We blew it -- twice -- against Stanford

[MU Avenue]

Now that I am calm, I will simply ask politely:

(1) Why did we take a three-point shot with the score tied at 71 and about nine seconds on the game clock? Good basketball sense, strategy, judgment and coaching -- yes, coaching -- say we should have taken the ball to the hoop and put up a higher-percentage shot, quite possibly getting fouled in the process. We needed one point to win, after all. Not three.

(2) When we were up 81-80 in overtime, why did we take a jumpshot rather than take the ball to the hoop and put up a higher-percentage shot, quite possibly getting fouled in the process? We were winning, after all. Not losing.

Those were two incomprehensible mistakes that left me screaming at the television -- and then speechless. We took the worst possible shots and seemed to have no notion of how to use the clock to our advantage both at the end of regulation and overtime.

We blew it twice against Stanford. Twice. TWICE! And it seemed to be by design.

This loss is as frustrating and as difficult to accept as any I have seen in years of following Marquette.

[NavinRJohnson]

We blew it early in the second half, but beyond that, your're right. I think Jerel paniced at the end of regulation, and we just fell one or two good plays short.

[chapman]

Something that I question...if you can muster the strength, here's a poor home video of the last shot some Stanford fan rushed onto YouTube (it all happens within the first 10 seconds of the 2 minute video):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=geANDEBHhlo

Is that not a 25 foot or more lob of a pass?  Our defense, particularly in the half court, does not allow the other team to complete such a weak pass.  No deflection, no interception, and Burke looked noncommital on whether to try to deflect the pass or obtain positioning.

[NYWarrior]

We blew it early in the second half, but beyond that, your're right. I think Jerel paniced at the end of regulation, and we just fell one or two good plays short.

agreed, the Stanfod D duped Jerel into takin that shot........that fella could not guard McNeal, so he ceded ground to protect against the drive.  In the end, Jerel had an open J -- tough shot to pass up.

Great game, tough loss.  if he hits it -- no complaining considering how well JM has played this month

[AlumKCof93]

I have no problem with McNeal taking the shot with 10 secs left in ot.  It was a good shot - he just missed it.  The 3-pt shot in regulation was a bad decision.  As mentioned, he should have taken it inside and forced the issue.

But let's not forget that rebound McNeal got with 45 secs left in ot.  He went up against the trees and by sheer will, he got the rebound and passed it back to DJ.  It was a great play, in a great game. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

I have no problem with either shot, I doubt going to the hoop would have done a thing other then our guy getting hacked to death with no call whatsoever.  The refs aren't going to make that call and Jerel was hitting everything so why not put the ball in his hands and let it happen.

The shot at the end of OT was right there, open look and it just didn't go in.  Remember that there were only a few seconds left on the shot clock.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Now that I am calm, I will simply ask politely:

(1) Why did we take a three-point shot with the score tied at 71 and about nine seconds on the game clock? Good basketball sense, strategy, judgment and coaching -- yes, coaching -- say we should have taken the ball to the hoop and put up a higher-percentage shot, quite possibly getting fouled in the process. We needed one point to win, after all. Not three.

(2) When we were up 81-80 in overtime, why did we take a jumpshot rather than take the ball to the hoop and put up a higher-percentage shot, quite possibly getting fouled in the process? We were winning, after all. Not losing.

Those were two incomprehensible mistakes that left me screaming at the television -- and then speechless. We took the worst possible shots and seemed to have no notion of how to use the clock to our advantage both at the end of regulation and overtime.

We blew it twice against Stanford. Twice. TWICE! And it seemed to be by design.

This loss is as frustrating and as difficult to accept as any I have seen in years of following Marquette.

Let me remind you of some of your other comments recently.... "I hope I am wrong, but I see us as one and done in the Big East and in the NCAA tournaments."

I'm having a hard time, therefore, trying to accept your thesis on us blowing it...twice.   

