What I think I'll love about this team

[Newsdreams]

The idea that Wojo was universally loved by Duke fans is simply not true. Lots of Dookies couldn't stand him.

He shot a career .383 from the field and in his best year averaged 6.9 pts., 5.3 asst., and 3.0 reb. per game while playing good defense at the point.

By contrast, Derrick Wilson shot a career .388 from the field and in his best year averaged 5.6 its., 4.7 asst., and 3.9 reb. per game while playing good defense at the point.

Yes, Wojo was better at the line but he rarely got there. And yes, he was a better 3point shooter but Derrick rarely took 3s. All in all, pretty similar players with pretty similar numbers. Derrick was by far the most vilified player in Scoop history. Lots of Duke fans looked at Wojo the same way.

But they were the easy assists.....

[HoopsterBC]

3 All-Americans

I figured it was some All-American type, thanks for correcting me, I was not sure, just guessing.

[bma77]

Worshipping the short guy, unnecessarily shoehorning in the word traditional. No doubt left that this is Chicos.

Ha ha.  Teal is needed only for those that do not have wit or humor.

People hated Parks and Laetner, too.  Are they short?  It would be great to establish a program where players are hated by other teams, it means we are winning. 

[bma77]

Wojo makes the top ten most hated Duke players of all time on every list.  For that alone, he is loved and revered by most Duke fans.

[#UnleashSean]

Jae was easily the player that fans from other colleges hated the most. They had to hear about his JuCo stories each time he ripped their team apart.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

So all he had to do was pass the ball, not turn it over, and flop every chance he got.

Wojo flops even when he's coaching.

[oldwarrior81]

The idea that Wojo was universally loved by Duke fans is simply not true. Lots of Dookies couldn't stand him.

He shot a career .383 from the field and in his best year averaged 6.9 pts., 5.3 asst., and 3.0 reb. per game while playing good defense at the point.

By contrast, Derrick Wilson shot a career .388 from the field and in his best year averaged 5.6 its., 4.7 asst., and 3.9 reb. per game while playing good defense at the point.

Yes, Wojo was better at the line but he rarely got there. And yes, he was a better 3point shooter but Derrick rarely took 3s. All in all, pretty similar players with pretty similar numbers. Derrick was by far the most vilified player in Scoop history. Lots of Duke fans looked at Wojo the same way.

Wojo was also the national defensive player of the year and AP Honorable Mention All-American.

[tower912]

Well, just like being able to pass the ball to Battier, Brand, and Langdon made him a better point guard, having those 3 playing help defense made him a better defender.     

Ha, FWIW, I have nothing but respect for Wojo's career at Duke.    I am playing devil's advocate just for the hell of it. 

[Nukem2]

Well, just like being able to pass the ball to Battier, Brand, and Langdon made him a better point guard, having those 3 playing help defense made him a better defender.     

Ha, FWIW, I have nothing but respect for Wojo's career at Duke.    I am playing devil's advocate just for the hell of it.

none of those guys could really defend at that time, so Wojo was the X-factor on defense.

[bilsu]

I would think a lot of non MU fans did not like DJO. More than once he turned a close game into a victory for MU by hitting back to back 3's.

[fjm]

Sweet!! Another thread that started with promise, now off the rails and gone completely dumb.

Scoop for the win.

[keefe]

a defensive specialist is someone without an offensive game. 

Ray Oyler?

[GoldenDieners32]

I think I'll love when we catch fire from the 3 point line and just go on a complete tear

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I was actually kind of excited for that season, hoping that the change to Wojo would unleash some of the players the way that changing to Buzz unleashed Wesley. Unfortunately the dearth of talent on that team possibly combined with Wojo's inexperience as a head coach meant it never happened.

While there is no doubt Wojo's inexperience lead to some coaching blunders, I don't know what even John Wooden could have done with that roster.  Just as one example, the defense was so porous that they had to switch to a 2-3 zone with the 6'1" point guard manning one baseline spot.  Not a lot of options.

[THRILLHO]

While there is no doubt Wojo's inexperience lead to some coaching blunders, I don't know what even John Wooden could have done with that roster.  Just as one example, the defense was so porous that they had to switch to a 2-3 zone with the 6'1" point guard manning one baseline spot.  Not a lot of options.

Yeah in retrospect I agree that the problem was just the talent level. But I had my blue and gold glasses on. I was always a Juan fan and thought he might have found a coach better able to utilize him.

[GoldenDieners32]

We have a chance this year at being something special and this team will be fun to watch without a doubt

[brewcity77]

Agreed on the OP though.

I think Rowsey is about to be an absolute stud.  Just hope he can hold his own defensively.  I think the kid is going to put on a shooting clinic most nights.

I've been hearing great things about him for the past year. I know it's easy to say that about the ineligible guy, but ever since he got in Ben Simmons' face, I've been excited by him. Heard a ton about his energy, effort, and competitive fire. I think he could be that guy we love and everyone else loves to hate.

[wadesworld]

What I also love so far is that these guys seem to be "all in" for each other.  Love seeing Traci be the first guy off the bench during a timeout to congratulate Rowsey or Howard when they did something that forced an opposing timeout.  Love seeing Reinhardt walk off the court with a big smile despite coming off the bench behind a freshman as a 5th year senior grad transfer.

I don't do Twatter but when it was mentioned that Howard spent Thanksgiving at the Hausers I went to check out Sam's, Joey's, and Markus's Twatter and saw Twats and retwats about their big games against Georgia and Sam's against Vandy, etc.  Katin Twatting "ROADKILL!" last night.  Etc.  These guys seem to truly enjoy being around each other and from the outside looking in it appears that even players who have been featured players and/or starters in past seasons, whether at MU or elsewhere (Rowsey, Traci, Katin), they are more than happy to play far less than they have if they get the win.

[jesmu84]

What I also love so far is that these guys seem to be "all in" for each other.  Love seeing Traci be the first guy off the bench during a timeout to congratulate Rowsey or Howard when they did something that forced an opposing timeout.  Love seeing Reinhardt walk off the court with a big smile despite coming off the bench behind a freshman as a 5th year senior grad transfer.

I don't do Twatter but when it was mentioned that Howard spent Thanksgiving at the Hausers I went to check out Sam's, Joey's, and Markus's Twatter and saw Twats and retwats about their big games against Georgia and Sam's against Vandy, etc.  Katin Twatting "ROADKILL!" last night.  Etc.  These guys seem to truly enjoy being around each other and from the outside looking in it appears that even players who have been featured players and/or starters in past seasons, whether at MU or elsewhere (Rowsey, Traci, Katin), they are more than happy to play far less than they have if they get the win.

None of that can be remotely true. Wojo is a de motivator. Unless he's playing the Herb Brooks de motivator role.