5 Year Evaluation of Buzz

[ChicosBailBonds]

But giving "off the court" a B wouldn't stir the pot and make Chicos the focus of this thread.

Only you seem to want to put that focus on anyone.  It's an opinion on the grade, feel free to have your own.  A "C" is average.  In my opinion the university was damaged with that incident, enough that a high profile employee was fired, major mea culpas given by the university to change the policies they had because they had broken the law, as well as just general bad press from some major outlets.  If that deserves a B, fine.  In my opinion, a C was generous.

[Hards Alumni]

I'd go with A for coaching...good motivator, tactician, players in the association, recruiting, etc

Of course, being captain of the ship, CEO of the basketball program requires a bit more


C,  for transgressions off the court (two sexual assault cases) and the lovely exposure that delivered and ultimately the firing of an AD,the hiroshima nonsense (some of which was coming out of a certain camp), Scott Monarch \ suspension, DJ Newbill, etc

B, for Academics....kids graduating, though APR scores down slightly three straight years and third lowest in the Big East (nothing major, but like to see that trend stay flat at worse)

AB, for spokesman for program and university....the public likes Buzz, he connects with people.  Attendance, unfortunately, down again for 5th straight year (zenith was 2008 season).  Some of that due to economy last few years, etc.


Could we have gotten a better hire?  Maybe..will never know.  Could we have gotten him later?  Certainly.  Could we have gotten a worse hire...absolutely. 

He's got a great job, I think he finally realizes it and that SMU \Larry Williams spell was not needed quite frankly.  Takes two to tango, so I'm hardly putting this all on him, but some of it definitely is whether.  Hope is around for a long period of time.  I believe Texas comes open and that will be very interesting to watch....also how well FS1 does for the Big East, etc.

I'm Happy, Happy, Happy   


Commence bombardment for daring to bring up other aspects of the job performance in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1......

I think you nailed it.

[mu_hilltopper]

I disagree with grading on the personal behavior of 18-21 year olds.

These "cases" are, for the most part (to public knowledge) isolated incidents of kid(s) making terrible decisions.

If a coach was recruiting obvious/consistent trouble-makers, yeah, you can ding him for that.    Or you could cut him for the response/discipline after the fact being too lax.

It's more known what the University did in response to these acts, it's only conjecture as to what Buzz may have done, unofficially.  My conjecture is that Buzz seriously knocked them upside the head and lectured them ad nauseum .. while letting the official discipline machine do its thing.

I'd use the same theory on academics.  I am confident Buzz has zero tolerance for kids not performing in class .. and zero tolerance for the university cheaping out on academic advisors/tutors, etc.  

A- for coaching .. A- for recruiting, A for public relations, A for results.

[seakm4]

In 5 years he's become the face of our program and the new conferences #1 coach after stevens bolted.

Some off the court issues happen.  Coach K's player taking a $100,000 loan is a prime example of that.  I still consider it a black eye to the program but it's the player's mistake for the most part...not always the coach's. 

Overall b+.

Room to improve.  Get us a blue blood recruit and a final four and we're in the A range.   Multiple final 4s or a championship will get an A+ IMO.

[seakm4]

I really like this topic.  It's the first one in a month that I was really excited to see other people's responses.

[Pakuni]

I disagree with grading on the personal behavior of 18-21 year olds.

These "cases" are, for the most part (to public knowledge) isolated incidents of kid(s) making terrible decisions.

I agree that Buzz can't/shouldn't be held responsible for every bad off-court act of one of his players. Especially when those acts are not the norm, which has proven to be the case.
But if those incidents occurred as alleged, or even close to as alleged - and who knows what really happened - it's significantly worse than "kids making terrible decisions." More like "grown men committing felonies."

As for Buzz:
Coaching B+ (and getting better)
PR  B+
Recruiting A
Results  A

[tower912]

A-.      Made the transition seamlessly and made sure that almost nobody ever said how much they missed the former coach.    Has recruited and developed talent.    Has grown as a game coach.    Still room to grow.  Is able to win with multiple styles.     Lands high level talent.
     Off court issues?    I look at the lawsuit currently outstanding against Xavier by one of their former players.   I look at Duke LaCrosse.   I look at Johnny Football and the UConn senior who just got popped for DUI.   I look at the stories about OK St and their hostesses.   It would be nice if MU was exempt from all of that, but I am not naive enough to expect that.    Also, some of the offcourt issues are media creations.    20 year olds in a bar NOT drinking?!?!   Oooooooh.      An 18 year old responding poorly to what may have been a racial epithet?    Nope, not worrying about it.  
  He has improved, he wins, his players go to class.   A-

[Marqus Howard]

Buzz has really improved on his coaching the past couple of years. There were some frustrating moments early on when it seemed like he over-substituted and didn't design plays very well out of timeouts. I think he's done an excellent job on preparing for opponents though and his play calling is significantly better now. I would give him:

Coaching: B+
PR: A-
Recruiting: A-
Results: A-

As others have said, Final Fours and/or NC would lead to an A+, in my opinion.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I disagree with grading on the personal behavior of 18-21 year olds.

