2010-2011 Postseason Roundtable - Part One

As we like to do from time to time, the CS crew gathers around the virtual roundtable and discusses various issues. This will be the first part of our roundtable, where we look back at the year that was. The second part of the roundtable is going to wait until Buzz and Marquette officially ink that extension.

Part One - Looking Back

1. What was the key story of the year for you?

Alan Bykowski
The key story had to be how the Sweet 16 run silenced Buzz Williams' critics. Four non-conference losses and a .500 conference record provided all the ammo needed to criticize Buzz and his team. But Marquette's first Sweet 16 in nearly a decade showed that Buzz can gameplan against anyone and that his players are not only going to play hard, but have the talent to win. It's amazing how one good well-timed weekend can silence critics. Would wins in November over Duke and Kansas State have had the same lasting impact as March wins over Xavier and Syracuse? Not a chance.

John Pudner
The key story for me is the improvement at Center. We've always had Guards and Switchables, but to have Davante show so much potential to score at Center, and Chris Otule become such a good defensive shot blocker that we actually blocked more shots than our opponents is quite an improvement for a team that was virtually the worst shotblocking team in the country last year.

Kevin Buckley
15 losses. One has to go back to Mike Deane's final season to find a year in which Marquette's faithful went to bed weeping as many times as this season.

Tim Blair
Marquette returned to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. Sometimes it is not fun watching the process -- and this year's team was excruciatingly painful to watch at times -- but in the end the players and the coaching staff delivered.

Muwarrior92
Inconsistency was the story of the year in my opinion. The talent was there to beat a UCONN on the road, a Syracuse at home and to hang tough with Duke, but we also found ourselves struggling against teams like Seton Hall, Gonzaga, Bucknell, and St. John's at home. The effort was always there, but there were moments where we seemed to lack the sense of urgency or not understanding the moment in the regular season and conference play. They obviously got this once the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament began.

Rob Lowe
I think the right answer is probably the Sweet 16. It's happened so rarely since the 70's that it has to outshine everything else. However, personally, the story of the year was the defense. Once we realized and pointed out that it was an issue, the defense became like a sore that just wouldn't go away.

2. What specifically surprised you most about this year?

Alan Bykowski
The biggest surprise has to be the emergence of legitimate bigs at Marquette. While Chris Otule may not be an offensive force, he's a very good post defender and showed flashes of becoming a very solid player in the post. Meanwhile, Davante Gardner was better than anyone expected, contributing meaningful minutes as a freshman. Not since Jim McIlvane and Amal McCaskill in the early 90s has Marquette had such promise in the post. We're overdue for this kind of pleasant surprise.

John Pudner
I was very surprised we did not have a stronger stretch run the final 10 games of the regular season, when I thought the kinks of working together would be worked out. However, I will gladly take the two wins in both the Big East and NCAA tournaments over a strong regular season finish.

Kevin Buckley
Making it to the Sweet 16. This is the first non-Robert Jackson Sweet 16 in 17 years. Looking back to October, I'd predicted a 9-9 season with an NIT berth. Obviously, I got one part of that right. Add in a soft NCAA field and two great NCAA wins, and it ended up being one of the most successful seasons in two decades with Marquette finally breaking through to the 2nd weekend of the Dance.

Tim Blair
Buzz and his staff trusted the kids and it showed. Chris Otule, Junior Cadougan, Davante Gardner and Vander Blue all played major minutes for the team even though Buzz had ample opportunity to give up on each in favor of a shorter rotation.

Coming into this season I had serious reservations about Buzz' ability to develop young talent as well as his willingness to trust the kids. He did convince me on both fronts this year, most notably by developing Otule and Cadougan into major contributors during the season's toughest stretches.

Blue was a constant despite the ups and downs, and I think he'll become a dominant guard as he matures. Gardner was a revelation. Early in the season he looked to be a big-time performer, only to regress mid-season. Yet, Buzz didn't let Gardner disappear. The big fella worked his way back into the rotation, an encouraging show of perseverance and faith by player and coach alike -- and representative of Buzz' patience with this group.

Muwarrior92
Several things. I was surprised early on at the struggles of Junior the first half of the season but equally surprised at the improvement he made in the back half of the year. If he can continue to improve we have ourselves a PG for the next few years. The other surprise was DJO and the inconsistency. This guy is so talented but seemed to have a sophomore slump in his junior year. To be fair, it was his sophomore year in DI. When DJO is going well, MU is going well. When DJO struggles, MU seems to struggle. Finally, defense. We seemed to put it together in the postseason sans the UNC game. Our defensive struggles all year surprised me due to our athleticism and increased size that we have lacked for a number of years. I thought it would be better.

Rob Lowe
The Sweet Sixteen! I'll flat out admit it. After years of bad/close losses, I 100% expected Marquette to lose their first game against Xavier. Then I expected MU to get rolled by Syracuse because before this year, the Cuse had our number. A close second on the surprise factor was that Marquette didn't finish 5th in the BE. That's where they finish every year.


3. What impressed you about the coaching staff / any disappointments?

Alan Bykowski
I was impressed and disappointed by the same thing, which was our defensive scheme. The way Buzz's team was able to clamp down on teams like Notre Dame, Syracuse, UConn, and Providence was really impressive. But there was also an inconsistency in that regard. The last 5 minutes of Louisville was horrifying, and other games against Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Seton Hall were incredibly frustrating. The silver lining is that Buzz is a young coach and as he and his team become more experienced they should be able to develop more consistency in this regard

John Pudner
I continue to be very impressed with how well MU seems prepared for opponents and how hard they play. I was disappointed there wasn't more of an effort to get Davante minutes and forgive one foul to let him get into the offensive rhythem.

Kevin Buckley
Hard to tell if player development is a coaching issue or an individual issue. I think everyone was hoping Vander, JJ, and EWill would show much more development as the season progressed. Only 3 players showed decent progress, and the remainder were pretty much the same players they were the year prior. -- While MU's defense came on strong(er) in the final few games, they struggled on that end through most of the year.

Tim Blair
I'll consider in-season player development (detailed in the previous response) as the most impressive aspect of coaching this season.

As for disappointments, the defense. There's no reason for Marquette to consistently be a middling defensive team. Offensively, MU is strong and the coaching staff made adjustments game by game to ensure the team was able to score consistently and in bunches. How was it not possible for the staff to identify an effective defensive scheme befitting a program with such talented players? Marquette has yet to establish a defensive identity in the Buzz era. The team looks unsure of itself defensively, struggling with the help side all season long, relying on new schemes only sporadically (press, zone) while failing to create a repeatable defensive rhythm.

Muwarrior92
I'm always impressed by how Buzz has his kids playing heard and they never give up. He's a high motor guy and it translates to his players. No quit in Buzz and no quit in his team. Toward the latter half of the year his timeout management and rotations improved, though I still cringe at some lineups where we have two or three guys on the floor that can't score and it shows. Disappointments would be on the defensive side, especially our 3-point defense. Whenever we were going up against a good three point shooting team you knew we were going to struggle. We made some teams shoot 3's like they were in an open gym with no one watching.

Rob Lowe
I was impressed by how the coaching staff managed to make Marquette a top 25 offense in yet a different manner than previous years. Two years ago the team was miserly with the ball and attacked the hoop relentlessly. Last year the team bombed away from behind the arc and still protected the ball. This year the team was more sloppy with the ball, but made up for it with better offensive rebounding and four factor balance. What will it be next year?

As for disappointment... sub 200 on defensive eFG% for the third year in a row. Defensive eFG% is the most important part of defense and it isn't even close. Fix. It.
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Thanks for reading!

Preseason Roundtable - Part Three

Today is Al's Run. Thanks to everyone that helped us break the all time donation amount. Seriously, from all of us at Cracked Sidewalks, thank you for your generosity, your support, and your continued readership. We are proud to be members of the Marquette community.

If you're getting ready to head to Al's Run, or you just finished it, or you are just catching up on Marquette news, here is the third and final installment of our preseason roundtable. Here are Part One and Part Two. In this version, we look at returning players, or as I called it... the essay section.

Also, you may note a new name in this roundtable. We added a new blogger, Tim K. We'll give him a proper introduction in a subsequent post. For now, we welcome his contributions.

Can Jimmy Butler be this team's go-to scorer and leader?

Tim - No. Butler is best as a complimentary scorer who self-generates offense through ORBs and two-dribble drives to the basket which send him to the line. Butler lacks a solid handle which limits his offensive game a bit. That said, Butler will be a 15-16 points per game scorer.

