Coach Williams - Seeing the Game Through a Different Lens

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

There has been enough bashing of those 2 guys this year, blame Buzz he recruited Derrick, Jake was just a walk-on, considering that he was pretty good.  Blame Buzz on either not starting Mayo
all year or finding a better 2 guard, everybody thought it was JJJ, but it was not.  Did JJJ have a scholarship to Memphis?  Just curious, if not, there must have been a reason Pastner did not recruit him?

Can you not understand that Mayo is to blame for not starting? He didn't earn it. By the way, he was HORRENDOUS for the first 20 minutes last night.

Anybody can see he's a more talented player than Thomas. Even Thomas would probably acknowledge this. So why isn't Mayo starting? I'll bet Todd knows.

[NersEllenson]

Can you not understand that Mayo is to blame for not starting? He didn't earn it. By the way, he was HORRENDOUS for the first 20 minutes last night.

Anybody can see he's a more talented player than Thomas. Even Thomas would probably acknowledge this. So why isn't Mayo starting? I'll bet Todd knows.

And by the way, historically, Buzz would have relegated Mayo to the bench for the remainder of the game if he started as poorly as he did against Xavier last night....but as has been shown the last 10 games...you have to stick with a TALENTED player and let him get in a flow to extract the talent...

Yet, ironically, Buzz can stick and grind with a player for 32 minutes a night for an entire season at the most critical position on the floor...and get piss poor production....but yeah...he sure earns those minutes.

Why didn't Burton start from beginning of conference play?  Is there any comparison between Juan Anderson and Burton??  Burton not earning starting role too?  What about Gardner?  Any reason for him to not play 32 minutes?

Find one other Top 100 college basketball team that has its leading scorer come off the bench, as well as its 3rd leading scorer...therein lies the difference between an NCAA bid and NIT...especially if Buzz was hell bent on riding as limited offensive PG as you will ever see in hign major ball - you need 4 offensive studs out there with him if you are going to ride him 32 minutes a game...

[humanlung]

Until someone on this board brings multiple teams to the Sweet 16, one to the Elite 8, and puts three (?) players in the NBA, I think we should assume that Buzz knows more about coaching at a high level than any of us.

This was a tough year.  Players who left would have helped, others did not develop or live up to their full potential.  It's unfortunate but it happens.  This team is LOADED with talent for the future (see Burton putting up his best numbers of the season in the biggest game of the season) and I remain optimistic.  And confident that Buzz is very, very capable of coaching us back to the Final Four.

[BCHoopster]

Until someone on this board brings multiple teams to the Sweet 16, one to the Elite 8, and puts three (?) players in the NBA, I think we should assume that Buzz knows more about coaching at a high level than any of us.

This was a tough year.  Players who left would have helped, others did not develop or live up to their full potential.  It's unfortunate but it happens.  This team is LOADED with talent for the future (see Burton putting up his best numbers of the season in the biggest game of the season) and I remain optimistic.  And confident that Buzz is very, very capable of coaching us back to the Final Four.

Agreed, but the team is not loaded in the future.  Steve Taylor is a big question mark, he is soft, bad knee, Juan, no comment, Pierce and Fisher are raw, which leaves Burton upfront who is undersized and needs more understanding how to play Buzz's defensive schemes.  Todd will be fine on the wing, not sure he is quick enough to play the 2 guard as he cannot defend that type of player, Duane Wilson who knows, Dawson, maybe, Derrick do not see it, Cohen to skinny, Mayok not sure, Hill probably but still a frosh, and JJJ needs muscle.  Buzz is lacking a power player next year and the following year, very young next year, loaded, I do not see it.  Needs to recruit at least 2 bigs and a point.

[MattyWarrior]

This team is not loaded by any measure. The freshman and sophomore classes are good, but need seasoning and good coaching. How many real good 4 year players has Buzz had? Whos going to develop them, there is no continuity of winning
like we had in previous years to build on. I hope the assistant coaches and staff are cohesive and talented enough to build
a winning culture. Real tough year, I hope its a quiet off-season.

[PE8983]

"Christon gets all the way to the hoop.
None of the help defenders were even in a defensive stance.  All standing basically straight up.

Why is this a big deal?
This is a win or go home game.   At this point a tie game in the last seconds of the half at the end of the season.  And the players arent even focused enough to guard where they should or get in a stance to help and recover.

