Buzz Comments

[NavinRJohnson]

What we needed most was someone who was ready to come in and split minutes with Otule.

Who is that guy? This is not the MAC remember...who is that guy that was...

1) uncommitted
2) willing to give MU a look even though they may not have been recruiting him to that point
3) Academically qualified
4) (most importantly by your own standard), ready to come in, play regular minutes and contibute at C/PF in the Big East?

I know you listed some guys earlier, but which of them meet all of the above criteria?

[Marquette84]

First off, Roseboro and Ewill were not seen as wings. Buzz uses the term "dribble guys" and "non dribble guys"...both were (and still are) "non dribble guys."

At the point in time you reference, it was expected that Maymon (and to an extent Roseboro and Ewill) would have provided something down low.

I think there is a fair amount of disagreement on this. 

After re-reading the news coverage on Roseboro at the time of his commitment his cited strengths were versitlity, mid-range jumper, and range to the 3 point line.

What are his strengths and weaknesses as a player at this point? His strength obviously is his versatility. Obviously as a high-school kid, we love him on the block. He's got the left hand, which coaches love because he goes back to his left. But he uses his right hand, too. He can step out and shoot the 15-footer, and like I said, he's stepping out and knocking down some threes.
 
To me, that reads like a guy with size who can't play low.  I don't see him as an inside player in the mold of Barro or Grimm. 

As for Erik Williams, he is just as undersized as Hayward and Butler for the role. 

Turns out Roseboro wasnt who they thought he was, Maymon left, and Ewill just isnt ready yet. But at the time of the year you are referencing, the were expecting more out of those 3.

Yes, we expected more, but not at the 5--those players weren't interchangeable with Liam or Otule.

Say the projection was that Liam gets 30 mpg and Otule 10 mpg.  EWill, Roseboro and Maymon were in addition to that--not sharing in that pool.   

Buzz had the chance to add a really good player in DJO, and took advantage of it...the way he is supposed to.

That's fine--as long as you keep in mind the needs of your team.

You don't want to be caught without a position player--as Buzz has this year and Crean did in 2004-05 without a PG.

Would you rather have had a DJO, or a signing like Jamil Lott?

Wrong comparison.

This year I'd almost rather have Jamil Lott than Yous.  But I'd rather have a 6'9 or 6'10 inside player than Jamil Lott.

[tower912]

[quote author=Marquette84 link=topic=17520.msg173964#msg173964 date=1264542250


[To me, that reads like a guy with size who can't play low.  I don't see him as an inside player in the mold of Barro or Grimm.  
So, a Sikma/Laimbeer type.
As for Erik Williams, he is just as undersized as Hayward and Butler for the role.  
A little bigger with a reputation of being a leaper.     Terry Sanders

Yes, we expected more, but not at the 5--those players weren't interchangeable with Liam or Otule.

Say the projection was that Liam gets 30 mpg and Otule 10 mpg.  EWill, Roseboro and Maymon were in addition to that--not sharing in that pool.  




You don't want to be caught without a position player--as Buzz has this year and Crean did in 2004-05 without a PG.

I've thought about the 04-05 comparison.    Crean had Bell, Bradley and Berkowtz in the pipeline, or so he thought.    This goes back to the guards v. bigs argument.    That team sans Diener got rolled by Western Michigan.    If this team had Liam, Otule, J-May and Yous, but no Mo, Cubi, DJO or now Cadougan, and our only guard was Buycks, would we better than we are now.    Uhhhhhhhhhhh, no.  When in doubt, have too many guards.  



[/quote]

[Marquette84]

Who is that guy? This is not the MAC remember...who is that guy that was...

1) uncommitted
2) willing to give MU a look even though they may not have been recruiting him to that point
3) Academically qualified
4) (most importantly by your own standard), ready to come in, play regular minutes and contibute at C/PF in the Big East?

I know you listed some guys earlier, but which of them meet all of the above criteria?

The guys I listed above were intended to demonstrate that players with size are available.  You tried to imply that player didn't exist.

As BMA pointed out, some of those guys we tried to get (not sure how hard).  Some we chose not to pursue for whatever reason.  But they are out there.

Frankly, even a MAC-level guy would be a tremendous asset to the team right now.  No, we wouldn't make the final four or win a Big East championship with him.  And no, I'm not saying that a MAC-level guy should be our long-term answer.

But we did okay with guys like Ousmane Barro and Dwight Burke--who themselves have been called MAC-level or worse.  Top 5 in conference, NCAA tournament. 2nd round--a basket or two away from a Sweet 16.  

I'd take that right now, wouldn't you?

Would I prefer someone like Harangody or Monroe or Onuaku?  Sure.  

But if I can't get a player like that, I'd rather have a guy like Barro.  With a player like that we would be a top-5 Big East team this year.  

[GOMU1104]

MU84...Your issue then should be more with the signing of Yous, than with the signing of DJO. We needed another guard coming into this year, and DJO was a great fit.

If you want to complain about something, complain that Buzz could have added a more effective inside presense, instead of Yous. Your questioning of the DJO signing is pretty out of line.

[Marquette84]

MU84...Your issue then should be more with the signing of Yous, than with the signing of DJO. We needed another guard coming into this year, and DJO was a great fit.

If you want to complain about something, complain that Buzz could have added a more effective inside presense, instead of Yous. Your questioning of the DJO signing is pretty out of line.

In all fairness, my initial post on the topic did not single out DJO.  I simply pointed out that our biggest need was not met by either of the spring signings:

"Even putting aside that Otule hadn't been injured yet, Buzz had to know going into to the spring signing period that he had HUGE gaps up front.

What does he do?
He signs DJO (a guard) and Mbao (a project)."


I wouldn't necessarily disagree that another guard was our 2nd biggest need at the time. 

But I wouldn't say the additional guard was as critical to success as finding a serviceable replacement for Liam.

[Hards Alumni]

like looking for an icicle in hell?

[ChicosBailBonds]

like looking for an icicle in hell?

Happens all the time




Hell, Michigan