These "cases" are, for the most part (to public knowledge) isolated incidents of kid(s) making terrible decisions.

If a coach was recruiting obvious/consistent trouble-makers, yeah, you can ding him for that.    Or you could cut him for the response/discipline after the fact being too lax.

It's more known what the University did in response to these acts, it's only conjecture as to what Buzz may have done, unofficially.  My conjecture is that Buzz seriously knocked them upside the head and lectured them ad nauseum .. while letting the official discipline machine do its thing.

I'd use the same theory on academics.  I am confident Buzz has zero tolerance for kids not performing in class .. and zero tolerance for the university cheaping out on academic advisors/tutors, etc.  

A- for coaching .. A- for recruiting, A for public relations, A for results.

I humbly disagree. The head coach of a basketball team is responsible for everything that happens with his team. It may not be his fault but he still needs to take responsibility. May seem unfair but that is the burden of the head coach.

When the sexual assault cases (or whatever you word you want to use to pretty them up) occurred, I was in Milwaukee. It was an awful situation and I was not proud of how the university, the athletic department, or the team handled it. It was very hard for me to stomach it. Still love and support the team but I saw a lot of victim blaming from the Marquette community. And while none of us know exactly what happened, I still feel awful for the young womens' situations.

As for my Buzz report card:
In Game Coaching: B+ (this would have been a lot lower before this last season)
Recruiting: B+ (Bringing in good talent, but until we start consistently getting in top 25 recruiting classes every year, I won't call it an A)
Player Development: A+ (Buzz's true strength. Have no complaints)
Off the court: B- (Comments above)
PR: A (Whether you love or hate his personality, you know who he is. Any news is good news!)
Dance Moves: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++

[nyg]

A for basketball and if he gets Stone to campus, its an A +

He gets an A++++ for being a father figure to some of the players, many of whom did not have that opportunity and receiving the appropriate guidance in life. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I humbly disagree. The head coach of a basketball team is responsible for everything that happens with his team. It may not be his fault but he still needs to take responsibility. May seem unfair but that is the burden of the head coach.

When the sexual assault cases (or whatever you word you want to use to pretty them up) occurred, I was in Milwaukee. It was an awful situation and I was not proud of how the university, the athletic department, or the team handled it. It was very hard for me to stomach it. Still love and support the team but I saw a lot of victim blaming from the Marquette community. And while none of us know exactly what happened, I still feel awful for the young womens' situations.

As for my Buzz report card:
In Game Coaching: B+ (this would have been a lot lower before this last season)
Recruiting: B+ (Bringing in good talent, but until we start consistently getting in top 25 recruiting classes every year, I won't call it an A)
Player Development: A+ (Buzz's true strength. Have no complaints)
Off the court: B- (Comments above)
PR: A (Whether you love or hate his personality, you know who he is. Any news is good news!)
Dance Moves: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well said.

I agree with all of this.

Also, I'll add that I'm really impressed with Buzz's analytical and measured approach to the game. Basketball has a lot of moving parts, so it seems really random... but I like that Buzz has found the key indicators that he wants, and works towards those. It's not a groundbreaking concept, but I'm impressed with coaches who can utilize analytics and mix it with the "gut" side of coaching.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I humbly disagree. The head coach of a basketball team is responsible for everything that happens with his team. It may not be his fault but he still needs to take responsibility. May seem unfair but that is the burden of the head coach.

Yup....that's why you get the big bucks.  Just like a CEO gets nailed or "damaged" if someone on the frontlines is doing something wrong like peeing in the slurpee machine.  Even more so for a coach when you only have to monitor 12 to 15 kids and need to set the tone from day one what is acceptable and what is not.  Definitely tough and why so many of these guys are complete control freaks because you are relying on 18-22 year old horny dudes that don't always think properly, but that's the deal...especially when their actions can really damage the school.

[Lennys Tap]

A.  There is room for marginal improvement to get to A+, and I have no doubt he will make those in his next 5 years.  Beyond thrilled with the hire.

+1

[Galway Eagle]

It was sexual assault allegations, and they never made it to court.

As an aside, you need to separate your thoughts in your post. You're making Juan come out in a very bad light here for just going to a brewers game. Your posts read like Juan's the one you're insinuating was involved in the sexual assault allegations.

I'm usually on my phone posting here which makes grammar and separated statements a pain.  And regarding sexual assault vs rape I just read up on the definitions and from what I recall of the story I'm pretty sure it was rape or something damn well close.  But I'm sorry that the posts read like that. 

[GGGG]

I'm usually on my phone posting here which makes grammar and separated statements a pain.  And regarding sexual assault vs rape I just read up on the definitions and from what I recall of the story I'm pretty sure it was rape or something damn well close.  But I'm sorry that the posts read like that. 

Wow.  Bagping continues to have trouble getting his point across using the English language.  What a surprise.

And it was alleged rape...two sides to the story and nothing was proven.

[melissasmooth]

Concerning player behavior - Well i am happy we won't have to see Blue around campus any more.