Steve - Yes. He showed what he can do down the stretch in 2009. Anyone who was surprised at his performance in 2010 wasn't watching him closely in the last 10 games the previous year. There shouldn't be any dropoff in his performance.

Pudner - Yes. Buzz really seems to have players willing to play their role until they are needed. He needed Wes to take over two years ago and Lazar last year, and Jimmy will put up big numbers.

BMA - No doubt in my mind he's the leader of the team. Like Lazar before him and Wes before that, he get's it, and he's bought into what Buzz is selling. He'll be the emotional leader of the team for sure....but I'm not sure he's the go to scorer. To me there's a difference between go to scorer and leading scorer. I think he'll probably be the leading scorer, just because of usage. But a go to scorer is more than that. In my mind, go to scorers are guys that have one superior skill you can count on to get you a bucket when you absolutely have to have it. Whether it's driving to the bucket or pulling up from three, or dumping it in the post, they have something that always seems to work...and I'm not sure Jimmy has that. He's very good at a lot of things, but not excellent at any one in particular to the point where I can see just giving him the ball when you need a bucket (freak plays at UConn and St. John's aside). His best skill in my mind is his mid-range jumper, but until he's willing to use it more I don't think it qualifies.
He'll get a ton of points, probably shoot a lot of free throws, but I think the go-to scorer is probably DJO.

muwarrior92 - Yes, but I honestly think it will be DJO over Butler in this role.

Rob – Agreed mostly with BMA. Jimmy is the leader of the team. DJO was the one guy on the team that Buzz could go tell to “get a bucket”, and he could manufacture points. Having said that… I still believe in JFB’s continued year over year improvements. In Juco, Butler was known as a scorer. He’s never demonstrated that scorer's mentality, but I could see him taking another step up in usage while his efficiency suffers slightly.

Tim K - It's hard to argue that DJO won't be the go-to scorer after the way he ended last season. Jimmy got a good amount of points on offensive rebounds and free throws last season because sometimes Zar would step out. With the help of Crowder and Fulce/Otule down low, Jimmy's role decreases slightly. There is no question he is the go-to-leader on this team, though. Since stepping foot on campus, Jimmy has done everything right to be where he is today. Out of the gates he was a nobody and now look where he is. It's becoming clear that the coaches, players, fans, etc. view JB as the leader of this team.

DJO... expectations are through the roof but he was wildly inconsistent last year. Do you think he makes “the leap” and how would you define it?

Tim - DJO makes the leap as the team's go-to guy, no question. DJO is the one guy on the roster -- and one of the few in the BIG EAST -- who can score when the team needs it. DJO can create his own offense and this year will emerge as the team's top scorer

Steve - I think most great guards show you early in their career what they're capable of. You see refinement over time--not a "leap". That's what I would expect out of DJO. He'll improve by becoming more consistent--not necessarily by raising his top-level performance or picking up more more minutes. We'll see some improvement, but I wouldn't consider it a "leap"--maybe just some polish.

Pudner - It seems to me I used to get mad at D. Wade his first year as much as I got made at DJO last year. Yes, some wild passes etc., but the potentials unreal, though certainly not as high as Wade's. Buzz can't lock into his rotation though and rotate DJO out when hot. One of the few times I really felt Buzz screwed up last year was taking DJO out against Washington a few minutes in when they had no answer for him.

BMA - To me, the leap will have been made when he's able to play effective defense without fouling and without letting it affect his offense. Last year his stinker games seemed to coincide with games where he was picking up fouls, or where he had a tough defensive assignment and let that effect his offense. Look at the South Florida game. He did a great job defending Dominique Jones, but only made 1 shot and never was a factor offensively.

Look at the Depaul game, he got in foul trouble and as a result only played
24 minutes. For all his offensive talent, I don't think the leap is an offensive thing. I think it comes when he's able to pair that same offensive production with solid defensive showings game after game. If he can do that, the consistency improves, the overall scoring improves and I think the leap has been made.

muwarrior92 - Steady as she goes. More improvement this year, but not a "leap"

Rob – Yes, I think this year DJO continues to keep his usage high with his efficiency above average. I believe his stinker games will be few and far between. As for the “leap”, I’ll define it as a solid second team BE and us making noise about why he’s not a contender for BE POY next year.

Tim K - The only thing consistent about DJO was his head fake. I'm surprised he doesn't head fake before he shoots FTs. Despite his inconsistencies, I will be very surprised if DJO doesn't make at least the 3rd team Big East this season. He is a proven scorer, a freak athlete, and his defensive ability can only be improving. Although he came in and made such a big impact, he was still immature in a sense and made mistakes. With a year of D-I basketball under his belt, I expect DJO to meet those expectations and be a leader right along side JB.

The "leap" as in the dunk to end the L'ville game?? To me that will always be known as "the leap." But as I mentioned already, the leap for him is getting recognition. DJO was our hidden gem last season and the MU faithful fell in love with him. But not many other people were talking about him. Despite our depth at guard, I think it will be tough for Buzz to take DJO off the court and with more minutes comes more recognition. -- Whatever leap he makes, I want it to be enough to make Buzz bird walk along the sidelines again.

Who else from EWill, Buycks, or Fulce steps up big this year?

Tim - Fulce! Fulce is a high-energy and a terrific offensive rebounder. With an off-season of good health to build on his effective minutes from last year I think Fulce will be the most productive role player on the roster this year. Buycks is the veteran with the most to lose. He was ineffective throughout last season, turning the ball over at a higher rate than any one on the team and hoisting a host of bad shots. I don't see him breaking out as a senior. EWill is in a tough spot and I don't know how many minutes he can consistently command with Butler, Fulce, Crowder and to a lesser degree Jones and Blue on the roster. I hope EWill proves me wrong and blows up this year.

Steve - The easy answer is Williams. When your baseline is 19 games played, 5.8 mpg, and 1.2 ppg, anything less than 100% improvement would be disappointing. I think we've seen what Buycks and Fulce can give us, and I would be happy if they merely duplicated what we saw last year.

Pudner - I would say Buycks except that we have so many guards that I don't know if he can get in a flow. I am going with EWill and hoping the 4-star potential emerges.

BMA - Well it bit me last year when I said EWill would surprise people and he didn't do a whole lot, but I'm going to ride that horse again. There's just too much talent and he's too good of a kid to not improve this year. I think Fulce will be better statistically than he was last year because he'll get more regular playing time, but I think EWill is more talented, and if it clicks for him...watch out.

muwarrior92 - Can I say none of the above? I don't see any of those three stepping up big. Buycks and Fulce will have a few games where they play solid basketball, but the consistency over the entire season is tough to imagine. Williams...just don't see it. I hope and think he'll get better, but that's a lot different than saying he'll step up big.

Rob – I’m going with Fulce. In limited minutes last year, Fulce was more efficient than DJO or Lazar. Plus, he was the best offensive and defensive rebounder on the team. Add in a senior season motivation, and I’m expecting good things. He won’t be the best player on the court, but he doesn’t need to be.

Tim K - I'm going with Buycks. Before last season began I told a friend of mine that Buycks may be our leading scorer by the end of the year. I was wrong. Way wrong. His expectations were really high and he seemingly scored at will at Indian Hills CC and I knew we'd need some productivity from the new guys (see DJO). Well I'm hopping back on the Buycks train. Although I saw upside in EWill's offensive game, I still don't see him getting much PT this season. It seems like Fulce already has his role established with the team. He's a good rebounder, effective around the rim, and has a smooth baseline jumper. When Buycks comes in, he'll be expected to score because he may replace Vander or DJO on the court. Once we start getting bench production, we'll be introduced to a whole new side of Marquette basketball.

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Thanks to the bloggers for contributing. Thanks again to you for reading (and donating to Al's Run)

Preseason Roundtable - Part Two

First things first... thanks to everyone that contributed to Al's Run. Thanks to the incredible generosity of Marquette fans, we hit our fundraising goal. Of course, how much fun is it to simply meet expectations. We're all about exceeding expectations, so don't forget that there is still time to donate before the event this weekend. The new goal is $3,281, which is what we raised as a community last year (plus a buck).

Now, let's return to our preseason roundtable. Missed Part One? Go check it out here. In today's roundtable, we look at "How will the team play?", or as I like to call it... the true/false section.

True or False – this year’s team will continue to feature a 6.5 person rotation.

