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Marquette Fan
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
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 Posted: 10/25/23 7:15 pm ::: |
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| I'm not sure how Marquette got picked to finish 3rd in the BE. As near as I can tell, they really won't have a post presence. We will see how things go.
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 10/25/23 10:54 pm ::: |
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| Marquette Fan wrote: |
| I'm not sure how Marquette got picked to finish 3rd in the BE. As near as I can tell, they really won't have a post presence. We will see how things go. |
Mathematically, someone is required to finish either third or tied for second. And of the coaches in position to be in the middle of the conference, I trust Megan Duffy and her relatively stable roster more than either Tony Bozzella or Joe Tartamella with their collections of transfers and freshmen, and more than Denise Dillon's production of "six defensive returners in search of literally any offense".
(We all know I love Tony as a person. But I can only believe him so many times before I determine that he is, in fact, huffing copium when being excited about his team.)
(We all also know how I feel about Joe. For those of you just catching up: the man has the charm of a sandpaper enema and the personality of rotting durian. And is apparently incapable of recognizing his own season ticket holders in an elevator... at the NCAA tournament... in full gear.) (This story was passed along from friends. Please bear in mind that there are, like, maybe eight St. John's STH.)
I'm usually the one who is ready to throw hands when people talk trash about the Big East, but... the talent was definitely top-heavy last year, and now that talent has either graduated, transferred, or graduated and then transferred. And unless someone's freshmen catch fire, this conference season is going to look like some of the bad AAC years.
(Metaphorically catch fire. Please nobody literally catch fire.)
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: 10/26/23 11:31 am ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
(We all also know how I feel about Joe. For those of you just catching up: the man has the charm of a sandpaper enema and the personality of rotting durian. And is apparently incapable of recognizing his own season ticket holders in an elevator... at the NCAA tournament... in full gear.) (This story was passed along from friends. Please bear in mind that there are, like, maybe eight St. John's STH.)
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How I wish it had been you in that elevator!
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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Location: Queens
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| Posted: 10/27/23 10:21 pm ::: |
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| myrtle wrote: |
| Queenie wrote: |
(We all also know how I feel about Joe. For those of you just catching up: the man has the charm of a sandpaper enema and the personality of rotting durian. And is apparently incapable of recognizing his own season ticket holders in an elevator... at the NCAA tournament... in full gear.) (This story was passed along from friends. Please bear in mind that there are, like, maybe eight St. John's STH.)
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How I wish it had been you in that elevator! |
honestly, it was more embarrassing for him not to acknowledge the people who *were* there... who are St. John's boosters for pretty much every sport... and have two kids who worked at the school... who were also in the band
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readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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Marquette Fan
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
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| Posted: 11/04/23 7:15 am ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
| Marquette Fan wrote: |
| I'm not sure how Marquette got picked to finish 3rd in the BE. As near as I can tell, they really won't have a post presence. We will see how things go. |
Mathematically, someone is required to finish either third or tied for second. And of the coaches in position to be in the middle of the conference, I trust Megan Duffy and her relatively stable roster more than either Tony Bozzella or Joe Tartamella with their collections of transfers and freshmen, and more than Denise Dillon's production of "six defensive returners in search of literally any offense".
(We all know I love Tony as a person. But I can only believe him so many times before I determine that he is, in fact, huffing copium when being excited about his team.)
(We all also know how I feel about Joe. For those of you just catching up: the man has the charm of a sandpaper enema and the personality of rotting durian. And is apparently incapable of recognizing his own season ticket holders in an elevator... at the NCAA tournament... in full gear.) (This story was passed along from friends. Please bear in mind that there are, like, maybe eight St. John's STH.)
I'm usually the one who is ready to throw hands when people talk trash about the Big East, but... the talent was definitely top-heavy last year, and now that talent has either graduated, transferred, or graduated and then transferred. And unless someone's freshmen catch fire, this conference season is going to look like some of the bad AAC years.
