Turning good players into Pros

[JTBMU7]

This probably the biggest achievement and most effective recruiting tool that Buzz has right now. Counting DJO and Crowder, he will have taken players to the NBA in 4 straight seasons, and none of them were expected to do that coming into MU.

Calipari, Roy, Boeheim and Calhoun all have players expected to go in the NBA draft. Buzz is consistently finding talent and turning them into NBA level contributors. 

For a guy with few (any?) NBA connections that's a pretty remarkable feat. 

[4everwarriors]

That's right. Crean has all those connections.

[Canadian Dimes]

connections dont really mean crap.  Crean might of liked to blow his own horn about his connections.  But so damn what.......... if a kid can play he dont need no connections.  

i wonder how many NBA connections Bill Foster had at Indiana state in 1979?  in the middle of Terre Haute indiana??!  

Bird Seemed to be discovered OK.

Same with the kid at Murraystate etc.  

If you can play they will find you.

The big east provides all the exposure any one could ever ask for

[Dawson Rental]

That's right. Crean has all those connections.

Another Crean bash!  I've learned that if you're going to say something negative, its a good idea to soften the blow by also saying something nice.  It's more polite, and it makes it more likely that the criticism will be heard in a positive light.  For example; Tom Crean is arrogant, but he always has a nice tan.

[GGGG]

connections dont really mean crap.  Crean might of liked to blow his own horn about his connections.  But so damn what.......... if a kid can play he dont need no connections.  

i wonder how many NBA connections Bill Foster had at Indiana state in 1979?  in the middle of Terre Haute indiana??!  

Bird Seemed to be discovered OK.

First of all, it was Bill Hodges.

Second of all, he was actually pretty damn lucky to get Bird.  Bird was an all state player that originally went to Indiana but because it was too big, and Knight was a bit of an ass, he went home to French Lick.  Hodges, who was an assistant at the time, simply drove down there and got him to ISU.  

Third, Hodges hasn't done anything as a coach since then.

Hardly a parallel to how recruiting is generally done.

[JTBMU7]

Understand that talent is the main factor, but I guess my point is that Buzz has seen success by developing talent from relatively unknown players. I don't think its fair to make a comparison from Jimmy/Zar to Larry Bird, who was highly recruited and went to Knight at IU first...

The fact is it's impressive to develop this kind of track record in such a short time considering where he and his players came from.

[Dawson Rental]

The last two years the last player taken in the first round was from Marquette which is significant because that is the last player drafted who receives a guaranteed contract.  I think that the Bulls could see from Lazar and Wes' NBA experiences that MU players were going to be hard workers who would pleasantly surprise rather than be dead roster weight.  For a player who isn't a hyped prospect, being a big contributor at MU might be as good of a NBA recommendation as there is.

[4everwarriors]

Another Crean bash!  I've learned that if you're going to say something negative, its a good idea to soften the blow by also saying something nice.  It's more polite, and it makes it more likely that the criticism will be heard in a positive light.  For example; Tom Crean is arrogant, but he always has a nice tan.

Will this do? Crean can sell ice to the Eskimos. 'Cept he supposed to be a basketball coach.

[Canadian Dimes]

First of all, it was Bill Hodges.

Second of all, he was actually pretty damn lucky to get Bird.  Bird was an all state player that originally went to Indiana but because it was too big, and Knight was a bit of an ass, he went home to French Lick.  Hodges, who was an assistant at the time, simply drove down there and got him to ISU.  

Third, Hodges hasn't done anything as a coach since then.

Hardly a parallel to how recruiting is generally done.

this thread is speaking to NBA connections for players...

[MerrittsMustache]

This probably the biggest achievement and most effective recruiting tool that Buzz has right now. Counting DJO and Crowder, he will have taken players to the NBA in 4 straight seasons, and none of them were expected to do that coming into MU.

Calipari, Roy, Boeheim and Calhoun all have players expected to go in the NBA draft. Buzz is consistently finding talent and turning them into NBA level contributors. 

For a guy with few (any?) NBA connections that's a pretty remarkable feat. 

That's the most effective recruiting tool for talented, under-the-radar players who are willing to buy into the system. Many of the 5-star guys don't care that Buzz turned some seemingly average recruits into NBA role players. They want to be "the man" and be drafted in the lottery after 1, maybe 2 years in school. Don't get me wrong, I think that what Buzz has done is a tremendous accomplishment, but if Buzz could take those hard-working, no-name, team-first guys and mix in a 5-star stud who buys in (obviously easier said than done), Marquette would be a consistent national title contender and would be producing lottery picks, thus making the program more appealing to a future 5-star HS stud with lottery pick aspirations. Picture Greg Monroe or Kyrie Irving being on MU's roster in the past couple of seasons. Think we'd still be riding the high of a nice run to the Sweet 16? I'm not saying MU needs to bring in a bunch of one-and-done players, but my point is that the best of the best HS players aren't going to be overly impressed with Buzz producing NBA 10th men.

[Pakuni]

I'm not saying MU needs to bring in a bunch of one-and-done players, but my point is that the best of the best HS players aren't going to be overly impressed with Buzz producing NBA 10th men.

