Deane's last 3 seasons vs. Wojo's last 3 seasons

[Warrior of Law]

Putting aside any off-court matters, from a record standpoint, Deane's last 3 seasons:

1996‐97 (22‐9; 9‐5 C‐USA)
1997‐98 (20‐11; 8‐8 C‐ USA)
1998‐99 (14‐15; 6‐10 C‐USA)

Wojo's last three seasons:

2018‐19 (24‐10, 12‐6 BIG EAST)
2019‐20 (18‐12, 8‐10 BIG EAST)
2020-21 (9-12, 5-10 BIG EAST)

An eerily familiar trajectory, purely from a W-L percentage decline.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Putting aside any off-court matters, from a record standpoint, Deane's last 3 seasons:

1996‐97 (22‐9; 9‐5 C‐USA)
1997‐98 (20‐11; 8‐8 C‐ USA)
1998‐99 (14‐15; 6‐10 C‐USA)

Wojo's last three seasons:

2018‐19 (24‐10, 12‐6 BIG EAST)
2019‐20 (18‐12, 8‐10 BIG EAST)
2020-21 (9-12, 5-10 BIG EAST)

An eerily familiar trajectory, purely from a W-L percentage decline.

Eerily similar roster situations as well. 1996-97 team featured Chris Crawford, an NBA player the following year. He, along with highly productive seniors Anthony Pieper and Faisal Abraham teamed with burgeoning star Aaron Hutchins. After so much productivity around him graduated (see also Hausers leaving) the star guard then maxed out his numbers the following year but couldn't make up for the lost talent, and the record evened out. Markus and Hutchins could only do so much. Struggles ensued after losing said star guard.

Here's where the similarities end. MU had visibly horrible recruiting under Deane. After Aaron graduated, you could see the cupboard being bare for years. The 1998-99 record was a true harbinger of things (not) to come (to MU). Deane was a solid tactician, but he had been working with the Xs and Os of O'Neill recruits for most of his tenure. Wojo, post-Markus, is continuing his stellar recruiting, even if on-the-court results haven't been immediate.

I'm not making excuses for Wojo, but perhaps this is just a down year with highly rated FR kids still learning the game. I'm honestly more fearful blowing this thing up and starting over. I know toniht was a struggling Butler, without a key player, but you could see Dawson learning to finish through contact in this game. Things are incredibly different in this Covid age. Gladly, Hausergate didn't affect Wojo's recruiting. It DID cost us a BigEast banner in 2018-19 and probably again in 2019-20. Had we gone 25-5 and 14-4 last year with the Hausers, our 2020-21 record would probably be very close to what it is right now. Would we be calling for Wojo's head? Of course not.

Let's just be very careful going forward.

[WarriorHal]

Deane could coach but he could not recruit. Wojo can not coach but he can recruit. If only we could blend them together.

[Shooter Flatch]

Can't really compare Dawson Garcia or Justin Lewis to Krunti Hester.

[Warrior of Law]

That's the risk of looking everything from a numerical standpoint.  I don't believe we're on the front end of a long decline.  Having said that, Deane thought the team was prepared to improve, and he brought in Nmamaka, Diggs, Wardle, Jon Harris and Cordell Henry.  These guys, along with Diener and Wade  got MU back into the NCAA.

[Galway Eagle]

That's the risk of looking everything from a numerical standpoint.  I don't believe we're on the front end of a long decline.  Having said that, Deane thought the team was prepared to improve, and he brought in Nmamaka, Diggs, Wardle, Jon Harris and Cordell Henry.  These guys, along with Diener and Wade  got MU back into the NCAA.

Idk about the other guys but Wardle was not on the team in 02 when they got back to the tourney

[Eye]

I think the injury to Hutch in '98 took a likely NC2A team to an NIT quarterfinal team. When Hutch got hurt MU was 10-0 off the Wardle shot at UL.

[Billy Hoyle]

That's the risk of looking everything from a numerical standpoint.  I don't believe we're on the front end of a long decline.  Having said that, Deane thought the team was prepared to improve, and he brought in Nmamaka, Diggs, Wardle, Jon Harris, and Cordell Henry.  These guys, along with Diener and Wade  got MU back into the NCAA.

