Three-ling victory.

[tower912]

To my eyes, even having a great game, Ben exhibited what is, to me, the weakness of his game.
  Ben has all the physical skills he needs to play in the league.  Those were on display last night, too.  Good shooting touch from distance. Can run the floor like a track athlete. Handles the ball well.  Ambidextrous at 6'11.  Understands help defense, has good feet.
  The weakness.  He provides great help defense, the guard makes a play with a wraparound pass to Ben's man, who dunks it, and Ben puts his head down like it is his fault.  As good as that end-to-end, crossover dribble to an improbable angle left handed lay up was, and it was, why not go straight to the rim and throw it down with two hands and posterize the entire Providence team?  Ben already has poster dunks over Kalkbrenner and Clingan, get another one.  Same thing with the two passes from Kam on the break.  Two nice catches and baskets.  Make a statement.
Shaka said after the game that Ben plays to not make a mistake.  His words to say what I have been saying.  That Ben needs to believe to his core that he belongs and he needs to knock somebody on their ass and realize that he is, indeed, the man.

To me, the challenge for Ben isn't whether he is a talented big man.  He is.  The challenge is for him to realize 100% of the time how good he is.  That he played Sorber, Kalkbrenner, Crowl, et al toe to toe. To not get frustrated that his guy dunks.  Get pissed and go dunk back.

[We R Final Four]

It was pretty strong for a weeknight game. Not sure why some felt the need to leave at halftime.

Yeah...indeed. I commented how full the lower bowl was last night. 6 pm start always means folks getting to their seats late. Student section was better than the Hall.
I think the people in the building took a wait and see approach to the team last night.

[Big Papi]

Missed the game as i was traveling so hoping to find a replay of it somewhere.

Based off the box score and reading through the comments, I was glad to see Ben make some 3s but also score closer to the rim and just as important grab some rebounds.  4-4 from 2-point land.  Has he taken that many in a game ever?  Feels like we need 10 and 5 from Ben to reach our ceiling.

Stevie taking 3s is big and making some is huge.  He completely shied away from taking any outside shots the last game.  Need a confident Stevie going forward.

Hard to take anything away from a game I didn't see and just look at the box score.  Very happy it was a convincing win.

[MUfan12]

Yeah...indeed. I commented how full the lower bowl was last night. 6 pm start always means folks getting to their seats late. Student section was better than the Hall.
I think the people in the building took a wait and see approach to the team last night.

Fair or unfair, the play in February has really taken the air out of the balloon.

[Scoop Snoop]

why not go straight to the rim and throw it down with two hands and posterize the entire Providence team.

Ben needs to believe to his core that he belongs and he needs to knock somebody on their ass

 To not get frustrated that his guy dunks.  Get pissed and go dunk back.

Great post Tower. Ben had a Hell of a night. I have long believed that, as silly as it may sound, that it's almost as if Ben is trying to be polite on the court. Ring the defender's bell as you go to the rim. Make them fear contact with you.

[JakeBarnes]

Great post Tower. Ben had a Hell of a night. I have long believed that, as silly as it may sound, that it's almost as if Ben is trying to be polite on the court. Ring the defender's bell as you go to the rim. Make them fear contact with you.

I am a bit with you on the politeness. Needs to take a page from Stevie--the nicest guy off the court--but ruthless on the court.

[tower912]

Caedin has a little of that. IMO, because of his lack of basketball history, it is taking him time to realize that it is OK, and even necessary, to throw his 6'9, 260 around and that physical fouls are not a sin.  The other players are big and strong, too.

[Scoop Snoop]

I am a bit with you on the politeness. Needs to take a page from Stevie--the nicest guy off the court--but ruthless on the court.

Yep. And if he gets called for charging, make the foul well worth it! Flatten the defender.

[Zog from Margo]

The board is quiet tonight.  Much like the crowd.  Ergo, a whole bunch of posters must have been sitting on their hands at the game(?)

I didn't notice that the crowd was particularly quiet. Quite a few did leave early given the score. The 6:00 start time is not conducive to getting people in the seats. I am not sure how anyone at the game can tell how loud the crowd is given that the PA volume is constant, deafening, and pretty annoying. You would think that a person pays enough for tickets that the games would be ad-free.

It was a fun game against a fairly poor team. It was good to see MU making shots. Stevie had a great game on both ends of the floor. Hamilton will be a good passer. Ross, Lowery, and Owens have a different kind of athletic ability. Parham just knows how to play.

