The Everlasting Craptastical Mystery Thread

[Pakuni]

Well either the man is the kind of liar that would make Gary Barnett and Nick Saban blush, or we've got our balls in a bunch for nothing.
Buzz Williams, Nov. 2011:

"I don't ever want to be labeled, and just because I'm from Texas doesn't mean I should work in Texas," Williams said. "I'm not leaving Junior Cadougan. I'm not leaving Chris [Otule]. I'm not leaving Jae. I'm not leaving DJ [Darius Johnson-Odom]. And no dollar amount is gonna make me leave them.

"And that may mean we get our ass beat all year long this year, I don't know," he continued. "But like momma says, 'Don't mess with happy,' and I'm happy."

p.s. If he does leave, don't blame Larry Williams.

[buckchuckler]

Leaving MU would not be a slap at your school.  Texans love living in TX.  I cannot wait to return.SMU is a great school in a great, growing city. Like it or not, the population in this country is shifting towards places like Dallas.

SMU has (or will have) great facilities for basketballl.  There is no reason he cannot succeed with the resources he will have.  With the move to the Big East, the school is stepping up to rebuild our BB program.   Buzz or no Buzz, we won't be Depaul. 

As for academics, there were three SMU alums in my graduate school class at Yale.  In my fraternity alone, we had people admitted to law/b-school school at UT, Vandy, Harvard, Yale, SMU, Stanford, and various medical schools.  

Finally, while there are certainly rich kids at SMU (my girlfriend got a diamond faced Rolex for graduation), most of the students come from middle class families.  As a little girl, my mother was a migrant farm worker in South Texas with the other Mexican immigrants.  Despite being a minority and middle class (mom is a public school teacher), SMU students were universally welcoming.  

You're right.  DePaul at least has tradition on their side. 

[Hoopaloop]

Well, I would hope Buzz would handle the PR aspect of it better than Crean did.  But in terms of where a coach is coming from and going too, it would be a huge slap in the face.

But otherwise I agree, if there is BW/LW friction, it is likely because of discipline and/or program perception issues.  And those come from real incidents, involving kids that Buzz brought in.

Sultan may also be talking about how Williams was just hired a few months ago.  Does someone leave because of a new boss only a few months ago?  It takes two parties to form a relationship, not just one.  So Buzz would be partly culpable in that relationship.  That is how I read Sultan's comments.  

Slap in the face doesn't begin to cut it.  One leaving for one of the blue blood programs and the other leaving for SMU.  No comparison.  I still contend that in today's 24/7 media cycle, coaches will continue to get burned when they take new jobs, often before letting their team or university know.  That is going to be the new norm.  If Buzz leaves after just 4 years having been handed a Big East job with only one year of HC experience under his belt (a losing record at New Orleans) it would be quite the statement.

[MattyWarrior]

So we will go thru this crap every time we have a good year. Buzz is def in the drivers seat now, and I get the feeling that
at some point he will want to get back to his roots and Larry Williams could care less.

[Hoopaloop]

p.s. If he does leave, don't blame Larry Williams.

Very well said.  This would be Buzz decision, Larry Williams isn't driving him out.  I don't think this happens, but if it did, would not be Larry Williams fault.

[Pakuni]

IWB says it could be a bumpy ride.  I essentially say the same thing and now the conspiracy claims come out again.

By the way, can you explain to me how he was at the game the other day taking these pictures (nice seats he had) while I was here on chat with Hilltopper and the rest of the group during the game?

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2012/03/disappointing-end-to-successful-season.html

It would be awesome if somone invented some kind of portable device that one could carry into an arena, and use to take photos and chat online.
Oh well, maybe someday.

[GGGG]

Sultan may also be talking about how Williams was just hired a few months ago.  Does someone leave because of a new boss only a few months ago?  It takes two parties to form a relationship, not just one.  So Buzz would be partly culpable in that relationship.  That is how I read Sultan's comments.  

That's part of it yeah...but also if Buzz is upset because he doesn't have Cottingham around, who was a guy who clearly had to go, and is chafing in working for a guy who holds him to a higher standard, then well...

