"Buzz should be fired immediately."

[Sharpie]

In looking back at this season there is no doubt in my mind that Buzz knew he was leaving. Aside from crazy coaching seems like a different guy and it was not due to pressure. Being MU coach is far from a pressure cooker.

Do think it is funny that he did get more heat than I thought he would for the way he handled this team. I know I was not alone about checking out on this team early and I mean early. A year ago today I was nursing serious hangover post Miami S16 win and by News Year Day this year was completely disconnected from the team's success or failure.

First time in last ten years I checked out on the season as well.

[BenCat12]

You're a guy that I disagree with a lot - but I agree totally with your statements here.

It's funny I was thinking the same thing about you.  I could have sworn you were one of the slurpers that would come to Buzz's rescue anytime I would write a criticism.  What changed?  Was I right all this time or have you lost your mind?

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

The bolded paragraph is completely false.  If you look at the physical talent of the returning guys and incoming freshmen, the cupboard would have been as full as it has ever been during Buzz's tenure.  Still could be if they can find a coach that can keep the incoming recruits.  The future is very bright......with the right coach

LMAO!!! You do not know how to evaluate talent.  They are not an NCAA tourney team next year or the year after.  Tell me the sophomores and juniors that are going to be great and carry this team........   I'm waiting......  

[BenCat12]

LMAO!!! You do not know how to evaluate talent.  They are not an NCAA tourney team next year or the year after.  Tell me the sophomores and juniors that are going to be great and carry this team........   I'm waiting......  

A starting lineup of Fischer, Taylor, Burton, Mayo and Duane Wilson and a bench of
Hill, Dawson, Anderson, Pierce, Shayok and Harris definitely has the physical ability to finish in the top 3 in the BE next year and earn a tourney spot.

Tell me again what makes your opinion more valid than anyone elses?  Would love to hear your credentials.  
Again, your glasses may be a little too dark.

[Tums Festival]

I think we can all agree that Brett's coaching performance this season was both bizarre and frustrating to watch. As for why he coached the team the way he did, who knows, but it was definitely much different from the way he did his first five years. I think most fans would've forgiven him if he had tried everything he could to get better results, but he didn't make any real adjustments to try and make the team better.

[NersEllenson]

LMAO!!! You do not know how to evaluate talent.  They are not an NCAA tourney team next year or the year after.  Tell me the sophomores and juniors that are going to be great and carry this team........   I'm waiting......  

Do you feel we should have been an NCAA tournament team this past season based on the talent on the roster?

[brandx]

Brandx

That was my exit time as well. Prior to halftime of Creighton game at Creighton.

I still watched many of the games afterwards - but it wasn't priority anymore.

[brandx]

It's funny I was thinking the same thing about you.  I could have sworn you were one of the slurpers that would come to Buzz's rescue anytime I would write a criticism.  What changed?  Was I right all this time or have you lost your mind?

Nope - you were right.  I did criticize his coaching a lot this year, but on a macro level, I defended him.

[NersEllenson]

I think we can all agree that Brett's coaching performance this season was both bizarre and frustrating to watch. As for why he coached the team the way he did, who knows, but it was definitely much different from the way he did his first five years. I think most fans would've forgiven him if he had tried everything he could to get better results, but he didn't make any real adjustments to try and make the team better.

I tend to disagree with bolded, as I feel Buzz made ALL kinds of adjustments to try to make the team better - except for the most obvious one..and the only change he didn't try to make - Point Guard.

His on/off starting lineup of Derrick, Jake, Juan, Jamil and Otule was a JOKE.  People want to blame Jamil...yeah..he didn't have a great year...but what the hell do we think other coaches were game planning for on their defensive schemes with that travesty of a lineup??

Buzz gave more minutes to Derrick than any other player.  Point guard is most important position on floor.  When you have a guy who WON'T shoot outside of 3 feet from basket, has made 2, career 3 point FGs through the end of his junior season, that shoots 46% from the FT Line - im-freaking-possible to win at this level with that guy getting 32+ minutes per game.  Derrick would be a GREAT backup PG - Buzz insisted on trying to make him the team leader/man...you can still be a good leader and not have to play 32 minutes a game when your production warrants the exact opposite..

[CAGASS24]

Is he a high level D1 quality of X's and O's guy - maybe, maybe not - but its not like he didn't know more than 99.9% of the people in this world do about X's and O's of basketball - he's been doing nothing the last 20 years - I think at times he got too caught up in the analytics versus the feel of the game, but likely because he was never a player

[BenCat12]

Trust me I defended him early in his time here, too.  Who could argue with his results?  But as time went by I saw him for what he was.  I even wrote a long post explaining it back in January, he was a good motivator, a good recruiter, and a below average coach.   Believe the same to be true today.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

A starting lineup of Fischer, Taylor, Burton, Mayo and Duane Wilson and a bench of
Hill, Dawson, Anderson, Pierce, Shayok and Harris definitely has the physical ability to finish in the top 3 in the BE next year and earn a tourney spot.

