Wojo

[wadesworld]

You are seeing things through rose colored glasses. The players do not love Wojo and the whole team does not like playing for him.   Unfortunately we are stuck with this guy for another three years. So get used to mediocrity as that is what we will be seeing. This years team will have some nice moments against the cupcakes and be fun to watch at times, but they have no real chance in conference play, and the attitude of the team and coaches will decay as the losses mount. The blame lies solely on Wojo. He has been given a fantastic opportunity and blown it.

Lol.

[Goose]

Wade

It was directed at you because it was stated by you with my post enclosed. Also, I would like to point out the MU ball is not my favorite team. MU as whole has a special spot in my heart and what I am as a man, husband and father. I want what is best for MU and this old idiot believes great MU ball= overall MU success.

From day one I have said if MU can be a great place with mid level basketball I am fine with that. Just don't spend first class dough to be middle of the pack. If they have the money to do so I would recommend focusing funds on the best faculty and research over blowing a ton on basketball.

[real chili 83]

String together a couple of wins, kick Bucky's A$$, and all of this will be forgotten.

[goldeneagle91114]

I have not done a lot of posting since Buzz left (partly because I left Milwaukee, but also because I was a huge Buzz fan) but here are a few thoughts.

1. I think the entire board can agree that making the NCAA tournament is the bar for a program in full rebuild mode. However I think we need to allow a coach 5 years to do so. As much as i loved Buzz, the "cupboard" was empty.

2. By the time Wojo was hired there was very little time for him to build his first recruiting class. And, now that Sandy has decided to transfer, his first recruiting class is non-existent.

3. Considering point 2, this technically only Wojo's 2nd full year. His style of player (i.e Haanif) is only a sophomore at best. All of our older players are either grad transfers, or Buzz's recruits that Don't really fit Wojo's system.

4. If your trying to re-build a program you need to pick a system and stick with it. Not saying I agree with the Man to Man defensive approach. However, if you switch to zone every season, players will never lean the system. Things may look bad now, but by the time Wojo's recruits are upperclassmen the hope is they understand their responsibilities and can execute (this is at least the idea on paper, we will see if it translates to real life)

5. Final point - We at least owe it to Wojo and the administration to allow a coach 5 years to rebuild a program. Let his recruits become seniors and then we will see what happens.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Didn't boomers raise millenials, not Gen X?

^This.  Wades, you have your Gens mixed up.  As a GenXer, my kids are actually Gen Z, and while I obviously can't speak for anyone but myself much less all GenXers, my observation is that it generally isn't us GenXers doing the Gen Y bashing.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

  If the tough and rugged "Gen X'ers" wanted us raised differently...well, that's on them to have made that happen.

Yeah, its the Boomers who like to be described as tough and rugged.  Us GenXers are generally independent/lone wolf types if you have to ascribe an archetype, though most often we're just ignored due to being so numerically outnumbered by both Boomers and Gen Y

[wadesworld]

Yeah, its the Boomers who like to be described as tough and rugged.  Us GenXers are generally independent/lone wolf types if you have to ascribe an archetype, though most often we're just ignored due to being so numerically outnumbered by both Boomers and Gen Y

Gotcha.  Thanks for the correction and sorry I got it wrong.  To be honest I've never paid attention to the different generation types until all I've heard since the end of the election is the complaints about millennials not being able to accept things that don't go their way.  It's been annoying, especially since people from all generations have been complaining, and celebrating, the results.

[Goose]

I have no idea what generation I am part of, nor do I care. I do know I was raised by parents (Dad would be 96 and Mom would be 92) that could not afford college but sent four kids to MU. Their love of higher education and Marquette basketball taught me more about life than any class I ever took. They taught me value of education, value of a dollar and that job performance is graded everyday of the year.

Probably the most important lesson they taught me was not to bunch people together. Everyone is an individual and should by viewed and respected as an individual.

I wish Wojo and the Warriors success and will leave the debate to those of you much smarter than I am.

