Hey Scoops......... by Joe Streator

That was for you yesterday.

Once in awhile during the past few seasons Hugh McMahon forwarded a game commentary excellently written by Scoops.   About a year ago Hugh realized I knew Scoops and forwarded a great commentary which follows.

-------------------------------------------------
"Subject: The Johnnies put MU in the Crapper

We sucked.  We got beat by a team whose nickname is akin to the toilet.  Wow.  Players are sliding from being good right into that toilet.  We came out in the second half, got up by seven and faded like a tie-die hippie shirt.  We didn’t finish.  We looked awful.

Two Blue has gotten fewer and fewer points as the season has progressed.  He went from starting, to playing poorly, to not getting any points.  Other colleges have freshmen that excel.  Has the coaching staff ruined this young man?

Buycks has lost his magic.  He shoots airballs instead of threes and passes so poorly into the paint.  It is my opinion that the coaches are insisting on these passes and these plays. There is a momentary hesitation that creates the opportunity for the other team.  You can see it, you can feel it.

If Jamie is calling the defensive matchups, I’m not seeing it.  It would appear that they have ‘set’ defensive plays and that matchups are muddied by this approach.  The defense is not working and the offense is creating turnovers.

Otule is better on the boards, but he doesn’t play that much.  DJO is better in the last 10 seconds, but he can’t play the game alone.  Hairdo is sometimes off his feet on the rebounds, but gapes at the play coming right down the throat of the defense when he needs to step in and step up.  Butler is still a star, but no one is following him and he doesn’t appear to want to lead.

Oh, and freethrows were better in this game.  If we would have had previous performances in this area, we would have been beat by 30 points.

There are a whole lot of somebodies that need to wake up and smell the coffee.

Scoops"
-----------------------------------
Sadly Scoops passed away August 14 last year.  Yesterday about fifty of Scoops' friends and relatives gathered together to honor her on National Marquette Day.  Not only did we honor Nancy Sobczak but Marquette chose to honor her and her husband Bob, a friend of mine since 1963, as season ticket holders of the game.  Nancy was the Warrior of Warriors.

Less than five minutes into the game we were trailing 16-4 and during the TV timeout we gathered and said a prayer to Nancy.  (Well, maybe not but a little embellishment doesn't hurt does it?)  Ok, back to reality.  Buzz was shockingly silent during the timeout and gave each player a set of headphones with the most amazing WIFI connection ever... to heaven.  They heard an impassioned Nancy plea to get their act together.... NOW!!!  (Geez, I embellished again.)  In any event, after those first 4 minutes and 41 seconds we outscored those Cubcats, formerly known as the Bearcats, 53-27.

That outburst started with a Cadougan 2 and a DJO 3 but it took awhile for the comeback/rout to gain steam.  At the 8:27 mark Todd Mayo hit two free throws to put us in the lead for the first time.... a lead we never lost.  Just over three minutes later, the guy with all the slivers in his butt, Jamail Jones, entered the game and hit a 3 and thirty nine seconds later hit another another one.  This is the second time in three games he has made a nice contribution. He added an assist, rebound, and a block in fifteen minutes of playing time.  Let's hope this continues.  Injuries are a factor but every healthy player is getting playing time.  When is the last time any of us saw that?

The twelve point halftime lead increased by one during the first ten minutes of the second half but when Jamil Wilson slammed home a dunk at the 9:58 mark the rout was on.

Yancy Gates who?  No Otule and no Gardner to match up against the feared 6'9" 260 lb Gates so it was up to a Wisconsin native, Jamil Wilson (6'7" 220), and good team defense to limit Gates to 5-13 shooting and a mere 11 points although he did grab 12 rebounds.  Cadougan only got credit for five assists but he ran the team well.  And then there was Vander Blue... again.  Led the team in rebounding with seven, added four assists, a steal, and only one turnover while making 5 of 6 free throws.  The rest of the team followed his lead with free throws making 20 of 24.  But as it was 45 or so years ago, this was a game of the seniors... DJO and Crowder with 23 points apiece to go with five assists from DJO and six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block from Crowder.  There is a chance both get drafted in the first round.  DJO gets most of the hype for that honor but Crowder is a better overall shooter than he is, almost as good from beyond the arc, a very good rebounder, and an overall excellent defender.  Not to slight DJO but I think Crowder is the team leader.  And with a strong team finish Crowder has to be a very serious contender for BE POY (Big East Player of the Year).

I would argue this was our best game of the year and the timing could not be better.  Now it's on to UCONN followed by Rutgers at home and @ West Virginia Friday the 24th.  Both UCONN and WVA are on ESPN.  All remaining five games are on ESPN3 and we could be favored in all of them.  If we take care of business we could be looking at 26-5 and 15-3 before the tournaments begin.  Thirty wins will be tough but even that is not out of the question.

I will be in the air for the Rutgers game and on the water for the other two but hopefully TV reception is good on the Caribbean.

Enjoy the upcoming games and join with Scoops in willing the Warriors on to victory.

Joe