Marquette Preview Stuff
Cincinnati, Marquette battle for NCAA Bid. Enquirer
he first order of business for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats after their loss to No. 14 Connecticut on Sunday is to put it behind them. And for this team, the best way to do that might be to hit the road.
The Bearcats, still trying to cement that coveted NCAA Tournament bid, have found playing on the road in the Big East this season to be almost as fruitful as playing at home. They're 4-4 on the road and 5-3 at Fifth Third Arena.
A classically shitty and misleading headline from the people who brought you Dewey defeats Truman. OK so that was the Chicago Tribune but it might has well have been the enquirer. Both Marquette and UC are in the tournament at this point. It will be very difficult for either team to play their way out of it at this point. Of course this distinction is lost on Bill Koch and because of that I would like to take this time to remind everyone that he is uber shitty at his job.
Hurting Bishop likely to play: Bill Koch
"He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever coached," Mick Cronin said. "It’s at the tip of his big toe, his push-off point. It’s an uncomfortable injury. He’s going to play. The question is what’s his pain going to be when he goes to actually play."
Thats the biggest question mark for this game. If Bishop is good to go you stick him on Darius Johnson-Odom and make things difficult for him and the rest of their offense. If not it gets dicey for the defense
Third time the charm: Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
"They play nine guys double-figure minutes. Really athletic," he said. "All their guys are strong. All of their guys have bodies that are Big East-type bodies. I think they play incredibly hard. I think Mick (Cronin) has done an unbelievable job in the five years he’s been there relative to what the job was when he took it, and the progression over each year.
"Yancy Gates, it goes without saying he demands attention. The problem with that is Rashad Bishop is their leader. Extremely skilled, knows how to play. Their other perimeter guys do a great job of forcing help. And I don’t think there’s necessarily a distinct difference when they go to the bench, and I think that’s why Mick is playing nine guys double-figure minutes – each of them do one or two things good, and the things you could argue as a coach they do poorly, there’s not much separation between them.
It is hard to know just how rare it is for a team to play so many guys so many minutes until you start looking into other teams. It is by far the most unique thing about this UC team and how they play.
How I learned to stop worrying and hate the Bearcats: Anonymous Eagle
Tonight, Marquette and Cincinnati will play their first meaningful basketball game against each other since February 24, 2005, which was the last time these two teams met as part of Conference USA. In that game, the Bearcats came in ranked #24 in the country and the Golden Eagles was playing their first game since PG Travis Diener went down with a season and college career ending injury. Since joining the Big East, these two teams have played each other just 4 times in 5 seasons, and the games have never really meant more to either team that just a run of the mill conference game.
This is sad.
When I attend home games, I can name every player in the "History of Marquette" video from Jim McIllvaine onwards. So my formative years as a Marquette fan happened to coincide with Marquette being a part of the formation of the Great Midwest Conference. This means that for 12 long years, through the Great Midwest Conference and through the first 8 years of Conference USA, I watched Marquette play Cincinnati twice a year, with the occasional third matchup in a conference tournament.
I hated every minute of it.
I hated those Bearcats so much.
I don't know why but it is hard to remember just how good those match ups were in the Crean and Huggins era, but there were some great ones to be sure.
Cronin, WIlliams leading programs through Big East. CBS Sportsline
The two coaches, who lead Cincinnati and Marquette respectively, will do battle on Wednesday night in Milwaukee in what is anticipated to be another conference slugfest.
In a league packed with hall-of-famers, Cronin and Williams are alike in style, demeanor, and desire to climb a ladder that seemingly doesn't allow you to reach for the next rung.
Interesting piece even if it doesn't have any imminently interesting lines within.
That's all I have for right now, check back for the gamethread at 8. It should be really convenient since everyone is going to be near a computer to watch the game which is exclusively on ESPN3