[Daniel]

Clearly we should have gone to the besket - make the shot or draw a foul or get it swatted away - but Jerel was hot - he probably felt it and thought a 3 here kills them.  But I would have like to see him slash to the hoop.

I think the giants were pushing people and traveling a lot in the game.  We played this team beyond expectations I think, and made them sweat.  We could have been moving on to the S16 with one more break.  Our game plan was great - but I am so bummed about this loss too.  Very tough to take -

[ChicosBailBonds]

There is NO WAY on God's green earth that the refs are going to call a foul in a NCAA game at the end of regulation or OT in that situation....just no way.

[Mayor McCheese]

There is NO WAY on God's green earth that the refs are going to call a foul in a NCAA game at the end of regulation or OT in that situation....just no way.

well, unless Barro taps Brook Lopez in the back, I mean honestly, I loved the Jay Bilas "Is Ousmane Barro benching 350 with one arm?  I think he picked up a car today".  Just classic, loved that line

[chapman]

There is NO WAY on God's green earth that the refs are going to call a foul in a NCAA game at the end of regulation or OT in that situation....just no way.

And if anyone caught Texas A&M's last chance, it was a hopeless drive into three bigger players and an easy block.  A three like ours would have had a much better shot at falling for the upset.  Maybe we didn't have the best shot selection, but we did get shots to the rim.

[CTWarrior]

The play I had the biggest problem with was the second to last possession in regulation, when we dumped the ball into Hayward in the low post to try and score against one of the Lopezes.  He has demonstrated time and again that he can't score against a good big in the low post.  There was NO WAY he was going to score there.

I didn't like McNeal's shot with 5.5 seconds either, but that was less bothersome.  Thought we should have taken the ball to the hole and shot or dished.  At that point we had been having consistent success driving that it seemed to be the way to go. 

On the other hand, I also didn't like all those threes McNeal took in OT that went in, so I'm not the best judge of things.  The last two shots McNeal missed however, were good shots that just did not fall.

[NavinRJohnson]

There is NO WAY on God's green earth that the refs are going to call a foul in a NCAA game at the end of regulation or OT in that situation....just no way.

And if anyone caught Texas A&M's last chance, it was a hopeless drive into three bigger players and an easy block.  A three like ours would have had a much better shot at falling for the upset.  Maybe we didn't have the best shot selection, but we did get shots to the rim.

That's fine, but the lane was virtually empty when Jerel threw up that three. That little 10 footer he rarley misses would have been nice there. It is picking nits to be sure, and hind sight is 20/20, but I'm not sure we played to our strength at that moment. I also think, the way we were rebounding the ball, they may have wanted to get one up quick thinking we may get a second shot if needed.

[FrennA]

Yeah, I gotta agree with alot of this stuff.  To add onto the list, why didn't we just score 150 points so that the game was out of reach.  I don't understand why Crean and players didn't think of that.  Also, why did Jerel take those shots?  I mean, he was open and all and had a hot hand to go along with it but why didn't he pass it off to one of the other players?  Weren't they all standing in the "rock n' jock" 25 point spots?  Geez, I wonder what these guys are thinking!  BTW, I love reading some of these posts that question the players decisions.  It just solidifies the fact that the poster NEVER played a game in at a high level of competion.  So easy to question from your arm chair after the fact.  Also, how come no one's questioning the shots JM took that ended up getting him 30 points on the night?  Here's some advice - we lost.  Stop questioning it and just deal with it.

[StillWarriors]

I wasn't thrilled with the three at the end of regulation either......but, Western KY didn't need a three to win their game either and that is the shot of the tournament thus far. The circumstances were a bit different, but the point is still legit. If JM felt he had a good look and was confident taking that shot, it's hard to argue. Especially the way he shot in OT. I do think it was a little quick though in that it actually gave Stanford a chance to get up a heave before the horn.

It was a great game and there are a million little things that could've changed the outcome. I thought for sure that last shot was coming off long. So tough to lose that one.

