (yes you!) have accepted mediocrity.

Comprehension level 4/10 - you can do better.

No he cant. Name calling is his kindergarten forte.

[willie warrior]

Depends on what we do with the other 4 games. On their own, losing either of them or both really doesn't hurt us, both are Q1B games. They would be missed opportunities to improve our resume but we wouldn't be "punished" for losing those games. Win the other 4 and we are likely a 5 seed with a shot at a 4 seed depending on the BET and how the teams around us perform. Win 3/4 and we are probably looking at a 6 seed. Win 2/4 and we are looking between a 6 and 7 seed. 1 or less and we the overall record would really drag us down and I could see us falling as low as a 10 seed, but unless there are a lot of bracketbusters, I think we are already in the tournament.

Good excuses

[willie warrior]

Disappointing. Would have like to see us better prepared and coming out with a bit more fire after a week off. Winning 2 of 3 from Butler, @Nova and Creighton would have had us in great shape. No need to pull the rip cord but we need to win 4 of the next 5 to get us "above" expectations.

5 points off the bench is tough.

4 of the next 5 could happen, but more likely losses.Wojo down the stretch.

[Johnny B]

Go back to sleep old man

[The Sultan]

Marquette is 7-6 in the Big East.

1-4 against the three teams above them
1-2 against the two teams they are tied with
5-0 against the four teams below them

We are who we are.

[willie warrior]

Go back to sleep old man

just the facts Mam.

[Uncle Rico]

just the facts Mam.

Why don't you post after wins? 

[HowardsWorld]

Took my buddy with me yesterday who has only watched one other game the whole year which was also with me against Purdue. About 5 mins into the game he turns to me and says what offense are they running. I said exactly my issue with the team. Everyone standing around the 3 line. About 2 mins left in the first have he says Creighton is just playing a 3-2 defense because they have no one to get to the hoop with.

If someone who doesn't even follow college basketball much less Marquette can pick that up while drinking beers then I think that speaks to the volume of the coaching.

[WolfganghisKhan]

Took my buddy with me yesterday who has only watched one other game the whole year which was also with me against Purdue. About 5 mins into the game he turns to me and says what offense are they running. I said exactly my issue with the team. Everyone standing around the 3 line. About 2 mins left in the first have he says Creighton is just playing a 3-2 defense because they have no one to get to the hoop with.

If someone who doesn't even follow college basketball much less Marquette can pick that up while drinking beers then I think that speaks to the volume of the coaching.

Our offensive system is trash and gets bailed out by Markus being Markus half the time

[HutchwasClutch]

Took my buddy with me yesterday who has only watched one other game the whole year which was also with me against Purdue. About 5 mins into the game he turns to me and says what offense are they running. I said exactly my issue with the team. Everyone standing around the 3 line. About 2 mins left in the first have he says Creighton is just playing a 3-2 defense because they have no one to get to the hoop with.

If someone who doesn't even follow college basketball much less Marquette can pick that up while drinking beers then I think that speaks to the volume of the coaching.

Absolutely agree.  Problems go so much deeper than just missing open looks, coaches can't hit shots for the players, etc.

Creighton is unbelievably soft inside, but 3 balls kept going up and missing, instead of attacking the hoop, working in the paint, etc.  John is no offensive stud we know, but he was 6/6 from field last night because Creighton is so weak defending the paint. Yet, that was never an emphasis to attack the paint last night.

That and turnovers, general sloppiness with the ball reared it's ugly head again, especially in the 2nd half. 

Sure need a win Saturday, or this could snowball quickly like end of last season. None of remaining games are close to gimmes.

[BallBoy]

What are Marquette like results in your world? Never winning important games?
Recruiting better than your conference foes and losing? What are our chances of winnimg the Big East tournament right now? >10%? Hey we got great recruits coming in next year! Hopefully we can get an 8 seed and have a good matchup!!

MU has only won one conference tournament since 1980. Crean played in one conference final. buzz none. Wojo none. MU hasn't been a conference tournament team period. You hold that against Wojo but at the end of the day only one coach would be successful under your definition.

Taking that point away , MU is one out of 10 teams so that would align to your 10% and not be a negative. I think Creighton and Seton Hall are your favorites and probably closer to  20% each. Depaul and StJ probably close to 1%. Same with Georgetown. I would put MU in the 10%-15% likelihood and still see that as a positive.

