Game thread - MU vs Xavier

[CaribouJim]

I think we will get manhandled by teams with strong offensive front courts. I see many head scratching moments and inconsistent play occurring next year. At this point I'd expect a similar record to this year unless Duane can grab mins from Derrick and our front court finds a defensive identity in a hurry.

I can see a starting lineup come Big East play with Deonte @ 3, Steve 4, Luke 5, Todd 2, 1 TBD. I'm assuming Steve will be healthy - I sure hope so.

[MU/Panther]

First time this year, I am mad at Buzz for not playing Burton in the final 7 minutes. He said because of defense.

[warriorfan4life]

Best part about Burton is that he will be here at least three years because he's only 6-4. I think he a chance to make the NBA despite his size, but he may already be on his way there if he as 6-6/6-7

[CaribouJim]

First time this year, I am mad at Buzz for not playing Burton in the final 7 minutes. He said because of defense.

So it wasn't an injury?

[kneelb4zerg]

So it wasn't an injury?

I was just lifting speculation from Scoop. Could have been way off.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Sorry the hamster in my head is running on empty- you think we will be considerably worse next year?

I can see this team taking another step back. We are losing 56% of our scoring and 51% of our rebounding. We will have 2 guys over 6'6", one of whom is still struggling with schemes and the other won't play a minute of basketball for Marquette until December. And while we are adding some shooters, we are also losing our best three-point shooter as 65.6% of our three-point makes are leaving.

I'm sure there will be a lot of people trying to compare next year's team to Lazar and the midgets. But there are two things that team had that this team doesn't. The first is a frontcourt of Lazar and Jimmy. I love Steve and Juan, but neither have shown themselves to be at that level. Going into that year, Lazar was a proven star and Jimmy had the look of someone who could be really good. The second is three-point shooting. Lazar, Acker, Cooby, DJO, you could count on all of them to knock down a three at a very high rate. I don't see one guy on next year's team that can do that.

Hopefully I'm just overreacting and trying to prepare myself for a down year. Maybe Todd and Deonte can shoulder the scoring load, maybe Duane and Ahmed can give us some legit outside shooting threats, maybe Fischer will step in from day one and be the offensive/defensive combo center that Gardner and Otule were only in one person. But I think that's a lot to ask from a team that will have 9 freshmen and sophomores.

The years after I see being bright. I think 2015-16 and beyond we should see this team get back to where we want them to be. But next year? I'm already worried that we're really going to miss the guys that are graduating.

[CaribouJim]

I was just lifting speculation from Scoop. Could have been way off.

That's fine.

So IF it was for defense were Deonte's defensive assignments scoring at a rate of a point a minute like Deonte was?

I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. Xavier had not yet come close to solving Deonte.

I love Buzz - I think he is the 2nd best coach ever for MU and he is young enough to move into #1 down the road. But this year has been filled with head scratching.

I just wonder if a Travis Diener or a Steve Novak would have had substantive minutes with this team as freshmen - a .500 team.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

And frankly, if it was for defense, it didn't work. Here are the Xavier possessions once Burton came out:

5:28 - Philmore made layup
4:35 - Stainbrook made layup
3:32 - Stainbrook 2/2 free throws
2:32 - Christon missed three
1:31 - Martin 2/2 free throws
0:49 - Martin 2/2 free throws

And that was the last time we played them straight up on defense. 5/6 trips resulted in a score, and 10 points on 6 trips good for 1.67 points per possession. While we did score 5/6 ourselves, getting a robust 12 points, we really needed a stop and just couldn't get it.

[TheSultan]

Dawson dad is the one who said Jamil is hurt not Buzz....Complaining again on twitter about his kid not getting more minutes

Well Mr. Dawson, when your kid comes in and takes an NBA range 3 pointer the first time he touches the ball...and later in the half just runs over the biggest and slowest player Xavier has, you aren't going to see much more of the floor. (Just stop and take the jumper at the FT line.)

It is painfully obvious why John Dawson doesn't play more. Like a lot of freshmen, his decision making is very much questionable. And if you aren't giving much upside, I can see why Buzz went with Mayo as basically his back up point.

[TheSultan]

First time this year, I am mad at Buzz for not playing Burton in the final 7 minutes. He said because of defense.

You know, I didn't realize that Burton wasn't in the last seven minutes until I read this. Yeah, I am not sure about that decision. Especially since Jake wasn't doing much of anything on either end of the floor.