Coach Williams is a great coach because. ..?

[MU Avenue]

I have never understood why such praise was heaped upon Tom Crean when he was coaching at Marquette. I never saw Crean’s coaching greatness then and I do not see it now.

I think people, including fans, real sports reporters and the ESPN talkers, like to attach star qualities or greatness to certain athletes or coaches, and Crean was the beneficiary. Most who proclaimed Crean a rising star among collegiate coaches knew only what they had read or heard. They had never seen him on the job and knew nothing about his recruiting, how he runs a team or how he coaches during games.

Closer to home, I know Coach Williams has a lot of good ol’ boy folksiness, spunk and kookiness that fans, real sports reporters and the FOX Sports 1 and ESPN talkers find appealing, but I continue to struggle with what makes Buzz a great coach -- or even a guy on the road to greatness.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

What makes you a good fan?

[Dawson Rental]

I never understood why such praise was heaped upon Tom Crean when he was coaching at Marquette. I never saw Crean’s coaching greatness then and I do not see it now.

I think people, including fans, real sports reporters and the ESPN talkers, like to attach star qualities or greatness to certain athletes or coaches, and Crean was the beneficiary. Most who proclaimed Crean a rising star among collegiate coaches knew only what they had read or heard. They had never seen him on the job and knew nothing about his recruiting, how he runs a team or how he coaches during games.

Closer to home, I know Coach Williams has a lot of good ol’ boy folksiness, spunk and kookiness that fans, real sports reporters and the FOX Sports 1 and ESPN talkers find appealing, but I continue to struggle with what makes Buzz a great coach -- or even a guy on the road to greatness.

I agree.  I mean he always loses on national TV, right?

Perhaps you missed the first five years of Buzz's Marquette career.

[ecompt]

he is a great representative for the university.

[Ari Gold]

What makes you a good fan?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Right, im just gonna just point out a few examples feel free to stop me at any time...

The midgets
The progression of Jimmy, DJO and Jae at an alarming rate
The fact that Otule was serviceable despite how he started
Davante turning from being a fat 300lb to two time 6th man of the BE
Never a losing record in the BE
An elite 8 with what I dont even consider to be a great team
Doing what he did in 2011-12 with Otule and Davante hurt for a stretch
Never having a losing record in the BE
Shutting down Shane Larkin
etc...

[keefe]

I agree.  I mean he always loses on national TV, right?

If Buzz would sh1t can those baby blues that wouldn't be happening

[Benny B]

Exhibits A, B, C, D and E: Davante Gardner, Jae Crowder, Jimmy Butler, DJO, and Wes Matthews.

Buzz not only has a tendency to see potential in guys often overlooked by his colleagues, but he also has a knack for tapping that potential.

Davante came to MU as an unheralded and unknown three-star.  Left as two-time 6th man in Big East.
Jae and DJO were JUCOs who were neck and neck for BE POY their senior year.
Wes Matthews was unleashed his senior year after being hamstrung in a role his first three years.
And then there's Jimmy... without Buzz, there's probably no F in Jimmy F Butler.

In my opinion, Buzz is a slightly above-average recruiter & a slightly below average X's and O's guy, but he's a phenomenal leader - one of the best in college hoops (if not the best) - and a fine human being.  I'd much rather have the latter two... it gives you much better odds at success no matter how the deck is stacked against you.

[Wojo'sMojo]

I don't know that he is great coach or even a good coach. I think he is a great human being and a great recruiter. His performance this year has made me question what kind of a coach he really is. His teams will always play hard, however there were some occasions this year where they seemed to not play with any heart at all. I thought his in game adjustments and rotations were atrocious this year and we seemed to have issues even inbounding the damn ball on multiple occasions. His plays out of timeouts rarely work and are real head scratchers. Aside from Davante, Vander, and the jucos, players don't really seem to develop all that much for him. I think you could make a case that Juan, Jamil, and Derrick all regressed under him. I really think he needs to evaluate his performance and hopefully take a couple of great takeaways from this season. I still think he is the right man for Marquette...just needs to hopefully fine tune some things.

[mattyv1908]

It's actually a good question because of the dual nature of a college coach both coaching and recruiting his team.  Unlike most NBA coaching jobs, where coaches have input but ultimately the personnel decisions lie with the GM, as a college coach you are both responsible for the players on the team and the results of the players.

Buzz Williams himself will tell you he isn't a good coach.  What does that say?  Is he being honest or is it an attempt at humility?

Where my contention to the camp who is so quick to say that there is no talent on this team this year essentially giving Buzz a pass are really saying Buzz is doing a poor job at another equally important aspect of his responsibilites.

