I just got back from the Marquette/Idaho State tilt. The previous blog entry more than adequately described how Marquette stunk up the Bradley Center with brick after brick, and I don't need to belabour that point.What I do want to comment on is an aspect of crowd behavior tonight. Three occasions, after frustrating empty trips down the court, the Bradley Center faithful booed. It wasn't Boooooarro, or Boooooourke to cheer on Ooze or Dwight. It was honest to goodness jeering -- something I haven't heard in years.
While you might be frustrated with these kids' performance, there is NO PLACE for booing college athletes on their own home court. They're not screwing around on the court, they're playing their guts out, and if they weren't, you know Coach Crean would send them to the end of the bench, or hell, back to take an early shower.
Just saying. There's no crying in baseball, no booing at the Bradley Center. Gotta support the team.
For the non-booers out there, here are some action shots from the game .. I admit, there's a good chance none of these shots fell.
A win is a win you whiny babies!
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you what. I wasn't one of the booers but I was damn close. Could somebody try explaining to me what the hell kind of offense that was. I swore I was watching a game from two tears ago after Deiner went down and we had trouble getting shots off. I would be interested in seeing how many post touches we had last night. If we play like that tonight, Detroit will beat us by 20. I'm not going to drive 45 minutes to every game to watch streetball!
ReplyDeletePeople whine saying Marquette is playing patsies and should blow them out and hence, will be a boring game. They whine when its a close game about how Marquette plays. Remember every team is loaded with former HS stars. No team is loaded with rec ball players. The game is played because the outcome is not known ahead of time. Thats what makes it fun.
ReplyDeleteThe booing at the game is ridiculous. Though I was pulling my hair out & sweating through my shirt out of shere frustration...I would never boo our team.
ReplyDeleteThey are a mess offensively...once they get that ironed out, watch out. They did have 41 rebounds last night, and a great defensive game...which is the only reason we pulled it off. It's November with all sophomores & freshman...let's not forget that.
GO MARQUETTE!!!!
I never enjoy it when the home team boos, so I agree with you. However, the NIT loss when Diener was out had some rather loud booing during one horrible stretch of play in the second half of that game.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the offense, I have never been sure as to what we are running-even when we went to the final four. It seems like we get outcoached sometimes and look disorganized on offense, but I am certainly no authority. Plus, I cannot argue with Crean's success. Somehow they always seem to get the job done, and that's the bottom line.
Perhaps hearing the boos will wake up this team. Maybe the national rankings and NBA dreaming have MU forgetting that hype doesn't win games. If they deserve it, they should be booed.
ReplyDeletepoor execution is no excuse for booing...none of us schmucks could have done a damn bit better. i doubt the hyping of the team has had anything to do with their performance, nor do i think DJ has his mind on the pros. they want to win, they want to execute the offense, they want to play well. anyone who has ever played a sport can tell the difference between dogging it and simply poor play...these guys are trying and will get better.
ReplyDeletewould have been nice if the crowd were into it at all. except for the last few minutes of regulation the were silent.
ReplyDeleteTom Crean's offense has historically struggled against zone defenses (see for example the East Carolina games in CUSA). So far the MU opponents this season have played zone, which is smart on their part. I think we will see alot more zone this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why TC runs a weave offense against a 2-3 zone. It seems like instead we should get the ball inside to collapse the zone, and then redistribute for open looks. But then again I'm not a basketball coach.
In my opinion this MU team may be one of the best defensive MU teams I've seen. But it is also clear that none of these guys have a strong desire to score the basketball. Fitzgerald is a very good shooter, but when I look at him I don't see a guy that wants to score - I see a guy that doesn't want to screw up.
We desparately need someone to step up on offense. Novak would have had 30 last night.
Great post. That's a very good way of putting it...it seems like nobody wants to take the shot. I remember Novak being like that too (remember how ineffective he was his soph.& jr. years)...hopefully Fitz & Hayward can gain the confidence to shoot the ball. DJ, Jerel, and Wes are great at drawing fouls too...if they could only sink the free throws we would have won by 10+ last night.
ReplyDeleteThey need to settle down on offense too...they force every shot, but hopefully that will improve with experience.
I think most objective fans would agree that:
ReplyDeletea) MU is overrated right now
b) will improve as the season goes on
c) traditionally struggles early in the year versus inferior competition
The fact they barely won last night doesn't shock me. They still pulled it out. They've done this continuously through Crean's tenure. Sure they always seem to only have one or two losses by the time conference play begins, but the wins are usually pretty ugly.
