January 19, 2022, at Nova - Is this the place and date that the Shaka era began?
If so, consider that February 27, 2019, at Nova was, arguably, the place and date that the Wojo era effectively ended
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February 27, 2019, 5:17 left in the second half at Nova. MU was leading 60-55.
MU was ranked #10 and a win would have given MU a share of the regular season BE title. MU scored just one more point and lost the game 67-61. After this, they would go on to lose every game but one (St. Johns in the first round of the BET) for the rest of that season and the NCAA tournament (1-6) and never get any BE title (regular or post-season).
Then in the way too early preseason rankings for the next season (2020, pandemic year), MU was as high as #2 in the nation.
Then the Hausers wrote a letter, and we know the rest.
Wojo never recovered from that loss and subsequent collapse.
For the sake of any team he may coach. I hope that man never receives an offer as a D1 head coach.
Like Joey with Ja's nuts, I never got the taste of that loss out of my mouth
What really hurt about that game is that MU built up the lead while Markus was on the bench hurt. Of course Wojo put him back in and Markus immediately tried to play hero ball which failed badly and we all know the rest. That truly was the beginning of the end. 😳
Quote from: #UnleashKolek on January 19, 2022, 09:27:47 PM
For the sake of any team he may coach. I hope that man never receives an offer as a D1 head coach.
I think he'd be a great fit 60 miles down the road.
Quote from: mugrad_89 on January 19, 2022, 09:37:23 PM
What really hurt about that game is that MU built up the lead while Markus was on the bench hurt. Of course Wojo put him back in and Markus immediately tried to play hero ball which failed badly and we all know the rest. That truly was the beginning of the end. 😳
Joey, shouldn't you be practicing?
I'm talking about your hooping, not your penmanship.
Shaka has done more in 19 games than Wojo did during his entire tenure. That's not debatable at this point.
Quote from: 5DollarPitcher on January 19, 2022, 09:48:57 PM
Shaka has done more in 19 games than Wojo did during his entire tenure. That's not debatable at this point.
Steve won more Big East Tournament games.
Quote from: #UnleashKolek on January 19, 2022, 09:27:47 PM
For the sake of any team he may coach. I hope that man never receives an offer as a D1 head coach.
Kinda hoping he takes over UW-Madison, actually
Quote from: 1SE on January 19, 2022, 09:38:47 PM
I think he'd be a great fit 60 miles down the road.
Okay, there are now 2 destinations for wojo I like.
Quote from: #UnleashKolek on January 19, 2022, 09:27:47 PM
For the sake of any team he may coach. I hope that man never receives an offer as a D1 head coach.
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
Quote from: 5DollarPitcher on January 19, 2022, 09:48:57 PM
Shaka has done more in 19 games than Wojo did during his entire tenure. That's not debatable at this point.
very debatable. I'm not a projo, but Woj took over a downward trending program and got MU to the ncaa tourney in short order. Hindsight is 20/20. A single road win doesn't make Shaka the savior. Let's see how things play out. Do you forget the UW game?
Quote from: Viper on January 20, 2022, 07:56:09 AM
very debatable. I'm not a projo, but Woj took over a downward trending program and got MU to the ncaa tourney in short order. Hindsight is 20/20. A single road win doesn't make Shaka the savior. Let's see how things play out. Do you forget the UW game?
Yes, you forget the Badgers game. The goal for this team is to continue to get better as the season progresses and they have.
You want to win all your games but sometimes you lose them and it's how you react that matters. A lot of teams could have folded after that December. Marquette didn't
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 07:33:32 AM
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
I agree. Quick story...a buddy of mine from MU has a son in cancer treatment at Childrens Hospital here in Milwaukee. I contacted Marquette and Wojo wrote the kid a beautiful note of encouragement, sent him an autographed team ball and a lot of MU swag. Woj didn't win as we all hoped, but he's definitely a good dude off the court.
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 07:33:32 AM
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
Wrong! He is pure evil. Wojo must die a long, painful death and burn in hell. Then he must be resurrected so he can die and burn in hell all over again.
Die, burn, repeat.
