Recap: MSOE
There were plenty of positives to come out of MU's 106-47 exhibition victory over Division III MSOE on Saturday.
Darius Johnson-Odom aggravating his left-foot injury was not one of those, however.
The sophomore guard was having his minutes carefully monitored by the team's medical staff since returning from a sprained ligament in his foot in a workout in mid-September, and he didn't check in against MSOE until the 11-minute 55-second mark of the first half.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/69490917.html
I hope that someone talks to Buzz about his post game press conferences and his tendency to call out players. I know this was just an exhibition, but he's a little too candid sometimes.
Here's some examples from the MSOE post game:
On guard play:
"Since Junior's been hurt and DJO's been out, our practices...it's hard to have practice," said Williams. "Junior's out, DJO's hurt; well, who else can play guard? Not point -- just guard?"
Not a whole lot to be excited about if you're David Cubillan, Maurice Acker or Dwight Buycks.
On Chris Otule:
"Chris, just because he didn't look like he dropped in from Mars," he said, drawing laughs. "He can't guard those guys running around out there (meaning the smaller MSOE players). He's going to guard guys that look like him without goggles. That's who he's going to guard. When he's out there chasing guys on the perimeter, I think it's hard to get an assessment of did he really do a good job.
"The thing about Chris though, what's transpired is that since (last) season has been over he's been arguably one of our two or three workers. And I believe that confidence comes from your work. I want him to do great because he's turned into a worker, and he's turned into a guy that every day when he comes to the gym, he wants to get better. I think he has a bright future, to be honest with you.
"I don't think he's an all-conference player, but I think if you have five post guys on your team, he's worthy of being in that five in the Big East. It's just that he's a sophomore, and his freshman year, he did absolutely nothing other than be hurt."
Ok, he praises his work ethic, but basically the rest isn't very glowing....
On Mbao:
"Awful," said Williams of Mbao. "He doesn't understand how to defend, so he fouls every single time, either because he's late before his guy catches it, or when his guy does catch it he's late, and so he settles behind the post and he fouls.
"He's come a long way, he's got a long way to go. But I didn't think he was very good."
On Fulce:
"He did good," he said. "Joe will probably mess up every possession on offense and defense, the intricacies of what we're trying to do. What he won't mess up, though, is when the ball goes up, he'll chase after it. If he catches the ball and nobody's around him, he's strong-minded enough that he'll shoot it.
"And I'm OK with that, because as things begin to take place I think he'll get better at the intracacies, but I don't think that you can replace having the heart to chase after a ball. He'll go get a ball. The one thing that I will say that he does better than anybody on the team is when he catches at the top of the key, he'll throw it high-low."
This isn't anything major, but I find his post game interviews always a little odd.
Me too. Great aren't they?
wildbillsb
This is much better than coachspeak BS.
Norm, you've got a point. However, I'm certain the players know this is Buzz' method of motivation. For 9 years here we were fed such unbelievable bs by the departed that you had to tune that crap out or go stir crazy listening to the same sales pitch. At this time, Buzz' candor is a breath of fresh air.
Certainly Buzz's press conferences aren't the NORM. However, they do tell the fans more than we hear from almost every other coach. That's a big plus. And since I've seen no evidence that the players are having a problem with his honesty, it's a refreshing improvement from the typical coachspeak.
its really only a problem if he is telling them something different on a daily basis, such as telling them they are great and then not playing them in games and saying they were terrible when they were in.
Buzz is consistent and just becuase you hear him say Joe is always lost or something in a press convference the players merely shrug their shoulders becuase that is no different than what they hear every day in practice.
i stopped going to the press conferences at Mu games or listening to them on the radio becuase Crean was the worst interview of all time. If i did go it was to hear pitiono or huggins or one of those guys and then leave.
lastly not sure why you take exception to the guard comments if you are going 5 on 5 and only have 3 healthy guards its kind of hard to do. Simply a numbers thing he has actually been pretty complimentary all season on cubi and acker and dwight for that matter.
have you ever played sports for a hard nosed cut to the chase type of coach? the softness of some people will always amaze me.
