Game Preview - March 9 vs. Georgetown - BIG EAST Tournament Second Round

On Thursday, the 4th seeded Marquette Warriors will take on the Georgetown Hoyas in the second round of the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden. It will be the second meeting of the season, after the Warriors won 57-51 at the Bradley Center on Febraury 16. The Hoyas advanced to the second round of the tournament by defeating Notre Dame yesterday, 67-63. Marquette made it by virtue of a first round bye.

The Hoyas got off to a slow start against the Irish, falling behind 11-0 to start the game. But they came back and held off Notre Dame in the final seconds. Marquette is hoping that they can get out to an early lead as well, with the intent that their shooters will continue to make their shots. Senoir and All-Big East First Team unanimous selection Steve Novak will be looking for a big night in his first Big East Tournament game. In his first Big East Conference game, he dropped 41 points on the UCONN Huskies, so we know that Steve likes to make big first impressions.

Big East Rookie of the Year Dominic James will also be looking to impress. The freshman point guard has been an on-court leader all year, despite being in his first year in the program. Even when he doesn't have a big scoring night, he still makes crucial contributions. On Saturday against Providence, he managed only 9 points, but added 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Fellow freshmen Jerel McNeal and Wes Matthews have also stepped up their games as of late. Matthews' 18 points would have led the Warriors on Saturday if Novak had not hit several shots down the stretch.

It will be a big day for the Warrior program. A win would secure a trip to the semi-finals and help to further improve Marquette's NCAA Tournament seed. A loss certainly won't knock them out, but it's always a good idea to win at least one game in the conference tournament.

Dominic James - BIG EAST Rookie of the Year

Marquette Warriors point guard Dominic James was named Big East Rookie of the Year on Tuesday. He led all Big East freshman with 16.4 ppg, which was ninth overall. His 5 apg was fifth best. He was named Big East Rookie of the Week six times this season, most recently for this past week. On Monday he was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team along with fellow Warrior Jerel McNeal. Dominic was also the only Freshman to receive Big East Honorable Mention.

Marquette senior Steve Novak was one of four unanimous selections to the 11-man All-Big East First Team. Villanova guard Randy Foye was named Big East Player of the year and Villanova coach Jay Wright was given the conference's Coach of the Year honor.

GameCap - March 4 vs. Providence

Had a long day of basketball yesterday, so didn't get a chance to do this last night, but here goes.

Marquette came into Saturday's game against Providence looking to bounce back from a loss Wednesday night and avoid going to the Big East Tournament on a two game losing streak. They did just that, sending their seniors off in style.

The Warriors came in looking for a win to keep their slim hopes of getting a 4th seed in the Big East Tournament and the first round bye that goes with it. They were able to get that win, and with a little bit of help from South Florida, they got that 4th seed.

Steve Novak led the way with 20 points and 6 rebounds on an efficient 7-11 shooting. Fellow seniors Joe Chapman and Chris Grimm didn't fare quite as well in their final home game, combining for 2 points and 6 rebounds. Grimm got into foul trouble early and spent only 10 minutes on the floor. Chapman hit just 1-4 shots, but all three were given standing ovations when they were taken out in the final seconds.

The two Warriors that really led the charge, however, were Wes Matthews and Ousmane Barro. Wes played tough defense and hustled after loose balls all day. His 18 points would have led the team had Novak not gone on a late run. Matthews' three alley-oop dunks got the crowd going. Ous had a nice game as well. He played only 16 minutes, but he put up 13 points and 5 rebounds. Dominic James may have appeared to be quiet with only 9 points, but his 9 assists and 5 rebounds played key roles in the Warriors win.

The game was fairly sloppy, however. The teams combined for 33 turnovers and Providence shot a poor 34% and a miserable 18% from 3 beyond the arc. Marquette was able to pull out the W, however, and in the end that is really all that counts.

After the game, it was time for the Senior Day festivities. The three senior players and two senior managers were honored. A highlight video was shown, showing the great accomplishments of the three players. Tom Crean then gave a nice tribute to all five seniors, as well as the seniors in the student section. All five were then given framed pictures of their time here. Overall, it was a very nice ceremony, as it should be.

Farewell

On Saturday, Warriors seniors Steve Novak, Joe Chapman, and Chris Grimm will play their final game for Marquette in the Bradley Center. They came in as a heralded recruiting class, and will leave as an accomplished group of seniors. They got to play with the likes of Wade, Diener, and Jackson. They were part of the surprising 2003 Final Four team and last years disapointment that ended with a first round loss in the NIT. It's now time to look back on the four year careers of these three Warriors, before they go into battle for the last time (at home at least).

