Sleeping with the Enemy: The Golden Eagles of Marquette

Your Fighting Hoyas of Georgetown hit the hardwood against Marquette tonight and as always we're bringing you everything you need to know about Georgetown's next opponent.  Here to dish on all things Golden Eagles are our best blogfriends at Anonymous Eagle, your source for all of your Marquette needs.  Let's do this!

Anonymous Eagle!  Happy New Year!  How are things going in The Good Land?

Hello friends, and a happy and prosperous New Year to you, too. May your 2015 not be filled with losses to fucking DePaul.

Marquette (like everyone else so far) lost to DePaul, but then promptly held serve at home against Providence.  What's the deal with you guys?

We're trying to figure that out, too. Marquette is, to put it lightly, a work in progress this year. We're down to eight scholarship players, only one of whom (Derrick Wilson) saw significant run for us last year. We've got one dude taller than 6'7", we lost the kid who was supposed to be our main scoring threat (Deonte Burton) to a midseason transfer (he's at Iowa State now, because apparently there's a law that says anybody who transfers from a school in Wisconsin has to go to a school in Iowa; thanks, Obama), and, to top it all off, we've got a first-time head coach who's very much learning on the fly.

At times, MU's shown signs of figuring things out; we sort of clobbered Arizona State at home, we dominated Providence for stretches on Saturday, and we held our own for 35 minutes against Michigan State in Orlando. At other times, like when we got run out of our own gym by Nebraska freaking Omaha, or when we tried to take the air out of the ball for the last 11 minutes against DePaul (to predictable results), we look, uh, bad.

First: Admit it, your coach is really annoying.

OK, yes, as a player, Wojo was the worst. But you have to understand: our last two coaches were this guy, and then a maniac called Buzz who wore clothes that looked like they were made of old drapes and couldn't keep his ass of the floor and talked incessantly about the importance of character before bailing on Marquette because (and I'm not making this up, this is something the man actually said) expectations were getting too high.

Which is a long way of saying: I can definitely see how y'all could find Wojo annoying. But, for myself, I'm just delighted we don't have a coach who speaks in parables anymore.

Second: Please rank the coaches in the Big East in order of most annoying to least annoying.

(1) Jay Wright. Stupid, sexy, beautiful Jay Wright, making me feel like less of a man. God, can that fucker wear the shit out of a suit.

(2) Steve Lavin. Stop bluffing your way into the top 15 only to fall on your faces. You're making us all look bad.

(3) Whoever's coaching Butler. I know it's a new guy, but it doesn't matter. This ranking is based on Butler annoying me in general. If I have to hear about Hoosiers because of their gym one more time, I swear to God. Here's my general rule about that stuff: unless Jurassic Park was filmed on your campus, I don't give a shit.

(4) Greg McDermott, based on his relationship to Doug McDermott.

(5) Chris Mack and (6) Kevin Willard. They might be the same guy, for all I care. He - they? - doesn't bother me.

(7) JT3. I dig the commercials he did for soap.

(8) Ed Cooley. I love Ed Cooley. I think he should do a commercial for soap.

(9) Ollie Purnell. After we lost to DePaul, I looked up the numbers. Dude went 6-48 in the conference over the course of three years and DIDN'T GET FIRED. He can stay forever, as far as I'm concerned.

Speaking of coaches, now that you have had a chance to take a deep breath and reflect, what do you make of that Buzz Williams to Virginia Tech thing?  You guys better off without him?

Here's the thing about that move: Buzz Williams took Marquette to two Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 in his 6 years here. We made the tournament every year except for last season's nightmare. Marquette consistently finished in the top 6 in the Big East and won a share of the conference title in 2013. We had a conference player of the year and put a handful of guys in the NBA.

Despite that resume, since Buzz took the job at VPI, I have yet to hear anyone in a position of influence at Marquette say they were sorry to see him go. And I suspect that's because, from all appearances, Buzz Williams is a sociopath.

WoJo has done a great job so far on the recruiting trail. Let's say I'm a big-time recruit. Tell me why I should go to Marquette.

