National Title Contenders

[Shaka Shart]

Wojo? Oh no. He has a nice ladder of CDs that he monitors daily.

I dunno, pump and dump was kinda his 1st half/2nd half game plan

[FairWeatherEagle]

Hmmm...I hear a lot of chicken counting. "If we hit our 3's..."...how often has that been said by ultimately disappointed fan bases.

I'm wondering do we have a good team or a great team?? I'm hoping Great...could be.

I'm really glad the next 3 out of 4 are away against decent teams. Those three away will tell a lot. Good teams win at home and some away. Great teams are scary away. Maryland, hey nice!? Purdue felt good but we were home. Same with UW. ISU told us we were good but nothing about great.

If we go 4/4 next 4, well I'm all in!

[Elonsmusk]

Hmmm...I hear a lot of chicken counting. "If we hit our 3's..."...how often has that been said by ultimately disappointed fan bases.

I'm wondering do we have a good team or a great team?? I'm hoping Great...could be.

I'm really glad the next 3 out of 4 are away against decent teams. Those three away will tell a lot. Good teams win at home and some away. Great teams are scary away. Maryland, hey nice!? Purdue felt good but we were home. Same with UW. ISU told us we were good but nothing about great.

If we go 4/4 next 4, well I'm all in!

Pretty remarkable how fast some Scoopers have been spoiled by Shaka.  We were great each of the last two years getting 2 seeds, and we are great again this year.  Top 10 Ken Pom at the moment, with a legitimate national player of the year candidate in Kam.

Kam is the best player at MU since Wade, and bordering on his greatness, and I may go so far as to say exceeding DWade's impact.  Special player and special person.


As has been pointed out in other threads, I believe by MU82 - it is absolutely reasonable to say we are a better team this year than last year, despite losing Kolek and Oso.  Kam is exceeding Kolek by a pretty substantial margin, and we upgraded our defense losing Kolek and inserting Chase.  I was and am a big Tyler fan and don't want to diminish his achievements by posting the above, yet Kam is playing at an ELITE level.  That alone with this supporting cast means we are a great team.

[FairWeatherEagle]

Pretty remarkable how fast some Scoopers have been spoiled by Shaka.  We were great each of the last two years getting 2 seeds, and we are great again this year....yada yada

Got to prove it on the court. Methinks Shaka would agree with me.

No disrespect with the yada yada. You make a good case that maybe we are great.

But we've played two games on their court against "good" maybe "great" teams. W by 4 and L by 11. We still need to prove it. I'm hoping for it. I'll buy in if we go 4/4.

[Tyler COLEk]

MUBB needs to win games—got it.

[K1 Lover]

Pretty remarkable how fast some Scoopers have been spoiled by Shaka.  We were great each of the last two years getting 2 seeds, and we are great again this year.  Top 10 Ken Pom at the moment, with a legitimate national player of the year candidate in Kam.

Kam is the best player at MU since Wade, and bordering on his greatness, and I may go so far as to say exceeding DWade's impact.  Special player and special person.


As has been pointed out in other threads, I believe by MU82 - it is absolutely reasonable to say we are a better team this year than last year, despite losing Kolek and Oso.  Kam is exceeding Kolek by a pretty substantial margin, and we upgraded our defense losing Kolek and inserting Chase.  I was and am a big Tyler fan and don't want to diminish his achievements by posting the above, yet Kam is playing at an ELITE level.  That alone with this supporting cast means we are a great team.

I'll also add in that, despite losing the offensive production of both Tyler and Oso, our scoring ability is perhaps even better than last year's as well.

The inside-out offense we're running has been something of a game-changer with the way it's made it easier for our guards to attack the rim. (As others have pointed out, a flaw of our constant P&R action from last year was that it caused driving lanes to get pretty congested at times.)

On top of that, we now have more scoring threats than we did before. Parham, Owens, and even Hamilton are proving to be competent scorers off the bench, while Stevie's clearly made great strides in improving his 3pt shooting.

[Shooter McGavin]

Stevie's driving bully ball layups are also more frequent and consistent.  He has made a conscious decision to score more this year and it is apparent both from range and inside.  Has that nice little forearm quarter shove or right shoulder to the chest working well. The direct opposite of Kam. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

We're better at finishing through contact at the rim.  Jop and Stevie improved here and chase has put it all together with his athleticism in a meaningful way. 

[TallTitan34]

Hmmm...I hear a lot of chicken counting. "If we hit our 3's..."...how often has that been said by ultimately disappointed fan bases.

I'm wondering do we have a good team or a great team?? I'm hoping Great...could be.

I'm really glad the next 3 out of 4 are away against decent teams. Those three away will tell a lot. Good teams win at home and some away. Great teams are scary away. Maryland, hey nice!? Purdue felt good but we were home. Same with UW. ISU told us we were good but nothing about great.

If we go 4/4 next 4, well I'm all in!

