G-Town Game

22-19. It's a game.

Those 50-50 balls just seem to be bouncing away from MU. Smith-Rivera also got a prayer earlier.

Anybody here?

Too many turnovers...mostly unforced...Sandy makes a great steal and then misses a layup.....team looks nervous...

No flow to this game for MU on either end.

Shooting is a huge issue for this team.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Shooting is a huge issue for this team.

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Also turnovers and size - we're getting killed on the boards tonite.

VS

Ugly....nobody can score

43-37. Hanging in there.

MU within 2 - lets go!!!

JJJ has to start knocking those down - so damn close - thought that 3 was in.

No more fouls Luke!!!

Sweet Luke!!

Get JJJ back in...

Can't Luke come in on offense like we did with Gardner?

Ugly game but fun game to watch. Would be awesome to steal this one.

Meltdown - crap.

Just too many turnovers and missed shots.

Waaay to many unforced turnovers to win this game.

Defense is way ahead of the offense......Just no go to perimeter player.....JJJ just can't get a 3 to go down.....

Had chances tonight. Would have loved to have seen MU get the lead at least one time towards the end. Missed shots, unforced turnovers and bad decisions prevented that. Still looking for a kickout to a spot up shooter.

Luke was impressive going against some big beefy guys. Taylor with some nice moves, although like Donny Marshall said, Taylor needs to pull up on those 8 footers and not force it down lowagainst 3 guys. JJJ could be this team's X factor - clean up the handle and knock those wide open jump shots - he works hard to get so wide open but just misses those jumpers.

Brando and Marshall were a good duo - haven't heard them together before.

Got to get more then 2 rebounds out of Luke though

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Originally Posted by CaribouJim

Luke was impressive going against some big beefy guys. Taylor with some nice moves, although like Donny Marshall said, Taylor needs to pull up on those 8 footers and not force it down lowagainst 3 guys. JJJ could be this team's X factor - clean up the handle and knock those wide open jump shots - he works hard to get so wide open but just misses those jumpers.

Brando and Marshall were a good duo - haven't heard them together before.

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Brando was awful. He kept calling players "Taylor" who aren't named Taylor. He had no clue was the refs were reviewing during the lengthy review. He went on and on about a "resurgence" in DePaul basketball, etc. etc. etc.

He's usually better than that, but he wasn't tonight.

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Originally Posted by CaribouJim

Brando and Marshall were a good duo - haven't heard them together before.

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I'm glad Tim Brando is on FS1. Has a great show from 9am to 12pm on Sirius XM. Made some name mistakes, but who doesn't. There human.

What are your guys thoughts as to why Luke isnt getting more touches? Wojo, the players, Luke, the announcers, even us idiot fans all know that he needs more touches - what is happening throughout the game that we aren't able to get him more involved?

I like the action when he sets the wing screen and then rolls to the bucket and the ball is swung to the top of the key hoping Luke can seal his man for a high/low entry feed but other than that it doesnt seem like we run a ton of action to get him touches or am I missing something?

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Originally Posted by WindyCityGoldenEagle

What are your guys thoughts as to why Luke isnt getting more touches? Wojo, the players, Luke, the announcers, even us idiot fans all know that he needs more touches - what is happening throughout the game that we aren't able to get him more involved?

I like the action when he sets the wing screen and then rolls to the bucket and the ball is swung to the top of the key hoping Luke can seal his man for a high/low entry feed but other than that it doesnt seem like we run a ton of action to get him touches or am I missing something?

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I think defenses are doing everything they can to deny him the ball because he is clearly our best player. And they also attack him on the other end to try to get him into foul trouble.

For one night only I would have loved have Davante back so he could have went toe to toe vs the big center they have.....would have been quite the battle of the bodies.

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Originally Posted by WindyCityGoldenEagle

What are your guys thoughts as to why Luke isnt getting more touches? Wojo, the players, Luke, the announcers, even us idiot fans all know that he needs more touches - what is happening throughout the game that we aren't able to get him more involved?

