UCONN -1.5

[tower912]

Novak

[Goose]

tower

I had that one, but was wondering if the original #20 had some history with the Huskies.

[Uncle Rico]

Doc,

I take great pride on knowing my MU history, but the last post has me stumped. A little help?

NM Tower had it

[brewcity77]

tower

I had that one, but was wondering if the original #20 had some history with the Huskies.

Novak's 2006 game was the first ever meeting between the programs.

[4everwarriors]

Steve Novak torched highly ranked Uconn in MU's first BE game.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Novak's 2006 game was the first ever meeting between the programs.

I still have the baseball cap on my desk at work.

[Goose]

Doc,

I tried hard going back in my memory bank and was drawing a blank. Novak performance that night was an all time top ten night.

[Goose]

Shooter

After thinking about it, I am going with MU to win 77-72.

[JakeBarnes]

UConn was our nightmare matchup last year. They are still big, physical, and great on the offensive glass. I don't expect a win, but there are some areas we can exploit to give us a shot.

Oso needs to play a lot in the high post area. Get his defender away from the rim and give a 5-out look repeatedly. Kam and O-Max need to be in attack mode early and often. UConn is fanatical about denying the three, so take advantage by driving past and drawing fouls.

On defense, lots of pressure. They also want to play fast, but have a few turnover prone ball handlers so apply backcourt pressure, hope for some easy points, and take time off the shot clock to force them into short clock situations.

If I had to bet, I'd take UConn and the points. But the home atmosphere with a friendly whistle gives us a chance if we're on our game.

You made my points more eloquently, so I'm going to just adopt them.

Still think this is a 1-2 possession game either way.

[MU82]

Our guards are gonna outplay theirs.

Sanogo will get his but Oso also will be a matchup problem for Sanogo.

One of our "kids" is gonna have a really nice game; I'll say Ross.

Hurley will blow a gasket at least once.

Yes, we started slowly the last few games. You know who's also been starting slowly? UConn.

I'm just liking our team's vibe right now.

[DoctorV]

Shooter

After thinking about it, I am going with MU to win 77-72.

Yep. After regrouping and giving it some thought the last few days I'm much more confident about tonight.

I just don't really like UConn's personnel the more I look at it.
Forgetaboutit inside and on the glass, you just hope to keep it respectable there.
They are also a very good defensive team, but that's because they have beasts down low. Marquettes personnel, specifically Oso, should mitigate that a lot and allow for some open lanes where they typically don't allow them.

Do they ever zone?

They just have a large collection of decent/big sized guards that overpower you but don't really do anything particularly great.
In past years, with MUs typically small-ish backcourts, that would be a nightmare.

This year Marquette has much better sized guards, much more athletic.
Tyler and Kam might give up some height but I'm hoping they can hold their own.
If not, Ross becomes huge or you go to matchup problems for them all over the court- Jop, Sean, Ben offensively.

MU82 mentioned Ross possibly having a big game, and I think we need him to defensively.
I kind of like Sean Jones here though. I like him against organized/big defenses that lack in speed.
Marquette will have to out-speed them all night to win.

[Dr. Blackheart]

UConn will Bully Ball it, trying to get Oso in foul trouble. MU may need Keeyan for this one. Expect a lot of whistles.

[Shooter McGavin]

UConn will Bully Ball it, trying to get Oso in foul trouble. MU may need Keeyan for this one. Expect a lot of whistles.

Not Providence again!

[mix it up]

Do we know if UConn is in Milwaukee? if not, the flight outage this a.m. may be a problem.

[The Sultan]

Do we know if UConn is in Milwaukee? if not, the flight outage this a.m. may be a problem.

I believe that Big East teams are required to be on-site 24 hours prior to tip...or something similar.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

They just have a large collection of decent/big sized guards that overpower you but don't really do anything particularly great.

I think you're not giving their guards enough respect here. Newton is very good at creating for others (though he has a TO problem) and is elite at drawing fouls and getting to the line.

Jackson is an elite defender and has somehow turned into a great distributor (he's always been good for a wing but now he's top 10 in the conference). His shooting leaves something to be desired his passing and defending more than make up for it.

Hawkins is a very good defender (look what he did to poor Trey Alexander in his last game) and is a top 3 3P shooter in the conference. I've watched him a couple of times and he has that Markus Howard release where he can go from dribbling to shooting in the blink of an eye (often drawing a foul in the process). To be clear, I am not saying he's Markus Howard, I'm saying he has a release as quick as Howard.

Diarra and Allenye are both plus defenders off the bench and Calcaterra shoots 45.3% from 3.

I think all of their guards do at least one thing "great" and do most things well. Each of them does have a fatal flaw that can be exploited though (Newton's TOs, Jackson's shooting, Hawkins is poor inside the arc, Allenye/Diarra are poor on offense, Calcaterra can't defend)

[4everwarriors]

Do we know if UConn is in Milwaukee? if not, the flight outage this a.m. may be a problem.