Tim - FALSE. Butler and DJO will log the most minutes followed by Cadougan, Blue, Crowder, Fulce and Smith. A combination of minutes from Otule/Jones/Williams will round out the deepest rotation the program has enjoyed in years.

Steve - False. Is this a trick question? There is NO WAY this team only has six or seven potential contributors. If we feature a 6.5 person rotation, I suspect we'll hear a lot of griping--some of it might even come from the locker room.

John - False. I believe Buzz will be awefully tempted to play a Razorback 40 minutes of hell line-up of 10 men deep in certain games. We still aren't big, and the incredible turnover/steal advantage we have will become very powerful when we can up the tempo without fear of two of our 6.5 fouling out or running out of gas.

BMA - False. Again I think it's lineup/strategy dependent, but I don't see it being less than 8 unless someone gets hurt and it could go a bit higher than that. Cadougan/Smith is essentially the PG rotation. DJO/Buycks/Blue is the 2. Butler/Fulce/Crowder have the front court, with the possibility to add Williams or Gardner or Otule depending upon the lineup.

muwarrior92 - False. Don't think that's possible if Buzz wants to continue to recruit. He's going to need to get these guys out there playing in droves. 8.5 man rotation.

Rob - Yet again everybody thinks Buzz goes deep. Just to be a contrarian, I am going to say TRUE. Honestly, I believe this because of Buzz's insistence on protecting the ball, as outlined by Dr. Blackheart. I can only count six players that are guaranteed to get PT (Butler, Fulce, Buycks, DJO, Crowder, Cadougan). Every other player, even Otule and Blue, has question marks. Can they protect the ball well enough to see time on the court?

True or False – Marquette will continue to have a minimal inside game this year

Tim - TRUE. Even with great improvement from Otule, nobody will gameplan to stop a traditional post-up game for MU. That said I expect MU to be one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the BIG EAST this year thanks to Butler, Crowder, Fulce and the freshman guards.

Steve – True. We only have one player listed on the roster taller than 6'8".

John - True. I believe both Otule and Gardner will have a couple of games with some points, but can't see them being regular scorers. However, protecting the hoop on defense will improve.

BMA - If you mean a traditional low post scorer, true. Otule is getting there, but I think he's still a year away. I don't know if Gardner is ready to play major minutes because of his conditioning, but he's got the post moves to contribute. Scores around the bucket are still going to come from drives by the wings, with the occasional dump off to whomever is down there.

muwarrior92 - True, but not quite as bad as last year. I don't think our 3 point shooting will be as good so our interior play will need to improve.

Rob - False. Now I'm just being difficult. With the overall average height, we will have a legit inside presence simply by being able to play a "length" lineup. Better said, our height probably won't kill us this year, even without that traditional low post scorer. Also, on the defensive end, I believe we will be better defensively by virtue of our length.

True or False – we have enough PG depth this year

Tim - TRUE. The roster has enough backcourt talent to mix and match.

Steve - False. Its a fair expectation that Cadougan and Smith can give us 40 mpg at the point. On the other hand, MU seems to be hit with more than our fair share of injuries. Either of those two players go down, and we're in trouble--until someone else proves capable. Blue might be that man. I hope we don't resort to letting Gardner bring the ball up.

John - True. Because Vander can play the point too, and some combination of Smith/Cadougan will work.

BMA - Can you ever have enough PG depth? If Junior gets hurt again we're in a bad spot. Smith is the only other PG on the roster, and he's not really a true PG yet. Of course, we only had one PG last year, so if Junior stays healthy I don't think it will matter much.

muwarrior92 - False (editor's note - short and sweet)

Rob - False. I agree with BMA. If Junior gets hurt, we are really in a bad spot. I'm not convinced in Smith, Blue, or Buycks running the show.

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Thanks again for the contributions. Stay tuned for Part Three of the roundtable.

Preseason Roundtable - Part One

It's time again for our blogger preseason roundtable. With less than two weeks before the official start of college basketball, we threw around some questions and opened it up. This is the first of three different posts. Today's questions look at Unknown / New Players, or as I call it... the multiple choice section.

Out of Crowder, Jones, Blue, Smith, and Gardner, which of the new members of the team do you think will make a significant contribution this year?

Tim - Crowder, Blue and Smith -- in that order. Despite not getting to campus until the very end of the summer, Crowder's skills should translate into an immediate role as a contributor on the team. Blue and Smith will fill much of the playing time left by Acker and Cubillan, and I expect them to begin the transformation of the MU backcourt into a far more aggressive unit than we saw last year. Unless Jones is an exceptional defender or shooter, consistent minutes will be tough to find.

Steve - Crowder. Crowder comes in as a junior, played at a high-level JC program, and there are plenty of open minutes given the departure of Hayward with no clear-cut returning player at that position. Fulce, Otule or Williams could compete, but Crowder had demonstrated a high level of achievement. Otule has a total of 12 D1 games over two seasons. Williams not much more. Fulce is a nice role player, but I think we've seen his ceiling and it will be disappointing if Crowder can't come in top his performance. I see Gardner competing for the same minutes as Crowder, but not getting many.

Going into to practice, I think Smith has to be considered a backup to Cadougan--so he'll get 5 to 10 minutes per game in that role. That could be a more steady role than Gardner, Jones or Blue. If he makes a significant contribution, it likely means Junior isn't back 100% from his injury. Blue and Jones will see minutes limited by playing behind DJO and Butler, although some have said Blue has PG ability.

John - It's an incredible group, but I will be shocked if Crowder isn't the star.

How do you gauge what Junior College Player of the Year means for a 28-2 Howard College team? Massey Ratings seems to be the one service that has really taken a shot at rating all Divisions of basketball including Junior Colleges against each other. I notice if football his ratings often see the I-AA teams (or whatever they call them now) upsetting the BCS teams. Well, these ratings say that Howard College would have been the 103rd best Division I team last year, better than teams like UCLA by a couple of spots.

He says they are better than all the Division II schools. So Crowder was the dominant player on a team that probably wasn't quite good enough to make the NIT tournament.

Coming in as a junior into a team that basically build themselves around Lazar Hayward - a very similar player, and Crowder is the one can't miss on this team. Particularly since the guards will be fighting for minutes whereas we have to have Crowder on the court.

BMA - Sort of a non-answer, but I think it's going to depend on how Buzz structures the lineup. If we play a lot of 3 guard sets, it's Vander. He's not going to play point, but if there are two other guards spots on the floor, he's the back up for both and will play a lot...maybe even start ahead of Buycks. If we play a 2 guard set, I think he won't play as much, and Crowder will play a ton at the forward opposite Jimmy or in some weird three forward combination. Smith I think is going to play quite a bit, but I don't know that I'd ever call the contributions of the back up PG "significant". Jones is in a situation where there's just a lot of guys ahead of him at the positions he can play, so I don't think he sees the floor much this year....and Gardner seems to be one of those spot guys right now. He may play a lot against a team with two traditional inside guys like Syracuse, but he may have long stretches of no time as well.

muwarrior92 - I hope all of them. Crowder, Smith and Blue are probably top of that list. A lot of hype with Vander that I wish wasn't there. MU fans need to judge him fairly. Smith is very intriguing to me, especially in light of what little we have seen from Junior thus far. He could become a critical player if Junior struggles. Crowder probably has the ability to make the biggest splash of the new guys.

Rob - I agree most closely with Tim's answer of Crowder, Blue, and Smith. However, I honestly don't think that any of the freshmen will see much playing time. I'll believe that Buzz plays freshmen when he starts playing freshmen. My expectation is that sometime in January, there will be a large cry of "why isn't Vander Blue playing more?".

Otule or Cadougan – The whispers are loud for these guys, but both have been marred by injury so far. Who do you think makes the larger impact on the team this year?

Tim - Cadougan is the team's biggest question mark heading into the season. He was rather injury-prone in high school and last year was a lost year too. I think Cadougan makes a much bigger impact on the team this year than Otule either way --- by playing well or by succumbing to injury. I'm anxious to see how much Otule has improved, but in two years on campus the big man has not shaken the injury bug and I don't expect that his talent is so great that he'll take minutes from Crowder or Fulce on the baseline, or force Buzz to change the way the roster plays.

Steve - Cadougan. We absolutely need a PG, and given his reputation and experience, he's the obvious go-to choice. While it would be nice to have an Otule-sized player contribute, we've seen last year that it’s not an absolute need.

