3 Takeaways from Marquette Basketball losing to Wisconsin

Defense for Marquette Basketball is still a work in progress and so is the team.

The Marquette Golden Eagles like to press, and in Marquette’s two losses this season, the press has been ineffective. St. Bonaventure broke the Golden Eagles press because of its experience. The Badgers had freshman Chucky Hepburn running point, and he did not seem fazed. Although, it helps to have a veteran in Brad Davison to assist in pushing the ball.

The Badgers effectively spaced the floor on offense, so the deflections Marquette likes to get to force turnovers were hard to come by.

As Smart pointed out, the team got demoralized, and it led to a poor defensive effort in the closing half.

There were questions about whether Shaka Smart’s pressing style of defense would work after he left VCU.

He did not run the press as much at Texas, but Marquette has been pressing more in Shaka’s first nine games in charge.

The press worked against Illinois. The deflections-focused defense also disrupted West Virginia and Ole Miss.

It seems the players are still learning the best positioning needed to have an effective press. They are also needing to overcome losing focus and being demoralized to keep “losing themselves in the fight” on defense, as Shaka Smart likes to call it.

Shaka is trying to integrate eight players with just a year of college experience or less. Knowing the effort and mentality needed to run a press or being consistently disruptive–or violent as Shaka describes it–takes experience.

As a whole, the defense has the numbers of a work in progress towards a positive outlook. The Marquette Golden Eagles are ranked 67th in the KenPom.com adjusted defensive rating. Marquette is surrendering 70.6 points per game and holding opponents to just a 32.6% three-point percentage. They still need to improve on the defensive glass.

This whole team is still a work in progress, even with the great November start. The young Golden Eagles are still trying to find the best shots in offensive guru Nevada Smith’s system. The youth and inexperience means the team still has a lot of learning to do.

Veteran players such as Darryl Morsell are adjusting to bigger offensive roles. Lewis is still learning how to use the dribble to get shots at the college level.

It is not fun to get blown out by a rival, but if Marquette can keep growing as a team, this kind of loss will be few and far between.