Quote from: Uncle Rico on January 20, 2022, 07:58:47 AM
Yes, you forget the Badgers game. The goal for this team is to continue to get better as the season progresses and they have.
You want to win all your games but sometimes you lose them and it's how you react that matters. A lot of teams could have folded after that December. Marquette didn't
folding in December? Please.
Quote from: Viper on January 20, 2022, 08:01:07 AM
I agree. Quick story...a buddy of mine from MU has a son in cancer treatment at Childrens Hospital here in Milwaukee. I contacted Marquette and Wojo wrote the kid a beautiful note of encouragement, sent him an autographed team ball and a lot of MU swag. Woj didn't win as we all hoped, but he's definitely a good dude off the court.
Thanks for sharing.
Cura Personalis. Wish that young fighter the best
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 07:33:32 AM
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
[/quote
Yeah not sure why people basically want his basketball career ruined haha.
I mean it would kinda suck if he randomly transformed into the real Coach K jr somewhere else. But idk why people want him to literally flop.
He was a good guy(probably too straight laced) was passionate about the program and fans. Just wasn't the right coach for us. Definitely deserves another shot somewhere.
Wojo by all accounts was a nice and quality human being.
He was a sub par college basketball coach.
Probably like most of us here. But being a nice guy doesn't mean we should.be paid.millions of dollars to coach ball.
I wish Wojo no ill will at all. But I would.never want him as the coach of any team I was supporting.
Quote from: MU82 on January 20, 2022, 08:01:32 AM
Wrong! He is pure evil. Wojo must die a long, painful death and burn in hell. Then he must be resurrected so he can die and burn in hell all over again.
Die, burn, repeat.
You forgot we have to salt the earth he walked on.
Met Wojo quite a few times.
Awesome guy, real nice and did some great things for the community.
Had some amazing recruits, and his recruit won us the game last night.
Bummer he didn't work out here but very happy with what we have now.
Weird to see people trash him so much. Especially when we could be celebrating last nights win.
Quote from: fjm on January 20, 2022, 08:34:41 AM
Met Wojo quite a few times.
Awesome guy, real nice and did some great things for the community.
Had some amazing recruits, and his recruit won us the game last night.
Bummer he didn't work out here but very happy with what we have now.
Weird to see people trash him so much. Especially when we could be celebrating last nights win.
He recruited Greg too who kept us in the game
Quote from: Heisenberg v2.0 on January 20, 2022, 08:28:48 AM
You forgot we have to salt the earth he walked on.
I was saving the salt to rub in his wounds.
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 07:33:32 AM
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
This. This board, and fan base in general, obsession with former coaches is weird to say the least. We just got a massive win, and there are still people that will literally only post to trash a former coach. I'm sure this plays into why our fanbase has the reputation that it does.
Quote from: Its DJOver on January 20, 2022, 08:58:38 AM
This. This board, and fan base in general, obsession with former coaches is weird to say the least. We just got a massive win, and there are still people that will literally only post to trash a former coach. I'm sure this plays into why our fanbase has the reputation that it does.
Spoken like a true ProJo. Why do you hate Marquette?
Quote from: 1SE on January 20, 2022, 08:13:58 AM
Wojo by all accounts was a nice and quality human being.
He was a sub par college basketball coach.
Probably like most of us here. But being a nice guy doesn't mean we should.be paid.millions of dollars to coach ball.
I wish Wojo no ill will at all. But I would.never want him as the coach of any team I was supporting.
Well said. No need to pile on the guy. Kind of odd that he didn't land anywhere as an assistant coach..maybe he needed a year off was burnt out. Or perhaps he thinks he can land another high major job.
Quote from: Elonsmusk on January 20, 2022, 09:16:29 AM
Well said. No need to pile on the guy. Kind of odd that he didn't land anywhere as an assistant coach..maybe he needed a year off was burnt out. Or perhaps he thinks he can land another high major job.
He has an in with the jazz so I'd expect to see him there. My understanding is his family was already out in Utah where his wife's family lives before we parted ways.
