Hamstrung

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

That’s logical, but not how it works.

Also, I know the rule used to be that the flagrant free throws would be taken first, then the two remaining free throws would be taken live. Did that change?

That was the old “intentional foul” rule.

[BM1090]

That was the old “intentional foul” rule.

Thank you

[wadesworld]

I realize that nothing said on here changes how the team plays. But some of these threads about starting when’s our next loss, I don’t see one until 13-0, I don’t see a loss in our first 5, I don’t see a home loss this year have always seemed ridiculous to me. We’re a good basketball team. We’re not the best team in the country, or the conference. And we certainly aren’t an all time great team. We’re good enough to win a national title, but we aren’t a dominant team. Almost every road game will be tough. A number of home games will be tough.

I also have really disliked Shaka’s bragging about not taking transfers. You have an opportunity to take proven players that can play immediately and you just handcuff yourself by refusing to do it. 3 of his 6 or so best players in his time here have been transfers. Not filling OMax’s spot really hurts this team.

There will be better nights. But these last 2 games certainly raise some red flags.

[DegenerateDish]

I realize that nothing said on here changes how the team plays. But some of these threads about starting when’s our next loss, I don’t see one until 13-0, I don’t see a loss in our first 5, I don’t see a home loss this year have always seemed ridiculous to me. We’re a good basketball team. We’re not the best team in the country, or the conference. And we certainly aren’t an all time great team. We’re good enough to win a national title, but we aren’t a dominant team. Almost every road game will be tough. A number of home games will be tough.

I also have really disliked Shaka’s bragging about not taking transfers. You have an opportunity to take proven players that can play immediately and you just handcuff yourself by refusing to do it. 3 of his 6 or so best players in his time here have been transfers. Not filling OMax’s spot really hurts this team.

There will be better nights. But these last 2 games certainly raise some red flags.

Solid take, agree with all this.

[Biggie Clausen]

We’re a definite top 25 team and there’s no question we’ll make the NCAA Tournament.  That’s a huge improvement over where we were during the previous coaching regime.  But I don’t think we have what it takes to make a deep run.  We may not make it out of the first weekend.

[Mu92]

The team only shoots threes and layups. This is a problem when (a) most of the team is below average three point shooters and (b) when the opposing team has rim protectors that don’t allow layups. Can’t some of these guys develop mid range skills ( Mitchel, Ross, Joplin)?

[CountryRoads]

Shaka’s best players have been transfers and wojo recruits.

[MUfan12]

Last season was a perfect storm. The guys were perfectly suited for the roles they were in. Jop and the sophomores were relied on to make a jump and it just hasn't happened yet.

I can see why Shaka played it the way he did this year. Jop looked great the second half of last season. Chase had some huge plays. Those guys earned the chance to step up. Still waiting on them to fully take it.

Moving forward, I don't think his stance on transfers will be as rigid. I think Shaka was vocal about it to help build his guys up. If he gets burned by it, he'll adjust. The game-ready talent is really lacking if Kam leaves with TK and Oso.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

We’re a definite top 25 team and there’s no question we’ll make the NCAA Tournament.  That’s a huge improvement over where we were during the previous coaching regime.  But I don’t think we have what it takes to make a deep run.  We may not make it out of the first weekend.

LOL.

You could say this about nearly every team in the country, except for possibly UConn.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

The team only shoots threes and layups. This is a problem when (a) most of the team is below average three point shooters and (b) when the opposing team has rim protectors that don’t allow layups. Can’t some of these guys develop mid range skills ( Mitchel, Ross, Joplin)?

Is this a serious question?

[PointWarrior]

and not getting TO's...

Right now MU can’t hit 3’s.  That’s a big issue.

[PointWarrior]

not every team ranked in the top 10...

LOL.

You could say this about nearly every team in the country, except for possibly UConn.

[Herman Cain]

English is a solid coach. Friars also had more talent. That generally = loss on the road.

MU has to get back to moving the ball. The dribble drive is a prescription for failure in this league.

[Goose]

Herman

While I do not agree on Providence having more talent, I do agree on moving the ball. Way too much dribbling and that was problem at UW as well.

[dgies9156]

You're not concerned at all brother dgies?

Depends on whether we make adjustments.

So, not yet.

It’s a long season.

[tower912]

Well said.

[Goose]

Muggsy,

At this point I do not have any concerns. I believe this team is better than last year and they will figure things out. They were horrible last night but going into the season I had that as one of their five BE losses.