I'm very interested to hear Crean's comments on why they didn't change up the d on Lopez at all in the second half. Seems we let them do what they want. I also don't understand why we don't pressure the ball more coming up the court to prevent Stan from comfortably getting into their offense. We have plenty of depth at guard to do that. Watch the way Xavier gets after people up top; I don't understand why we don't do that. I don't mean to complain about the coaching; TC has done a great job with the program. Let's face it, until we get some legit size we are going to have to overachieve to get real far, as frustrating as that is. I wish Ooze had one more year.

Lost in the drama of the game; 4-16 from the floor for DJ; he just can't hit on a consistent basis yet. Saw his quote "he had two feet out the door" last year; will be interesting to see what he does this year.

[CTWarrior]

I mean, he was open and all and had a hot hand to go along with it but why didn't he pass it off to one of the other players?

Hot hand?  He was 1-7 or 1-8 from behind the arc before he took that shot.  He had the hot hand going to the basket, where he hadn't missed a shot the entire game to that point.  So I don't think its unreasonable to question the shot selection there.  Especially when there was 5 or 6 seconds left on the shot clock.  The only thing I could think of was that he was trying to get it up on the glass where we had been offensive rebounding so well all night. 

[ecompt]

I woke up several times during the night reliving the final minutes in my mind. The shot in regulation was rushed; I figured we would lket DJ take his man one-and-one and get as close to the rim as possible. Maybe TC told them there was no way the refs were ever going to call a foul on Stanford? I couldn't believe we would take the shot eartly enough to allow Stanford as Hail Mary shot.
I have to question TC's strategy on the winning shot. I sat here knowing exactly what Stanford would do, on which side the play would be run. That we stayed in our normal passive one-on-one defense is what bothered me all night. How we could we allow them to run that same play 20 times in the second half and not defend it properly once? Sandwich Lopez and make someone else beat you, or pressure the ball more to make it tougher for the guard to get it down low. Anything to disrupt the one play that you knew would beat you.
I could whine about the officials--20 free throws to three in the second half????---but we should have won anyway. We absolutely played our butts off in a hostile environment and I am extremely proud to be a MU grad today. But this loss hurts big-time.

[reesiecup210]

However the end played out, and however Jerel's shots at the end of the two periods were questionable, this was an amazing effort by our team. Honestly, I don't think we could have played any better than we did last night. Too much second-guessing on here, it's not going to change anything, let's just appreciate the great season our guys gave us.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I find it hard to believe TC told McNeal to take that three.  Remember this came after a made free throw.  In the huddle I'm sure they said, if he misses do X (give it to Wes).  If he makes it, give it to Jerel and take the best shot available in the flow.

McNeal took a shot he thought he could make.  He missed, but did anyone notice we got the rebound clean with still 5 seconds left from Lazar?  Lazar then went up and got swatted.

I would have liked a better shot, too, but life doesn't always work that way.  It's funny, after watching the post game interviews on the Western Kentucky game, that game winning shot is not the play they called at all.  But that worked for them. 

We could second guess forever.  What if DJ made the free throw in overtime.  What if Trend was in on the last play, what if Ooze doesn't get called for so many fouls in the block before the guy even looks to the basket, what if Lazar makes 1 or 2 free throws after Wes made the 4, what if in the second half DJ doesn't try that alley oop play when MU was ahead and had momentum, what if Cubillan could make any of those 3 pointers, what if Lazar does a head fake at the end of regulation or kicks it back out for a cleaner look, and on and on.

It was a great game with what ifs all over the place.  Next year we will be a senior laden team and each year is a growing/learning process, let's hope another step forward has been taken.  25 wins, advancement in the Big East tournament, advancement in the NCAAs....we certainly took steps forward from last year.