Pudner - Cadougan. This guy was ranked just a little lower than Vander Blue by most services. Getting a taste of Big East play may not have helped us that much last year, but it sure should have helped get him ready to step right on the court and run the point. I am really excited about the role Otule can play and trust that Buzz really has developed him, but it's got to be Cadougan coming up big.

BMA - Cadougan, and it's not even close. The guy we saw last year was a shell of what he really is. Watching him in the Pro-AM you could see that he's got his speed and agility back. I think people will see why he was a top recruit in 2009....and perhaps wish he had redshirted last year so we could have him for another year. Otule will a factor in some games, but he's still not ready yet. He had a long way to go, and too many injuries have impacted that.

muwarrior92 - It better by Junior or we're in trouble. Point Guard seems to be the biggest unknown on this team. When JC played at the end of last year, it was difficult to judge what he could do. Certainly a good passer, but I don't recall him hitting a single shot and certainly didn't look to take many. JC is the key to the season (or if not JC, someone else that can step in and play the point)

Rob - Wow... everyone went with Cadougan. Just to be different, I'll make an argument for Otule. Cadougan will run the show and protect the ball for sure. However, for two years I've been waiting for Buzz's teams to be better defensively. Otule will bring an improved presence simply through his height and rebounding. Not to mention that him being on the court will allow for Crowder to move to the four and for Jimmy F. Butler to play his natural position on the wing. Cadougan may be more noticeable because of his role controlling the offense, but Otule will have the bigger impact. Fear the goggles.

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Stay tuned for parts two and three in the next few days.

BIG EAST Roundtable Wraps Up

Here is the final BE Roundtable. The last question asks around for the league perspective on whether the BIG EAST is "down" and what that means. Certainly there's a bias, but the different responses and approaches are interesting.

There was more Milwaukee Pro-Am this past weekend. Only three more opportunities to get out and watch these games for your summer MU Hoops fix. Can't make it to the event? Clips, clips, clips (HT: YoungMUFan4 with the dynamite effort)

Marquette released another player interview. This time it's with lightning-quick Reggie Smith.

Buzz makes what?

UPDATED

... and more below

Don Walker from the Journal-Sentinel has an article on Buzz Williams' salary in 2008. Evidently he made $841,160 that year from Marquette. However, note a few things.

That means that Williams was paid $841,160 that year, but one should not assume that was his annual salary at the time.

Pfeil said it would be fair to say Williams is paid a higher salary now. She noted that Marquette reports all facets of compensation in its tax return.

She's right. Many colleges and universities, in reporting coaches' salaries, often report a salary figure, but often do not report additional compensation.

Keep this in mind when digging around USA Today's Salary Database to compare coaches. This ties us back to the other conversations about the budget Marquette has for basketball. For instance, think about this when one reads that Marquette has the highest budget in the BE, (and the second highest budget for hoops overall) but we're getting little bang for the buck. Repeat after me. It is never an apples to apples comparison, and different schools have different incentives for how they handle the accounting of what is a basketball expense versus what is not. (do you think a taxpayer funded state school has an incentive to show a large or small AD budget?) Our budget includes things like Bradley Center rent. Suck it, yahoo. Considering 95-97% of AD revenues come from hoops, continued strong investment in the coach and the program is fine.

Speaking of that...

Williams' salary was believed to have been bumped this off-season to around $1.4 million, sources told Rosiak.

While digging around, Kevin found Marquette's 2007 Tax Return. $448M in revenue for our beloved alma mater that year versus $382M in expenses. Just some extra numbers that I thought were interesting.

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Wesley Matthews is officially a TrailBlazer, with a story on ESPN. Here's his official Blazers fan page. Plus, there is a great article about Wesley from the Portland Tribune. It really speaks highly of Matthews and represents Marquette well. I still can't get over the notion of Matthews doing 41 chinups his senior year. That is insane.

Part Three of the BIG EAST Roundtable is now available. Today's question looks at 2011 recruiting. Catch up on Part One and Part Two at the links.

Jimmy Butler is getting a little coverage out there, as Rivals.com lists him as one of their Most Underrated Players. Not by us.

Marquette also launched a new website called WeAreMarquetteAthletics. There are some video clips on there, but I've not spent too much time digging around.

Finally, it's got nothing to do with hoops, but I'm a big fan of the Daily Show and saw this from MU. A Director on the Daily Show is a Marquette Alum.

More Big East Roundtable

Part Two of the Big East Roundtable is now up. Today's question is "Tell us about your recruiting class for next year?" You already know the Marquette piece (or maybe you don't). However, the scan around the league is well worth it. Did you miss Part One? Find it here.

In the continuing adventure of sequels, here is Part Two of the story on Jae Crowder and his dad. I already think this kid is great. Oh yeah, Part One is here.

Chris Grimm is going to be paid to play professionally in France (HT: 77ncaachamps). Insert your own French joke here.

In case you've encountered issues reaching CS yesterday and today, we've been experiencing a bit of DDOS attacks. Seems someone wants to keep us from getting the Marquette news out there. Evidently they don't realize it's summer and we can do that all on our own, thank you. Just be patient if you're not getting through. Or go read it on MUScoop.

More Media Updates

Don't forget. The Warrior Day Golf Outing is next Monday, July 26th.

Do check out the Big East Roundtable that is hosted by SJU blogger "The East Coast Bias". Pico does a nice job coordinating these, and this is part one. Cracked Sidewalks is there with our two cents. Personally, I think it's a great way to catch up on the other teams in the league. More coming later.

There was more Milwaukee Pro-Am. Here are the results from the last set of games. More games coming up this Friday and Saturday. But if you can't make it, hit up these sweet video clips (HT: YoungMUFan4). Yeah, they're highlight videos, but still... Sure would be great if the stats people could find TO's and FGA. oh well. Of course, Rosiak had a really good blog post on "Catching Up" that also looked into the Pro-Am and much more.

Marquette continues to release the non-conference schedule one game at a time. Sure, I know they're doing it to drive clicks to their site. Wake us when it's all finished. Plus, Marquette has run a few live chats. The Cottingham chat was the AD version of "it was a good game, both teams played hard", but the Jimmy Butler live chat was interesting.

Now some content worth checking out on their site is Jamail Jones' first week on campus. Marquette is also making podcasts available for free this summer. That kind of implies at some point they will be... not free.

Please make sure you go read Part One of a two-part series about Jae Crowder and his dad. Great stuff.

The final RSCI came out a bit back. Vander was #48 and Jones was #74. And in case you didn't realize this, Jamil Wilson was #40 a year ago.

Finally, Scoop poster Dr. Blackheart gave a great writeup about efficiency and protecting the ball. Worth reading.

Pre-Season Roundtable - Part Two

Thanks for joining us again as we tackle the Pre-Season Roundtable. Earlier we looked at the Team. Today we are looking at Part Two (the players).

Who do you think will be Most Improved?

Tim
Chris Otule. Based on reports from the boards and Rosiak's observations it seems that Otule could be a 15mpg player who, if he avoids foul trouble, could contribute even greater minutes. A player typically shows the most improvement between the freshman and sophomore seasons and I'm optimistic about Chris despite concerns that he could not successfully challenge Dwight Burke for minutes last season.

Rob
Fulce. However, this is partially motivated because I’m really rooting for the guy. Not only would it be great to see him succeed after the injury and surgery, but in all of the video clips he comes across as a pretty funny dude. Plus, from the reports before last year, Fulce was viewed as being the best of the newcomers. If he is anywhere close to that (like say... the dunk contest as a reference), then look out for him as the Most Improved.

Kevin
I'll say no one. Lazar, Acker, Coobie, Otule, Butler. Those guys are going to be about the same. For Lazar and Butler, their bar is already high. (editor's note: not even Mo Acker, Superstar!?!)

muwarrior92
Most improved player will be Fulce. I say this because there really isn't much of a benchmark for us to go by except for the limited playing team he had last year. I expect that he'll have a nice year that will pleasantly surprise (perhaps not) most of us.

bma725
Fulce. People forget, but a year ago when Fulce and Butler were coming out of Tyler JC, Fulce was the one that was more highly thought of by those who'd seen both. He's a freak athlete, he's got a well rounded game, and he does a lot of little things well. If he can stay healthy, a lot of people are going to be surprised at how good he can be.

Of all the players on this team, which jersey are you most likely to buy for yourself (or your kid if you're old?)

