Scruggin it out

[lostpassword]

Wojos comments are also tired.

This made me laugh quite hard

[Shooter McGavin]

X outhustled MU.

T, I don%u2019t know if I agree.  Fun game to watch.  It was anybody%u2019s game.  MU played at a high level in my humble opinion.  Love the way this team fights.  I see this team only getting better.

[Shooter McGavin]

Long way to go. Most important thing is wojo not losing this team like in years past. If they can get to that second half of the season not buried, there are a lot of winnable games on that side of the schedule.

Correct.  I could see us beating Villanova next as well.

[mug644]

Is Jose Perez just that bad? I knew the advanced stats weren't favorable but figured he could give Woj some burn this year once deemed eligible

That thought crosses my mind too. Then I wonder if Wojo is recalling that Chartouny wasn't as ready to step up to BEast competition as his Fordham stats hinted at. It's nice to be able to play Perez this season, but it may be that he needs a season of transition.

And, whose minutes would he have taken today?

[The Sultan]

That thought crosses my mind too. Then I wonder if Wojo is recalling that Chartouny wasn't as ready to step up to BEast competition as his Fordham stats hinted at. It's nice to be able to play Perez this season, but it may be that he needs a season of transition.

And, whose minutes would he have taken today?

I guess I don't understand what a season of transition will do to make him more ready to get play if he never actually plays.

Not that I think he should play or would make a difference.

[mug644]

What did you all think about Jamal driving into to the lane today? He seemed to do it 4-5 times and scored on a few of them. I don't recall him losing the handle and turning the ball over, as is etched in my memory.

I still don't want him doing it, but it seemed more successful today.

[mug644]

I guess I don't understand what a season of transition will do to make him more ready to get play if he never actually plays.

Not that I think he should play or would make a difference.

Fair point, but even as a member of the practice/opponent team in game prep sessions, he's playing against MU players that are more BEast ready than his teammates from last year. At least that might be my logic, if I was logical.

[Silent Verbal]

Fair point, but even as a member of the practice/opponent team in game prep sessions, he's playing against MU players that are more BEast ready than his teammates from last year. At least that might be my logic, if I was logical.

Perez is 22 years old.  I'd say he probably is what he is at this point.

[MU82]

Not gonna blame this on the refs. I mean, we lose a rebound when we have 3 rebounders and they have none ... and then they immediately hit a 3. Silly live-ball turnovers leading to X hoops. Some poor defense. Nobody can stop Scruggs.

However ...

That was a moving screen. I screamed at the TV and then they hit that effen prayer of a 3 and I had to leave the room because I didn't want to drive my wife crazy. I musta screamed, "That was an effen moving screen ... Call it!" 5 times.

I watched the replay later, and it was even worse than I thought in live action. Freemantle totally wiped out Koby on the play to let Scruggs in the lane, and after that we all were out of position.

If you want to ref at that level, you HAVE to have the courage to make that call. You make the call, and it's a tie game, Marquette ball, about 6 seconds left.

The 5th foul against DJ also was quite poor. Maybe his pinky fouled the X guy's pinky toe. Ridiculous in a physical game that you're letting a lot go.

But again, MU had a zillion chances to take a pretty nice lead in the first half but we didn't do it, and never could get multiple stops in the second half.

We actually are a very good rebounding team. The only other game we lost the rebounding battle was -2 to Madison, and we had the rebounding edge in the second half of this one. Long rebounds off missed 3s often are a little lucky, and we get our share of 'em when we miss 3s, too. And I agree with earlier Scoopers who said it was hard to blame our guys for not getting that miss by Scruggs given the bounce.

That's basketball. Sucks. We could be 3-0 in the Big East ... or 2-1 ... or 0-3. What we are is 1-2. Got a decent chance to beat Nova if we play well, just as I said the day before the Creighton game. I still like this team.

We Are Marquette!

[rocky_warrior]

Again, not a bad loss in isolation - but 0-4 in "toss-up" games this year. Hopefully we even that out, but we'll see....

and 2-0 in  games we should have zero chance to win.  I also hope we improve the record in what you call toss-up (we were underdogs in 3 of those)

[Viper]

Perez is 22 years old.  I'd say he probably is what he is at this point.

maybe by NEXT season he'll have dropped the jelly donuts and be able to contribute more than just as a scout guy.

[MU82]

maybe by NEXT season he'll have dropped the jelly donuts and be able to contribute more than just as a scout guy.

Wow. You don't have to go all "Mean Girls" on one of our players.

