2012-2013 College Basketball thread

[adamb100]

Marquette needs to wake up. Terrible start so far.

[brwrsfan]

They need to stop settling for jump shots. They can't make jump shots. Gardner has been open 3 times already without getting the ball. Their only chance to beat them is to pound it inside or penetrate through the zone. Settling for contested jumpers is a recipe for disaster.

 

Officials need to blow the whistle too, looked like a couple shooting fouls not called on the Syracuse bigs so far.

[adamb100]

Marquette has been unable to catch up.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ugh. Really sad to see that Marquette really wasn't able to give Syracuse a game. It would've at least been nice to go down fighting.

 

That said, they're in a really good position heading into next season with a very strong class coming in. The only problem area will be depth in the post & whether or not they can find someone to pair with Gardner (Steve Taylor?).

[DHonks]

So what do people think... Is Otule using his 6th year or is he going to try to turn pro and play in Europe since he's finally healthy?

[paul253]

I'm thinking OTule is gone and I think Buzz is planning on it. By my count they have 5 freshmen (Wilson, Burton, Johnson, McKay, and Dawson) coming in and only 3 scholarships (Lockett, Cadougan, Thomas) opening up so who knows whats going to happen. Maybe Mayo or someone else will end up leaving.

 

The issue I have with Buzz and MU is that he seems to recruit simply the best guys available instead of getting a balanced roster. If Chris OTule leaves next year the biggest guy they'll have is only 6'8'' (Gardner and McKay). Going small from time to time is one thing. Playing small the entire year is something else entirely. Similarly, a roster with 14 guys yet not one who can shoot. As much as I was rooting for them vs Syracuse I had absolutely no faith that they'd win because they have no shooters to attack the zone. I'm hoping the additions of Johnson and Wilson change that a bit but only time will tell.

 

Finally, if Buzz is still coach next year I hope he spends all offseason figuring out how to play against a zone. I swear if MU's opponents all played zone all the time this season they would not have even made the NCAA tournament. I've never seen a team so lost when it comes to playing against a zone.

[homer]

I think the real question is whether or not Buzz allows Otule to have a 6th year.

[LouisEly]

Marquette has two scholarships available now (only 11 current players on scholarship) - Thomas is either not on scholarship or is only on a one-year scholarship, thus why they have five guys signed for next year. I think it's 50/50 if Mayo comes back - he was on academic suspension at the beginning of the season, didn't see much playing time towards the end of the season, and will be competing with Johnson and Ferguson for backup SG minutes next year.

 

I think Buzz would love to have Otule back - he provides a great offensive/defensive platoon with Gardner. He's no slouch on the offensive end though - shot 63.4%, which would have ranked 7th in the nation if he had enough attempts to qualify. The problem is going to be two years from now, when Otule, Gardner, and Wilson will be gone. Taylor and McKay will be the only current players on the team 6'7" or taller. Any other players 6'7" or taller will be true freshmen or first-year transfers.

[paul253]

I think the real question is whether or not Buzz allows Otule to have a 6th year.

 

Buzz would be a fool not to allow Otule back. I actually think MU is be a top 10 team with him. Cadougan was solid and will be missed but he wasn't exactly an offensive threat. I've seen Duane Wilson play numerous times and he is an amazing player. He needs to put about 20lbs on but I'd guess he'll be the starting point guard by the time conference play starts. He is already better than Derrick Wilson, at least offensively. I never saw a game where he wasn't the best player on the court, and that includes the Germantown game. Add him with the additions of Johnson, McKay and Burton along with all the talent they have coming back, most notably Gardner, Jamil Wilson, and Vander Blue, and this may be the deepest and best team MU has had in a long time. They do need to dramatically improve their shooting though.

[razzzorsharp]

Just in case you want to see the injury...Warning, it's graphic.

 

http://imgur.com/6gWpoez

[TooLiveBrew]

Just in case you want to see the injury...Warning, it's graphic.

 

http://imgur.com/6gWpoez

Disclaimer: I don't mean for anything in this post to reflect in any way on razzzorsharp.

 

For anyone who hasn't yet seen the injury, and is anywhere close to "on the fence" about whether or not he/she wants to view it... DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK.

 

Otherwise, click away. NSFL warning has been given. It was a double compound fracture below the knee. And it was freakin' brutal. Worst injury I've ever personally seen in sports.

[homer]

Wow. I didn't see it live and didn't want to watch replays and now I'm glad I didn't. My friend and I were wondering how it could be worse than Theisman.

 

It's worse.

 

That still photo was enough for me. No need to see it. Although I am interested in how it happened...wasn't he by himself?

[TooLiveBrew]

Yes. He raced out from the top-of-TVp.o.v.-screen wing to challenge a 3-pt. attempt. He jumped, didn't block the shot, and landed on his right leg.

 

I don't know if he put extra torque on his lower leg in an attempt to not go flying off the raised floor, or what happened. But his lower leg just literally snapped in half.

 

Speculation I've read online from supposedly-qualified viewers (orthopedists, certified athletic trainers) ranges from "he must've had an existing, undiagnosed stress fracture" to "his bones could possibly have been weakened by an undiagnosed cancer." But everything I've read agrees that this was incredibly unusual/freak, and that it should be investigated much further (which I'm 100% certain is being done). Very unsettling.

[DHonks]

coaching JV Softball, I once had a girl cruise into second base. Immediately upon the front part of her foot hitting the bag, she collapsed due to some sort of catastrophic structural failure in her ankle. I think she broke it in several spots, with severe damage to the ligaments. That's the closest I've ever seen in person to this Louisville injury.