Chris Grimm

Chris came in as a 6-10 big man from Michigan who had recieved interest from schools such as Stanford, Illinois, and Michigan State. He may not have developed into a big contributor, but he is a rock who comes to work day in and day out, even when game minutes are not guaranteed. He averaged a double-double in high school, and was expected to be a force down low in college. When he signed with Marquette and Tom Crean, he said, "They said I’ll be a center and they need me to come in and shoot the mid-range jumpshot. Kind of like a versatile big guy, not just setting picks but getting involved in the offense.” Things never really worked out that way for Chris, which can be attributed more to the difficulty of playing D-1 college basketball, than Chris' skill level. He has averaged about 1 point and and 1.4 rebounds in his collegiate career, but has never seen much playing time. Last year, as a junior, he got a career high 13.4 minutes per game. He has been getting more playing time recently, and has played well. His defense has given the Warriors a defensive presence in the paint that has been missing all season. His wide open dunk last week against Notre Dame may be the play that Warrior fans remember about the Reaper for a long time.

Joe Chapman

Joe, a 6-4 guard from Chicago Heights, IL, came in as a scorer who could take over a game with his shooting. He never became that scorer for the Warriors, as his career best is 8.1 points per game last year. While he may not have developed into the star that some thought he would. He has become a key role player for Marquette, always ready to come in and knock down a shot in the clutch. While he may only be averaging 6.1 points per game this season, he has hit 43% of his three point attempts. When Wes Matthews went down in January for an unknown period of time, many were worried that the Warriors would suffer without one of their starters. But Joe stepped in and took care of business. His 45% shooting is always welcome on the court. His play has been good enough that he has held on to his starting spot even after Matthews' return. His contributions may not always show up on the stat sheet, but his senior leadership has been key to a team that at one time was starting three freshman. His clutch shooting will be missed next season.

Steve Novak

The big man from Brown Deer came in as a heralded shooter, and he will leave a player that has absolutely fulfilled his potential. He was recruited as a shooter who needed to work on his ball handling and build up his strength. He has done just that, as he has been able to pull down 6 rebounds per game this season and can consistently create his own shot. Over his four years, his scoring average has increased by 10 points per game. He was crucial to the Warriors Final Four run, his clutch shooting in the early rounds propelled the team into the Final Four. Since then he has been the guy you want taking the big shot. This year he has stepped up his game, improving his scoring by three ppg and his rebounding by two rpg. His free throw shooting is the very definition of clutch; on the season, he has missed just twice from the charity stripe. Not surprisingly, the Warriors have lost both games in which he's missed. His game winning shot against Notre Dame in January solidified his place in Marquette basketball history. Legends hit big shots with the game on the line. They give the fans a story about that player that they will tell for years to come when talking about the best Warriors they ever saw. That shot did it for Steve Novak. In that one moment, he went from being a great player to being one of the best.

These three Warriors have toiled on the basketball court for four seasons. They came in as a much talked about recruiting class, and will leave having fulfilled expectations. Perhaps they did not all reach the personal level that they were projected to, but they all found their place in a team. They saw the highest highs and the lowest lows of a storied program. On Saturday they will step onto the Bradley Center floor for the last time. They will never play another home game, but they will be a part of the Warrior family forever.

Game Preview - March 4 vs. Providence

The Warriors plan to send off their seniors in style against Providence on Saturday. It is Senior Day and will mark the final home games in the careers of Steve Novak, Joe Chapman, and Chris Grimm. The Warriors will also attempt to recover from Wednesday night's loss to Louisville. Steve Novak leads the team with 17.4 points and 6 rebounds per contest, both career highs.

Marquette will need to find a way to get Steve open. Louisville made a point of stopping him, and although he put up good numbers with 20 points and 9 boards, the offense was sluggish. A big game from the Big East's best freshman Dominic James will also be a key to victory. The super frosh is averaging 15.6 points per game and 5.3 assists. His 4.6 rebounds are especially impressive considering he is 5 foot 10. He kept the Warriors alive on Wednesday with a miraculous running 3 point buzzer beater to send the game to OT. It wasn't enough, but once again DJ showed why he has fans buzzing all over Milwaukee.

