Kolek-ting Champaign wishes....

[warriorchick]

I'm assuming this is because Wisconsin is considered the low major of the midwest.

Or because we always play Wisconsin in December.

[El Guerrero 2]

Jop had some moments tonight. I thought his defense was pretty good. He had some strong rebounds, though once he gets the ball he doesn't seem to know what to do with it (that one turnover was really bad). He also needs to diversify his interior game. He's very limited in terms of interior moves and for some reason just cannot dunk. That thing was all but down and still bounced out. If he can't find more consistency, I'm guessing we'll see Gold and Chase eat into his minutes.

I am mostly thinking of those two six footers in one possession that he totally whiffed. It struck me as freshman jitters, which is sad to see from a junior. We need him to make the leap if this team is going to compete for a title.

[Elonsmusk]

Most remarkable takeaway is how little dropoff there is, and in some cases an improvement, when we go to the bench. It’s pretty nuts

I agree that we have a good bench, however, the drop off from TyKo and Kam is very substantial - Oso too, however Gold is the least drop off of any of our bench.

My guess is that Gold will be the biggest impact reserve on the team this year...perhaps maybe even steps into the starting lineup to replace Joplin.

[forgetful]

Or because we always play Wisconsin in December.

Well, I clearly can't read....

Totally missed the month of November in there.

Thank you for the correction.

[Herman Cain]

Aside from the zone stretch early, the defense was very good tonight. Illinois' lack of point guard play killed them. This is our first high-major road win in November since 2003. That's not a typo, it's been 20 years since we did this. These games are hard and we generally had control for most of the game. Excellent win. Very proud of the team tonight.

Lot of talk about how we had our C game. I give a lot of credit to a tough opponent. They had length, real talent and were well coached. Road Games against rugged opponents may make it seem like we are playing our C game, when in actuality we are just playing a very strong team. I felt ,given the totality of the circumstance ,MU played extremely well as whole.  Individually Tyler played like an All American, Kam and Oso played like All Big East. The Coaching Staff put everyone in a blender and we got an important quality win.

[MU82]

Jop had a nightmare game. I think the only bucket he had in the second half was the one on that idiotic goaltending play by the Illinois guy on a shot that might not have even hit the rim. We watched those back-to-back 6-foot airballs with amazement - it seemed impossible that those shots could be that bad.

But it's one game. It happens. Every player on this team - including Kolek and Oso - have had horrible games in their Marquette careers. Joplin's capable of going for 20+ next game. And it's also nice that Shaka has other options when one or more of our players struggle.

Overall, we missed some chippies, especially early. And as some have mentioned, our transition offense was unusually poor. But we were outstanding on D just about all night, and we battled a tall, athletic, experienced team even on the boards.

Great road victory for a team that's gonna win a lot of games this season. UCLA, you're next!

We Are Marquette!

[Shooter McGavin]

Still worried about Oso’s shoulder. If that popped out and right back in that can be a recurring (and painful) issue. Hope it wasn’t just adrenaline and that everything is good there.

Only worry about this team tonight was transition offense. OMax was very good in that department last year. The team was very bad in that department tonight.

Your last paragraph is a very good point.  Even Chase our most athletic guard is on shorter side and was blocked at the rim because of lack of length and wing span.  Omax gets an and 1 or is fouled for two free throws.  And as you stated many others were blocked at the rim.  Our team is going to have to learn how to run a fast break better and perhaps jump stop when the defense is close behind and let the defender fly by.  Will be interesting to watch.  Can’t give up these easy points.

[Shooter McGavin]

They missed shots tonight that they normally make.  So many moments when they were hovering around that 6-7-8 range that if one three-pointer had dropped, it would've changed the complexion of the game.  It could've easily ended up being a 15 point victory if a few of those go our way.  On the flip side, Illinois was making big threes to keep them in it, but ended up being a bit of fool's gold that hurt them in the end.

The team did a great job of keeping their composure for that brief spurt early in the second half when they closed the gap and then took the lead and got the crowd back in it.  Kam and Tyler both came back a few times to make buckets to make sure that they never extended their lead to more than 3, and then the defense locked in for the last 11 minutes.

Yep.  Agreed.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We had a C offensive game but defensively that was at least a B+, possibly even an A. Balance it out to a B game.

I mean, they coaxed a team that ranked 335th in 3P% last season into shooting 33 threes and only 27 twos. Clearly an intentional strategy by Shaka and they executed it perfectly. No way Illinois was going to win settling for that many treys.

[MU82]

We had a C offensive game but defensively that was at least a B+, possibly even an A. Balance it out to a B game.

I mean, they coaxed a team that ranked 335th in 3P% last season into shooting 33 threes and only 27 twos. Clearly an intentional strategy by Shaka and they executed it perfectly. No way Illinois was going to win settling for that many treys.

Agree 100%.

[PointWarrior]

Need to change your screen name to wadesworrier.

Still worried about Oso’s shoulder. If that popped out and right back in that can be a recurring (and painful) issue. Hope it wasn’t just adrenaline and that everything is good there.

Only worry about this team tonight was transition offense. OMax was very good in that department last year. The team was very bad in that department tonight.

[El Guerrero 2]

We had a C offensive game but defensively that was at least a B+, possibly even an A. Balance it out to a B game.

