Wojo

[GGGG]

Atl MU Warrior

Actually my wife and MIL are like 97% of the MU fans that could care less. They will go to Miss Katie's for pregame, take bus to the nearly empty BC and enjoy socializing before and after games. I on the other hand, have very big concerns over a below average ball program and overall impact it has on the university.

It is funny the glass half full crowd on here. IMO most do not understand the overall impact basketball has on the success of the university. Quite honestly, crossing your fingers and hoping Wojo is a success is not a plan.

So what is your proposed plan?

[Lennys Tap]

Providence finished 4th at 10-8 instead of 3rd at 12-6 because Wojo's lads beat them twice.

Providence went from No. 8 in the Week 9 rankings to No. 12 in the Week 10 rankings because Wojo's lads beat them at Providence.

Providence was still ranked No. 20 in February ... until Wojo's lads beat them on Feb. 10.

So yes, Providence finished exactly as you say -- unranked and in 4th place. But Wojo's lads had a little something to do with that.

I mean, the Broncos' signature win in last year's playoffs was over a Panthers team that lost its final game, you know?

Wojo's lads had a winning record against 2 Big East teams last year: epically bad St John's (3-0) and solid Providence (2-0). Wojo's lads split with woeful DePaul, mostly bad Georgetown, decent Creighton and solid Butler. Against elite Villanova, really, really good Xavier and really good Seton Hall, Wojo's lads were 0-7. Wojo's lads lost those 7 games by an aggregate 96 points, never finishing closer than 8 in any of those games.

A couple of chapters of "Wojo's Lads" were good last year, the author showed some promise. But the book was a disappointment. Even a skilled editor like yourself can't change that.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

MU03eng

Both TV and sitting courtside.

I just sat courtside for the NYC tournament. Add close to the huddle as you can be without being in the huddle. The crowd was dead and I was trying to listen in. If you heard anything in the huddle from courtside than you sir have super powered hearing.

I did hear what was being said on the bench. I can confirm that on the bench, wojo is just the effort and motivation guy. Stan and Brett would be talking to individual players about technique. Chris was more motivation. I like Chris but he does seem like the superfluous piece. Would not mind wojo finding his Jerry Wainwright.

[Litehouse]

Wojo is still learning and developing as a coach, which is OK.  I'm fine giving him a few more years to get things rolling.  However, we're paying him an awful lot for this on-the-job training.  We're clearly not getting our return on investment at this point.  Hopefully things turn around soon and we make it up in the next few years.

[CTWarrior]

Silly.

Logic, facts, stats, history ... all silly.

So much easier to assume the season is over, resign ourselves to dumping the coach, watch most of his good players follow him out the door, and rebuild again. Much easier.

How is that post logic and facts?  So Wisconsin started off bad and finished well.  For every team like Wisconsin there are a dozen teams that started out bad and continued to be bad.  I agree that the season is far from over and we may turn this around, but poor play is a much better indicator of future poor play than it is of future good play. 

[Marcus92]

Wojo has yet to prove his coaching ability. But deciding that he can't coach based on 30 seconds' worth of time in the huddle — in the middle of a game — sounds ludicrous.

A timeout isn't the place for deep strategy discussion. The coach draws up a play and makes sure everyone understands it. Or he makes one point of emphasis: block out, communicate on the floor, pressure the ball all the way up the court. And yes, sometimes a few words of encouragement.

Far more coaching happens out of sight during halftime and practice. Now I haven't sat in on Wojo's game prep, film review or halftime talk. But I do know that after allowing Michigan to score 50 points in the first half, MU came out much more focused to start the second — and outscored the Wolverines 35-29. While it wasn't enough to get the win, that suggests a good adjustment by the coaching staff.

I'm as frustrated as anyone with games like Michigan and Pitt. A good coach uses experiences like those to help players learn and improve. Let's see how Wojo and the team respond. I'm still optimistic about the season.

[Goose]

MU82

I DO NOT THINK THE SEASON IS OVER AT ALL. That said, you do need to have a plan in case things do go south in a hurry. I am far from giving up on Wojo, but the leash I would have as his boss would be shorter today than a year ago. MU basketball can afford to have another year of losing loyal fans due to crap on the court IMO.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

How is that post logic and facts?  So Wisconsin started off bad and finished well.  For every team like Wisconsin there are a dozen teams that started out bad and continued to be bad.  I agree that the season is far from over and we may turn this around, but poor play is a much better indicator of future poor play than it is of future good play.

MU82 , like myself, challenges people when they state opinions as fact. I think most of us have concerns and doubts about this season, hell, preseason I picked us 7th in conference and out of the tournament, but those that have declared that we are unequivocally doomed are silly. He's not refuting the opinion, just the way it's presented.

[GoldenDieners32]

The season is not over yet come one we are 2-2 that is better than 1-3 or 0-4
I have a feeling we can get 11 or 12 big east wins. That should put us in the tourney

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

MU82

I DO NOT THINK THE SEASON IS OVER AT ALL. That said, you do need to have a plan in case things do go south in a hurry. I am far from giving up on Wojo, but the leash I would have as his boss would be shorter today than a year ago. MU basketball can afford to have another year of losing loyal fans due to crap on the court IMO.

I agree we can't afford to lose more fans. Which is why firing Wojo  and nuking the program would be a terrible idea. I'm sure you've seen plenty of coaching transitions in your day. Do you really think there's a coach out there who could take over without seeing back the rebuild by at least a few years?

[GoldenDieners32]

I agree we can't afford to lose more fans. Which is why firing Wojo  and nuking the program would be a terrible idea. I'm sure you've seen plenty of coaching transitions in your day. Do you really think there's a coach out there who could take over without seeing back the rebuild by at least a few years?