Dey probably took da dog bus anyweyz, hey?

[JakeBarnes]

I think you're not giving their guards enough respect here. Newton is very good at creating for others (though he has a TO problem) and is elite at drawing fouls and getting to the line.

Jackson is an elite defender and has somehow turned into a great distributor (he's always been good for a wing but now he's top 10 in the conference). His shooting leaves something to be desired his passing and defending more than make up for it.

Hawkins is a very good defender (look what he did to poor Trey Alexander in his last game) and is a top 3 3P shooter in the conference. I've watched him a couple of times and he has that Markus Howard release where he can go from dribbling to shooting in the blink of an eye (often drawing a foul in the process). To be clear, I am not saying he's Markus Howard, I'm saying he has a release as quick as Howard.

Diarra and Allenye are both plus defenders off the bench and Calcaterra shoots 45.3% from 3.

I think all of their guards do at least one thing "great" and do most things well. Each of them does have a fatal flaw that can be exploited though (Newton's TOs, Jackson's shooting, Hawkins is poor inside the arc, Allenye/Diarra are poor on offense, Calcaterra can't defend)

We need to turn Jackson into a shooter and not a distributor.

[fjm]

Maybe wrong thread but going to post this on here a few times. (Yes I put it in trading post I know blah blah blah but want someone who really wants the tickets to take them).
I have 3 "be a student" tickets for the game tonight. $20 face value.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We need to turn Jackson into a shooter and not a distributor.

I don't disagree but that alone isn't enough. Creighton made Jackson into a shooter. Schiermann was giving Jackson a solid 5 feet of space when he got the ball at the 3point line which limited Jackson to 7 points (on 5 shots with 2 FTs) and 2 assists. As a whole, UConn only got 8 assists (.381 assist rate,  way below their season average). UConn responded by dumping it into Sanogo and letting him go to work and he ended up with 26 points (and that's going against the BE DPOY all game)

Now I actually think that is a winning strategy on defense but it wasn't enough to counter what UConn did to their offense. Creighton had 20 offensive rebounds but only managed 20 total FGs only 2 from long range.

[PGsHeroes32]

Took a look at Uconns board to see what they are saying about the game.

Most think it will be a really tough game but they expect to win due to the size and rebounding.

That said, they do sound pretty unanimously terrified of Omax and what he could do to them.

And some seem to be selling TK and Kam short for how good they actually are. So hopefully we surprise there.

Also, had to note. One guy tossed in a little free throws matta comment.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Dey probably took da dog bus anyweyz, hey?

Or da choo-choo.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Goodman picked Marquette, don't love that.

[DoctorV]

I think you're not giving their guards enough respect here. Newton is very good at creating for others (though he has a TO problem) and is elite at drawing fouls and getting to the line.

Jackson is an elite defender and has somehow turned into a great distributor (he's always been good for a wing but now he's top 10 in the conference). His shooting leaves something to be desired his passing and defending more than make up for it.

Hawkins is a very good defender (look what he did to poor Trey Alexander in his last game) and is a top 3 3P shooter in the conference. I've watched him a couple of times and he has that Markus Howard release where he can go from dribbling to shooting in the blink of an eye (often drawing a foul in the process). To be clear, I am not saying he's Markus Howard, I'm saying he has a release as quick as Howard.

Diarra and Allenye are both plus defenders off the bench and Calcaterra shoots 45.3% from 3.

I think all of their guards do at least one thing "great" and do most things well. Each of them does have a fatal flaw that can be exploited though (Newton's TOs, Jackson's shooting, Hawkins is poor inside the arc, Allenye/Diarra are poor on offense, Calcaterra can't defend)

Good summary, thanks!

Sounds like they could really use a blender for some of these guards.

I more-so meant their skills offensively, as I expect their entire team to be good defensively, so I'd imagine it will take a lot of creativity/movement/speed and creative mismatches and ball movement to get points tonight.

That said, who guards who?
At 6'5 and as their best non-big scorer/shooter, does Stevie draw that assignment on Hawkins with Omax and Oso on Karaban and Sonogo respectively?
Then Kam gets Jackson and TyKo gets Newton?
In the above scenario MU is oversized at 4 of the 5 spots on the court...

Or does Shaka get creative and insert Jop early to size match, leave him on Karaban, and have OMax try to mitigate Jackson Jr and move Kam to Hawkins and TyKo to Newton? Seems unlikely that he would shake things up like this but it seems like the type of game it might be good to consider.

Does Shaka go with a higher pressing style and a zone early to try to mix things up?

It'll be fun to watch the matchups and how they shake out

[BM1090]

I am staying away from this one, but it should be a fun battle and I wouldn't be surprised if we pulled it out.