Buzz is a better coach than Coach K and Calipari

[Tugg Speedman]

First let's review the logic of this board ....

MU has been playing basketball for over 100 years.  In that century, their has never been a documented case of the opposing team ever having a good play, not one.  Rather, anytime the opposing team scores, or does something that APPEARS to be good for them, it is only the result of MU having a bad play.  Further, not one of those bad plays has ever been the player's fault.  Nope, it was the coach's fault 100% of the time.  MU coaches are expected to draw up better plays every possession and have clairvoyance on things such as turnovers, fouls and missed FTs.  They should know what the future holds and change the play to prevent and bad outcome from occurring.  When they do not, it shows their inferior abilities relative to their peers.

If you want an example, see CT Warriors nearby post about Buzz's biggest mistake.  http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=14266.0  He claims that Buzz should have knows with 30 minutes left in the game that Lazar would not have picked up his third foul and left him in the game.  He says Buzz should have also known that by leaving Lazar in the game, he would have scored something like 35 points and MU would have easily won.  He faults Buzz for not being able to see the future and change its outcome.  He probably thinks we should fire him and find a coach with better ESP. 

MUScoop Logic says Buzz is better than Coach K ....

Given this logic, then its obvious Buzz is a superior coach to either Coach K or Calipari.  Duke lost to 'Nova because of Duke mistakes.  'Nova did not do one thing right, they won because of endless coaching errors by Coach K.  Since we lost to 'Nova on the last play of the game (which was entirely Buzz's fault), and were more competitive than Duke against 'Nova, it is obvious Buzz is a better coach.  Jay Wright, you are a non-person.  Nothing you did, or your players, affected the outcome of this game.  Only Coach K mattered.

MUScoop Logic says Buzz is better than Calipari ....

Likewise with Calipari.  Against Mizzou, MU was down by 11 at half and Memphis was down by 12 at half.  Buzz's half-time adjustments resulted in MU having a lead with less than 2 minutes to play.  Memphis was never competitive in the second half.  Again this has nothing to do with Mizzou's play.  It was entirely Calipari's fault because Memphis' played poorly only because of bad coaching.  Mizzou is irrelevant.  Buzz was able to make halftime adjustments to give MU the lead, Calipari was not.  Therefore, Buzz is also a better coach than Calipari.


The conclusion is obvious.  Buzz not only needs to stay, but needs a raise and contract extension.  I've demonstrated he is better than two of the best in the business.  We cannot let him get away.

[AlumKCof93]

Though the premise of this post is ridiculous given all that those 2 coaches have achieved, I will agree that Duke looked badly outcoached last night.  Duke had nothing going on offense last night, they couldn't run their sets and had no good looks.  Duke was so desperate by early in the 2nd half last night, that their offense seemed to consist of players randomly setting picks for each other at the top of the key while everyone else just ran around.  If you hate Duke, it was fun to watch.

On the other hand, Villanova is a great team to watch.  They are so well-coached, I think Jay Wright is my favorite coach these days.  He's all class and the kids follow suit.

[Mayor McCheese]

I am just amazed that a 3 year starter (just about 4)... now hardly gets off the bench.

Greg Paulus, I never found him any good, just amazes me that he rides the pine.

[ChicosBailBonds]

To nit, MU hasn't been playing basketball for over 100 years.   

[Tugg Speedman]

To nit, MU hasn't been playing basketball for over 100 years.   

been playing since 1906, started playing as an independent team in 1916.  And the next time the opposing team makes a good play will be the first time. 

[Tugg Speedman]

Though the premise of this post is ridiculous given all that those 2 coaches have achieved, I will agree that Duke looked badly outcoached last night.  Duke had nothing going on offense last night, they couldn't run their sets and had no good looks.  Duke was so desperate by early in the 2nd half last night, that their offense seemed to consist of players randomly setting picks for each other at the top of the key while everyone else just ran around.  If you hate Duke, it was fun to watch.

On the other hand, Villanova is a great team to watch.  They are so well-coached, I think Jay Wright is my favorite coach these days.  He's all class and the kids follow suit.

Not on the other hand.  "Nova won the game with good defense that Duke had no answer too.  It wasn't a case of bad coaching by Duke causing them to run bad sets.  It was Nova was simply too good not allowing them to run the sets they wanted.

Thanks for this post.  I was trying to illustrate how so many that offer opinions about basketball here really know absolutely nothing about the game, and you were kind enough to oblige with a post that proved it.

[Sir Lawrence]

been playing since 1906, started playing as an independent team in 1916.  And the next time the opposing team makes a good play will be the first time. 

This is a photo of MU's first team from the 1915/1916 academic yearbook:

[bma725]

been playing since 1906, started playing as an independent team in 1916.  And the next time the opposing team makes a good play will be the first time. 

