No crean in my coffee today and UK comparison

[Pakuni]

Agree with everything,  but where are we getting this misconception that the guy is a recruiter.  He got outrecruited for every big in the state, he has yet to land a Burger Boy, and he constantly tries to bring in these "Projects" that never pan out.  O yea he did bring in Wade, but that was because everyone passed on him. 
Somebody of course is going to come on here and say that "Well Butch was Burger Boy"  Well guess what getting someone like Butch is a huge get despite the fact that he is not great, because it really amps up the team when they here that their coach is landing the best HS basketball players in the country. 
The best recruit that Crean has landed was Wes Matthews, as he actually landed him over competition.

So, landing Brian Butch would have made Marquette better because it would have convinced the players that they're coach is trying? Interesting theory.

Arguing that Matthews is his best recruit is silly on a couple of levels.

1. Your best recruits are judged by how they perform, not on how coveted they are. Under the NateDogg theory, Brian Butch was a better recruit for UW than Devin Harris and Alando Tucker.

2. Marquette had equal, if not greater, competition for Steve Novak, Dameon Mason, and Travis Diener. Defeinitely greater competition for Novak, as both Bill Self and Billy Donovan - two of the best recruiters in all the land - were after his services.

[NateDoggMarq]

nm

[augoman]

you are right-,it's not good enough.  I need to feel proud of my team- win or lose, and I don't. we were never in the game, again.  The Warriors of the 60's and 70's (ranked top 10 ten years straight) could be totally outclassed by an opponent, but were always in the game.

BTY, could the record application/class enrollment due to the revved up recruiting dept and Roby Blust, new dean admissions, have anything to due w/ the record revenues?  How about the new pressure on alums and hiked up ticketing fees, etc.?

[ChicosBailBonds]

The applications have come up before the new dean came into the job, so no...I don't think so.


I'm not proud of last night's performance, but I'M damn proud of those kids and the men that are guiding them.  24 wins, 10 Big East wins, no NCAA infractions, kids graduating....all while we have no seniors that start and are carried by 3 sophomores and a freshman.

I'm damn proud of this program.  Out of 337 schools, we were one chosen for the NCAA tournament.  We played like crap last night, one night does not diminish whether my pride or love for my school should be judged.

[augoman]

...sooo, Chicos, you and I agree- I'm not proud of our tournament performance, either!

[ChicosBailBonds]

But I am proud of the team...24 wins, 10 in the Big East, another NCAA bid and all with 4 underclassmen starting.

Solid season with a dissappointing finish.

[Schoolyard]

[quote author=ChicosBailBonds link=topic=2599.msg19281#msg19281 date=117408

It's amazing that we are where we are....only a few years ago we would kill for 4 bids in 6 years (it's only happened 1 other time in the last 25 years)....and now that expectations are where they are (delivered by Crean by the way), now a 24 win season and a trip to the NCAAs isn't enough.
[/quote]

From 1993-1997 we had 4 bids in 5 years and that off year we went to the NIT Finals.  And we did so while spending about 1/6 of what we do now on coaches & operations.  We did so in decent but weakly perceived confs (GMC & CUSA) and with a practice facility that Murf could call old when he was playing.  Given the unprecedented commitment to basketball that the University has given I don't think its unreasonable that fans have high expectations.  To me all I care about is getting to the Dance or at least being relevant on Selection Sunday but when you lay an absolute egg in the 1st round, it's hard not to be negative.  IMHO it seems as if people (by people I mean certain fans) look at positive articles from Jay Bilas & Seth Davis as more important that winning.  It seems as if people care more about an ESPN Gameday appearance than winning.  It seems to me that people care more about Dick Vitale in the house and packed student sections than winning.  To me all of those things should be byproducts of winning.  I look 90 miles west and I don't see a lot of hype but I see a lot of substance.  Bo may be a cranky old man who never gets a College Gameday but I would trade programs in a second.  Finally, yes 4 of 6 is great but when in 3 of those we lose to lower seeded teams it hurts.  Simply playing to our seed would be enough in terms of tournament expectations.  Hopefully we'll get of the schnide (sp) and get out of the 1st round but until then questions will linger about the true substance of this program and whether we're just a team to avoid in November instead of a team to fear in February & March.

[mu_hilltopper]

I'm gonna go with .. very well said, Schoolyard. 

[WashDCWarrior]

Simply playing to our seed would be enough in terms of tournament expectations.

If we did that over the 4 years we made the tourney under Crean, we'd be 5-4 as opposed to 4-4.  Yes it's an improvement, but our best finish would have been a sweet 16 in 2003.  That final four carries enough weight and I wouldn't trade it for three first round wins and a sweet sixteen.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That is correct, the mid 1990's we had 4NCAAs in 5 years with the NIT in there also.  That's what I was referring to.  Of course the BEST run in those 4 appearances was a Sweet 16 and included two blowout opening round losses and a third loss against Arkansas that was every bit the ugly game that we had against MSU.


There is no question in my mind the recent 4 in 6 years, even with this year's blowout loss, was better.  A Final Four, two opening round losses in the final seconds and one opening round blowout.

4 NCAA wins and a ton of competitive games.


In that stretch under KO and DEANE, there were some great games as well, but only 3 NCAA wins, two blowout opening round losses and the performance against Arkansas that rivaled what we did against Michigan State the other night.  Couldn't hit a shot to save our lives.