IF we DONT make the tourney just give him one more year. Im confident in this team.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Atl MU Warrior

Actually my wife and MIL are like 97% of the MU fans that could care less. They will go to Miss Katie's for pregame, take bus to the nearly empty BC and enjoy socializing before and after games. I on the other hand, have very big concerns over a below average ball program and overall impact it has on the university.

It is funny the glass half full crowd on here. IMO most do not understand the overall impact basketball has on the success of the university. Quite honestly, crossing your fingers and hoping Wojo is a success is not a plan.

You can mock me about about wife and MIL all day long, but I can assure you my assessment is not based off their belief that Wojo is a joke. I have seen quite a bit of basketball in my day and have ZERO problem standing behind my assessments or beliefs. Once again MU has put themselves in a do or die crossroads with the basketball program. For this alum, parent of students, basketball fan and backer of school I am very uncomfortable with ROI on the program.

That's all well and good Goose.  I guess I just don't put a lot of stock into someone who rolls out his "eye witness evidence" of poor coaching during time outs, then in the very next post says his eye witnesses are just their to socialize and enjoy their nice seats.  Not sure what kind of evidence that really is...not something I'm going to pay a whole lot of attention to.  Sorry.

[Spotcheck Billy]

MU82

I DO NOT THINK THE SEASON IS OVER AT ALL. That said, you do need to have a plan in case things do go south in a hurry. I am far from giving up on Wojo, but the leash I would have as his boss would be shorter today than a year ago. MU basketball can (can't) afford to have another year of losing loyal fans due to crap on the court IMO.

But drastic action is taken, how would that affect future coach candidates opinion of what they could expect if they replaced Wojo?

[Golden Avalanche]

This thread is awesome. A clean look into the psyche of spoiled brats.

[Marcus92]

Even after 2 losses (neither of which was a bad loss), Pomeroy still ranks us ahead of where we started the season. MU is still projected to win more conference games than last year. MU is still in position to finish in the top half of the Big East — if we avoid bad losses like DePaul at home, and win just 1 game we're not supposed to.

I'm not saying all is sunshine and rainbows. There are clouds in the picture. It feels like it's been grey and raining forever. But the sky is clearer today than it was a month ago, or a year ago, or 2 years ago.

[dgies9156]

Even after 2 losses (neither of which was a bad loss), Pomeroy still ranks us ahead of where we started the season. MU is still projected to win more conference games than last year. MU is still in position to finish in the top half of the Big East — if we avoid bad losses like DePaul at home, and win just 1 game we're not supposed to.

I'm not saying all is sunshine and rainbows  Seashells and Balloons. There are clouds in the picture. It feels like it's been grey and raining forever. But the sky is clearer today than it was a month ago, or a year ago, or 2 years ago.

FIFY

[Marcus92]

FIFY

Thanks. I love Al's "seashells and balloons" quote. But it didn't fit my weather metaphor for the state of the MU basketball program.

[Mug Rack]

Coach K's record from first three seasons at Duke:

80-81:  17-13
81-82:  10-17
82-83:  11-17

Took off after that.

[Goose]

Atl MU

I don't do teal because I am old man. The eye witness evidence was more tongue in cheek. You might think I am old guy that knows nothing (you may be right), but I have been around the block with MU ball on fairly personal level my entire life and my comments/beliefs are seldom made by knee jerk reactions.

I recently met with a member of MU admin and offered my thoughts on the university and the basketball program. While many of my comments were negative, I noted time and time again that these negative comments were coming from someone who LOVES Marquette University. For 50 of my my 53 years on this planet I have had a family member working at MU or going to school at MU. I can assure you that nobody (tie with everyone else on here) wants to see MU succeed across the board than I do.

You and I had our debates regarding the direction I feared MU ball was going years ago and that was fine. You can dismiss all of my comments and no hard feelings.

Golden Avalanche

Spoiled brats or someone who would love to see MU be the best it can be all aspects?

[jesmu84]

I just don't see Wojo as a motivator. I see him as a de-motivator.

He is good with recruiting, because he has a good sales pitch that appeals to families.

Is that what JJJ is telling you?

[jesmu84]

It did not take me a long time to figure out that Wojo's TO huddles were not deep in substance. I remember early on hearing my wife and mother in law laughing about Wojo's huddle conversation with the team. They literally could not believe that every time the mic was in huddle he was screaming the same useless stuff.

IMO it is becoming painfully obvious why Wojo was AC for some years and not a HC. He came across as a safe hire and got the job. We will see over the next months if Wojo can hack it or not. In addition, we will learn if MU wants a big time ball program or not. A lot riding on the remainder of season.

If you are judging his coaching acumen based on his huddles on TV, that is garbage. The coaches know when they will be on that and say nothing of relative use. Watch any coach in those. They say nothing besides generic cliches.

If you hear things courtside, that's different.

[Herman Cain]

The evidence doesn't bear this out.

The results are the evidence.

[GGGG]

The results are the evidence.

No.

The results IMO are mostly due to incomplete roster construction and tactical weakness.  Not lack of motivation by the players.  I think the players always come to the games with great energy.  Motivation isn't the problem.

[mu03eng]

To be fair Goose also questions whether Aaron Rodgers is a hall of fame, let alone a first ballot HoF so yeah....

[Herman Cain]

No.

The results IMO are mostly due to incomplete roster construction and tactical weakness.  Not lack of motivation by the players.  I think the players always come to the games with great energy.  Motivation isn't the problem.

Of course the players come to the games with energy. They are college students and playing in big arenas. That motivation is going to be there regardless of who the coach is. I am talking about the motivation necessary to rally together as a cohesive unit through difficult times. It requires real leadership and motivational ability to achieve that. Wojo has none of that. The players see Wojo as a guy out solely for himself and not having their backs.  This latest incident with Sandy is further evidence of that.