To All Of The Crean Bashers Out There. . .

[TallTitan34]

To all of you Crean bashers out there in all fairness you can't blame him after every loss.  I realize this is the NCAA tournament but give it time.  We play with pretty much one upperclassman and argueably our best player was out to injury.  Crean isn't responsible for missed easy layups in the first 10 minutes of play.

Why don't you ever give Crean credit after a win or after College Gameday comes.

I see alumni all the time saying students now have no idea how good we have it.  You bashers say Marquette is going nowhere under Crean.  A Final Four, the Al McGuire Center, the Big East, sellout crowds, expanded national exposure. 

I think some people need to get there head out of their ass and think of where we would be without Crean.

[MarquetteFan94]

To all of you Crean bashers out there in all fairness you can't blame him after every loss.  I realize this is the NCAA tournament but give it time.  We play with pretty much one upperclassman and argueably our best player was out to injury.  Crean isn't responsible for missed easy layups in the first 10 minutes of play.

Why don't you ever give Crean credit after a win or after College Gameday comes.

I see alumni all the time saying students now have no idea how good we have it.  You bashers say Marquette is going nowhere under Crean.  A Final Four, the Al McGuire Center, the Big East, sellout crowds, expanded national exposure. 

I think some people need to get there head out of their ass and think of where we would be without Crean.

Amen.

[maxpower773]

talltitan, that can't be correct....it doesn't fit what they want to believe, it doesn't fit their agendas and exaggerated view of what this team has been in the past 20 years.

[MUCHI814]

I don't think you can ever blame a fan for wanting more. I'm not gonna sit back and be content with the situation, I want to see some better results, sorry if that's too much for people to handle or if almost offends some.

[maxpower773]

Hell, everyone wants to win. But a lot of things being said are just plain stupid. I don't think anyone here is not upset about the loss, some of us though are just a bit more rational...like yourself with handling it and being able to see where our program has been and is going.

[77fan88warrior]

Is it Crean's fault that Ooz has 2 fouls 2 minutes into the game and we can't make a layup?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Why don't you ever give Crean credit after a win or after College Gameday comes.

Who gives a whit about College GameDay?!?! That means nothing! Honestly, that was a nice day, but is that more important to you than fielding a team that doesn't fall into the fetal position as soon as the NCAA tips off?

I'd rather they not come if it means we're going to get slaughtered on national television.

[MUDPT]

Sorry if I would like to see our NCAA tournament game not taken off the Chicago airwaves because MU is losing so bad.

As an 8 seed.

[pitz]

Why don't you ever give Crean credit after a win or after College Gameday comes.

Who gives a whit about College GameDay?!?! That means nothing! Honestly, that was a nice day, but is that more important to you than fielding a team that doesn't fall into the fetal position as soon as the NCAA tips off?

I'd rather they not come if it means we're going to get slaughtered on national television.

No, I guess you are right.  I would rather be in Conference USA playing low caliber teams and Memphis being the one big game of the year.
I would rather have 200 students in the student section than half the student body
I would rather been invisible nationally than on Game Day
Why didn't I see that ?????

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

No, I guess you are right.  I would rather be in Conference USA playing low caliber teams and Memphis being the one big game of the year.
I would rather have 200 students in the student section than half the student body
I would rather been invisible nationally than on Game Day
Why didn't I see that ?????

Pitz - I am not advocating a return to Conference USA, but we did get to the Final Four out of that conference and played before overflowing student sections. Was that Crean's doing?

Or was it Wade??

That's what you have to ask yourself.

[mutpm]

We had an overflowing student section this year and I'm pretty sure Wade wasn't on the team.  It's a testament to the program that Crean has built here.  KO only went to the tournament 2 of the 5 years he was here, Deane only went 2 of the 5 years he was here.  Before that, we weren't going to the tournament at all.  TC has gone 4 out of 8, including 4 of the last 6.  I know that it doesn't seem that great, but things are way better now than they were the past 25 years.

[Ready2Fly]

PRN -

Sure the Final Four run had a lot to do with Wade.  But it also had A LOT to do with Diener, Novak, RJax, Chapman, etc., etc., etc.  And who brought all of that talent in here?  The Wizard of Oz?

Did Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams and and Billy Donovan win the national championship the last two years, or was it their NBA caliber talent?  Give me a f*cking break.

No coach accidentally goes to the final four and has back to back 10-6 seasons in the Big East.  Sorry if that's not good enough for you.

[Pakuni]

PRN -

Sure the Final Four run had a lot to do with Wade.  But it also had A LOT to do with Diener, Novak, RJax, Chapman, etc., etc., etc.  And who brought all of that talent in here?  The Wizard of Oz?

