Last night

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

·   It always bothers me when people blame officiating for a loss (I leave that to the other board), but that was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen. Marquette got absolutely screwed over and over.
·   James was awful last night, there is no other way to say it. The one thing you can say is, "Welcome back Dominic!" Besides the putrid shooting, he managed just three assists.
·   Even before his foul trouble, McNeal looked like the only person who came ready to play. We were TIRED from the opening tip.
·   We made it interesting, but I never thought we were going to win that game.
·   I like the way Burke has been playing recently. If reports that he's unhappy with his playing time are true, it's hard to argue with him.
·   Did anybody else thing Crean looked a little off last night? His face was all red and he was sweating. Maybe it was just hot in there.
·   I'm not the biggest Fitzgerald fan in the world, but couldn't we have used him last night when we were trying to make a come back?
·   What has happened to Cubillan?
·   I don't know particulars about their players, but didn't Pitt's players all look significantly older than Marquette's? Some of those guys looked like they were about 30.

[SERocks]

You know, when we were down like 15 or something in the second half with between 10 and 15 minutes to go, I thought the lineup I would have liked to have seen for a few minutes would have been:

Aker
McNeal
Hayward
Christopherson
Fitzgerald

Just curious if that group could have gotten us going offensively.  At some point Christopherson needs to play and see if he can.  I suspect the kid can shoot, so he must be on the bench due to D.

Would have been interesting nonetheless.

-SERocks

[ecompt]

can't argue with too much of what you say, PRN, although I think fatigue may have been DJ's problem.
Dion't know that Burke is unhappy with his playing time, but I can't blame him. Losing playing time to Trevor, who should have just sat out the year, must hurt. Trevor is nowhere near ready to do anything offensively.
Cubes is lost right now.
Lazar's propensity to pick up charging fouls is maddening, and the shot he rushed when we were only down four was the turning point last night. Oh, well, he's only a sophomore.
You're right about the Pitt players. Sam Young looks like he's 50. Sio did Carl Krauser when he played there.
Hope we work on our free throws the next few days.
We showed a lot of guts and determination in NYC. Everyone should be proud.
Tim Higgins should be tarred and feathered. He is a joke.

[1990Warrior]

·   It always bothers me when people blame officiating for a loss (I leave that to the other board), but that was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen. Marquette got absolutely screwed over and over.
·   James was awful last night, there is no other way to say it. The one thing you can say is, "Welcome back Dominic!" Besides the putrid shooting, he managed just three assists.
·   Even before his foul trouble, McNeal looked like the only person who came ready to play. We were TIRED from the opening tip.
·   We made it interesting, but I never thought we were going to win that game.
·   I like the way Burke has been playing recently. If reports that he's unhappy with his playing time are true, it's hard to argue with him.
·   Did anybody else thing Crean looked a little off last night? His face was all red and he was sweating. Maybe it was just hot in there.
·   I'm not the biggest Fitzgerald fan in the world, but couldn't we have used him last night when we were trying to make a come back?
·   What has happened to Cubillan?
·   I don't know particulars about their players, but didn't Pitt's players all look significantly older than Marquette's? Some of those guys looked like they were about 30.

All of the unforced turnovers were of the biggest concern to me.  Could have been due to mental fatigue in addition to the physical fatigue.  We had these in the first two games as well but they were covered up by the fact we won.  Not a good idea to do this in the NCAA tournament.

[nyg]

There are numerous, obvious reasons for the loss and some are perplexing.

- The playing time received by Cubes.  He played 21 minutes and shot 1 for 7.  Another thread indicated he has shot 1 for 16 since the Georgetown game.  Realized McNeal was in foul trouble, but isn't there a way for TC to make adjustments.  Put Fitz at forward and move Wes to SG position? Maybe he felt Cubes was due to start hitting his shots any game now, but that never materialized.  
-  The continued slow first half starts in last four BE games  Don't understand it, because in the second half, this team plays with extreme energy and committment.  
- I agree with PRN in the DJ situation.  There are instances in which he looks all-world, but any references to his future pro career should be dismissed.  It would be nice to see him return next year.
-  This team plays with so much desire at times.  When the lead was cut to four, the tv cameras showed the bench and the excitement on their faces was unreal.  As I presume was on much of our faces. I just hope such excitement can be displayed in first half play as we start the NCAA play.