Tim
If the Golden Eagle Shop is finally sold out of of its stash of Ben Peavy jerseys I'll have to grab an Erik Williams jersey. Williams' unique blend of size, perimeter skills and defensive prowess make him the most intriguing player to suit up for the Warriors in some time. (Tim's note: as you'll see below, Rob copied other people's work to get through school)

Rob
I’m looking for a jersey that will stand the test of time. While it may be that the first choice is to pick Maymon, because he seems to be the most likely to contribute this year. Also, Maymon basically does anything he sets his mind to, and I give a lot of respect to guys that talk game and back it up. However, my choice is for Erik Williams. Once he figures it out, I think Williams will be spooky good, and then I will point to the jersey as being in on it early. Plus, it’s almost guaranteed that a “Williams” jersey will be solid for as long as Buzz is coach. Finally, Tim needs to stop copying my answers.

Kevin
Mo Acker, baby. If only to stick it to Tim, and all the others who hate on Acker. (editor's note - this comment prompted Tim to send several angry emails like Pavlov's dog).

muwarrior92
The jersey I would buy would be for my son and I would be Mo Acker....because we could buy it and it would fit. :)

bma725
Hayward. You know how many other highly recruited shooting guards would have transferred if they came in as a freshman and were told they had to play power forward for the next 3 years? Hayward could have complained about hurting his NBA chances, he could have pouted, he could have destroyed the chemistry of this team over the last few years....he didn't. He accepted the challenge of doing something he wasn't used to every day and turned himself into the best player he can possibly be. (Tim's comment - Nick Williams come on down!)

True/False - Lazar will have a Novak-esque senior season

Tim
True. Why not? We need some hope for an upside surprise. Lazar does not have that one great skill which elevated Novak's performance as a senior, but Hayward has shown consistent improvement year-to-year. With his varied offensive game and toughness I can't imagine the senior having anything but a signature season in 2009-2010.

Rob
True, dammit! I know all about Novak and his one key skill. However, I think that the reflection on Novak's senior season is influenced by his superlative effort vs UConn and then his ND game winning shot. I think that this year, Hayward will be even better this year on the glass than he’s been the past few years. Last year Hayward had ten double-doubles, and I think that he'll be the first Marquette player in ages to average a double-double this season. That would count as a Novak-esque season.

Kevin
False. Novak was a special player with a unique talent. I love Lazar (nearly as much as Acker), but he just won't stand out like Novak did. I knew MU would be better in Novak's senior season than was predicted. This year, not so much.

muwarrior92
False, but I hope I'm proven wrong. I think he'll have a very good season, but he will be the focal point of this team. Novak had the amazing freshmen who loved to drive to the whole to open up space for him. Will these freshmen provide similar opportunities for Hayward? Not sure. Plus Hayward plays down in the box much more than Novak did. But he remains a matchup nightmare for most defenders, I just hope they don't double down on him too much making him a passer.

bma725
False. Having just praised him in the previous question, I don't think he'll have a Novak type season. What made Novak great that year was that it was the perfect match of a guy with one elite skill finding the complimentary players needed to exploit that skill and take over a lot of games. Lazar's a very good player, maybe even a better all around player than Novak. But there isn't any one thing he does at an elite level, and I don't know that he has the abilities to take over a game like Novak did. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Pre-Season Roundtable - Part One

Did anyone else say "Holy crap... basketball season starts on Saturday!", or was it just us? Anyways, it prompted Cracked Sidewalks to kick off another roundtable as we look forward to the season. As we've done the last few times, we'll do this in two parts. In part one, we'll focus on the Team (mostly). In part two, we'll look at the contributions from individual players.

Part 1 (The Team)

Go on record - pick where you think this team will finish and tell the story of why it'll happen.

Tim
MU will finish 9th in the BIG EAST. The entire BIG EAST will take a step back this year and Buzz Williams has as much incoming talent as anybody, plus the league's most efficient returning offensive stalwart in Lazar Hayward and the heady Jimmy Butler. With Yous Mbao only missing two meaningless games and Darius Johnson-Odom recovering quickly from an injury the Warriors should enter the season with a deep roster. Despite the loss of the Three Amigos and the unfortunate Cadougan injury, the Warriors stand to be deep, athletic and talented particularly on the wings and in the backcourt -- a formula we're all familiar with. We'll have to wait and see if the skill level of the newcomers translates into BIG EAST-ready performances but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Rob
The preseason story for me is actually that this team could finish anywhere from 4th through 13th in the league. When forced to pick, I think that the team will end up 9th in conference with a sub-500 record of 8-10. (editors note - jinx with Tim) I do believe that the team will be better than the predicted 12th place finish, but that they won’t be quite good enough to get to 0.500 in conference. If telling a story, I’m predicting at least one shocking loss to go along with some stumbles during the non-conference schedule. Then, I think that the team will go 0-4 their first four conference games before righting the ship with defensive improvement over the end of the season. However, the early season gauntlet will be too much to overcome.

Kevin
I think we are headed for a very long season. Over the last decade, MU has eaten umpteen cupcakes, but not this year, as I'll guess we start the BE season with 5 losses, easy. A .500 record in the BE would be an achievement. I think we'll finish around 9th and head to the NIT.

muwarrior92
I think we have a window where we can finish anywhere from 7th to 13th. The Big East is going to be down, we're already seeing it this week with Syracuse's horrific loss to DII Le Moyne. A ton of talent left this league to go to the NBA or through graduation. That doesn't mean the league isn't talented because it's loaded, but very young. So is Marquette....talented and young.

The preseason will be of great interest this year. I see us starting out 4-0 before losing the first two of the Old Spice tournament, possibly all three. Then they have NC State and Wisconsin in two of the next three, both difficult games. I can't see us with more than 8 wins coming out of the non-conference... maybe even 7.

On the other hand, the conference did us a huge favor giving us DePaul and Providence as mirror games. MU should do well in those 4 games. Unfortunately Villanova is the other mirror game. Overall, I see us at 8-10 in the Big East but could go 10-8, especially if Hayward plays as a dominant force this season. Because of youth, I'll stick to 8-10 and 10th in the conference. That means a 16 win season before going into the Big East tournament. Hopefully a NIT berth.

Why we will finish 16-14: Youth will be our biggest Achilles heel, especially on the road. Lack of depth at some positions will also be of considerable concern. Why we will finish better than 16-14: To finish better than 16-14, we would need the freshmen to mature quickly, stay injury free, especially at the PG guard position, and get a little lucky.

Where do you think there will be disappointment and pleasant surprises with the team?

Tim
This year expectations are too high for Dwight Buycks and Darius Johnson-Odom. As Rob's analysis last month showed, JUCOs often struggle to be big-time contributors during their first season in the BIG EAST. I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson-Odom emerge as a big-time player rather than Buycks, but to expect both of these guys to be major forces is a stretch.

Still, one of the great joys of fandom is watching a program build, watching a team build within a season and year-to-year knowing that greater success is coming. I'll be looking for positive player development, for signs about about the ceiling of the program's newcomers, and hoping the team has a puncher's chance to win just about any game this season. In terms of specific players, one hopes that Joe Fulce emerges as a solid contributor after a season lost to injury.

Rob
From a team perspective, I think there will be disappointment in the execution on both offense and defense. With all of the newcomers, I don’t think that the offense will be very good. And yet, I also don’t believe that the defensive execution will be enough to overcome it. I fear a profoundly mediocre offense and defense.

However, this entire season will be one of pleasant surprises for me. My expectations are either very low, or grounded in a total lack of substance. Basically, I plan on being pleasantly surprised by just about everything good that happens. If it’s unexpected contributions, growth from individual players, or even just a good effort on the court… those will all be pleasant surprises.

Kevin
I just don't have much data on this team to answer this. Some freshman will be surprising, because we've got a gaggle of them, one of them will break out. I'd hate to label a player a disappointment before seeing them play, but suffice it to say, I think our 5s will not impress this year.

muwarrior92
The pleasant surprise will be Buzz Williams. With another year of maturity as a coach, he will adapt well and keep this young team together. As for disappointment.... not sure. I guess I'd go with Lazar Hayward. I hope I'm wrong, but my thought is that teams will focus on shutting him down since he's our only proven top player. As a result, he may get frustrated and struggle.

Marquette Post-Season Roundtable - Part Two

In part one of our Postseason roundtable (or you could just scroll down), we took a look at our favorite memories from this season as well as how we think the seniors will be remembered. In part two, we look at Buzz Williams and our thoughts his first season at the helm.

