Where is this team going?

[oilcan]

My two cents: Disappointing loss today. A top ten team should beat an average team on the road, even if it just beat Uconn.  Again MU came out strong and then fell behind in the first half. So, the manta is "We're a second half team." I've witnessed it, all too often. Why? I don't know why.  And people say "We're a second half team. Don't worry the second half will be different."

What is going on here? MU has their entire team back from last year except from Omax. And it's different. The intensity isn't the same. He defended as well as anyone not named Dennis Rodman and yet Shaka did nothing to replace him. So we end up with Oso who is shooting 60 percent and Gold coming in to provide muscle? Don't wait for that to happen. We have what we have. Theo John and Jae Crowder aren't coming to the rescue.  Amadeou should be getting more minutes.

Smart is trying to (in my opinion) to extend the team from six to nine so he is asking Tyler to give up the slog up the court after a made basket to conserve his energy. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a reasonable strategy. Did Tyler lose his hyper determination to control the play and the offensive adjustments? No. He'll continue to be the player who makes the defense react. And he will benefit from the depth later in the season. I know it pains him not to be the focus of every trip down the court.  Smart believes (in my opinion) that Sean Jones is the next Isaiah Thomas. And it would be a mistake not to develop his talent more than many would expect this early.

What is the answer here? MU isn't going to hammer anyone down low. Maurice Lucas died years ago. He's not suiting up. Smart is determined to replicate the Baylor Final Four Champion who won with big athletic guards who could guard on the perimeter (and not foul) shoot the three and rebound. It was all about defense. And it worked. Joplin and Ross need to work harder. They should be in the weight room constantly and they should be running sprints from the baseline to the baseline everyday for hours on end. MU needs players who will provide strength at the end.

I'm never discouraged in these situations, I only see opportunities. Work hard and play hard.

[Newsdreams]

Not reading a book

[Farley36]

Where are they going?  Who knows?  Marquette's ceiling is high.  They've proven that.  They have yet to prove this year that they can play at a consistently high level.  That could still change but it's not trending that way yet.   I'd guess this team still ends up top 4 in the BE and wins a game or two in the tourney.  Most years that is a good year for Marquette.  This year that might be a disappointment because of their high ceiling. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I assume back to Milwaukee. Their next game is at home

[Mu8891]

Home very early in the NCAAT if they don't figure it out and get better.

[BLWarrior91]

Everyone needs to have some perspective.  Our record last year after 15 games:  the exact same 11-4 we are today.  Both years had losses to Purdue, Wisconsin, and at Providence.  Last year we lost to Mississippi State; this year it was Seton Hall...the same team that blew out UConn and won at Providence.

This year's team beat the number one team in the country by 14 and the. Lost by three to number two.  We beat Illinois on the road.

Our resume is better this year than it was last year at this point.

Let's hope that Kolek and Kam don't both disappear at the same time.  We will be fine.

[oilcan]

Thank you. An encouraging word. 11-4 just like last year at this point. And going home to regroup. Figure it out. Relax. Shovel some snow. Thank your wife for everything she's done and kiss your kids goodnight. It's not difficult. It's as simple as you can get. Life is easier than coaching bb.

[GoldenEagles03]

Final Four probably

[Dickthedribbler]

If you took the free throws off the board that  SHU made after we twice fouled their three point shooter, MU walks out of there with a win and most of this stuff is moot.

Fouling a 3 point shooter is one of the stupidest, most undisciplined things you can do on a basketball court. Yet we insist on continuing to do it, game after game.

I would say eliminate stupid , undisciplined moves, and we'll be fine.

[PointWarrior]

Agree, but this team does a lot of stupid things...

If you took the free throws off the board that  SHU made after we twice fouled their three point shooter, MU walks out of there with a win and most of this stuff is moot.

Fouling a 3 point shooter is one of the stupidest, most undisciplined things you can do on a basketball court. Yet we insist on continuing to do it, game after game.

I would say eliminate stupid , undisciplined moves, and we'll be fine.

[GoldenEagles03]

Agree, but this team does a lot of stupid things...

They mostly just miss open shots.

Defense is awesome, they win the turnover battle almost every game, they battle for 40 minutes.

Gotta find a way to make open shots. It is really that simple. Oh and stay healthy of course.

[wisblue]

Everyone needs to have some perspective.  Our record last year after 15 games:  the exact same 11-4 we are today.  Both years had losses to Purdue, Wisconsin, and at Providence.  Last year we lost to Mississippi State; this year it was Seton Hall...the same team that blew out UConn and won at Providence.

This year's team beat the number one team in the country by 14 and the. Lost by three to number two.  We beat Illinois on the road.

Our resume is better this year than it was last year at this point.

Let's hope that Kolek and Kam don't both disappear at the same time.  We will be fine.

Last year's team was young and improving.