Did Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams and and Billy Donovan win the national championship the last two years, or was it their NBA caliber talent?  Give me a f*cking break.

Amen.
The whole "Wade was what got Crean to the Final Four" argument is assinine. No Crean = No Wade. Dwyane came to MU because of Tom Crean.
And Wade wasn't the only guy who contributed to that Final Four run. Without Travis Diener, Marquette doesn't survive the first weekend (or perhaps first round).

[augoman]

amazing to me that everyone is willing to give the coach credit for all the accomplishments of the athletic director.  remember him?  or the incredible surprise of DWade's talent.  I fear that now he'll turn to PR to sell us on the future; we'll slip back to hearing how great the incoming brandon bell is.  BUT, for all my negativity, I do like tc, am thrilled with his successes, and respect his attributes, but am not BLIND to his obvious faults!  His team was not prepared.  we were unable to execute.  our game plan sucked.  he failed to make any adjustments until we were 14 points down and scorless for 10 minutes!  I suffered severe deja vu to the '03 Kansas game.  we were 'deer in the headlights' once again!
and by the way, Wade came to MU because of Odarty Blankson.

[Ready2Fly]

"and by the way, Wade came to MU because of Odarty Blankson."

... And ODB only came here because of Wardle, and Wardle only came here because of McIlvaine, and McIlvaine only came here because of Doc Rivers, and Doc Rivers only came here because of Butch Lee, and Butch Lee only came here because of.... Murf?

Oh, wait, your argument sucks.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

PRN -

Sure the Final Four run had a lot to do with Wade.  But it also had A LOT to do with Diener, Novak, RJax, Chapman, etc., etc., etc.  And who brought all of that talent in here?  The Wizard of Oz?

Did Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams and and Billy Donovan win the national championship the last two years, or was it their NBA caliber talent?  Give me a f*cking break.

No coach accidentally goes to the final four and has back to back 10-6 seasons in the Big East.  Sorry if that's not good enough for you.

I was responding to her reference to Conference USA as some kind of a black hole. We were drawing plenty of fans in Conference USA. And, again, I'm not saying I want to go back there, but it wasn't as bad as some people claim. For every East Carolina or South Florida the Big East has a Rutgers or a...South Florida.

Find me a post where I claim Crean should be gone. You'll be looking for a long time.

[muwarrior87]

Why don't you ever give Crean credit after a win or after College Gameday comes.

Who gives a whit about College GameDay?!?! That means nothing! Honestly, that was a nice day, but is that more important to you than fielding a team that doesn't fall into the fetal position as soon as the NCAA tips off?

I'd rather they not come if it means we're going to get slaughtered on national television.

Whether you see it or not, that's a day of publicity for the school and it's program. that's exactly why it's a big deal to have it. Advertise MU coast to coast.

[rocky_warrior]

FWIW (in response to the thread overall), please remember there really aren't many "Crean bashers" - just a few very vocal ones. 

[pitz]

PRN -

Sure the Final Four run had a lot to do with Wade.  But it also had A LOT to do with Diener, Novak, RJax, Chapman, etc., etc., etc.  And who brought all of that talent in here?  The Wizard of Oz?

Did Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams and and Billy Donovan win the national championship the last two years, or was it their NBA caliber talent?  Give me a f*cking break.

No coach accidentally goes to the final four and has back to back 10-6 seasons in the Big East.  Sorry if that's not good enough for you.

I was responding to her reference to Conference USA as some kind of a black hole. We were drawing plenty of fans in Conference USA. And, again, I'm not saying I want to go back there, but it wasn't as bad as some people claim. For every East Carolina or South Florida the Big East has a Rutgers or a...South Florida.

Find me a post where I claim Crean should be gone. You'll be looking for a long time.

My point wasn't that is was a black hole then but it is now.  My point was that without Tom Crean we don't get invited to the Big East cause I don't see our program being where it is with Mike Deane.  The students were overflowing in 03 but they were building before that.
True Bill Cords had alot to do with it but try stating your case with the program as it was.
And for all the Pitts, ND, UCONN, Syracuse, Louisvilles Villanovas you have...........Memphis

[WashDCWarrior]

Anybody claiming that Crean should not be the coach, has an overinflated view of the national reputation of Marquette.  The exception would be if you know of a replacement option who is undisputedly better than Crean and jumping at the opportunity to coach MU.  And when I say better, I don't just mean in-game coaching, I mean building a program: recruiting, marketing, etc.  I sure can't think of anyone who fits this description.

