Quick thoughts ...

[farmerdoc]

The TV guys were commenting on MU's short bench, and I am sure I heard them say MU currently only has 3 guys on its' bench. I found it curious at the time, but maybe it is more than that. Did they find out something about John's future? Just speculating, but...?

[CaribouJim]

The TV guys were commenting on MU's short bench, and I am sure I heard them say MU currently only has 3 guys on its' bench. I found it curious at the time, but maybe it is more than that. Did they find out something about John's future? Just speculating, but...?

He was in his sweats so maybe they didn't notice him, but were his sweats the same as the rest of the team - looked like a different shade of blue?

[dubs98]

The TV guys were commenting on MU's short bench, and I am sure I heard them say MU currently only has 3 guys on its' bench. I found it curious at the time, but maybe it is more than that. Did they find out something about John's future? Just speculating, but...?

When they panned over there were only three on the bench. Not sure where Derrick was, but he wasn't on the bench (it was early before he had entered.). Maybe he was on the bike warming up? Anyways, the three they mentioned included Dawson I believe.

[TheSultan]

Everybody seems to love the guy that is on the end of the bench. But really, outside of 10 minutes against Georgetown, John Dawson hasn't shown he can play at this level. At least not yet. Buzz knew it. Looks like Wojo does too. Matt V. tweeted at halftime that, based on his observations of practice, that Dawson seemed like the odd man out at guard. That clearly seems to be the case.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

1) We looked great when the game was over: OSU was up 16, at that point we finally started making 3's. 4/4 from beyond the arc in the last 8 minutes. Needed Sandy, Duane, and Jajuan to hit from long range much earlier to keep us in the game.

2) Derrick is a contributor: He's better when he can play with another guard that provides offense. He had a great entry pass to Steve against the zone and some others that didn't get finished. And he finally hit a three. He's not ideal, but playing alongside Carlino in this system suits him much better than playing alongside Jake in Buzz's system.

3) The defense is a work in progress: At least I hope it is. Part of that was Amir Williams & Trey McDonald destroying us on the interior (8/8 between them) but OSU was simply hitting everything. We limited second chance points far better than I expected, but it didn't matter much because they kept scoring on the first chance. Surprised to not see full court press out of us. Shannon Scott also decimated us.

4) I like Carlino: His shooting percentages aren't really there yet, but I think he's the type of player this team needs. Does a good job of distributing and creating while also being able to hit a shot. I feel pretty confident we'll see him win us some games.

5) Steve looks great: There were some obvious mistakes, some shots that you simply can't miss, but physically he's in great shape. He's miscast right now as a center. I think when Luke comes back, we'll really see him be able to play well. 20 points/7 rebounds tonight and I truly feel he's capable of more.

[MUfan12]

Agree on 1 and 2.

3) If MU would have pressed, they would have had their doors blown off. I didn't like the extended halfcourt defense. With the thin bench and lack of size, they are better suited playing more of a containment defense.

4) He has value offensively, but can't guard his own shadow.

5) Steve had a nice scoring night. Defensively he looked totally confounded by a simple pick and roll.

I'll add

6) Deonte needs to get his mind right and be engaged from the start. They have no chance of doing anything this year if he plays like he has the first two games.

[dw3dw3dw3]

Lot's of good looks. Liked the zone offense, but if there is going to be no dribble penetration, we've got to be great at getting the ball to the flasher, it seemed overly difficult at times.

Interesting the off-season skill work seems to be paying off in the skill department, but the guys just seem dog tired. Yes there is a short bench, but JJ and DB were slow getting back from their first minutes. I know the boot camp thing was overplayed, but there was a focus on conditioning. Seems like there might be a trade-off.

They didn't seem to be pressing or trapping that hard, more of a containment type of thing. Would have liked to see Duane have the opportunity to just bust through it a few times and see what happens. We let it be known early on that we were going to be conservative against it and that it was ok to start the half court offense with 26 seconds on the clock.

Defensively, just not good, lots and lots of room for improvement. I don't like the pressure with the short bench and small team either.

[Nukem2]

Lets face it, this is truly a rebuilding year. Need to have a lot of patience with this group.

[dw3dw3dw3]

I'm still optimistic that a top 4 finish is possible. Throw in an improbable but possible win vs Mich St or Wisc without Luke and we are on the right side of the bubble without any other major hiccups. Probably overly optimistic, but there's something to work with this year. Last year just had a different feeling from early on.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I'm still optimistic that a top 4 finish is possible. Throw in an improbable but possible win vs Mich St or Wisc without Luke and we are on the right side of the bubble without any other major hiccups. Probably overly optimistic, but there's something to work with this year. Last year just had a different feeling from early on.

Michigan State maybe, but my hope is more that we beat Georgia Tech, Arizona State, and whomever we play third in Orlando, likely Santa Clara or Tennessee. Avoid a major slip, go 9-3 in the non-conference, then any winning Big East record will at least have us on the bubble. Probably need to sweep Creighton and Butler, then go 6-8 against the rest of the league. Not impossible.