I mean, they coaxed a team that ranked 335th in 3P% last season into shooting 33 threes and only 27 twos. Clearly an intentional strategy by Shaka and they executed it perfectly. No way Illinois was going to win settling for that many treys.

It’s beyond refreshing to have a coach with an intelligent game plan and the ability to get his guys to execute after seven years of Wojo.

[lawdog77]

It’s beyond refreshing to have a coach with an intelligent game plan and the ability to get his guys to execute after seven years of Wojo.

Let it go

[Goose]

TAMU

I thought Shaka was outstanding last night. The defense looked extremely good and they frustrated Illinois. Truthfully, the offense was probably better than the score indicated. In the first several minutes they missed five shots in the paint and that set the tone to some degree. They had a lot of open looks again last night.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Couple thoughts:

**Tyler is the best Marquette player since Wade.

**Oso had a strange game. I think he got shoved around and just wasn’t able to stay consistent. Same with Kam and his foul trouble.

**The sophomores showed they still have some work to do. Ben’s rebounding was awesome though. And Sean’s three was huge.

**Joplin’s the same guy. He’s just not blowing by anyone.

All and all a road win against a top 25 team should always be celebrated.

[CTWarrior]

What were rebounding numbers tonight? Felt like Marquette was pretty good on the boards tonight.

Big time minutes from Gold. Didn’t score, but looked very good defensively.

It was weird.  Felt like we got half of our rebounds off a bounce or on a tip 10 feet from the basket.  Whatever gets it done. 

Gold looks like a different kid from last year.  Just more confident and aggressive.  Good to see.

[CTWarrior]

I thought Kam made some massive buckets in the second half. He is really a fun player to watch - sweet stroke from deep and silky smooth on the drive.

+1.  He is so much fun to watch.

[CTWarrior]

Lot of talk about how we had our C game. I give a lot of credit to a tough opponent. They had length, real talent and were well coached. Road Games against rugged opponents may make it seem like we are playing our C game, when in actuality we are just playing a very strong team. I felt ,given the totality of the circumstance ,MU played extremely well as whole.  Individually Tyler played like an All American, Kam and Oso played like All Big East. The Coaching Staff put everyone in a blender and we got an important quality win.

I thought we played very well but just shot poorly.  Gang rebounded like we have to, played solid D.  Great win.

[tower912]

MU took very few 'bad' shots.   Illinois is tough, well coached, and lonnnngggg.   Add in a hostile road environment.   So, yeah, MU missed shots they expect to make.   At this point of the season, everything is a learning and growth opportunity.

But MU still got a road win over a ranked team in a packed and jacked arena.   Helluva building block.

[StillWarriors]

Still worried about Oso’s shoulder. If that popped out and right back in that can be a recurring (and painful) issue. Hope it wasn’t just adrenaline and that everything is good there.

Only worry about this team tonight was transition offense. OMax was very good in that department last year. The team was very bad in that department tonight.

Hated to see that with Oso’s shoulder. Shades of the injury that bothered Luke Fischer all year. Nunge for X dealt with it last year too. Able to play through it, but very painful.

[MUbiz]

I thought Gold was really solid on the boards.

Gold had 7 boards last night - this is excellent against a top 25 opponent. The extra weight room work Gold put in is paying off.

[mu_eyeballs]

Great game last night...though I am surprised with the lack of conversation about the refs.  Illinois was big, fast, long, but still the refs were letting them bag around last night.  Kinda felt like a late '80s NBA game.  There was a rebound that Sean was going for in the second half that the a Illinois player grabbed him by both shoulders to hold him back.  A ton of over the backs, and though they were "good" hustle plays a few of the blocks on fastbreaks could have been called as well.

[JakeBarnes]

Great game last night...though I am surprised with the lack of conversation about the refs.  Illinois was big, fast, long, but still the refs were letting them bag around last night.  Kinda felt like a late '80s NBA game.  There was a rebound that Sean was going for in the second half that the a Illinois player grabbed him by both shoulders to hold him back. A ton of over the backs, and though they were "good" hustle plays a few of the blocks on fastbreaks could have been called as well.

I definitely questioned that one. Fortunately we got the rebound on that one. It was definitely a rock fight and our guys rose to the challenge.

[MUbiz]

Great game last night...though I am surprised with the lack of conversation about the refs.  Illinois was big, fast, long, but still the refs were letting them bag around last night.  Kinda felt like a late '80s NBA game.  There was a rebound that Sean was going for in the second half that the a Illinois player grabbed him by both shoulders to hold him back.  A ton of over the backs, and though they were "good" hustle plays a few of the blocks on fastbreaks could have been called as well.

The refs let them play, which I am totally for as compared to Jeff Anderson blowing his whistle every 5 seconds. MU got away with some calls as well; the near end of game inbounds pass to Kolek was a travel. I think it all evened out.

[JakeBarnes]

The refs let them play, which I am totally for as compared to Jeff Anderson blowing his whistle every 5 seconds. MU got away with some calls as well; the near end of game inbounds pass to Kolek was a travel. I think it all evened out.

I agreed with you on the travel until the slow mo. He was in his dribble by the next step. Illini fans however think this was the greatest injustice of the entire game on the reddit thread.