Concerned about Marquette...

[A Clockwork Orange]

Make no mistake, they will be amped to play this game. That team has gone off the rails lately, and they will be supremely focused for this game. Win this, and they'll stay in the top 25. They also play a brand of basketball SU has typically had a tough time with. Last year I thought they were Pitt Lite with the way they played. Tough, hard nosed, Buzz Williams basketball.

Obviously we have a great team, but I think Marquette will give the 'Cuse all it can handle this weekend. Especially if they follow Providence's game plan. Push at every opportunity, don't let the zone get set and get to the middle where you take it directly into whomever our center is.

For all of the Friars poor play, they broke down the zone effectively by making sure they played as many offensive possessions in transition or secondary transition, thereby eliminating SU's dominance when set in the zone.

I'll be happy when this game is over because I think Marquette has a great chance at keeping this one close the whole way through.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Go drink another pint of Moloko and RELAX. Marquette is toast. Our guys want this bad. And they are on our turf.

 

[Marsh01]

Make no mistake, they will be amped to play this game. /quote]

You dont think we will be amped to play? I think we run them off the floor.

 

[zeekay]

Beginning of the year I was concerned due to their high ranking, but having seen them actually play... meh. Competent Melo in the middle should be the difference from last year. They are a very high-effort team but size/talent is simply not there to beat us unless all 3 of Dion/KJo/Melo don't show up.

 

[pfister1]

Go drink another pint of Moloko and RELAX. Marquette is toast. Our guys want this bad. And they are on our turf.

This.

 

[texascpa]

We get it, we're concerned about every team we play. Every team will be amped and primed to go. We will lose if we aren't equally as focused.

As a side note, Providence didn't push crap, they played a slow-down game and hit a few long-range threes, without which we would have blown them out by 20+.

 

[orangehomer]

notice that everyone has some sort of bad feeling before every game. it doesnt matter. at this point we are trying to win the big east regular season and secure a 1 seed, and we have the team to do it. i have a news flash. we are going to lose. more than likely at least 3 times. it doesn't matter to who.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Of course we will be, and I do expect SU to win. I just think this game is going to be a lot closer then some folks think. Won't be a bad thing if it happens either, this team needs some experience in close games.

We tend to overrate our team when they're winning, and underrate them when they're losing. I don't think we're going undefeated in the Big East, and I don't think the only teams we'll lose to will be Louisville and UConn. We're going to lose 3 or 4 games, and I don't doubt for a second that a team like Marquette or Cincy are capable of beating us. I don't think it will happen at the dome, but stranger things have happened.

 

[DNABB5]

...we are going to lose

Nah...

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!!!

Still room on that 40-0 bandwagon, gentlemen.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

We get it, we're concerned about every team we play. Every team will be amped and primed to go. We will lose if we aren't equally as focused.

As a side note, Providence didn't push crap, they played a slow-down game and hit a few long-range threes, without which we would have blown them out by 20+.

Am I beating a dead horse or something? I haven't said this before. And they didn't play a slow down game, I'm not sure what you were watching.

Every time they could push they did, and it wasn't fast break pushing, it was pushing to get the ball moving before the zone got set. They beat SU down the court many times last night. No need to get all crazy, I simply posted that there's a good chance this game will be close. Apparently no one can say anything even remotely approaching trepidation about an upcoming game against a capable opponent. My apologies.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Go drink another pint of Moloko and RELAX. Marquette is toast. Our guys want this bad. And they are on our turf.

Not uptight, just stating the obvious. Marquette is a solid team (although not as good as we thought) and SU will have a battle on it's hands. That's it. I stated reasons why, and thought I stated them in a way that didn't bash the 'Cuse. I love this team, I just see this as being a tough game. Tough crowd here tonight, good Lord.

 

[omniorange]

I don't see any What losses prior to the Big East tourney. I only see 8 games where we will have less than an 80% chance of winning, 5 of which will be home games - Marquette, Pitt, Georgetown, Louisville and Connecticut and three road games Cincy, Louisville, and UConn.

Until last year, we had beaten Marquette everytime we faced them (4-0). The first two times weren't even close even though they were supposedly the better team each of those years. The next two times were extremely close, one of them going to OT where we pulled away. The loss during the regular season at their place last year was like the Friars game last night. We were great offensively, but didn't play well defensively and the referees called a ton of fouls on us and didn't call much on them at all. If iirc, they went to the foul-line 30+ times compared to about 12 times for us. Our assist to turnover ratio that game was also good as I recall.

The NCAA game was disappointing. Turnovers played a huge part of that game. And honestly, I thought they wanted it more than we did. They deserved that win.

Can we lose this game? Yes. But playing at home, considering how well we are protecting the ball this season as compared to last, and the fact that I am sure the players have had this game circled on their calendars for a while now leads me to believe we will this by double digits.

We remain susceptible to a loss against Pitt mainly due to their far superior rebounding. If we continue to have problems with our defensive rebounding, the Panthers will keep it close. Do I think we will win? Yes, I do. And we'll win big if we rebound better than we have been.

