Beatin' Hall

[tower912]

1.  Get well soon, Kam
2.  Addae-Wusu coming off an 0-13 game.   Of course he regresses to the mean.
3.  Rebounding.  But we already knew that.
4.  That Oso to Joplin pass is a set.  Justin threw that pass to Greg.
5.  Imagine if Oso made his bunnies.  Imagine if TKo made anything.
6.  Gold gets extended minutes.   Huh.   Still no post game, so haters can hate.
7.  Joplin, despite not dunking, did ok.  Good defense, lots of deflections.
8.  The freshmen didn't hurt anything.  They will be fine.
9.  MU just missed a whole bunch more plays they JUST missed.
10.  MU goes to 15-5 despite getting little from Kam, little scoring from TKO,  getting out rebounded.   A team effort.   Thank you, Stevie, Joplin, and Ben.

[wadesworld]

Nothing to complain about here. Started slow but dominated the second half. If we get this Jop and Ben, and this offense from Stevie, and Chase and Kam can get healthy and break out of slumps, we'll be where we hope to be.

[tower912]

Rebounding is an issue.   Other than that, winning by 18 with such an altered rotation is really good.

[mugrad_89]

That second half was an absolute clinic.  And Ben getting his shot back is huge.

[MUEng92]

Only lost rebounding battle 32-29.  I'd say that's a victory

[wadesworld]

Rebounding is an issue.   Other than that, winning by 18 with such an altered rotation is really good.

True. Rebounding, particularly to start, wasn't great. Thanks for finding me something to complain about.

[MUeng]

Great game today. Gold, Stevie, Joplin all played really well. Oso was ridiculous, human highlight reel. Lots of fun, go Marq

[tower912]

Only lost rebounding battle 32-29.  I'd say that's a victory

Wow.  Now that I think about it, yeah, Ben and Oso rebounded well in the second half.

[warriorfred]

Rebounding is a net negative for the year.  Offense is spotty at time.  But the defense, oh that glorious defense. 

[Tyler COLEk]

Kadary Richmond absence notwithstanding, that was one of the very best defensive performances of the Shaka era. Pair that caliber effort with an average or better offensive performance and MU will not lose. In general, the (semi-justified) panic about team offensive regression has overshadowed an unexpectedly big leap forward defensively. Once fully healthy, it seems like we might get an opportunity to see the monster squad we were hoping for in the offseason.

[Uncle Rico]

Things appear to be slowing down for Ben.  Fingers crossed we're seeing the tip of the iceberg with regards to him.

Stevie is a dude and one of my favorite guys to come through the program

[NickelDimer]

Gold and Jop were huge on both ends. Could be a turning point for Gold which would be massive. TK punishing their D the last 10 was awesome.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

As frustrating as the 1st half, tons of positives from this game.

-Oso continues to be amazing.
-Stevie continues to be aggressive offensively (6-10 from the field) and his defense and effort continues to be insane
-Ben hitting another 3 from 3
-Jop scoring big and getting some deflections
-Kolek impacted the game a ton in the 2nd half without scoring

I said in the game thread I sit Kam the next two weeks unless he's 100%.  We can beat Nova without him but I "sacrifice" that game if it means getting him healthy.  After Nova we have Georgetown on the road and a week off until NMD at home.  Get him healthy. 

Kam being hurt now and Ross being out could make us stronger in March. 

[Jay Bee]

Rebounding is an issue.   Other than that, winning by 18 with such an altered rotation is really good.

Rebounding fine today Vs that team. And second half gr8. Not an issue today

[MUEng92]

Wow.  Now that I think about it, yeah, Ben and Oso rebounded well in the second half.

Don't get me wrong. The first half rebounding was nauseating

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

Ben was very good defensively in the second half. That was great to see. We are a much more effective offense when we are letting Oso run the half court sets for stretches. Hoping we get this Jop the rest of the year.

Great 2d half after a frustrating first half.

[Tyler COLEk]

Things appear to be slowing down for Ben.  Fingers crossed we're seeing the tip of the iceberg with regards to him.

Gold and Jop were huge on both ends. Could be a turning point for Gold which would be massive.

Agree with these sentiments about Gold. It's worth remembering he didn't get much of a preseason with his shin splints. Really hope we're seeing a decisive breakout.

I'm actually hopeful that we could be seeing that with Joplin too. Shaka talks about this a lot, but it feels like confidence is the x-factor for his game. Today was a completely different level for him in that respect. I think it was easily his best overall game at Marquette.

Both he and Gold have had to use a lot of practice reps and focus on defensive development these past couple years. Maybe as they settle in on that end, their offense is clicking into place too.

[Uncle Rico]

Ben was very good defensively in the second half. That was great to see. We are a much more effective offense when we are letting Oso run the half court sets for stretches. Hoping we get this Jop the rest of the year.

Great 2d half after a frustrating first half.

I thought they battled hard in the first half.  muwarrior69 pointed out how they scored over half their points in the first 7 minutes and then started to clamp down to close the half.  Slow start but had the momentum

[wadesworld]

And for anyone who doesn't think Ben is a BE center, pay attention to who he guards vs. who Oso guards when they're on the floor together. Hint: Ben is always guarding the opponent's C.

[PGsHeroes32]

Dont get me wrong. If we lose TK for a lot of games, thats bad news.

We need a healthy Kam

But Oso is our guy. If he plays, we always have a chance against any team not named Uconn or Creighton and in most we are still heavy favs

[Johnny B]

Joplin did ok? He was great

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Dont get me wrong. If we lose TK for a lot of games, thats bad news.

We need a healthy Kam

But Oso is our guy. If he plays, we always have a chance against any team not named Uconn or Creighton and in most we are still heavy favs

They're both equally indispensable. We won't have them much longer so appreciate them while they're here, even if they have some rough moments.   

[PGsHeroes32]

Nothing to complain about here. Started slow but dominated the second half. If we get this Jop and Ben, and this offense from Stevie, and Chase and Kam can get healthy and break out of slumps, we'll be where we hope to be.

This is one of those situations where you post a lot of "ifs" but its also not unrealistic at all

I think the injuries are also a big boost to Stevie. He knows he needs to add a bit more on the O end and he has been.

[Goose]

A great team performance and plenty of individual play to applaud. There were multiple times, on both ends of the court, that I could argue MU looked the part of a serious NC contender.

[AlumKCof93]

We don't have a chance against UConn or Creighton?  What?