Silly Donovan
Well-known member
+1000
#11 Marquette (MSG), Tue., Feb. 4, 6:30p, FS-1
- Thread starter Knight
- Start date
Simply put, at this point to win the conference, we must at worst go 3-3 against Marquette-UCONN-Creighton. At 0-1 away, we will be in a big hole if we lose the home game Tuesday, forcing us to go 3-1 with 2 away games vs those teams.
Cannot afford such non-productive games by Smith, Wilcher, and Scott - actually by any 3 of our top 6 rotation players. Marquette will have a huge opportunity should that happen.
Smith is a really really tough kid, and I'm convinced he is playing through pain that would keep many out. Still, discounting his poor shooting as due to inactivity. Not his fault, but our inability to control the boards vs Prov short circuited our transition game where Smith excels. Winning the battle of the trenches in rebounds is key for both teams.
Quite simply cannot shoot less than 25% from 3 as a team and expect to win consistently against better teams. Teams will begin to pack it in and dare us to make threes which impairs our inside game. That burden falls largely on Scott and Luis at this point. Luis does so much at both ends that he is still of immense value. Scott must connect from long range to keep defenses honest. Until he proves otherwise, Wilcher must be more selective in firing it up from deep.
As the season gets serious,, it's clear we could have ysed a healthy and productive Brady as a shooter.
Of course Zuby has been a force all year, if not by dominance, then by his relentless activity on both ends if the floor.
The awakening of Kadary could not have come at a better time.
Final score? 77-73. The winner? I'm not sure.
Cannot afford such non-productive games by Smith, Wilcher, and Scott - actually by any 3 of our top 6 rotation players. Marquette will have a huge opportunity should that happen.
Smith is a really really tough kid, and I'm convinced he is playing through pain that would keep many out. Still, discounting his poor shooting as due to inactivity. Not his fault, but our inability to control the boards vs Prov short circuited our transition game where Smith excels. Winning the battle of the trenches in rebounds is key for both teams.
Quite simply cannot shoot less than 25% from 3 as a team and expect to win consistently against better teams. Teams will begin to pack it in and dare us to make threes which impairs our inside game. That burden falls largely on Scott and Luis at this point. Luis does so much at both ends that he is still of immense value. Scott must connect from long range to keep defenses honest. Until he proves otherwise, Wilcher must be more selective in firing it up from deep.
As the season gets serious,, it's clear we could have ysed a healthy and productive Brady as a shooter.
Of course Zuby has been a force all year, if not by dominance, then by his relentless activity on both ends if the floor.
The awakening of Kadary could not have come at a better time.
Final score? 77-73. The winner? I'm not sure.
How about this being a "must have" game?
I just can't call any game for a team that is 19-3 and has won 8 in a row a "must win" or "must have" game. Do think it's an important game and also think most of our buzz would come off if we lost both of our games this week. But I wouldn't complain at all about a split.How about this being a "must have" game?
The issue is that 19-3 can be (not is) interpreted as a very inflated record by a very soft Big East. We've got one win against a team in the field (New Mexico), lost to another, and lost to the two bubble-adjacent teams. Only one quad 1 win. We've only got three of those opportunities left.
Zach says it's time to make a statement.
Last year, only four games were Q3 or Q4 -- the Georgetown and DePaul games. The Big East got screwed by the committee, plain and simple. The middle class of the league was legitimately tough.
This year, you've got nearly half the league just not being good. Georgetown, Seton Hall, DePaul, Butler, Providence are all A-10 caliber. The away games are thankfully Q2 (except Seton Hall, that is Q3).
It's very damaging for the league to have their two highest budget teams (Georgetown, Villanova) to still be down. Hopefully Cooley gets it going and Nova hires a top coach. That would go a really long way. I hate saying it, but I just don't see how Providence/Butler/Seton Hall/DePaul can consistently compete in the conference with their resources. I'm iffy on Xavier, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
This year, you've got nearly half the league just not being good. Georgetown, Seton Hall, DePaul, Butler, Providence are all A-10 caliber. The away games are thankfully Q2 (except Seton Hall, that is Q3).
It's very damaging for the league to have their two highest budget teams (Georgetown, Villanova) to still be down. Hopefully Cooley gets it going and Nova hires a top coach. That would go a really long way. I hate saying it, but I just don't see how Providence/Butler/Seton Hall/DePaul can consistently compete in the conference with their resources. I'm iffy on Xavier, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Ok. So we should call this a must attend game.
The over/under on Stevie Mitchell swiping him off ball has to be 2.5.
I’m more confident than you re PC consistently competing; well endowed, sell out consistently and a few big donors. We’ll see.
Agree. Shaka will take a page out of the way Providence played us the first half. Pack it in and make us settle for jump shots.
LMF Keys to the Game
1. Pound the ball into the paint and to the rim. Rotating Prey and Vince in for minutes to keep the interior pressure on as we have done in some games may be good here.
2. Can we defend all 3 of Jones, Joplin and Ross? If we can only stop 2 it's gotta be the first 2
3. Protect the ball. Which means RJ has to keep playing smart, Simeon has to be focused on ball security, and no minutes for Glover. Glad Smith is back for this game.
If we bully Marquette inside as I expect we will, play D as we have shown we can, and don't do stupid things we will be fine. If we do stupid things and turn the ball over we can beat ourselves very easily
I'm curious to see how they do in the portal this offseason. They've got the arena and they got huge fan support. But their portal acquisitions were really underwhelming and they weren't in the hunt for a single big time guy. Same with X (aside from Conwell). That gives me pause.
If we didn't have Rick, I'd put us/Xavier/PC all in that same category of "let's see.".