I don't think you can say the same this year.

The 3 games you mentioned took place 6 weeks ago.Since then there have been 3 (out of 3) very poor road performances, all of which were much uglier than the first two conference losses MU took last year.

At this point it doesn't look like the team is going to go as high or as far as preseason expectations would have taken it. Conference opponents seem to have adjusted to what MU did well last year and MU doesn't have the tools to respond. Not physical enough and not good enough 3 point shooting to overcome it.

[BLWarrior91]

Remember that last year's national champion lost seven conference games plus was beaten in the BE tournament.

Championships aren't won in January.  Our defense is better than last year.  The shots will start to fall.  Perhaps some adversity will put the chip back on their shoulders that they played with last year.

The Big East is a great conference.  Every game will be a battle.  It's ridiculous to think we were going to steamroll over everyone, especially on the road.


See you in Phoenix in April.

[79Warrior]

Remember that last year's national champion lost seven conference games plus was beaten in the BE tournament.

Championships aren't won in January.  Our defense is better than last year.  The shots will start to fall.  Perhaps some adversity will put the chip back on their shoulders that they played with last year.

The Big East is a great conference.  Every game will be a battle.  It's ridiculous to think we were going to steamroll over everyone, especially on the road.


See you in Phoenix in April.

Exactly. Some people need to take a chill pill. This team will lose more games. So will everyone else. We are in good shape with a solid resume for the post season.
As others have said, defense has been good. Kolek and Kam have to play well for this team to make a run in March. Without them, we may be the average team.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Kam Jones needs to break out of his slump.

In 4 BE games, Kam is shooting 32% FG and 22% 3FG.  This team is going nowhere if he keeps shooting like that.

And Kam's getting open looks.  Just gotta convert.

[brewcity77]

Remember that last year's national champion lost seven conference games plus was beaten in the BE tournament.

Championships aren't won in January.

Championships aren't won in January, but the foundations for them typically are laid now. UConn was an outlier in a Final Four where they were the highest seed left. The last 25 years, 68% of champions are 1-seeds and 92% are from the top 3 lines.

[panda]

Championships aren't won in January, but the foundations for them typically are laid now. UConn was an outlier in a Final Four where they were the highest seed left. The last 25 years, 68% of champions are 1-seeds and 92% are from the top 3 lines.

They were also integrating several transfers and freshmen into their rotation.

[BLWarrior91]

Understood about high seeds level of success in the tournament.  Just saying that the level of panic among Scoopers is  silly.  The record is identical to last year after 15 games, with better wins.  When the shots start falling, look out.

[panda]

Understood about high seeds level of success in the tournament.  Just saying that the level of panic among Scoopers is  silly.  The record is identical to last year after 15 games, with better wins.  When the shots start falling, look out.

And if they don't ?

Also - very few (if any) are concerned about the arc of the program. However, speaking for myself, I'm concerned that the lofty expectations put forth before the season will not come to fruition because of several flaws which continue to show.

[Goose]

panda

If they don't shoot better expectations will probably not be met. Unfortunately, they likely will figure out the shooting and a bad shooting day will do them in. Everyone will be ready to bounce in March or April if shooting ends their season.

[MU82]

If some of y'all want to already think we're doomed because Kam and our other good shooters will never start hitting more shots, knock yourselves out.

Must be exhausting to always think the worst.

[tower912]

Well, being a Lions has prepared me well.

[wisblue]

I guess if you don't think MU's recent performances have affected expectations you should look at the KenPom projections. At the start of the conference season he projected MU to finish 15-5 in the conference, and after just 4
Conference games they are now at 13-7.

[DoctorV]

I'm not sure there's a lot of panic going on, I've seen scoop much much worse...
See: any game in the Wojo era or after UNC tourney loss.

It's sometimes easy to wonder if those that are claiming mass hysteria or panic are actually the ones panicking.

I'm sure if there's one thing we can all agree upon it's that this season hasn't been as enjoyable as last up to this point- that Kansas game was the pinnacle, sorry for anyone that slept thru that one because it was amazing- and the Texas and 1H ND were great.

Such is life in the fast lane of lofty expectations.

Let's fire it back up with the longest home winning streak in BE history!

[MU82]

I'm sure if there's one thing we can all agree upon it's that this season hasn't been as enjoyable as last up to this point

I enjoyed watching Marquette thoroughly dominate Kansas. I enjoyed winning at Illinois. I enjoyed the comeback vs. UCLA. I enjoyed the destruction of Texas. I enjoyed being there in person for the total annihilation of Notre Dame. I always enjoy beating Creighton anytime anywhere.

I'm enjoying this season every bit as much through 15 games as I enjoyed last season through 15 games, and I'm not sure why you would claim to know that all of us enjoyed last season more through this point.

Will I enjoy the next 15 games as much? We'll see!