Kolek planning to go pro
Pass, hey?
Sure. Shaka: In his 6th season at Texas, he looks like he might finally have a season better than Wojo's best seasons at Marquette, though we'll have to see.Cuonzo: After three years of using Cal as a stepping-stone school (and losing his only NCAA tournament game there), and now in his fourth season at Mizzou, it looks like he might finally have a year better than Wojo's best seasons at Marquette, though we'll have to see.Neither of them has had a season even as good as 2018-19 was for Wojo, but maybe one or both finally will this year. Which would be wonderful for them.Thanks for asking!
Meatlover - Who do you want? Who's your list?
Some context helps.
And of course MU could have hired several other candidates at the time as well.
Look, the fact that neither Shaka nor Cuonzo nor other alleged candidates have not done any more than Wojo has is not an adequate defense of Wojo.
You are right; Wojo has to succeed or fail on his own merits.Still, the lackluster performance of the other candidates shows that the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. If MU fires Wojo this year, there’s a chance his successor could end up looking more like Shaka or Cuonzo in a few years....
Cuonzo: After three years of using Cal as a stepping-stone school (and losing his only NCAA tournament game there), and now in his fourth season at Mizzou, it looks like he might finally have a year better than Wojo's best seasons at Marquette, though we'll have to see.Neither of them has had a season even as good as 2018-19 was for Wojo, but maybe one or both finally will this year. Which would be wonderful for them.
Kant wate four dis.....
A few years ago, Wojo realized that having two small guards on the floor at the same time was not sustainable. Since then, DJ is the smallest guard to come to MU. Lots of 6'3-4 guards. Great. Wojo was able to replace the Hausers with Lewis, Garcia, and Osa. Well done. Aidoo is a mobile 7 footer. Awesome.Where are the switchables? Speedy 6'5-8 guys who can defend 4-5 different positions? Because you cannot defend Villanova's 5 out with post defenders and slow forwards. Wings who can dribble and shoot 3s.I look at the unused scholarships and notice the lack of wings.You want better defense? Speed and versatility. Big guards are nice. Perhaps playing 4 big guards could have been an adjustment last night. But then you have athletic 6'7 guys posting Greg or DJ without enough size to help at the rim.So, balance. I like the notion of athletic big forwards. (Garcia, Lewis, Osa, Aidoo) and guards with size. (Every guard next year). Use the last scholarships and get some versatile 6'6ish guys
Cuonzo earned a 4-seed in 2016. Not trying to laid his accomplishments, but there's a pretty safe argument that was better than Wojo's best year (5-seed) at Marquette.
And, as I mentioned, Wojo has had two more seasons completed at Marquette than Cuonzo has had at Mizzou. It isn't apples to apples for MU82 or anyone else to discount those couple of seasons.
A zillion apologies. Cuonzo has CRUSHED Wojo!I'm sure Cal fans are as thrilled about that 11-point loss to Hawaii and its many future NBA stars as we all are thrilled about Wojo's 19-point humiliation at the hands of Ja Morant.In hindsight, I guess we would have been better off seeing Cuonzo starting to build something at Marquette only to bolt after 3 years when the Mizzou job opened up.
I was simply addressing your point. Not looking to open up a hyperbolic discussion about the two.
One step at a time. The possible successors become apparent further along in the process after it has been determined that a change needs to be made, hey?
Cal's $$ issues and administrative issues over the years are also well documented. Because he left Cal for Mizzou, doesn't mean he would have left Marquette had he been hired. And of course no one knew when that job would open up, and, if there would be interest in Cuonzo. But some coaches using the Big East as a stepping stone is, and will be a fact of life sometimes, as others stay. Chris Holtmann, Chris Mack, etc...in recent years.The point is comparing the two was apples to oranges based on different amounts of time. Also Martin has accomplished more at different schools thus far than Wojo. Maybe this is the year for Wojo.
As brew said, it's a silly, meaningless debate that was only started (or I should say re-started, for about the 1,000th time) with a snarky question asked by one of our fellow Scoopers.But sure, we can have some fun on a cold December morn ...Has Cuonzo really accomplished more as a college basketball coach since the start of the 2014-15 season than Wojo has?I'd say yes ... for his bank account. Cuonzo's estimated annual salary of $3M is roughly 50% higher than Wojo's estimated annual take.Otherwise, in the first 6 years of that span, each went to two NCAA tournaments (losing in the first round each time), each went to one NIT (with Cuonzo losing in the first round and Wojo losing in the third - hang an effen banner for Wojo), and while Wojo's team was projected to receive another NCAA invitation in 2020, Cuonzo's went 15-16.Maybe Year 7 will actually be the season Cuonzo accomplishes something that Wojo hasn't since 2014-15. (Other than that No. 4 seed that brewski correctly pointed out, of course.) We'll see!There are all kinds of valid reasons to criticize Wojo; failing to live up to vagabond Cuonzo Martin's lofty standards would not appear to be one of those reasons. Not yet, anyway.
I guess you can call it a snarky question by me to a poster who has brought up every loss by them over the past seasons as a comparison to Wojo. Two statistics stand out through their rebuilds: #4 and #29 on Defense.Now, will they lose more games? Yes. Were either a good fit with MU's administration and program vision? No. But are they valid comparisons on their roads to a rebuild? I will go with the poster here who started the comparison.
Did Counzo Martin and Wojo inherit the same situations? Not even close. 2011 Missouri Valley Coach of the Year.He inherited Bruce Pearl's indescretions and a suffered a whole lot of booster racism at Tennesee. We can discuss some pretty wild stories if you like. Where is Wojo's Sweet 16? Cuonzo had one in year three at Tennessee.Who leaves a Sweet 16 in year three at a power 5 school? One that gets dramatically reduced budgets and canceled charter flights etc...in addition to the racism.Where did Wojo inherit a program that won 8, 10, and 9 games total that was going through NCAA violations like Martin did at Mizzou? ...It isn't apples to apples, no matter how hard you try to make it apples to apples. And even in more difficult circumstances at multiple places, Martin has done better than Wojo to this point. Maybe this will finally be the year Wojo makes that NCAA 2nd weekend. Again, Marquette needs to look at the Villanova's of the world and say how can we do this? Or anything close to it.