Bleacher Report - Articles by Nicole Haase

Marquette Golden Eagles: Are They For Real?

Nicole Haase — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:58:37 -0500

My assignment was to give five questions for this Marquette team as they head into the meat of their conference schedule. The questions are supposed to help determine if the Golden Eagles can make a run deep into the NCAA Tournament.

The thing is, there aren’t five burning questions this team needs to answer—there’s just one.

Can they keep it up?

Or, more specifically, will they come up against a big man that they can’t handle?

This is a team that’s incredibly aware of both its shortcomings and its advantages.

They’re lacking size, but feature a backcourt that hasn't been matched by any other team in the country. It would be hard to make an argument against Jerel McNeal as the top guard in the nation. Dominic James is arguably the fastest player in the country, and actually seems to get faster with the ball in his hand.

The number one question entering conference play was how well Marquette would be able to handle the much larger front-courts of Big East teams like Pitt, Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame and Georgetown.

Marquette’s answer? So far, so good.

Despite a glaring size disadvantage, the Golden Eagles have managed to start their conference schedule 8-0.

How crucial is the size difference? In Saturday’s game, Marquette’s biggest man was 6’8” Dwight Burke, who played 26 minutes. Burke wouldn’t even be the fourth biggest guy on Georgetown.

After Saturday’s win, coach Buzz Williams was quick to point out that if MU continues to let opposing teams shoot 56 percent, they’ll lose a lot more games. He knows that his team needs to improve. He makes sure they know it, too.

But how does a team out-sized and out-shot dominate the second half of play? By out-rebounding the Hoyas and taking 25 more free-throws. Marquette had 30 points from the charity stripe. Georgetown had eight.

In any given game, Marquette features four players in James, McNeal, Lazar Hayward, and Wes Matthews that can put up 20-to-25 points. Teams can’t defend that.

And while those four are doing most of the offensive work—Marquette did not have one bench point during the Notre Dame win—it’s the lesser-known players that are making a difference on defense.

Maurice Aker was named team player of the week against Notre Dame despite not scoring a single point. The honor was given because he held the Irish’s Kyle McAlarney to just nine points.

On Saturday, McNeal posted 26 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five blocks, and three rebounds. What player, in any conference, is putting up numbers like that? Remember, too, that McNeal isn’t even the primary ball-handler.

One of Marquette’s biggest strengths is its ability to steal balls without committing fouls. This is where the team’s quickness and the tempo they play show up in the box score. They aren’t afraid to push the pace or move the ball into the paint. They get inside and allow those oversized defenses to foul them.

That defensive pressure has been the key to Marquette’s ability to over-power bigger teams.

However, despite the 8-0 start, there are those out there who think Marquette is a “pretender." They point to Notre Dame and Geogetown’s poor conference records as proof that the Golden Eagles have yet to get a marquee win.

Since when do dominant wins over Notre Dame and Georgetown get you no credibility in not only the Big East, but the NCAA as a whole?

The early-season losses to Tennessee and Dayton will continue to haunt Marquette in their quest to be considered a legit team. Their win over Wisconsin early in the season continues to hold less credibility as UW continues its slide.

Every team in the Big East has a stretch in the conference schedule that is daunting. Unfortunately for Marquette, their most difficult stretch comes in the final five games of the season. A poor run there could leave a foul taste in the mouths of the NCAA selection committee.

However, that five game stretch doesn’t look as scary as it once did. It opens at Georgetown, a team they just beat convincingly. UConn comes to Milwaukee, now one of the loudest and hardest to play places in the country.

From there, Marquette faces perhaps the toughest test of any Big East team, as they have Louisville and Pitt back-to-back on the road. They close the season out at Syracuse, which is a far less scary game than it seemed at the beginning of the season.

What first looked like a five-game minefield could now be Marquette’s path to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After all, it’s been universally accepted that the Big East is men’s basketball’s toughest conference. If a team is the best of the toughest conference, shouldn’t they be rewarded?

It will be interesting to see what the selection committee does, should that occur. Marquette’s non-conference schedule doesn’t compare to teams like Pitt and Louisville, but if the Golden Eagles come out on top of the scrum, I’m not sure how they could be left in the cold.