For me, this gets it basically down to 6 games, of which we could go 3-3 at worse or we could go 6-0 for an undefeated Big East regular season. Not sure that has ever been done before.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[cusetown1]

we are really still talking about 3 or 4 losses? good god.

 

[omniorange]

we are really still talking about 3 or 4 losses? good god.

While I'm not big on comparative seasons, I think we were all shell-shocked last season when we lost 4 in a row at about this time. This team is way better and the league overall isn't anywhere as good. But anything can happen. Still see us going 16-2, winning the BET, and then making at least the Final Four.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[texascpa]

Am I beating a dead horse or something? I haven't said this before. And they didn't play a slow down game, I'm not sure what you were watching.

Every time they could push they did, and it wasn't fast break pushing, it was pushing to get the ball moving before the zone got set. They beat SU down the court many times last night. No need to get all crazy, I simply posted that there's a good chance this game will be close. Apparently no one can say anything even remotely approaching trepidation about an upcoming game against a capable opponent. My apologies.

Not just you, but every game we have someone posting on how they're concerned about the team we're playing. And Providence definitely tried to slow the game down. They were constantly passing around the outside of the zone.

 

[Oakland]

Make no mistake, they will be amped to play this game. That team has gone off the rails lately, and they will be supremely focused for this game. Win this, and they'll stay in the top 25. They also play a brand of basketball SU has typically had a tough time with. Last year I thought they were Pitt Lite with the way they played. Tough, hard nosed, Buzz Williams basketball.

Obviously we have a great team, but I think Marquette will give the 'Cuse all it can handle this weekend. Especially if they follow Providence's game plan. Push at every opportunity, don't let the zone get set and get to the middle where you take it directly into whomever our center is.

For all of the Friars poor play, they broke down the zone effectively by making sure they played as many offensive possessions in transition or secondary transition, thereby eliminating SU's dominance when set in the zone.

I'll be happy when this game is over because I think Marquette has a great chance at keeping this one close the whole way through.

I feel better now.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

We will curb stomp Marquette.

 

[orangefan13]

Can we change the title to concerned about going undefeated.

Yeah alot of big east teams are going to decide to not play hard against us. Some of them don't want to prove they can beat the best team in the country. :crazy:
The same way come our first game in march. Whoever we get is just going to lay down to us. I am sure of it. :this paragraph was all sarcasm:

As for Marquette staying with us all game... We have gone on a nice run every game this year.

 

[SkanSU]

and you can expect every team that we play ... just about anyway ... to try to slow thegame down and keep the score in the 60's ... that way they avoid the big runs our transition produces. It will make for boring games for sure ... but Marquette winning in the Dome... Naw, ain't gonna happen. SU will open -7 1/2

 

[Gonzo]

IF Marquette's shots are falling, IF ours are not, AND we don't create many turnovers THEN the game should be close and we could lose. But you could say that for almost every team we play. This day will probably come at some point. But the big majority of the time, it won't

 

[Orangemen]

and you can expect every team that we play ... just about anyway ... to try to slow thegame down and keep the score in the 60's ... that way they avoid the big runs our transition produces. It will make for boring games for sure ... but Marquette winning in the Dome... Naw, ain't gonna happen. SU will open -7 1/2

I think your line prediction is pretty good. I would guess about -8.5, but I'm no expert in college bball lines.

 

[BlueCurtain]

I don't doubt for a second that a team like Marquette or Cincy are capable of beating us. I don't think it will happen at the dome, but stranger things have happened.

What would be so strange about losing in the Dome? SU has gone undefeated in the dome just once in 31 years.

 

[Knicks411]

and you can expect every team that we play ... just about anyway ... to try to slow thegame down and keep the score in the 60's ... that way they avoid the big runs our transition produces. It will make for boring games for sure ... but Marquette winning in the Dome... Naw, ain't gonna happen. SU will open -7 1/2

SU is going to open way more than 7.5, I'd bet. Pomeroy projects 80-68. I bet we open at least 10.

 

[shermstheman]

We get it, we're concerned about every team we play. Every team will be amped and primed to go. We will lose if we aren't equally as focused.

As a side note, Providence didn't push crap, they played a slow-down game and hit a few long-range threes, without which we would have blown them out by 20+.

PC did push- they took the break when it was there which was pretty frequently...part of the reason the score was so high. When it wasn't they worked it- sometimes too long for their own good. PC executed their game plan really good- kudos to the coach.

 

[texascpa]

PC did push- they took the break when it was there which was pretty frequently...part of the reason the score was so high. When it wasn't they worked it- sometimes too long for their own good. PC executed their game plan really good- kudos to the coach.

My idea of a team pushing is not just when it was available, but when it may not readily available as well. They are looking to push up the tempo. Yes, Prov drove it at times, but it seemed that unless it was obvious, they were content to pass it around the arc. I expect Marquette to push the temple more and kick out for threes.