Quote from: Galway Eagle on January 20, 2022, 09:20:01 AM
He has an in with the jazz so I'd expect to see him there. My understanding is his family was already out in Utah where his wife's family lives before we parted ways.
Wojo would seem to be a good fit on the Utah Jazz organization.
The Wojo era didn't end with that 'Nova game. He had a team ranked in the top-20 and the NPOY front-runner at this point of the following season, and in the season after that had two top-10 wins in December. It ended on February 14, 2021, when Marquette lost at Seton Hall, fell to 5-10 in the Big East, and was effectively eliminated from the tournament.
Aside from winning the first presser, I would say the Shaka era began on April 14. That was when he planted his flag and gave us an idea of what the roster would look like. It's all grown from 414 Day.
Look, I wish the guy nothing but success. Coach Wojo didn't work at Marquette but like many of us who've not worked out in a job, you take what you learned and assess what went wrong and MOVE ON.
He's a good guy. He recruited good talent but he couldn't make the pieces fit together. And, his teams knew less about defense than my 14.5 year old cocker spaniel. He'll learn!
I'm sure when Coach Wojo gets another chance, those things that went wrong at Marquette won't happen again.
Look forward to competing against and beating his next team!
Quote from: 5DollarPitcher on January 19, 2022, 09:48:57 PM
Shaka has done more in 19 games than Wojo did during his entire tenure. That's not debatable at this point.
Except of course recruiting top national talent and having a top ten team in the country and running a clean program. If we ignore that your point is exactly right.
I like Shaka as much as everyone else, but let's not under state the benefits Wojo brought to the program.
Quote from: TheGym on January 20, 2022, 10:02:22 AM
Except of course recruiting top national talent and having a top ten team in the country and running a clean program. If we ignore that your point is exactly right.
I like Shaka as much as everyone else, but let's not under state the benefits Wojo brought to the program.
Is Shaka not running a clean program?
Technically, if we beat enough to teams wouldn't that imply we have top talent even if it wasn't the highest rated out of HS?
You're playing with fire bringing up the top 10 team, I agree and I think Shaka will get there but watch people point out the immediate collapse and the "luck" stats
Quote from: Its DJOver on January 20, 2022, 08:58:38 AM
This. This board, and fan base in general, obsession with former coaches is weird to say the least. We just got a massive win, and there are still people that will literally only post to trash a former coach. I'm sure this plays into why our fanbase has the reputation that it does.
Agree with everything but the bolded part. MU's fan base doesn't have a "reputation" we're not Indiana or Texas. MU has pretty mild fans all things considered.
Quote from: goldeneagle91114 on January 20, 2022, 10:16:10 AM
Agree with everything but the bolded part. MU's fan base doesn't have a "reputation" we're not Indiana or Texas. MU has pretty mild fans all things considered.
We actually have a rep for crucifying media members for any perceived slight
Quote from: Galway Eagle on January 20, 2022, 10:16:57 AM
We actually have a rep for crucifying media members for any perceived slight
Dauster gives his +1 here.
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 07:33:32 AM
Cmon. I hope he learns from his mistakes, lands another job, and is successful. He's not a bad guy and no MU fan should wish him ill will.
Coaches with far worse resumes have received second chances. He's not a good coach, but he's nowhere near the worst coach that would receive a 2nd, 3rd or 4th chance to run a program dropping down a level.
Quote from: BM1090 on January 20, 2022, 10:20:26 AM
Coaches with far worse resumes have received second chances. He's not a good coach, but he's nowhere near the worst coach that would receive a 2nd, 3rd or 4th chance to run a program dropping down a level.
He'd be great for any place that wants to be respectable but isn't looking to take the next step. He'd have been great for MU in the KO time or Crean time. He came in when MU wanted to take the next step, he wasn't that guy.
MU fans have a reputation for having high expectations and attacking any perceived media slight.
Quote from: Its DJOver on January 20, 2022, 08:58:38 AM
This. This board, and fan base in general, obsession with former coaches is weird to say the least. We just got a massive win, and there are still people that will literally only post to trash a former coach. I'm sure this plays into why our fanbase has the reputation that it does.