It's my personal opinion that Buzz is a much better recruiter and motivator than he is great coach.  For all the talk about fundamentals, many highly rated recruits show extremely poor fundamentals as upperclassmen.  It's almost as if the mantra is to recruit talented athletes and make them outwork their opponents and all is well.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of x's and o's mastery on display even in seasons prior.

This season most of our losses came against teams less athletic than Marquette, but much better coached.

[chapman]

That despite a year that was downright pathetic, he has earned a mulligan.  Bad coaches don't get those.  He even has another in the bank, but as long as the têterectectomy is successful in the offseason, he shouldn't need to use it.

[mr.MUskie]

It's actually a good question because of the dual nature of a college coach both coaching and recruiting his team.  Unlike most NBA coaching jobs, where coaches have input but ultimately the personnel decisions lie with the GM, as a college coach you are both responsible for the players on the team and the results of the players.

Buzz Williams himself will tell you he isn't a good coach.  What does that say?  Is he being honest or is it an attempt at humility?

Where my contention to the camp who is so quick to say that there is no talent on this team this year essentially giving Buzz a pass are really saying Buzz is doing a poor job at another equally important aspect of his responsibilites.

It's my personal opinion that Buzz is a much better recruiter and motivator than he is great coach.  For all the talk about fundamentals, many highly rated recruits show extremely poor fundamentals as upperclassmen.  It's almost as if the mantra is to recruit talented athletes and make them outwork their opponents and all is well.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of x's and o's mastery on display even in seasons prior.

This season most of our losses came against teams less athletic than Marquette, but much better coached.

+1

[connie]

It's actually a good question because of the dual nature of a college coach both coaching and recruiting his team.  Unlike most NBA coaching jobs, where coaches have input but ultimately the personnel decisions lie with the GM, as a college coach you are both responsible for the players on the team and the results of the players.

Buzz Williams himself will tell you he isn't a good coach.  What does that say?  Is he being honest or is it an attempt at humility?

Where my contention to the camp who is so quick to say that there is no talent on this team this year essentially giving Buzz a pass are really saying Buzz is doing a poor job at another equally important aspect of his responsibilites.

It's my personal opinion that Buzz is a much better recruiter and motivator than he is great coach.  For all the talk about fundamentals, many highly rated recruits show extremely poor fundamentals as upperclassmen.  It's almost as if the mantra is to recruit talented athletes and make them outwork their opponents and all is well.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of x's and o's mastery on display even in seasons prior.

This season most of our losses came against teams less athletic than Marquette, but much better coached.

I am a Buzz fan, but am certainly not giving him a pass on this year.  I do not think we were as talented as some.  We were certainly not as athletic as teams like Villanova or St. John's.  We were not as "well coached" as Creighton, but I think that is overplayed as well given that team's makeup.  We had serious deficiencies as a team that started with the ability of our available personnel. How that combines with execution I think has a dramatic impact on perceived coaching ability.  Regardless of degree, both were lacking.

[MU Avenue]

So most who have replied here agree that Buzz Williams is the real deal? An outstanding head coach? You believe that he is a terrific practice and game coach whose decisions, planning, strategies, substitutions and in-game adjustments are the stuff of greatness?

I think mubuzz and mattyv1908 are seeing the truth here. Others, no.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

   So most who have replied here agree that Buzz Williams is the real deal? An outstanding head coach? You believe that he is a terrific practice and game coach whose decisions, planning, strategies, substitutions and in-game adjustments are the stuff of greatness?

   I think mubuzz and mattyv1908 are seeing the truth here. Others, no.

Let me put it this way and to anybody else out there. Which other college coach do you think is better then Buzz and would rather see coach our program that isnt locked up by another school like Boeheim and coach K. Serious question because I dont see anybody who would be leaving their job anytime soon that is better than Buzz.

[avid1010]

In my opinion, Buzz is a slightly above-average recruiter & a slightly below average X's and O's guy, but he's a phenomenal leader - one of the best in college hoops (if not the best) - and a fine human being.  I'd much rather have the latter two... it gives you much better odds at success no matter how the deck is stacked against you.

+1, and for whatever reason he couldn't get it done this year.  i thought they were toast with the midget backcourt and he came through, and i think he'll figure something out next year as well.

i was watching a game this weekend and they talked about how unusual jamie dixon's philosophy is in regards to not giving a lot of minutes to freshman, and really relying on juniors and seniors (and telling this to kids as he recruits).  sounded familiar.  i think buzz was going to live and die with the seniors and he died...next year, back to work. will be interesting to see what he does with guys like juan and derrick.

[79Warrior]

So most who have replied here agree that Buzz Williams is the real deal? An outstanding head coach? You believe that he is a terrific practice and game coach whose decisions, planning, strategies, substitutions and in-game adjustments are the stuff of greatness?