(Metaphorically catch fire. Please nobody literally catch fire.) |
Yes I suppose that's the case. It should be interesting. They have 6 new faces between transfers and freshmen so I will probably need my scorecard out for the first couple games to remember who is who  . They open on Monday with one of their scream games as I call them playing at noon hosting some schools on a field trip. I had planned to take off to go but work has gotten crazy so I may need to wait until next weekend to get my first look at the team.
I did read in a preview article in the local paper that a sophomore got hurt in the spring and will miss the season. She hadn't played much last year so I'm not sure the true impact of that. But it's rare that I actually see info like that published - I usually see the player on the bench in street clothes and wonder what's going on.
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HomerCecil
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 11/09/23 10:40 am ::: |
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The Billi Chambers era at Xavier opened with a 55-41 loss at Youngstown State last night. The Musketeers shot 33% from the field, 5% from three, were outrebounded 39-25 and outscored 12-0 on fast-break points.
I think it's entirely possible this year's team will actually be worse than last year. I only see seven games on the schedule that seem even possible for Xavier to win, and that would be overachieving.
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Marquette Fan
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| Posted: 11/30/23 7:19 am ::: |
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| HomerCecil wrote: |
The Billi Chambers era at Xavier opened with a 55-41 loss at Youngstown State last night. The Musketeers shot 33% from the field, 5% from three, were outrebounded 39-25 and outscored 12-0 on fast-break points.
I think it's entirely possible this year's team will actually be worse than last year. I only see seven games on the schedule that seem even possible for Xavier to win, and that would be overachieving. |
I watched the overtime of their game at Miami. I thought they had a good chance to pull that one out - sorry they didnāt do so.
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Marquette Fan
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| Posted: 11/30/23 9:04 am ::: |
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| Marquette is the last undefeated BE team at 7-0 and did move into the AP poll this week. But Iām still not sure how good they really are as the non-conference schedule is not real strong. We will see how things go as the season progresses I guess. Their first BE game on 12/13 when they host Creighton should be interesting.
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HomerCecil
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 11/30/23 11:02 am ::: |
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Thanks for the note on Xavier. Miami (Ohio) was picked to finish last in the MAC so it wasn't a good sign. Xavier seems to play slightly better defense this year, but the offense is like watching an intramural game. If they don't beat SIU Edwardsville I think it's quite possible they go 0-29.
From what I've seen of Marquette they seem to have much more offense than in the previous few years. I know the interior is a little suspect but I think they'll be just fine in the regular season. They do need to keep winning because I'm not sure the strength of schedule will be as high as it was in past years -- not sure how strong the Big East is this year overall, really.
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 11/30/23 12:48 pm ::: |
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*pretends to be surprised at Chambers' inability to coach an offense*
*fails miserably*
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HomerCecil
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 12/05/23 3:55 pm ::: |
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After losing by 37 to Temple in Arizona on Friday of last week, Xavier canceled its game against Arizona State on Saturday, citing a lack of available players. Scuttlebutt says it's injuries and not related to COVID.
Xavier has now "postponed" tomorrow's game against Oakland for the same reason.
https://goxavier.com/news/2023/12/5/womens-basketball-xavier-womens-basketball-vs-oakland-on-dec-7-has-been-postponed
The Musketeers are also 332nd in the initial NET rankings. This program is so bad in contrast to its well-backed men's program that I almost half expect a major media outlet to write about it. I've never seen anything like this from a team in one of the power conferences/Big East. They haven't won a game since Dec. 9, 2022. And this was a team that very nearly made a Final Four when it was in the Atlantic 10. The entire program just seems completely starved of attention, resources, you name it.
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 12/06/23 7:15 pm ::: |
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Well, I'm certainly relieved for their sake that it's not COVID.
Nothing about Chambers surprises me. She did most of her best work at Iona with someone else's kids. And one of the ones she recruited decided "nah, I like your predecessor better" and transferred to Seton Hall. The year that snookered Xavier into hiring her was an aberration and she played it to the hilt.