Typical Buzz stuff. He seems to be very consistent and fair in the way he speaks of and to his players. I hate to turn this into another TC complaint, but anyone that watched a MU practice with TC knows what I'm talking about. I think the ups and downs kids went through with TC and the way he made it personal was too much for many players. It's evident to me that Buzz works better with kids. It's yet to be seen if what he's teaching is correct for the situation. If it is, he'll be a special coach because it sure seems obvious he can recruit.
I agree with Hayward. I don't think Buzz was calling out Cubi, Acker or Buycks, just frustrated that he really doesnt have any options to work with. He said if you want to pick 5 post players out of the BEast your want Chris Otule. If thats not high praise for a kid like Otule idk what is. And Mbao was pretty awful lol.
Basically I don't like to judge a coach by what a reporter quotes him as. To easy to get the wrong impression when you don't get the whole context.
Quote from: Norm on November 08, 2009, 12:29:25 AM
I hope that someone talks to Buzz about his post game press conferences and his tendency to call out players. I know this was just an exhibition, but he's a little too candid sometimes.
Here's some examples from the MSOE post game:
On guard play:
"Since Junior's been hurt and DJO's been out, our practices...it's hard to have practice," said Williams. "Junior's out, DJO's hurt; well, who else can play guard? Not point -- just guard?"
Not a whole lot to be excited about if you're David Cubillan, Maurice Acker or Dwight Buycks.
On Chris Otule:
"Chris, just because he didn't look like he dropped in from Mars," he said, drawing laughs. "He can't guard those guys running around out there (meaning the smaller MSOE players). He's going to guard guys that look like him without goggles. That's who he's going to guard. When he's out there chasing guys on the perimeter, I think it's hard to get an assessment of did he really do a good job.
"The thing about Chris though, what's transpired is that since (last) season has been over he's been arguably one of our two or three workers. And I believe that confidence comes from your work. I want him to do great because he's turned into a worker, and he's turned into a guy that every day when he comes to the gym, he wants to get better. I think he has a bright future, to be honest with you.
"I don't think he's an all-conference player, but I think if you have five post guys on your team, he's worthy of being in that five in the Big East. It's just that he's a sophomore, and his freshman year, he did absolutely nothing other than be hurt."
Ok, he praises his work ethic, but basically the rest isn't very glowing....
On Mbao:
"Awful," said Williams of Mbao. "He doesn't understand how to defend, so he fouls every single time, either because he's late before his guy catches it, or when his guy does catch it he's late, and so he settles behind the post and he fouls.
"He's come a long way, he's got a long way to go. But I didn't think he was very good."
On Fulce:
"He did good," he said. "Joe will probably mess up every possession on offense and defense, the intricacies of what we're trying to do. What he won't mess up, though, is when the ball goes up, he'll chase after it. If he catches the ball and nobody's around him, he's strong-minded enough that he'll shoot it.
"And I'm OK with that, because as things begin to take place I think he'll get better at the intracacies, but I don't think that you can replace having the heart to chase after a ball. He'll go get a ball. The one thing that I will say that he does better than anybody on the team is when he catches at the top of the key, he'll throw it high-low."
This isn't anything major, but I find his post game interviews always a little odd.
I guess I don't see anything really wrong with what he said. First of all it was the truth and anyone who watched the game could see that Mbao looked lost, Fulce at times runs around like a chicken with his head chopped off and Otule was by far and away the biggest player on the court when compared to what MSOE was throwing at us and his stat line was way overblown.
Second, the guard play comment was completely true and didn't single anyone out about anything. With the injuries we only have 3 guards. Its kind of hard to scrimmage and run plays with 3 guards when you need at least 4.
Lastly, while he was candid about some of the players negative attributes that everyone already knows by watching the game, he left none of them to hang out and dry. He provided positive comments about all of them.
I did take issue with the way he handled Mac that one instance last year and when he was way too harsh about Hazel in a pre-game interview but this was absolutely nothing to get worked up over by anyone.
No one is saying you can't say that to players but saying it the media is pointless. You don't see the assistants saying how bad buzz was in press conferences, you talk about it after the game or while watching film.
Yous is thousands of miles of home and his coach is calling him awful in press conferences after the first EXIBITION game. Its dumb.
I find it refreshing and honest.
