Conflicted Feelings in the Ol' Rivalry Belly

B/c I actually texted Mike about this situation last night. I may have never liked James but I was literally sick to my stomach upset for the kid. He has played his ass off and finally their team may have made some noise for once in the torunament and he’s out for good and it severely hurts in chance he has off getting drafted.

On a more selfish note, the injuries to James and Dyson upset me b/c all I want is for the Big East to completely dominate the Tournament and stop all the BS talk about the ACC and put the SEC in their places. And with these 2 key injuries I worry about UConn and Marquette’s chances in the tournament and then talks about how the Big East was overrated, blah blah blah. Hopefully it all works out for the best

For a senior to break his foot this late in his career is dishearteningly sad. An unfortunate end to a somewhat bizarre career. We all remember how well James played as a freshman, and how energized he has always been during his four years at Marquette. No one could ever doubt the kid’s heart. But what happened to his shot?

Over the years, it seems, it just disappeared. It was as if once the ball stopped going in, he changed his form — almost from one attempt to the next. I don’t know what happened, but I wonder if it’s possible that this break in his foot came over time. If he’s been experiencing pain and if that hasn’t contributed to the weirdness of his shot. Every good shooter knows that the shot begins at the very bottom — it starts in the feet then processes through the body until it comes out the fingertips. If there’s a problem at the start, there will be a problem at the end. It might explain what happened this year, though it surely doesn’t answer his decreased scoring throughout his sophomore and junior years.

Whatever the cause, you can’t help but feel sorry for a four-year kid who doesn’t get the chance to play in the tournament in his final year.

“HE’S FAKING!”

But now that Buzz “IHOP” Williams is the coach, i agree with the post in its entirety.

Think about it: as UofL fans, you don’t like Dominic James against the Cards, but you root for Marquette in every non-conference game they play. Did anyone else throw their remote down in anger when one of the Lopez brothers hit that miracle shot in the tournament last year?

I landed here from a link on a Marquette blog and would like to thank you for
those kind words. It was extremely well written. I am not sure I would have been
so gracious if the shoe were on the other foot, so to speak. It goes to show, when you
take a step back and take in the big picture, most people are empathetic and down to earth.
Thanks again for that great piece and may we see just a ‘damn great basketball’ on Sunday.

That was a nice piece on DJ. As a die hard alum I have not been able to come to grips with such a loss for this kid. It is hard to see any senior finish his career like that. It is nice to know that there are still fans, although bitter rivals, who display class and integrity in a time when those characteristics are rarely seen. Well done.

Let me add that Dominic is definitely one of those opposing players I respect the most from the past few years. First, he grabbed my attention quickly. I remember being extra relieved when Deiner retired from college ball after 15 seasons, and thinking, "Thank goodness that Marquette will be without that type of point guard leadership." Dominic introduced himself to the Cardinals with a 16-point, 11 rebound, 6 assist performance on Taquan Dean’s senior day. The Cards won in overtime (wow, a close game with Marquette – who knew?), but I left very concerned that Marquette had somehow upgraded at the PG spot. And he’d be around for 3 more years.

As you wrote, the kid has just the type of attitude you want for all of the kids on your own team. He reminds of Dean a lot in that respect, and he is just a flat out amazing athlete and leader.

I also agree that Marquette has developed into one of those heated rivalries where I want to smoke them each match up, but I always find myself cheering for them in the conference games. Perhaps it’s their solid record against UK in the tournament. But they basically have a pretty likeable team (once you get past the old coach).

I can’t imagine how terrible it must be to make it this far into your senior year, have it be such a special year, and then watch it fall apart so quickly. I suppose it is good news that he can recover fully and relatively quickly from his injury, but in some sense, perhaps that makes it harder on him to sit out these last few weeks, wishing instead that he could have sustained his injury when TWill did – before the season – and kept his senior year on course. My sympathy certainly goes out to DJ. But I still hope we show no mercy to the Golden Eagles.

I appreciated your post. Please check out my Blog.
I will be attending the game on Sunday and DJ is a friend of mine so I will be sitting behind their bench. If DJ does attend the game, I can introduce you to him.

Marquette fan here. I had the good fortune of being in row 1 last night near the MU bench. At least I thought it was good fortune until I saw DJ finally come out, on crutches, for the second half. It was absolutely gut wrenching. He’s had ups and downs, but his leadership has been beyond question, and this year, he’d carved out the perfect role as a lock-down defender and ball distributor. Things were going so well, and now, there he is, 20 feet away with that thousand-yard stare, still in shock, wondering what will happen to the team he loves and, undoubtedly, his professional prospects.

I hope we find a way to beat UL Sunday, but knowing fans like you guys understand the bigger picture helps keep things in perspective. Good luck the rest of the way.

Glad I wasn’t the only one in the ‘ville who was saddened by it. Terrible for James especially, and you gotta feel for him. Bad too for the game Sunday, Marquette’s chances, and the Big East as a whole.