That said, as long as this team is playing improved ball starting at the Wisconsin game through the B.East opener, that's really all anyone can ask for.
And who knows, maybe a loss early on would help get their focus. I do worry about the players reading the papers. Also, the fact MU just signed a player next year despite having no scholarships available tells fans that Crean knows something we don't about who will/will not be here next year.
I'll be at the game tonight and we'll see what happens.
The rim in the bradley center is ten feet high, the same as it is in the practice gym. Someone grow a pair and make a shot. Whether you're a cameron crazy, a member of the izzone, or even a member of the gold rush- it's tough to put up with a performance like that at the line. That being said, I thought our shot selection improved since the Hillsdale game. Instead of recklessly driving to the basket, we actually made the extra pass and got open looks. We also played harder and smarter on D. Once our shooting comes around, and I'm sure it will-(you can only live in the gym for so long without learning how to make an open jumper), I think that we'll put our self in position to beat some really good teams. Until then the fanatics should keep supporting our team. All fans seem to see these days is the name on the uniform. People fail to realize that there is so much parody in college basketball right now. Everyone is game is going to be a battle. Keep practicing those free those boys....and GO MARQUETTE.
ReplyDeleteGene, does the MU band need more cowbell?!?!?
ReplyDeleteThe booing was more a sign of frustration than anything else. This team looked horrible in every aspect of the game with the exception of the last six minutes of the regulation. This should be a wake up call. I did not boo and I believe most of it came from the student section. It was embarassing but the game itself was hard to watch.
ReplyDeleteWhy not boo? The play was horrendous against....Idaho State, who is picked to finish last in their conference.
ReplyDeleteEffort is great, but you can see great effort at the Y. I want to see quality hoops from the recruits/coach/team that is getting all this offseason love.
Good thing we weren't playing UWM last night.
"Good thing we weren't playing UWM last night."
ReplyDeleteDon't you mean UW-Parkside?
I listened to the game on Internet radio and could hear the boooing. It frustrates me to know end when that happens. Does anyone here think that boooing the performance of these young kids was going to make them play better or worst? You have to know they heard it and it got to them. Support the team for better or worst!!
ReplyDeleteThe booing is classless & ignorant. Not a representation of what Marquette is & stands for. We're at the games to support the team...and they need us more than ever when they're cold.
ReplyDeleteThey played terrible, but still played their hearts out. The bandwagon bullshit is sickening.
Did anyone watch the offense? Until overtime the only things they did were a pick or a weave. Hayward looks for the ball in the post constantly when he is not in position, but when he is wide open on the perimeter the player with the ball was no vision to see him. Most of the time the post players would stand in place the entire time and the only player with off the ball movement was Jerel McNeal...no surprise he managed to hit key baskets. He still takes ill-advised shots and turns the ball over way too much but at least he is bringing some aggression. They looked completely lost on offense.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the author here. Although booing should be rare, it has its place. A fan has just as much right to show displeasure as pleasure-- especially when a fan invests substantial time and money in following a team. Moreover, I think the author assumes that the booing is directed at the players- generally it isn't. It is usually directed primarily at the coaching staff. As professionals, the coaching staff should be prepared to take it, if they put a product on the floor which is producing way below expectations. The players should also be able to take it, albiet only on the rare occassion that they are not playing with combination of fire and skill that as a minimum is expected of a division I player. We expect fans to be "in" to the game and contribute to the atmosphere and excitement. How is it reasonable to expect them not to show half of their emotional range? What would be a better way to show displeasure and motivate change? Cancelling season tickets? Grumbling for a year and becoming disenchanted? Whining is for message boards and the day after. Booing is for feedback at the moment.
ReplyDeleteIf you boo in the very rare instances (I emphasize very rare) where it is justified, I think your actions are appropriate. If you boo all the time, then you are misusing one of your fan rights.
For the record, a third game of dismal performance from a such a talented team that results in a combination of shooting percentages and bad decisions that beggar description along with an inability to run an offense against a poor D-1 team probably does deserve a boo or two. One could even argue that the team and coaches may have used it as motivation for the next day...
i was booing on my couch 6 hours from Milwaukee. Offense sucked. 3 pt defense sucked. Free throw shooting suck. You pay, you can boo. its that simple. Get over yourself Hilltopper
ReplyDelete