Prince Fielder: Why His Signing Benefits the Milwaukee Brewers As Much As Him

Nicole Haase — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:52:50 -0500

It was made official on Friday that Prince Fielder signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Brewers. The deal, worth $6.5 million in 2009 and $11.5 million in 2010, includes a $1 million signing bonus.

Averaged out, the deal actually works out to more than the $8 million per year Fielder requested.

The two-year deal actually leaves Fielder one year short of free agency, where he’ll likely sign a contract for 2011 and be able to enter the market for a big payday at just the age of 27.

While it’s easy to look at the short contract and see it as a part of the growing trend of big-name stars signing short contracts and trying to control their free agency years, don’t overlook the positives the contract gives the Brewers.

The short contract gives the Brewers security in knowing that Fielder must continue to maintain his numbers, and his weight, if he’s going to make any kind of money in the free agent market.

Fielder’s weight has been a topic of discussion and concern among fans, especially after last season’s highly publicized switch to vegetarianism.

Fans worry that Fielder is on the fast-track to becoming an AL team’s designated hitter. His size has, at times, seemed to have an affect on his base-running and fielding skills at first base.

Fielding errant throws from Ricky Weeks on a daily basis can make anyone look bad, but combine his size with his lack of height, and it has seemed obvious that Prince is destined to be nothing but a bat in the coming years.

However, looking slimmer than he has been since arriving in Milwaukee at last night’s Brewers Winter Warm-Up program, when asked if he was happy about the signing, Fielder gave a succinct, “Hell yeah.”

The signing comes as a bit of a shock, as it was assumed by most that Fielder was being dangled as trade bait this offseason, as the Brewers tried to find another starting pitcher.

While youth has stepped up in Milwaukee with the impressive one-two starters of Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parry, the loss of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency have left the Brewers with a less-than-stellar three-four-five of Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, and a PTBNL (possible Seth McClung).

Fielder’s image was noticeably absent from any and all Brewers off-season promotion materials, only serving to fuel the fires of speculation.

Not only does the signing put those rumors to rest, but it also likely ends any hope Brewers’ fans had that the team could sign a free agent starter.

Owner Mark Attanasio told The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the Fielder signing, along with money budgeted for Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks (who are still in the arbitration process), puts the team at their budget ceiling for 2009.

Arguments for and against the Fielder signing that look purely at stats miss the point. His 2007 with 50 home runs and a .618 slugging percentage is unlikely to be repeated. Likewise, his “slump” of just 34 home runs in 2008 will not be the norm.

With Fielder joined by Ryan Braun in the middle of Milwaukee’s batting order, the Brewers present a formidable problem to opposing pitchers. This signing ensures that Milwaukee enjoys at least two more seasons of that combination.

It’s possible that Braun is the best thing that ever happened to Fielder’s career in Milwaukee.

Never at ease in front of the camera, and always trying to win the game with one swing of the bat, Fielder has not seemed comfortable with the sole spotlight shining on him.

Braun, however, is articulate and well-spoken. He thrives on the attention and seems to be the natural, public leader that Prince is not.

Now that Fielder feels that the expectations of the team and city do not sit solely on his shoulders, he seems much more at ease at the plate.

While he’ll always be a power-hitter, fans can look for more clutch hitting and RBI. Instead of always slugging for the fences, it will be nice to see him finding more finesse and placement in his swing.

I Miss You Ron Wolf!

Nicole Haase — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:36:52 -0500

Spending most of a season writing about the Packers has led me to one major conclusion: I really, really miss Ron Wolf.

I wouldn’t go as far as blaming all the trials and tribulations of the past 12 months on Ted Thompson, but he certainly carries his fair share and has made me long for the days when we really didn’t even notice our GM. You know, like a good referee—they’re doing their job right if you don’t even know they’re there.

Maybe it was the seamless way Wolf did his job. Maybe it was the way Wolf picked up free agents, which Thompson seems loathe doing. Maybe it’s that I just spent all of baseball season marveling at how lucky the Brewers are to have GM Doug Melvin. Maybe I’m just searching for an answer not named Brett Favre. Maybe I’ve just got it out for Thompson.