[bilsu]

McNeal played a great game. You do want to shoot a shot with enough time to get a chance at a tip in. However, I do think McNeal should have taken it to the hole. It would have helped take Lopez out of rebounding position and defensive position on the rebound. I think blaming Crean for that play is ridiculess. He had the ball in the hands of our best player who had the hot hand. I think the bigger mistake was at the end of overtime. McNeal's shot came to soon and left to much time for Stanford. Stanford had the ball out of bounds with 9 seconds to go to play for last shot. The thing I would have done at that time, which would have taken a lot of guts, was foul right away. Hope stanford does not make both free throws and have 7-8 seconds left to try to make winning shot. i would have only done this, because i believed we had no chance of stopping an inside shot by one of the Lopez's.

[Big Papi]

I woke up several times during the night reliving the final minutes in my mind. The shot in regulation was rushed; I figured we would lket DJ take his man one-and-one and get as close to the rim as possible. Maybe TC told them there was no way the refs were ever going to call a foul on Stanford? I couldn't believe we would take the shot eartly enough to allow Stanford as Hail Mary shot.
I have to question TC's strategy on the winning shot. I sat here knowing exactly what Stanford would do, on which side the play would be run. That we stayed in our normal passive one-on-one defense is what bothered me all night. How we could we allow them to run that same play 20 times in the second half and not defend it properly once? Sandwich Lopez and make someone else beat you, or pressure the ball more to make it tougher for the guard to get it down low. Anything to disrupt the one play that you knew would beat you.
I could whine about the officials--20 free throws to three in the second half????---but we should have won anyway. We absolutely played our butts off in a hostile environment and I am extremely proud to be a MU grad today. But this loss hurts big-time.

If you heard TC's interview after the game or read the transcripts of that your questions would be answered on TC's strategy.  Some things just don't get executed.   There is a post of the transcript on Dodds' site.  Don't have time to look it up for you.  basically the strategy was to pressure the guards but that was not working.  Also we did double down a few times and still got burned by Lopez and Johnson.

[lurch91]

The only problem that I saw with our game plan was - I think we should have put full court pressure on Stanford from the get go after every made shot.  Use our quick gaurds to create the turnovers that our offense thrives on.

But, I do realize that would have probably led to half a dozen (or more) lay-ups and dunks by the Lopez brothers when they did beat the press. 

Otherwise, GREAT game and I'm proud of our young men.  They represented us and Marquette very well this year, and showed tons of improvement from the two Louisville blowouts.

[tower912]

Jerel's shot at the end of OT was all anyone could ask.   A pull up 15 footer with minimal defense.   He just missed it.   Oops.   He probably could have made a better choice at the end of regulation, but I am not going to let that detract from the tremendous game he played.    Like the rest of MU nation and TC himself, I would have liked more on the ball pressure to make those passes into the Lopez' more difficult.   But, the dude hit a really tough shot.   Kudos.     Look, we went toe to toe in one of the most exciting games I have seen recently, had chances to win it and missed the shots.    Somebody has to lose, unfortunately.   I refuse to hang my head because of this game.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

The only problem that I saw with our game plan was - I think we should have put full court pressure on  Stanford from the get go after every made shot.  Use our quick gaurds to create the turnovers that our offense thrives on.

But, I do realize that would have porbably led to half a dozen (or more) lay-ups and dunks by the Lopez brothers when they did beat the press. 

I completely agree.

At the very least, we could have tried to wear them down some by making them run up and down (even if they did score on some lay-ups and stuff).

Obviously TC has a plan... so I'm sure he probably knows something we don't... but looking at the rosters, I would have suggested trying to turn the game into a track meet and wear down the lopez's.

Aw well... It was a fun and entertaining season... and there is still a lot of optimism for next year... which is good too.

[muwarrior69]

Come on guys. The coulda, woulda, shouldas are just that. We played a great game against a team "on therir home court" and were one point behind when time ran out. Sure, I would have liked the WIN as any Marquette alum would have, but there is no shame in this. UConn, Gtown, ND, Pitt all got beat too and not one of them had to contend with 2 seven footers, nor did they take it into overtime. We played great, just came up short. A game like this is what makes the NCAA tourmanent so great. Sometimes you win ( like Whitehead's last second heroics in the '77 semi finals) and somestimes you don't. It was a great and fun season!