Mike Deane didn't get a fair shake
Quote from: goldeneagle91114 on January 20, 2022, 10:16:10 AM
Agree with everything but the bolded part. MU's fan base doesn't have a "reputation" we're not Indiana or Texas. MU has pretty mild fans all things considered.
We don't have a reputation to the level of I4 or UT, but we most definitely have a reputation, and our obsession with the past (both good and bad) plays a part in that.
No doubt, the MUBB brand trended downward for ~8 years. Fan apathy is at its highest in 25 years, easy.
At first, you could excuse it on New Coach Syndrome when the Wojo era began. Then all the other excuses came rolling in .. injuries .. bad luck .. kids on the court not performing .. Covid .. unhappy players. Every season, new excuses were born.
Not to say any game is easy, any season, any practice, any recruiting victory is easy. -- This season with Shaka? Shaka has made it look easy. -- And that's made Wojo look so much worse.
So yeah .. I understand the new/continued Wojo hate. He was a good guy, but he was the epicenter of the downward trend.
Wojo was a good dude but over his skis here. He needed one or two stops before he came here
Wish him the best of luck
Like eye sed, won's a Timex, won's a Rolex, aina?
Re: MU fans' reputation ..
I disagree it's anything out of the ordinary. Name another program that had a winning era or a winning coach, a decade or decades of good outcomes -- that don't have fans with high expectations.
On the contrary, after suffering the Wojo era, the number of fans with high expectations for MU is at a multi-decade low. Two entire cycles of Freshman to Senior MU students have no knowledge of what an NCAA win looks like.
MUScoop is highly unrepresentative of MU fandom as a whole.
Quote from: Galway Eagle on January 20, 2022, 09:20:01 AM
He has an in with the jazz so I'd expect to see him there. My understanding is his family was already out in Utah where his wife's family lives before we parted ways.
Yep. It was a rough year and I legitimately felt bad for him. He really looks much happier now that the pressure is off and his family situation is improving.
A year or two on Quin Snyder's bench would be great for him.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on January 20, 2022, 10:41:47 AM
Re: MU fans' reputation ..
I disagree it's anything out of the ordinary. Name another program that had a winning era or a winning coach, a decade or decades of good outcomes -- that don't have fans with high expectations.
On the contrary, after suffering the Wojo era, the number of fans with high expectations for MU is at a multi-decade low. Two entire cycles of Freshman to Senior MU students have no knowledge of what an NCAA win looks like.
MUScoop is highly unrepresentative of MU fandom as a whole.
Arkansas?
UTEP?
Lasalle?
Pittsburgh?
I'm sure I could name more.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on January 20, 2022, 10:41:47 AM
Re: MU fans' reputation ..
I disagree it's anything out of the ordinary. Name another program that had a winning era or a winning coach, a decade or decades of good outcomes -- that don't have fans with high expectations.
On the contrary, after suffering the Wojo era, the number of fans with high expectations for MU is at a multi-decade low. Two entire cycles of Freshman to Senior MU students have no knowledge of what an NCAA win looks like.
MUScoop is highly unrepresentative of MU fandom as a whole.
I think it mostly comes from #mubb Twitter. The "problem" is we have a number of very knowledgeable voices on Twitter that aren't afraid to point out when the national reporters get it wrong. We aren't just grateful for the attention. Anonymous Eagle, Paint Touches, Cracked Sidewalks, the various podcasts, and pretty much everyone who's come through those outlets are vocal and not shy about saying "hey dumbass" when a prominent voice says something that can be easily disproven.
Great guy. Really bad coach. If he wants to be a successful HC, he needs to take an AC job somewhere outside the Duke family.
Quote from: brewcity77 on January 20, 2022, 10:53:27 AM
I think it mostly comes from #mubb Twitter. The "problem" is we have a number of very knowledgeable voices on Twitter that aren't afraid to point out when the national reporters get it wrong. We aren't just grateful for the attention. Anonymous Eagle, Paint Touches, Cracked Sidewalks, the various podcasts, and pretty much everyone who's come through those outlets are vocal and not shy about saying "hey dumbass" when a prominent voice says something that can be easily disproven.