Hold up: it's "Wojo," not "WoJo." He's not Florence Griffith-Joyner.

Anyway: at Marquette University, basketball is priority #1 and #2 and #3.  And we put our money where our mouth is, too.  A 2012 report by Someplace That Sounds Official and Objective showed that Marquette spent more on its hoops than every program but three in the country - Duke, Louisville, and Kentucky. (Georgetown was ninth on that list, if you were wondering).  MU also spent more per athlete than everyone except Big Blue.  That means the off the court experience is going to be top notch. We also just forked out several million bucks to retool our practice facility. Plus, as Jake Taylor famously said in Major League (FILMED IN MILWAUKEE): "We've got uniforms and everything, it's really great!"

And if that little spiel doesn't work: have you seen whatJimmy Butler's doing this year?  He went here, and if you go here Jimmy Butler will be your friend.

True or False: You have worn a cheese head on your head while watching a Packers game.

The NFL is bad. And if you watch the NFL you are a bad person who is bad.

To respond to your question: true.

Who are a few of the guys that Georgetown needs to be aware of?

Well, like I said before, there's only eight of ‘em, so there's only a few of them to begin with. But the two most important cogs, right now, are Luke Fischer and Matt Carlino. Fischer transferred from Indiana in December last year, so he's only been eligible for the last 6 games. But he's our only big guy, and he was way better out of the gates than any of us could have realistically expected. That said, the last couple weeks have been a struggle as opponents have started game-planning for him. That came to a head against DePaul, when he had four turnovers in the last 7 minutes of the game. He was better against Providence, but he hasn't seen the kind of trees Georgetown will throw at him, so that should be an interesting test.

Carlino's a grad student transfer from BYU (by way of UCLA, by way of Indiana). He's been as-advertised, which means: he can run really really hot, like when he went for 38 against Tennessee, or really really cold, like when he went 1-10 from 3-point range against DePaul. He's going to put his stamp on the game; it's either going to make us very happy or you very happy, is all.

What are the biggest differences in Marquette on offense and defense under WoJo versus Buzz?

It's tough to say.

For one: as we said before, Wojo has been dealing with a roster in a perpetual state of flux.  So I think a lot of what he's been doing this year has been dictated by the personnel, and may not be exactly what he wants to do if he had his druthers (e.g. playing a lot of 2-3 zone, which he admits he's never been a huge fan of, because obviously zone is for cowards).

For two: I always felt that one of Buzz's strengths as a coach was being able to adapt his style from year to year.  When we needed to play fast, we played fast.  When we needed play slow, we played slow. When we had guys who could shoot 3s, we shot 3s. When we didn't (and we usually didn't), we didn't.  Since there's not one particular thing that Buzz's teams did, it's tough to say exactly what's different now.

And for three: even if there were specific differences to highlight, I'm not much of an Xs and Os wizard, so I don't know that I'd even be qualified to tell you about them. But we don't have to hear about paint touches after every game anymore, so that's kind of nice.

What's the best show on TV right now?

You know, the critics didn't love it, but I thought that this was a really ambitious, boundary-pushing season for Doc McStuffins. It's not nearly as formulaic as the other medical dramas that are so popular right now, and I think the writers deserve credit for expanding Lambie's role. Plus Stuffy is probably the most dependable supporting actor in terms of comic relief since Jason Alexander inSeinfeld.

What is Davante Gardner up to these days?

I dunno...WHY DON'T YOU LOOK RIGHT BEHIND YOU?

And I, for one, hope somebody hooks Ox up with a ticket. We got robbed of Josh Smith vs. Big Smoove last year, and I don't know that I'm ever going to get over that. It would've been like Street Fighter, when both players could pick E. Honda. Let's at least get them in the same building tonight.

Final score prediction?

I think Marquette's going to throw a scare into the Hoyas when we meet again in Milwaukee, but I don't expect tonight's game to be all that close. Gimme Georgetown and I'll give the points. 72-60.