[NavinRJohnson]

I am never quite sure what to expect from this team from an intensity, focus, etc. perspective, but I will say this, if I am a team out there on selection Sunday, I would not want to see Marquette come up on the line next to mine. Short of a broken wrist in practice this week, I expect MU to be very ready to play on Thursday or Friday.

[MUSF]

The reason Cubillan keeps playing is defense. He continues to work hard and defend even when his offense has left him (and it certainly has). If McNeal weren't in foul trouble, he would not have played so many minutes. He did not play much against ND when Mo and Jerel were hot.

Fitzgerald drives me nuts. He has to lead the nation in giving other teams a three point play. It's unbelievable. I even called one before it happened last night. If you are going to foul somebody on the way to the basket, you better make sure you knock the ball out. Otherwise, just stand there and let them go.

[ecompt]

Fitz is a pylon on defense. Guys go right around him and instead of fouling them hard he grabs. I tell my wife when he's in the game, "Watch the guy he's guarding. Here comes a basket."

[Big Papi]

There are numerous, obvious reasons for the loss and some are perplexing.

- The playing time received by Cubes.  He played 21 minutes and shot 1 for 7.  Another thread indicated he has shot 1 for 16 since the Georgetown game.  Realized McNeal was in foul trouble, but isn't there a way for TC to make adjustments.  Put Fitz at forward and move Wes to SG position? Maybe he felt Cubes was due to start hitting his shots any game now, but that never materialized.  
-  The continued slow first half starts in last four BE games  Don't understand it, because in the second half, this team plays with extreme energy and committment.  
- I agree with PRN in the DJ situation.  There are instances in which he looks all-world, but any references to his future pro career should be dismissed.  It would be nice to see him return next year.
-  This team plays with so much desire at times.  When the lead was cut to four, the tv cameras showed the bench and the excitement on their faces was unreal.  As I presume was on much of our faces. I just hope such excitement can be displayed in first half play as we start the NCAA play.

The reason CUbe played all those minutes was that McNeal was in foul trouble and had extended minutes on the bench and Cube is a much better defender than Acker.  Ramon was smoking Acker and Cube was better defensively against him.  Out of the two, Acker and Cube, we would be better off as a team right now if Cube was the one who was hot from outside because of his defense.

I don't know if I agree that we were tired and lacked intensity early on.  I think it was more the fact that Pitt really wanted this game bad.  Be it NYC, redemption from us blowing them out or some combination of the two.  We turned up our level of intensity another notch in the second half when we there was a 5 minute period where we were just getting screwed by the refs blantantly.  TC was pissed, McNeal was pissed, Hayward was pissed and so was just about everyone else.  Unfortunately there was too much ground to make up from the first half.

[79Warrior]

can't argue with too much of what you say, PRN, although I think fatigue may have been DJ's problem.
Dion't know that Burke is unhappy with his playing time, but I can't blame him. Losing playing time to Trevor, who should have just sat out the year, must hurt. Trevor is nowhere near ready to do anything offensively.
Cubes is lost right now.
Lazar's propensity to pick up charging fouls is maddening, and the shot he rushed when we were only down four was the turning point last night. Oh, well, he's only a sophomore.
You're right about the Pitt players. Sam Young looks like he's 50. Sio did Carl Krauser when he played there.
Hope we work on our free throws the next few days.
We showed a lot of guts and determination in NYC. Everyone should be proud.
Tim Higgins should be tarred and feathered. He is a joke.

I said earlier Trevor should get very few minutes. gotta go with Ooze and Burke. Trevor is absolutely not ready, especially offensively.

[TJ]

I think it was more the fact that Pitt really wanted this game bad.  Be it NYC, ...

What do you mean by this?  Does Pitt have some sort of connection to New York in some way?  The broadcast didn't really make it clear.