Author Archives | Mark Strotman

Marquette vs. Miami: Player grades

Buzz Williams: If the secret wasn’t out before tonight that Williams is one of the best game planners in the country, it certainly is now. The defensive strategy to push Shane Larkin out on pick and rolls and to play a version of zone defense down-low had the Hurricanes’ offense out of sorts. Later in […]

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Miami Scouting Report: Hurricanes have NBA size, skill

For all the gratuitous hyperbole Buzz Williams tends to give to opposing teams, coaches and players, he wasn’t joking around or exaggerating when he said the Miami Hurricanes have a roster that looks more like an NBA team than a collegiate one. The outright ACC champions–both in the regular season and the conference tournament–were one […]

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Vander Blue vs. Jae Crowder: You decide

  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 […]

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How Shane Larkin uses the pick-and-roll effectively

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 […]

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Synergy: Ball screen coverage crucial against Canes

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,” […]

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Blue has unfinished business in Sweet 16

A young, lanky Vander Blue had been on campus as a Marquette freshman for just over two months when he entered his first ever “Life Lessons” sessions, led by his new head coach, Buzz Williams. Williams frequently holds the lectures for his team to talk about life, teach every-day skills and to grow as a […]

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