I think mubuzz and mattyv1908 are seeing the truth here. Others, no.

The guy has had one sub par season in his six at MU. Why don't you withold judgement until he strings back to back clunkers? For now, Buzz has a pass in my book. He has an outstanding record in his six seasons at Marquette. This year was a major disappoint for sure, but don't be suprised to see him rebound next year. Nobody is more pissed at this season than the head coach.

[Dawson Rental]

If Buzz would sh1t can those baby blues that wouldn't be happening

And there's also the New Scoop Challenge.

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=34578.msg424021#msg424021

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

And there's also the New Scoop Challenge.

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=34578.msg424021#msg424021

That made me chuckle.

[Benny B]

   So most who have replied here agree that Buzz Williams is the real deal? An outstanding head coach? You believe that he is a terrific practice and game coach whose decisions, planning, strategies, substitutions and in-game adjustments are the stuff of greatness?

   I think mubuzz and mattyv1908 are seeing the truth here. Others, no.

The role of the head coach is to lead and delegate... in-game strategy, recruiting, practice, etc. is mostly left to the assistant coaches.  As the coach, you have to hire the right assistants, but let's give some credit where it's ultimately due.

In essence, you're putting way too much focus on attributing the purported strengths and weaknesses of multiple individuals to one person.  If that's your method of evaluation, you're certainly entitled to that and I've got no problem with it (provided you aren't Bill Cords).

[towncryer]

Coaching at Marquette is not an easy job and I think he's had five really good years and one bad one.  We don't get blue chip recruits the way Duke, Kentucky, etc... You have to be able to coach up mid level talent to compete at the highest level, and I think that as others have pointed out, Buzz has done a good job with that difficult task.  

This season was tough, but at the end of the day Buzz didn't miss a single free throw, open jumper, layup, etc...  I would have liked to see us go to the younger guys in a lot of the games to give them a chance, but I don't know...maybe it's the cock-eyed optimist in me...I just have to believe that Buzz (or any coach) makes his decisions based on what he sees at practice and puts the guys on the floor in the situations that give us the best chance to win.  Didn't work out this year.  I really think we'll be fine next year.

[keefe]

And there's also the New Scoop Challenge.

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=34578.msg424021#msg424021

There we have the Unholy Trinity:

Buzz' Game Coaching + National TV + Baby Blues = Shame and Humiliation

[MUfan12]

In prior years, his adaptability has been a major strong suit. He's won fast, slow, and in-between. The job he did in '09 was incredible, given what they lost the year before. He won big last year with a team that couldn't shoot, because they completely outworked their opponents. Good recruiter, great motivator, good game coach.

On the flip side, I'm not crazy about the way MU has defended under Buzz. They are usually poor with their rotations and closeouts, and struggle with basic zone and man principles. I also have my concerns about how HS players have developed at MU.

On the whole, his record here speaks for itself. He's a good basketball coach, and like any of us has strengths and weaknesses.

[MU Avenue]

My comments that started this thread are not only reaction to the just-concluded season, in which Marquette finished 17-15, 9-10.

Marquette basketball teams for years have tended to start games slowly, struggle to take control no matter the competition and play to the level of almost every opponent, including much-inferior teams. This was the case under Coach Crean and has continued under Coach Williams.

It is rare that Marquette blasts out of the blocks and controls a game from the start. And this season’s bizarre starting lineups, much-too-frequent substitutions and the obvious decision to not use certain younger players will always be baffling -- not the stuff of excellent coaching.

[nyg]

Next year will determine how good of a coach Buzz can be.  He has some serious deficiencies in the lineup and how he resolves those issues will be interesting.  MU had a chance to have a signature win/wins this year and did not complete the task.  Xavier and Georgetown twice were good, but not good enough. OSU, UW, SDSU, ASU, and NM games to be specific.  

The first half of the year without Fischer will be crucial, and I hope it doesn't put MU in a losing funk.

Juan regressed and I believe Buzz saw that by limiting his minutes significantly in last few games.  I believe the trend continues.  

Taylor is one of the key players, enough of the health issues, he must strive as a PF.

Of course the PG position, that's for another thread, but resolution required please.

Those three aspects are integral and some have advised Buzz is stubborn, so he must conquer that aspect to get the squad back to normalcy.  One of this years, a freshman is going to go ballistic and actually start/play significant minutes.  I am hoping it is Duane Wilson or Hill.

The BE will not be as strong, with Creighton, Xavier, Georgetown, MU losing key players and the bottom feeders remaining Butler and Depaul.  With his limited lineup, let's see if Buzz can produce the squad to win some of those non-conference signature wins, prior to Fischer's return.  That will be a measurement of his success.  Well, until 2015 season with Stone and the others with two years experience, then the expectations will be thru the roof.