Lack of focus and effort.  Hard to understand.  Especially from your senior leaders..."


To top it all off, that lineup on the floor was in for defensive purposes only as a TO was taken right before the half.
If Jamil would have stepped in and taken a charge on that play, it would have been foul #3 on Christon.
Ball goes thru the hole with maybe 3-4 seconds left.  Could have passed it in and got a shot off.  Instead everyone, notably Jamil and Juan go running out towards half court with no one to in-bound.  Jamil eventually goes back to in-bound and clock runs out.  No shot attempt.  Whoever was closest to the ball should have got it in-bounds to allow for a shot.  Inexplicably, the same player has to in-bound every time.  When you have a constantly changing line-up, I assume that causes these brain farts with simple execution.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

And by the way, historically, Buzz would have relegated Mayo to the bench for the remainder of the game if he started as poorly as he did against Xavier last night....but as has been shown the last 10 games...you have to stick with a TALENTED player and let him get in a flow to extract the talent...

Yet, ironically, Buzz can stick and grind with a player for 32 minutes a night for an entire season at the most critical position on the floor...and get piss poor production....but yeah...he sure earns those minutes.

Why didn't Burton start from beginning of conference play?  Is there any comparison between Juan Anderson and Burton??  Burton not earning starting role too?  What about Gardner?  Any reason for him to not play 32 minutes?

Find one other Top 100 college basketball team that has its leading scorer come off the bench, as well as its 3rd leading scorer...therein lies the difference between an NCAA bid and NIT...especially if Buzz was hell bent on riding as limited offensive PG as you will ever see in hign major ball - you need 4 offensive studs out there with him if you are going to ride him 32 minutes a game...

You're advocating letting the inmates run the asylum. Reading between the lines, Gardner doesn't start because he's lazy. I'm going to guess Mayo's work habits are also questionable. I don't know about Burton. He seems like a monster in the making. You cannot run a team where the hardest workers sit and the other guys skate by without doing what they're asked to do and get rewarded for it. You just can't.

If you want to blame somebody for our lack of success, stop blaming Buzz and start looking at the reasons Mayo couldn't beat out Thomas or a talented guy like Davante couldn't unseat a marginal player like Otule. If the effort was even close, I'm betting the story would be different.

[mattyv1908]

You're advocating letting the inmates run the asylum. Reading between the lines, Gardner doesn't start because he's lazy. I'm going to guess Mayo's work habits are also questionable. I don't know about Burton. He seems like a monster in the making. You cannot run a team where the hardest workers sit and the other guys skate by without doing what they're asked to do and get rewarded for it. You just can't.

If you want to blame somebody for our lack of success, stop blaming Buzz and start looking at the reasons Mayo couldn't beat out Thomas or a talented guy like Davante couldn't unseat a marginal player like Otule. If the effort was even close, I'm betting the story would be different.

Almost every successful company that relies on TALENTED workers instead of the number of workers needed does the exact same thing.

Any job that requires skills unique to the individual will see the hardest workers toil away while those with real talent earn real money.  Perhaps those without talent understand this and their hard work is what keeps them from being shown the door.

Now when an extremely talented individual also has a great work ethic that's when superstars are made.  Usually you get one or the other.  If I had to choose someone to hire I'd choose talent every time, that is unless I'm hiring for a no skill laborer/order taker position where quantity is more important than quality.

[LAZER]

What I find frustrating is that Buzz's defense is so difficult to understand he cannot trust freshmen to play.

And yet, his defense is not effective.

This is my biggest issue with Buzz

[LAZER]

It didn't workout this year. But is has worked in the past and it will work again.

Agreed, happens with the best of programs.

[NotAnAlum]

If you want to blame somebody for our lack of success, stop blaming Buzz and start looking at the reasons Mayo couldn't beat out Thomas or a talented guy like Davante couldn't unseat a marginal player like Otule. If the effort was even close, I'm betting the story would be different.

I agree with what you said except this about Davante.  I think Buzz always intended to bring Davante off the bench.  Davante seems to play better coming off the bench and Buzz likes to have so instance offense he can bring in.  Also there is that thing about winning the tip (again Buzz is fixated on getting an extra possession).  Chris either gets into the flow of the game or its not his night, therefore you start him, see if he's on.  If so you ride him if not you know he'll really just be available for limited defensive duty.