Whatever the reason, I long for the days when I had confidence in the management of my team. I remember a time when I didn’t second guess decisions, didn’t wonder how far we could fall or what they were thinking.

From the mishandling of the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers debacle to the odd choices during the drafts, I’ve lost faith in Ted Thompson.

It started with the drafting of Justin Harrell at DT in the 2007 draft. DT was one of the few positions at which the Packers had serious, strong depth. At the time, the Packers were sorely in need of help at a number of other positions—offensive line, running back, wide receiver and tight end—to name a few.

There were a number of guys on the board that would have filled one of these voids—most notably TE Greg Olsen and WR Robert Meachem. There were possible trades from which we could have still drafted to one of these needs as well as receive additional picks. Yet, we chose Harrell, who was arguably not even the best DT left on the board.

Harrell has a long and storied injury history dating back to high school and continued those ways with a torn bicep pretty much as soon as he entered the pros. He spent all of the 2008 preseason and the first nine weeks of the season on the injured list.

For a time, it seemed that Thompson was looking to make the defense the backbone of the post-Brett Favre era. But he failed to build a unit that could carry the team.

Thompson is known as a guy who wants to draft his talent, not sign it in free agency. And while I can understand that philosophy to a point, I think Thompson takes it too far.

He reminds me of former Brewers manager Ned Yost in his apparent stubbornness and refusal to change course. His ego and pride seem to be of the utmost importance and he seems to care more about what his legacy will be than the team he fields at times.

Having a guiding philosophy is one thing. Refusing to stray from it is another. It feels as though Thompson has issued tenets and refuses to break from there, no matter the situation. Losing out on guys like Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Michael Turner, and Tony Gonzalez, just to name a few, purely because they were free agents, just doesn’t make any sense.

Is Thompson trying to be the anti-Wolf? Is he so concerned about his appearance that he’s going out of his way to be as far from Wolf as possible?

The Packers are operating at close to $20 million under the salary cap this season. Despite all that cap room, Thompson is fielding the league’s youngest team for the third straight season.

Most teams seem to covet experience on their depth chart, keeping veterans on the roster to cover the two and three positions, but not the Packers. With the exception of LB Brandon Chillar (five years) and DT Collin Cole (four years), there isn’t anyone listed at second or third string on the Packers' defensive depth chart who’s further along than their third NFL season.

The choice to have nothing but inexperienced backups has come back to bite the Packers as starter after starter has gone down injured.

Thompson stood behind Aaron Rodgers and his decision that Rodgers was the Packers' starter despite all the Favre drama, negative press, and upset fans. The Favre drama will forever be Thompson’s legacy.

You’d think he would be doing all he can to come out smelling like roses, but that hasn’t been the case. Why? Why hasn’t he done everything he should have in order to help Rodger be successful?

Sure, Rodgers has had all the vocal support of Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy can provide in the media, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Thompson has not provided the tools Rodgers will need to thrive

If Thompson’s reputation wasn’t as on the line as Rodgers’ is, it would be tempting to start conspiracy theories and call foul about the whole thing. It simply doesn’t make any sense that Thompson wouldn’t have fielded the best possible team when he knew the spotlight of the entire league would be on how his rookie quarterback performed and how he compared to Brett in New York.

Since it’s unlikely that Thompson’s sabotaging his own career, much less that of his young and highly scrutinized QB, we’re left to ponder why Thompson doesn’t seem to have put this team and Rodgers in the best position to succeed.

We won’t know for awhile yet whether the blind faith in Aaron Rodgers was warranted, but I think his contract extension was premature. Rodgers, too, has a history of injury and you’d have thought that after the Ryan Grant contract fiasco that Thompson would have learned his lesson about overpaying young players.

The problem with solely drafting talent is that it’s the biggest crap-shoot in the game. Young, untested players are entering a market which is consistently over-paying them with little-to-no basis for the huge paycheck.

Had Thompson shown the ability to find gems of talent in lower rounds, I might be more apt to understand his adamant nature towards the draft, but that hasn’t been the case.

Instead, we have players like Ryan Grant who shone bright for a few games late in the season and we’re now stuck with a large, long contract for a back who’s performed far lower than expected.