[TallTitan34]

Caedin has a little of that. IMO, because of his lack of basketball history, it is taking him time to realize that it is OK, and even necessary, to throw his 6'9, 260 around and that physical fouls are not a sin.  The other players are big and strong, too.

HE'S THE BIGGEST BADDEST MOTHERF*CKER IN THE WHOLE GYM!

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2024/11/07/marquette-golden-eagles-freshman-caedin-hamilton-gives-shaka-smart-different-look-than-ben-gold/76098900007/

[tower912]

And he needs to speak it into existence in league games.

[BrewCity83]

HE'S THE BIGGEST BADDEST MOTHERF*CKER IN THE WHOLE GYM!

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2024/11/07/marquette-golden-eagles-freshman-caedin-hamilton-gives-shaka-smart-different-look-than-ben-gold/76098900007/

Beat me to it!  I think Ben needs to go through this exercise too.

[Mu92]

I think Hamilton has nice footwork with the ball in the paint on offense.  Just needs to limit turnovers.

[GoldenEagles03]

I think Hamilton has nice footwork with the ball in the paint on offense.  Just needs to limit turnovers.

His footwork looks good, he rebounds quite well, he's a good passer and he is sturdy.

He doesn't get off the floor much and he fumbles the ball. Those are the two spots he could work on. I think he's a nice change of pace option for the next 3+ years though.

[barfolomew]

Got home and flipped on the game with a few minutes left in the first half.

Was sure we were losing badly because the first thing I saw was Kam laughing and smiling.

[wadesworld]

Conference Title hopes still alive.

No they aren't.

[wadesworld]

Kim English makes Sha look like John Wooden.

At least he can beat his own players in one on one to retain them, though.  John never could have done that.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

No they aren't.

Our Big Ten title hopes are.

[wadesworld]

Good win tonight.  Happy for the team.  Needed a game where they all shot confidently.

Especially like that Kam keeps firing with confidence and Gold has found his confidence as well.

Really happy Zaide, Parham, and Owens keep making plays.

Joplin needs to shoot, rebound and play defense.  If he does that and doesn't dribble he is extremely valuable.  The second he dribbles he needs to be taken out of the game. 

Agree with Tower on Caedin, if the game slows down for him, he looks intriguing.  He already looks more natural and quicker than Theo. 

Happy Tre hit a three but he is a huge liability if teams play us like Providence did tonight.  Cannot have him take more than 1 or 2 threes per game and preferably zero. 

Glad Stevie hit three threes and he needs to continue to take them and make a few like tonight or he will be an offensive liability.

Wish Chase could finish in traffic better. Zaide already more natural at it. 

Kam for stud of the game. 

I wasn't able to watch the second half.  Sounds like we lost this game, based on this post.

[willie warrior]

Not just Willie.
I'm ready to be hurt again. Reopen Schoolyard. Let's rage

I do have a nice bar in my basement. Great for seething, or for imbibing

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I do have a nice bar in my basement. Great for seething, or for imbibing

Wisdom lies not in words or thoughts, but in displaying one's Warriors pennant above ground level, Dung Willie

[Viper]

Caedin has a little of that. IMO, because of his lack of basketball history, it is taking him time to realize that it is OK, and even necessary, to throw his 6'9, 260 around and that physical fouls are not a sin.  The other players are big and strong, too.

I will agree with this assessment

[Shooter McGavin]

I wasn't able to watch the second half.  Sounds like we lost this game, based on this post.

The one that stated I was happy for the team? 

Sea shells and balloons Wades.   

[GB Warrior]

His footwork looks good, he rebounds quite well, he's a good passer and he is sturdy.

He doesn't get off the floor much and he fumbles the ball. Those are the two spots he could work on. I think he's a nice change of pace option for the next 3+ years though.

Caedin looks like wants to play a finesse game. He moves and pivots really well, but it seems like makes one extra move that he didn't need to make instead of just yamming it on someone

[jimmybutlerfanatic]

1.  Shots going in makes everything better.
2.  Active defense makes everything better.
3. When the game slows for Hamilton  down low, he will be fun to watch.
4. So many contributions from so many different places.
5. A welcome flashback to November and early December.
6.  Crashing the boards.
7.  Students missed a heck of a game.
8.  Dust ups are fun. 
9.  The rest of the season starts tomorrow.

10. This MU team is really good at looking great against inferior teams. Real talk.