Hinkle tingle.

[Skatastrophy]

By the way Tower, thanks for these summaries.  Very much a part of the Scoop culture.

Don't feed his ego he's already insufferable

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Well this guy was having the game of his life

Well done.

[tower912]

My pleasure.    Highlight of the night was sitting down at a table with MU82 and his friends.  Turns out we are both more profane in person.   We laughed for 45 minutes.

[warriorfred]

Don't feed his ego he's already insufferable

No worries.  That coupon expired.  Back to the "culture."

[Shooter McGavin]

Great win.  This team is tough.  Agreed Oso needs to dunk more but he also needs to finish with his left hand from the left side.  The right handed English on the ball is going to make it spin out of the hoop from the left side.  And agreed on Ben Gold.  Impressive defense and offense.  A well rounded game tonight for him.  Kolek was outstanding as usual. Could have had over thirty. 

Bring on UConn!

[Afroman]

Well this guy was having the game of his life

My apologies if this was mentioned elsewhere, but is it true that Finley Bizjack is Tony Smith's nephew?

[wadesworld]

Some of Scoop very much underestimated Butler. They've had some big wins. They're a tough team, and while they may not defend other BE teams, they defended us pretty well twice.

Gold looks like he's been taking notes from Oso. The pass to (I think) Kam was awesome.

Need Kam to loosen up some. If we get him going we might cut down some nets in April. That's my only concern right now. I think him being right is the difference between things needing to break the right way for us and us being able to beat anyone in front of us, no matter how that team plays.

[tower912]

Watching the broadcast now, according to the announcers Shaka told Gold that he is more advanced than Oso was at the same stage of his career.   

[Shooter McGavin]

Watching the broadcast now, according to the announcers Shaka told Gold that he is more advanced than Oso was at the same stage of his career.

I could see that.  He has been developing nicely.  And is probably more impactful offensively with his ability to hit threes and is probably a better rebounder at this stage of his career.

[Lennys Tap]

I hate to say it, but MU right now plays better with Sean Jones minutes going to Kolek

It's true.

I love Sean's energy and his D but he's a poor shooter who dominates the ball without doing much with it. Shaka's offense doesn't look as good when the ball stops and for all intents and purposes (dribble, dribble, dribble) it stops with Sean. He's a good depth, change of pace, energy guy but we need Kolek for 38 minutes to be at our best. Giving him any more than 2 of Tyler's minutes for a brief rest hurts the team.

[PointWarrior]

Probably be undefeated if some one did a Tonya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan knee cap on Jones the Shorter prior to the season...

.

You saw today that Ben is a nice wing, that's his best position.  Love Shaka using a big lineup, playing a team like Butler is the type of team they will play in the second round.  I hate to say it, but MU right now plays better with Sean Jones minutes going to Kolek

[Newsdreams]

Sean Jones suxs

[DoctorV]

Probably be undefeated if some one did a Tonya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan knee cap on Jones the Shorter prior to the season...

I know this is in jest, but TyKo off the ball was a legit game plan by the team.

I'm not certain if it was because Tyler wanted to play off the ball to show off his off guard skills, or if it was Shaka's doing because he wanted to conserve Tyler's energy and "hide" the playbook so to speak for the NCAAt, but it was an obvious game plan by Marquette.

The team stuck with it at times even when it didn't work.
Kam Jones brought up the ball a lot in Madison with Tyler standing in the corner.

I didn't understand it at the time, and I still fully don't have the answer because none of us are inside that room, but I do know that it's not because of SJ22.

It's become obvious that more Tyler on the ball was the answer, team is 8-0 since it happened, and that was thrust into necessity with that unfortunate injury.
It was also obvious to a lot of us here that Tyler was playing off the ball by design, to the likely detriment of team success at that time.

My best guess is that it was by design by Coach Smart with a 2 part goal-
1- to rest Tyler for the longevity of such a long season in a season where Coach was confident this team would dance and be dangerous
2- to hide the film on all the pick and roll, Tyler on the ball spraying it all over the court to open shooters stuff.

MSU pretty much picked that apart, as others have earlier this season.

I still don't think Marquette is using all of its P&R/ball screen actions and saving most for late in the season.

The offense was turned over to its rightful owner and it's led to 8 consecutive and a likely top 3 seed in the dance, with a chance to make history on Saturday and beyond in the regular season.