Changing a coach purely for the sake of change will cause the program to regress.  Marquette was a stronger program in the 70s than it is now.  After Al brought MU the title in '77 and promptly retired, the program began a decade-long decline and the program got to the point where it had losing seasons.  The worst part is, nobody missed us.  Top-notch coaches in the late 80s weren't saying, "Gosh, I'd like to be the one to return Marquette to their glory years."  Right now a "bad" season for MU is 20+ wins and an NCAA berth.  Make a coaching change, and five years from now, this could sound like an impossibly good season.  If we fell that hard after a championship, we could do it now.

Altough my pro-Crean arguments are mostly of the "we could do much worse" variety, I do see him giving us a better chance than anyone of returning us to a national championship.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Let's review this again for those that don't understand:

Tom Crean is not perfect.

Tom Crean is not the best X and O's coach in the country.

Tom Crean is not the best recruiter in the country.

Tom Crean is not God.

Tom Crean is not the second coming of John Wooden.

Tom Crean is not the second coming of Al McGuire.

Tom Crean IS the second best coach in MU history.

Tom Crean IS equal or better than any coach that MU could hire (check the resumes).

Tom Crean IS only in his 8th season as a head coach and has made the NCAA 4 out of the last 6 seasons

Tom Crean IS returning almost all of his players from last year's team and is poised to have a sucessful 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons (look at the talent on the team)

Tom Crean IS a good coach and if people can't admit that, then their expectations are just too high and they need to start rooting for UNC or Duke. If you don't believe me, compare ANY similar school to MU and show me that they have had more success in the past 10 years. I bet you can't find one. St John's, DePaul, St. Louis, Xavier, Georgetown, even Gonzaga hasn't had the amount of growth and success that MU has had.

Stack 'em up... prove it to everybody here that there is somebody better out there.

[MUsoxfan]

I love TC, but I tend to disagree/question his judgement of certain players playing time this year.   I don't know if he won or lost those games because of what I feel is poor judgement....but it can't go another year of being like that

[DegenerateDish]

I'm not sure about the Gonzaga comparison, they've had a heck of a run the last 9 years (which is about the same amount of time Crean has been at MU).

They've been to the NCAA's 9 straight years, and while they haven't gone to a Final Four, they are overall 12-9 in that time frame, including 4 Sweet 16 berths and one regional final and only two one and done's. In addition, they've been a lower seed many times, and had to beat some high seeds to get those accomplishments done.

In comparison, MU is 4-4, with three one and done's and obviously a Final 4 berth.

I guess it depends more or less what you prefer. Do you prefer consistency (like Gonzaga, with the occasional semi-big run in the tourney) or do you prefer the huge run (like MU had in '03) with semi-consistently making the tournament.

[DoubleMU0609]

I don't know that I'd automatically say that 'Zaga has had a better run over the last 9 years.  Remember that because of the conference they are in they're practically guaranteed to make it to the big dance every year.  They do have more Sweet 16's so you can say that they have taken advantage of their opprotunities, but how many years out of the past 9 would they even be in the NCAAs if they hadn't won their conference tourney?

[DegenerateDish]

True, but that said, as a lower seed more often than not, it's not like they were one and done every year or every other year. Plus they still had to go out and win their conference each year, even if the quality isn't Big East or C-USA, it's still an impressive run.

2006--Third seed in Oakland Region
Defeated Xavier in first round, 79-75
Defeated Indiana in second round, 90-80
Lost to UCLA in regional semifinal, 73-71

2005--Third seed in Albuquerque Region
Defeated Winthrop in first round, 74-64
Lost to Texas Tech in second round, 71-69

2004--Second seed in St. Louis Region
Defeated Valparaiso in first round, 76-49
Lost to Nevada in second round, 91-72

2003--Eighth seed in West Region
Defeated Cincinnati in first round, 74-69
Lost to Arizona in second round, 96-95 (2OT)

2002--Sixth seed in West Region
Lost to Wyoming in first round, 73-66

2001--12th seed in South Region
Defeated Virginia in first round, 86-85
Defeated Indiana State in second round, 85-69
Lost to Michigan State in regional semifinal, 77-62

2000--10th seed in West Region
Defeated Louisville in first round, 77-66
Defeated St. John's in second round, 82-76
Lost to Purdue in regional semifinals, 75-66

1999--10th seed in West Region
Defeated Minnesota in first round, 75-63
Defeated Stanford in second round, 82-74
Defeated Florida in regional semifinal, 73-72
Lost to Connecticut in regional final, 67-62