Winning Time

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If we are going to have a turnaround this season, it has to happen now. The next six games are all very winnable. I think we need to go 5-1 in this stretch to have a good chance of making the tournament. 4-2 there is still a chance but long odds as the schedule gets tougher. 3-3 or worse and I don't see a path to the tourney unless we go nuts down the stretch.

Providence on paper should be a good matchup for us. They are a poor three point shooting team with only two guys on the roster who have made double digit threes this season (and one of them is shooting under 30%). They are not a great defensive team. They themselves don't turn the ball over but they also don't force turnovers. They are good (not UConn good but still good) on the offensive glass but not on the defensive glass.  They don't draw a lot of fouls but they also don't foul their opponents often.

If Bynum is out, they will have a very short bench. They played 6 guys 22+ minutes against X and had two additional guys check in for 9 minutes combined. Wojo has shown some willingness to switch up the D this season, this wouldn't be a bad one to break a zone out for. Duke and Watson are the only ones that can really kill us. I think we have enough bigs to throw at Watson to wear him down. Normally I would say lockdown everyone else and let Duke get his but Koby did a good job on Bougknight even prior to the injury. If that can be replicated, I'm all for it. For the love of god, don't let Duke get catch and shoot threes. He's elite from beyond the arc and very average inside it. Whoever has him needs to stay inside his pocket and if he beats them off the dribble, so be it.

[MU82]

If we are going to have a turnaround this season, it has to happen now. The next six games are all very winnable. I think we need to go 5-1 in this stretch to have a good chance of making the tournament. 4-2 there is still a chance but long odds as the schedule gets tougher. 3-3 or worse and I don't see a path to the tourney unless we go nuts down the stretch.

Providence on paper should be a good matchup for us. They are a poor three point shooting team with only two guys on the roster who have made double digit threes this season (and one of them is shooting under 30%). They are not a great defensive team. They themselves don't turn the ball over but they also don't force turnovers. They are good (not UConn good but still good) on the offensive glass but not on the defensive glass.  They don't draw a lot of fouls but they also don't foul their opponents often.

If Bynum is out, they will have a very short bench. They played 6 guys 22+ minutes against X and had two additional guys check in for 9 minutes combined. Wojo has shown some willingness to switch up the D this season, this wouldn't be a bad one to break a zone out for. Duke and Watson are the only ones that can really kill us. I think we have enough bigs to throw at Watson to wear him down. Normally I would say lockdown everyone else and let Duke get his but Koby did a good job on Bougknight even prior to the injury. If that can be replicated, I'm all for it. For the love of god, don't let Duke get catch and shoot threes. He's elite from beyond the arc and very average inside it. Whoever has him needs to stay inside his pocket and if he beats them off the dribble, so be it.

Good stuff, TAMU, and I agree about this next stretch of games. 5-1 is realistic.

As for Duke, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving a great 3-point shooter open. Just don't double off him. Let the bigs defend their own guys.

[MuggsyB]

Excellent post.  5-1 or 6-0 is absolutely doable starting tomorrow night.  We have no choice and must drop the hammer vs the Dence.  Remember they played yesterday, we have a significant advantage. It's imperative we get things back on track.

[Johnny B]

last stand

[Silent Verbal]

last stand

The end of Wojo's last two seasons does bear a strong resemblance to the conclusion of Custer's military career.

[We R Final Four]

It seems that several times this year the opposition has had an unheralded player beat us.....who was not previewed.
PC is a tough team.....I expect yet another tough game.

[bilsu]

It is hard to see this team being successful. We have no go to player as indicated by our stud of the game chart. Someone can verify this, but I feel like every player that won stud of the game had a disappointing game the next game.

Wojo is right that this is an inside team. However, in today's game you win with three point shooting. Trying to beat teams in the Big East with two point shots is often not going to end well.

[MU82]

It is hard to see this team being successful. We have no go to player as indicated by our stud of the game chart. Someone can verify this, but I feel like every player that won stud of the game had a disappointing game the next game.

