Marquette Post Game Thread

[navery12]

For good or bad, the bar for this program isn't a good regular season record. It's not as though this team has played beautiful, fun to watch basketball this year. It's been quite the opposite. They just incurred what was likely the most embarrassing loss in UConn reg season history. This reg season hasn't been a win.

They have a chance to make up for it, but no one is looking back on this season as a good one with a second place finish, no BETC and a first weekend exit.

You want to see teams develop, get better, not regress. What players have actually gotten better this year? Maybe Ross. It's been a developmental wall. Some players got worse - Solo, Malachi, Stew. I'd say if this team flames out in the tourney, it will leave a lot of doubt to where the staff is in maintaining momentum with the program after last year.

This post checks out for someone with the memory span of about 2 hours

 

[RuffRuff]

This post checks out for someone with the memory span of about 2 hours

Likewise for a homer. I do appreciate silver lining & optimism, to a point where it's simply not realistic with how 98% of fans fan. It feels a bit righteous.

 

[navery12]

Likewise for a homer. I do appreciate silver lining & optimism, to a point where it's simply not realistic with how 98% of fans fan. It feels a bit righteous.

I'm not even talking about the first 2 paragraphs, that's all perfectly reasonable. Especially for someone who is very clearly not a UConn fan.

But you're asking what players have developed this season. I suggest you read your posts about our players from the first month and then what you're saying now. You spent the first month absolutely trashing Silas Demary Jr. You spent the first 2 months destroying Tarris Reed Jr and now are calling him the key to a championship. But now that it's convenient for you nobody has developed and everyone still sucks

 

[Mr. French]

This post checks out for someone with the memory span of about 2 hours

The next thread about the opposite thing he’ll have an opposing take. Just whatever comes to his mind at that moment is a definitive statement.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

What are you talking about rock bottom? We’re in march.

I mean we could have a short March.

It wouldn't be out of character for this team to underperform and lose against a double digit seed. After competing for a 1 seed most of the season, that would be a rock-bottom finish.

 

[TroyHall98]

Has Dan Hurley lost this team? They pulled out an absolute stinker of a game where they were playing for, at worst, a share of the BE regular season championship. I’m going to get killed for asking it but it needs to be asked.

Maybe the question should be has the team lost Hurley? He is clearly frustrated with them.

 

[DW1361]

Marquette was the better team yesterday by far. Playing UConn at home on senior day with fans going crazy and nothing to lose. They played for pride whereas we played like the game didn’t matter. The loss hurts them big time, but I think they will stand up and play intense for the tournament.

 

[FearThePups]

In a world where Karaban, Ball, and Mullins shot 6 for 31 and we stop feeding Reed in the post

Did the team and Hurley forget what Danny said just last week about Tarris being the North Star for our success the rest of the way?

 

[connVA]

Have to pay attention to how the other top 10 teams performed the weekend. This was a very bad loss and could drop us to a 3 seed. I believe if we get to the BET final with SJU and win then it would be hard for them to deny us a 2 seed. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be surprised if they drop us to a 3 seed.

Good lord we’re not dropping to a 3. Come on people

 

[djct1999]

I kind of skipped ahead in the thread but I really can’t stand people saying the head coach “can’t make an open shot or play D”. That’s such a classic head in the sand response. It is the coach’s job to make sure his team is ready to do those things. Dan Hurley is 150% aware of this. He doesn’t make excuses and you don’t have to either. He builds and develops the team. The buck stops with him and he’s always embraced that. He’s a great coach with a flawed team again this year. He will seek to build a better mousetrap for next season.

Despite all that, this team has the horses to go very deep in the tourney. If there’s a coaching staff to make it happen, we’ve got it. We need to shoot well, we need to feed the post and Tarris has to convert. We also need to make free throws. It’s a big ask but it’s possible.

What team isn’t flawed? This team is 27-4 and has won as many Q1 non conference games as just about anyone. The lack of perspective is dumbfounding. The entitlement on here especially after a loss even more so.