Varsity ball didn't exist until 1916.  The teams prior to that were a combination of students from Marquette Academy, MU, and the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons(later MU Medical School).

[IrwinFletcher]

Which one is Murph?

[ChicosBailBonds]

been playing since 1906, started playing as an independent team in 1916.  And the next time the opposing team makes a good play will be the first time. 

Our official start as a varsity team was 1916 as recognized by the Athletic Department.

[Murffieus]

Coach K's problem of late is that he hasn't recruited/developed a quality #5-----too much of a perimeter offense----relies too much on jump shooting!

[deep vacuum]

Coach K's problem of late is that he hasn't recruited/developed a quality #5-----too much of a perimeter offense----relies too much on jump shooting!

You were supposed to mention, just like the previous posters did, that Marquette didn't officially start as a varsity BB team until 1916 as recognized by the Athletic Department.  Linking to the photo of MU's first BB team from the 1915/1916 academic yearbook was optional.  Shame on you. 

[MUWarrior06]

Thanks for this post.  I was trying to illustrate how so many that offer opinions about basketball here really know absolutely nothing about the game, and you were kind enough to oblige with a post that proved it.

You're dead on for your post. And you'll find those kinds of people everywhere. People who sit on their couches thinking they know more than the coach getting paid millions.

People who may have never played the game offer the craziest critiques, or it's those who may have played and think they know everything.

It's very uncommon to find an individual who is level headed and can offer something constructive to a conversation.

It's the bell curve- there are very few of us on the far right of the curve, which makes those in the middle or even on the left side of the curve seem so much dumber

[ecompt]

+1

Well said.

[4everwarriors]

This is a photo of MU's first team from the 1915/1916 academic yearbook:

Which one is Murf?

[bilsu]

Which one is Murf?

It is hard to tell, they all look alike to me.

I think the poster makes his point by taking it to the extreme case. However, MU was competitive in every game this year. Last year they were blown out by Louisville, West Virgina and Connecticut. While we always want to do better, I believe given James injury and the defection of Mbakwe Buzz MU's season exceeded any reasonable expectations. We actually lost the Missouri game because there were a couple of times that James got caught inside and could not jump. A healthy James would have made a hugh difference.

[ecompt]

Right, Bilsu. Especially in the second half you could see that DJ was incapable of leaving his feet. There were at least two rebounds that would have been ours had he been able to jump even a little. He also threw a ball away when he couldn't jump to get the ball over a defender.   

[BrewCity83]

That 1915-16 team looks a lot like this year's team....only 5 players.

[Sir Lawrence]

Which one is Murf?  #35

[ecompt]

he's the one in the wide post.

[Marquette84]

That 1915-16 team looks a lot like this year's team....only 5 players.

Ralph Risch was simply banking scholarships to balance the classes.  That must be where the idea first came from!

[bamamarquettefan]

It was really 1917, since the 1916-17 team didn't take the court until after the new year.  I haven't mentioned the book in a couple of months (www.collegeprowler.com/basketball), but if you had that as a reference you'd see that superstar Al Delmore put in 80 points that first 8-3 season, while captain John Fay was second on the team with 50 points :-)

As usual, the team set the expectations too high by winning 35-26 in their first game, a ridiculous 71 total points scored in one game!  That total wouldn't be matched in a single game until a 45-32 win over Michigan City on December 29, 1921.

The average score from that first official season through the 1920s was a 22-21 win.

[IAmMarquette]

It is hard to tell, they all look alike to me.

Racist.

[VegasWarrior77]

This is a photo of MU's first team from the 1915/1916 academic yearbook:

Six players - That's where Buzz got his rotation idea from!

[CTWarrior]

If you want an example, see CT Warriors nearby post about Buzz's biggest mistake.  http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=14266.0  He claims that Buzz should have knows with 30 minutes left in the game that Lazar would not have picked up his third foul and left him in the game.  He says Buzz should have also known that by leaving Lazar in the game, he would have scored something like 35 points and MU would have easily won.  He faults Buzz for not being able to see the future and change its outcome.  He probably thinks we should fire him and find a coach with better ESP. 

I also said I like Buzz and think he is doing a great job.  I was referring to the strategy of voluntarily sitting one of your three best players (when you really only have 3 1/2 high D-I players) for a quarter of the game on the chance that he might foul out.  I also pointed out that it is a common strategy and that Buzz is not alone in employing it.  Without argument the strategy reduces the number of minutes the player that sits plays.  You are purposely misconstruing my argument, which to this point no one has refuted in basketball terms other than to imply that I don't know what I'm talking about or to say that the strategy worked fine because we had the lead late (I thought the point was to win the game).  Why is 20 minutes the magic number where a guy with two fouls can start playing again instead of 22 minutes.  Or 24 minutes?  Anyway, it would be nice to bring up a philosophical discussion like that and actually have the result be a basketball discussion.