Also I hope everyone has figured out by now that Derrick has a severe lack of confidence problem.  That's why he doesn't shoot, can't make free throws and is so "careful" running the offense.  He's also the best of a bunch of bad options at PG (and some of that is on Buzz going back several years of recruiting).  The reason Buzz praises him is not because Buzz is blind to his weaknesses.  Its an attempt to build his confidence in the hope of making a bad option a little better.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Almost every successful company that relies on TALENTED workers instead of the number of workers needed does the exact same thing.

Any job that requires skills unique to the individual will see the hardest workers toil away while those with real talent earn real money.  Perhaps those without talent understand this and their hard work is what keeps them from being shown the door.

Now when an extremely talented individual also has a great work ethic that's when superstars are made.  Usually you get one or the other.  If I had to choose someone to hire I'd choose talent every time, that is unless I'm hiring for a no skill laborer/order taker position where quantity is more important than quality.

This is nonsense. Also, comparing a basketball program that turns over every couple years to an established business is moronic. Buzz has to recreate his "business" almost every other year. Marquette basketball is not a "team" it's a program. Rewarding the hardest workers is what has made it successful and what has helped shape Lazar, Jae, Butler, DJO and everybody else into a "Marquette brand" we have started to hear about.

You want Buzz to change that "business model" because of Todd Freaking Mayo? Get real. Buzz has done the difficult...and right...thing this season.

[mattyv1908]

This is nonsense. Also, comparing a basketball program that turns over every couple years to an established business is moronic. Buzz has to recreate his "business" almost every other year. Marquette basketball is not a "team" it's a program. Rewarding the hardest workers is what has made it successful and what has helped shape Lazar, Jae, Butler, DJO and everybody else into a "Marquette brand" we have started to hear about.

You want Buzz to change that "business model" because of Todd Freaking Mayo? Get real. Buzz has done the difficult...and right...thing this season.

Lazar, Jae, Butler and DJO - the names you mentioned - certainly were the most talented.  You're implying they were also the hardest working.  They quite possibly were but don't interchange talent for work ethic.

And it's not BS what I said earlier.

Question:  Do you want your financial advisor to be the hardest working, pour through the market trends, spend late nights analysing charts and what not who never seems to make your portfolio grow or do you want the guy who's always on the golf course or on some vacation but has the uncanny ability to make all the right decisions allowing your money to grow and you to retire early?

Hard work paying off is a make believe fantasy of the untalented.  Without talent, hardworkers are relegated for mid management jobs their entire lives.  It's exactly the same as basketball just exchange mid management for role players and bench warmers.

[brandx]

Ball goes thru the hole with maybe 3-4 seconds left.  Could have passed it in and got a shot off.  Instead everyone, notably Jamil and Juan go running out towards half court with no one to in-bound.  Jamil eventually goes back to in-bound and clock runs out.  No shot attempt.  Whoever was closest to the ball should have got it in-bounds to allow for a shot.  Inexplicably, the same player has to in-bound every time.  When you have a constantly changing line-up, I assume that causes these brain farts with simple execution.

Glad you noticed that play - I was absolutely stunned when that happened. And that is why we want the seniors on the floor? Cuz Buzz thrusts them? Just low basketball IQ.

Something is wrong there. Similar to never ever going two for one possessions at the end of a half. If Mack can do it why can't Buzz. There is no logical/illogical reason not to.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Lazar, Jae, Butler and DJO - the names you mentioned - certainly were the most talented.  You're implying they were also the hardest working.  They quite possibly were but don't interchange talent for work ethic.

And it's not BS what I said earlier.

Question:  Do you want your financial advisor to be the hardest working, pour through the market trends, spend late nights analysing charts and what not who never seems to make your portfolio grow or do you want the guy who's always on the golf course or on some vacation but has the uncanny ability to make all the right decisions allowing your money to grow and you to retire early?

Hard work paying off is a make believe fantasy of the untalented.  Without talent, hardworkers are relegated for mid management jobs their entire lives.  It's exactly the same as basketball just exchange mid management for role players and bench warmers.

There is no such thing as a financial advisor with "uncanny ability." Those people are total frauds and gamblers.

Again, you cannot compare some business school garbage with running a basketball program.