[mu_hilltopper]

I humbly disagree. The head coach of a basketball team is responsible for everything that happens with his team. It may not be his fault but he still needs to take responsibility. May seem unfair but that is the burden of the head coach.

Yeah, we're going to disagree.     

Buzz is about character.  He pounds that message constantly, and I think he looks at himself as a father figure, raising his boys to a high standard.   That those sons might stray from the high standards he exudes should not reflect on a guy honestly and extraordinarily trying to make them solid citizens.   Sometimes the honest preacher's son breaks bad.

I believe you simply can't dock someone for something that happened WAY beyond their control, and egregiously against the rules set forth. 

Would I feel differently if I thought Buzz was even remotely indifferent to the character of his program, players, and coaches?  Yes. 

[Galway Eagle]

Wow.  Bagping continues to have trouble getting his point across using the English language.  What a surprise.

And it was alleged rape...two sides to the story and nothing was proven.

You really need to learn to relax and let things go.  I mean seriously I'm sure it's easy to troll me and be a prick behind an online alias.

[GGGG]

You really need to learn to relax and let things go.  I mean seriously I'm sure it's easy to troll me and be a prick behind an online alias.

I know right?

[Galway Eagle]

I know right?

If you're trying to imply I'm hiding as well it's really not true.  There's only two ranked boxers at MU, one of them plays the babpipes and is a super senior while the other is a junior and much much better than me.  Thus not hiding. 

[brewcity77]

Okay...actually going to address the topic now.

Coaching: What has most impressed me about Buzz's coaching is his ability to adapt his style to his personnel. He won with Tom Crean's players. He won at a dinosaur pace with sharpshooters and a midget Hayward at center. We won at a blistering pace with DJO and Crowder. And we made an Elite Eight with virtually no three-point threats. While that's impressive, the inconsistency in tactics makes it hard to really evaluate what Buzz will be as a coach in 5-10 years. I expect him to continue to improve. I want to see more consistency and I want to see this team make it to the next level (Final Four). B+

Public Relations: This one is a double-edged sword. Buzz has created a brand and given Marquette a tough reputation. He is one of the best interviews in the business and always shines come March. At the same time, we've had off-court incidents from the SAs to an assistant coach. I get that the mistakes weren't made by Buzz, but he was the visible face of incidents that put us in a negative light on the front page of newspapers in Milwaukee and Chicago, our two most fertile recruiting areas. I think the pros outweigh the cons, but I hope to see more of the former and less of the latter as we go forward. B

Recruiting: I love Buzz's consistency. He has brought in at least 1 top-100 RSCI player in every class from 2009 through 2015 (assuming Cohen and Noskowiak will be on that list). He's done a great job of filling holes with JUCOs. He still hasn't landed that big stud prospect (I don't mean stud big, I mean McD's AA, 5-star type player) but you get the sense it will be coming eventually. A-

Results: This ties into coaching in that no matter the personnel, Buzz has won. 5 straight years in the tournament, 1 shared Big East title, 2 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8. By far that exceeds what I expected when he was hired. Like hilltopper, the lack of a NC/Final Four is the only thing missing. A-

Academics: Most of our guys are graduating, which is a definite positive and something not every perennial top-25 team can say (*cough* look 60 miles west *cough*). There have been some guys that didn't get there, and a number of two-year JUCOs did make it difficult to get guys to cross that stage, but I feel Buzz is getting better at bringing in good kids that are on track academically. At the end of the day, the most important thing Marquette does is educate, and our basketball players should not be an exception to that. B+

Player Development: The obvious answer is that Buzz has taken unheralded guys like Jimmy Butler, Darius Johnson-Odom, and Dwight Buycks and put them in the NBA. Adding in Matthews, Lockett, Hayward, and Crowder and you have a program that is becoming a NBA factory. But what is more important is the growth of these guys as people. I really feel like our players have been great representatives by the time they left Marquette. Everyone that graduated seems to have been better off personally by the time they left. That's something to be proud of. A

-----
----------
-----

OVERALL: I think we hit a home run with the hire of Buzz Williams. There are still areas for Buzz to improve, but there's no shame in that whatsoever. We have seen fewer embarrassing off-court incidents of late, Buzz is clearly getting better as a game coach, and I have to believe the consistently improving results will pay off in terms of recruiting. I feel really good that I didn't grade anything below a B because I feel I'm normally a bit more harsh of a critic when it comes to grading. B+

[MU82]

Solid A.

When he takes us to a Final Four (this coming season?), it goes up to A+.

[mr.MUskie]

A+s are only for national championships.

Jeez, at least leave some room for improvement.

+1

[GGGG]

If you're trying to imply I'm hiding as well it's really not true.  There's only two ranked boxers at MU, one of them plays the babpipes and is a super senior while the other is a junior and much much better than me.  Thus not hiding. 

No.  I really don't care enough to figure out who you are.  I was simply acknowledging your statement.

[KenoshaWarrior]

No.  I really don't care enough to figure out who you are.  I was simply acknowledging your statement.

Get over yourself dude