[PaintTouches]Strotman: Buzz Williams kept his promise to himself

[PaintTouchesSays]

Strotman: Buzz Williams kept his promise to himself

Buzz Williams has always been one of the best quotables in college basketball. Whether it came in the form of a blunt assessment on his team, a five-minute anecdote from a simple question or an honest and tearful response to how proud he was of one of his players, any time Williams stepped in front [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=painttouches.com&blog=28348875&post=11545&subd=painttouches&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />

Source: Strotman: Buzz Williams kept his promise to himself

[ChicosBailBonds]

I have no doubt in his eyes, this is how he sees it. 

[ecompt]

And in three years VT will be looking for another coach.

[Wojo'sMojo]

Great article. It seems like Buzz craved the spotlight more and more as the years went by. Almost becoming diva like from everything that I have gathered. I think the guy is a phony and am actually excited to put this yearly horse and pony show behind us. I have fond memories of the teams he coached, but my days of respecting Buzz the coach are over.

[Tugg Speedman]

And in three years VT will be looking for another coach.

Stotty,

He was unhappy at MU and I don't think he made it better.  He made it different, that's all.

And will Buzz please stop with the conference sucks BS.  Buzz is most responsible for the conference woes.  He guided its best team to 17-15.

[jsglow]

Stotty,

He was unhappy at MU and I don't think he made it better.  He made it different, that's all.

And will Buzz please stop with the conference sucks BS.  Buzz is most responsible for the conference woes.  He guided its best team to 17-15.

I agree that the conference complaint is very self serving.  MU lined up a very tough non-con schedule with plenty of national attention . . . and lost every single game.  Then we played .500 ball in conference.  The BEast would have been more respected if both its signature programs (MU and GTown) had performed.

Sure the ACC is better.  But finishing in the bottom every year is no prize.

Agree with strotty.  For any variety of reasons, Buzz wasn't happy.  It was more than Pilarz, Larry and the rest.  And when he realized that this was OUR university and not HIS, he made a change.  I guess I'm okay with that.

[GooooMarquette]

One nit to pick with the article:  "He is happy at Virginia Tech."

Seriously, how can he know that less than 24 hours after announcing?  I'm sure he has met a few people, but he probably hasn't met even a small fraction of the people he'll be working with every day, nor many of the alumni, boosters and fans.  He thinks he will be happy would be more accurate.  We'll see how long that lasts....

[nathanziarek]

Bad article. The fact that he had to point out "He's not, however, absolved of fault in this whole situation" 20 paragraphs in shows the clear bias. He says its about the Big East, but he's entertained offers for years. What was the reason back then? The NBE gives him a plausible excuse that his press buddies will point to (especially at ESPN!), but it feels half-baked to me, and this article never really digs in. Just a bunch of platitudes.

[Tugg Speedman]

Strotty:

Buzz bashes the BE again in your article (which I contend is pissing off the other BE coaches) and yet their were published reports he was interested in Auburn but got in too late as Pearl was already hired.

So the NBE sucks, is not on TV (this mean "not on ESPN") and he cannot land big-time recruits.  Auburn and the SEC is better?  The SEC is Kentucky, Florida and garbage.  Auburn is part of the garbage.  They have more schools than the NBE and sent 3 teams to the NCAA.  It makes no sense that Buzz would entertain Auburn.

That is why this smacks of him absolving responsibility of everything.  Nothing was Buzz's fault.  Everyone else and everything else (the BE) is to blame.

The Crean move to IU made sense.  The Brad Stevens move to the Celtics made sense.  Buzz's move only makes sense is if he was "intentionally" made unhappy so he would leave (or "encouraged" to leave or "MU did not stop him" or whatever phrase you want to use to say the same thing).

So where is your follow-up on how it is viewed from the administration side?  Are they unhappy he left?  My bet is no.

[willie warrior]

Strotty:

Buzz bashes the BE again in your article (which I contend is pissing off the other BE coaches) and yet their were published reports he was interested in Auburn but got in too late as Pearl was already hired.

So the NBE sucks, is not on TV (this mean "not on ESPN") and he cannot land big-time recruits.  Auburn and the SEC is better?  The SEC is Kentucky, Florida and garbage.  Auburn is part of the garbage.  They have more schools than the NBE and sent 3 teams to the NCAA.  It makes no sense that Buzz would entertain Auburn.

That is why this smacks of him absolving responsibility of everything.  Nothing was Buzz's fault.  Everyone else and everything else (the BE) is to blame.

The Crean move to IU made sense.  The Brad Stevens move to the Celtics made sense.  Buzz's move only makes sense is if he was "intentionally" made unhappy so he would leave (or "encouraged" to leave or "MU did not stop him" or whatever phrase you want to use to say the same thing).

So where is your follow-up on how it is viewed from the administration side?  Are they unhappy he left?  My bet is no.

Buzz Williams makes used car salesmen look like Vatican cardinals.

[VegasWarrior77]

Mark Few is happy at Gonzaga.  He's in a conference not nearly as good as the BE.  Of course, he is a much better coach than Buzz.

[77ncaachamps]

I stated it in a different thread:

The knock on Buzz will be "Can he sustain success and bounce back from difficult seasons?"

The sample size is small admittingly. And the sustaining success part can be easily refuted with his tourney runs.

Though, this season was the first season that Buzz had been picked as the #1 pre-season fave in the league...and he didn't deliver. He didn't deliver a postseason birth in the NCAA, even the NIT.

THAT'S adversity for a coach.

Chris Mack had to do it in 2012.
JTIII had to do it in 2008 (out 1st round NIT).
Wright had to do it in 2011.
Boeheim had to do it in 1992 (violations year).

And instead of trying to work through HIS job of being the coach of the 2nd most expensive D-1 basketball program in the nation, he bailed. Left without knowing if he could ever turn it around; come back stronger.

Character definitely revealed.

[jsglow]

Strotty:

So where is your follow-up on how it is viewed from the administration side?  Are they unhappy he left?  My bet is no.

My bet as well.

[tower912]

He didn't feel wanted.    He left.   

[77ncaachamps]

He didn't feel wanted.    He left.   

I blame Derrick.
It's all his fault.

And Jake's, too.

Oh, and Jamil's subpar senior year.