For the Marquette Golden Eagles, they head into their toughest stretch of the season. The next four games are about as scary as seeing Precious naked. Tonight, it begins with a trip to South Bend to play 16. Notre Dame. After that, two huge home games against 8. UConn and 3. Syracuse. They round it off with a road trip to Philadelphia to play 7. Villanova. Can I just already ask to play in the Wachovia Center instead of that bandbox of a gym? I know my pleads will not work, but a guy can dream.
As a fan, I hope Marquette goes 2-2. Currently, the Eagles stand 4-2 in the Big East conference. I am perfectly okay being 6-4 with a couple of quality wins under their belt. But is it okay for me to feel greedy and believe the Eagles can go 3-1 ? I am starting to see some positive things from this team. Take away they blew a 18 point lead in 10 minutes, I know that's a pretty damming to think about, but they are playing so smoothly right now. They don't look like a bunch of individuals anymore, they look like a team who is gelling at the right time. Take Tuesday night against DePaul. Yes I know they have a permanent residence in the cellar of the Big East, but they made all the right passes barely turning the ball over. The other thing is they showed good signs of tough defense.
The key will not be whether their balanced offense will be there, it's how the defense will play against the Big East juggernauts of UConn, Cuse, and Nova. I liked to think the team that gave up nearly 90 points is dead and buried, but you never know. They still struggle stepping out on three point shooters, and rotating on help defense has been a consistent issue as well. I want to believe that Coach Buzz has inspired these guys to work harder on that end, but there is precedent to not believe that statement.
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| Just like the Return of the Mac, we need the Return of the JFB |
My final worry is a problem they had last season might be creeping back. They don't have a number one scorer. Someone needs to take over in late game situations like Jimmy F Butler did last season. Even though Lazar Hayward was the star of the team, JFB became the guy you wanted to have the ball with under two minutes. In my opinion, you never forget how to be clutch. It's just something built into your system. I know these games will be close and JFB needs to get that magic back.
Anyway you break it down, this will decide Marquette season. They lose all four, we will enjoy a healthy spot on the bubble, win all four and they become a force in the Big East with another 'why did we doubt Marquette again,' or just take care of business against two of them earning more quality wins for the resume. Now, let's go sweep the Golden Domers.
-Charlie.