[LouisEly]

If anyone knows anybody who is looking for Final Four tickets, PM me ASAP. A really good friend of mine has two tickets for sale. Section 103 (lower level), less than what they are listed for in that section on Stub Hub. He will split Saturday and Monday.

[fondybrewfan]

Not cool for Marquette to be pulling Jake Thomas' scholly because they oversigned this year. I know a scholarship is not guaranteed for 4 years; but to get dispatched like that has got to be pretty rough. And now he has to sit out a year before he can play again. How is that fair?

[trwi7]

Not cool for Marquette to be pulling Jake Thomas' scholly because they oversigned this year. I know a scholarship is not guaranteed for 4 years; but to get dispatched like that has got to be pretty rough. And now he has to sit out a year before he can play again. How is that fair?

 

This wouldn't be a story if Michael Hunt wasn't an idiot and did some research.

 

"I met Jake and his family in May. They came back in June, he went to school in July. We had two scholarships open, and regardless of whether it's right or wrong, as best I can I want to treat kids the way that I would want somebody to treat my children.

 

"I think it's the right thing to do. I was very open and honest -- 'This is a one-year deal. You guys were going to pay your way. I can't use both of them now. This is the right thing to do. But don't have any misconceived ideas about why I'm doing it.'

 

"I'm not trying to make it out like, 'Look what I did.' It's the right thing to do, and let's move on."

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/129541808.html

[Funketown]

That sounds like a non-story to me. I think many teams have a guy who is aware that he'll be going year-to-year with the scholarship. As long as he knew the situation before he enrolled, which it seems clear he did, there's nothing wrong with Marquette not being able to offer him a scholarship this season.

 

Are programs given the option of formally offering a player a 4-year scholarship? I was just thinking about that with regard to the Kevin Ware injury. Now, I suspect the negative press in an injury situation would prevent a team from pulling a scholarship on a player who suffered a major injury, but allowing coaches to either agree to go year-to-year with a player or up the ante and guarantee formally all four years would probably be a good idea.

 

Another gripe: Coaches need to stop blocking schools from transfers, outside of maybe a couple of rivals. Rodney Purvis is transferring from NC State, and here's Mark Gottfried's list of schools he's not allowed to attend: UNC, Duke, Wake, UVA, Clemson, BC, Miami, GTech, VTech, Maryland, FSU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Missouri, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. That's almost every major program on the East coast. Yeah, that's a great way to treat a 19 year old kid who made the wrong college choice.

[MJLiverock]

I don't have a problem blocking transfers to conference foes. The last thing we need is players hopping around in the conference making super teams and the like. I kinda like the rule requiring a year sitting out. One it doesn't keep a kid from changing a school completely, still lets them actually go to school, and keeps the recruitment of players who have already made choice in schools down. If players could freely transfer at anytime to any school with no sit out period I guarantee teams would recruit existing college players. I can only imagine John Callipari calling up Jordan Taylor during his senior year at WI and pitching him on hey we have boatload of talent but they are young, we could sure use a senior point guard to lead us to the national championship. How'd you like to go out on top? They ended up not need it but plenty of teams would go looking for that last missing piece for a title run.

[hawing]

I don't have a problem blocking transfers to conference foes.

I'm not looking to take a strong side one way or the other here, but considering how much change there has been in conferences recently, I can kind of see why a coach might want to be fairly broad in placing limits on where a student can transfer.

[jjfanec]

The Thomas transfer is not news. The next transfer, if Otule, stays will be more of a story. Marquette is still oversigned by one guy if Otule gets another year. The uproar over the Thomas transfer is lazy journalism. Marquette has had its issues with shady transfers under Buzz but this is not one of them

[Funketown]

I don't mind the 1 year transfer rule, although I'd like to see it softened after coaching changes. The expansion of the conferences actually makes me dislike blocking the entire conference even more. Outside of rivalries, with a 15-16 team league, teams will usually only meet once per season, maybe twice if they meet in the postseason.

[homer]

Blocking where a transfer goes (within reason) isn't as bad as oversigning and then telling a kid who has already signed his LOI that he's no longer got a scholie. Still waiting for Seth Davis and Jay Bilas to get on their high horses over that one.

[jjfanec]

Blocking where a transfer goes (within reason) isn't as bad as oversigning and then telling a kid who has already signed his LOI that he's no longer got a scholie. Still waiting for Seth Davis and Jay Bilas to get on their high horses over that one.

 

Yep, that is my biggest annoyance with how Bilas and Davis bashed Bo. Blocking a transfer to a few schools still leaves a kid - who CHOSE to leave, numerous options. Oversigning a kid leaves a kid, who WANTED to stay, with fewer options because it is usually closer to signing day or even in the summer and that kid as essentially been done taking visiting and being recruited for months or over a year. Oversigning is annoying but as long as ESPN is love with NCAA programs like Kentucky in bball and pretty much every SEC school in football they will never talk about it.

[DHonks]

some bad comments in this thread:

 

Fondy, as they've said Thomas was lucky that he was given some scholarship money given that he was walking on.

jjfanec, I don't get the shady transfers under Buzz comment. Marquette fans learned under Crean that when you recruit lots of talent, it tends to transfer. Crean lost Blankston, Bradley, Bell, Berkowitz, Amoroso, Mbakwe, and countless others. Buzz has lost some, but it's no different.

 

As for what others have said, isn't Marquette over-committed? They have the Cadougan, Thomas, and Lockett scholarships. They may have the Otule scholarship. But they need 5, and they's only 3/4. Were they under-committed this year?