Buzz's Best Coaching Job This Year

[nyg]

9:40 mark Cuse is up 51-44 and has momentum.  Buzz calls a timeout.

Afterward, J. Wilson takes two wideopen shots, but misses, MU makes free throws, but no field goals in like 5 minutes.

7:48 mark is TV timeout.  Buzz takes out Blue and Lockett.  Mayo and Taylor come in.
Lineup is Gardner, Junior, Mayo, J. Wilson and Taylor.

Buzz keeps the lineup, being a cohesive unit for the remainder of the game, only subbing Blue for Taylor for a few seconds due to Taylor's free throw shooting.  No Otule, Lockett or Blue for almost last 8 minutes.

MU outscores and out hustles Cuse 28 to 18, with five of the Cuse points coming on gimmies at the end.

Sitting your star player for that amount of time, seeing that the team on the floor was working exceptionally well and not making the super subbing like he usually does was way beyond what Buzz goes by.

Nice job

[tower912]

Coming out in the second half with a completely different starting line up and a completely different plan for attacking the zone was also a heck of an in-game adjustment.   And Otule sealing people off creating space for DG.....so sweet. 

[brewcity77]

Coming out in the second half with a completely different starting line up and a completely different plan for attacking the zone was also a heck of an in-game adjustment.   And Otule sealing people off creating space for DG.....so sweet. 

That worked brilliantly. Very impressive, and glad to see them getting some run together. It won't always be effective, but if you can get it to DG around the top of the key, that can be an effective zone-buster with CO's sealing ability.

[Blackhat]

This whole year has been his best coaching job.   Can't wait to see what he can do with the big time talent and Milwaukee talent coming in!

[Sir Lawrence]

Coming out in the second half with a completely different starting line up and a completely different plan for attacking the zone was also a heck of an in-game adjustment.   

This.

[chapman]

Just a ballsy move by Buzz.  Most coaches are going to hope their leading scorer and minutes getter who had taken 97 more shots than anyone else and an experienced senior who is third in minutes can grind out a win from down 7.  Most coaches would have lost.  And it's nothing against Blue and Lockett; they've won several games for us and will win more, just wasn't their night.

[forgetful]

Smartest coaching decision of the night was going to Thomas.  Hadn't done much in a long time.  Team struggling, Syracuse packing it in and no one can hit a 3.

Next man up, Thomas comes in completes a 4 pt play.  The rest as they say is history

[bkooncy]

Smartest coaching decision of the night was going to Thomas.  Hadn't done much in a long time.  Team struggling, Syracuse packing it in and no one can hit a 3.

Next man up, Thomas comes in completes a 4 pt play.  The rest as they say is history

The three was huge by Thomas but I thought Mayo's threes were just as big.  I thought he could have played more it the first half.

[MU86NC]

He really just went with what was working - easier said than done!   Buzz did a great job...

[MU82]

nyg ... you beat me to it. I was going to start a post titled: "Buzz coached his a$$ off tonight!"

Not that he doesn't work hard every night. And not that he isn't a heck of a coach. Anybody who has read my crapola since I started posting here would know that. But just as very, very good players have spectacular nights, I think that's how well Buzz coached tonight.

He was willing to try different things when we weren't going well. Then, when we did play well, he didn't make changes just to make changes. He made excellent in-game and halftime adjustments. And he obviously kept the guys' heads in the game even when things didn't look good.

It really was a pleasure to behold.

[brewcity77]

I remember looking up at one point at it was 53-46. A group of Syracuse fans had just started a "Let's go Orange" chant a section or two over from me and it felt like a frustrating night because every time we made a run to get back in it, they would answer back and get the lead back up to the 7-10 range. Then we went on a run. I looked up a couple minutes later and it was 63-57 Marquette. Todd added a couple free throws and the run ended up at 19-4 to really put us in control. That was incredible, one of the best and most exciting runs I have ever witnessed from a Marquette team.

[LAZER]

Awesome job tonight and good to see after the Villanova game, which I think was his worst coached game of the year. Great adjustments tonight.

[keefe]

Coming out in the second half with a completely different starting line up and a completely different plan for attacking the zone was also a heck of an in-game adjustment. 

A privilege we were rarely accorded for most of the aughts. Refreshing. We are damn fortunate to have Buzz Williams as our coach.

[CAGASS24]

"We scored enough points tonight, I just think our defense wasn't good enough, especially our rebounding," Boeheim said before scolding reporters for bringing up subjects he felt were questioning his coaching decisions.

"You ought to know by now that if you start to ask me those questions, I'll just laugh at you," he said. "That's all I'll do. Go get your Pulitzer someplace else."

- at least we dont have this jack-off prick as a coach - championships or not.

[DoggyDaddy]

He also took a shot at the officials. Do future Hall of Famers do this?

[KenoshaWarrior]

The three was huge by Thomas but I thought Mayo's threes were just as big.  I thought he could have played more it the first half.

The Jamil wilson three after they hit one was giant!! They had a 7 point lead we get it right back down to 4 with like 5 to play.

[ATWizJr]

Highly entertaining game.  Perfect storm last night, folks.  Enjoy the ride!

