Buzz's "Honesty" Starting to Bug Me

[Lennys Tap]

Buzz is no more or less "honest" than any other coach in the business today.

His "honesty" is an attempt to lower expectations--no more, no less.  He's not more "honest" when he says that MU should be picked last or that our players aren't really that good.  He's lowering expectations to buy himself time.  It's coach-speak.  Its just different coach-speak than we are used to.

The biggest question is given the expectations people are voicing over the next two or three years, will he still be given credit for being "honest".  Consider:

I cannot fathom Buzz claiming at Black's signing that we'll compete for final fours "every single year" he is with the team. 

My guess is that next year's pre-season we'll hear some variation of "'Riq and 'Der were both great HS players but they're not great college players and the only thing they'll compete for is getting off the bench. They'll have to learn to be as good as 'Zar or David. Until then, we're not even at the level we were last year."

We'll see if the love for Buzz's "honesty" holds if we're not competing for Big East championships and Final Fours within the next couple of years. 

I seriously doubt Buzz will say that Vander Blue will have to "learn to be as good as David (Cubillan)"

[Marquette84]

84, Buzz is who he is and thats how he presents himself.  As he has said, he is humble to have the job and hopes he can meet expectations.  If MU does poorly over the next few seasons, I suspect he'll be the first to admit that.  I don't think he is trying to lower expectations.  He's just telling it like it is.

Oh come on.  Even the most pessimistic of the prognostications had MU picked 12th.   Yet Buzz suggested that we should have been picked last?

My guess is that behind the closed doors of the locker room, there is absolutely no way that Buzz is telling the team that a 16th place finish is what he expects from them this year.

In fact, I cannot believe that he would be happy with 12th place, ahead of only DePaul, USF, Rutgers and Providence.  He MUST telling the team that they are far too talented to settle for 12th place.  I have to believe he's telling the new guys that they cannot let a talent like Lazar have a wasted senior season. 

Do you doubt that Buzz is telling the players that if they work hard and follow his plan, then the upside is significantly higher than 12th place. 

Yet I think you'd agree that's not the public message he's putting forth right now.

[Nukem2]

Oh come on.  Even the most pessimistic of the prognostications had MU picked 12th.   Yet Buzz suggested that we should have been picked last?

My guess is that behind the closed doors of the locker room, there is absolutely no way that Buzz is telling the team that a 16th place finish is what he expects from them this year.

In fact, I cannot believe that he would be happy with 12th place, ahead of only DePaul, USF, Rutgers and Providence.  He MUST telling the team that they are far too talented to settle for 12th place.  I have to believe he's telling the new guys that they cannot let a talent like Lazar have a wasted senior season. 

Do you doubt that Buzz is telling the players that if they work hard and follow his plan, then the upside is significantly higher than 12th place. 

Yet I think you'd agree that's not the public message he's putting forth right now.

Of course Buzz is telling his guys they can do better than 12th.  He has not told the public that that his team can't finish higher.  He was was merely talking about the poll.  He's right.  Based on returnees, MU should be 16th.  But, thats not what he believes and I certainly did not interpret his comments that way.

[mugrack]

Buzz is a good coach, not a great coach 

[Marquette84]

Of course Buzz is telling his guys they can do better than 12th.  He has not told the public that that his team can't finish higher.  He was was merely talking about the poll.  He's right.  Based on returnees, MU should be 16th.  But, thats not what he believes and I certainly did not interpret his comments that way.

So you don't see any contradiction in telling the PLAYERS in private that he thinks they can do better than 12th while telling the PUBLIC that the polls should rightfully pick MU to finish 16th based on returnees.

Sorry--I call that lowering expectations. 

[IAmMarquette]

So you don't see any contradiction in telling the PLAYERS in private that he thinks they can do better than 12th while telling the PUBLIC that the polls should rightfully pick MU to finish 16th based on returnees.

Sorry--I call that lowering expectations. 

And I'd call that incorrect.

The key is this: Buzz might feel, based solely on RETURNEES, that we don't stack up very well with the competition. I don't think there's much to argue on that point.

However, based on expected contributions from new players, IN ADDITION to what we've got coming back, it's perfectly reasonable (and non-contradictory) to expect better than 16th, or 12th.

Semantics? Doubt it. Buzz doesn't seem the type. He addressed the issue at hand: based upon RETURNING PLAYERS, there's not much to be excited about around the AL these days. Luckily, we've got some fresh blood coming in.

[Marquette84]

And I'd call that incorrect.

The key is this: Buzz might feel, based solely on RETURNEES, that we don't stack up very well with the competition. I don't think there's much to argue on that point.

Sorry.  You're wrong.

I don't know why this is so difficult to understand. 

Here's the quote:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/48635352.html
"So do you like the great unknown at this point? Is it exciting in a sense? I like the of excitement that nobody knows, we’ll be picked 11th or 12th. Everybody will talk about, ‘Well, it’s a great recruiting class.’ But of the 16 teams in the Big East, we return 64 minutes out of 200. That’s dead-last. Distinctly dead-last. In points per game returning – I know you’ll have a guess on this – we’re dead-last. We’ve lost 72% of our scoring. And rebounding, I don’t want to surprise you, we’re dead-last. We return eight rebounds per game. We’ve lost 52% of our rebounding. We’ll be picked 12th. We should be picked 16th. That’s the truth. If you just statistically look at the data, we lost everything. Teams are always picked in accordance to their returning players."