 

[connVA]

I guess that's their (and your) right. If people can't enjoy a 27-4 season because they can feel a loss coming in the Elite 8 or Final 4 I think that's really sad, but to each their own. That seems like a miserable way to go through life as a sports fan

Can’t speak for everyone else but I’m just pissed that a smarmy schmuck like Pitino now has gloating rights over sole possession of the BE regular season title two years in a row when this game should have been a formality. Clearly Dan Hurley is as well. I suspect the team will be fine for the Dance but I hope they come into the BE tourney with a chip on their shoulder the size of a boulder.

 

[FearThePups]

It's just so strange he hasn't corrected it in two seasons and he didn't fix the issue with the freshmen coming in for next season either.

For such a smart and great coach it makes no sense.

There’s only so much Danny and the coaching staff can do to convince the elite high schoolers to come to Storrs. Despite the fact we are a blue blood, the very best kids want to go elsewhere Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, et al, hence their rosters are full of burger boys. We may have gotten Acaden Lewis if we didn’t sign Smith, or prioritized Acuff or Darius Adams or another impactful freshmen instead of the Aiden Mchaney/ Ahmad Nowell level of talent.

 

[FearThePups]

I’m salty, but I believe there was some ego involved in regards to just having a system and culture that was superior. He waxed poetically about it to anyone who would listen. But you still need versatile players within that system. We went from having starting lineups with two or three creators to really a lineup with none last year and one this year. You can run the greatest stuff in the world, but you still need players who can make some plays and get down hill. Some said earlier, why didn’t we penetrate and go to the hoop more since our shots weren’t falling? Simple answer is we can’t.

Boy, you nailed it.

 

[Kowalski]

It's because of how we look. We played our best basketball three months/three months+ ago and we just played our worst basketball of the season to a 11-19 team to lose the Big East (a conference that is worse than any of us expected going into the season.) The team had three goals to start the season and they just failed at the first one. The record isn't going to matter unless we bring home some hardware.

I think a lot of fans feel how Dauster feels about this team, I know I do.

Dauster’s theory about Hurley’s technical being a reflection of a deeper inner dispair about the team’s longer term aspirations was laughable. It can’t just be that he was emotional about the call & losing the chance for a top seed? Spare us the amature psychoanalysis. We get enough of these despondent overreactions on this board.

After the game, would have been great to hear more from these guys about how Marquette’s zone frustrated UConn & what the staff can or should do going forward.

 

[superjohn]

Dauster’s theory about Hurley’s technical being a reflection of a deeper inner dispair about the team’s longer term aspirations was laughable. It can’t just be that he was emotional about the call & losing the chance for a top seed? Spare us the amature psychoanalysis. We get enough of these despondent overreactions on this board.

After the game, would have been great to hear more from these guys about how Marquette’s zone frustrated UConn & what the staff can or should do going forward.

You think it was just about being emotional about the call and losing the chance for a top seed???

 

[Kowalski]

You think it was just about being emotional about the call and losing the chance for a top seed???

Yes, angry about the call & losing a game that cost UConn a share of the conference title and a top seed.

 

[superjohn]

Yes, angry about the call & losing a game that cost UConn a share of the conference title and a top seed.

So it was more than that.

 

[TroyHall98]

So it was more than that.

Yes, it was way more than that. Players and coaches are not on the same page. That is the only way you lose a game with so much on the line against a team that has struggled all season.

 

[Stinger92860]

The one thing I am most shocked about yesterday was no adjustments by anyone, staff or players. I think Silas understood he needed to take it to the hoop, Ross picked up his energy after his first rotation, but that’s all i got.

 

[uconn_jack]

It's because of how we look. We played our best basketball three months/three months+ ago and we just played our worst basketball of the season to a 11-19 team to lose the Big East (a conference that is worse than any of us expected going into the season.) The team had three goals to start the season and they just failed at the first one. The record isn't going to matter unless we bring home some hardware.

I think a lot of fans feel how Dauster feels about this team, I know I do.

