Scrambled Eggs - Marquette Basketball

Podcast is in off season form

Well, it's the off season which means we are more unprepared and disorganized then ever but we have a good amount of topics to cover, so hopefully that makes up for it. We talk about non-basketball related Marquette topics before we remember we are a basketball podcast and then jump into the latest news first. We discuss Khalif Young and LG Gill deciding not to don the blue and gold next season. We debate whether it's a big deal, does it matter, is it a sign of weakness, and why people seem so anxious about some mid-tier recruits. We then talk about everybody's least favorite topic: was Wally cut and why. Basically it boils down to Phil is cold hearted and Joe has some sympathy but basically we should all move on. Since we do have a scholarship open, its worth talking about what the team should do with it. Then we transition to some schedule news that's been coming out in dribs and drabs and what that means for the non-conference season. Lastly we spend time talking about "The Tournament" which is something that Marquette basketball alum led by Dan Fitzgerald are trying to qualify for so they can go win $2 million. The potential team looks pretty good with a lot of fan favorites signed up. Hopefully it'll show up on tv somewhere so we can spend time analyzing it to no end.

Seasons over and changes are coming....now what?

We put a couple of weeks between us and the end of the Marquette season, and now we're ready to talk about it. Be prepared, this is a far ranging and deep conversation on all things Marquette basketball (not to mention an hour long). First welcome Markus Howard to the Marquette family! We start with a brief recap of the end of the season and what we took away from the season overall. We then spend some time commiserating over the lack of a post season and the impact on the future that might have. The much maligned schedule is discussed and how it ultimately impacted Marquette's season and post season opportunities. This conversation leads to a very deep dive into the possibility of a Big East expansion that surfaced over the last couple of weeks. After getting the general topics out of the way we got to the main focus right now: Henry Ellenson leaving (we assumed but since confirmed), what the team needs, and Markus Howard. We also spent a little time talking about the future and where the team goes next year. Overall, drawing one season to a close and getting everything tucked away in the podcast so we can settle in to the summer hibernation that is Marquette basketball.

The regular season is over, now what?

Marquette's 99th regular season campaign has drawn to a close and we are left with the question now what. We discuss the deflating Butler game, officiating, Henry's health and why that was such difficult loss from a post season standpoint. We also discuss the Georgetown result, the excitement of which feels long ago, but we do talk a little Traci Carter and how significant his improvement has been. We then talk post season, first the Big East tournament hopes and then what the NIT prospects are when the likely happens and Marquette doesn't win the whole Big East tournament. Finally, we wrap up with another pitch for the great #mubb tshirt that is being sold for a great cause, link is here:
https://www.booster.com/mubb-support-for-als-run?ref=copy-link_misc_mobile-campaign-page-share&utm_campaign=mobile-campaign-page-share&utm_content=mubb-support-for-als-run&utm_medium=misc&utm_source=copy-link

Good effort, but Villanova is just too good

Welcome to a live edition of Scrambled Eggs Podcast! With Joe McCann in town, we decided to record a live podcast, which really just means less work for us but still fun. We talk the week that was for Marquette basketball, a hard fought win over Creighton and a tough loss to a really good Villanova team. We talk about the atmosphere for the Villanova game and what we thought of the game. After some time talking about the tough loss, we talk about closing out the season strong. Marquette has two regular season games left to try and position themselves as positively as possible for the Big East tournament. There are multiple scenarios but Marquette can finish anywhere from 8th to 5th in the final standings. So we talk about what the various scenarios result in. We also talk about honoring Henry at the Georgetown game, we don't know it's his last game at home in a Marquette uniform but we aren't holding our breath. Lastly, we talk about a fun fundraiser that the Marquette social media folks put together on a whim. A t-shirt was created with social media in mind and we decided to use it to fundraise for Al's Run. Here is the link to buy a t-shirt, with all proceeds going to Children's Hospital:
https://www.booster.com/mubb-support-for-als-run?ref=copy-link_misc_mobile-campaign-page-share&utm_campaign=mobile-campaign-page-share&utm_content=mubb-support-for-als-run&utm_medium=misc&utm_source=copy-link

Get a t-shirt and enjoy the last week of regular season basketball!