However, based on expected contributions from new players, IN ADDITION to what we've got coming back, it's perfectly reasonable (and non-contradictory) to expect better than 16th, or 12th.

It most certainly is contradictory to say "We’ll be picked 12th. We should be picked 16th" if you actually expect to finish better than 12th.

Semantics? Doubt it. Buzz doesn't seem the type. He addressed the issue at hand: based upon RETURNING PLAYERS, there's not much to be excited about around the AL these days. Luckily, we've got some fresh blood coming in.

Buzz said he thinks we should be picked 16th--flat out--not just based on returnees, but overall.

If he honestly feels we should finish higher than 16th, then this statement was an attempt to lower expectations.

[cheebs09]

Sorry.  You're wrong.

I don't know why this is so difficult to understand.  

Here's the quote:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/48635352.html
"So do you like the great unknown at this point? Is it exciting in a sense? I like the of excitement that nobody knows, we’ll be picked 11th or 12th. Everybody will talk about, ‘Well, it’s a great recruiting class.’ But of the 16 teams in the Big East, we return 64 minutes out of 200. That’s dead-last. Distinctly dead-last. In points per game returning – I know you’ll have a guess on this – we’re dead-last. We’ve lost 72% of our scoring. And rebounding, I don’t want to surprise you, we’re dead-last. We return eight rebounds per game. We’ve lost 52% of our rebounding. We’ll be picked 12th. We should be picked 16th. That’s the truth. If you just statistically look at the data, we lost everything. Teams are always picked in accordance to their returning players."

The quote you highlighted shows Buzz listing off stats about how we return the least of everything and then the very next sentence says they pick the things off of how many people return. I don't see where you are getting that this is not Buzz saying we should be picked last because we return the least.

[pillardean]

Buzz said he thinks we should be picked 16th--flat out--not just based on returnees, but overall.

If he honestly feels we should finish higher than 16th, then this statement was an attempt to lower expectations.

Maybe he did think that if the team, at that point in time, played the Big East schedule they would finish last.

But in that he could see that the kids, with work on their game and work as a team, could improve throughout the year to be something better than 16th-probably something substantially better.

I don't see the harm in that at all.  He is not hyping the potential: he is telling it how it is now.

Lastly, I just don't see the harm with Buzz saying players aren't great after a game against Centenary!!!(going back to original post)  I mean, if he's "lowering expectations" (which he is not) by saying 27 and 13 wasn't a great performance go ahead, because it was against a near future D-3 team. The bar needs to be set pretty damn high going against that competition to deserve the label 'great'-higher than 27 and 13. 

[tower912]

At some point, I expect Buzz to say that he hasn't discussed expectations for this team as far as wins and losses and standings in the BEast.    Not once.    I expect that he will say that the only expectations he has talked about is the effort in practice, the effort in the classroom, and that they will try to get better every day in every way.    Then he will throw some off the wall number of how many good practices versus bad practices that the team or an individual player has had but how proud and impressed he is by the attitude of the team and how much he loves teaching.     Coach-speak?    Maybe.    How about the term "Buzz-speak."    It means a far different thing than it would have meant if I had coined the phrase when I was at MU  ,  but the man has definitely established a pattern.   

[dwaderoy2004]

Jim Calhoun's comments after Jerome Dyson dropped 27 points and 8 assists on William and Mary:


“Jerome played awful and good at the same time tonight,” said UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

[rocky_warrior]

“Jerome played awful and good at the same time tonight,” said UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

Calhoun's "Honesty" Starting to Bug Me! 

[Nukem2]

Sorry.  You're wrong.

I don't know why this is so difficult to understand. 

Here's the quote:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/48635352.html
"So do you like the great unknown at this point? Is it exciting in a sense? I like the of excitement that nobody knows, we’ll be picked 11th or 12th. Everybody will talk about, ‘Well, it’s a great recruiting class.’ But of the 16 teams in the Big East, we return 64 minutes out of 200. That’s dead-last. Distinctly dead-last. In points per game returning – I know you’ll have a guess on this – we’re dead-last. We’ve lost 72% of our scoring. And rebounding, I don’t want to surprise you, we’re dead-last. We return eight rebounds per game. We’ve lost 52% of our rebounding. We’ll be picked 12th. We should be picked 16th. That’s the truth. If you just statistically look at the data, we lost everything. Teams are always picked in accordance to their returning players."



It most certainly is contradictory to say "We’ll be picked 12th. We should be picked 16th" if you actually expect to finish better than 12th.


Buzz said he thinks we should be picked 16th--flat out--not just based on returnees, but overall.

If he honestly feels we should finish higher than 16th, then this statement was an attempt to lower expectations.

Sorry buddy, you are wrong. You are getting to sound a lot like Murff...

[JWags85]

We're 1-0 and recently signed the biggest recruit in sometime, snatching him away from our instate rival right?

Ok, just checking.  Continue regularly scheduled griping over minutiae .