In his video before this he was also quick to point out that he is completely spoiled with expectations and that for any reasonable person, being a top 10 team with a 27-4 record beating the OOC teams that we did would be considered a very successful season. Every single one of us here would have signed up for that in a heartbeat at the beginning of the season. I know there are high expectations for UConn and that most sports fans simply are not reasonable people, but this sky is falling attitude from arm chair coaches is really disappointing. Yes the team and coaches have flaws, everyone does, but they are still pretty damn good .

 

[superjohn]

In his video before this he was also quick to point out that he is completely spoiled with expectations and that for any reasonable person, being a top 10 team with a 27-4 record beating the OOC teams that we did would be considered a very successful season. Every single one of us here would have signed up for that in a heartbeat at the beginning of the season. I know there are high expectations for UConn and that most sports fans simply are not reasonable people, but this sky is falling attitude from arm chair coaches is really disappointing. Yes the team and coaches have flaws, everyone does, but they are still pretty damn good .

Yes, I posted that video as well. Our record is great but it doesn't feel good because we're playing our worst ball at the end of the season except for the St. John's game and we lost the Big East regular season. It feels like we can beat anyone outside of maybe the top 3 teams but it also feels like we could lose to anyone.

 

[uconn_jack]

Marquette was the better team yesterday by far. Playing UConn at home on senior day with fans going crazy and nothing to lose. They played for pride whereas we played like the game didn’t matter. The loss hurts them big time, but I think they will stand up and play intense for the tournament.

Playing like that at home would have had a shot at beating AZ, Duke, or MI too if those teams has bad shooting nights like we did.

Even though this team does play down to their competition, they played with energy and decent focus the first half. Not sure why that waned in second.

They almost seem bored playing in the Big East, especially after a marquee, exciting, and successful November-December slate. I almost can't blame them, I haven't found it particularly engaging either, playing so many games with little upside for winning but major downside for losing. I think Hurley should really try to spread out some big OOC games into January and February next year.

Marquette was very disappointing since they had the share of the BE title to play for, but I think the loss was an aberration to some extent due to horrendous shooting by us and out of their minds shooting by Marquette.

 

[Chonky]

Good lord we’re not dropping to a 3. Come on people

Unlikely? Yes. Out of the question? No.

ISU seems to be the consensus final 3 seed right now. They win B12 tourney. Strong tourney showings by MSU/Illinios/Houston so they don’t slip. We lose round one to X or Marquette? Absolutely a 3 is in play.

 

[Umami Zen]

Only saw first half due to a business associate's wife's wake. First half takeaways for me- Marq couldn't stop Tarris and UConn couldn't stop James. Marq seemed energized and hungrier-Senior Day/home town crowd.

Hurley is intent on living with 3 pt shooting. 3-24 isn't going to cut it. Any team can lose when your shooters aren't making shots. Unless you stay with what's working that particular game- Reed. Sometimes "open threes" are a defensive strategy from opponents until or if the shots start dropping. Watching replays of second half-Seemed like they wanted to eliminate Reed and see if our shooters could beat them.

New season- BET. Every team is 0-0. Lets start stacking some Ws. No choice. No more excuses.

 

[uconn_jack]

Unlikely? Yes. Out of the question? No.

ISU seems to be the consensus final 3 seed right now. They win B12 tourney. Strong tourney showings by MSU/Illinios/Houston so they don’t slip. We lose round one to X or Marquette? Absolutely a 3 is in play.

Do you mean consensus final 1-seed, because they aren't a 3-seed. Even then, no, FL is the likely 4th one seed at this point if not us. If FL flounders in their tourney and we win ours, I think 1-seed is still 50/50 on the table between us and FL. ISU would be just on the outside in either case and would only have a shot if they win theirs and both we and FL fall early on our tourneys.

If we S the bed in the opening BE tourney round and the likes of FL, ISU, UH, MSU, and maybe even Nebraska all close out strong and excel in their tourneys, MAYBE be get bumped to a 3, but unlikely enough would happen for that to happen.

And I know someone is going to say the committee doesn't care about conference tourneys, but with quite the bottleneck for the teams vying for the final 1-seed through 2-seeds, I think they will play a part this year and the committee with have some contingencies ready for several outcomes.