Proof Why MU Fans Hate Tim Higgins and Jim Burr

This is straight up highway robbery.  Twitter is going nuts and Simmons/Barstool turned me to listen to Mike Francesa of WFAN New York who is also going nuts. Marquette's faithful complains all the time about how bad Jim Burr/Tim Higgins are, here is one of the many reasons why. These men are old and need to retire. What an embarrassment for the Big East.  Dave Pasch called it right from the broadcast booth, great job by him.

Props to The Big Lead for the video already.

-Charlie.

The Much Needed Marquette Rant

This is the last time I was this mad at Marquette,
last season against DePaul  

"Could this be an overreaction where I laugh at myself in February?  Maybe, but I doubt at this juncture. The lack of effort, hustle, and defensive tenacity scares me because those are the things you do not see in the box score ,and usually those things are about the character of those student athletes more so than anything else."


I wrote that after the Marquette got beat by Wisconsin where they looked outmatched the entire game. Well it's the middle of February and I am not laughing at myself for thinking this way in December. It became the awkward gorilla in the living room for me because I wanted to believe their close losses would figure themselves out, yet they didn't it. Now, they have 11 losses overall and a ticket to bubble watch.  



The first three minutes of the second half against the St. John's Red Storm was so encouraging. After seeing Marquette lay 500 pound fart against Georgetown to lead off the second half, it seemed like they made a couple great halftime adjustments. Then things took a turn for the worse as the Johnnies kept attacking Marquette and finding easy buckets like Teen Wolf was on the roster.  There is so much blame to throw around at this time, and all of the guilty parties deserve it.  This is by far the ugliest lost of the season.  Let's just set up a laundry list of things to go over. 


1.) Dwight Buycks got exposed:  5'9 Malik Boothe exposed Buycks for being a phony at the point guard position. People feel I beat up on Buycks too much, which I admit was probably true and unneeded in the month of January. But after the last two games, I think it's deserving again.  Boothe ended being the X factor last night and the reason the Red Storm won.  Chris Wright of Georgetown must smell like pure garbage because that's the only way I could explain him being open the entire game... Oh wait, it's just Dwight with a lack of concepts on the defensive side of the basketball.  


2.) Live by the Press, Die by the Press: I will admit, I love when teams press. It's a great thing to use, but not every team is Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of hell teams where you press the entire game. Coaches have to condition their players in order to effectively play in that style of defense. Marquette didn't prepare the guys in the preseason therefore these players are dead tired by the 10 minute mark because they are pressing the whole game. Why do you think they miss all the late game free throws? They have no knees left to shoot the ball. 


That's why they couldn't mount a comeback against the Hoyas or the Johnnies. Also let's remember Mr. Williams, the last two teams didn't have D3 quality guards playing in their backcourt. The press is good in doses for teams like Marquette, it is not a full time thing. Buzz is Gollum, and his precious is the press. If they want to win, they need to scale it back.  


3.) Soft: Simply put, this team is full of mental midgets. Yes, they have made some great comebacks this season and play with some grit.  But they do not have that one bad ass motha that can take over the game like Jerel, Zar, Wes, and Dom all did during their time at Marquette. I stand by my statement that Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder, and Darius Johnson-Odom all have the ability to hit a big shot, no question about that. But none of those guys have the ability to tell the rest of the team that they are getting the damn ball on every possession. This leads to indecision in late game situations. Everyone wants to be man, but they are afraid of what others will think about their outspoken behavior. Someone even Buycks for all I care grab this team by the balls and become a leader.   


Don't think for one second I have given up on the season.  I want to see this team improve and win out until April, but I am pissed. I am mad that this team is playing under its potential and I expect better. I still think they will make the NCAA Tournament because the field is more diluted then the mixed drinks at some bars here in Eau Claire. I am in town this weekend and if I get offered a chance to see them go up against Seton Hall, you bet I am going.


Cheering like a mad man because I know this team can be better.   


-Charlie.  

The Return of St. John's

I thought I would take a close look at the St. John's Red Storm after the 17 point upset of UConn last night.

I'll start by saying that Lavin made the right choice by coming to St. John's University. To me, it's easy to see that this school can recruit itself. These players can either stay close to home or come from out of state to play in the Garden a.k.a. the Mecca of basketball. They also get to play for a well known and good coach in Lavin.

In brief, I think St. John's is for real this year. They are just 6-5 in the Big East but they have plenty of quality victories. They beat then #3 Duke by 15 points. They've beaten both Notre Dame and Georgetown at home. Then, like I said, they beat the Connecticut Huskies last night by 17.

I think this team gets its advantage with leadership. A senior-laden group led by guard Dwight Hardy who is averaging 16.6 points per game after his 33 against UConn last night. Hardy also dropped 26 on America's Duke Blue Devils.

The Storm also have some decent post play with Justin Brownlee grabbing five boards a game and shooting 49% from the field and the big-bodies in Justin Burrell (not the Justin Borrell we all love) and Sean Evans coming off the bench.

Dwight Hardy and The Storm will be dancing come March.

They have a pretty favorable Big East schedule for the stretch run that will help their case. They get Pitt just once this year and it's at home. The toughest game other than that will be the trip to Villanova on Feb. 26th.

I could see the Storm making a push into the Sweet 16 but then again, they might be one of those teams that get all this hype and become the "sexy pick" just to lay an egg to a team like VCU or Valparaiso. We'll have to wait and see what they do, on their home floor, in Big East tournament to get a good indicator.

-Mikko