It was partly by necessity at that time, and I think Shaka wanted to hold off until the last hand full of games to unleash Tyler back on the ball full time, but it had to be done.

The team is well developed and diversified enough to beat the scout this time around.

Just don't shoot well south of 30% from 3 AND get beat up badly on the glass in the same game.
Survive and advance when the worst comes, then give it your best and beat anyone in the land

[tower912]

Don't even joke.   Good kid, bad break.  Kolek is doing what he does best.  But don't say MU doesn't miss Sean.  Be classier than that.

[JakeBarnes]

Don't even joke.   Good kid, bad break.  Kolek is doing what he does best.  But don't say MU doesn't miss Sean.  Be classier than that.

This. Heal fast and come back stronger SJ.

[94Warrior]

Agreed.  Sean Jones was a valuable member of the team. He was 7th man on a very dèep and talented roster.  He won us the UCLA and Creighton games.

He's not Tyler Kolek, but he's a very good point guard, with a very different skillset from Tyler.   Any team in America would love to have him, inluding MU.

[MU82]

What a great few days. Saw 2 awesome wins in person, hung with some college buddies, spent time with my grandkids and my son, finally met tower (and also Lurch91), had a few (too many) beverages, just really enjoyed life!

We Are Marquette!!

[willie warrior]

Tyler up to 635 assists at Marquette. In 2.5 years he passed Dominic James and trails only Tony Miller.

I love Tyler but he is way behind Tony. That is a record that may never be broken

[brewcity77]

I love Tyler but he is way behind Tony. That is a record that may never be broken

He is, but if he comes back and stays healthy, he'll likely break it. Probably 13-16 games left this year, that's another 100-150 assists this year.

I think Miller's single season record falls this year (one more game and it would have last year) and if Tyler does take a fourth year at Marquette, he'd almost certainly get the 220-230 assists he needed to pass Miller.  But I'm not at all sure he'll come back.

[tower912]

What a great few days. Saw 2 awesome wins in person, hung with some college buddies, spent time with my grandkids and my son, finally met tower (and also Lurch91), had a few (too many) beverages, just really enjoyed life!

We Are Marquette!!

Living  your best life.

[rocket surgeon]

we are putting together a nice run at the right time.  i hesitate to say "peaking" because i'm hoping we are just on a really nice upswing with the pinnacle being, oh, somewhere in early april. 

  tyler has snapped out of his trance.  he and oso are clicking.  their plays together are setting up others nicely.  bg is beginning to look more and more comfortable again.  our defense plays so well together with their switches as smooth as a baby's be-hind.  just when ya think we are being over taken...here comes stevie!  jop is being more assertive with results.  all the while, this is allowing kam to regain his bearings. 

  success begets success.  players feeding off each other.  they carry each other.  don't let it get to their heads until april

[lurch91]

What a great few days. Saw 2 awesome wins in person, hung with some college buddies, spent time with my grandkids and my son, finally met tower (and also Lurch91), had a few (too many) beverages, just really enjoyed life!

We Are Marquette!!

A good time was had by all!  Solid win in a hostile environment, even with the opponents 7th man having a career game (was Bizjack even on the scouting report?).

Told Tower with 8 minutes to go, first to 65 wins.  Marquette was first, but the game was still in doubt.  Glad they sealed the deal.

On to UConn!!

[Dr. Blackheart]

What a great few days. Saw 2 awesome wins in person, hung with some college buddies, spent time with my grandkids and my son, finally met tower (and also Lurch91), had a few (too many) beverages, just really enjoyed life!

We Are Marquette!!

Move the bender to Hartford. You are Scoop's good luck charm.

[rgoode57]

It is true that the offense clicks best with Tyler on the court. But, I am worried about the minutes he is playing and the possibility of Tyler wearing down at the end of the year. I wish Tre Norman was progressing better and earning more playing time.

[MUfan12]

It is true that the offense clicks best with Tyler on the court. But, I am worried about the minutes he is playing and the possibility of Tyler wearing down at the end of the year. I wish Tre Norman was progressing better and earning more playing time.

I share those concerns... it's not so much the minutes it's the physicality that worries me. Having Oso and Kam help initiate the offense hopefully will ease some of that.