Poll: When will you be convinced about Wojo?

[The Lens]

Oh I agree.  And there wasn't really a natural candidate when O'Neill left either.

But that's why programs like Butler and Xavier have been successful.

That's why I would pay Stan Johnson as much as he wants each year so if Wojo ever leaves, the next best candidate is sitting right there.

[Goose]

bilsu

MU not being prepared after firing a coach or one leaving is shame on them. They always should have a target list and some knowledge of their interest. This is especially true if they fire a guy. They knew KO and Buzz were long gone before they left and you need to be prepared in advance. To best my knowledge they were not.

[muwarrior69]

bilsu

MU not being prepared after firing a coach or one leaving is shame on them. They always should have a target list and some knowledge of their interest. This is especially true if they fire a guy. They knew KO and Buzz were long gone before they left and you need to be prepared in advance. To best my knowledge they were not.

Well in all fairness the Administration was going out the door at the same time; Buzz just turned off the lights.

[muwarrior69]

If it had been a choice, I would have voted:

None of the above.

What will it take to convince me about Wojo as a coach? Well, I'm already convinced; I think he's a good coach with the potential to be a very good to excellent one.

Although I consider myself as big a Marquette fan as anybody, I think I look at things a little differently from many here.

First, it's just a game. I want to win. I'm wearing Marquette garb as I sit at my computer right now. I watch every game on TV and pay some pretty big bucks to attend some road games every year. Looking forward to the game at Georgia next month, and I'll cheer my arse off as I wear my blue and gold amidst all those red-and-black-clad fans. Nevertheless, my personal pride and self-worth are not based on the success or failure of a college basketball program. I didn't hide the fact that I was a Marquette alum when we struggled in Wojo's first season.

Also, I'm an optimistic guy who starts from a point of positivism. So I already think Wojo has done a fine job as a recruiter and I already think his game coaching has improved and I already think his team show significant progress last season. Things can get better, to be sure - that is true for every coach but one every single season. (Heck, I am in my fourth season as a middle-school coach and we won the first championship in school history last season, but I still expect improvement out of myself.)

For me, the better question would have been, "What it would take to convince you that Wojo will NOT succeed," because I already think he is succeeding and I firmly believe he will continue to do so.

Have a great day, everybody!

Odd how some of us realize that as we get older.

[bilsu]

bilsu

MU not being prepared after firing a coach or one leaving is shame on them. They always should have a target list and some knowledge of their interest. This is especially true if they fire a guy. They knew KO and Buzz were long gone before they left and you need to be prepared in advance. To best my knowledge they were not.

I am not sure why you have this response. Someone, maybe you, posted that Xavier, with the exception of Matta was promoting within and that gave the program continuity. While I agree with you that MU should have a plan in place, I do not think that would include hiring an assistant from a team that played poorly enough that the coach was fired, which is what I referring to and nothing else. Generally, you are going to clean house.

I do think they had a plan in place when they fired Dean. They had observed Crean in action during the NCAA tournament and they were impressed with him.

Please correct me, if my memory is wrong. The way I remember it they hired Buzz after all the candidates they considered turn down MU.

Maybe their plan was to hire Shaka when Buzz left and he also turned MU down. I believe at that time MU did not have a permanent athletic director, which may of hindered the hiring process.

With MU's tradition and basketball budget you would think it would be easy for MU to hire a successful coach, but it is not and that is a head scratcher to me.

[MUFan2007]

After Wojo takes this team, and the next two to the NCAA's.  I'm really surprised to read some don't believe this year's team isn't NCAA caliber.  In fact, I think this year's team will be better than next year's.  This is an extremely talented and deep team at ALL positions.

Yet next year will mark Wojo's 4th year at the helm, Duane and Rowsey will be 5th year seniors.  Traci, Haanif, and Heldt will be very experienced upperclassmen, and Howard and Hauser will be one more year along.

MU should be a consistent NCAA team, with it being an exception to the rule for MU to miss an NCAA given our legacy, history, and investment into Men's Basketball.

All this said, I doubt Wojo will reach the levels of Tom Crean and Buzz Williams based on what I've seen thus far. 

