For the third time in as many games this season, the Golden Eagles made beating an inferior opponent look difficult.,”The analyst on the ESPN2 broadcast team actually said these words as the men's basketball team's 74-63 win over Division II Chaminade wound to a close: "Marquette will survive this scare."
For the third time in as many games this season, the Golden Eagles made beating an inferior opponent look difficult. With six minutes to go, Marquette held a three-point lead. The Silverswords outrebounded the Golden Eagles 39-28.
Led by junior guard Jerel McNeal, who did not start but shot 10-for-14 from the field and scored 22 points, Marquette went on a 16-8 run to close out the affair.
That's correct, the Golden Eagles had to make a late push to close out a team that went 16-11 last season against such heralded foes as Grand Canyon University, Notre Dame de Namur and CSU-Monterey Bay.
While Marquette's play thus far has neither been inspiring nor encouraging, I'm not really sure that it matters. I'm inclined to believe Marquette fans would rather their team be mediocre now than in, say, February or March.
Certainly, the start to every season is exciting. Baseball fans get pumped up during spring training. Football fans rev their engines during August training camps.
College basketball fans relish the opportunity to see what their team is made of during November sponsorship tournaments.
One problem, though. Fans don't get to see what their team is made of during November. Or December. Teams don't begin to shape up until mid-January.
Marquette dropped a spot this week from No. 10 to No. 11 in the Associated Press poll without actually losing a game (apparently, struggling to put away Utah Valley State isn't as impressive as it used to be). Big deal. Many of the teams currently in the top 25 won't be there in six weeks. The teams that are still in the polls likely won't hold the same ranking they currently do.
The Golden Eagles are not playing like a top 25 team—much less a top 11 team—right now. On the whole, Marquette has struggled with team rebounding, perimeter defense and passing into the post out of half-court sets.
It doesn't matter, just like it wouldn't matter if the Golden Eagles were playing flawless basketball and creaming these teams by 30.
Last year, Marquette had a hard time beating Idaho State in the Milwaukee Regional of the CBE Classic. People worried.
Then the Golden Eagles went to Kansas City and whupped up on Bobby Knight's Red Raiders and Coach K's Blue Devils in the CBE Classic final rounds. People went crazy.
And then they went on the road to Valparaiso and needed a three-pointer by Dominic James in the final seconds to claim a victory. People smacked their foreheads in exasperation.
It's just not worth being jerked around this early in the season. Sure, it's OK to make observations as to what areas the team needs to improve. But let them play. Let them work out their lumps. Don't get super-excited or super-bummed.
In the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, Marquette will take on Oklahoma State, its first legitimate opponent of the year. If the Golden Eagles win that game, a rematch with Duke could take place in the finals.
ESPN is sure to over-hype the late-tournament match-ups. It's what the Worldwide Leader does. But don't be fooled. Whether Marquette comes away from Hawaii victorious or royally embarrassed will be of little significance down the stretch of the Big East conference schedule.
It's too early to be "scared" about the outcome of any game yet this season. I don't care what ESPN's talking heads say.
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