Tell me again what makes your opinion more valid than anyone elses?  Would love to hear your credentials.  
Again, your glasses may be a little too dark.

What has Fischer done?  Steve Taylor was up and down and is a SF, Mayo is a #2, Wilson is a question mark as we don't know how he will fit in, and with Burton starting you now have a very undersized team.  Not one of these people can create their own shot.  The shooting range is pretty lackluster as well.  Mayo is the only one who can shoot and his effort is questionable.   None of the guys below are proven.  Not to mention... some might go to different schools.   *shakes head*  Plus, tell me how often Freshman make serious contributions.  Take a look at Buzz's tenure.  How many Freshman played significant minutes or sophomores?  

Hill - Freshman
Dawson - Sophomore
Anderson - Garbage
Pierce - Freshman
Shayok - Wants to open recruitment
Harris - Freshman
Sandy Cohen - You Forgot - Might be the best recruit out of all - if he stays.  

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Do you feel we should have been an NCAA tournament team this past season based on the talent on the roster?

This year, during the preseason, I thought we were a bubble team after Vander Blue leaving.  My thought process was that the team would go as far as the PG situation would take them.  At that time, D. Wilson was an unknown.   Having realized that there wasn't much hype about him, I assumed it would be a baptism by fire.  Todd Mayo seemed like he would improve and solidify the 2 spot with Vander leaving, so I thought we were ok there. 

Otherwise, I thought we would have a robust interior defense with J. Wilson and Otule, with Gardner showing up here and there.  As long as we could pass the ball down low, we'd be able to score on smaller teams.  Best case scenario... I thought we seemed like a Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh team.  Physical up front, but questionable in the backcourt. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

He didn't tank the season on purpose.

However, that doesn't mean that certain players saw less playing times than they should for personal reasons

[NersEllenson]

This year, during the preseason, I thought we were a bubble team after Vander Blue leaving.  My thought process was that the team would go as far as the PG situation would take them.  At that time, D. Wilson was an unknown.   Having realized that there wasn't much hype about him, I assumed it would be a baptism by fire.  Todd Mayo seemed like he would improve and solidify the 2 spot with Vander leaving, so I thought we were ok there. 

Otherwise, I thought we would have a robust interior defense with J. Wilson and Otule, with Gardner showing up here and there.  As long as we could pass the ball down low, we'd be able to score on smaller teams.  Best case scenario... I thought we seemed like a Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh team.  Physical up front, but questionable in the backcourt. 

Solid analysis.  Buzz blew it by not maxing Todd and Gardner's minutes from the get go.  Clearly the two most talented players.  Thought his fuse was way too short with DAwson given the alternative.  In your other point though, regarding the returning players - Burton can create a shot for himself any time he wants, and I'd argue Mayo as well.  Think Dawson and Duane can step up a lot next year and greatly improve our production at PG.  Fischer is a question mark, but thought to be skilled.  I'm still pretty optimistic for next year's team, provided these core guys stay which it sounds like they will:  Duane, Dawson, Burton, Fischer.  Think Buzz leaving actually HELPS us retain JJJ and Steve Taylor.  Juan and Derrick can provide solid back up minutes.  Not counting on any of the freshman being on team next year...other than perhaps Cohen.

[MarsupialMadness]

I think Buzz has known he was gone (for whatever reason) for a while now.

[BenCat12]

What has Fischer done?  Steve Taylor was up and down and is a SF, Mayo is a #2, Wilson is a question mark as we don't know how he will fit in, and with Burton starting you now have a very undersized team.  Not one of these people can create their own shot.  The shooting range is pretty lackluster as well.  Mayo is the only one who can shoot and his effort is questionable.   None of the guys below are proven.  Not to mention... some might go to different schools.   *shakes head*  Plus, tell me how often Freshman make serious contributions.  Take a look at Buzz's tenure.  How many Freshman played significant minutes or sophomores?  

Hill - Freshman
Dawson - Sophomore
Anderson - Garbage
Pierce - Freshman
Shayok - Wants to open recruitment
Harris - Freshman
Sandy Cohen - You Forgot - Might be the best recruit out of all - if he stays.  

Mr. Expert Talent Evaluator.  Fischer, Burton, Johnson, Du.Wilson, Cohen and Hill are all top 100 players in their classes, according to real experts.  The whole premise behind this was that the players on the team were staying and all the 2014 recruits are still coming.   There is plenty of talent on the roster if it stays intact.  The 2015-16 season could've been special if everything would have stayed together.  Hopefully the new coach can keep as much in tact as possible and bring some of his own guys to fill the void.  Fischer Burton and Du. Wilson is a very strong foundation.    Point is, the cupboard is definitely not bare.