Consider this. Marquette will NEVER have the most talent in the Big East. never. We didn't last year and we shared the title. We will NEVER, EVER have more talent than Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, even Indiana.

How can we expect to compete with this talent gap?

Here's another question for you. Who works more hours, you or Buzz Williams? Who makes more money? Now ask yourself how a guy with Buzz's somewhat pedestrian education has gotten to a position making millions of dollars a year. The answer is he is out worked the other guys. He sure as hell isn't more talented or smoother or polished or an ex player. This is who Buzz is. I find it hard to believe anybody could say they don't admire Buzz. And Buzz is trying to instill his ethic and attitude into the program. Not into Todd Mayo or Davante Gardner or Jujaun. He's gonna play who best reflects who he is. And who can argue with that?

If nothing else, this season has proven to me that we have fans who are completely ignorant of who Buzz has been since he got here.

If anything, I like him more now than ever before. He's not gonna sell out for some whiny fans.

[brandx]

There is no such thing as a financial advisor with "uncanny ability." Those people are total frauds and gamblers.

Again, you cannot compare some business school garbage with running a basketball program.

Consider this. Marquette will NEVER have the most talent in the Big East. never. We didn't last year and we shared the title. We will NEVER, EVER have more talent than Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, even Indiana.

How can we expect to compete with this talent gap?

Here's another question for you. Who works more hours, you or Buzz Williams? Who makes more money? Now ask yourself how a guy with Buzz's somewhat pedestrian education has gotten to a position making millions of dollars a year. The answer is he is out worked the other guys. He sure as hell isn't more talented or smoother or polished or an ex player. This is who Buzz is. I find it hard to believe anybody could say they don't admire Buzz. And Buzz is trying to instill his ethic and attitude into the program. Not into Todd Mayo or Davante Gardner or Jujaun. He's gonna play who best reflects who he is. And who can argue with that?

If nothing else, this season has proven to me that we have fans who are completely ignorant of who Buzz has been since he got here.

If anything, I like him more now than ever before. He's not gonna sell out for some whiny fans.

I have said that numerous times this year - especially when people suggested someone else would start at PG next year.

But a coach needs to be able to get just as much effort from his talented players as he does from the less talented. Leaving more talented players on the bench = 17-15.

As far as financial advisors, I totally disagree. The ones with an "uncanny ability" to spot trends early is clearly going to do better. They are not all equal with equal abilities.

[mattyv1908]

1.  Buzz makes slightly more money than me and I'm sure a few others on this board.  I prefer we not bring up personal net worth and income.  It's irrelevant to this discussion and I promise you in a couple years when I am earning more than Buzz I won't bring it up on this board.  That might have been the most rediculous thing you've said yet.

2.  None of the teams you listed are in the Big East.  You just named off six of the top ten most successful schools in NCAAB history.  What's your point since no one thinks or expects Marquette is competing with these schools on a recruiting basis?

3.  Stop acting like Marquette is some kind of underdog in the Big East.  Take McDermott away from Creighton and the only schools who may get more talented recruits are Georgetown and Villanova.  I'd suggest you look back at recent recruiting classes before assuming we're consistently less talented as reality doesn't fit your opinion on this one.

4.  Buzz can continue to instill himself into this program.  He's done a good job with his work ethic but I think we've reached his ceiling unless he's willing to adjust his philosophy to fit with a program headed in the right direction in terms of success.  Producers in any industry always are your most difficult to manage because they know their value.  If Buzz's aspirations for the program is to win a championship then he will have to be more flexible with the more talented recruits or he won't get the talented recruits and our program will diminish in terms of success.

5.  You may not like how both the world and high major college basketball work.  Sometimes i don't like how it works, but I've aligned myself with that same reality rather than stand in opposition to it.

6.  Since my first attempt at a rather quality analogy regarding talent either was blatantly discounted without thought or went over your head, I've found another good question for you.  Let's say you have been wrongly accused and being prosecuted for a murder.  You didn't commit a crime and are facing a life sentence.  Would you rather have the hardest working lawyer who passed his BAR exam on the 4th try with a mixed bag of results in run of the mill criminal trials or do you want the hot shot attorney who you rarely hear from for long stretches yet has a spotless trial record resulting in zero convictions for his clients?  Talent is paramount in life and in basketball.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

1.  Buzz makes slightly more money than me and I'm sure a few others on this board.  I prefer we not bring up personal net worth and income.  It's irrelevant to this discussion and I promise you in a couple years when I am earning more than Buzz I won't bring it up on this board.  That might have been the most rediculous thing you've said yet.

