Marquette Turning Corner

[IWB]

BrewCityBall's Zach Klupchak sees signs of life in the Golden Eagles

Despite Loss, Marquette Turning Corner (http://www.brewcityball.com/forums/content.php?646-Despite-Loss-Marquette-Turning-Corner)

[Markedman]

If they run the table I will stand on my head in the corner....lol

Lots of decent to very good teams in this stretch and for this MU team the only one I would bet on us winning is Butler. Now obviously we won't go 1-6 but we it is much more likely we go 4-3 or 3-4 then 7-0.

[Halo]

2-0 this week would be a start.

[warriorfan4life]

Objectively, the season is far from over and our NCAA chances are not nearly as grave as many Marquette media outlets portend them to be. 12-6 in the league definitely would be good enough, and 11-7 would be really close. Going into the week respected bracket people still had Baylor firmly in the field despite a 1-5 start in Big 12 play.

Now personally I do not see us getting more then 10 Big East wins, though last weeks play was an improvement on the whole. As Halo said, two wins this week would be a good start.

[bleedbluegold03]

"I'll have what she's having"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=F-bsf2x-aeE#t=167

[Phantom Warrior]

I admire your optimism. I won't be surprised if we go 3 - 4. Heck, I won't be the least bit surprised if we go 2 - 5.

[bleedbluegold03]

does Zach live in Colorado? Washington?

[AbovetheRim]

7-0? Do we have a new backcourt?

[Gato78]

Listen in this evening to get Zach's take. I am sure he will ably defend his position.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Objectively, the season is far from over and our NCAA chances are not nearly as grave as many Marquette media outlets portend them to be. 12-6 in the league definitely would be good enough, and 11-7 would be really close. Going into the week respected bracket people still had Baylor firmly in the field despite a 1-5 start in Big 12 play.

Now personally I do not see us getting more then 10 Big East wins, though last weeks play was an improvement on the whole. As Halo said, two wins this week would be a good start.

Another thing worth noting is that the committee does seem to favor teams that are hot. Peaking at the right time definitely helps. If we get to 12-6, that would mean at worst winning 9 of our next 12, and that's with a first round loss at MSG. Even winning 8 of 12 would at least show we are turning it up at the end of the season. I think the magic number right now is 10. Win 10 more games and we are in the tournament. Doesn't matter where, who the opponents are, or how many are in the BET. Get 10 and we go dancing.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Sure the season is matmatically over, but they have to at worst go 8-3 down the stretch, I just don't see this team pulling that off. Not this year, maybe I will be wrong and get surprised, but I just don't see it. I do think tonight's game is huge if they want a shot at it, with Providence also being considered as a bubble team these are the games that would really help.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

We have to win at home. We can afford maybe losing to Creighton, but that's it. If we assume a Creighton loss, sweeping the rest at home would get us 5 wins. Our next three road games are St. John's, Seton Hall, and DePaul. Those teams have a combined 3-8 record at home in Big East play, with all of their wins coming against each other. I know SJU is playing better, SHU has had close calls, and DPU doesn't look like the pushover they usually are, but those are as close to must-win road games as you will find if we want to make the tournament.

Beat Providence, Butler, Xavier, Georgetown, and St. John's at home, St. John's, Seton Hall, and DePaul on the road gets you to 8 wins.

After that, I think to be guaranteed a spot we need 2 wins out of Creighton at home, 'Nova on the road, Providence on the road, and the Big East Tourney.

In 2010, we were 2-5 in conference play before rattling off 9 wins in 10 games. That is the blueprint for this team. Can they do it? I don't know. We've certainly seen some encouraging signs over the course of the season, but every time we see something encouraging we seem to follow that up with a step backwards. Derrick coming to life out west before dropping 2 straight to SDSU and Bucky. Looking good in 3 straight Big East games (DPU, XU, SHU) before losing to cellar-dweller Butler. Gutting out a tough road win in overtime, then never getting off the mat at home in the next overtime game.

If we go dancing, it starts tonight. I've been looking at this game for awhile as the place where our drive to the tournament begins. Win tonight and we could realistically go on a 5 or 8 game winning streak. That'll certainly get us back in the conversation. Lose, and even my eternal optimism will probably start to flag.