If MU had three McDonald's AA ...

[Tugg Speedman]

... And was 10 -12 (3-7) we would be demanding Buzz's head.

Why is 'nova so bad and how much of it is Jay Wright?

[avid1010]

because every coach is capable of bringing in really good recruits only to see them not develop like everyone expected.  it's always the coach's fault...that said, i think jay is one of the best.  makes one realize how happy we should be with buzz.

[nyg]

NOVA is young.  They start two freshmen, two juniors and a sophomore.  They have only one senior on the roster who does not see the floor.  NOVA also had significant losses in Fisher, Stokes and Pena from last year. 

Yarou has been a bust, Cheek has shown improvement, Pinkston sat out all last year and is a freshman and Bell is starting to play well.  Only real stud at this time is Wayns and he alone can't carry the team.

NOV has had success over the years and even though this year is disappointing, next year they should be better.

[lab_warrior]

Perhaps sometimes the recruiting ratings and McDonald's AA selection process gets it wrong, or is a bit off??

[dw3dw3dw3]

Yep.. there's always a chance next year could be the year that players don't develop how we/coaching staff envision them to and the team falls on it face. Last year was awfully close to being that year. As good as Jimmy was last year, he wasn't really a go to guy, more of a super duper glue/intangibles guy. This is really DJO's 2nd year at being the man for the most part, which seems to be playing a role in his consistency compared to years past. It's assumed someone will step in and just be that next guy (Mayo), but what if he can't take that next step up? Moving up from the 3rd/4th option on the court to the #1 option has damaged as many reputations as it has enhanced. 2 of the remaining guys on the team will have to take gigantic steps forward if they are going to replace Jae and DJO.  Jamil is a long way off from Jae and Mayo is a long way off from DJO.
IMO Buzz, like Jay, has proved his worth and should have the leash of a couple NIT seasons down the line.

[4everwarriors]

Had Buzz not brought in the jucos from the beginning, his teams woulda sucked ass too. The departed sure as hell left the cupboard bare.

[GGGG]

Nova is young.  Outside of Wayns, their scorers are inexperienced.  They hustle and they're improving however.  Very much like Pitt.

Honestly, that could be us next year.  

EDIT:  dw3dw3dw3 beat me to it!

[jficke13]

Yarou might be a 'bust' but I'd still take him. Nova's problems are far more than just Yarou not playing up to snuff.

[Canadian Dimes]

Actually the have 4

...Pinkston,  Wayn, Creek, and Bell

[brewcity77]

Yarou has been a bust, Cheek has shown improvement, Pinkston sat out all last year and is a freshman and Bell is starting to play well.  Only real stud at this time is Wayns and he alone can't carry the team.

I don't think Yarou is a bust, just inconsistent. That's been his M.O. as long as he's been at 'Nova. The problem is that you can't count on him game in and game out. Sometimes he's a star, others, well...eesht.

[wadesworld]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting a big man bust who produces 11 points and 8 rebounds a game.  Wow.  Not to mention, how often does Nova actually look to get him the ball in the post?  He plays on a guard-oriented team that runs their offense through their guards and is getting 11 and 8.  Not a bust in my mind.

[Hoopaloop]

... And was 10 -12 (3-7) we would be demanding Buzz's head.

Why is 'nova so bad and how much of it is Jay Wright?

If 'nova is so bad, as you describe, why did we beat them by only four points both times?

This was always billed as a rebuilding year for them.

[Tugg Speedman]

Nova is young.  Outside of Wayns, their scorers are inexperienced.  They hustle and they're improving however.  Very much like Pitt.
Honestly, that could be us next year.  

We thought that after the three amigos left.  It did not happen.

We thought that after Lazar and Acker left.  It did not happen.

We thought that last year after Jimmy and DB left.  It did not happen.

In the meantime we have seen Roy Williams go 16-16 with seven Mc Donald AAs.  Now we are watching Jay Wright go 10-12 with 4 McDoanlds AAs.


Let's give Buzz some love, we never seem to dip whereas the "big name" coaches stumble.

[Tugg Speedman]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting a big man bust who produces 11 points and 8 rebounds a game.  Wow.  Not to mention, how often does Nova actually look to get him the ball in the post?  He plays on a guard-oriented team that runs their offense through their guards and is getting 11 and 8.  Not a bust in my mind.

Umm, we have him now ...

DG is averaging 12 pts and 7 reb since BE play started.

Problem solved!

[Hoopaloop]

We thought that after the three amigos left.  It did not happen.

We thought that after Lazar and Acker left.  It did not happen.

We thought that last year after Jimmy and DB left.  It did not happen.

In the meantime we have seen Roy Williams so 16-16 with seven Mc Donald AAs.  Now we are watching Jay Wright go 10-12 with 4 McDoanlds AAs.


Let's give Buzz some love, we never seem to dip whereas the "big name" coaches stumble.

If we thought that after Jimmy and DB left, why have most experts in the country picked us in the top 7 this year?  I had us 3rd.  The departure of Jimmy and DB hardly made anyone quake in their boots.  