[Marcus92]

Looking back to Kevin O'Neill, for example, he may have been exactly what Marquette needed at the time. I really enjoyed seeing the team come together and improve from 1990-91 to 1993-94. That win against Kentucky to advance to the Sweet 16 is one of my all-time favorite games.

But he's also held 9 different jobs since leaving MU in 1994. He just wasn't likely to stick around. In fact, O'Neill's 5 seasons with Marquette was the longest he's spent at any one place throughout his entire career. And unfortunately, that's true of most head coaches.

Very few coaches find the perfect fit — a place where they can win consistently (the right conference, talent/recruiting, university alignment/resources/support), where they feel both comfortable and challenged (these guys are incredibly competitive and driven), where they like to live (weather, community), where they'll be rewarded enough not to look elsewhere, where they feel appreciated and won't wear out their welcome over time.

At the same time, I don't think the continued success of schools like Xavier or Villanova comes down to nothing more than luck.

[MU82]

bilsu

MU not being prepared after firing a coach or one leaving is shame on them. They always should have a target list and some knowledge of their interest. This is especially true if they fire a guy. They knew KO and Buzz were long gone before they left and you need to be prepared in advance. To best my knowledge they were not.

According to most reports, MU was prepared to hire Shaka, and he was extremely close to accepting. MU then turned to Plan B, Wojo.

How much more "prepared" should they have been? Not being trite - would really appreciate your perspective.

[Golden Avalanche]

Interesting that some hold Xavier as a program to emulate. The rare ability to transfer success through four assistant hires has masked a program riddled with off the court issues. Some of those same issues have put those emulating X on a moral pedestal looking down at Marquette. Funny how that happens.

[Marcus92]

Interesting that some hold Xavier as a program to emulate. The rare ability to transfer success through four assistant hires has masked a program riddled with off the court issues. Some of those same issues have put those emulating X on a moral pedestal looking down at Marquette. Funny how that happens.

I think posters were specifically referring to on-court results. But it would be interesting to know if Xavier's coaching succession has led to relaxed player standards or certain things being taken for granted.

Or perhaps there's something in Cincinnati's water that causes thuggishness.

[Galway Eagle]

After Wojo takes this team, and the next two to the NCAA's.  I'm really surprised to read some don't believe this year's team isn't NCAA caliber.  In fact, I think this year's team will be better than next year's.  This is an extremely talented and deep team at ALL positions.

Yet next year will mark Wojo's 4th year at the helm, Duane and Rowsey will be 5th year seniors.  Traci, Haanif, and Heldt will be very experienced upperclassmen, and Howard and Hauser will be one more year along.

MU should be a consistent NCAA team, with it being an exception to the rule for MU to miss an NCAA given our legacy, history, and investment into Men's Basketball.

All this said, I doubt Wojo will reach the levels of Tom Crean and Buzz Williams based on what I've seen thus far.

What exactly is the "level of Tom crean" I mean beyond the FF we're talking three NITs (one of which would never happen now days) and 4 NCAA early exits, in fact even the FF year we were dangerously close to a repeat of Tulsa the year before. I'd say that Crean is where our program should be minimum, Buzz is what we should expect and Nova is what we should strive for

[Goose]

Wojo was not second choice but was on the list. Shaka was target and almost landed him. They were better prepared on the Buzz exit but far from perfect IMO.

[wadesworld]

Wojo was not second choice but was on the list. Shaka was target and almost landed him. They were better prepared on the Buzz exit but far from perfect IMO.

Shaka was the main target.  They went after him hard and almost had him.

Cuonzo, Ben, and Steve were all guys they wanted to consider if they did not get Shaka, and they were all guys they did consider.  Steve impressed them by far the most, and Doc had a say in that.

[MUFan2007]

What exactly is the "level of Tom crean" I mean beyond the FF we're talking three NITs (one of which would never happen now days) and 4 NCAA early exits, in fact even the FF year we were dangerously close to a repeat of Tulsa the year before. I'd say that Crean is where our program should be minimum, Buzz is what we should expect and Nova is what we should strive for

I agree.  Which ultimately means I'm not sold on Wojo as of yet.  As I wrote, he gets this year's team to the NCAA (as he should), and the next two teams - I'll be "sold" in the sense that he's a solid hire.

