Point Guard

[willie warrior]

Buzz had enough skins on the wall that one bad season wasn't going to kill his chances of getting a gig.  What is bizarre is that he jumped ship after last season after having passed on other much better jobs than VaTech.  Then again in past seasons MU had always sweetened the pot for Buzz - last season - not so much.....it was good riddance on the part of Cords and Wild.  And for that I applaud them.  Takes balls to say enough is enough, and part ways with an employee who produced very good results.  But when that employee becomes such a diva that he won't even flush his own turd down the toilet - yea - time to move on.  (Not to mention turning in an atrocious coaching performance.)

And btw - The cheesiest thing on this board is posters making reference of using/"threatening" to use the ignore function.  That along with making grand mention of no longer posting here.  

If your skin is so thin that you can't "handle" reading dissenting opinions as an adult, that speaks volumes.  Nonetheless, I had a hard time falling asleep last night knowing Wadesworld has put me on ignore.  It is still troubling me today, and I'm sure it will for some time.  Yet thank you Wades for making me and the rest of the board aware that I am now on your ignore list.  I still will look forward to reading your opinions on MU basketball, albeit most of them exhibit little knowledge of the game.

Slight disagreement with you Ners. It only takes balls to not give in to a headstrong Coach's belief that he is the program after getting rid of the AD and always upping his own juice, because you may feel the wrath of Sultan Slurp. Buzz was given the rope to hang himself, which he did. He saw the handwriting on the door, which Cords delicately pointed out to him, so he took the gig that was available--hence "He was shown the door". Players were about to bolt under Buzz; Wilson, Taylor, JJJ and possibly others. I submit that had that happened, a whole lot more force would have blown El Buzzo out the door. It certainly appears that Cords masterfully arranged this to find somebody like Wojo/Shaka Kahn.
Before the deniers get their shorts bundled, remember this is an MU basketball Board, where speculation runs rampant.

[MU82]

Maybe we can just agree that Derrick is the best option at PG (for now), and then just forget this topic for a while?

If Derrick plays well, he'll get a good amount of minutes. If Derrick plays poorly, Wojo will look for another solution.

Keep it simple, bros.

Peace.

I, too, am tired of the debate, but if I happen to disagree with your premise, why should I agree?

I like to think there is a better option at PG than one of the worst PGs in the entire country. Maybe there isn't, but we don't really know, do we?

I am happy to let it play out and to see what Wojo ultimately decides. If the decision is that Derrick really is the best option, it means we will struggle to be even a .500 team. I'm not ready to concede that yet, though!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I, too, am tired of the debate, but if I happen to disagree with your premise, why should I agree?

I like to think there is a better option at PG than one of the worst PGs in the entire country. Maybe there isn't, but we don't really know, do we?

I am happy to let it play out and to see what Wojo ultimately decides. If the decision is that Derrick really is the best option, it means we will struggle to be even a .500 team. I'm not ready to concede that yet, though!

Well, at the risk of opening a sh!tty debate, who is a better option right now?

I think there are some guys with upside, but, right now. Today. In November. Derrick is likely the best option.

In March, we might see something different.

That's all I'm getting at. Wojo is likely starting Derrick because it's his best option. No narrative. No bold proclamations. No predictions. Just a little bit of logic.

[MU82]

Well, at the risk of opening a sh!tty debate, who is a better option right now?

I think there are some guys with upside, but, right now. Today. In November. Derrick is likely the best option.

In March, we might see something different.

That's all I'm getting at. Wojo is likely starting Derrick because it's his best option. No narrative. No bold proclamations. No predictions. Just a little bit of logic.

If Wojo chooses Derrick -- and it appears he has -- then our new coach has come to the same conclusion our old coach did. Which makes your point more than fair.

I still cling to the belief -- the hope? -- that there simply must be somebody better on the roster. But I allow for the possibility that I am wrong!

I will be interested in seeing Wojo's thinking on the subject come Dec. 31, when we open our conference season in Chicago.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

If Wojo chooses Derrick -- and it appears he has -- then our new coach has come to the same conclusion our old coach did. Which makes your point more than fair.

I still cling to the belief -- the hope? -- that there simply must be somebody better on the roster. But I allow for the possibility that I am wrong!

I will be interested in seeing Wojo's thinking on the subject come Dec. 31, when we open our conference season in Chicago.

I would call it hope. We have no proof that (insert player) is better than Derrick.

I fully acknowledge that there is/are players on the roster with more upside than Derrick, but that's not the point.

The point I'm making is, Derrick is likely starting because he is the best option right now. Today.

We don't need to go into some sort of narrative with a whole bunch of qualifiers.

[NersEllenson]

If Wojo chooses Derrick -- and it appears he has -- then our new coach has come to the same conclusion our old coach did. Which makes your point more than fair.

I still cling to the belief -- the hope? -- that there simply must be somebody better on the roster. But I allow for the possibility that I am wrong!

I will be interested in seeing Wojo's thinking on the subject come Dec. 31, when we open our conference season in Chicago.

This.  That will be where the rubber meets the road.  I anticipate all of the guys will get roughy 20 per game in non-con, particularly against the cupcakes.  Might get a slight indication after Ohio State game too - to see who Wojo has most belief in.  Obviously Derrick's only option for a position is PG, and he has a lot of experience there which gives a coach some security.  I suspect Derrick will be given every chance to show he's worthy of continuing to be the starter, and play a lot of minutes due to his experience and incumbent status.

That however does not necessarily mean at this moment he is the best option on the team.  What it means is he's the most KNOWN option on the team.

[Lennys Tap]

If Wojo chooses Derrick -- and it appears he has -- then our new coach has come to the same conclusion our old coach did. Which makes your point more than fair.

I still cling to the belief -- the hope? -- that there simply must be somebody better on the roster. But I allow for the possibility that I am wrong!

I also cling to the hope that there's a better point guard than Derrick on our roster - but I don't for a minute think it's John Dawson.

[MU82]

I also cling to the hope that there's a better point guard than Derrick on our roster - but I don't for a minute think it's John Dawson.

Alas, neither do I.

Then again, neither of us KNOW that to be the case this very moment. As I said, the non-con will help sort it all out. 6-7 weeks from now, we'll know exactly what direction Wojo is going with PG.

[tower912]

Look, a new coach, that himself wasn't a high scoring PG, who had struggled as a junior in his own career, and was told by Coach K...he'd likely be sitting on the bench if he didn't improve significantly as a senior (which Wojo did do..jury still out on Derrick), isn't going to come into a program, and immediately demote the incumbent, high character, hard working, senior, at the ONLY position he could potentially play - PG.

I need to walk something back.    I completely agree with this.   Just not the tone.    I actually said something similar after Wojo was hired.   Derrick is very similar to what Wojo was at Duke.    I was just watching a little of the 98 Duke UNC game.   First 4 minutes, on offense, Wojo never went inside the 3 pt line.   Not with the dribble, not after passing.   He never looked to shoot.   He brought the ball up and moved it.   Of course, he had shooters, scorers, and guys who could create their own shot on the floor with him.   Defensively, he stayed in front of Cota and doubled the post and then recovered.   He was Derrick Wilson before it was cool.   Of course he is going to have a kinship with Derrick.   
But none of that means that Derrick ISN'T the best option for this team to start at the point right now.   Or that he WASN'T the best option available on last year's team.    And IF, at some juncture during the season Wojo decides that playing someone else at the point give this year's team the best chance to win, I expect him to make the tough choice that a head coach has to make.