Steel

[Daniel]

I'm hesitant to assign 100% blame to anyone for an emotional decision made by a college student. Ultimately yes, it is a coach's job to manage the personalities of his players and get them buy into the team concept. Wojo failed in this regard. But there is no question that this decision is an emotional one, not a logical one. It's hard to plan for those.

The problem is this: if it was team dynamics, that is  a Wojo problem
If the problem is Marcus Howard, that is a Wojo problem.
If the Problem is Wojo, well....

How do you not see this crap more no?  The banquet was just last week.   Everything looked ok.

[79Warrior]

I'm hesitant to assign 100% blame to anyone for an emotional decision made by a college student. Ultimately yes, it is a coach's job to manage the personalities of his players and get them buy into the team concept. Wojo failed in this regard. But there is no question that this decision is an emotional one, not a logical one. It's hard to plan for those.

You, nor I, have any idea if it was emotional or not. It is likely a combination of factors. Either way. the Wojo brand has taken on water. I am not calling for him to go, but next season is make or break. I have had dozens of emails from my long time alum friends and folks are real unhappy. Guarantee Scholl and Lovett have plenty of emails to sift through.

[muhoops1]

You, nor I, have any idea if it was emotional or not. It is likely a combination of factors. Either way. the Wojo brand has taken on water. I am not calling for him to go, but next season is make or break. I have had dozens of emails from my long time alum friends and folks are real unhappy. Guarantee Scholl and Lovett have plenty of emails to sift through.

From what I have heard it was a matter of trust.  When that is lost it is tough to regain.  I hope it was isolated to the brothers and hasn't seeped into the well.  Who knows, but how Wojo comes out of this will no doubt be interesting.  Put this in the context of the Ellensons and it would appear Wojo says things and doesn't always follow through.  Maybe communication isn't his strong suit.

[thekahoona]

The team dynamic wasn't good.  I had heard some players had approached Wojo about they way our star disregarding plays or improvised on his own.  There was frustration expressed, not just from the Hausers.  Wojo promised to handle it, but hasn't resolved the matter.  He couldn't manage the personalities involved.  The Hausers weren't thinking about the NBA they were unhappy with the direction of the team.  Time will tell if Wojo picked the right horse.  Lots of pressure on one guy now.

*Emphasis added*

As a longtime listener, religious game watcher, and occasional poster, I could see there was some friction this year and last year as well. I am not going to go Xs and Os but, to me, there always seemed to be a disconnect between "some" of the players and the coach.

You could see the disregarded play calls. Many of the same mistakes were made repeatedly...on defense and offense. Near the end of the season, nobody on the team seemed to want the ball, especially in tight games. It's like they were a Jekyll and Hyde team. When shots were falling, they were unbeatable. When shots were not falling, they were a mess at both ends of the court. In the mic'd up huddles, you would hear Wojo screaming at them to stop letting their offense effect their defense.

If you watched the Final Four, you saw four extremely disciplined teams. They all knew their role and stuck to the game plan. I think Wojo praised Heldt not just because he was a senior, but because he was willing to play his role and not freelance.

I have read plenty of coach's memoirs and heard plenty of "coach talks" over the years (come with the territory I'm in). They almost always say that the hardest task a coach has is to get players to buy in to the coach's model for the team. Discipline and role acceptance flows from this buy in and mental toughness flows from the discipline.

I suspect that given the state of high-level athletics generally and Division 1 basketball specifically (where every player believes they have a good chance to go pro), achieving that buy-in is rare unless you have Coach K chops.

Every coach gets their chance to "make it happen." We'll see what happens next.

Will Wojo be able to create better chemistry? Will he bring down the hammer and force some discipline? I hope so, because this has been a frustrating exercise to see such talent underperform.

[muwarrior69]

The toughest steel is forged in the hottest fire. Crisis and disaster are excellent teaching tools. The best learn from it and become better for it. It is also a great way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those who don't learn from it quickly break.

So a few things.

1. No Wojo is not getting fired this season.
2. No seriously, Wojo is not getting fired this season.
3. Expectations don't change. We were promised a top seed and that is what Wojo is tasked with delivering.
4. If Wojo cannot deliver, the Hausers leaving is not an acceptable excuse. He bears partial responsibility for this mess so he needs to get himself out of it.
5. If Wojo can deliver despite these departures, we may just have a quality coach.
6. Delivering a top seed is not enough. We were also promised stability. There needs to be a recruiting foundation set up for the next few seasons. He needs to close the deal on some of these 2020 recruits.

That's what I got. Long offseason ahead.

I can remember when Willard had players transfer with team discontent at Seton Hall over his star player. He survived and the Pirates have played pretty good ball since, especially this past season.

[StillAWarrior]

As a longtime listener...

I'll say. 

[pbiflyer]

The toughest steel is forged in the hottest fire. Crisis and disaster are excellent teaching tools. The best learn from it and become better for it. It is also a great way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those who don't learn from it quickly break.

So a few things.

1. No Wojo is not getting fired this season.
2. No seriously, Wojo is not getting fired this season.
3. Expectations don't change. We were promised a top seed and that is what Wojo is tasked with delivering.
4. If Wojo cannot deliver, the Hausers leaving is not an acceptable excuse. He bears partial responsibility for this mess so he needs to get himself out of it.
5. If Wojo can deliver despite these departures, we may just have a quality coach.
6. Delivering a top seed is not enough. We were also promised stability. There needs to be a recruiting foundation set up for the next few seasons. He needs to close the deal on some of these 2020 recruits.

That's what I got. Long offseason ahead.

Sorry, #3 is a not going to happen. Period. We will not be getting a top seed.
When that doesn't happen, can we then admit that Marquette should have acted sooner?

[rocky_warrior]

Sorry, #3 is a not going to happen. Period. We will not be getting a top seed.
When that doesn't happen, can we then admit that Marquette should have acted sooner?

Whew, I'm sure the NCAA committee will be thrilled you've already figured out next year's bracket!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Sorry, #3 is a not going to happen. Period. We will not be getting a top seed.
When that doesn't happen, can we then admit that Marquette should have acted sooner?

No. Because no reasonable person would have acted sooner.

You say it will not happen. I would have told you two seasons ago that there was no way Tennessee was a tournament team, let alone a high seed. I would have been wrong. Last season I would have told you that Texas Tech was a bubble team at best, instead they played in the national championship. I prefer to base my decisions based on results rather than predictions.