That said, I simply don't think he has the coaching/motivational skills that Buzz and Crean had.  I suspect the ceiling with Wojo will be early exits from NCAA tourneys as we saw with Crean - yet there won't be a Final Four on his resume. 

[GGGG]

I agree.  Which ultimately means I'm not sold on Wojo as of yet.  As I wrote, he gets this year's team to the NCAA (as he should), and the next two teams - I'll be "sold" in the sense that he's a solid hire.

That said, I simply don't think he has the coaching/motivational skills that Buzz and Crean had.  I suspect the ceiling with Wojo will be early exits from NCAA tourneys as we saw with Crean - yet there won't be a Final Four on his resume. 

Wojo hasn't been dealing with a complete roster yet.  I think patience is the key. 

[Marcus92]

Somehow I just realized that options 1 and 2 say essentially the same thing. If we win more games this season (21+), we're most likely going to earn an NCAA bid.

[Disco Hippie]

With MU's tradition and basketball budget you would think it would be easy for MU to hire a successful coach, but it is not and that is a head scratcher to me.

It's tough to get people to move to a place where it's the dead of winter 8.5 /12 months of the year.

[brewcity77]

Somehow I just realized that options 1 and 2 say essentially the same thing. If we win more games this season (21+), we're most likely going to earn an NCAA bid.

Only way we miss with 21 wins is if we self ban like Syracuse or Louisville.

[MUFan2007]

Wojo hasn't been dealing with a complete roster yet.  I think patience is the key.

I hope you are right.  I was a little underwhelmed last year with the in-game coaching, strategy, rotation (or lack thereof).  This year really should give us a good idea of what we have in Wojo.  An NCAA bid would be the minimum in my book as far as expectation given the experience and talent across all positions on this roster (sans the 4).  Think this team has Sweet 16 potential with great* coaching.

[MU82]

Wojo was not second choice but was on the list. Shaka was target and almost landed him. They were better prepared on the Buzz exit but far from perfect IMO.

You're contradicting yourself some here, Goose.

The Marquette leaders were about as prepared as they could have been when Buzz left. They had a target, they went after him hard, they had a Plan B, and they executed it. Again, I'm not sure what they could have or should have done differently.

KO's successor ... that's another story.

[GoldenDieners32]

where is shaka now?? Texas right?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Shaka was the main target.  They went after him hard and almost had him.

Cuonzo, Ben, and Steve were all guys they wanted to consider if they did not get Shaka, and they were all guys they did consider.  Steve impressed them by far the most, and Doc had a say in that.

FIFY

[GGGG]

You're contradicting yourself some here, Goose.

The Marquette leaders were about as prepared as they could have been when Buzz left. They had a target, they went after him hard, they had a Plan B, and they executed it. Again, I'm not sure what they could have or should have done differently.

KO's successor ... that's another story.

It didn't help that there was an interim athletic director in place either.

But really it's not as though there was some can't miss candidate out there that they ignored.  Wojo fit the profile of what Marquette wants the basketball program to be.  To date, he has done OK.  He has recruited well.  Hasn't built a fortress around himself and the team on campus.  Now he has to perform.  If he does, everyone will be happy.  If he doesn't, he'll be gone.

[shoothoops]

What I would like to see is the completion of the rebuilding process, and a long term reloading process. This would mean top 25 program, NCAA's almost annually.  This would include trips to the second weekend or sweet 16 mixed in there. And, once in a while, a deeper run. This would also include challenging for regular season league titles once in a while, while regularly finishing in the top tier.  This would also include being very competitive in the higher profile non-conference games, such as Wisconsin, etc...I will, and I am giving Wojo time to get there.  But the above are my expectations, whether the coach is Wojo or anybody else.  I believe he can do these things. We will wait and see if they happen.  While the above may be expecting a lot for some, those are what I expect and what I believe can be achieved at Marquette.  I would be very happy with that.

[wadesworld]

FIFY

They looked into Howland, and (probably quickly) decided he would not be the guy for the job.