2.  None of the teams you listed are in the Big East.  You just named off six of the top ten most successful schools in NCAAB history.  What's your point since no one thinks or expects Marquette is competing with these schools on a recruiting basis?

3.  Stop acting like Marquette is some kind of underdog in the Big East.  Take McDermott away from Creighton and the only schools who may get more talented recruits are Georgetown and Villanova.  I'd suggest you look back at recent recruiting classes before assuming we're consistently less talented as reality doesn't fit your opinion on this one.

4.  Buzz can continue to instill himself into this program.  He's done a good job with his work ethic but I think we've reached his ceiling unless he's willing to adjust his philosophy to fit with a program headed in the right direction in terms of success.  Producers in any industry always are your most difficult to manage because they know their value.  If Buzz's aspirations for the program is to win a championship then he will have to be more flexible with the more talented recruits or he won't get the talented recruits and our program will diminish in terms of success.

5.  You may not like how both the world and high major college basketball work.  Sometimes i don't like how it works, but I've aligned myself with that same reality rather than stand in opposition to it.

6.  Since my first attempt at a rather quality analogy regarding talent either was blatantly discounted without thought or went over your head, I've found another good question for you.  Let's say you have been wrongly accused and being prosecuted for a murder.  You didn't commit a crime and are facing a life sentence.  Would you rather have the hardest working lawyer who passed his BAR exam on the 4th try with a mixed bag of results in run of the mill criminal trials or do you want the hot shot attorney who you rarely hear from for long stretches yet has a spotless trial record resulting in zero convictions for his clients?  Talent is paramount in life and in basketball.

You make some valid points, but you're comparing brain vs. brawn. Different animal altogether. If the choice was between having A Jake Thomas or Chris Otule type lawyer or a Mayo/Gardner type, I'll go with the former. We don't have any hot shot lawyers on this team. But we've got a helluva impartial judge.

Your case is dismissed.

[mattyv1908]

You make some valid points, but you're comparing brain vs. brawn. Different animal altogether. If the choice was between having A Jake Thomas or Chris Otule type lawyer or a Mayo/Gardner type, I'll go with the former. We don't have any hot shot lawyers on this team. But we've got a helluva impartial judge.

Your case is dismissed.

Can you please reconsider your statement.

Without Otule this team probably still goes 17-15.  Without Gardner we'd be lucky to have 10 wins.  Mayo probably would have been awarded 8-9 SotG awards on this board if our team actually would have utilized his out of this world efforts to keep us in games.  @Nova, @Providence, St Johns come to mind without giving it much thought.

I hope Buzz changes and grows.  I hope he doesn't abandon his philosophy as it is what has gotten this team where he's taken it but to take it to the next level (final fours, championships) he'll need to adapt to the talent quality and babysitting that comes along with having those players.  Our recruiting classes are getting better and therefore Buzz is now coaching a different type of player than he was previously and it's his job to adjust.

And probably the only example in Buzz's coaching career at MU of a non celebrated player coming out of highschool changing himself in four years into a dominant offensive force is Davante Gardner.  Derrick, Jake and to a lesser extent Chris never elevated their games the way Gardner has and he's the guy that Buzz is always the hardest on.  The best example of a kid outplaying his talent level is the one who isn't given a pass doesn't make sense to me.  If Buzz really values taking kids with a limited skill set and transforming them into success stories through hard work Gardner should be the object of Buzz's celebration, not the guy on the team that hasn't improved in three seasons one single bit other than logging more minutes (sorry Derrick but it's true).

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Can you please reconsider your statement.

Without Otule this team probably still goes 17-15.  Without Gardner we'd be lucky to have 10 wins.  Mayo probably would have been awarded 8-9 SotG awards on this board if our team actually would have utilized his out of this world efforts to keep us in games.  @Nova, @Providence, St Johns come to mind without giving it much thought.

I hope Buzz changes and grows.  I hope he doesn't abandon his philosophy as it is what has gotten this team where he's taken it but to take it to the next level (final fours, championships) he'll need to adapt to the talent quality and babysitting that comes along with having those players.  Our recruiting classes are getting better and therefore Buzz is now coaching a different type of player than he was previously and it's his job to adjust.