We've gone through almost an entire season with Buzz. What are your thoughts?

bma725: I'm just happy that for the first time since the Kevin O'Neill era we actually scored a basket off an inbounds play, and I'm only half kidding.

I like what I've seen so far. I think there are some coaches out there who would have come in and tried to impose their system on this team because that's the only way they know how to coach, and he was smart enough not to do that. There were some minor on the court issues, but all in all I liked his philosophy. I like the player development we saw from Wes, DJ and Jimmy. That shows me this staff can actually develop talent. I like what I've seen and heard so far in recruiting. Buzz is a very well respected guy among the top AAU coaches in the country, which bodes well for the future.

For right now, he's exceeded my expectations. I didn't think the team would do this well, and I didn't think the players would develop like that. With the make up of the team changing so much next year, we'll have to wait and see if he can continue to prove the doubters wrong.

Rob: Color me pleased. Despite my vociferous initial objections, I think Buzz did a pretty good job this year. In every area that I'd want to grade Buzz (representative of the university, recruiting, regular season success, and NCAA success), I'd give him at least a "met expectations" or "exceeds expectations". The big key for me was seeing how well he coaches, and I thought he did a pretty good job. Plus, anyone that is as big of a numbers freak as he is can't be that bad.

muwarrior92: Overall, I'd give him an AB using the MU grading system (is that still used today?) He exceeded my expectations for wins and losses but finished the conference where I expected (5th). He's passionate as hell which I love. He's too honest which in a weird way is not good. He has to know sometimes that honesty should be kept with the inside voice and not told to the media. He seems to be a good motivator and he assembled a wonderful staff. I'm not wild about his lack of timeout usage or his rotations at times, but will evaluate more based on a fuller compliment of players in the coming years. The program is his now, he's off to a good start. He didn't bomb this season and a few things out of his control kept him from making a bigger mark. All in all, job well done.

John: I am very high on Buzz, and particular the fact that he has a national recruiting plan and can obviously bring in big men. I think he has all the scenarios down and can recruit. I thought he made some late game mistakes, but will fix those with a year of Big East coaching under his belt.

Kevin: It's hard to give Buzz anything but a high grade for what he did this year. You can kibbitz around the edges of his coaching decisions, but generally, I thought this team would come in at 12-6 when Crean was here, and Buzz hit that same mark, which means Buzz lived up to the expectations of how this team could perform. The future recruiting classes seem to be great, and Buzz will continue to grow into his position. He's got lots of upside, and we'll see how that plays out over the next 1-2-3 years. Next year, the expectations will be really low, which sets him up very well to exceed them.

Tim: Buzz Williams did a terrific job. When MU was hit in the mouth this season, they responded pretty well. Lose to Dayton? Beat Wisconsin. Lose to Tennessee? Beat NCSU. Lose James? MU still took UConn down the the last few possessions and only a few mental mistakes by veteran players kept the team from winning a few more games. Williams recruited exceptionally well and throughout the season made a number of in-game adjustments which put his team in position to win games in the second half. A fine maiden voyage by the coach.

What has you most excited about next year's team?

bma725: One word, length. For so long we've been the undersized team in nearly every game, that won't be the case anymore. Conceivably, MU could put out a lineup from PG-C at 6'3, 6'6, 6'6, 6'10, 7'0. We haven't had that in awhile. I'm really looking forward to having guys that are actually the appropriate size for their position. That, and I have a hunch that everyone who dropped Erik Williams' stock when he got hurt is going to regret it. The kid is special.

Rob: Growth. With the influx of talent and some of the returning players, I'm most excited about watching the players grow and develop. It's going to be fun watching the contributions from the new players like EWilliams, Cadougan, Buycks, Maymon, and Roseboro. I'm excited to see how Butler, Lazar, and Acker improve. I'm really curious to see what a full offseason does for the development of Fulce, Otule, and McMorrow. Next year's team should consider 0.500 and an NCAA berth as a widely successful season. With such modest expectations, it's going to be fun watching development.

muwarrior92: Seeing what other players can do. This team has been roughly the same for four years and goes through a major change next season. We will certainly be taller which is good as long as the guards can keep it going. I'm a firm believer in guards are the most important in college basketball due to the sheer lack of quality bigs. Can't wait to see Liam McMorrow as he is intriguing. The star studded recruits I suspect will be fantastic based on their hype. Lazar as a senior will be fun to watch, especially as he will be able to play the 'three' next year as well.

John: The only silver lining to DJs injury was the play of Butler and Acker. I was obviously already excited about the great incoming height, and finally being able to bring in the size we would have died for during these past four years – but seeing how well Butler and Acker played might be just what we need to make the transition as the new class gets used to stepping up to Big East play. But with all that aside, the thing I am most excited about is seeing what Lazar will do with legit big men underneath that can let him go out to the perimeter and bury shot after shot. His touch is so perfect, that I believe once he no longer has to take a physical beating inside every game, he will truly blossom into one of the great shooters behind only Novak and Wolf.

Kevin: That's a really tough question to ask just after a nut puncher game. Next year will be really challenging, and Warrior Nation could easily see their first sub-.500 conference season in 4 years, so to be excited about something, you need to think about player development, both new and old. We're all curious what Otule and Fulce will do next year, let alone what Williams, Maymon, Buycks, Cadougan, Rosoboro, and McMorrow will bring to the table. Could we slip into the NCAAs on that young talent? Hope springs eternal.

Tim: The high level of incoming talent. For the first time in ages, Marquette has a diverse skill set hitting campus at the same time. Buzz covered every position on the floor with the soon-to-be freshman. When you throw in seasoned veterans like Hayward, Butler and Acker there's reason for optimism even in the brutal BIG EAST. Surely the program will take a step back next season -- back-to-back 25 win seasons is a high bar -- but with a solid foundation going forward, a bit of patience should pay off handsomely for MU fans.

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As always, thanks for reading Cracked Sidewalks and keep visiting! We are Marquette.

Marquette Post-Season Roundtable - Part One

We got some pretty good feedback on our pre-season roundtable but never quite got around to another one during the season. Now that the season is complete we'll give it another shot. With the new voices on the CrackedSidewalks team the perspectives are more voluminous than ever so we're breaking up our post-season roundtable into a two parts. Here's part one:

What's your favorite memory from this season?

bma725: Beyond the wins, and the great individual things like McNeal breaking the scoring record or Matthews breaking the free throw record, my favorite was the bench reaction when Frozena scored against Seton Hall. Seeing the reaction of the players and their joy for one of their teammates who doesn't get much credit shows you what it really is all about for them. That's probably the picture of the year as well.

Rob: The comeback against Providence to make the team 5-0. It was my first indication that this team could be much more special than I thought. In previous years, Marquette would have lost that game, but the players kept battling and took the win away from Providence. I loved how the players on this team never gave up. It may not have always resulted in the win, but they kept fighting.

muwarrior92: The NC State win on the road with DJ hitting the winning shot.

Tim: Beating West Virginia by 21 points. The lopsided victory against the suddenly sensitive Bob Huggins was so dramatic, so convincing and so thoroughly dominant that I finally appreciated the full potential of this team. I learned on that day that this team could really play.

John: It had been the win at the Bradley Center to go 19-2, until Saturday night. The announcement that Dominic James had been cleared to play was my favorite moment of the season. I ran down to the hotel lobby around midnight right after seeing the announcement, and he was standing in the lobby without the boot he had on earlier in the morning. Of course I knew he wasn’t going to be pre-UConn Dominic overnight, but it reminded me of Hunt's column right after the injury, when he said maybe MUs lack of depth and height would eventually prove too much, but it sure would have been nice to have Matthews-McNeal and James riding out until the end. As painful as Sunday was, to see Wes and Jerel respond with final superstar performances to end with 30 and 24 point games with DJ on the court for almost half the game was more than I possibility could have hoped for post-injury, outside of a win of course. Death is always painful, but the second half domination and having DJ on the court made it a good death.

Kevin: My personal favorite memory was walking out on the court to be coronated the Season Ticket Holder of the Game. Oh, and when I was next to the Eagle and he held up the newest Big Noggin, I was on the Jumbotron for about 2 seconds. That was sweet. I am such an attention whore. Ohhh, you meant team memories? Beating UW is always orgasmic. Wes Matthew's rapid development. DJ entering the Missouri game was heroic.

