The Todd Mayo Effect...and shortened rotation

[NersEllenson]

Is it just a simple coincidence that the team is starting to show signs of life these last 3 games, that have also coincided with Todd Mayo finally getting extensive minutes (32 against X), over long stretches of playing time and an overall shortened rotation?  Or is it safe to say, Todd being on the floor greatly benefits the other 4 guys quite a bit, as does the shortened rotation to where guys get in better flow?

My vote is Todd makes the whole team better being the triple threat to score that he is - from 3, the midrange, and going to the basket...and that the optimum results for a basketball team are to have an 8-9 man max rotation...

Looks like Buzz is finally figuring the rotation out...and finally has freed Todd Mayo...FINALLY!!  It's taken almost 3 full years for Todd to have finally gotten PT commensurate with his talent level.

[g0lden3agle]

Might be commensurate with his talent level, but how bout his maturity level?

[willie warrior]

Mayo's D was awful in the game.
He allowed his guys 15 points in 2nd half. Having said that, Anderson's (the guy replaced by Mayo) was also terrible in the cup of coffee time he was in. Anderson allowed his guy to score 5 quick points to start the 2nd half, which gave Buzz the impetus to immediately send the guy to the pines.

[MU82]

I agree with your general premise, Ners. Buzz does, too.

His go-to lineup officially has become Derrick, Jake, Mayo, Jamil and Gardner, with Otule coming in for defensive purposes.

I never argue with something that works -- though it works a lot better when Jake is hitting open 3s and when Derrick is aggressively looking for openings.

This lineup will almost always have trouble on the boards. Coaching is all about tradeoffs, however, and Buzz has correctly concluded that this is a tradeoff worth making.

[GGGG]

Might be commensurate with his talent level, but how bout his maturity level?

Yep.  Mayo was responsible for Mayo not playing more...not Buzz.

[muguru]

Yep.  Mayo was responsible for Mayo not playing more...not Buzz.

I see you say this all the time. It's simply BS. You play to win the game. Period. Play your best guys. Look what's happening NOW, NOW finally he has allowed Todd to play more. Wahla...MU is winning games. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going to fix the problem, but apparently it took Buzz that long. When they were struggling early on, I told anyone that would listen, if he wants to fix this problem he NEEDS to play Todd more, and play him consistent minutes. He brings more to this team than anyone else with what he is able to do offensively. Attitude be damned. If it was THAT bad Buzz would have never brought him back last year.

[GGGG]

I see you say this all the time. It's simply BS. You play to win the game. Period. Play your best guys. Look what's happening NOW, NOW finally he has allowed Todd to play more. Wahla...MU is winning games. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going to fix the problem, but apparently it took Buzz that long. When they were struggling early on, I told anyone that would listen, if he wants to fix this problem he NEEDS to play Todd more, and play him consistent minutes. He brings more to this team than anyone else with what he is able to do offensively. Attitude be damned. If it was THAT bad Buzz would have never brought him back last year.

Now TODD has finally allowed himself to be played more.  He isn't academically ineligible, which stunted his growth last year.  He isn't late for practice, which caused him to be suspended this year.  Did you ever think that he is playing more now because he possibly has figured it out and *earned* his playing time?  That maybe Buzz's approach with him has worked?  And he has played 20+ mpg in every game since before Christmas with only two exceptions.  It's not as though Buzz never played the guy.

Todd played 20+ mpg as a freshman.  The most any freshman has played under Buzz.  Todd is the one responsible for his problems.

[bilsu]

Mayo is playing better on offense and needs to get better on defense. He is improving and that is part of why he is playing. However, for most of the season he was the replacement for Thomas. Now he is playing in a three guard offense with Derrick and Thomas. Given that Buzz often has used a three guard lineup, it seems like he took a long time to come up with this combination. Of course he had to experiment with Jamil at three and Gardner at four.

[connie]

I see you say this all the time. It's simply BS. You play to win the game. Period. Play your best guys. Look what's happening NOW, NOW finally he has allowed Todd to play more. Wahla...MU is winning games. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going to fix the problem, but apparently it took Buzz that long. When they were struggling early on, I told anyone that would listen, if he wants to fix this problem he NEEDS to play Todd more, and play him consistent minutes. He brings more to this team than anyone else with what he is able to do offensively. Attitude be damned. If it was THAT bad Buzz would have never brought him back last year.