And probably the only example in Buzz's coaching career at MU of a non celebrated player coming out of highschool changing himself in four years into a dominant offensive force is Davante Gardner.  Derrick, Jake and to a lesser extent Chris never elevated their games the way Gardner has and he's the guy that Buzz is always the hardest on.  The best example of a kid outplaying his talent level is the one who isn't given a pass doesn't make sense to me.  If Buzz really values taking kids with a limited skill set and transforming them into success stories through hard work Gardner should be the object of Buzz's celebration, not the guy on the team that hasn't improved in three seasons one single bit other than logging more minutes (sorry Derrick but it's true).

I agree with this post and I think the part I bolded is your best point and one I haven't considered. You are right!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Consider this. Marquette will NEVER have the most talent in the Big East. never. We didn't last year and we shared the title.

If nothing else, this season has proven to me that we have fans who are completely ignorant of who Buzz has been since he got here.

If anything, I like him more now than ever before. He's not gonna sell out for some whiny fans.

In this Big East, I don't know why we couldn't have the best talent some years.  I truly don't agree with that.....the years prior Big East, agree, but not this iteration.  For those that judge high school talent by the RSCI, I believe MU is either #1 or #2 in top 100 kids the last 5 years of the programs still in the Big East.  There are flaws with the RSCI, but I'm merely pointing out that recruiting experts believe the talent acquired by MU has been good.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

"Christon gets all the way to the hoop.
None of the help defenders were even in a defensive stance.  All standing basically straight up.

Why is this a big deal?
This is a win or go home game.   At this point a tie game in the last seconds of the half at the end of the season.  And the players arent even focused enough to guard where they should or get in a stance to help and recover.

Lack of focus and effort.  Hard to understand.  Especially from your senior leaders..."

This was the tale of the game. No rotation on defense. X allowed to drive to the hoop at will. And the last play of the 1st half was pathetic. Enough blame to go around from coaching staff to disconnected execution. No play ,no plan even after a timeout.


To top it all off, that lineup on the floor was in for defensive purposes only as a TO was taken right before the half.
If Jamil would have stepped in and taken a charge on that play, it would have been foul #3 on Christon.
Ball goes thru the hole with maybe 3-4 seconds left.  Could have passed it in and got a shot off.  Instead everyone, notably Jamil and Juan go running out towards half court with no one to in-bound.  Jamil eventually goes back to in-bound and clock runs out.  No shot attempt.  Whoever was closest to the ball should have got it in-bounds to allow for a shot.  Inexplicably, the same player has to in-bound every time.  When you have a constantly changing line-up, I assume that causes these brain farts with simple execution.

[NersEllenson]

Glad you noticed that play - I was absolutely stunned when that happened. And that is why we want the seniors on the floor? Cuz Buzz thrusts them? Just low basketball IQ.

Something is wrong there. Similar to never ever going two for one possessions at the end of a half. If Mack can do it why can't Buzz. There is no logical/illogical reason not to.

Did you notice how Christon's make landed right in Juan's hands and he basically just dropped the ball under the basket and ran up the court, leaving Mayo standing there?  Mayo looked at Juan like WTF...

But, I also feel that due to all of the rotations theatrics, in/out, in/out - we don't have designated inbound guy in a situation like that...perhaps Juan thought Jamil was going to do it, and Jamil thought Juan would due to little time left on clock...

What was most annoying about it all was we once again called timeout to the the A defensive team on the floor, and Christon abused it...much like has happened all year with a good guard on the other team..yet we supposedly have such a lockdown defender in Derrick...why wasn't he guarding Christon??  Most coaches assign their defensive stopper to the best player all the time...perhaps maybe he just isn't so elite after all?

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

If you want to blame somebody for our lack of success, stop blaming Buzz and start looking at the reasons Mayo couldn't beat out Thomas or a talented guy like Davante couldn't unseat a marginal player like Otule. If the effort was even close, I'm betting the story would be different.

Davante did not start for one reason, and one reason only. Otule wins nearly every tip he does, Davante would barely win any, and it was evident early in the season that Davante cannot play the 4. Pretty simple really.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Just read PRN and mattys banter. Quite entertaining.