It's the end of an era with the four seniors. How do you think that they'll be remembered?

bma725: At least for me, I'll remember them more as people than as players. I don't know that we've ever had a class that represented the university as well as those four. Dominic James could have gone in a completely different direction and caused problems when he didn't get drafted, but he didn't. Wesley Matthews could have pouted because he didn't become the man like many thought he would, but he didn't. Burke could have been a jerk because of all the crap he got for not being a dominating big guy, but he never became one. Jerel McNeal could have said screw it and turned pro when TC left and no one would have blamed him, but he didn't. The character those four have shown through the years, and the men they've turned into is a testament to them, the coaches and the university.

As players I think they'll be remembered among the best to play at MU, but there will always be the question of "what if"? What if Wes didn't get hurt as a freshman or McNeal as a sophomore or James as a senior. What if Novak hits the shot against Alabama or Lopez misses the shot for Stanford? What if Crean actually let Wes play with the freedom that Buzz gave him? Unfortunately, as a class I think they will be remembered for coming up just short, when it isn't solely their fault.

Rob: It's kind of a copout (especially since it's my question), but I think it's too early to tell. Part of me thinks that the team will be the group that was never quite good enough. They'll clearly get dinged for never doing more in the NCAA tournament. Another part of me thinks that it'll be for their individual achievements. However, my perspective is that these guys will be remembered as the first recruiting class in the BIG EAST. NCAA success set aside, the fact that these guys won over 10 games in every year in the league and made the NCAA tournament every year is a great accomplishment.

muwarrior92: They'll be remembered as four warriors that brought it every day, every game. They were outsized but not out-toughed or out-passioned. Tremendous basketball players that got dealt a lot of bad luck, as life often does. To advance in the NCAAs it's about matchups and luck. We got the short end of the stick in three of the four years on those to ingredients (Alabama we just ran into a hot team). Will be remembered as one of the top 5 classes of all time and had the potential to be higher with a little more luck.

Tim: As I mentioned in my post previewing the final home game, these guys walked into a program that was coming off of back-to-back NIT seasons out of CUSA......and entered the the nation's best conference after losing its best player to the NBA draft, and one of its best 2 returnees to a late and unexpected transfer. Against that backdrop these seniors delivered 4 consecutive NCAA tourneys, 2 NCAA wins, and a bushel of Big East wins. That's a remarkable run for a group who jumped into a program still smarting from a season-ending home loss to Western Michigan in the months before they arrived. The uplift these fellas provided to Marquette hoops was astonishing, as was their grit and toughness.

Of course all of that success is tempered, at least for now, by this team's inability to win close games in March for a variety of reasons. These guys will always be the "Coulda Been Kids" to some degree since both injury and bad luck hampered deep runs into March.

John: I think they will be remembered as the true “David vs. Goliath” lovable team that did more than possibly could have been expected without a legit center for four years. I think they always will be the most loved team for some of us, just because they had to put out so much effort and had no margin of error to win, and yet win they did. Dwight Burke had to play center, when he was a power forward, and even Wes had to often match up against big men, and even Dominic and Jerel were happy to draw an assignment against an opposing center and reject them or steal the ball. I also hope they will be remembered as the team that, despite all that, beat 14 ranked teams during their four regular seasons. The best totals before that were 12 regular season wins against ranked teams (1994-97), 10 (1975-78), 9 (1971-74), 8 (2002-2005) and 6 (1955-1958). No class ever had to face nearly the competition they did, and to go 14-14 against ranked opponents, despite being a small team in a physical league, should be appreciated.

Kevin: Super talented, hard workers, great kids, brought the program to a new level. They fought hard, never gave up, but part of their legacy will be a 2-4 NCAA record, mostly due to Crean's problems recruiting for the front court. Honestly, I think when I remember those guys in the future, it will be with some sadness, as they were the hard luck crew. Such great opportunity, such great torment.

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Thanks for reading. Check back later for part two of our roundtable, where we look at Buzz and what has us most excited for next year. By the way, in addition to the comments below there's a thread about this post over at MUScoop.

Wisconsin - Informal Roundtable

A thought from Hunter S. Thompson (adapted) for the game

"We were warriors then, and our tribe was strong like a river. That river is still running. All we have to do is get out and run, and we will wash those Badgers out of the building..."

Hat tip to MU Chi_IL, with apologies to the original HST Essay.

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In October, we did a preseason roundtable that was a lot of fun. When we're not busy creating fabulous Cracked Sidewalks content (or something like that), the CS team occasionally likes to trade IMs about the team. We had some time to kill on the eve of the big game. Here's our chat session.

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Rob - Okay guys, I guess I'm kicking this off? Who's ready for tomorrow?

Kevin - I am not ready. I will be ready when Fulce and Otule are.

Tim - Rob, your numbers show this game is a tossup.....but does home court factor into those figures in any way?

Rob - No, there's not enough data for away games yet to do the numbers

Tim - Historically, what is the advantage?

Rob – Looking at the numbers for how UW played last year at home vs on the road, they were (no surprise) a better team both offensively and defensively at home. Efficiency margin of 18 at home versus an efficiency margin of 11, which means they were an 89% winning team at home and a 78% winning team on the road.

Yeah, there's some expected worsening from playing on the road, but will it be a real road game?

Kevin – Depends on how many MU season ticket holders have given in to the dark side, and given their tickets to UW fans.

Tim - Tell you what, UW has a group of terrific three-point shooters so far this season (Leuer, Hughts and Landry). Landry is one tough matchup for Lazar. That creates a ton of tough matchups for MU. Leuer, Landry and Krabbenhoft are all bigger mobile players -- MU could struggle to contain that bunch.

Rob – Agreed. We have to expect UW will launch and make more threes than MU. Although, something that's slipped notice is that the MU 3-point defense is getting better again. Anyways, I forget who said it (maybe Rosiak), but UW has their own matchup issues too. Each team has clear strengths and doesn't match up well with the other’s strengths

Tim - Correct

Rob - What do you think are the keys to the game tomorrow?

Kevin - Fouls. If MU is in foul trouble, we will lose. We're just not deep enough to absorb many PFs. Second .. shooting %. If we're below 37-38% .. we're cooked.

Tim - Limiting Wisconsin's ORBs and for Lazar to deliver against this team. Wisconsin has a deep, skilled group of forwards -- Lazar's production is vital.

Rob – My keys, in order of relative importance. Force TO's, limit UW’s eFG%, get ORs, shoot well, protect the ball

Rob – How about in-game issues? Dayton did a great job of limiting touches in the paint. Think Bo will be able to do something similar? I feel like our offense goes haywire when the players can't get into the paint at some level

Tim - Since MU does not have a legitimate post presence, that won't be tough for a deeper Badger team to do

Kevin - Bo's entire game plan will be to clog the lane, make us shoot.

Tim – That’s all the more reason why Lazar is key. I mean, Dwight Burke has more fouls than rebounds this year....and far more fouls than points scored. Lazar has to hold his own. And lets see if Wesley can continue to polish the glass, particularly on ORBs

Kevin - Rebounds? Please. The biggest factor for a MU victory is how many Badger fans are in the Bradley Center.

Rob - Expect a LOT.

Kevin - And if Where the Streets Have No Name is played or not. If Pintens spins Fat Boy Slim again, this game will be over before it starts.

Tim – So… if Bo will likely clog the paint and make MU shoot......what about pace?

Rob - I think this pace ends up somewhere in the middle. UW goes about 61 possessions per game and MU at about 76. Actual game pace will be about 68 possessions.

Tim - 70 possessions and MU wins?

Rob - Pace doesn't really seem to matter in my model. It's not statistically correlated (yet) for either team's offensive or defensive efficiency. It would only really matter if one team were better from an efficiency margin perspective - but they're so evenly matched on the numbers.

Rob - Who do you ultimately pick to win?

Tim - MU wins because Wesley Matthews is the best player on the floor, and I think, the toughest matchup for either coach to contend with.

Rob - I think this matchup is 50/50 according to the straight stats. Therefore, the other variables for me are coaching (advantage UW), system (advantage UW), and home court (advantage MU). Unfortunately, I think there will be a bit too much red in the stands for it to be a road game, so I'm thinking MU fans (including me) go home unhappy. UW by 5-6 points is my fear.

I just don't believe in this team's defense.

Tim – It’s impossible to believe in their defense based on what we have seen to date this year.

Rob – And since the first two keys for me are defensively driven...

Tim - MU is a poor defensive team, and UW runs an effective system.