Yeah, the coach "allows" players to play.  And of course the coach, who actually has broader concerns than one game, or one player, or even one season, has no idea or plan for what he is doing.  Those previous six years where he managed to get just about every player on the team to overperform because he "allowed" them to play must have been a fluke.  This team, finally coming together somewhat despite their limitations, certainly learned nothing from the coaching staff.  Buzz, who has to deal with the entire team every day, should just forget his priorities and play Todd as much as you want, because Todd has been the model of consistency and responsibility.  

You are obviously rooting for a different program, because it's pretty clear what you want is not going to happen while Buzz is in charge.

[GGGG]

Mayo is playing better on offense and needs to get better on defense. He is improving and that is part of why he is playing. However, for most of the season he was the replacement for Thomas. Now he is playing in a three guard offense with Derrick and Thomas. Given that Buzz often has used a three guard lineup, it seems like he took a long time to come up with this combination. Of course he had to experiment with Jamil at three and Gardner at four.

The problem that Buzz faces with *this* three guard line up though manifested itself yesterday.  Rebounding is really going to be a problem with this group.  None of the three guards can rebound like Vander or Trent could.  (Vander played that wing-guard position as a sophomore that Trent played last year.)  And as willie said, Todd wasn't great on defense last year.

This is why he likes starting Juan.  Juan is a better defender, especially with his length against a team like Xavier.

[GGGG]

Yeah, the coach "allows" players to play.  And of course the coach, who actually has broader concerns than one game, or one player, or even one season, has no idea or plan for what he is doing.  Those previous six years where he managed to get just about every player on the team to overperform because he "allowed" them to play must have been a fluke.  This team, finally coming together somewhat despite their limitations, certainly learned nothing from the coaching staff.  Buzz, who has to deal with the entire team every day, should just forget his priorities and play Todd as much as you want, because Todd has been the model of consistency and responsibility. 

You are obviously rooting for a different program, because it's pretty clear what you want is not going to happen while Buzz is in charge.

Yep.

One of the things that bothers me about how people look at teams and players, is that they view them as "static."  That outside of freshmen, they can't grow during a season.  You can see it in players like Derrick who are playing a lot better now than they were earlier.  My guess is that Buzz sees it in Todd as well.  It's not as though Buzz was willfully ignoring Todd Mayo.

[Hards Alumni]

Its nice to see that Todd is doing more with the minutes he has been given lately.  There have been games where he was an absolute ghost.

[GooooMarquette]

The problem that Buzz faces with *this* three guard line up though manifested itself yesterday.  Rebounding is really going to be a problem with this group.  None of the three guards can rebound like Vander or Trent could.  (Vander played that wing-guard position as a sophomore that Trent played last year.)  And as willie said, Todd wasn't great on defense last year.

This is why he likes starting Juan.  Juan is a better defender, especially with his length against a team like Xavier.

Agreed.  Derrick is a pretty decent rebounder for his size and position, but the rest of the guys in this lineup are pretty so-so given their size and minutes played.  Yesterday at least, we made up for the rebounding deficit with TOs.

[NersEllenson]

Its nice to see that Todd Derrick is doing more with the minutes he has been given lately.  There have been games where he was an absolute ghost.

Fixed.  

Every guy on the team has had poor, ghost like games.  Not every guy on the team has been given max minutes, of extended run, and allowed the ability to play through tough stretches or ghost stretches - other than Derrick and Jake.

It's been plainly obvious to many that Mayo has a lot of talent, since he arrived at the program.  He's had a few off court issues - but so did Vander, so did Junior, so did DJO - West Virginia suspensions come to mind, Junior being suspended at Madison as a Junior, when Derrick filled in for him.  Vander with the worst of offenses - in punching another student...and it never affected Vander's PT.

[GGGG]

Vander punched another student before the season began his freshman year.

Todd's issues continued into his junior year.

They aren't really comparable.

