[Paint Touches] Free Agent Tracker

[Lennys Tap]

Sam's defense was usually good, and sometimes very good. If only every other Warrior had executed defensively as well as Sam did. One of the pleasant surprises of the 2016-17 season.

I would love it if our team was so good that Sam was a 20-25-minute backup. We'll be in the Final Four at least once, maybe twice!

Nobody's defense on last year's team was "usually good".

[MU82]

Being the 4th best defender on an epically bad defensive team is, at best, damning with faint praise.

Whatever you say, Lenny.

[naginiF]

........... However, I think he is more likely to go to Notre Dame then Wisconsin, if he does not pick MU.

If Joey goes to ND then transfers to Wisconsin muguru's head is going to explode creating a blast zone of negative thoughts 50 miles wide.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Nobody's defense on last year's team was "usually good".

For the most part you are correct. A brief look at synergy tells me that most of our players were well below average on defense. There were three exceptions. Sam and Katin were actually above average across the board with Sam being the better of the two.

The interesting one is JJJ. This is the first time I ever ran his numbers. He was an elite on ball defender last season with "Excellent" or "Very Good" ratings in defending P&R, screen, hand off, and isolation situations. However, his defense of spot up shooters was ABYSMAL. He ranked in the bottom 2% of all players with ppp allowed of 1.382 on spot up shots. Never seen such a dichotomy before. Some of it has to be luck.

[Newsdreams]

If Joey goes to ND then transfers to Wisconsin muguru's head is going to explode creating a blast zone of negative thoughts 50 miles wide.

Hiroshima, hey?

[Lennys Tap]

For the most part you are correct. A brief look at synergy tells me that most of our players were well below average on defense. There were three exceptions. Sam and Katin were actually above average across the board with Sam being the better of the two.

The interesting one is JJJ. This is the first time I ever ran his numbers. He was an elite on ball defender last season with "Excellent" or "Very Good" ratings in defending P&R, screen, hand off, and isolation situations. However, his defense of spot up shooters was ABYSMAL. He ranked in the bottom 2% of all players with ppp allowed of 1.382 on spot up shots. Never seen such a dichotomy before. Some of it has to be luck.

JJJ was an excellent on ball defender. Duane was pretty good. So was Traci. Nobody else on the perimeter could stop dribble penetration at all. Haanif and Katin were bad, Rowsey and Markus were awful. I wouldn't give Sam, Matt or Luke grades for on ball D because they played inside. They were all pretty bad on defense, though - takes team effort to be that collectively bad.

[naginiF]

Hiroshima, hey?

Nagaguru? 

[Dawson Rental]

Cripes you people sure make leaps here...where did i say that not landing Joey ruins Wojo's entire tenure as a Coach, or that it's the defining moment?? I never said that! All i said was..it would not be a good look for Wojo losing Joey when he has just about ever advantage going for him. That is all I said. And it wouldn't be a good look. That's indisputable, but if that's the worst thing that happens under Wojo's tenure, I'm good with that. As of this moment, the book is still out on Wojo. I know a lot of you wet your pants with excitement over them making the tourney..but that should be far from their defining moment under Wojo. If you are content with just getting in the tourney, then so far you are probably in love with Wojo, he's done that for you. He has recruiting well so far for the most part. I'll give him that.

You all are the same group that heaped endless praise on Wojo for his ability to land Henry..yet wouldn't ding him if he lost Joey. Hmmm..you can't have it both ways..If a Coach gets all the praise when he lands someone, then he too also has to take at least some responsibility in losing someone(depending on circumstances of course). So..kid commits=Praise....Kid doesn't commit=That's just the way recruiting is. All on a "HS kids decision". Got it.

I see the problem here.  Your ability to think logically is flawed.  If a task that someone doesn't succeed at is so difficult that "we" don't criticize them for falling short (i.e. we wouldn't ding Wojo for not landing Joey) then it follows logically that we would praise that person (Wojo) for succeeding at a very similar task (getting Henry).  Yet, you argue that the two are somehow inconsistent ("you can't have it both ways").