[Lennys Tap]

Is it just me or has Marquette suffered more than its share of heartbreaking losses in the last 10-15 years?

When you play a lot of close games, you win and lose a lot of heartbreakers/coin flips. We've had 4 this year and we're 2-2. They tend to even out.

[tower912]

Lenny with the perspective.

[The Big East]

X is a good team. We battled and lost.

I see this team with a fighting spirit and looking forward to a strong performance in the next game.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

1.  Xavier is going to be a pain for everyone.   Deep.  Pounds the boards, shoots 3s, switches defenses.  Interchangeable.  Attacks every loose ball.  Undefeated for a reason.
2.  Sure wasn't dull.
3.  Freshman forward finally makes a three.  Garcia and Lewis had combined to miss a bunch in a row.
4.  Glad Symir came back.   Clearly out of rhythm.    DJ got in foul trouble.   Symir or Koby in that situation?
5.  Dawson attacked the rim well.
6.  Crucial stretch in the second half where MU could not buy a call.   Not bagging on the refs, but sometimes there are stretches where every 50-50 call goes against your team.   
7.  I like deeper rotations than Wojo does.
8.  I love Theo's ambidextrous jump hooks.  Finally missed a 3.   
9.  This team fights.
10.  Fail to secure a crucial rebound and...
11.   Poop.   Helluva game, helluva finish, wrong side won.

12.  My kids had bragging rights until our next game with XU.

[GooooMarquette]

When you play a lot of close games, you win and lose a lot of heartbreakers/coin flips. We've had 4 this year and we're 2-2. They tend to even out.

Great perspective, Lenny.

[#UnleashSean]

Wojo said the team is a bit tired. That is understandable. 4th game in 10 days. 4 different cities. Would be nice to use the 3 others on the bench!?!

This is the biggest most disgusting excuse from the wojo era.


I am so sick and tired of hearing how tired Marquette is. As if the rest of the country is in some bubble that allows them to rest but not Marquette.

[#UnleashSean]

Completely agree I get frustrated my son's HS team will sit in a zone the entire game and let a hot shooter sit in the same spot and go for 30 and the coach does nothing.  My son even asked the coach if they could play man and the coach said no.

Even if you throw a team off for 1 or 2 posessions with a different defense (zone or switch everything) it gives them a different look and now they are out of a sync a little and unsure what might be coming at them.

I used to coach high-school and now coach the 5th to 8th grade program for a high school in Wisconsin (gives me more time) and I have been bewildered by the coach and his "system" and refusal to change it.

I've told him many times that you need to adapt the system to the players, not the players to the system... but he continues to fall to weaker competition and doesn't know why...

[cheese ball chaser]

This is the biggest most disgusting excuse from the wojo era.


I am so sick and tired of hearing how tired Marquette is. As if the rest of the country is in some bubble that allows them to rest but not Marquette.

Let's be honest, when you you've used every excuse in the book you have to invent others.

[#UnleashSean]

Perez is 22 years old.  I'd say he probably is what he is at this point.

Dumb take. See countless seniors/NBA players who made huge strides after the age of 22. (Dwight buykes)

[#UnleashSean]

Let's be honest, when you you've used every excuse in the book you have to invent others.

I've seen this same tired excuse for the last 4 years   

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Y'all take press conferences way more seriously than I do.

[JakeBarnes]

Wojo said the team is a bit tired. That is understandable. 4th game in 10 days. 4 different cities. Would be nice to use the 3 others on the bench!?!

Team is tired and the last 2 teams we have faced have had 10+ days to prepare for us. Avoiding covid has some disadvantages too.

[Silent Verbal]

Dumb take. See countless seniors/NBA players who made huge strides after the age of 22. (Dwight buykes)

In his first year at Marquette, at age 20, Buycks averaged 23mpg and 6ppg for Marquette.  Rowsey, in his first year at MU, averaged 20mpg and 12ppg.  And he would've been a big contributor the moment he stepped on campus if he hadn't had to sit out a year after his transfer.  Kunkel was playing his first Big East game for Xavier and torched us for 22 points in 17 minutes.  Even Koby clearly belonged from the get go, and again, would've been a big contributor right away if he hadn't had to sit out a year.

There's a big difference between those guys and Perez, who is not even able to get off the bench for MU.  This whole "he needs a year to get used to the higher level" thing is a myth.  This isn't minor league baseball where you draft an 18 year old kid and hope in five years he's ready to contribute at a high level.