Next 3 Games UC,STJ,CR

[MU82]

Look around the Big East.  Every game is going to be tough.  We'll have more bad halves and bad games.  We'll also have good halves and good games.

St. John's just beat Providence by 2 at home.  They needed the refs to allow them to start playing football to get Xavier into overtime at home.  Does that mean we'll go in there and beat them?  No.  But people here are acting like Marquette's 9-2 is ass because they've struggled against mid tier teams while St. John's, Creighton, and UCONN are just rolling through everyone and it's laughable, because that's not been the case at all.

And not just the Big East, as the Upset Saturday thread shows.

Folks act as if all a ranked team has to do is show up and it will win.

I have a buddy who is a UConn fan and he is bemoaning the turnovers. Here's the text he sent me: "When we shoot like we did, and you shoot like you did, we should win by 30. But we've played like sh!t for two months now. We're lucky you guys couldn't make a shot."

But, as you said, if you read Scoop, you'd think that Marquette is a disaster (instead of 18-4) and that every other ranked team is rolling through its schedule.

And no, other ranked teams losing shouldn't necessarily make MU fans feel better about our losses (or our "horrible wins"). Those teams losing is just another fact when having any of these discussions.

[ATL MU Warrior]

And not just the Big East, as the Upset Saturday thread shows.

Folks act as if all a ranked team has to do is show up and it will win.

I have a buddy who is a UConn fan and he is bemoaning the turnovers. Here's the text he sent me: "When we shoot like we did, and you shoot like you did, we should win by 30. But we've played like sh!t for two months now. We're lucky you guys couldn't make a shot."

But, as you said, if you read Scoop, you'd think that Marquette is a disaster (instead of 18-4) and that every other ranked team is rolling through its schedule.

And no, other ranked teams losing shouldn't necessarily make MU fans feel better about our losses (or our "horrible wins"). Those teams losing is just another fact when having any of these discussions.

For me, it's not only that we lost.  It's that we lost while the same issues that have been popping up in conference play continue to pop up.  We don't seem to realize the game starts when the ball is tipped.  We can't shoot.  If we don't turn the other team over, our defense gives up tons of good looks which decent-to-good teams will take advantage of. 

I get it.  We'll sometimes play poorly, just like other top teams will sometimes play poorly.  Plenty of examples.  On the other hand, there are also plenty of examples of those same teams playing really well and beating the crap out of a good opponent, while we continue to scuffle along, struggling to beat the Georgetowns and DePauls of the world.  When is the last time we put together the kind of performance that left you saying, "wow, this team can really do some damage in March"?  Against a decent team.  Wisconsin?  That's 2 months ago...need to see that again against a team with tournament hopes to really believe this team is going to do anything in March.  Hoping tomorrow night is the start.

[Scoop Snoop]

For me, it's not only that we lost.  It's that we lost while the same issues that have been popping up in conference play continue to pop up.  We don't seem to realize the game starts when the ball is tipped.  We can't shoot.  If we don't turn the other team over, our defense gives up tons of good looks which decent-to-good teams will take advantage of. 

I get it.  We'll sometimes play poorly, just like other top teams will sometimes play poorly.  Plenty of examples.  On the other hand, there are also plenty of examples of those same teams playing really well and beating the crap out of a good opponent, while we continue to scuffle along, struggling to beat the Georgetowns and DePauls of the world.  When is the last time we put together the kind of performance that left you saying, "wow, this team can really do some damage in March"?  Against a decent team. Wisconsin?  That's 2 months ago...need to see that again against a team with tournament hopes to really believe this team is going to do anything in March.  Hoping tomorrow night is the start.

No question that other top 10 teams (well, we were top ten)... ) have some bad games, play poorly, and lose on their home courts. I have been reluctant to criticize the team's performance after any loss and try to not be an armchair coach. It's not that Marquette is doing terrible at 18-4, 9-2, but rather that we were playing better earlier in the season and need to get back to that level if we are going to have success in the tourney.

I think it is reasonable to express the opinion that our problems have not been one-offs. You have expressed your opinions well and I agree. Now that SJU is ranked right next to us, let's hope Marquette can get Pitino to go ballistic as we take them down at MSG.

[FairWeatherEagle]

So there were 6 votes after UC tip.
133 at that point.
UC-W, STJ-W, CR-W -27
UC-W, STJ-W, CR-L -19
UC-W, STJ-L, CR-W -40
UC-L, STJ-W, CR-W -4
UC-L, STJ-L, CR-W -6.  +1
UC-L, STJ-W, CR-L -2.  +1
UC-W, STJ-L, CR-L -30. +1
UC-L, STJ-L, CR-L -5.  +3

[FairWeatherEagle]

Thanks for voting. After Saturdays game will be a post mortem then we can let this thing go to it's firey end.

[wisblue]

And not just the Big East, as the Upset Saturday thread shows.

Folks act as if all a ranked team has to do is show up and it will win.

I have a buddy who is a UConn fan and he is bemoaning the turnovers. Here's the text he sent me: "When we shoot like we did, and you shoot like you did, we should win by 30. But we've played like sh!t for two months now. We're lucky you guys couldn't make a shot."

But, as you said, if you read Scoop, you'd think that Marquette is a disaster (instead of 18-4) and that every other ranked team is rolling through its schedule.