Perhaps, perhaps not.
I tend to think being able to walk into a living room and tell a kid and his parents "Under me, Jimmy Butler went from the 87th ranked high school player in his state to an NBA first-round pick" is going to impress anyone.

[Silkk the Shaka]

That's the most effective recruiting tool for talented, under-the-radar players who are willing to buy into the system. Many of the 5-star guys don't care that Buzz turned some seemingly average recruits into NBA role players. They want to be "the man" and be drafted in the lottery after 1, maybe 2 years in school. Don't get me wrong, I think that what Buzz has done is a tremendous accomplishment, but if Buzz could take those hard-working, no-name, team-first guys and mix in a 5-star stud who buys in (obviously easier said than done), Marquette would be a consistent national title contender and would be producing lottery picks, thus making the program more appealing to a future 5-star HS stud with lottery pick aspirations. Picture Greg Monroe or Kyrie Irving being on MU's roster in the past couple of seasons. Think we'd still be riding the high of a nice run to the Sweet 16? I'm not saying MU needs to bring in a bunch of one-and-done players, but my point is that the best of the best HS players aren't going to be overly impressed with Buzz producing NBA 10th men.

I think it's part of a slow build of Buzz' brand at MU.  First take the under the radar or borderline NBA players and get them in the league.  Good start with Wes, Lazar, and Jimmy.  Hopefully that continues with DJO & Jae.  Then if higher ranked guys like JWilson and Blue make it it will prove that the highly touted studs can not only make the NBA but improve their games while winning under Buzz.  Then getting that top 50 player will be much easier.  Once those guys start making it on a regular basis, I bet we'll start reeling in a 5* early entrant every other year.  At our peak with Buzz, I think our roster will look like Michigan State's, which is regularly stacked with 4*'s in the 30-100 range with a few 5*'s sprinkled in.  Not a bad place to be in, and hell, we're almost there already.  DJO & Jae are JUCO studs headed to the NBA while Cadougan, Blue and JWilson are RSCI top 50 players rounding out the starting 5, two 50-100 players (Anderson & Jamailman) are biding their time are on the bench and three high 3*'s (Gardner, Mayo, DWilson) are making nice contributions off the bench.  Sending these under the radar guys to the league is nothing but a positive.

[Canadian Dimes]

I think it's part of a slow build of Buzz' brand at MU.  First take the under the radar or borderline NBA players and get them in the league.  Good start with Wes, Lazar, and Jimmy.  Hopefully that continues with DJO & Jae.  Then if higher ranked guys like JWilson and Blue make it it will prove that the highly touted studs can not only make the NBA but improve their games while winning under Buzz.  Then getting that top 50 player will be much easier.  Once those guys start making it on a regular basis, I bet we'll start reeling in a 5* early entrant every other year.  At our peak with Buzz, I think our roster will look like Michigan State's, which is regularly stacked with 4*'s in the 30-100 range with a few 5*'s sprinkled in.  Not a bad place to be in, and hell, we're almost there already.  DJO & Jae are JUCO studs headed to the NBA while Cadougan, Blue and JWilson are RSCI top 50 players rounding out the starting 5, two 50-100 players (Anderson & Jamailman) are biding their time are on the bench and three high 3*'s (Gardner, Mayo, DWilson) are making nice contributions off the bench.  Sending these under the radar guys to the league is nothing but a positive.

I agree with that so does having a Top 10 team that is on TV all the time and plays in the BE for a coach that is becoming more and more of a celebrity.

Additonally, Mu being sucessful and the careers and sucess of bigs like Otule and GArdner will make MU all the more attractive to HS bigs.  MU and Villanovas difficulty in getting great bigs has always been that they were a guards school.  Guys start seeing guys like Otule, Gardner, and even Wilson being studs in the paint and they will be attracted. 

[frozena pizza]

Hard to make a point about Larry Bird being "discovered" when he was national player of the year and averaged 30+ and 13+ over his college career and played in a national final.  Despite all that, he was taken #6 in the draft behind stars like Rick Robey (granted Bird was drafted before his senior season).  Connections are much more meaningful for borderline NBA prospects, although with the amount of information that's available today contacts and agents have less of an impact.  No doubt Buzz is forming more NBA connections by the day.

[karavotsos]

One of the earlier weekly MU shows with Homer, he said someone from the Bulls came to interview him about JFB.  Buzz said the guy pulled out a laptop and they proceeded to go through a large number of ball screens on which JFB was playing defense.  The guy asked Buzz on every screen what coverage they were in and they talked about whether JFB covered it properly.

You would think playing a pro-style defense and offense has got to help MU's players because the pro scouts/coaches will know they are a step ahead mentally of at least some programs and I would think probably quite a few.

I can't imagine a pro scout having the same interview with Boeheim the Bulls guys had with Buzz. 

What coverage were you in on that possession?  We were in zone.  2-3 zone.  And this one?  That's a 2-3 zone.  We were playing zone.

[tower912]

If you turn them into good enuogh players, you don't need 'contacts'.

[bilsu]

Buzz expects a lot of hard work from his players. It can result in two polar opposite results. A player buys in, works hard and significantly improves or a player says this is crazy and leaves.