Acker?    How many whizbangers here said he wasn't even qualified to play in the Big East and now you are saying we were going to crumble with his departure?  The have it both ways crowd is doing well this morning.

[Tugg Speedman]

If 'nova is so bad, as you describe, why did we beat them by only four points both times?

This was always billed as a rebuilding year for them.

10-12 is not a rebuilding season.  Losing to St. Louis, BU, Santa Clara and Temple are not losses you have when rebuilding.  This is a disaster for the talent he has.

MU had an off game and won on the road.  'Nova start well and choked up an 18 point lead at home.

The team that won is good.  The team that lost is not.

[Tugg Speedman]

If we thought that after Jimmy and DB left, why have most experts in the country picked us in the top 7 this year?  I had us 3rd.  The departure of Jimmy and DB hardly made anyone quake in their boots.  

Acker?    How many whizbangers here said he wasn't even qualified to play in the Big East and now you are saying we were going to crumble with his departure?  The have it both ways crowd is doing well this morning.

My point is ... so far ... we never have a down year.  And, last time I checked, we don't have any McDonald AAs.  So our coach always wins with McDonald AAs and Roy and Jay lose with lots of them on the roster. 

[wadesworld]

Umm, we have him now ...

DG is averaging 12 pts and 7 reb since BE play started.

Problem solved!

That's my point.  We are all salivating over how good Gardner is and how we haven't had a big this good since Robert Jackson, yet a guy with the same numbers is a bust?  OK...

[wojosdojo]

Had Buzz not brought in the jucos from the beginning, his teams woulda sucked ass too. The departed sure as hell left the cupboard bare.

Ok? But he did something with them. If he had 3 MAA and didn't do something special Id be very upset because of what he has achieved with none, freshman or not.

[jsglow]

'Nova really struggles when Wayns has to sit because of foul trouble.  When he's on the floor they are a decent young team although not up to their historic standards.  I suspect they'll be a tough draw at the BEast tourney in March.

The team I expect to make a move is Pitt.  Healthy again, they could fight their way back to .500 or close to it in the BEast.

[karavotsos]

I think Wright has to take some of the responsibility for the coaching and lack of attention to detail.  After watching them play Louisville and MU last week, they do a lot of stupid things.  They had at least two fouls on illegal screens on top against MU.  They were clear illegal screens, and Mac was saying that Wayns simply was not allowing the screener time to set up.

They foul a lot.  They get out of position on defense.  I think a coach has to make clear to Yarou and Wayns that they are too valuable to pick up stupid fouls and sit long amounts of time on the bench.  Wayns sat a long time in the first half against MU and Louisville won their game because Wayns sat a long period of time in the second half with 4 fouls.

I don't know what has changed since the final four run, but both of the past two years they have not played up to expectations.  They have fallen apart at the end of the year.  Now, this year, I understand they are young, but they are far enough into the season that it seems they could be further along.

The past 2 yrs, I thought the majority of the blame fell on Stokes and Fisher because they seemed to be low efficiency players, and they were leaders of the team.  Maybe more does fall on Wright.

[Tugg Speedman]

The team I expect to make a move is Pitt.  Healthy again, they could fight their way back to .500 or close to it in the BEast.

'Nova is 3 - 7 in the BE (10-12 overall).  to get to .500 in the BE (which is 9 - 9), they have to go 6 - 2 the rest of the way.

Below is their remaining BE schedule.   I can easily see them losing 3 of the four road games and go 2 - 2 in the home games.

If so, they finish 6 - 12 in the BE and finish 13 - 17 overall and do not make the NIT.

Feb 5   @ PITT
Feb 7    vs PROV
Feb 15 @ USF
Feb 18 vs ND
Feb 20 vs #19 CONN
Feb 25 @ #10 GTWN
Mar 1    @ RUTG
Mar 3    vs CIN

[JTBMU7]

a losing record overall is tough to do these days as a big name program. you schedule so many gimmees that any team (even the bottom of the BE, Pitt, Prov, DePaul) should be able to stay above .500 even in a bad year.

Conference records are another story, but being at 10-12 is really bad for a program like nova with the talent they have.

[GGGG]

We thought that after the three amigos left.  It did not happen.

We thought that after Lazar and Acker left.  It did not happen.

We thought that last year after Jimmy and DB left.  It did not happen.

Next year could very well be the first where Buzz doesn't return at least one double digit scorer from the year before.  We had Lazar the first year...DJO and Jimmy last year...DJO and Jae this year.

Now don't get me wrong.  I love Buzz and will get the most out of who will be back.  We also have a nice, experienced player in TJ Taylor coming in who can obviously score.

What I'm just saying is that it is silly for fans to get all over the likes of Wright and Dixon when we could very well be seeing the same thing in our future.

[bilsu]

McDonald's all-americans are used to being stars. When you have too many of them it can be a problem. We bitch about Blue and Cadougan, but you need role players who understand they are role players. We would be a very bad team if Blue and Cadougan suddenly decided they were the stars.