I know I'm biased regarding her; she took over for a coach we knew as a personal friend and burned the bridges he built. But I'm looking at the records, and I'm looking at where the performance falls off a cliff, and I'm looking at how many of her successful players got out of New Rochelle *before* transfer fever hit full throttle.
Y'all got bamboozled.
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Marquette Fan
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| Posted: 12/06/23 9:14 pm ::: |
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| I'm sorry to see how far the Xavier program has fallen. I hope they can get things turned around at some point.
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HomerCecil
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| Posted: 12/07/23 11:06 am ::: |
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Thanks for the responses and context. And I don't want to hijack this into a Xavier thread. I just think the program is at a point that it doesn't even matter who the coach is. There was a rumor that Mike Bradbury, who was an assistant at Xavier under Kevin McGuff (when the program was competent) and is now the head coach at New Mexico, wanted the Xavier job but Xavier couldn't (wouldn't) match his salary.
There was no press conference when Chambers was hired, her overall record was conveniently left out of the news release (because it was below .500 in the MAAC for a decade, which doesn't exactly scream Big East-ready), and the AD in one news item about the team this year had some bizarre quote about how she rebuilt Iona "twice" when she, as Queenie notes, took over a thriving program when the previous coach left for Seton Hall. It's just maddening incompetence and I think a winless season is certainly possible. I thought Butler's 1-win season a few years ago was as bad as the Big East could get, and it's a shame the rest of the Big East is going to take a hit in the NET rankings just from having to play Xavier.
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summertime blues
Joined: 16 Apr 2013
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| Posted: 12/07/23 1:51 pm ::: |
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| Didn't Melanie Balcomb run Xavier into the ground, the way she ran several other programs, including Vandy, the same way? That woman couldn't coach a team of Pee Wee ballers.
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It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 12/07/23 6:13 pm ::: |
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Balcomb was pretty successful at Xavier, but after one bad year, it was Kevin McGuff (who's a douche, and to borrow the slang of younger generations, sus AF), Amy Waugh (who I sincerely hope was just incompetent and not also fighting drinking problems), Brian Neal (who was a jerk), Melanie Moore (who was not ready for prime time), and now Billie Chambers (whose tactical acumen did not impress me at Iona).
I... am starting to question how exactly the resume-winnowing process works at Xavier.
For what it's worth, though, my understanding is that Bradbury is a massive dick and y'all might have dodged a bullet there.
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Queenie
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HomerCecil
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 12/08/23 10:23 am ::: |
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Melanie Balcomb had one recruiting class that turned out to have four of the best players the program has ever seen (Nicole Levandusky, Jennifer Phillips and Taru Tuukkanen were all drafted in 2001). I don't blame her for leaving for Vanderbilt. McGuff was shady, but at least back then Xavier was able to hire someone with the stature of the Notre Dame associate head coach--that certainly would not be the case now.
Things got weird when Amy Waugh abruptly resigned in October of 2013 just a couple of weeks before the season was starting. No one (publicly) knows why. And it's been a race to the bottom ever since.
I am wondering whether Marquette has a shot to actually win the league this year. I guess UConn has to still be the favorite but it's certainly wide open.
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PRballer
Joined: 18 Apr 2007
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| Posted: 12/08/23 1:37 pm ::: |
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| summertime blues wrote: |
| Didn't Melanie Balcomb run Xavier into the ground, the way she ran several other programs, including Vandy, the same way? That woman couldn't coach a team of Pee Wee ballers. |
Hardly. Balcomb was successful at Xavier, almost knocking off Uconn in 1999 and successfully knocking out Tennessee in the Sweet 16 in 2001. Xavier was a mid major darling and well coached and offensively polished.
She parlayed that run to the Vanderbilt job where she coached for 14 years and led them to the Sweet four times in her first 7 seasons. Her overall record was 309-142 and she won almost 70% of her games. Perennial NCAA Tournament entrants and in fact went dancing in 12 out of 14 years. Pretty darn good.
