Hey! Look Who's Back!

So, what was you're favorite moment of the Matt Mortensen era?

Alright, enough kidding around. Some of you may have noticed (or if you're new, you'll notice by looking at my last post) that I've been away for awhile. Well, truth is I didn't have a chance to get on here much at the tail end of last season and I had better things to do over the summer than speculate on where Ryan Amoroso was going to transfer.

But now I'm back, so it might be a good idea to go over all the things we missed.

We last saw our Warriors walking off the court with the bitter taste of defeat in their mouths after a game where they were simply outplayed by an Alabama squad that no one saw coming (at least not in Milwaukee anyway).

After that there was a bit of a down period where not too much concerning MU basketball was going on. But then Steve Novak got drafted by the Houston Rockets at No. 32 overall, which is the highest any Warrior not named Wade has been drafted since Jim McIlvaine went to Washington at the same spot.

After that, the program took a bit of a hit. Forward Matt Mortensen, who had redshirted his freshman year, was kicked off the team by athletic director Bill Cords for committing a violation that was never disclosed. Mortensen would have provided a portion of the perimeter shooting needed to replace Novak's outside touch, but he is gone, and the Marquette family will have to get on without him.

Soon thereafter, Mortensen's former roommate Ryan Amoroso finally completed his transfer to San Diego State. This had been anticipated for months, even before head coach Tom Crean decided not to bring Amo to San Diego for the opening round of the NCAA tournament back in March. Nobody knew where Ryan was transferring until it was announced, but everyone pretty much saw it as a foregone conclusion that he would leave.

We then went without too much news until last week's unveiling of this year's schedule. I have been hearing a lot of complaining about the non-conference portion of the schedule, and I have to say that I agree that it is a bit weak. However, this is not all that much different than most power conference teams. Besides, we will get Wisconsin, and if we can get to the championship game of the CBE Classic we will face a team such as Duke, Stanford, or Texas Tech. That would certainly increase our non-conference strength of schedule. Schools like Maryland-Baltimore County, Morgan State, and Savannah State may not sound like the greatest matchups ever, but it should still be fun to watch D James and Co. in action.

Once the conference season starts, however, the cupboard will be all out of cupcakes. The conference schedule will start off tough for the Warriors, with six of the first nine games on the road, including games at UCONN and Pittsburgh. They will end the season, however, with five of their last eight at home, include the final home game against Pitt, which will be attended by ESPN Gameday.

Unfortunately, Marquette fans may be without freshman forward Lazar Hayward this season, as he may be academically ineligible. The NCAA is currently investigating the matter and we should know more in the next few weeks.

If Lazar cannot play this season, it could damage the Warriors hopes for the season. This is not a death-blow to the program, as some I know have suggested, but it is definitely a setback. Lazar's perimeter shooting would have been much welcomed by a program losing the best three-point shooter in its history, as MU's offense revolves around penetrating guards that dish it out when the lane closes. When Steve Novak is out there to knock down every shot imaginable, this works great, when he has graduated, somebody else had better step up and hit some threes.

That somebody is now going to have to be Dan Fitzgerald. It already was going to be him, but he was supposed to have help from Mortensen and Hayward. I expect Danny Fitz to step up this season (and reports are that he has made great strides in the offseason) but I still don't expect him to be the dominant shooter that Novak was. He needs to be less tentative and he needs to hit more open jumpers. If he can do this, it makes everything easier for the guards.

Which brings me to the three fresh... I mean three sophomores, Dominic James, Wesley Matthews, and Jerel McNeal. They will be one of the better guard trios in the country this year, and if DJ doesn't jump to the NBA, next year they may be the best. Wesley should show improved shooting and Jerel should turn the ball over less, while Dominic will pretty much continue to evolve into the great leader that teammates rally behind. You can talk all you want about Lazar, and Danny Fitz, and Ousmane Barro, but ultimately, where these three go, the Marquette Warriors go.

I don't know about you, but I'm expecting a great season of Marquette basketball, that will probably include some highs, some lows, and maybe even some games in late March (I won't go so far as to say April, we'll just let that one play out on its own). Marquette Madness is only about a month away, and I for one can't wait.

So right about now you're probably wondering what the best way for you to follow Marquette basketball is. Well, you could try Marquette's athletic website, which is good for official news, but not so great for insight and commentary. You could go to the Marquette Rivals site, which has all that great commentary and opinion, but also a lot of arguing between posters. Also, you could watch ESPN (probably not to bad an option considering how many Warriors games they'll be showing), but then you'd have to listen to them talk about T.O. every five minutes. So if you want great Marquette basketball news and commentary without fighting and T.O. updates, you'll just have to keep coming here. That's right, you're stuck with me.

So since you've now been informed that you're stuck with me, you probably want to know if there will be any added features this year. Well, I must say, on this one you are in luck. I will still be giving you a preview and recap of every game, but this year I will be going a little more in depth, similar to the preview I did for the Providence game. The 2k Sports Matchup will be brought in full time (although it may become the EA Sports Matchup, depending on what college basketball game I get this year, I haven't made that decision yet) as will the game prediction which will include predictions from several other people. I may also bring in guest posters to mix things up a bit, so anybody let me know if you are interested. I would also like to do a mailbag this season, so drop me an email at marqbball@excite.com with a question or comment, and if I get enough I will start a mailbag. I'll add some other features too, but not too much until closer to the season, so at least not until Marquette Madness.

It should be a great season of Marquette basketball, and I look forward to covering it for you. As Dickie V would say, "It's Awesome, Baby!"