I will add, I mentioned multiple times my concern of not filling a player to replace Omax. My thoughts were 100% that if Shaka thought they were a bonafide NC contender that he would fill in that last spot. Now, I still think they are a contender based off of the A games they have had thus far, but if it turns out not filling that spot costs them a deep run, I will think it was a missed opportunity.

[Shooter McGavin]

The big adjustments will be Ross, Gold or someone else getting better throughout the season and contributing at a high level.  We need to see the Ross that was predicted in the off-season to have a break out year.  We need Gold to act like or show signs that he is a future NBA player more frequently. 

Those are the guys that need to be the pressure release valves for Oso, Kam and Tyler on this team.  Omax, who frequently gave us easy transition buckets and a few well timed three pointers, is not coming back and MU did not replace him in the portal.  Gold and Ross need to be the guys to help out. 

Long season.  Still very optimistic.  Tough place to play. I am concerned about getting blown out.  I don’t recall looking completely overmatched last year.  Omax was a big part of that team.  Time for others to step up.  Coaching is tough without the horses to get it done.  Look for development as the answer. 

[NCMUFan]

Announcers were hilarious last night.  At halftime I think Fanta asked Donny what Marquette needed to do to get back in the game.
"Play smart".  Wow.

[Dr. Blackheart]

2nd worst offensive efficiency game in the Shaka Era. Only St. Bonnie was worse. Flush twice, plunge and move on.

[Its DJOver]

Feel like there's not a whole lot of giving PC credit where it's due.  Anyone seen their home record the last couple of years?  They're a very good team in their building.  Throw in that we're missing a starter.  Less concerned about the shots not falling and more concerned about the TOs. Our big three cannot cough the ball up 11 times.  Kept the rounding margin closer than I would have thought, but if we're not winning the TO and pts off TO margin by a decent amount, we're going to struggle.

[tower912]

I gave Providence plenty of credit in the OP.

[MUDPT]

2nd worst offensive efficiency game in the Shaka Era. Only St. Bonnie was worse. Flush twice, plunge and move on.

I think our offensive ceiling is lower than last year and my expectations for this year.  They killed teams on the empty side ball screen.  Now the good teams automatically switch, knowing they have 1 or 2 extra defenders in the paint, because our 3% from our non-initiators (on the weak side) has been so bad.  OMax was a decent 3 point shooter, but also had the ability to pump fake and get to the basket.  Stevie has a really high basketball IQ and knows when to empty, stand in the corner, make a cut and adds a lot, for his little usage.  Nights like last night are when we really miss him defensively to keep us in the game when the offense goes cold. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I think our offensive ceiling is lower than last year and my expectations for this year.  They killed teams on the empty side ball screen.  Now the good teams automatically switch, knowing they have 1 or 2 extra defenders in the paint, because our 3% from our non-initiators (on the weak side) has been so bad.  OMax was a decent 3 point shooter, but also had the ability to pump fake and get to the basket.  Stevie has a really high basketball IQ and knows when to empty, stand in the corner, make a cut and adds a lot, for his little usage.  Nights like last night are when we really miss him defensively to keep us in the game when the offense goes cold. 

This is spot on. Some more consistent outside shooting would solve a lot of problems.

[MuggsyB]

The big adjustments will be Ross, Gold or someone else getting better throughout the season and contributing at a high level.  We need to see the Ross that was predicted in the off-season to have a break out year.  We need Gold to act like or show signs that he is a future NBA player more frequently. 

Those are the guys that need to be the pressure release valves for Oso, Kam and Tyler on this team.  Omax, who frequently gave us easy transition buckets and a few well timed three pointers, is not coming back and MU did not replace him in the portal.  Gold and Ross need to be the guys to help out. 

Long season.  Still very optimistic.  Tough place to play. I am concerned about getting blown out.  I don’t recall looking completely overmatched last year.  Omax was a big part of that team.  Time for others to step up.  Coaching is tough without the horses to get it done.  Look for development as the answer.

Goose,

This team has an AA, three bona fide studs, and they're all experienced.  To be blunt two of them played very poorly yesterday and at times all of them did with a plethora of bad decisions. That simply cannot happen from a team with these expectations. 

Now, our auxiliary guys absolutely have to step their games up.  Hopefully Stevie is back soon but our 4-8  rotational players are all solid and bring numerous skills to the table.  For whatever reason they have all played well in short spurts but have been inordinately inconsistent and not particularly cohesive as well.  The lack of flow/rhythm in our offense was most apparent last night and a bit worrisome.  The truth is we need to win as a collective group and overall we just haven't seen the cohesion and growth from players that I expected.  I think the ND game may have hurt us because we didn't realize they're a borderline D-1 team.