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Message: [QUOTE="JeffConn, post: 4568655, member: 11822"] Here is my morning after two cents worth of observations: As others have mentioned, Hawkins and Jackson not playing well really cramped our chance of winning. Jackson, in particular, lacks focus on specific game objectives and falls into dysfunctional playing patterns. While Marquette's defensive strategy to stop Hawkins worked to perfection, Jackson got in foul trouble early while covering Kolek and did not adjust his thinking. In the second half, with 3 Marquette starters on the bench, we could have taken advantage with Jackson finding open players while leading fastbreaks. That's how we made real fast comebacks early in the season against both good and bad teams. But instead yesterday, Jackson was on the bench during a crucial game-deciding time. Fast breaking might have freed up some breathing room for Hawkins to shoot more freely. Hurley made some good in-game adjustments, but Smart was a step ahead of him most of the game. Dan Hurley always seems to give Jackson too much playing leeway. With AJ being the straw that stirs the drink and the importance of his being in the game, Dan Hurley should have settled Jackson down on defense early, once he got his first foul. Also, with the Marquette defensive strategy on Hawkins, Kolek was covering a taller Karaben. As others have mentioned, it might have helped to run more isolation plays down low for Alex to take advantage of his size advantage on Kolek. I thought in the second half, the zone was initially effective, but with 3 Marquette starters on the bench, I thought Dan Hurley should have switched sooner back to a man-to-man, primarily because our zone appeared to keep allowing Marquette to run too much time off the clock. Marquette's 3 starters went to the bench in foul trouble with at least 10 minutes left in the game. After that, we squandered too much second half playing time with Marquette's floor general/MVP Kolek and the other 2 Marquette starters on the bench. Such a lost opportunity! We could have sped up the game to play more to our desired tempo. Playing a less familiar zone defense may have also allowed Marquette to have such wide open shots from the side. With all that said, that last second desperation three by Cam Jones was the difference in this game. Sometimes, being lucky is better than being good! [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach