Wojo radio show

[tower912]

http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/page.php?page_id=431

Energy good, execution at crucial times isn't.

[LAMUfan]

lots of praise for wojo from Bilas, almost to a fault.  I do really like having that guy on our side from an exposure standpoint, will def talk up MU if we are any good.

[tower912]

Bilas with an impassioned defense of Wojo.   Bilas says that he is a great guy who will be a great coach, but that it there are difficult spots when building something.  

[tower912]

To win in the Big East, need to cut down on turnovers.     Enjoyed STjr's performance.   Juan is an elite defender.   Juan needs to not 'create' offense, but needs to take what the defense gives him.   If he works hard, points will come.

[WarriorPride68]

Bilas says same thing about Mike Brey, Chris Collins, Quinn Snyder, ect.

Dook sticks together

[tower912]

Sandy is multi-skilled.    A good shooter.   Possibly the most positive attitude on the team.    He has earned the minutes he has received and will continue to play. 

[tower912]

Juan is as good as anyone in the country at the top of the 1-3-1.   Derrick is awesome down low.   Derrick is an elite level defender.    Tough kid.   Rebounds as anyone his size in the country. 

[GGGG]

Juan is as good as anyone in the country at the top of the 1-3-1.   Derrick is awesome down low.   Derrick is an elite level defender.    Tough kid.   Rebounds as anyone his size in the country. 

Uh oh....

[tower912]

Yup.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Holding my breath

[wadesworld]

Sandy is multi-skilled.    A good shooter.   Possibly the most positive attitude on the team.    He has earned the minutes he has received and will continue to play. 

Hopefully he doesn't mean earned them based on how he practices.  I thought we got rid of that guy!

[MU82]

Bilas with an impassioned defense of Wojo.   Bilas says that he is a great guy who will be a great coach, but that it there are difficult spots when building something.  

Yep. The coach who won his 1000th game today would have been pillaried on this kind of fan board his first two years at Duke.

[Wojo'sMojo]

Juan is as good as anyone in the country at the top of the 1-3-1.   Derrick is awesome down low.   Derrick is an elite level defender.    Tough kid.   Rebounds as anyone his size in the country. 

Neither Derrick or Juan are elite level defenders. Take off your MU blinders and look at things objectively. They are both below average offensively, so you try to pump them up to be these elite defenders. Not even close to elite.

[wadesworld]

Neither Derrick or Juan are elite level defenders. Take off your MU blinders and look at things objectively. They are both below average offensively, so you try to pump them up to be these elite defenders. Not even close to elite.

I wish I could get paid millions to be as clueless at my job as Bert and Wojo are at theirs.

[Newsdreams]

Neither Derrick or Juan are elite level defenders. Take off your MU blinders and look at things objectively. They are both below average offensively, so you try to pump them up to be these elite defenders. Not even close to elite.

Tell that to the new coach, he is the one saying they are good defenders. But I guess he has no experience at the elite high school level. 

[NersEllenson]

Tell that to the new coach, he is the one saying they are good defenders. But I guess he has no experience at the elite high school level. 

Ever heard of a concept called "coach speak?"  I assume you aren't so naive as to believe everything that comes out of the mouth of a head coach as actual truth or the reality of situations.  Furthermore, in this case, both last year and this year, the coach has to come up with some rationale/explanation for why they are playing a guy max minutes when they are so incredibly ineffective and not performing commensurate with their playing time.  Additionally, they resort to things the fan cannot possibly have access to - "playing to the scouting report," "earning their time through practice performance," to try to justify their decision.

End of the day coaches are judged on wins and losses.  Last year's team, and this year's team had/have A LOT of talent - the quality of the decisions made by the head coach will be displayed by the teams record at year end.  Buzz's decisions proved to be awful last season.  Wojo this season?  We'll see.  Team playing hard.  Adjusted well with the zone defense.  But, there are some concerns as far as managing player personnel.  Benching Duane Wilson yesterday for 4 minutes during the crucial 8:00-4:00 stretch of the second half was a real headscratcher.

[mattyv1908]

By most advanced defensive metrics neither Derrick or Juan would be considered elite level defenders.  They may be two of the best defenders on this year's Marquette team, but that doesn't make them elite.

[GooooMarquette]

By most advanced defensive metrics neither Derrick or Juan would be considered elite level defenders.  They may be two of the best defenders on this year's Marquette team, but that doesn't make them elite.

Two of the best defenders on the best defensive team in the Big East?  Not too shabby.

[Texas Western]

Ever heard of a concept called "coach speak?"  I assume you aren't so naive as to believe everything that comes out of the mouth of a head coach as actual truth or the reality of situations.  Furthermore, in this case, both last year and this year, the coach has to come up with some rationale/explanation for why they are playing a guy max minutes when they are so incredibly ineffective and not performing commensurate with their playing time.  Additionally, they resort to things the fan cannot possibly have access to - "playing to the scouting report," "earning their time through practice performance," to try to justify their decision.