And no, other ranked teams losing shouldn't necessarily make MU fans feel better about our losses (or our "horrible wins"). Those teams losing is just another fact when having any of these discussions.

Actually, I think if you read Scoop more closely, you would see that some posters have reacted with some concern to how MU has played in its conference games against mostly weak opponents, knowing that much tougher tests were coming up. I don't think there are many who have seriously called the team a disaster, unless you count the few posters who routinely pollute the board with inane sarcastic comments.

In their 11 conference games to date, MU has been favored by 14, 4, 6, 10, 13, 13, 10, 13, 9, 8, and 6 points. So, losing 2 of the home games,and having a few others when they've been favored by double digits go down to the wire, does not send some a vibe of a team that is clicking on all cylinders and gearing up for a run at the conference title.

I'm really glad that the next two games are against St. John's and Creighton. We're finally going to see some of the games that are really going to decide the conference race. After Saturdays depressing game I would have a hard time getting excited about another game against a conference bottom feeder. We'll see now how the team plays as an underdog. I think they are 1-2 in that role so far.

[MU82]

ATL, Snoop and wisblue:

I respect your opinions and understand where you're coming from. One certainly could argue that we haven't played a "great" game since Providence. Though I think any win over Creighton is pretty darn good. And the Villanova game was A-OK - an inferior team (but one that had beaten UConn) mucked things up but we controlled the game from wire-to-wire.

But I get it. Since Creighton, we've had far too many games in which we've only played one good half, and that's frustrating to watch for all of us.

Our flaws are pretty evident, but almost every team has a flaw or two, in many cases major flaws. So I choose to concentrate on the way Marquette has repeatedly fought to overcome its flaws and the adversity we've faced to win 18 of 22 games - and to even give ourselves a shot at winning the other 4.

I spent pretty good coin to travel to Milwaukee and go to the UConn game, and I hated that we lost to them on NMD. Still, even though I know there are no banners for playing hard, I was proud of the team for rallying in the second half - I'll take that over Iowa State's effort against a 9-11 K-State team.

It doesn't make a person a "bad fan" to wish we were doing better or to point out our flaws. Hell, in the moment, I'll shout plenty of stuff at the TV. But when the game ends, I'll get over my crankiness pretty quickly and realize again that we're all pretty lucky to have gotten to root for the team we've had these last few years.

I do understand that we're all different so we naturally react differently to stuff we see on the court. And of course, here on Scoop, lots of us react to the reactions, often with sarcasm.

We Are Marquette!

[tower912]

MU has not played their best.  They are still 18-4.  That gives me comfort. 

[Scoop Snoop]

I was proud of the team for rallying in the second half - I'll take that over Iowa State's effort against a 9-11 K-State team.

It doesn't make a person a "bad fan" to wish we were doing better or to point out our flaws. Hell, in the moment, I'll shout plenty of stuff at the TV. But when the game ends, I'll get over my crankiness pretty quickly and realize again that we're all pretty lucky to have gotten to root for the team we've had these last few years.

We Are Marquette!

Nice!

[ATL MU Warrior]

ATL, Snoop and wisblue:

I respect your opinions and understand where you're coming from. One certainly could argue that we haven't played a "great" game since Providence. Though I think any win over Creighton is pretty darn good. And the Villanova game was A-OK - an inferior team (but one that had beaten UConn) mucked things up but we controlled the game from wire-to-wire.

But I get it. Since Creighton, we've had far too many games in which we've only played one good half, and that's frustrating to watch for all of us.

Our flaws are pretty evident, but almost every team has a flaw or two, in many cases major flaws. So I choose to concentrate on the way Marquette has repeatedly fought to overcome its flaws and the adversity we've faced to win 18 of 22 games - and to even give ourselves a shot at winning the other 4.

I spent pretty good coin to travel to Milwaukee and go to the UConn game, and I hated that we lost to them on NMD. Still, even though I know there are no banners for playing hard, I was proud of the team for rallying in the second half - I'll take that over Iowa State's effort against a 9-11 K-State team.

It doesn't make a person a "bad fan" to wish we were doing better or to point out our flaws. Hell, in the moment, I'll shout plenty of stuff at the TV. But when the game ends, I'll get over my crankiness pretty quickly and realize again that we're all pretty lucky to have gotten to root for the team we've had these last few years.

I do understand that we're all different so we naturally react differently to stuff we see on the court. And of course, here on Scoop, lots of us react to the reactions, often with sarcasm.

We Are Marquette!

Yeah, I'm usually more positive and applaud the fight and resiliency we've shown in overcoming our poorer performances to gut out wins. I do think that's a great trait this team has.

Don't know why this last performance set me off, but it did.

[Johnny B]

Well kind of felt this could happen. January was the practice squad and February is against the big boys.

[wisblue]

I'm still in the running with my 1-2 with a win over Creighton.

[GoldenEagles03]

The books in Vegas will have us losing our 3rd straight game.

We haven't lost 3 straight games in 1,141 days. All the way back in the 2021-2022 season.

We didn't lose 2 games in a row a single time in 2022-2023. We lost 2 in a row twice last season.

Need a bounce back in a big way this weekend. We have the ability.