The comments about Fulce and O'Tule were generally positive-- what's he supposed to say, O'Tule can guard DIII perimeter players?
I agree with what many above have said-- there's nothing to indicate that he's inconsistent. I have the feeling that he says all this and more to his players' faces.
It doesn't seem like he's trying to motivate through the press, which usually doesn't work. Just answering questions.
I also think his response to Mac last year was ridiculously blown out of proportion. It was not a big deal. It was a misunderstanding immediately following a loss.
That Buzz comment about Mac after a Saturday afternoon victory, either WV, DePaul or Georgetown last year, not a loss.
Quote from: bartmiller#1 on November 08, 2009, 04:54:32 PM
I find it refreshing and honest.
The comments about Fulce and O'Tule were generally positive-- what's he supposed to say, O'Tule can guard DIII perimeter players?
It continues to amaze me how some people consistently misspell Chris's last name......it's
Otule!!!!!!! He's a sophomore, can we get it right???
Listen to it again. Buzz' tirade on Mac was completely over-the-top, unnecessary, insensitive, and inappropriate. In contrast, Mac handled it with complete class, calmness, and with professionalism. It was because of Mac's downplaying of the offense and Buzz' apology, that it died down rather quickly. Certainly the low point of Buzz' first year as head coach.
Mr. Hayward,
I've played for some pretty tough-as-nails coaches. I had a pee wee hockey coach hang a kid by his jersey on the coat hooks between periods because the kid was talking too much. The same coach told a teammate, in his exact words, "your retarded brother is smarter than you are." I had another coach take slap shots at kids with their helmets off if they goofed off too much in practice. Granted, this was awhile ago and the coaches would have been excused in today's environment, but I'd say I've played for some coaches who were rough around the edges.
My only point was that Buzz could stand to tone it down a tad bit in criticism of individual players.
Quote from: 4everwarriors on November 08, 2009, 05:48:10 PM
Listen to it again. Buzz' tirade on Mac was completely over-the-top, unnecessary, insensitive, and inappropriate. In contrast, Mac handled it with complete class, calmness, and with professionalism. It was because of Mac's downplaying of the offense and Buzz' apology, that it died down rather quickly. Certainly the low point of Buzz' first year as head coach.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/38823727.html
I just went back and re-read the whole saga. It followed the win against Georgetown last year. Clearly, Buzz misunderstood the question. It was a pretty soft question about keeping the team from believing the hype about themselves.
I still don't think it was a big deal. It's one answer to a post-game question. Buzz obviously went out of his way to apologize in the following days. If that's the worst thing Buzz did last season, I'm pretty happy.
Quote from: MUBasketball on November 08, 2009, 05:45:55 PM
It continues to amaze me how some people consistently misspell Chris's last name......it's Otule!!!!!!! He's a sophomore, can we get it right???
In due time. It took until at least midway through his sophomore season before "Cubillon" and "Cubillion" were corrected.
I like the honesty of our coach Ozzie....I mean Buzz.
Quote from: SaintPaulWarrior on November 08, 2009, 10:19:59 PM
I like the honesty of our coach Ozzie....I mean Buzz.
being a whitesox fan, i enjoy the comparison :D...
main difference is that ozzie comes off as being a jerk, douche, etc, etc, where as buzz does it in a way that makes him seem 'straight talk express' and a honest non flip flopper. maybe its the sweet tea and chubby cheeks
editors note: i have no problem with buzz's comments, but i can see how some would be opposed. im gonna attempt to be open minded and look at both sides on this site :o
Honest but not harsh. Saying that Yous was awful, but has come a long way with a long way to go is both honest and in a way complimentary. He is acknowledging the young man's work and progress.
Quote from: mudimitri on November 09, 2009, 12:01:00 AM
being a whitesox fan, i enjoy the comparison :D...
main difference is that ozzie comes off as being a jerk, douche, etc, etc, where as buzz does it in a way that makes him seem 'straight talk express' and a honest non flip flopper. maybe its the sweet tea and chubby cheeks
editors note: i have no problem with buzz's comments, but i can see how some would be opposed. im gonna attempt to be open minded and look at both sides on this site :o
"Sweet Tea and Chubby Cheeks" reminds me of Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry