Marquette, You're Next

[Jax_Bull]

I cannot wait for the game Sunday!  Hopefully, it will be the largest crowd so far this season.

[flsportsfan83]

It could happen...you never know...

Oh, absolutely, sure, 3 or 4 conference wins, make the tourney as the last seed, get crushed in the first round. hell, what more could any of us hope for? I know my bosses would double my salary and my contract term with performance like that, wouldn't yours?

Pittsburgh 6-1 18-3

Marquette 5-2 18-4

Syracuse 4-2 15-5

Georgetown 4-2 14-5

Louisville 4-2 14-6

Notre Dame 4-3 16-4

West Virginia 4-3 15-4

Villanova 3-3 14-5

Providence 3-3 13-6

St. John's 3-4 12-8

Seton Hall 3-4 11-8

DePaul 3-4 12-9

Connecticut 2-4 13-6

South Florida 2-5 11-10

Cincinnati 1-4 10-9

Rutgers 1-6 8-12

4 wins wont do it

[Unintelligibull]

The Bulls will improve as the season continues. We're just now getting a semblence of a starting five and a good bench rotation. Injuries and late additions (e.g. Gransberry, Howard, etc.) have delayed this team's development.

We have talent and the chemistry is improving greatly.

We can beat Marquette and a few others in the Big East.

I predict four more Big East wins this year.

[flsportsfan83]

do you people know that Marquette is the 2nd best team in Conference. I will take the bag off my head if we beat Marquette. Folks make sure you drink on Sunday. You will need to.

[ctbrown24]

Rush the court if we win!  ;D

[Velcro]

I will take the bag off my head if we beat Marquette.

Please don't ;D

[spiral97]

MU fan here... looking forward to the game.. only disappointment for me is that it is not televised (last game for us for which the video won't be available).

Any "scouting report" you can provide to us on your team?  Here's one that another marquette fan (rocky_warrior) posted at the seton hall board prior to last night's game against them:

From last year we lost our best shooter Novak, do-everything guard Chapman, and utility big-man Grimm to graduation. Also, a red-shirt shooter Mortenson "made himself ineligible" for NCAA play, and PF Amoroso transferred to San Diego State.

However, you'll probably all recognize our 3 backcourt stars of James, McNeal and Matthews. All three are Soph's this year, are healthy, and playing great ball. James is the PG that makes things happen and can drive on just about anyone, McNeal is a defensive specialist but can slash with the best of them, and Matthews is a playmaker. All three will start.

Ousmane Barro is the starting center, and he's improved leaps and bounds over last year. He's not the best center in the league, but he is athletic, and learning new post moves seemingly every game. He's held his own against McRoberts, Thabeet, and Gray this year, and that's better than most Marquette fans would have thought. At Power Forward, one of two guys will start. Dan Fitzgerald, a Jr transfer from Tulane plays good D, can defend and score in the post, but also has good 3pt range. We also have highly regarded Freshman Lazar Hayward that has started. He was a deadly shooter in prep school, but hasn't shown that yet at MU. Instead though, he's got a nose for the ball and has excelled at rebounding and put-backs.

Other guys off the bench...Freshman David Cubillan is another sub-6ft guard that handles the ball as well as James, plays great D, doesn't drive as much, but can stroke the 3 ball. Shooting around 50% for the season on 3s. PF Dwight Burke will come in and play the Center and PF position. He's only a Soph, so he's still developing but has shown good potential. Mike Kinsella is a 7 footer that has a nice shooting touch. He's been hurt most of his career at MU though, so development hasn't been there, and he only sees a few minutes off the bench. Jamil Lott is another Center/PF, and was starting the first few games of the season, but we haven't seen him at all the past couple games.  Lawrence ("Trend") Blackledge, a Juco guy with freakish athleticism, has missed the past two-three games for "personal reasons" but should be available for the game.

MU is a good defensive team this year, we usually make other teams play look "ugly". Of course, our offense can look ugly too (see Prov & 'Cuse games). We don't shoot the 3 particularly well, but luckily the team has learned that and gone back to getting points off of penetration. We hadn't been shooting FTs well, but that seems to be improving.

p.s. - Most Marquette fans that were on Rivals, have gone to MUScoop.com. Feel free to stop by and chime in, or join in our live game-day chat.

I should mention that last night's game against seton hall was quite different than most other games we've played in that we took a 20 pt. lead twice.  However we also kept letting them back in (they closed it back to 5 points at one time).  However, our McNeal ran a double-double on points and assists and displayed what is probably his most complete game so far.  Most of the fans over at our board believe that this team is still improving and rising.  We are certainly not unbeatable by any means yet so it should be a good game!!

Come on over to MUScoop.com and introduce yourselves and your thoughts!

-spiral97

[Guest r_to_the_izzo]

MU fan here... looking forward to the game.. only disappointment for me is that it is not televised (last game for us for which the video won't be available).

This USF team tends to be panicky and make stupid decisions when playing up against a top opponent. Hopefully they are more settled down getting to play #15 at home.

Thank god it's not televised.... please be gentle!!!

[Guest Ari_Hinkelberger]

We seem to play well at home..

although the last time we played a decent team at home (LU) we got freakin smoked.

[Herman_Momart]

Just keep it somewhat close.