She we often lauded as an offensive genius in womenās basketball. I do remember a podcast interview where she complained about recruiting and my impression was she was burnt out, just from that single interview.
Things definite starting going south towards the end there in Nashville but I would hardly characterize it as being ārun into the groundā - they missed two NCAA tournaments and fell behind in the SEC but even then her records were 15-16 and 18-14, going 5-11 in the SEC those two years.
It was Stephanie White who oversaw the complete plunge.
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Marquette Fan
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| Posted: 12/08/23 10:10 pm ::: |
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| HomerCecil wrote: |
Melanie Balcomb had one recruiting class that turned out to have four of the best players the program has ever seen (Nicole Levandusky, Jennifer Phillips and Taru Tuukkanen were all drafted in 2001). I don't blame her for leaving for Vanderbilt. McGuff was shady, but at least back then Xavier was able to hire someone with the stature of the Notre Dame associate head coach--that certainly would not be the case now.
Things got weird when Amy Waugh abruptly resigned in October of 2013 just a couple of weeks before the season was starting. No one (publicly) knows why. And it's been a race to the bottom ever since.
I am wondering whether Marquette has a shot to actually win the league this year. I guess UConn has to still be the favorite but it's certainly wide open. |
That Waugh thing was odd and I always did wonder what really happened there.
I feel like Marquette is the benefactor of a really easy schedule at this point and just donāt know if they have it in them to compete for a BE title. Iād love to be wrong though š.
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
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| Posted: 12/09/23 11:56 am ::: |
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| PRballer wrote: |
| summertime blues wrote: |
| Didn't Melanie Balcomb run Xavier into the ground, the way she ran several other programs, including Vandy, the same way? That woman couldn't coach a team of Pee Wee ballers. |
Hardly. Balcomb was successful at Xavier, almost knocking off Uconn in 1999 and successfully knocking out Tennessee in the Sweet 16 in 2001. Xavier was a mid major darling and well coached and offensively polished.
She parlayed that run to the Vanderbilt job where she coached for 14 years and led them to the Sweet four times in her first 7 seasons. Her overall record was 309-142 and she won almost 70% of her games. Perennial NCAA Tournament entrants and in fact went dancing in 12 out of 14 years. Pretty darn good. |
I agree. I was always highly impressed by the sophisticated offensive schemes run by Balcomb at Xavier and Vanderbilt. To me, they were equal to UConn's, albeit with lesser skilled athletes. My impression is that Balcomb eventually got worn down by the unceasing recruiting grind in the highly physical and tough SEC, where Vandy was not one of the rich football powerhouses. |
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Marquette Fan
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| Posted: 12/13/23 10:23 am ::: |
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| First conference game of the season is a big one - two ranked teams facing off in milwaukee as Creighton plays at Marquette tonight. Hoping this isnāt a Creighton blowout - still wondering about MUās easy schedule and they were lucky to escape with a win at Illinois state Sunday too.
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Marquette Fan
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HomerCecil
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| Posted: 12/18/23 10:27 am ::: |
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| Yeah, Xavier was able to snap the 28-game losing streak on Friday. Coincidentally enough, it was 14 points from Aizhanique Mayo, a redshirt freshman, that led the way. Mayo has been on the roster both at Marquette and at Iona, yet Friday was her first-ever collegiate game. She must have been sitting out as a two-time transfer until the court injunction was issued last week allowing two-time transfers to play immediately. Xavier also added a volleyball player to the roster.
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Creighton's weird magic only works if you're from Iowa. UConn fans have their own thread. Lucy Olsen is not Maddie Siegrist, no matter how hard Villanova tries. St. John's lost to a Jackson State team that graduated its best player and Seton Hall can't even contend in the Ivy. DePaul is a shell of itself. Butler sucks less than last year but... the bar was low. Georgetown managed to hire a competent coach and then lost her to cancer, because fuck cancer; they seem to be playing with a fire under them, but we'll see how that goes in conference play.