Like the Norlander thing yesterday: "If marquette goes 3-3 over the next six, they'll be firmly on the bubble" comment. Dude should get called out for that stuff.
Quote from: Galway Eagle on January 20, 2022, 10:16:57 AM
We actually have a rep for crucifying media members for any perceived slight
MU also has the reputation of being one of the most informed and analytical fan bases (and quoted) in college basketball. Maybe because of a great College of Communication, it was one of the top schools engaged on social media for basketball a few years back. MU also has its share main stream media journalists as alums. Informed fans and content creators even help get coaches fired.
So, yes, MU fans call these guys out for their bad takes. Btw, they don't really mind as it helps their views.
Quote from: MUfan12 on January 20, 2022, 10:47:59 AM
Yep. It was a rough year and I legitimately felt bad for him. He really looks much happier now that the pressure is off and his family situation is improving.
A year or two on Quin Snyder's bench would be great for him.
You "legitimately felt bad" for Wojo? We paid him $9 million to go away. In all, he got paid over $20 million by Marquette while completely killing off the casual fan base and torpedoing MU ball's reputation on the national scene during his 7 years here. He may be a good guy, but being a good guy is not at the top of the list in terms of a major college basketball coach's priorities. Lots of the game's great coaches, including by many accounts his own mentor, are not very nice people.
I expect to see Wojo return to the Duke bench within the next couple of years as an assistant coach. He doesn't need the money anymore and I think he'll just go back where he's comfortable. Take away the money he made at MU, and I bet in a lot of ways he wishes he'd never left his alma mater. He'd probably be in line for their head job if he'd waited.
Quote from: Silent Verbal on January 20, 2022, 11:06:58 AM
You "legitimately felt bad" for Wojo? We paid him $9 million to go away.
Wait. I didn't pay him a dime. Was I supposed to Venmo someone?
Quote from: Silent Verbal on January 20, 2022, 11:06:58 AM
You "legitimately felt bad" for Wojo?
On a personal level? Absolutely. Professionally he was struggling, it was still in the weird COVID year, and his wife and kids were in Utah. That would be hard on anyone.
Quote from: Fluffy Blue Monster on January 20, 2022, 11:10:55 AM
Wait. I didn't pay him a dime. Was I supposed to Venmo someone?
Yeah I sent money for you, you can Venmo me the balance.
I've heard people that have had personal interactions with him that said what a great guy he was. I think him being so reserved really made it tough for fans to get behind him. Especially following in Buzz's footsteps. Buzz's press conferences would be appointment television.
I wish it worked out for him here. It would have been in all of our best interests to not have the 7 down-ish years. Not all were bad. However, even the best years had the disappointment of late season slides and getting dominated in the Tourney.
Hopefully he goes somewhere and has success. I'm rooting for him. I think he worked as hard as he could here, so I don't have ill will towards him. He hasn't bashed MU in any way I've seen.
Quote from: dgies9156 on January 20, 2022, 09:49:01 AM
Look, I wish the guy nothing but success. Coach Wojo didn't work at Marquette but like many of us who've not worked out in a job, you take what you learned and assess what went wrong and MOVE ON.
He's a good guy. He recruited good talent but he couldn't make the pieces fit together. And, his teams knew less about defense than my 14.5 year old cocker spaniel. He'll learn!
I'm sure when Coach Wojo gets another chance, those things that went wrong at Marquette won't happen again.
Look forward to competing against and beating his next team!
I think Wojo could be successful if he took a HC position at a lower level, though I don't know if his ego or his recently expanded bank account would allow it.
His M.O. was to recruit very well and then roll the ball out there are hope for the best. He was so used to Duke overwhelming opponents with pure talent that I don't think he developed the skills necessary be a good coach when there wasn't such a talent disparity. But, at a Mid Major his strategy could very well work--just outrecruit the rest of your conference and talent will carry you to a lot of wins.
But man, he really needs to learn how to run an inbounds play against pressure.