[jesmu84]

You are seeing things through rose colored glasses. The players do not love Wojo and the whole team does not like playing for him.   Unfortunately we are stuck with this guy for another three years. So get used to mediocrity as that is what we will be seeing. This years team will have some nice moments against the cupcakes and be fun to watch at times, but they have no real chance in conference play, and the attitude of the team and coaches will decay as the losses mount. The blame lies solely on Wojo. He has been given a fantastic opportunity and blown it.

You should probably just stick to JJJscoop and Daytonscoop at this point.

[mu03eng]

We have an incredible coaching option staring us in the face. Stan Johnson has the keys to all the recruits and the current players respect him.  Stan has what it takes to get us to the promised land.

Cause Stan is a proven HC who won't have to learn on the job?

[naginiF]

I have not done a lot of posting since Buzz left (partly because I left Milwaukee, but also because I was a huge Buzz fan) but here are a few thoughts.

1. I think the entire board .......

2. By the time Wojo wa.....

3. Considering point 2, this te......

4. If your trying to re-build a prog......

5. Final point - W....

Completely logical and in line with the 'rational' side of my brain.  The irrational side is super frustrated.  Fortunately, as a Gen X'er i'm old enough to have had practice shutting out my irrational side.  Speaking of Gen X

Yeah, its the Boomers who like to be described as tough and rugged.  Us GenXers are generally independent/lone wolf types if you have to ascribe an archetype, though most often we're just ignored due to being so numerically outnumbered by both Boomers and Gen Y

How dare you not use the word 'slacker' when describing our generation!

[onepost]

You are seeing things through rose colored glasses. The players do not love Wojo and the whole team does not like playing for him.

I don't know why I'm trying to reason with someone so slow, but again, I personally am not seeing anything.  I'm passing along first-person accounts from someone at every practice and game since Wojo took over.  God, you are the absolute worst.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'll never understand why Jerry wasn't retained.  Jerry wasn't a Buzz lifer.  This wasn't Louis Orr or TC's HS coach.  Jerry seemed to have run clean programs at Richmond and DePaul.  He could have been a nice balance to the Noon Ball Crew.

My understanding is that Jerry was there for Buzz. Not sure how much interest he had in staying.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Completely logical and in line with the 'rational' side of my brain.  The irrational side is super frustrated.  Fortunately, as a Gen X'er i'm old enough to have had practice shutting out my irrational side.  Speaking of Gen XHow dare you not use the word 'slacker' when describing our generation!

I think you mean 'non-optimal performer'.  I blame Scoop for lowing my productivity!

Attached is graphic we use on the different generations in terms of implications on an organization's workforce.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Now, when Buzz left I was 1000% in on Gregg Marshall, and there were serious rumblings about Marquette absolutely being a job he'd leave WSU for, even with Baker and Van Vleet in the midst of their time there.  He would have been an improvement over Buzz and I'd argue we'd have been much further ahead right now with him.

Marshall wasn't an option for us. Doesn't pass the sniff test from what I've heard. Him staying at Wichita State isn't 100% because he likes the view of the cornfields from his apartment.

[Litehouse]

My understanding is that Jerry was there for Buzz. Not sure how much interest he had in staying.

Maybe we can ask him when Fresno State comes to town in a few weeks.

[Spotcheck Billy]

We have an incredible coaching option staring us in the face. Stan Johnson has the keys to all the recruits and the current players respect him.  Stan has what it takes to get us to the promised land.

What coaching experience does Stan have?

Serious Q as I don't recall any.

[swoopem]

throwing stones.

Great song.

The future's here. We are it. We are on our own

[GGGG]

What coaching experience does Stan have?

Serious Q as I don't recall any.

No head coaching experience.

Hiring an assistant just so the recruits don't leave often leads to Josh Pastner-like problems.  You hire the best coach possible regardless of the short term consequences.  Could that be Stan?  Sure. 

[MU82]

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?

Thanks, TAMU, for playing defense for me while I've not been at my computer much.