Look, I love Buzz and want him here for a long time.  But he's not irreplaceable.  MU is bigger than a coach....three of our last four have gotten us into the Sweet 16.

[Hoopaloop]

For fun, what is the tax situation in Texas vs Wisconsin on a salary because of Texas having no state income taxes?

On $2,000,000 salary

Net pay for Texas would be $1,290,367.30

Same salary in Wisconsin would be $1,138,156.68

A difference of $152,000

Over a 5 year period, that's $760K in added income.  $1.52Million over 10 years.

Not chump change

[ecompt]

It is impossible to overestimate how much of a slap in the face a move to SMU would be. We would forever be looked at as a steppingstone job. SMU? Their program is a bad joke.

[madtownwarrior]

yep, if he leaves now - he would be fraud just like all of the other phony coaches who say quotes like this...

Well either the man is the kind of liar that would make Gary Barnett and Nick Saban blush, or we've got our balls in a bunch for nothing.
Buzz Williams, Nov. 2011:

"I don't ever want to be labeled, and just because I'm from Texas doesn't mean I should work in Texas," Williams said. "I'm not leaving Junior Cadougan. I'm not leaving Chris [Otule]. I'm not leaving Jae. I'm not leaving DJ [Darius Johnson-Odom]. And no dollar amount is gonna make me leave them.

"And that may mean we get our ass beat all year long this year, I don't know," he continued. "But like momma says, 'Don't mess with happy,' and I'm happy."

p.s. If he does leave, don't blame Larry Williams.

[GGGG]

For fun, what is the tax situation in Texas vs Wisconsin on a salary because of Texas having no state income taxes?

On $2,000,000 salary

Net pay for Texas would be $1,290,367.30

Same salary in Wisconsin would be $1,138,156.68

A difference of $152,000

Over a 5 year period, that's $760K in added income.  $1.52Million over 10 years.

Not chump change

This is silly.  If it came down to this, MU would bump him $200k to make it even.

[Hoopaloop]

It would be awesome if somone invented some kind of portable device that one could carry into an arena, and use to take photos and chat online.
Oh well, maybe someday.

That would be awesome, but two things that I would contend on this.

1) Do you really think he would be on chat while watching a game in the stands?  I don't.
2)  More importantly,  the chat on Scoop is run on Adobe Flash.  iPhones don't work on flash.  I happen to know he uses an iPhone because I have received emails from him from time to time. I received one from him that day because I was having issues with my account here and I emailed him for Hilltopper's email address and he responded back from his iPhone with that email address.

Kind of hard to use a phone to do chat during a game that doesn't support adobe flash that the chat is run on which his mobile device doesn't have.  

[Aughnanure]

This wouldn't look good for Buzz. First, it would be a shocking switch and would highlight the off-court issues of the past couple years of players HE brought in. That alone will make him look bad and as though he is running away. Take that along with the exceptional challenge of turning around a program with no history (something he never had to do at Marquette), and it could be a career killer.

Honestly if he leaves simply because the administration is being a bit hard on him lately for legitimately concerning off court issues, f*** him.

[Hoopaloop]

You're right.  DePaul at least has tradition on their side. 

Tradition is overblown.  Florida basketball, where was their tradition prior to Billy Donovan?  Yet in the last 10 years they have three Final Fours (blew a 4th yesterday) and two national championships.  Tradition can be made anywhere.  Boise State football anyone?  

[wadesworld]

I would definitely say Larry Williams would have some of the blame.  Of course he wouldn't be responsible for all of the blame, but let's be honest here, Buzz Williams, not Larry Williams or Fr. Pillarz, is the face of Marquette University.  Larry Williams came in and within months is talking about how Buzz needs to change his ways or he will either kill himself or insult somebody beyond repair, and he does this in public, to a newspaper.  That is something you sit him down in your office and tell him.  It was a complete douche move.  Buzz apologized over and over and it should have been done at that, but then Larry decides he needs the limelight to bash Buzz and brings the issue back into focus.  This was a guy who danced due to an emotional win, not some guy who molested ball boys.  It should have been a non-issue after Buzz's apologies in the post game press conference, but Larry went ahead and blew it up.  It was dumb and he was trying to prove he has power above Buzz.  Buzz would be saying "Take this for power."