Wojo is right that this is an inside team. However, in today's game you win with three point shooting. Trying to beat teams in the Big East with two point shots is often not going to end well.

And last year we couldn't be successful because we had only one player to go to.

I would argue that we definitely have a go-to guy, though. It's DJ. He might not always be the go-to scorer, but he will be one our offense goes to - or at least should go to, whether it's to score the big bucket or make the big pass. Or, in the case of the end of the Georgetown game, both.

[79Warrior]

Excellent post.  5-1 or 6-0 is absolutely doable starting tomorrow night.  We have no choice and must drop the hammer vs the Dence.  Remember they played yesterday, we have a significant advantage. It's imperative we get things back on track.

Nothing about this team looks 5-1 or 6-0 to me. I hope i’m wrong but I think that is very optimistic.

[WarriorFan]

The optimism is inviting but lets not forget this is the BEAST.  PC has one of the best game coaches in the collegiate ranks and he will no doubt have a plan to neutralize Marquette advantages while leveraging PC toughness, defense, and "in the lane" talent.

[GooooMarquette]

We got this.

[MU82]

The optimism is inviting but lets not forget this is the BEAST.  PC has one of the best game coaches in the collegiate ranks and he will no doubt have a plan to neutralize Marquette advantages while leveraging PC toughness, defense, and "in the lane" talent.

Well, "one of the best game coaches in the collegiate ranks" doesn't even have a winning record over the worst coach in the history of mankind, so I'm not sure what to make of your declaration.

[panda]

Watson and Duke are very, very good. Everyone else. Not so much.

We’re the better team top to bottom, but Watson will be hard to stop if Theo can’t stay on the floor. Need to limit Duke’s three point attempts. If we do those two things, we should win.

[MuggsyB]

Nothing about this team looks 5-1 or 6-0 to me. I hope i’m wrong but I think that is very optimistic.

I get that but Gtown, Butler, St.J, and DePaul  are not exactly world beaters.  We have to take advantage of this part of our schedule.  I believe we can but of course there are concerns. Clearly our backcourt and JLew need to break out of their shooting slumps for starters.

[BCHoopster]

I get that but Gtown, Butler, St.J, and DePaul  are not exactly world beaters.  We have to take advantage of this part of our schedule.  I believe we can but of course there are concerns. Clearly our backcourt and JLew need to break out of their shooting slumps for starters.

Its all about hitting shots, so far, they have not done that.  What makes you think it will happen now.  This is a poor 3 point shooting team and starts with those guards.
Carton is very inconsistent as is Koby.  Cain is the only one showing consistency.  The first time I saw Lewis, my initial comment is he could not shoot the ball, I think I
was correct.  He is not bad, he is really bad so far.  Can not be any worse then his start so far.   Hope he can make some shots tomorrow, as Providence will let him have
some shots at the top of the key.  Providence is a better team, trying to figure out why some MU scoopers think we are more talented,  I do not see it. There much more
athletic than MU.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I mean we have 4 guys who have made double digit 3Ps with 40% accuracy or better and a fifth guy who has made double digit 3Ps with 33% accuracy. Our team 3P% is top 50 in the country. If that's a poor 3p shooting team....I don't know what a great 3p shooting team would look like. Maybe 5 Steph Currys?

[MuggsyB]

I think it's a little misleading.    Three of our top five offensive players have shot very poorly in recent games.  Carton, McEwen, and Lewis have missed wide open shots.  We have to get more from Carton in particular and our three guards.  Elliot isn't going to have a Creighton game every outing but it shouldn't be a fluke either.  It's not totally black and white but because our depth is not what we all anticipated, production from our backcourt will determine our success.  This is a team that rarely gets easy buckets or scores in transition.  Our guards have to pick it up and play with more consistency.