Rob – But you still think MU wins?

Tim - I can tell you are trying to talk me out of my optimism (which took real effort to bring to this conversation). I'll stick with MU winning a tight game based on the matchup quandary and the home game.

Kevin – I’ll stick with MU winning for a very clear reason: Homerism. And if UW wins, I hate having to cancel Christmas.

Halloween News and Notes

Happy Halloween to everyone. Here are your news and notes:

• If you haven't read the Preseason Roundtable, we highly recommend checking it out.
• Bleacher Report has a Marquette preview
• The ESPN/USA Today Poll came out, and Marquette is #17 on their list
• Here's the list of Men's Basketball Promotions for this season. Highlights are an MU flag, an Al McGuire Statue, and an MU Mini-backboard. Check the link to see which games.
• Speaking of Halloween, the Blue & Gold Fund Fish Fry/Haunted Hoops is tonight at the Union and then Al McGuire Center. You've got to make reservations for the Fish Fry (5 pm), but the scrimmage is open to the public (7 pm). Make your reservations, bring the kids, and check the link for more details.

Cracked Sidewalks Preseason Roundtable

Now that the start of the season is a little more than two weeks away, I asked my fellow contributors here at Cracked Sidewalks to consider four key questions about the 2008-2009 Marquette Warriors. We decided to mix it up in a roundtable format. Let's get to it.

#1 - What's the most compelling storyline for you in the upcoming season?

Kevin Buckley (aka mu hilltopper)
The major storyline is Buzz and the post-Crean era. Buzz will be compared to Tom Crean six umpteen times this season. How does Buzz's offense compare to Crean's .. does Buzz market himself and/or the team like Crean did .. does Buzz constantly yell out plays like Crean did .. How many Diet Pepsis/per game will he drink. Ad infinitum. -- The storyline prior to Crean leaving would have been how the Big Three will do during their final season at MU .. can they add to their one NCAA victory count.

Tim Blair (aka NY Warrior)
This season is all about Buzz Williams. Can he coach and manage a program through what promises to be one of the toughest BIG EAST conference seasons of this or any era? Since MU returns just about anybody who mattered from last year's 25-win team, all eyes will remain on the coach.

Steve Susina (aka Marquette 84)
There are two obvious ones: "Can Buzz Coach?" and "Final Hurrah for the 3 Amigos." Since there will be plenty of ink on each of these, here are five less compelling, but possibly intriguing storylines.

-- How much does Chris Otule develop over the course of the season?
-- How much playing time can Joe Fulce earn?
-- Does Pat Hazel break into the rotation?
-- Can Rutgers, Providence, Cincy or Seton Hall crack the top half of the league standings, and who do they displace (Syracuse? WVU?).
-- What does the impending retirement of Mike Tranghese mean for the future of the league?

Rob Lowe (aka Henry Sugar)
In my opinion, the most compelling storyline for me is if or how different the team will be from last year. We all know that the team has returned the Three Amigos, with their 1,000 points scored, plus Lazar. Big things can and should be expected from this team. However, to what extent have they kept pace with the rest of the Big East that is also returning talent and experience? I really don't see any reason that the team will be any different than last year, so I'm waiting to see if there is anything that shows if we have hope of playing on the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.


#2 - What specifically are you interested in seeing in some of the early season games?

Kevin Buckley (aka mu hilltopper)
Several things. I'm curious if Jerel McNeal will continue to be as white hot as he was when last season ended. The pre-conference games are also the time to evaluate the new guys, plus the 2nd and 3rd guys off the bench in each position. What will Fulce, Butler, and Otule bring to the table .. and has Patrick Hazel improved?

Tim Blair (aka NY Warrior)
The new offense. After years of Tom Crean's control-freak tendencies from the sidelines, I'm anxious to see if Buzz Williams affords his guys more breathing room and allows the players to get into the flow of a game rather than constantly dictating from the bench. With smart, veteran and athletic guards, you'd figure that Marquette should be able to take full advantage of an opponent if the Warriors are allowed to play more instinctive basketball.

Steve Susina (aka Marquette 84)
I don't have any doubt that MU will have the talent to compete and win against most of the early season schedule. I expect that an experienced team will be able to execute from a technical perspective. Instead, I'll be looking more closely at intangibles like game prep and motivation.

First big test will be the Chicago Invitational--specifically to see if MU has the killer instinct to put away decent teams early. Both Northern Iowa and Dayton are the type of teams that are capable of pulling off a major upset (see last year's UD/Pitt game). They are also the types of teams that could lead MU to a sense of complacency. Playing well will require not just a solid game plan, but will be a test of how well Buzz can motivate the team against what is, at least on-paper, lesser competition.

Rob Lowe (aka Henry Sugar)
More than anything, I'm interested in what the offense looks like. There have been some early indications online and then from the scrimmage, but we expect that the offense will begin to look more solid (we hope) in the early season games. A close second will be the performance of Joe Fulce. Third is how efficient McNeal is and how many shots he takes.


#3 - What do you think is most important for the team to be successful this year?

Kevin Buckley (aka mu hilltopper)
Well, since about 80% of our minutes are returning this year, the players aren't a big variable in this year's success. Freeway could guide this team to 20 wins. It's all about Buzz, and the other assistants, and their ability to motivate and game-coach. If they can do that well, when it counts, this season could be a huge success.

Tim Blair (aka NY Warrior)
I hear chatter about the need for MU's bigs to produce, and some lament how MU lost four players 6'7" and taller from last season. But let's face it, the bigs MU lost were either hurt (Mbakwe), confused (Barro), ineffective (Fitzgerald), or a non-factor in 32 of 35 games (Blackledge). It's simple, for the fourth year in a row Dominic James is the most important player on the team. I know Jerel McNeal was sublime in March (was he ever!), but Dominic James is the conductor of this orchestra.

Steve Susina (aka Marquette 84)
Avoiding injuries.

Yeah, there are a couple of teams that could pose matchup problems with our front-line, and we may lose one or two games against a team with a UConn-like frontcourt. However, our backcourt will create problems for just about everyone else--unless we lose McNeal or James for an extended period of time.

Frankly, its about time for a little good luck in the injury department. With injuries to Diener, Kinsella, Matthews, McNeal, and Mbakwe over the past few years, it's time for MU's luck to change for the better.

Rob Lowe (aka Henry Sugar)
Dominic James! I know the conventional wisdom is the performance of our big men, how well McNeal plays, or even the contributions from our newcomers. However, I looked at some of the numbers from last year, and when DJ is "net positive" the team almost always wins. When he's "net negative" then the team almost always loses. I want to see how many shots he's creating for his team-mates and how efficient he is shooting the ball.


#4 - To what extent have you changed your mind about Buzz?

Kevin Buckley (aka mu hilltopper)
I think we've all been surprised and impressed with his ability to get quality kids to commit to MU. It takes a special kind of guy to get the recruits he has, with the admittedly small amount of fame, exposure, and head coaching experience he possesses, especially when compared to the last coach.

Tim Blair (aka NY Warrior)
Not much. To date, Buzz Williams has done what he needed to do, maybe more. Williams was positioned as a premier recruiter, and so far he's been even better than advertised. In addition, Buzz was smartly rolled out to the MU community and the media, generally making a positive first impression.

Still, the hard part is just beginning. Williams inherits a team that won 25 games last year, returns four starters and has one of the nation's best backcourts. Yet national and conference expectations are muted due to the depth of the BIG EAST, MU's roster limitations, and the presumption of taking a step back due to coaching turnover. Until I see how Buzz Williams responds to adversity, how his team responds to adversity, how he manages this team through the BIG EAST, and whether or not he can successfully navigate the pitfalls that are sure to emerge in the next six, pressurized months -- well, the jury will remain out.

Steve Susina (aka Marquette 84)
I haven't--I was on the bandwagon early on. While I would have liked to see Sean Miller, Buzz is a much better 2nd choice compared to some of the mid-major names that were bandied about.

Rob Lowe (aka Henry Sugar)
I'll admit to being a vociferous opponent of the Buzz hiring. However, I was willing to give him a shot if he proved himself. So far, Buzz has definitely proved himself. He certainly has the recruiting chops we were sold on, he put together what is on paper a very solid staff, and he represents the university well. I'm excited that we'll finally get a chance to see how well he can coach to address the last, very big question.

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Thanks to my fellow Cracked Sidewalks contributors for their opinions. The first exhibition game is just nine days away.