Crow tastes good

[Viper]

Are we back?

did Illinois have their best guy?

[brewcity77]

I think Phil Bush mentioned it on the Anonymous Eagle live stream last night, but what stood out about last night was that it felt like what happened to us so many times over the years. The end of the 2019 season in particular, when we had late leads against Nova, Creighton, Seton Hall, and Georgetown in consecutive games and at the end, the defenses locked us up and they hit clutch shots. It felt like we were never able to do that to other teams. Suddenly last night, we were the team stringing together late stops and gutting out points on tough possessions. It was refreshing.

[tower912]

The last ending I can think of that compares to last night, a huge steal late leading to a game winner, is Jerel against USF.   

[79Warrior]

A great night.  A great win.    I am going to enjoy it and not get into an argument comparing wins.

Watching the game this morning, we definitely got some home cooking calls.    But aggressive home teams seem to get a lot of 50-50 calls.    And the team played their butts off and earned them.

Whatever the reasons, we have been on the short end of that stick more times than I can remember. It was great seeing us come out on top!

[IrwinFletcher]

People's dislike of Wojo simply clouds their memories.

If this had been a Wojo led team, many would have bemoaned the fact that we allowed U of I to rebound almost 50% of their misses, can't shoot from the outside and can't hit key FT's down the stretch.  As well, would be quick to point out that they were playing without a pre-season AA.

Just enjoy the win and enjoy it within the context that it was a wonderful win and points to positive things moving forward.

[Golden Avalanche]

82, you're right. 10 years is too much, don't mean to wash away Buzz's success.

But the last 7 years were done some other way.  It never felt ours.  We were borrowing some other culture and trying to rewrite who we were.  Tonight we announced We Are Back, We Play Defense, We Are a Problem and We Are MARQUETTE.

This is really weird $hit. Like, super fuking weird $hit.

[StillAWarrior]

Suddenly last night, we were the team stringing together late stops and gutting out points on tough possessions. It was refreshing.

You got that right.

In light of the rebounding in that game, it was absolutely fantastic -- some might say "refreshing" -- to see them get key defensive rebounds late in the game and push the ball down the court.

Confession time: I'd be lying if I didn't admit that once or twice last night I yelled, "would someone just grab the f'ing ball" at the TV after an Illini rebound. Seven of MU's 23 defensive rebounds came in the last five minutes of the game (and 3/4 of KK's). As frustrating as the rebounding disparity was, it was nice to see them grab more rebounds down the stretch. Fantastic.

[panda]

You got that right.

In light of the rebounding in that game, it was absolutely fantastic -- some might say "refreshing" -- to see them get key defensive rebounds late in the game and push the ball down the court.

Confession time: I'd be lying if I didn't admit that once or twice last night I yelled, "would someone just grab the f'ing ball" at the TV after an Illini rebound. Seven of MU's 23 defensive rebounds came in the last five minutes of the game (and 3/4 of KK's). As frustrating as the rebounding disparity was, it was nice to see them grab more rebounds down the stretch. Fantastic.

With a scramble type defense that Shaka employs, it'll always be somewhat challenging to win rebounding battles. The turnovers forced mitigate losing on the rebounding side of things.

As the program builds, I'd expect to see the Larry Sanders VCU type guy who's super long/athletic and can rebound even when out of position.

[JWags85]

As the program builds, I'd expect to see the Larry Sanders VCU type guy who's super long/athletic and can rebound even when out of position.

I think we see the prototype with Kuath.  He's not a rebounding maniac, but he's grabbed multiple boards and made multiple blocks from out of the play, out of position cause he's long and athletic.  He's really fun.  And a more polished version of him is super exciting to think about.

[brewcity77]

The last ending I can think of that compares to last night, a huge steal late leading to a game winner, is Jerel against USF.

As far as the events, I agree, but from a feeling perspective, it did have some 2017 'Nova vibes in how we finally stymied their offense at the end, got the points in the last few seconds to go ahead, and held on in their final possession.

[CountryRoads]

The general guidance is if you're without a player, it doesn't hurt you. So Illinois might get a pass for the loss. But it isn't viewed differently for the team that wins, so at the end of the year for us, this is a win over #XX Illinois.

While it seems contradictory to count it for one team and not the other, it's simply a quantity thing. Let's say Kofi misses 5 games later in the year and Illinois goes 1-4 in that stretch but is 26-8 on Selection Sunday. It's not that tough to say "they were 23-3 with him and 3-5 without, so we'll not hold the 5 against them as much" but recalibrating for those 5 teams that got the win, particularly when there are going to be dozens of players that miss games for top-100 teams, it's just too much when you're trying to build a bracket in a week.

