All right, we've had so many "Fire Wojo" posts and moments, here's the inverse: Should Wojo be given serious consideration for Big East Coach of the Year if Marquette makes the NCAA tournament? Here's some thoughts for consideration:
1) In three years, he recruited Marquette out of a Buzz induced coma and into a position where Marquette could and should be a Big East power for several years to come.
2) In two years, he picked us up off the floor of the Big East, where we were mentioned in the same breath with DePaul, and made us competitive.
3) We are in a good position for the team to be back in the NCAA, where we belong and where we older alumni think we have a God-given right to be.
4) We did all this while losing arguably the best player on last year's team to the NBA and having to build this year's team with comparatively little height and a foul-prone center (who has come on like a future NBAer -- I know he probably isn't).
Look, we have a lot of work to do yet. Letdowns are real possibilities. But I'm excited at the chance that Duane, JJJ and Luke who saw the bad days with us, might get a chance at the Big Dance. I'm also excited that I am seeing something really positive in Wojo. If it keeps up, we have a good team and a chance to steal a win or two in the tournament.
In the meantime, enjoy the moment.
It depends where we finish in the league. If we finish in the top-3, then I think he's probably the best candidate. I also think finishing top-3 is very realistic right now.
One in the loss column behind 'Nova, Butler, and Creighton, get a chance to tag an additional to Butler and Creighton, and thus far have mirrored 'Nova as we split with each other and both lost at Butler, though 'Nova hasn't yet played at Seton Hall.
I think at this point he would be the leading candidate, but we will have to see how things play out.
Nova, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler were supposed to be good so its hard to award a coach for living up to expectations while a program picked to finish in the bottom half by most, is primed to finish way higher if it wins the games it should. 11-7, if not better, is not out of the question for this team now.
Crean sucks
Lot of ballgame left, but I'll admit I was wrong and say that he's in the driver's seat right now. Our non-con losses were very frustrating because of how poorly we played in our losses; our conference losses (sans Nova) were frustrating for how games that belonged to us slipped away (and Seton Hall v2 almost did). KR talked about it to Rafferty afterwards - this team seems to have turned a corner. If that's true, Wojo will deserve a ton of the credit. The rest will probably go to seniors that continue to step up like Luke and KR did today.
Not quite halfway through conference play, but he's obviously gaining momentum in the last week. The injury to Watson might have opened the door, since I would have considered McDermott the far and away favorite beforehand; still his if Creighton finishes ahead of us.
If McDermott leads Creighton to a top 2 finish after losing Mo Watson, he will get it. If that doesn't happen and Wojo leads MU to a top 3 finish, I think it is his.
Quote from: brewcity77 on January 25, 2017, 08:01:08 AM
It depends where we finish in the league. If we finish in the top-3, then I think he's probably the best candidate. I also think finishing top-3 is very realistic right now.
One in the loss column behind 'Nova, Butler, and Creighton, get a chance to tag an additional to Butler and Creighton, and thus far have mirrored 'Nova as we split with each other and both lost at Butler, though 'Nova hasn't yet played at Seton Hall.
Nova beat Seton Hall by 30. I guess you could say SH didn't show up to play.
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on January 25, 2017, 08:40:52 AM
If McDermott leads Creighton to a top 2 finish after losing Mo Watson, he will get it. If that doesn't happen and Wojo leads MU to a top 3 finish, I think it is his.
I agree with this analysis.
Quote from: Lazar's Headband on January 25, 2017, 08:54:26 AM
Nova beat Seton Hall by 30. I guess you could say SH didn't show up to play.
At home. They were drilling us by a similar margin until the end. One behind in the loss column considering our schedule gets easier (though Nova has now played at Creighton, Butler, and Marquette) is a fine place to be.
Quote from: brewcity77 on January 25, 2017, 10:27:42 AM
At home. They were drilling us by a similar margin until the end. One behind in the loss column considering our schedule gets easier (though Nova has now played at Creighton, Butler, and Marquette) is a fine place to be.
Sorry, misread. Missed the word "at."
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on January 25, 2017, 08:40:52 AM
If McDermott leads Creighton to a top 2 finish after losing Mo Watson, he will get it. If that doesn't happen and Wojo leads MU to a top 3 finish, I think it is his.
I agree with this analysis.