The recently improved play of Chris Grimm has been a key to Marquette's recent sucess. He played solid defense against Georgetown and Pitt, as well as an emphatic open dunk that came off a cross-court inbounds pass at Notre Dame. His 7 boards helped keep the Warriors in it against Louisville. The Reaper, along with everybody's favorite guy from Senegal (yes, I realize most of us don't know many people from Senegal, but just go with it) Ousmane Barro, will need to set up a strong inside game to help get a victory for the Warriors.

With a victory, the Warriors will improve to 10-6 in the conference schedule, which some members of the 7th Floor Crew know was my prediction all the way back in November (I also predicted 10-3 non-conference, in case you were wondering). They will be the 6th seed in next week's Big East tournament, unless Pitt and/or Georgetown lose. The Warriors hold the tie breaker over both teams, so if one of them loses their final game, Marquette moves up to the 5th. If both lose, the Warriors move up to 4th and a first round bye.

2k Sports Matchup
As part of a new addition to the Game Preview, I break down each upcoming matchup using College Hoops 2k6 on PS2.

Steve Novak should be able to find open looks and the bottom of the net. His 23 points led all scorers in my matchup, and his 7 boards led the way as well. DJ may be more of a distribitor and defensive presence in this one. He managed a respectable 12 points, but his 5 assists and steals were what made the difference. Jerel McNeal's defense should also play a role, his 4 steals showed why he has earned the reputation for being a relentless defender.

The other two seniors had just minor contributions, as Joe Chapman had just 4 and Grimm had 5 and 2 rebounds. Chapman did manage open looks, however, so if he can knock them down, he could go out in style.

According to College Hoops, the outcome was 65-46 in favor of the Warriors. The real life result could be similar.

Game Prediction

Providence may manage to stay in this one for a while, but by the end the Warriors will have taken care of business. The seniors, and particularly Steve Novak, will go out in style and will all make big contributions to the win.

Predicted Score: 75-62

Big Problem with the Big East

When the Big East expanded to sixteen teams this year, fans of Marquette, DePaul, and South Florida were worried that their teams wouldn't stack up to the likes of Connecticut, Villanova, and Pittsburgh. While DePaul and USF have been the two worst teams in the conference, Marquette has been consistent, putting up a 9-6 conference record going into Saturday's final game against Providence. So as far as Warriors fans are concerned, there's no problem, right? Wrong. The problem goes back to that magic Big East number. Sixteen.

The Big East has become too big for its own good. In football it has a managable-small even- eight teams as seven member schools don't have football programs and Notre Dame remains independent. But all sixteen schools have basketball programs, and this has created quite a problem. First of all, four teams aren't allowed to go to the conference tournament in New York. Now granted, these are the bottom four teams, but other conferences allow all of their schools into the tournament. The conference tourney is the last ditch effort to make it to the big dance, or if things are bad enough, to earn your bid to the NITs. True, allowing all sixteen teams in would create the NBA playoffs, but the Big East should have thought of that before they expanded to sixteen teams. It would also eliminate the bye that is given to the top four teams, but currently that is only done because if all twelve teams had to play in every round, at the end there would be three teams left instead of two. The conference tournament, however, is the least of worries, because the Big East won't let the last four teams in, and they certainly won't kick four teams out. The problem that is bigger, but thankfully, can be somewhat fixed, is scheduling.

Currently, each team plays thirteen of the other fifteen teams, three of them twice. The two teams that are not played will presumably be on the schedule the following year. But this means that every year, some matchup is left out. This means that records are not truly equal, since Marquette didn't get the opportunity to beat up on South Florida. And what if one year the Big East makes the biggest scheduling blunder of all, and fails to schedule Marquette vs. DePaul? This is a problem that must be avoided. One way would be to scrap the three mirror games and just make every team play every other team once. If the league is hesitant about dropping to fifteen conference games, they can keep one mirror. This would be easy in several cases, as naturally Marquette would play DePaul and Pitt would play West Virginia, among other noted rivalries. But this would eliminate the mirror games of other rivalries, and new rivalries that are just beginning to brew.

So a situation in which the mirror games are kept while still allowing every team to play each other is needed. The Big East could, as has been discussed, expanded to an eighteen game schedule, although the conference has said it would be reluctant to be the first major conference to do so, and would wait for another conference to do it first. If they did do this, however, it would allow teams to play every team in the conference as well as keeping the three mirror games. How the mirror games would be scheduled is something that still needs to be worked out regardless of how the scheduling is done in the future. The same three mirror games could be done each year. This would be good in the case of Marquette, who face two rivals in DePaul and Notre Dame, as well as Pittsburgh, which appears to be well on its way towards becoming a rivalry itself. But other matchups could be perfect for mirror games as well, so perhaps they could change every year. But certain rivalries need to played out with two games a year, and Marquette vs. DePaul is one of them. So the best situation might be one in which one mirror game is kept constant, while the other two change from year to year. Marquette would always play DePaul, and Pitt would always play West Virginia.

