Just Back from NYC

[Marquette65]

After sitting through the BE a couple things jump out

     1. MU needs a serious up grade in talent.  If that seems a little strong remember MU was 1-6 against the teams that finished in front of us.  Ask your self this question---which MU player, if any, would start for G-town; Uof L, Pitt, UConn.
     2. Now someting to raise some  blood pressure--DJ has check out. His body language, lack of inter action w/ team mates , lack of on court intensity and terrible play is telling.  Your " star"  "floor leader" does not go scorless for a  half, and only 1 point in another w/ no D effort and MU expect to win.  MU often played better w/ DJ on the bench.  The fact is JM is the star and MVP of this team.

[77ncaachamps]

I think DJ was seriously baffled at how he was unable to score.

The dude was a scorer in HS but when the opponent shuts you down AND you shut yourself down mentally, it can wreak havoc. I don't think he gave up though. He definitely played tough d in the second half (not sure about the first).

[NYWarrior]

After sitting through the BE a couple things jump out

     1. MU needs a serious up grade in talent.  If that seems a little strong remember MU was 1-6 against the teams that finished in front of us.  Ask your self this question---which MU player, if any, would start for G-town; Uof L, Pitt, UConn.
     2. Now someting to raise some  blood pressure--DJ has check out. His body language, lack of inter action w/ team mates , lack of on court intensity and terrible play is telling.  Your " star"  "floor leader" does not go scorless for a  half, and only 1 point in another w/ no D effort and MU expect to win.  MU often played better w/ DJ on the bench.  The fact is JM is the star and MVP of this team.

Gimme a break.  After McNeal's dominating effort in MSG in three games, not sure how u can say that (esp since Jerel was named to the all-tourney team).  James or McNeal would start for (just about)anybody in the league.....Hayward was 2nd team all Big East.  Sure MU could use a talent upgrade, but that's true of any program.  As an example, if you don't think Pitino would rather start James over McGee, you're kidding us all.

As for comment #2.......funny how Georgetown advanced with Hibbert not scoring for the entire game in the quarterfinals, but whatever.  I was there in MSG all weekend too -- and it seemed that DJ's four steals in the last 120 seconds of the SHU game were clutch, as were his 8 points in the last 10 mins against Pitt (I'll take 0 turnovers in 34 minutes too), and his 10 point/6assist/6 rebound/1 TO game against the Irish.  Sure James struggled to shoot against Pitt -- just like everybody not named McNeal. Of course, in the first two games of the BET, DJ made 47% of his field goal attempts, but that was not noteworthy apparently.

Body language?  huh?  Psycho-analysis from the seats...how fantastic.

[NCMUFan]

Good points

[drewm88]

Ask your self this question---which MU player, if any, would start for G-town; Uof L, Pitt, UConn.

Are you serious? Maybe I'm just a homer, but I'd take Dom and Jerel over any guards from those four teams except Wallace and Price. Don't forget that we have 2 of the very best defensive guards in the conference.

[4everwarriors]

Don't be so quick to castrate Marquette65. Valid points have been raised on both subjects. For those who believe Crean's stuff smells like fine perfume, you should be proud of your guy's accomplishments inspite of the team's shortage of talent. May be his strength is coaching and not recruiting. For those not paying attention, James checked out long ago.

[NavinRJohnson]

I agree to some extent on point #1, and disagree to an extent on point #2.

We could use a bit more talent, to get to the level of a Gerorgetown, Louisvill, or UConn, there is no doubt about that. As for the rest of the league, we are the same or better talentwise than everyone.

As for DJ having checked out, I will say that at times he looks a little disinterested, and his body language is terrible - its usually when he is haveing a bad night offensively. He seems to have a very difficult time seperating that from the rest of his game. However, more often than not, the guy defends and plays as hard as anyone on the team. Could he be more consistent when it comes to energy/emotion/focus? Absolutely. Has he checked out? Nope. To say they play better when he is not out there is just silly.

[MUFanInGreenBay]

If anyone here thinks McNeal wouldn't start on every other team in the BE than they are the biggest idiot I've ever seen.

[Marquette65]

First of all lets not forget about Pitt.  Going to the BE final 7out of 8 years is impressive. Not sure JTIII and Dixon would exchange their guards. However, I will concede the that JM would play significent min for most BE teams.  However, the point has been made, IF JM is the ONLY MU player that could/would play for other BE teams, it clearly shows how much MU needs a talent up grade.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

First of all lets not forget about Pitt. 

Plus, Pitt has 5 players from NYC.

[ecompt]

agreed on the talent angle, 65, but I don't think we're that far off.
As for the DJ thing, there was one telling sign in the win over ND. Dom hit a jumper that led to an ND timeout and as the players rushed to congratulate him Lazar gave him a bump and DJ gave him a look like he wanted to kill him. I had to watch it again to make sure I wasn't imagining things.  

[mviale]

Throw in the towell - we cant play with the big boys

Thanks for the motivation 65 aka Forever

[79Warrior]

Don't be so quick to castrate Marquette65. Valid points have been raised on both subjects. For those who believe Crean's stuff smells like fine perfume, you should be proud of your guy's accomplishments inspite of the team's shortage of talent. May be his strength is coaching and not recruiting. For those not paying attention, James checked out long ago.

The top of the BE is always loaded with big guys that can bang down low. we do not have any such player, and quite frankly not sure we have a guy like that coming in.