End of the day coaches are judged on wins and losses.  Last year's team, and this year's team had/have A LOT of talent - the quality of the decisions made by the head coach will be displayed by the teams record at year end.  Buzz's decisions proved to be awful last season.  Wojo this season?  We'll see.  Team playing hard.  Adjusted well with the zone defense.  But, there are some concerns as far as managing player personnel.  Benching Duane Wilson yesterday for 4 minutes during the crucial 8:00-4:00 stretch of the second half was a real headscratcher.

I was stunned when he put Duane on the bunch during the crunch period. You are absolutely correct about coach speak. Funny how they mention things that the general public doesn't have access to to justify their decisions .  We have lots of talent. If we use it properly we will still be a factor this year. I as encouraged by Saturdays performance if for no other reason than we had two guys hot at the same time.  If we can get to a third strong player in a game we will be a team no one wants to play.

[NersEllenson]

I was stunned when he put Duane on the bunch during the crunch period. You are absolutely correct about coach speak. Funny how they mention things that the general public doesn't have access to to justify their decisions .  We have lots of talent. If we use it properly we will still be a factor this year. I as encouraged by Saturdays performance if for no other reason than we had two guys hot at the same time.  If we can get to a third strong player in a game we will be a team no one wants to play.

Bingo.  There still is plenty of talent on this team to expect it could be an NCAA caliber team with proper usage of talent.  I'm still baffled by how some want to act as if this team had no business winning games this season/being an NCAA caliber team - particularly prior to the departures of Todd, Deonte and John.

[brewcity77]

Yep. The coach who won his 1000th game today would have been pillaried on this kind of fan board his first two years at Duke.

K was nearly fired after his first few years. Inherited a strong program used to success (National Runner Up and Elite 8 in the 3 years before he arrived). His first three years he was 38-47 with two losing seasons. Many fans wanted him gone. Administration gave him one more year.

He made the tourney, and the next 10 after that, winning 2 national titles and going to 5 additional Final Fours. Not sure many successful programs would give any coach that chance today.

[MU82]

K was nearly fired after his first few years. Inherited a strong program used to success (National Runner Up and Elite 8 in the 3 years before he arrived). His first three years he was 38-47 with two losing seasons. Many fans wanted him gone. Administration gave him one more year.

He made the tourney, and the next 10 after that, winning 2 national titles and going to 5 additional Final Fours. Not sure many successful programs would give any coach that chance today.

What a loser that Duke AD was, keeping the guy with the unspellable, unpronouncable name who didn't do much at Army and did even less his first three years at Duke.

Shoulda listened to all the Dookie alums who were high school basketball players and canned his arse!

[79Warrior]

What a loser that Duke AD was, keeping the guy with the unspellable, unpronouncable name who didn't do much at Army and did even less his first three years at Duke.

Shoulda listened to all the Dookie alums who were high school basketball players and canned his arse!

Not just High School players, but elite HS players. I imagine he stares at his trophy every night.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

By most advanced defensive metrics neither Derrick or Juan would be considered elite level defenders.  They may be two of the best defenders on this year's Marquette team, but that doesn't make them elite.

I believe Bama showed us some stats that showed Juan is in the top 100 defenders in the country. I'd call that elite. Derrick is not elite, but I would call him well above average.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Ever heard of a concept called "coach speak?"  I assume you aren't so naive as to believe everything that comes out of the mouth of a head coach as actual truth or the reality of situations.  Furthermore, in this case, both last year and this year, the coach has to come up with some rationale/explanation for why they are playing a guy max minutes when they are so incredibly ineffective and not performing commensurate with their playing time.  Additionally, they resort to things the fan cannot possibly have access to - "playing to the scouting report," "earning their time through practice performance," to try to justify their decision.

Have you ever considered that the "coach speak" is actually true? Maybe the players do really earn it in practice. And to answer your counter question, yes I believe sometimes it is just coach speak. But the is the exception, not the rule. Coaches play the best practice players. That is a fact. I also don't see any evidence that Wojo isn't playing the best players.

Bingo.  There still is plenty of talent on this team to expect it could be an NCAA caliber team with proper usage of talent.  I'm still baffled by how some want to act as if this team had no business winning games this season/being an NCAA caliber team - particularly prior to the departures of Todd, Deonte and John.

I don't think anyone had any real expectations prior to Mayo leaving. And again, Mayo leaving was 100% on Mayo. You can't put that on Wojo at all, so take him off the list.

I am still waiting for you to answer my case study about Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators, 2 time national championship winning coach, 8 former top 100 players, 4 players who were ranked higher than our best player, 2 former consensus top 10 players, no major injuries/off the court issues, have a true PG, have 6 players taller than Steve Taylor, have all of their scholarships filled....yet they have the same record as us. My conclusion is that some times high school rankings are wrong, or sometimes they are right at the time but then players don't develop. What is your conclusion?

If you don't like that case study, I have a few others. Memphis comes to mind. The 12-13 Longhorns come to mind. The 12-13 Kentucky squad comes to mind. Those are just off the top of my head, I'm sure I could come up with more.