[Rosiak's Blog] Quarterfinals wrapup

[ToddRosiakSays]

Quarterfinals wrapup

Written by: Todd Rosiak


New York -- I hate to pat myself on the back -- OK, I'm lying -- but all those who scoffed at my suggestion that losing at Syracuse last weekend was actually a good thing for the Marquette Golden Eagles can now apologize.

The only negative that's come of MU dropping from the fifth to the sixth seeding is it's put me under horrible deadline pressure each night because of all the late start times. I know, poor me. Other than that, it provided the Golden Eagles with not only one good matchup in Seton Hall in the first round, but another in the quarterfinals in Notre Dame.

And that brings us to the semifinals, where the Golden Eagles will have yet another favorable matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers, a team they beat, 72-54, on Feb. 15 and are 4-2 against since joining the Big East.

In doing MU a huge favor and beating Louisville (the third straight year that's happened in the Big East Tournament, interestingly enough), Pittsburgh might have also helped the Golden Eagles out by having to go to OT to do it. With only a seven-man rotation, it'll be a challenge to get out and run up and down against an MU team that has been subbing liberally in each of its first two games.

Coach Tom Crean has gone 11 deep in both games, and Jerel McNeal actually played nine minutes less against Notre Dame than he did against Seton Hall. That should help with another quick turnaround.

As far as the matchup itself, it'll probably be another half-court, grind-it-out type of affair that the two teams have been known for of late.

"We'll expect what we always expect out of them," said McNeal. "They're a very physical, tough team, a good rebounding and good defensive team. We're going to come out and do what we always do: try to make them match up with us. We're concerned about what they do offensively and things like that, but as far as the style of game we're going to try to impose our will on them."

Crean said he and his staff would burn the midnight oil once again so to speak in preparing for Pittsburgh; they didn't adjourn their meeting until 5:30 a.m. heading into the Notre Dame game.

"Jamie (Dixon's) a fantastic coach, and Levance Fields is certainly a better player than what he played when he came to Milwaukee," Crean said. "Sam Young's had a fantastic year, Ronald Ramon is a dagger shooter, and they're playing really hard, we know that. But I think we're better as well."

-- McNeal was obviously the star of the game, but major kudos have to go out to the unheralded Ousmane Barro, who again spearheaded a solid defensive effort against Big East player of the year Luke Harangody.

The 6-8 big man got into foul trouble early and was never able to get on track, aside from a short spell where he scored four straight baskets in the second half. Barro used his length to cause Harangody problems, showed great hustle and was spelled ably for short spells by the likes of Dwight Burke and Trend Blackledge.

"I think our big guys came in with a great mind set," said Crean. "Ousmane was fantastic. Dwight Burke had a Roy Hibbert day. When he guarded Roy, Roy got 20, but he had to earn it. We're not putting our head in the sand and feeling that we're winning those matchups man-on-man.

"When we're going against some of the bigs in this league we have to be in a position where our mind set and ability to make them work stands out. And tonight I thought our big men did that. Last night, not so much."

Harangody said he was affected by the early foul trouble, which kept him on the bench for the final 10:30 or so of the first half.

"After this game I felt like I really couldn't get into the rhythm tonight," he said. "It had a lot to do with them scouting and playing great defense against me and knowing what I do best. Hat's off to them for that. Tonight just wasn't one of my nights."

-- Crean was so livid after watching Harangody break free for those of easy layups that the second time he pounded the scorer's table with both fists before calling a time out to get his players to regroup.

Considering how dangerous Harangody can be, and how well the Golden Eagles had bottled him up to that point, Crean was right in being angry.

"Transition defense -- that was the No. 1 key last night and it was the No. 1 key tonight," he said. "It's the biggest key this time of year because the games are too possession-by-possession to give up easy baskets. We thrive on them, and we don't want to be giving them back because we're not in hustle mode."

-- McNeal's now averaging 24.5 points on 16-for-31 shooting and 7.5 rebounds through two Big East Tournament games. Not bad for a second team all-Big East selection.

"He's really the key for them," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "I'm so impressed with him. We talked about really being aware of him. Trying to have Tory (Jackson) on him to play man-on-man to take him away. It's easier said than done because he get so much in transition when you're broken a little bit, different guys are matched up.

"He gets to the backboard. No one in the league's playing better than him here. He's a very confident guy. And we have felt he's the key to the team. We did a little bit better job on him in South Bend; that's why we got one win. But the other two times we couldn't really control him and we lost the games."

-- Crean said Wednesday he wanted to keep Notre Dame out of the 80s. Mission accomplished, since it scored 79.

It was really striking, though, to see the Golden Eagles beat the Irish at their own game. Playing loose and free on offense, they put up an amazing 57 points in the second half and were hitting from all angles. It was an offensive outburst that's been seen very few times over the course of the Big East season.

"The team really responded in the second half," he said. "We played two different ways the first half, and we played one way the second half. That's the only way we can play. It was a matter of understanding getting the ball to the middle, getting it reversed, unless it's the break don't shoot first-side jumpers, and let's make them defend. Let's spread them out.

"I think the guys sensed there were some openings there, and that we had the potential to impose our will a little bit and maybe create a little fatigue. They kept running and didn't slow it down."

-- Wednesday night it was Blackledge. Tonight it was Maurice Acker.

The little guy came up huge for MU, scoring all 11 of his points in the second half in another 19-minute stint.

"Maurice has been a different player since Villanova," Crean said. "I thought he stepped in the Villanova game and did very, very good things for us, played with tremendous confidence. When you have Maurice Acker and David Cubillan, and their ability to change the game not only offensively but defensively, those are the best things you could possibly have.

"It allowed us to get some rest. I felt good about our minutes in the first half. Some of the subbing was we weren't playing as well. But we were able to get some guys some blows, and that helped us in the second half."

-- In the past, it seemed as though once Dominic James missed a few jumpers, it rattled him and affected the rest of his game. That wasn't so tonight.

In fact, James turned in one of his best all-around performances in recent memory by finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in 33 minutes. After hitting a three early on he was silent offensively until a burst in the second half that saw him score a layup, a jumper and another three on three straight possessions to turn a 57-57 game into a 64-57 game with 9:17 left.

"You can't underestimate the job Dominic did," Crean said. "He did a fantastic job. He got hot, and he came back and played a much better second half."

-- Crean, like most coaches, doesn't like getting ahead of himself. Even still, I asked him if he'd given any thought to what his team's victory over Notre Dame would do as far as seeding purposes on Selection Sunday.

"We've felt confident about our NCAA tournament chances, especially the last couple weeks, so I think that would be wasted energy for myself and the team," he said. "You hope that everybody's paying attention, and you're pretty sure they are -- there's not a bigger spectacle in college basketball this week than the Big East Tournament.

"We'll let that take care of itself. We just want to keep playing and going through these uncharted waters and see where we stand."



http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/03/14/quarterfinals-wrapup.aspx

[Pago Warrior]

I think this is a very well put together article by Rosiak.
Granted there are several quotes taken from his subjects, he puts them together well and the article not only captured the highpoints of the game but it also read in a way that made you almost re-live it.
Nice job, T. Rosiak!

[spiral97]

"we're going to try to impose our will on them" -- Jerel McNeal

perfect attitude for tonights game