Success is measured in regular season record and postseason performance, and Marquette head coach Tom Crean expected to improve those two marks this season.,”
If you thought there was pressure on the men's basketball team this season, it was microscopic compared to what it will face come November.
Success is measured in regular season record and postseason performance, and Marquette head coach Tom Crean expected to improve those two marks this season. Although the Golden Eagles went an impressive 10-6 in the Big East with a more difficult schedule, they lost in the conference tournament quarterfinal and in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
The absence of postseason success – Marquette has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2003 – is why the onus is on the team to develop this offseason.
"We've just got to keep building and keep getting better," sophomore Wesley Matthews said.
The improvement must start with the big three.
Sophomore Dominic James put up disappointing offensive numbers down the stretch after his excellent first half. From his freshman to his sophomore season, he regressed in every offensive category except turnovers and free-throw shooting, which remained less than 65 percent.
James, Matthews and Jerel McNeal struggled to adjust to defenses which zeroed in on them. In their freshman campaigns, the big three had wider driving angles because of Steve Novak's shooting. Dan Fitzgerald and David Cubillan alleviated some tension, but losing Novak forced the three to work harder for buckets.
The remedy to collapsing defenses is for the three to improve their outside shots this offseason, James and Matthews especially.
McNeal increased his three-point percentage from .283 to .313 from freshman to sophomore year. Before suffering a season-ending thumb injury, he buried 15-of-35 three-pointers in his final 10 games, an encouraging sign.
But the other two shot worse. James was 11-of-63 from outside in his final 11 games, sinking his percentage to .272. He shot .301 from outside as a freshman. Teams dared him to shoot this season, and James complied by firing 5.4 long range jumpers per outing – far too many.
Matthews' three-point numbers worsened, too, though his overall scoring jumped nearly four points per game.
If the guards' shooting improves, defenders will play closer along the perimeter, allowing them to drive more freely.
As for the rest of the team, the good news is that Marquette returns its entire roster, excluding Mike Kinsella and Jamil Lott, who rarely played this season.
After Michigan State beat Marquette 61-49 in the NCAA tournament first round, Crean was asked whether it was too early to look forward to returning five starters.
"Our starting lineup you saw tonight (is returning)," Crean said. "I'm not sure if it's the starting lineup you'll see next year. No, I can't look ahead yet. I'm too busy dealing with a stomach that feels like it got kicked in to look ahead right now."
The demoralizing loss occurred partly because of a lack of depth behind the injured McNeal.
"With Jerel out there it would've made a difference," James said after the Michigan State loss. "But I still felt like we had the personnel to get it done."
Next season, Marquette will have a deeper bench. Crean returns two solid bench players, Fitzgerald and Cubillan, and adds redshirt sophomore Maurice Acker, who was the Mid-American Conference rookie of the year in 2005-'06. Highly-touted freshman Trevor Mbakwe highlights the upcoming freshman class.
Given all of this, expect the Golden Eagles to compete for the Big East title next year.
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