His 1999 recruiting class was his best, but he'd missed far too much prior and just wasn't enough - too little, too late. And, while they were good players and excellent representatives of our alma mater they weren't going to win us championships. At best, we would have peaked as a mid level CUSA squad moving forward.

Diggs is the one from that group that frustrates me the most. He would have probably had a much better career if not for the injuries. His first game against BC and the GAS Final against Gonzaga showed what could have been had he stayed healthy. Great kid too.

What your comparison shows more than anything is that Wojo has a similar record and trajectory in terms of wins and losses as Deane with a much higher level of talent, and that's a problem.

[Silent Verbal]

His 1999 recruiting class was his best, but he'd missed far too much prior and just wasn't enough - too little, too late. And, while they were good players and excellent representatives of our alma mater they weren't going to win us championships. At best, we would have peaked as a mid level CUSA squad moving forward.

Diggs is the one from that group that frustrates me the most. He would have probably had a much better career if not for the injuries. His first game against BC and the GAS Final against Gonzaga showed what could have been had he stayed healthy. Great kid too.

Yeah, I'll never forget that GAS game where he hit, what, five 3s completely out of nowhere?  He was Gonzaga's Jean Felix that night, for sure.

[GoldenWarrior11]

If Wojo installs a seat belt during games, I'm done. The full transformation would be apparent.

[barfolomew]

To be fair, this is comparing completely different eras.

Deane's defensive teams would have benefitted greatly from a shot clock.
He also had shooters that could have used a 3pt line and a metal rim, because shooting at the peach basket had to be pretty inconsistent.

It's just a shame the University of Wisconsin couldn't have invented basketball a few years earlier than 1997.

[Billy Hoyle]

Yeah, I'll never forget that GAS game where he hit, what, five 3s completely out of nowhere?  He was Gonzaga's Jean Felix that night, for sure.

5 for 5 on the night!  I was there and some of us gave him hugs as the team returned to the hotel. GU was staying at our hotel and Few came down to the bad as we were drinking and admitted they didn't gameplan for him.

[The Sultan]

To be fair, this is comparing completely different eras.

Deane's defensive teams would have benefitted greatly from a shot clock.
He also had shooters that could have used a 3pt line and a metal rim, because shooting at the peach basket had to be pretty inconsistent.

It's just a shame the University of Wisconsin couldn't have invented basketball a few years earlier than 1997.

I don't know if this is really good sarcasm or not, but both the shot clock and the three point line were around during the Deane era.

[Warrior1969]

Should we now compare the support and facilities etc from Deane to Wojo now?  Because they are literally night and day. 

[MU82]

Deane needed to be fired then.

Wojo needs to be fired now.

No other comparisons are necessary.

[Warrior of Law]

Deane needed to be fired then.

Wojo needs to be fired now.

No other comparisons are necessary.

The biggest, and most likely determining, factor appears to be that Lovell/Scholl like Wojo; Wild/Cords had no use for Deane.

[MU82]

The biggest, and most likely determining, factor appears to be that Lovell/Scholl like Wojo; Wild/Cords had no use for Deane.

Well, to our knowledge, Wojo doesn't try to hit on co-eds while he gets sh!tfaced at Turners.

[Badgerhater]

Mike Deane stated that the NIT was a nice tournament for Marquette with an occasional NCAA appearance as a highlight. 

He did not strive to make the program bigger and that is why he was fired.

[Farley36]

I don't know if this is really good sarcasm or not, but both the shot clock and the three point line were around during the Deane era.

Um..the peach basket mention wasn't enough to help you figure it out?

[bilsu]

Should we now compare the support and facilities etc from Deane to Wojo now?  Because they are literally night and day.

Comparing Fiserv to BMO Harris. Fiserv is better and of course we have Al to practice in.
However, you have to compare the facilities to your competitor's facilities. A lot of facilities have improved in the same time period.

Wojo's record is against better overall competition.

Butler was missing a key player, but I would argue that Lewis is a very key player for us. How many close games have we lost with Lewis out?

[panda]

Comparing Fiserv to BMO Harris. Fiserv is better and of course we have Al to practice in.
However, you have to compare the facilities to your competitor's facilities. A lot of facilities have improved in the same time period.

Wojo's record is against better overall competition.

Butler was missing a key player, but I would argue that Lewis is a very key player for us. How many close games have we lost with Lewis out?

Except Wojo's record is really bad against top 100 (similar to MU level) competition.