Awwwww, shoot

[Pakuni]

Last three years really. Been a joy to watch these guys.

Both things can be true here.
This team has been a blast.
This team has failed when it counts most.

[wadesworld]

The Sweet 16 is the ceiling for this program.
It pains me to say, but Marquette University is never winning another national title.
Have you seen what Duke has coming in next season and some of the other big boys? Good luck.

Probably never winning another national title. But S16 is not the ceiling.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Sorry I have expectations. You probably thought Wojo was a good coach

Your expectations mean nothing to anybody.  You are a manchild.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Both things can be true here.
This team has been a blast.
This team has failed when it counts most.

So does every team that doesn’t hoist the trophy. They’re in good company.

[5DollarPitcher]

I mean I’ll be fine but this was our chance man. Can’t ask for a better setup and they blew it. It’s a failure and that’s okay.

If it makes you feel better - last year was a much better / more legitimate chance.

Easier path, OMax, proved we could beat UConn. Had we won tonight we would’ve needed to take down Houston, Purdue, and UConn consecutively.

[warriorfred]

Probably never winning another national title. But S16 is not the ceiling.

The college basketball landscape is changing dramatically.  I don't believe Marquette can find the dollars to compete with the football schools.  Not sure where the program gets the NIL money?

If this is accurate, Marquette missed its best shot at a National Championship these past two (2) seasons, and that is why I am profoundly disappointed.  I don't see a path to victory.

[PointWarrior]

If it makes you feel better - last year was a much better / more legitimate chance.

Easier path, OMax, proved we could beat UConn. Had we won tonight we would’ve needed to take down Houston, Purdue, and UConn consecutively.

agree..  but what's disappointing is that window is closing a bit each year now.  Losing Omax was one thing, losing Kam, Oso, and Tyler leaves massive holes for next year...

[warriors141]

So does every team that doesn’t hoist the trophy. They’re in good company.

no......not every team every year can have those expectations. if we make the sweet 16 next year i will be elated.

this team was set up for so much more and underachieved in the post season

[JakeBarnes]

Tough one but have got a lot of gratitude right now. Hard fought on the defensive end. Good execution to get the shots they wanted. None of them dropped. mid-20% still likely wins it.


I dunno what the answer is for that. It was really uncharacteristic and sort of baffling to me. "get shooters" seems like the answer, but it's not like this team was bad at 3s.
Love this team. Really gonna miss seeing them all together.

[WolfganghisKhan]

no......not every team every year can have those expectations. if we make the sweet 16 next year i will be elated.

this team was set up for so much more and underachieved in the post season

retweet

[NickelDimer]

Another uncharacteristic thing I noticed is how little fun we were having. So tight all game. Joplin breathing before those 3 fts like he was shooting for his life

[Pakuni]

So does every team that doesn’t hoist the trophy. They’re in good company.

Naw.
If this team didn't win it all, it wouldn't necessarily be a failure. They could simply have been beaten by a better team, like MU teams in "94, "03, "11, "13, etc.
This team, unfortunately, has been soundly knocked out of the tourney two years running by inferior teams. That's the failure.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Naw.
If this team didn't win it all, it wouldn't necessarily be a failure. They could simply have been beaten by a better team, like MU teams in "94, "03, "11, "13, etc.
This team, unfortunately, has been soundly knocked out of the tourney two years running by inferior teams. That's the failure.

View it the way you want. I will not view it that way.

[5DollarPitcher]

agree..  but what's disappointing is that window is closing a bit each year now.  Losing Omax was one thing, losing Kam, Oso, and Tyler leaves massive holes for next year...

I love those guys and they’ve each had a legendary career. I even hope Kam spoils us and comes back to win BEPOY.

But I think we have guys waiting in the wings who are ready for their chance to do great things… Norman, Lowery, Chase Ross.

Tonight sucks but Shaka has the program in a place where we won’t be missing many or any NCAA tourneys. The next step for his coaching career is to figure out how to advance and advance deep.

I also think Shaka’s teams are not great as heavy favorites. I’d like to see what he can do with a 6 or 9 seed.

If we had won tonight (I know, I watched) I was ready to deploy my entire bankroll on MU against Houston or Duke. We would’ve been 3-7 point underdogs against either and we would’ve won outright, I firmly believe. Counterintuitively, this was the hard one and we lost it.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I love those guys and they’ve each had a legendary career. I even hope Kam spoils us and comes back to win BEPOY.

But I think we have guys waiting in the wings who are ready for their chance to do great things… Norman, Lowery, Chase Ross.

Tonight sucks but Shaka has the program in a place where we won’t be missing many or any NCAA tourneys. The next step for his coaching career is to figure out how to advance and advance deep.

I also think Shaka’s teams are not great as heavy favorites. I’d like to see what he can do with a 6 or 9 seed.

If we had won tonight (I know, I watched) I was ready to deploy my entire bankroll on MU against Houston or Duke. We would’ve been 3-7 point underdogs against either and we would’ve won outright, I firmly believe. Counterintuitively, this was the hard one and we lost it.