[MU82]

I see you say this all the time. It's simply BS. You play to win the game. Period. Play your best guys. Look what's happening NOW, NOW finally he has allowed Todd to play more. Wahla...MU is winning games. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going to fix the problem, but apparently it took Buzz that long. When they were struggling early on, I told anyone that would listen, if he wants to fix this problem he NEEDS to play Todd more, and play him consistent minutes. He brings more to this team than anyone else with what he is able to do offensively. Attitude be damned. If it was THAT bad Buzz would have never brought him back last year.

Have you ever been a coach? Or a part of upper management at any level? Or anybody in charge of managing a group of people?

A manager must have standards. He must hold his charges to those standards and must be prepared to mete out punishment or other consequences for failure to comply with standards.

Nothing operates in a vacuum. If an underling blatantly disregards standards and the manager does nothing, then every other underling sees that there are no consequences to disregard standards. And the same people who are saying the manager should "play to win the game" will claim the manager should be fired for lacking control and letting the inmates run the asylum.

A manager always must focus on the big picture as well as the near-term situation.

[tower912]

Buzz held Todd accountable.   What message would it send to the rest of the team, to the fans, to the MU administration, if Buzz let someone play without requiring them to be accountable, to play defense, to be a good teammate, simply because he could score?    Instead, Buzz has said that he is the coach, that he will forgive transgressions, but players have to earn their way back into consistent minutes.   Todd has become an example of positive leadership, of accountability, instead of an example of putting winning before character.   Why is this even a debate?

[NersEllenson]

Vander punched another student before the season began his freshman year.

Todd's issues continued into his junior year.

They aren't really comparable.

In my view punching another student is a lot more of an issue than being minutes late to a couple of practices...and struggling academically.  And as noted, there have been plenty of other guys suspended for games, 1/2 games during Buzz's time beyond Todd...

And wasn't Vander's deal during his sophomore year - not that the deed in and of itself is any less of an "issue."

Whatever the case, I'm just glad to see Todd finally getting long stretches of uninterrupted playing time...it's what he needs, and what the team needs.

[NavinRJohnson]

In my view punching another student is a lot more of an issue than being minutes late to a couple of practices...and struggling academically. 

That's great. When you're coaching the team that information will actually be relevant.

[ATLmarquettefan]

I don't think his D is as bad as some of you are saying. There were a ton of unnoticed plays yesterday I thought he made really smart play on D but guy made tough shot or it was more help D's fault.

[GGGG]

October 24, 2010...freshman year.

And there has been a lot with Todd beyond just being a couple minutes late for practice.  Believe me.

[BallBoy]

Practice determines play.  We don't know what goes on there but you don't use a game to let a player figure it out.  Buzz sees the team everyday and knows how they struggle against the game plan so it doesn't surprise me that certain players get pulled quickly during the game. If they couldn't get a defensive switch in practice and missed it multiple times in a game, it is not like they are magically going to get it.  

Fans see the game and think a player is mistreated because coach doesn't give him time to figure it out but coach gave him all of practice etc.  

If we look at mayo time in the last three opponents versus the first time we played them we see

Seton Hall +1
Butler +3
Xavier +9

Both Butler and Xavier were home games.  Only in the Xavier game did Mayo get significantly more minutes.

[NersEllenson]

That's great. When you're coaching the team that information will actually be relevant.

That's funny.  When you become a stand up comedian, your jokes will actually become relevant - but hopefully a lot funnier.

[Texas Western]

Todd Mayo is a legitimate high  D-1 offensive threat.He needs to play as minutes as possible the rest of the season. When he gets into the flow of the game the rest of the team is able to utilize their particular strengths  to a much higher efficiency.

[BallBoy]

I reviewed our conference games and we only have 4 games where Buzz had more than 8 players with significant minutes. I used 10 minutes because anything less is not a run.  

The four games were Creighton, Xavier RD 1, Providence, and St John's. two of those games were blowouts so is it a surprise that Buzz went deeper into the bench?  Providence was part of the game plan as they have a very short bench and this strategy worked.  At Xavier we had two players battling foul trouble.  Jamil only was able to play 12 minutes and Wilson only 22. Both fouled out.

I would say that Buzz has been playing an shortened rotation for a while but gave players spot minutes for breathers. in the 4 games we went above that there was a valid reason that he did.