Thanks for the reply, makes sense.

[cheebs09]

I think we see the prototype with Kuath.  He's not a rebounding maniac, but he's grabbed multiple boards and made multiple blocks from out of the play, out of position cause he's long and athletic.  He's really fun.  And a more polished version of him is super exciting to think about.

It seems Kuath is really good at not only blocking the shot, but also helping MU keep possession. He would either keep it in play for our guy or get it off the backboard.

I remember the Illinois guy volleyball spiking one out of bounds and I was like "cool, but at least we keep the ball."

[tower912]

As far as the events, I agree, but from a feeling perspective, it did have some 2017 'Nova vibes in how we finally stymied their offense at the end, got the points in the last few seconds to go ahead, and held on in their final possession.

Both were awesome.    I remember Villanova kept settling for 3's and missing them.   

[MU82]

As far as the events, I agree, but from a feeling perspective, it did have some 2017 'Nova vibes in how we finally stymied their offense at the end, got the points in the last few seconds to go ahead, and held on in their final possession.

I had very similar thoughts. When Justin had the ball on the sideline and was flying toward our offensive end, the feeling reminded me of when Sam got that final rebound vs Nova. We had to battle, battle, battle both games, and each time the reward was a satisfying, come-from-behind home win against a team most observers felt we had little chance to defeat.

[MU82]

With a scramble type defense that Shaka employs, it'll always be somewhat challenging to win rebounding battles. The turnovers forced mitigate losing on the rebounding side of things.

There is some truth to this, and it'll even more true when we face opponents who take lots of 3s because of the number of long rebounds.

However, there have been many, many, many occasions so far this season in which we had guys simply standing there, watching, not boxing out. There have been far too many occasions where a Marquette player just reached for the basketball without putting a body on an opponent. There was one in particular last night in which OMP was standing inside the FT line defending his guy at the elbow, the shot goes up, OMP turns around and watches the ball, and his guy flies in for the rebound.

It was poor fundamentals, and it's happened many times, and it has ruined otherwise excellent defensive possessions. Brian Butch pointed out similar situations several times in the UNH game where we simply didn't find a man and put a body on him. And Shaka, during one of his cuddles yesterday, pointed it out too.

It's a good thing that at the end of each game Marquette buckled down and got some of the rebounds we didn't get earlier, but there's no excuse for waiting until the end to do it. Rebounding is about hard work and want-to, and Shaka told his guys exactly that.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON Marquette should ever get outrebounded by the likes of SIUE and UNH. There is no reason that Illinois, playing without its star big man, should beat us 50-30 on the boards. No reason at all. None.

For me, poor rebounding has really been the only big disappointment about the season so far, and we need to clean it up.

[MU82]

MU82

I said many times that Wojo's best season was fool's gold and I still believe that. Yes, they won big games and I was very happy, but never did I think he was turning the corner with the program. I was very optimistic going into this season simply off Shaka and his system. I think MU turned the corner as a program the day Shaka was hired. Again, I never felt that Wojo's program was going anywhere. Not all big wins are equal, and IMO, last night was different. Everyone knows that we do not have top talent at the moment, but most now know this program is going to play tough on every possession.

And nowhere did I say otherwise.

Our fellow Scooper basically said the previous 10 years, which included Buzz's Elite Eight, offered no reasons for smiles similar to the ones he saw yesterday. That's just silly. Thankfully, he has at least tried to modify that stance.

I'm glad we have a better coach, and I look forward to seeing if he and his system can deliver us to the promised land. Mostly, I look forward to enjoying the ride, which some folks seem incapable of doing because they are so locked in on either the past or the hoped-for destination.

No one said no smiles. We said different smiles. Nice strawman, though.

It is sad that you feel a need to frame everything within the context of what wasn't done in previous years, that you are so obsessed with one man's shortcomings that you're incapable of enjoying a great game/result like last night's in and of itself. I kinda feel sorry for you, just as I felt for you last season when you were among the handful of people actively rooting for our alma mater to lose games. It's a heck of a way to go through life.

[PGsHeroes32]

There is some truth to this, and it'll even more true when we face opponents who take lots of 3s because of the number of long rebounds.

However, there have been many, many, many occasions so far this season in which we had guys simply standing there, watching, not boxing out. There have been far too many occasions where a Marquette player just reached for the basketball without putting a body on an opponent. There was one in particular last night in which OMP was standing inside the FT line defending his guy at the elbow, the shot goes up, OMP turns around and watches the ball, and his guy flies in for the rebound.

