Yes, another round of getting to know the opponent and the fans. I’m really happy about this one.

Cracked Sidewalks has been one of my regular blog reads since they went online last year. Happily homers (aren’t we all), the guys do really solid work talking about their team. Their coverage over the spring and summer regarding the school nickname was excellent. In addition, they added a stats blog for Marquette games and the Big East basketball. As much as I question the long term viability of the present configuration of the conference, I am thrilled thatthese guys are part of the BE bloggers consortium.

Without further ado.

1. How is this team doing it? Marquette starts 3 freshmen, including Dominic James at the point. How has this team gotten this good this quickly, especially given the loss of Deiner and what seems like a raft of disgruntled transfers over the last couple of years? Marquette is playing 9 deep with only 2 seniors and 1 junior in the rotation.

Because of the injury to Wes Matthews, we are no longer starting 3 freshmen, though upon his return that may continue. In his post game interview on Wednesday, Coach Tom Crean indicated that Wesley could return in mid to late February — that’d be a huge boost to Marquette as Matthews was having a very good year, playing his best ball when the injury occurred. Thankfully, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James have elevated their play in his absence — James gets the headlines (deservedly so), but McNeal is also turning in a terrific season; he stuffs the box score routinely.

Back to your question though, I would argue the players that transferred have clearly been replaced by players that are better and more committed. Mason would have played this year, but the new kids were on par with his talent and production immediately this season. These kids have so much athleticism and they are fearless — even in the Cincinnati game where the Bearcats held a block party, the freshmen never backed down.

We have been a timid team the last two seasons with guys settling for jump shots, but now we are aggressive and fearless. That is totally embodied by the three freshmen and it opens it up for the guys that don’t tend to get physical like Novak and Fitzgerald. Novak in particular has benefited from the attention the freshmen draw from opposing players.

2. What style of a game does Marquette play on offense and defense? I realize they play at a faster tempo than Pitt and take a lot shots per game, though offensive efficiency isn’t too different, but is it a half-court, perimeter, penetration, drive and kick-out?

Defensively we play man to man or a matchup zone mostly. Crean will mix it up during the game and sometimes possession by possession. MU showed signs of becoming a full-court pressure team prior to Matthews’ injury ,but we’ve not seen that look since then.

Offensively Marquette attacks the hoop with dribble penetration from the guards (primarily James and McNeal) who also kick it back out for our three point shooters (Fitzgerald’s breakout performance against DePaul is the latest case in point). MU does not have much of a post up game, though Novak has done more and more of that. Also, with Matthews out Crean has gone to a bit more screening for Novak.

Our bigs usually get garbage points, or points off of James going to the hoop and drawing the defense to him. Our bigs do not create much on their own, and seem to have a short leash with Coach Crean. It seems like one big man per game does OK for MU — but never more than that. For example, Ousmane Barro played well against DePaul this week, and before that, Mike Kinsella turned in spirited minutes against ND. Who will it be against Pitt?

3. Novak has earned BE Player of the Week honors twice and James Rookie of the Week twice. They are the leading scorers. Novak leads the team in rebounds and James in assists. What kind of game do they like to play?

Novak still relies on his brilliant shooting from beyond the arc, he’s one of the purest shooters in the nation. He will post up from time to time, but what’s been amazing this season is how quickly Novak is able to release his shot — even with guys draped all over him, Novak will hit the deep three pointer. I still don’t think Steve gets enough shot attempts per game, however.. He’s also a 97%+ free throw shooter as well.

James is very aggressive, an extraordinary athlete. James and Dwyane Wade are the best two pure athletes to play at Marquette in decades. Some games he looks to dish first (the DePaul game this week), some he has to score a bit more (the DePaul game the week before). He has the talent for both, and is a very efficient basketball player. The team relies on him as much as Pitt relies on Krauser, and James has responded with an A/TO ratio of nearly than 2 to 1, and he’s shooting better than 50% from the field in conference play. Despite his stature, James goes in amongst the trees regularly. He’s very, very quick — DePaul was the latest team that failed to halt his dribble penetration. James is a streaky 3-point shooter and needs to improve his FT shooting — he’s really struggled from the line at times this season.

4. What sort of team gives Marquette the most trouble, offensively and defensively? Teams that shoot the 3 well. Our perimeter defense isn’t great, just ask West Virginia which set Big East and school records for 3-pointers made in their game against MU earlier this year. Defending the perimeter has been a weakness for MU for the last couple of seasons.

Defensively, there haven’t been many teams that have shut MU down this year. We have shot high 40’s or 50% in many of our games. We do get turnover happy, which is somewhat expected as a young team. Many of those turnovers seem to be self-induced, out of control playing rather than anything the defense is doing. When James is out of the game, however, we can be vulnerable to the press.

5. I know Marquette and the fans were very excited about joining the Big East. Can you talk about it a little? How long do you see the BE lasting as presently configured? Do you see a split somewhere in the future?

ECSTATIC about the Big East. Its the best thing to happen to Marquette probably since the 1977 National Title (well, that 2003 Final Four was sweet too).

It puts us in the best conference in basketball, it opens up recruiting channels on the East Coast (Crean is taking full advantage of that) and it brings new, exciting teams for the fans to see.

Even if the conference breaks up, this is a good move for us because it is likely that MU stays with the ‘basketball only’ schools league going forward. I, for one, am not convinced the league will break up. Where are these east coast schools going to go to play football? If there was a viable destination for them, I would agree but I don’t see the ACC getting any bigger. The Big 10 might take one more school but certainly will not take 4 or 5. Geography leads me to believe that everyone is staying put with the one caveat that the football schools break off across the country to form a Super Division I. All bets are off at that point.

6. When did you realize that this team would be able to successfully compete in the Big East this year, despite such a young roster?

Since you never know until you try, its easy to say the UConn win to open the season. MU played a near perfect game that night, and Novak delivered one of the great performances in Big East history.

But I think the win that initially raised expectations was the overtime win over South Carolina to claim the title at the Great Alaska Shootout. MU won three straight games up there (Eastern Washington, Oral Roberts, South Carolina) and I think that made you believe in this squad. None of the teams MU beat up there were remarkable, but given MU’s youth and the solid, veteran-laden teams they beat (ORU and the Gamecocks), it was impossible to ignore the optimism at that point.

Keep in mind, that going into the GAS, expectations were wildly inconsistent for this team. Some figured they’d struggle mightily due to the roster turnover and youth, while others thought the squad had a high ceiling. Turns out the optimists were correct — and I think that South Carolina win excited the fan base here.

Thanks again guys. My answers to their questions can be found here.