A final possibility would be to create two divisions, but that would ultimately just formalize the current system of two teams not being on the schedule each year. Eighteen conference games each season is tough, especially in a league as competitive as the Big East. The best solution would have naturally been to have not expanded to sixteen teams in the first place. But as the situation currently stands, this is the best that can be done. The conference schedule should be expanded to eighteen games, with three mirror games for each team, with one mirror matchup being constant. Great rivalries will continue, and new ones will grow. Additionally, fans will get to enjoy two more games every year. This also means that ESPN can add eight extra games to its broadcasting contract. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about the tournament (Other than to rotate the site every year, that is. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that St. John's should get to play on their home court every year), but that is something that fans will just have to get used to. Hopefully Warriors fans won't have to endure a conference tournament-less season anytime soon. With an eighteen game schedule, at the very least they'll get a trip to South Florida every other year.

Congratulations to Steve Novak

In Wednesday nights 67-60 loss on the road to the Louisville Cardinals, senior Steve Novak tied and then broke the Big East single season record for three point field goals made. The record had previously been held by Connecticut's Ray Allen with 63 in the 1995-96 season. Novak has been the leader for the Golden Eagles all season, averaging 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He has shot almost 45% from 3 point range this season.

GameCap - March 1 at Louisville

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been a little busy.

On a night in which Rick Pitino had his team make a point of shutting down Steve Novak, Marquette lost a game in OT that they were never really in. The Golden Eagles (19-9, 9-6 Big East) had trouble finding their shots without Novak and played sluggishly for most of the contest. Marquette shot an anemic 33.8% from the field and put up their second lowest offensive output of the season in a 67-60 loss.

Despite being keyed on by the Cardinals defense all night, Novak managed to put up 20 points, but it was a quiet 20. He shot 8-17 from the floor but came up just shy of a double-double with 9 boards. It seemed as though the offense was lost without Steve taking care of things, as most possessions involved Dominic James dribbling the ball just inside half-court and winding down the clock until someone put up a poor shot. The Eagles started off slowly, quickly finding themselves down twleve before cutting the lead to two at 21-19. Louisville would go on another run however, pushing the lead back to 10 before Marquette could cut it down to five at the half. The play continued similarly in the second half, with the Golden Eagles tying it at 47 on a Steve Novak 3 on which he was fouled, setting up a four point play. Unfortunately, Steve missed just his second free throw of the season to leave it tied. Marquette would not score again for another 4:30.

Tom Crean was clearly outcoached by the Cardinals Rick Pitino. Louisville's gameplan from the beginning was to shut down Steve Novak, and they did just that. After that, Marquette seemed content to let the shot clock wind down and then take a poor shot on almost every possession. No one moved without the ball (this has been a problem all season, but it seemed especially prevalent tonight) it seemed as though there were no designed plays. Even while trailing by large deficits, the Golden Eagles waited for long periods of time only to settle for poor shots. Also, Louisville continually found ways to get open shots against the Marquette zone defense. Tom Crean failed to adjust to either of these things and it contributed heavily to the loss.

Near the end of the second half, things looked dire for the Golden Eagles. They had the ball down three with about 30 seconds to go, but seemed content to wait for the last shot. They held the ball until taking a timeout with about 17 left on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Dominic James took a poor 3 point shot and sent the ball back to the Cardinals. After a foul, the game appeared as though it would end on the free throw line. After two misses, Marquette missed a golden opportunity by failing to get the rebound. Fortunately, Louisville lost it out of bounds to give the Golden Eagles the ball back with just over 3 seconds on the clock. The ball was inbounded to James who dribbled it up the court and hit a running 3 point shot to beat the buzzer and send it to OT. Unfortunately, Marquette came out flat in OT, managing to score just two points in the five minute period on their way to a seven point loss.

This loss stings, with the biggest loss being the likely end to Marquette's first round bye in the Big East tournament. It likely will not hurt their NCAA chances, other than perhaps dropping them one seed from a 5 to a 6, which could actually be a blessing since 5 seeds have an odd habit of losing to the 12 seeds. The Golden Eagles will have to bring it on Saturday against Providence, as a win on Senior Day would be key for momentum.