[The Sultan]

Our offense has been fine for most of Wojo's tenure. We had plenty of good looks yesterday. Just didn't hit them. If a second scorer isn't hot from deep, they're in a lot of trouble.  That's what happened yesterday.

[tower912]

A lot of trolls on here, but #3 is such a homer comment. Are you suggesting MH was fouled tonight and it wasn't called?
Are you referring to Jayce's rake of his face? The blocking call?
Not sure what you are referring to with that comment.

If I had meant that, I would have said that.

[Warrior of Law]

It would really help to have a reliable 2nd scorer.  BB can be just terrible at times, Koby & Sacar cannot be counted on either. Hate to say it, but the difference between a .500 BE team and a upper level BE team is at UVA.

[lurch91]

Love being average. Love it. Hate anyone who hates it.

Sooooo, MU is one of the best 30 men's basketball teams in the country. How many men's basketball teams are there? Believe it or not, there's 350.  MU is in the top 10% of all men's basketball teams.  Even if you say only 100 of those teams really matter each year, we're in the top 30%.

We all want to win games in March. We all want to win important games. But to declare the sky is falling ever damn time we lose a game is so childish.

[GoldenDieners32]

We don't show up to the big games. Looks like another first round exit

[Vander Blue Man Group]

No he cant. Name calling is his kindergarten forte.

Based on the quality of your posts I'm not sure you ever made it through pre-school. What was school like back in the 1920s, anyway?

[muguru]

Marquette is 7-6 in the Big East.

1-4 against the three teams above them
1-2 against the two teams they are tied with
5-0 against the four teams below them

We are who we are.

And this right here is what I have been lamenting..every time they have had a chance to do something "bigger and better", they haven't gotten it done. That has happened a lot under Wojo

[cheebs09]

Our offense has been fine for most of Wojo's tenure. We had plenty of good looks yesterday. Just didn't hit them. If a second scorer isn't hot from deep, they're in a lot of trouble.  That's what happened yesterday.

I think Joe put it really well on Scrambled Eggs. If you close your eyes while we are on offense, and just look at stats, you would have a more positive view on the offense. It doesn't necessarily look like good basketball, but it is an efficient offense.

[tower912]

Wojo's offense is a success in that it gets players in position to take open shots.   That is the point of every offense.    To maximize the talents of the players you have and get them the ball in places where they can get open looks.    The players have to hit the shots.   Last night, MU had all of the open looks they could ask for.    They didn't make them.    No  offense looks good on bad shooting nights.   

Creighton's offense is really good because McDammit has made a virtue out of necessity, much like Buzz did during the midget year.   He has a bunch of guards with size who can dribble, drive, pass, and shoot.   So he is maximizing his strengths.   They are incredibly disciplined in that they can make what looks from the outside to be virtually blind passes, but they know where their teammate is going to be.   And they have been the best team in the Big East for the last month because of it.   

Marquette actually played decent defense last night, holding Creighton under their season average.    Wojo tried zone.    He tried a 4 guard set for a few minutes.       But in the end, poor shooting was too much to overcome, like it usually is.   

[GoldenDieners32]

Wojo's offense is a success in that it gets players in position to take open shots.   That is the point of every offense.    To maximize the talents of the players you have and get them the ball in places where they can get open looks.    The players have to hit the shots.  Last night, MU had all of the open looks they could ask for.    They didn't make them.    No  offense looks good on bad shooting nights.   

Creighton's offense is really good because McDammit has made a virtue out of necessity, much like Buzz did during the midget year.   He has a bunch of guards with size who can dribble, drive, pass, and shoot.   So he is maximizing his strengths.   They are incredibly disciplined in that they can make what looks from the outside to be virtually blind passes, but they know where their teammate is going to be.   And they have been the best team in the Big East for the last month because of it.   

Marquette actually played decent defense last night, holding Creighton under their season average.    Wojo tried zone.    He tried a 4 guard set for a few minutes.       But in the end, poor shooting was too much to overcome, like it usually is.

If you look at it this way, one if not the worst shooting game of the season and we only lost by 8

[NickelDimer]

We took and missed a lot of open 3's last night. Unfortunately what we didn't do was exploit their weakness inside. I have a tough time giving Wojo credit for designing a gameplan that lead to a bunch of open 3's considering the matchup weakness of the opponent.