Quote from: cheebs09 on January 20, 2022, 11:25:35 AM
I've heard people that have had personal interactions with him that said what a great guy he was. I think him being so reserved really made it tough for fans to get behind him. Especially following in Buzz's footsteps. Buzz's press conferences would be appointment television.
I wish it worked out for him here. It would have been in all of our best interests to not have the 7 down-ish years. Not all were bad. However, even the best years had the disappointment of late season slides and getting dominated in the Tourney.
Hopefully he goes somewhere and has success. I'm rooting for him. I think he worked as hard as he could here, so I don't have ill will towards him. He hasn't bashed MU in any way I've seen.
Yep, hope it works out well for him somewhere. Firing him was extremely difficult for Bill Scholl who was nearly in tears during the presser announcing the coaching change. But, change was in the wind.
Quote from: GB Warrior on January 19, 2022, 09:30:56 PM
Like Joey with Ja's nuts, I never got the taste of that loss out of my mouth
Ruined my whole bracket, but lowkey so it coming. We had no defensive guards like we had now. And to succeed in a conference full of really good guard play you need defensive guards.
Quote from: BM1090 on January 20, 2022, 10:20:26 AM
He's not a good coach, but he's nowhere near the worst coach
Pay attention. Wojo is the worst coach in the history of college basketball. I mean, the guy went 0-223 over 7 years, never sniffed the NCAA tournament, recruited only stiffs (except the Heroic Hausers, of course), had a team of felons, broke numerous NCAA rules, and held 10 nuns hostage at gunpoint for a week.
Death would be too kind for him, as he ruined a couple of anonymous interwebs posters' entire college experience.
Quote from: Viper on January 20, 2022, 07:56:09 AM
very debatable. I'm not a projo, but Woj took over a downward trending program and got MU to the ncaa tourney in short order. Hindsight is 20/20. A single road win doesn't make Shaka the savior. Let's see how things play out. Do you forget the UW game?
Hol up. No.
Quote from: Silent Verbal on January 20, 2022, 11:06:58 AM
You "legitimately felt bad" for Wojo? We paid him $9 million to go away. In all, he got paid over $20 million by Marquette while completely killing off the casual fan base and torpedoing MU ball's reputation on the national scene during his 7 years here. He may be a good guy, but being a good guy is not at the top of the list in terms of a major college basketball coach's priorities. Lots of the game's great coaches, including by many accounts his own mentor, are not very nice people.
I expect to see Wojo return to the Duke bench within the next couple of years as an assistant coach. He doesn't need the money anymore and I think he'll just go back where he's comfortable. Take away the money he made at MU, and I bet in a lot of ways he wishes he'd never left his alma mater. He'd probably be in line for their head job if he'd waited.
This and understands. Wojo might be a great guy off the court. But he cost MU years and burned bridges with a lot of people.
Quote from: TheGym on January 20, 2022, 10:02:22 AM
Except of course recruiting top national talent and having a top ten team in the country and running a clean program. If we ignore that your point is exactly right.
I like Shaka as much as everyone else, but let's not under state the benefits Wojo brought to the program.
Shaka doesn't run a clean program through 19 games?
Am I supposed to lose my nut over getting a 5 star recruit and then promptly folding over on the court season in and season out?
Let's end the sympathetic Wojo narrative. The guy robbed the University blind and refused to make a change when approached by his boss. BUM!
Wojo's biggest flaw in my mind is that he had no real philosophy, and it showed regularly. He was reliant on getting good talent and expecting them to win you games. And that worked to an extent, when he had a generational collegiate talent in Markus, but couldn't maximize the other strengths/hide the other flaws. Call it the Mike McCarthy style of coaching
Quote from: 5DollarPitcher on January 20, 2022, 07:09:38 PM
Shaka doesn't run a clean program through 19 games?
Am I supposed to lose my nut over getting a 5 star recruit and then promptly folding over on the court season in and season out?
Let's end the sympathetic Wojo narrative. The guy robbed the University blind and refused to make a change when approached by his boss. BUM!
Cura Personalis. Look it up. Live it.
" but let's not under state the benefits Wojo brought to the program."
Hard to understate setting the program back 7 years.