Game thread....

[mufansince72]

Demand to be covered on defense? Did you watch yesterday at all? Villanova staying in man allowed them to cover Jake Thomas all day to take him away as a three-point threat. In addition, Villanova stayed up on Derrick throughout the game, not sagging off him as most teams have done as they shift into a zone. Our offense was NOT the problem. Villanova DID cover our guards. That's why Davante was able to have a field day in the paint. That's why Jamil was able to be efficient. That's why Mayo was able to score effectively all day.

Jesus, you'd think every single game is the exact same reading these posts. 'Nova did cover our two starting guards and that allowed the rest of our team to score on them nearly at will. Oh, and Derrick also had 7 assists and 5 rebounds to go along with his 6 points. Did those points created and possessions won not help our offense? Yes, Jake had a forgettable game, but it was because Villanova made him a defensive priority. It's not like he went 0/10 from the field, he only had 2 shots because they were staying close to him and not allowing him to get free shots.

Bottom line is our guards are not good enough! They may be nice standup kids, but they are not good enough to be playing extended minutes in major D1 Basketball.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Bottom line is our guards are not good enough! They may be nice standup kids, but they are not good enough to be playing extended minutes in major D1 Basketball.

No, the bottom line is it's about damn time people start accepting that this team is what it is. Playing Dawson and JJJ wouldn't have fixed the problems yesterday. Most of the complaints about Derrick yesterday that I've read seem to have been written by people that had no concept of what he provided to the team yesterday. It gets really annoying to see people make the same negative arguments when those arguments do not even remotely relate to reality. Derrick was good yesterday. He demanded coverage from the defense and kept the offense functioning. Buzz himself said after the game that yesterday might have been our best offensive performance of the season. Yet all we hear is how the defense was able to ignore Derrick, how Dawson's offense would have improved our odds of winning, and how we didn't do enough on the offensive end.

Derrick was very good on the offensive end yesterday. He missed a few bunnies, but he distributed well, was aggressive on the boards, and had our offense humming smoothly. Further, he didn't force his shot, doing a good job of taking what the defense game him. If he had any failing, it was that he was abused on defense, but my guess is had we played Dawson, he'd have been abused even worse by Archie and the rest of 'Nova's talented backcourt.

[BLT]

Bottom line, it was a great college game. Sometimes you have to just give credit to the better team. On the road, Nova just stepped into their shots and nailed them. And then when MU started to overplay the perimeter, Nova successfully attacked the paint.

Jay Wright and Buzz were two of the best offensive coaches in the old BE. They are the top in the new. It was fun seeing each team's plays being executed out of each time out, each time, players got good looks. A chess game.

[bleedbluegold03]

No, the bottom line is it's about damn time people start accepting that this team is what it is. Playing Dawson and JJJ wouldn't have fixed the problems yesterday. Most of the complaints about Derrick yesterday that I've read seem to have been written by people that had no concept of what he provided to the team yesterday. It gets really annoying to see people make the same negative arguments when those arguments do not even remotely relate to reality. Derrick was good yesterday. He demanded coverage from the defense and kept the offense functioning. Buzz himself said after the game that yesterday might have been our best offensive performance of the season. Yet all we hear is how the defense was able to ignore Derrick, how Dawson's offense would have improved our odds of winning, and how we didn't do enough on the offensive end.

Derrick was very good on the offensive end yesterday. He missed a few bunnies, but he distributed well, was aggressive on the boards, and had our offense humming smoothly. Further, he didn't force his shot, doing a good job of taking what the defense game him. If he had any failing, it was that he was abused on defense, but my guess is had we played Dawson, he'd have been abused even worse by Archie and the rest of 'Nova's talented backcourt.

our starting backcourt had 6 points in 65 minutes played. Nova's starting backcourt had 40 points.

[kneelb4zerg]

our starting backcourt had 6 points in 65 minutes played. Nova's starting backcourt had 40 points.

And our front court scored a ton of points. 'Twas Buzz's rather obvious game plan, and the reason Dawson got yanked when he started jacking out of control threes.

[bleedbluegold03]

And our front court scored a ton of points. 'Twas Buzz's rather obvious game plan, and the reason Dawson got yanked when he started jacking out of control threes.

Dawson shot 2 threes, making 1 of them

[kneelb4zerg]

Dawson shot 2 threes, making 1 of them

The one he missed was a terrible shot taken without running the offense. How I remember it at least.

[Markedman]

It also occurs to me that if Chris and/or Taylor had not missed easy layups out of perfect half court offensive sets we might be talking about what a great win it was yesterday instead of how bad Derrick and Jake were.......

[Markedman]

it was...but in fairness anybody can take a bad shot(Jamil took a similar 3...patted himself on the chest afterwards as if to say "my bad"......................freshmen get yanked for them.

The one he missed was a terrible shot taken without running the offense. How I remember it at least.

[mufansince72]

No, the bottom line is it's about damn time people start accepting that this team is what it is. Playing Dawson and JJJ wouldn't have fixed the problems yesterday. Most of the complaints about Derrick yesterday that I've read seem to have been written by people that had no concept of what he provided to the team yesterday. It gets really annoying to see people make the same negative arguments when those arguments do not even remotely relate to reality. Derrick was good yesterday. He demanded coverage from the defense and kept the offense functioning. Buzz himself said after the game that yesterday might have been our best offensive performance of the season. Yet all we hear is how the defense was able to ignore Derrick, how Dawson's offense would have improved our odds of winning, and how we didn't do enough on the offensive end.

Derrick was very good on the offensive end yesterday. He missed a few bunnies, but he distributed well, was aggressive on the boards, and had our offense humming smoothly. Further, he didn't force his shot, doing a good job of taking what the defense game him. If he had any failing, it was that he was abused on defense, but my guess is had we played Dawson, he'd have been abused even worse by Archie and the rest of 'Nova's talented backcourt.

If we had better guards, we would not be talking about this. Derrick is fine in small doses. Jake would be good coming in for a couple minutes to come off of screens to shoot some threes. They are not good enough to play 60 plus minutes against good D1 teams. You can tell me how much you love Derrick Wilson all you want. I'm not saying MU would have won if Dawson played more. I'm saying Derrick is what he is, and is not good enough! I think Dawson can be good enough and he should be given the opportunity to develop! That may mean a few more turnovers. It may mean slightly worse defense. So what! I think the potential offensive output is worth it.