I don't remember Cottingham ever doing anything like that.  Buzz certainly danced against Louisville a couple years ago, and that was while the game was still going on and we were up twenty points.  Larry Williams reacted ridiculously to Buzz's dance.

[Hoopaloop]

That's part of it yeah...but also if Buzz is upset because he doesn't have Cottingham around, who was a guy who clearly had to go, and is chafing in working for a guy who holds him to a higher standard, then well...

Look, I love Buzz and want him here for a long time.  But he's not irreplaceable.  MU is bigger than a coach....three of our last four have gotten us into the Sweet 16.

So well said.  Should be pinned to the top of the board.

[mr.MUskie]

From PonyPride.com (the SMU Scout forum... and I'm not going to pony up the $9.95 to get the details).

Preparing for Buzz

by Armen Williams
An annual salary of at least $2.6 million is only the start of all the perks SMU is willing to give Marquette's Buzz Williams. Find out what the Ponies putting together, inside!

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Buzz ain't goin' anywhere. And he sure as sh!t isn't goin' to SMU.

[mviale]

It would be devastating. but SMU buzz?

Here is the complete list of Sweet Sixteen appearances by school:

   Kentucky: 43
   North Carolina: 32
   Kansas: 27
   Louisville: 24
   Indiana: 21
   Syracuse: 20
   Michigan State: 16
   Marquette: 15
   Ohio State: 14
   Cincinnati: 11
   North Carolina State: 11
   Florida: 8
   Wisconsin: 6
   Xavier: 6
   Baylor: 4
   Ohio: 3

[Hoopaloop]

This is silly.  If it came down to this, MU would bump him $200k to make it even.

I realize this, I'm just saying wealth is driven by a number of things.  If money is important you have to look at where you live and the tradeoffs.  For the people here ripping on the state of Texas, there are many attractive reasons to go to Texas and taxation is just one of them.

[Pakuni]

That would be awesome, but two things that I would contend on this.

1) Do you really think he would be on chat while watching a game in the stands?  I don't.

Oh God, yes.

2)  More importantly,  the chat on Scoop is run on Adobe Flash.  iPhones don't work on flash.  I happen to know he uses an iPhone because I have received emails from him from time to time. I received one from him that day because I was having issues with my account here and I emailed him for Hilltopper's email address and he responded back from his iPhone with that email address.

There's an app for that.

[nyg]

If Buzz leaves to SMU I will place the blame completely upon him.  This would be a worse exodus than Crean by far.

Is it just me or is anyone else sort of just pissed off that he is "listening"?  To SMU?  You got to be kidding me, it is like some sort of joke.  Even if he doesn't go, will it leave a bad taste in your mouth about the guy?

[Hoopaloop]

It would be devastating. but SMU buzz?

Here is the complete list of Sweet Sixteen appearances by school:

   Kentucky: 43
   North Carolina: 32
   Kansas: 27
   Louisville: 24
   Indiana: 21
   Syracuse: 20
   Michigan State: 16
   Marquette: 15
   Ohio State: 14
   Cincinnati: 11
   North Carolina State: 11
   Florida: 8
   Wisconsin: 6
   Xavier: 6
   Baylor: 4
   Ohio: 3

In the last 20 years, MU's sweet 16 appearances is 4.  Where is UCLA on that list?

[Hoopaloop]

Oh God, yes.

There's an app for that.

Please show me the app.  I would love to get it for my iPad and iPhone.

I think you're wrong by the way, only because I know who I am, I know where I was Thursday night and I know I can't have an outer body experience and be in two places 1,500 miles apart. There's that.   

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Is it just me or is anyone else sort of just pissed off that he is "listening"?  To SMU?  You got to be kidding me, it is like some sort of joke.  Even if he doesn't go, will it leave a bad taste in your mouth about the guy?

Where did you hear that "he is listening"?