It was poor fundamentals, and it's happened many times, and it has ruined otherwise excellent defensive possessions. Brian Butch pointed out similar situations several times in the UNH game where we simply didn't find a man and put a body on him. And Shaka, during one of his cuddles yesterday, pointed it out too.

It's a good thing that at the end of each game Marquette buckled down and got some of the rebounds we didn't get earlier, but there's no excuse for waiting until the end to do it. Rebounding is about hard work and want-to, and Shaka told his guys exactly that.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON Marquette should ever get outrebounded by the likes of SIUE and UNH. There is no reason that Illinois, playing without its star big man, should beat us 50-30 on the boards. No reason at all. None.

For me, poor rebounding has really been the only big disappointment about the season so far, and we need to clean it up.

Shaka's cuddling is getting a lot of hype so far this year

[panda]

I had very similar thoughts. When Justin had the ball on the sideline and was flying toward our offensive end, the feeling reminded me of when Sam got that final rebound vs Nova. We had to battle, battle, battle both games, and each time the reward was a satisfying, come-from-behind home win against a team most observers felt we had little chance to defeat.

I felt like Villanova just missed so many wide open shots. I remember the camera panned to Jay Wright towards the end of the game and he was just leaning against the scorers table, hands in pockets with a very frustrated smirk on his face knowing sometimes your guys just can't make anything and the other team can't miss.

Last night felt a lot more like MU imposed their will against U of I, turning them over a ton.

[panda]

I think we see the prototype with Kuath.  He's not a rebounding maniac, but he's grabbed multiple boards and made multiple blocks from out of the play, out of position cause he's long and athletic.  He's really fun.  And a more polished version of him is super exciting to think about.

I love Kuath and the OU fans loved him too. He's going to have several big time poster lob dunks this year. He's a skilled shot blocker too. Does it very well with the correct hand/footwork not to foul.

[MU82]

Shaka's cuddling is getting a lot of hype so far this year

That's cuz he's just so darn cuddly.

I felt like Villanova just missed so many wide open shots. I remember the camera panned to Jay Wright towards the end of the game and he was just leaning against the scorers table, hands in pockets with a very frustrated smirk on his face knowing sometimes your guys just can't make anything and the other team can't miss.

Last night felt a lot more like MU imposed their will against U of I, turning them over a ton.

What I said was that the happy feeling I had right at the end of both was similar.

The games were different, yes. If we want to point out little (and not so little) differences, Nova had its full roster, unlike Illinois that had to go without its All-American center. I mean, we can debate which was the "better" win all day.

What I'm saying is both were great to celebrate.

[brewcity77]

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON Marquette should ever get outrebounded by the likes of SIUE and UNH. There is no reason that Illinois, playing without its star big man, should beat us 50-30 on the boards. No reason at all. None.

This is easy to say, but New Hampshire has been top-10 nationally in defensive rebounding rate in 6 of the past 7 seasons. They are consistently one of the best pound-for-pound rebounding teams out there. It is not a stretch to say they are an elite rebounding team, in large part because their undersized wing forwards are great at fighting their way to the ball. If it was one year, it might be an outlier or an individual player propping them up, but they've been doing this for quite awhile and they're really good at it.

SIUE, no excuse, but UNH is actually really good at rebounding.

[MU82]

This is easy to say, but New Hampshire has been top-10 nationally in defensive rebounding rate in 6 of the past 7 seasons. They are consistently one of the best pound-for-pound rebounding teams out there. It is not a stretch to say they are an elite rebounding team, in large part because their undersized wing forwards are great at fighting their way to the ball. If it was one year, it might be an outlier or an individual player propping them up, but they've been doing this for quite awhile and they're really good at it.

SIUE, no excuse, but UNH is actually really good at rebounding.

I understand.

It's even more important to block out vs. ball-watch when playing an elite-level rebounding team.

Illinois might be elite, too, even without their AA big. I don't know. But there's no reason to lose the boards 50-30 to them or anybody else. Find a man, put a body on him. It's middle-school stuff, and everybody, including Shaka, knows we need to clean it up.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

The last ending I can think of that compares to last night, a huge steal late leading to a game winner, is Jerel against USF.

DJO forced a tie with a late steal and layup vs UConn in 2011. Marquette won in OT.

[fjm]

I find it interesting that people are saying it's ok that we are being out rebounded but so much these first 3 games.

It's ok because the way their defense is created to force steals.


There is no way that getting out rebounded by 20 is ok because that's the way the D is created.
If Illinois puts back one more of those offensive rebounds we are singing a different tune today. And then all of our steals would have been for a loss.

[tower912]

You're not wrong.   I also think that it is nearly unanimous that it must be improved.