I stand by everything I've written. I tend to be pragmatic and reasonable and, yes, optimistic. I don't do all-or-nothing very well, and I usually don't care for those who see things in that light or who state opinion as fact. And I certainly don't respect those who claim to be insiders when we know damn well they aren't.

Wojo has done some things really well. He needs to get better at some others. That's quite a news flash.

I like the poster (I already can't remember who - sorry) who said that Thurl Bailey has entrusted his son to Wojo. So have the Hausers.

Granted, Thurl might not know as much about basketball or about what makes a good coach as, say, a handful of anonymous dudes on the interwebs, but I'm willing to defer to him for at least a little bit.

As for questions why Wojo was an AC for double-digit years if he were head-coaching material, I don't know ... better ask Roy Williams the same question.

Having said all of that, I do understand some of our fan base is impatient and frustrated. I think the next year or so will go a long way toward determining if Wojo can be a success. Can he improve upon previous results in this, his third Big East season, one in which he has several good upperclassmen and a young nucleus of his own recruits? Can he follow it up by signing another big (or two) this spring and then a couple of studs next fall?

A year from now, we'll know so much more about the direction of our program under Wojo. If I really believe we're spinning our wheels (or, even worse, going backward), I will begrudgingly say so. Begrudgingly, because I'm rooting for Wojo to be a huge success.

I simply don't know how one can look at Wojo's body of work so far -- a losing season with an empty cupboard; a 20-win season with a few big wins that ultimately fell short of being "good"; a 2-2 record about an eighth of the way through Year 3; a few very good recruits and some good ones -- and conclude already that he is a failure.

[Marcus92]

I don't see Wojo shaking up his coaching staff at this point. Certainly not midseason. If he did bring on someone new, there are a number of experienced coaches not named Jerry Wainwright who might be interested:

Brian Gregory
49 years old. 248-180 (.579) head coaching record at Dayton and Georgia Tech. Former assistant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

Ray McCallum
55 years old. 300-281 (.516) head coaching record at Detroit, Houston and Ball State. Former assistant at Wisconsin, Michigan and Oklahoma.


Bruiser Flint
51 years old. 331-289 (.534) head coaching record at Drexel and UMass. Former assistant to John Calipari at UMass and Coppin State.

Jim Crews
62 years old. 431-404 (.516) head coaching record at St. Louis, Army and Evansville. Former assistant to Bob Knight at Indiana.

Rob Jeter
47 years old. 184-170 (.520) head coaching record at UW-Milwaukee. Former assist to Wisconsin and Marquette.

[Marcus92]

MU82, great post. Couldn't have said it better.

[Nukem2]

MU82, great post. Couldn't have said it better.

Yup.  Some posters are just bandwagon people.  Let things play out folks.

[GGGG]

As for questions why Wojo was an AC for double-digit years if he were head-coaching material, I don't know ... better ask Roy Williams the same question.

Or Tom Crean...or Buzz Williams...or Tom Izzo...or Sean Miller.... etc. etc. etc.

[LAZER]

I don't see Wojo shaking up his coaching staff at this point. Certainly not midseason. If he did bring on someone new, there are a number of experienced coaches not named Jerry Wainwright who might be interested:

Brian Gregory
49 years old. 248-180 (.579) head coaching record at Dayton and Georgia Tech. Former assistant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

Ray McCallum
55 years old. 300-281 (.516) head coaching record at Detroit, Houston and Ball State. Former assistant at Wisconsin, Michigan and Oklahoma.


Bruiser Flint
51 years old. 331-289 (.534) head coaching record at Drexel and UMass. Former assistant to John Calipari at UMass and Coppin State.

Jim Crews
62 years old. 431-404 (.516) head coaching record at St. Louis, Army and Evansville. Former assistant to Bob Knight at Indiana.

Rob Jeter
47 years old. 184-170 (.520) head coaching record at UW-Milwaukee. Former assist to Wisconsin and Marquette.

Jeter is at UNLV, but still an interesting list.