Username checks out.

[brewcity77]

Hmmm...I hear a lot of chicken counting. "If we hit our 3's..."...how often has that been said by ultimately disappointed fan bases.

What I love about this team is I think the reality is "if we hit our 3's" we're fairly assured of beating anyone. But if we don't, we can still beat most teams. George Mason, Maryland, Purdue, and Wisconsin we all beat while shooting under 35% from deep.

Every year under Shaka, our three-point shooting has improved in conference play to at least 36%. If this team keeps up that trend it increases our ceiling over what is already a very high floor.

If we end up with another 4/31 in the Tournament, there's a decent chance we lose that game. But maybe our defense does enough to still get us through. Ultimately, all but one fanbase ends the season disappointed, so it's not like these sorts of hope aren't common everywhere in the sport.

[tower912]

When someone tells you who they are, believe them.

[The Sultan]

I don't mind healthy skepticism. However all teams are in the same boat. It's college basketball.

[Uncle Rico]

IMO, the key to Marquette's success is outscoring their opponents on a regular basis

[Scoop Snoop]

Ultimately, all but one fanbase ends the season disappointed, so it's not like these sorts of hope aren't common everywhere in the sport.

I have never been a big fan of saying "IF" followed by a scenario that would have resulted in winning. And yes, I know...it's irresistible and, if very specific, undeniable. If if is said pregame, it's hope. If if is said postmortem? What's the point? Move on. Yeah...that's just me probably. I posted recently and on other occasions that I enjoy our wins for a while, but usually quickly get over our losses and look forward to the next game. 

[tower912]

Me, too.  Be careful saying that out loud, people will call you names.

[Scoop Snoop]

Me, too.  Be careful saying that out loud, people will call you names.

PM me. We need to set up a coded system to keep them at bay.

[JakeBarnes]

IMO, the key to Marquette's success is outscoring their opponents on a regular basis

I think the success is really the friends we made along the way.

[TallTitan34]

I think the success is really the friends we made along the way.

Relationships. Growth. Victory.

[MU82]

I have never been a big fan of saying "IF" followed by a scenario that would have resulted in winning. And yes, I know...it's irresistible and, if very specific, undeniable. If if is said pregame, it's hope. If if is said postmortem? What's the point? Move on. Yeah...that's just me probably. I posted recently and on other occasions that I enjoy our wins for a while, but usually quickly get over our losses and look forward to the next game. 

Although I totally get what you're saying, I do think there is some nuance.

There were some years not long ago where we had to say something like, "If we really shoot well from 3, we have a chance to beat (superior opponent)."

Saying, "If we shoot anywhere near our average from 3 instead of something like 4/31, we're good enough to beat anybody" seems a lot different to me.

The first is based on pretty unrealistic hope - only if we get unusually red-hot can we beat a better opponent. The second is realistic - avoid a catastrophic shooting night and we'll win because we have an outstanding all-around team.

The latter is what I truly believe about this team, and I personally don't believe it's false hope or seeing things through blue-and-gold-colored glasses.

[Scoop Snoop]

Although I totally get what you're saying, I do think there is some nuance.

There were some years not long ago where we had to say something like, "If we really shoot well from 3, we have a chance to beat (superior opponent)."

Saying, "If we shoot anywhere near our average from 3 instead of something like 4/31, we're good enough to beat anybody" seems a lot different to me.

The first is based on pretty unrealistic hope - only if we get unusually red-hot can we beat a better opponent. The second is realistic - avoid a catastrophic shooting night and we'll win because we have an outstanding all-around team.

The latter is what I truly believe about this team, and I personally don't believe it's false hope or seeing things through blue-and-gold-colored glasses.

Fair enough Mike. It's just that there is so much "we coulda/shoulda/woulda won,IF...." It's strictly a personal opinion on my part, but I just do not see any value in imagining a different outcome. For those who do,...go for it.

[Shooter McGavin]

82. Spot on. 

[Newsdreams]

IMO, the key to Marquette's success is outscoring their opponents on a regular basis

This all this the RC83 principle

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I think the success is really the friends we made along the way.

So you're telling me that all the EGBs I've been hoarding are worthless!?!?

[Scoop Snoop]

So you're telling me that all the EGBs I've been hoarding are worthless!?!?

You be quiet! If a player sees your post and tells his teammates about it, it's on you pal.

[brewcity77]

I dug into this and it's actually a bigger trend than this tweet indicates. Yes, it does include every champion back to 2004, but it really started earlier.

The 2003 Champs were Syracuse and they were unranked in the 2002 Week 6 AP Poll. But before that, every Champion going back to 1988-89 Michigan was also top-12 in the Week 6 Poll. So from 1988-89 through today, that UR Syracuse team was the only one not to be ranked in the AP Top-12 in Week 6. So 34 of the last 35 champs were in that Top-12 (97.1%).