I like the action when he sets the wing screen and then rolls to the bucket and the ball is swung to the top of the key hoping Luke can seal his man for a high/low entry feed but other than that it doesnt seem like we run a ton of action to get him touches or am I missing something?

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With the way defenses are keying on Luke (and rightfully so), we need to be more creative in finding entry points to pass it into him. Also, I would not mind seeing him flash to the FT line and even take a couple of 8-10 footers. Also, need Luke to do a better job of knocking down his FT's (and expect for him to be a 70-75 percent from the line).

I love college basketball, but the overall lack of fundamental skills is a constant aggravation - specifically the lack of jump shooting. Not slamming Juan, he's a great kid who busts his ass, I love him. But how many times in a game must he shot fake? He took a shot fake tonight (off a turnover maybe?) where there was nobody within 10 feet of him! He even hit a 3, yet still has no confidence to shoot the ball. And I'm not talking about 3's, I'm talking about the mid-range game. There are plenty of examples: passing up a 3, driving the lane as Smith stepped up. Rather than jump stop and shoot over him, he plows into him and turns it over. Then the possession after the referee review late in the game was hard to watch. Juan gets the ball in a position to spin to the basket and take a 10 foot jump shot for the lead. Instead, doesn't even cross his mind. Pass to Duane, one of his multiple travels before putting the ball on the floor. Nothing more important than taking care of the ball and there were a lot of careless decisions tonight. Frustrating - game was there to steal and couldn't do it.

Having said that, this is a thin roster and they played their asses off. Very entertaining game. Rest up and get revenge against Creighton!

I think all three have a lot of potential, but Duane, JuJuan, and Sandy better put on at least 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season. They have to get stronger, be stronger with the ball to reduce TO's, and be able to absorb contact so they can finish at the basket and hold defenders off them in traffic. For all of Derrick's shortcomings (and btw, he's easily playing the best ball of his MU career of late), he's strong with the ball and able to absorb contact. If we had a full roster, Sandy would have been an ideal candidate to redshirt.

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Originally Posted by DCwarrior

I think all three have a lot of potential, but Duane, JuJuan, and Sandy better put on at least 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season. They have to get stronger, be stronger with the ball to reduce TO's, and be able to absorb contact so they can finish at the basket and hold defenders off them in traffic. For all of Derrick's shortcomings (and btw, he's easily playing the best ball of his MU career of late), he's strong with the ball and able to absorb contact. If we had a full roster, Sandy would have been an ideal candidate to redshirt.

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Sounds alot like Vander Blue, circa his Freshman and Sophomore years.

This team certainly cannot be described as physical in any way. Does affect how things play out in games. Great effort, but just smaller and less physically strong than most teams. Derrick is an exception as he sometimes looks like a 6'1" PF when rebounding! Team-wise though, physicality is not there.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

This team certainly cannot be described as physical in any way. Does affect how things play out in games. Great effort, but just smaller and less physically strong than most teams. Derrick is an exception as he sometimes looks like a 6'1" PF when rebounding! Team-wise though, physicality is not there.

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...and yet but for some knuckle-headed decision making that last 1:43 they could have pulled it out on the road. The Vander comparisons are apropos for Duane and JJJ. As far as Derrick - he is due for one those crazy DJ blocks.

All in all, I remain very optimistic for the future including this year!

While I am never happy after a MU loss, I think Georgetown is good, and we battled with a chance to win at the end on the road. MU is playing the zone defense well. If Luke can cut back on his foul trouble, MU might pull out games like this later this season.

Watching the game I couldn't help but think Luke's shoulder is still not 100%. He goes up for rebounds with 1 hand and doesn't extend fully on many of his shots....at least it looked that way to me.

I wonder if it will ever heal on its own or if surgery will be needed?

Or maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there.

There were two plays in the second half that were almost identical. Juan on the wing/baseline, drives the lane, Luke seals out the fat man to give Juan a clear path. Both times, Smith shoves, literally shoves, Luke out of the way. The first time resulted in Juan being called for a charge, the second time Juan drew a foul on the shot.

Shows you how physical Gtown is and they continue to play that way until the whistle shows them to stop playing that way.