[MattyWarrior]

Won't have much of a bench nomatter whowe hire

[PistolPete]

I think Buzz has known he was gone (for whatever reason) for a while now.

I agree, I'm just not sure how he would benefit from throwing the season away. He made several decisions that would support the theory though.

The whole situation is peculiar. Did Buzz express interest the BC or Wake vacancies? Would they have been interested? Wouldn't those be considered better jobs than VT?

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Mr. Expert Talent Evaluator.  Fischer, Burton, Johnson, Du.Wilson, Cohen and Hill are all top 100 players in their classes, according to real experts.  

Being a Top 100 player means nothing.  Look at all the McDonald's All Americans Duke gets.  Many of those guys end up being bench players.  Kansas has two of the top 3 NBA picks and they were ousted in the 2nd round.  Freshman are inconsistent and being a top 100 player doesn't entitle you to being good.  Remember Brian Butch?  He redshirted his freshman year..... McD's All American.  

[BenCat12]

Being a Top 100 player means nothing.  Look at all the McDonald's All Americans Duke gets.  Many of those guys end up being bench players.  Kansas has two of the top 3 NBA picks and they were ousted in the 2nd round.  Freshman are inconsistent and being a top 100 player doesn't entitle you to being good.  Remember Brian Butch?  He redshirted his freshman year..... McD's All American.  

You are hopeless.  So only your talent evaluation matters?  Than why discuss it?  Just sit there quiet with your own thoughts.....

Scouting services who watch these kids multiple times in high school, AAU, etc..=Don't matter
I personally have seen Burton, Du. Wilson, and Fischer a dozen times each in high school=Don't matter
MikeDeanesDarkGlasses=Matters

[Niv Berkowitz]

Can we all stop hammering Buzz in hindsight on what a garbage coach he was?

He wasn't great his final season so I understand that left a bad taste in anyone's mouth. And yeah, he was peculiar/eccentric. But he was a great coach. Whether it's X's or O's, or the 'motivational' coach. Either way, he wore the C and did a great job here. Even if he was more motivator than coach, doesn't make him bad. Just means he stood a better chance of guys tuning him out. Maybe that's what happened. That and the fact that maybe this year's seniors weren't as good of leaders/learners as the past ones. I think it's a little bit of both those things. Because, you don't get a top 10 national recruiting class if you suck.

But to me, he elevated guys like Wes, Butler, Lazar, DJO, and Crowder to play beyond their potential. Not many coaches could have done what he did to those guys. And if everyone can take off their goggles, EVERYONE thought MU's team the year following Wes/Jerel/Dom was going to be bad. Then, after Lazar left, we all said, "oh, THIS is the year we'll be terrible" and it never, ever happened.

Time may have been for him to go and he may not have done great this last season, but to act like he sucked and "deep down I really didn't like that guy" talk is for the birds.

[brandx]

Being a Top 100 player means nothing.  Look at all the McDonald's All Americans Duke gets.  Many of those guys end up being bench players.  Kansas has two of the top 3 NBA picks and they were ousted in the 2nd round.  Freshman are inconsistent and being a top 100 player doesn't entitle you to being good.  Remember Brian Butch?  He redshirted his freshman year..... McD's All American.  

It's all about the system. Wiggins "struggled"  because they didn't have a PG to run Self's system. (Of course, that is Self's fault). The good recruiter's aren't necessarily the guys who get top 100 players, but the guys who can project the good players into the system that they run.

[Tums Festival]

I tend to disagree with bolded, as I feel Buzz made ALL kinds of adjustments to try to make the team better - except for the most obvious one..and the only change he didn't try to make - Point Guard.

His on/off starting lineup of Derrick, Jake, Juan, Jamil and Otule was a JOKE.  People want to blame Jamil...yeah..he didn't have a great year...but what the hell do we think other coaches were game planning for on their defensive schemes with that travesty of a lineup??

Buzz gave more minutes to Derrick than any other player.  Point guard is most important position on floor.  When you have a guy who WON'T shoot outside of 3 feet from basket, has made 2, career 3 point FGs through the end of his junior season, that shoots 46% from the FT Line - im-freaking-possible to win at this level with that guy getting 32+ minutes per game.  Derrick would be a GREAT backup PG - Buzz insisted on trying to make him the team leader/man...you can still be a good leader and not have to play 32 minutes a game when your production warrants the exact opposite..

Let me re-phrase it to he didn't do enough to try and make the team better. Playing Derrick the most minutes on the team and making almost no effort to ease Dawson into the lineup more were both very puzzling.

[barfolomew]

I think Buzz has known he was gone (for whatever reason) for a while now.

I am the farthest thing from a conspiracy theorist there is (conformity theorist?), but there are many signs pointing to this not being a spur-of-the-moment decision to leave for a better job.

I have been wondering this week if Bazz didn't go into this year with the Texas job firmly in his mind, but was foiled by Barnes' job-saving season...