[1SE]

Yeah, let's hope we're at an inflection point in the season (and really in Wojo's tenure). I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[MU82]

I mean we have 4 guys who have made double digit 3Ps with 40% accuracy or better and a fifth guy who has made double digit 3Ps with 33% accuracy. Our team 3P% is top 50 in the country. If that's a poor 3p shooting team....I don't know what a great 3p shooting team would look like. Maybe 5 Steph Currys?

Yeah, I just so happened to look up our stats before I saw this comment from you, TAMU.

We rank third in the Big East in 3-point shooting at .372; had we made one more, we'd be second. We are NOT a "poor" 3-point team.

Why it might "seem" worse to some:

1. Lewis has been left wide open and keeps missing. He is 0 for his last 12 and has made only 1 trey in the last 8 games. Recency bias comes into play here; Lewis is clanking 'em left and right in recent games, and he's been left more wide open than anybody not named Theo.

2. We have had a few stretches where we couldn't buy a 3. Even our best shooters couldn't make any, and those cost us 2-3 games.

3. DJ has the ball a lot and he has been ice-cold lately: 0-7 against UConn and GT. Before that, he was shooting 38% for the season and had made 11-20, including 5-7 against Creighton.

4. Dawson had a 3-game stretch where he was 0-8. He's been pretty streaky and seems to lose confidence sometimes.

5. Elliott has a beautiful shot but his defense is quite bad so it's hard to keep him on the court for long stretches.

6. I blame Theo. He's missed 1 in a row after being the best 3-point shooter in the nation.

[We R Final Four]

We are currently 2-4 in conference.
I think we need to get 5 of the next 6, and get to 7-5 through this stretch.
Even winning 4 of the next 6 leaves us at .500 and doesn’t look great with respect to the remaining games, the tournament....and maybe Wojo.

[CTWarrior]

I think it's a little misleading.    Three of our top five offensive players have shot very poorly in recent games.  Carton, McEwen, and Lewis have missed wide open shots.  We have to get more from Carton in particular and our three guards.  Elliot isn't going to have a Creighton game every outing but it shouldn't be a fluke either.  It's not totally black and white but because our depth is not what we all anticipated, production from our backcourt will determine our success.  This is a team that rarely gets easy buckets or scores in transition.  Our guards have to pick it up and play with more consistency.

I agree Lewis has gotten open looks, but that is because the opposition doesn't appear to be too worried about him making them.  I don't think our other shooters are getting the open, in-rhythm three pointers lately.  I think the poor shooting is a direct result of too much dribbling, and not enough player movement and not enough ball movement.  That we have "tired legs" at the end of the game with all the standing around we do on offense is troubling.

[MU82]

I agree Lewis has gotten open looks, but that is because the opposition doesn't appear to be too worried about him making them.  I don't think our other shooters are getting the open, in-rhythm three pointers lately.  I think the poor shooting is a direct result of too much dribbling, and not enough player movement and not enough ball movement.  That we have "tired legs" at the end of the game with all the standing around we do on offense is troubling.

Reasonable.

Thing is, as in previous years, there are times where we have beautiful ball-movement. But all too often, it's exactly as you said. Drives me nuts!

[MuggsyB]

Reasonable.

Thing is, as in previous years, there are times where we have beautiful ball-movement. But all too often, it's exactly as you said. Drives me nuts!

You are exactly right.  We generally don't get quality looks in our h-c offense.  Part of the reason is guys aren't creating space off the ball.  We aren't physical enough or apparently don't  screen effectively.  So while some of it is poor ball movement/passing , the bigger problem is we don't find open areas to get shots in rhythm.

[jesmu84]

You are exactly right.  We generally don't get quality looks in our h-c offense.  Part of the reason is guys aren't creating space off the ball.  We aren't physical enough or apparently don't  screen effectively.  So while some of it is poor ball movement/passing , the bigger problem is we don't find open areas to get shots in rhythm.

The bigger problem, to me, is we intentionally slow the ball to play in the halfcourt when we have chances to play in transition.

We built a lead against uconn by pushing. Then took all the air out of the ball in the 2nd half

[MU82]

1 down, 5 to go.

We Are Marquette!