[Benny B]

"We scored enough points tonight, I just think our defense wasn't good enough, especially our rebounding," Boeheim said before scolding reporters for bringing up subjects he felt were questioning his coaching decisions.

"You ought to know by now that if you start to ask me those questions, I'll just laugh at you," he said. "That's all I'll do. Go get your Pulitzer someplace else."

- at least we dont have this jack-off prick as a coach - championships or not.

http://www.foxsportswisconsin.com/02/25/13/Boeheims-emotions-boil-over-after-close-/msn_landing.html?blockID=869983&feedID=5065

The direction was then changed to ask about Syracuse's final trip to Milwaukee as a conference foe, as the Orange are leaving for the ACC after the season. Boeheim used the question as an opportunity to take a shot at the league.

"It is what it is," Boeheim said. "If they had signed the TV deal for $17 million per school, I guess they are signing one now for about 2.5. That was a good decision. Big East brought it on themselves. Sign the TV deal and nothing would have happened. They were going to get more money? Didn't work out that way."

Translation: Poor baby Boeheim is peeved at the Big East for breaking up, but he has no qualm with continuing his conference affiliation with Pitt - who, incidentally, were largely responsible for the Big East not signing the contract - in moving to the ACC.  But don't call out Pitt Jimmie, call out the Big East who were the victims of Syracuse's greed, not the instigator.

That, my friends, is the definition of hypocrisy.

[MerrittsMustache]

"We scored enough points tonight, I just think our defense wasn't good enough, especially our rebounding," Boeheim said before scolding reporters for bringing up subjects he felt were questioning his coaching decisions.

"You ought to know by now that if you start to ask me those questions, I'll just laugh at you," he said. "That's all I'll do. Go get your Pulitzer someplace else."

- at least we dont have this jack-off prick as a coach - championships or not.

Corrected.

[ecompt]

http://www.foxsportswisconsin.com/02/25/13/Boeheims-emotions-boil-over-after-close-/msn_landing.html?blockID=869983&feedID=5065

Translation: Poor baby Boeheim is peeved at the Big East for breaking up, but he has no qualm with continuing his conference affiliation with Pitt - who, incidentally, were largely responsible for the Big East not signing the contract - in moving to the ACC.  But don't call out Pitt Jimmie, call out the Big East who were the victims of Syracuse's greed, not the instigator.

That, my friends, is the definition of hypocrisy.

Jim is not a bad guy but he can be a real a-hole at times. This wasn't about money for the C-7, Jimmy, it was about the schools' disgust with football running their lives. And, yes, it was the Pitt chancellor who was responsible for the conference turning down the money. Go to the ACC and find out what West Virginia is finding out in the Big 12: No one will care about you when you leave.

[keefe]

Jim is not a bad guy but he can be a real a-hole at times. This wasn't about money for the C-7, Jimmy, it was about the schools' disgust with football running their lives. And, yes, it was the Pitt chancellor who was responsible for the conference turning down the money. Go to the ACC and find out what West Virginia is finding out in the Big 12: No one will care about you when you leave.

You are an east coast journalist so you have likely seen him over the years - has Boeheim always been so openly hostile or is this just an old dude not holding back? Seems like this is becoming the norm for him but then I don't have your perspective.

BTW, do you know Don Burke, MU J School '78? After graduating Don did HS sports for the Milw Journal then went back to NJ with the Star Ledger. Last I heard he was an editor at the Post. Great guy. 

[MU82]

He also took a shot at the officials. Do future Hall of Famers do this?

I don't like when coaches take shots at the refs because it lacks class. But I'm guessing a few folks on this board might have had a thing or 10 to say if the Golden Warriors were on the road and were outshot 35-7 on the FT line by the home team.

There were lots of reasons we got 35 FTs and they only got 7, but such a disparity still isn't the sort of thing that visitors (and their fans) enjoy seeing.

[Hards Alumni]

I don't like when coaches take shots at the refs because it lacks class. But I'm guessing a few folks on this board might have had a thing or 10 to say if the Golden Warriors were on the road and were outshot 35-7 on the FT line by the home team.

There were lots of reasons we got 35 FTs and they only got 7, but such a disparity still isn't the sort of thing that visitors (and their fans) enjoy seeing.

funny thing is that at least 14 of those FTs came when Cuse was intentionally fouling.

[MU82]

Yes, as I said, there were many legit reasons for the disparity. But fans (and some coaches) only tend to look at the number.

[ecompt]

You are an east coast journalist so you have likely seen him over the years - has Boeheim always been so openly hostile or is this just an old dude not holding back? Seems like this is becoming the norm for him but then I don't have your perspective.

BTW, do you know Don Burke, MU J School '78? After graduating Don did HS sports for the Milw Journal then went back to NJ with the Star Ledger. Last I heard he was an editor at the Post. Great guy. 

I know Don's name quite well but have never met him. I covered Big East basketball in the early 1980's and Boeheim was one of the friendliest coaches in the league. I think he much rather prefers the old-school journalism, which was "interview and take notes with a pad and pen." Since everything is out in the Internet world as soon as it happens, Jim has become more crotchety. Last night he was unquestionably rude and unusually uninformed about why the conference is breaking up.