Paint Touches

WASHINGTON — One of the major themes circulating around the Verizon Center during Wednesday’s Media Day was the fact that Miami (FL) coach Jim Larranaga was coming back to the area that made him famous. As most everybody knows, Larranaga was in charge of nearby George Mason before migrating down south to the ACC school […]

WASHINGTON — When you look at how the four remaining teams in the East Region – Indiana, Miami (FL), Marquette, and Syracuse – advanced out of the NCAA Tournament’s initial weekend, the Golden Eagles stick out from the rest. Yes, while this part of the bracket has been as chalk as chalk can be, Marquette […]

  I posed this question late last night on Twitter, and it’s certainly a good thing to be able to debate: Vander Blue vs. Butler or Jae Crowder vs. Murray State? Marquette is in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season–something only Kansas, Florida, Ohio State and the Golden Eagles can say. And while […]

If the events of last weekend are any predictor, Marquette will be in for another dramatic finish against Miami in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Both teams played tight games that came down to the final few possessions, with mere inches separating agony from euphoria.  As such, I decided to watch some recent tape of […]

Yesterday we looked at how Miami–Marquette’s Thursday night opponent in the Sweet 16–uses the second-most pick-and-rolls in the country, doing so at one of the most efficient clips of any team. It’s where the Hurricanes’ offense begins and ends, and at the forefront of that is point guard Shane Larkin. The ACC Player of the […]

Like he is every offseason, Buzz Williams spent all four months as a student. He meticulously studied a different aspect of the game for one month, each month, to improve as a head coach. He said he wanted to focus on “things that I know the essence of the game will always come down to,” […]