Marquette is still young, and still maddeningly inconsistent

Marquette had a week off so we decided to take advantage and really process the Creighton and Providence game. That's mostly an excuse for our laziness, but we are going to talk a lot about the Creighton and Providence games. One of the first things we talk about is Coach Wojchiekowski's post game presser after Creighton, you can listen here:  So after listening to Wojo we're wondering, has he lost this team? How does a team just not run a play at all that a coach draws up? Is this just more youth showing? We then talk, yet again, about youthful mistakes the team is making, but point out that the total mistakes (TOs) are going down, they are just being made at very inopportune times. We then talk about the last 5 games of the season and focus on the next 3 especially. Bottom line, DON'T LOSE TO DEPAUL AGAIN! And we need to win at least one or two more to make the NIT. We wrap up with some talk about recruiting as well as Steve Novak, who has taken one elite skill and turned it into a 10 year, $20 mil career. Enjoy, and don't lose to DePaul!

Two tough loses but not all is lost

Another week of #mubb product and another week of two loses with silver linings. In this episode of the podcast we discuss the Seton Hall and Xavier games and what we took away from them. We do spend some time on negativity island especially around turnovers and why they keep happening at such an alarming rate. We then take a ferry to things aren't too bad harbor where we talk about the offensive success of the team and Jajuan Johnson turning into good Jajuan Johnson. We then look ahead to the rest of the conference season but especially the next three games and what it'll take for Marquette to get some wins. Two home games this week including a rare night game against an unexpectedly decent Creighton, gotta come away with at least one win. Do they have it in them?

That week feels a whole lot better than the week before.

Well, we can all breathe just a touch easier, as we now know Marquette can put together a quality game against a quality opponent in Big East play. We spend a fair amount of time on the pod this week, discussing what the impact of the Butler win is on the season, and just what it was that allowed Marquette to put on such a good showing. We walk through some of the individual performances and discuss whether they are sustainable through the rest of the season or not. We also give a shout out to the crowd who put in yeoman's work on Saturday. We then transition to "well that's nice but can we win more?" and "OK but we still can't make the tournament, right....right?". Lastly we journey down a Marquette tangent that maybe the internet masses can answer for us. This week is a big week for Marquette's post season hopes, two tough road games that will determine if they've turned the corner or if they are still just talented freshmen.

It was a tough week for Marquette, just how bad was it?

If you were to base it on twitter/fan forums, Marquette is done as a basketball school for the next 5-10 years. While certainly not that bad, this past week of Marquette basketball was pretty damaging for this season. We spend some time talking about specifics regarding the St Johns and DePaul game, but we really focus on where this team is on the growth curve. We also have some tough talk about the coaching staff and discuss why Henry Ellenson hasn't been the savior some fans thought he would be. Hopefully this pod will be a little cathartic for you.

We weren't expecting wins, but that doesn't mean we can't be disappointed

The end results of the two games against Top 10 teams were what we expected, but the means by which the results were delivered is an interesting discussion. In this weeks, podcast we break down the Villanova and Xavier games to see where this team is at and what (both positive and negative) can be learned. We spend time discussing defensive strategies and poor shooting as well if Henry's defense is a major issue.We also go on a little rant about student participation and fan support in general in this weeks edition of "crotchety old men". We then look forward to the next two weeks of supposed "get better" games as we play the two worst teams in conference and a non-con game against a cowboy hat.

Riding the roller coaster to start the Big East

Well the Big East has been a headscratcher and we're only 2/9ths of the way through. Life got in the way of podcasting but we're back at it and no better than we've ever been. We talk about all four conference games, what they mean, why they went the way they went, and what conclusions we can draw. This leads to a debate about player performance and what player we trust the most on this Marquette team. We then transition to Henry Ellenson: Overrated, Underrated or properly rated. After that lively debate it's time to talk the very difficult week ahead for Marquette basketball with a road trip to conference leader Villanova and home game against Xavier on the docket. Finally we wrap up with a little light recruiting news. Enjoy!