You would have lost a lot of money (presumably)

[Warrior of Law]

Mitchell, Joplin and Jones crapped the bed when it mattered. Case closed.

[mileskishnish72]

Love these guys and the excitement they have provided for us over the last few seasons. They demonstrated the kinds of talents we hadn’t seen for years.

So sorry to see them go out on this kind of note. Totally bittersweet.

It will be interesting to see what Shaka can do next year.

[StillWarriors]

This. It is sad. I am not being harsh; the kids choked and they will remember this forever.

Unfortunate.

Hard to disagree with this. Really tough one to swallow. Just did not see this group laying an egg like that. Play mediocre and win that game relatively easily.

Everything was set up for this to be the year.

[NotAnAlum]

As good as these last to years teams have been we still need an upgrade in talent.  We need freshmen who are not just siting on the bench waiting for their turn but guys who will push the upper classmen for minutes.  Then when something like this happens you send a starter or 2 to the bench and for your young talent and hope the new guys can change the momentum.   Think Novak on the 03 team.  The only guy that is even close to that was Chase last year.   We need that every year.  Tre and Zaide may be serviceable as Juniors but they were never ready this year.
More talent along with Shaka's defense will allow MU to consistently be in the tournament and one time they'll break through.

[marqhattan]

It's a shame because in second half, much better on defense, but MU did not take opportunities.  There was a sequence of seven straight NCST possessions which they did not score.  MU made one basket, a layup by Kam.  Others were terrible turnovers, missed threes.  Had their chance right there.

4 for 31 from three was worse than Butler home game, where 5 for 31.
Joplin, Kolek and Mitchell went 1 for 16 and Kam 3 for 12.

Along with 9 missed free throws, a missed dunk, vaseline on Oso's hands and three balls thrown into the bleachers, the players know what just happened as a #2 seed and are probably just feeling completely depressed. 

No Norman and Lowery again for two straight games, even Gold hardly played.  Interesting. Let's see what happens in next few weeks on who leaves besides Oso and Kolek and star building all over for next year.  Great season, but disappointing ending.

Excellent summary. That stretch where we couldn't capitalize was incredibly frustrating.

I can't recall a game in which two teams generally shot poorly, but one team made several back breaking shots (contested, pressured), while the other missed almost every big shot (many wide open). It was uncanny.

I think I said "well that play really sums up this game" about 9 times during the second half. A comedy of errors at times.

And we missed 27 three pointers and 9 free throws and still only lost by 9 points. Definitely not our night!

[Shooter McGavin]

Not really. Highest seed we’ve ever been each of the last 2 years. BE regular season and Tourney title last year. Sweet 16 this year. Pretty objectively incredible, especially given where we were 4 years ago.

This is the proper long term outlook on the last three years and this season.

The short term look at this single game was this was one of the worst games the team could have played.  They handed NC State the game.  NC State is not that good.   It was a horrible last performance for such a good team. The stuff of new nightmares if you will. I don’t think they’ll look back on this game and say “we gave it out best”.  They’ll always think “if we shot better and were more decisive on offense and we didn’t miss dunks and free throws and don’t turn the ball over, we could have won by 20”.

It is what it is.  A great start to the Shaka era.  Hopefully in the coming years MU will be able to beat teams like NC State in the tournament.  I believe they will. Future teams hopefully will destroy teams like that.

Proud of those guys and this program.  Hope Oso, Tyler and Kam find wild success as pros.  They are great representatives of our University. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

This is the proper long term outlook on the last three years and this season.

The short term look at this single game was this was one of the worst games the team could have played.  They handed NC State the game.  NC State is not that good.   It was a horrible last performance for such a good team. The stuff of new nightmares if you will. I don’t think they’ll look back on this game and say “we gave it out best”.  They’ll always think “if we shot better and were more decisive on offense and we didn’t miss dunks and free throws and don’t turn the ball over, we could have won by 20”.

It is what it is.  A great start to the Shaka era.  Hopefully in the coming years MU will be able to beat teams like NC State in the tournament.  I believe they will. Future teams hopefully will destroy teams like that.

Proud of those guys and this program.  Hope Oso, Tyler and Kam find wild success as pros.  They are great representatives of our University.

I wouldn’t assume Kam is gone yet.

[tower912]

Mitchell, Joplin and Jones crapped the bed when it mattered. Case closed.

Mitchell hasn't hit a 3 since the Oduro pick.

[wisblue]

Mitchell hasn't hit a 3 since the Oduro pick.

That’s true if you don’t count the one he banked in near the end of the WKU game.

Considering the low number of 3’s Mitchell attempted and made all season, it’s hard to conclude that an injury to his left shoulder had much impact on his contributions from the 3 point line. A normal game for Mitchell for the season is 0 for 1 or 1 for 2.

Maybe the fact that he tried 4 in this game is an indication of how out of whack the offense was.

[HutchwasClutch]

Mitchell hasn't hit a 3 since the Oduro pick.

Well he was sitting at 17/60, 28% from 3 going into the BET championship, so hard to tell much difference.