New Year, Same Story for Marquette

I was able to catch the second half of Marquette/Tennessee game on Tuesday in the poorly organized SEC/Big East Invitational on Tuesday night. It seems as if Marquette has the same problems they've had the last four years. They have the trio of Dominic James, Jeremy McNeal, and Wesley Matthews. Matthews is my favorite player of the bunch, possibly because his expectations were never as high as the other two. A player I'd take on my team any day, Matthews does all the little things, makes his foul shots, and having decent range. I've never liked James' decision making and his shooting is inconsistent. Jeremy McNeal is a nice slasher who has seemed to improve his outside shot, but he took himself out of the Tennessee game with silly fouls. The team lacks the consistent outside shooter and a real low post option. I wouldn't be too worried about them in March. The Big East Schedule should eat them up.

There wasn't much noticeable on the Tennessee side other than insertion of Bobby Maze to run the offense. It'll be interesting to see how Maze handles himself in the rematch against Gonzaga and the in-state battle against Memphis. Wayne Chism was more offensive minded and showed nice range. The Vols have been guard dominated over the last few years, so Chism needs to step up.