[GGGG]

I see the problem here.  Your ability to think logically is flawed.  If a task that someone doesn't succeed at is so difficult that "we" don't criticize them for falling short (i.e. we wouldn't ding Wojo for not landing Joey) then it follows logically that we would praise that person (Wojo) for succeeding at a very similar task (getting Henry).  Yet, you argue that the two are somehow inconsistent ("you can't have it both ways").

It's like praising someone for climbing Mount Everest, only to criticize them when they failed to climb K2.

[muguru]

I see the problem here.  Your ability to think logically is flawed.  If a task that someone doesn't succeed at is so difficult that "we" don't criticize them for falling short (i.e. we wouldn't ding Wojo for not landing Joey) then it follows logically that we would praise that person (Wojo) for succeeding at a very similar task (getting Henry).  Yet, you argue that the two are somehow inconsistent ("you can't have it both ways").

No..the point I'm trying to make is if Wojo can't be held responsible for an 18 year old making a decision of his "own free will"(like stated here..ie Joey choosing to go someplace else"..then why does he get massive amounts of praise for landing Henry who also made a decision of his "own free will"? You can't make a statement like "own free will"=(solely of his own doing, a conscious decision he made on his own..with no outside influence either way) and apply it to one situation and not the other. By making that statement..it's implying it's solely on the kid.

[KampusFoods]

Didn't make Cam Johnson's final 6.

Arizona, tOSU, Kentucky, Oregon, UCLA, TCU

[HoopsterBC]

Oregon or UCLA is my bet, with Oregon favorite as they lost there 3 best players.

[GGGG]

No..the point I'm trying to make is if Wojo can't be held responsible for an 18 year old making a decision of his "own free will"(like stated here..ie Joey choosing to go someplace else"..then why does he get massive amounts of praise for landing Henry who also made a decision of his "own free will"? You can't make a statement like "own free will"=(solely of his own doing, a conscious decision he made on his own..with no outside influence either way) and apply it to one situation and not the other. By making that statement..it's implying it's solely on the kid.

Here's why.  Because recruiting battles are hard.  Winning one is an accomplishment.  Losing one happens regularly.

If Wojo did his best, and the kid still wants to go elsewhere, I have trouble criticizing someone for that.  I mean by all accounts Sam loves Marquette.  His family loves Wojo.  He has been a presence at his games regularly.  If after all that, Joey decides to go to UW, it would be hard for me to blame that on Wojo.  Can you state what he should have done differently?

[Tha Hound]

With Cam Johnson out of the picture, looks like we are out on almost every potential big impact grad transfer. Really, really disappointing as I still think we are one key addition away from a step up next year. Oh well...

[Nukem2]

With Cam Johnson out of the picture, looks like we are out on almost every potential big impact grad transfer. Really, really disappointing as I still think we are one key addition away from a step up next year. Oh well...

Its hard to get in on those impact grad transfers unless there is a previous connection (as MU had with Lockett, Carlino and Reinhardt).  There is a lot of competition for these guys

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

With Cam Johnson out of the picture, looks like we are out on almost every potential big impact grad transfer. Really, really disappointing as I still think we are one key addition away from a step up next year. Oh well...

There are still several guys that don't have a firm list.  MiKyle McIntosh hasn't listed any names and he would fit well. 

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Its hard to get in on those impact grad transfers unless there is a previous connection (as MU had with Lockett, Carlino and Reinhardt).  There is a lot of competition for these guys

This.  Plus with a guy like Egor - can you really blame him for going to Florida?  I mean, I am a die hard Marquette fan, and I'd probably rather spend a year in Florida than Milwaukee.....

[Lennys Tap]

Here's why.  Because recruiting battles are hard.  Winning one is an accomplishment.  Losing one happens regularly.

If Wojo did his best, and the kid still wants to go elsewhere, I have trouble criticizing someone for that.  I mean by all accounts Sam loves Marquette.  His family loves Wojo.  He has been a presence at his games regularly.  If after all that, Joey decides to go to UW, it would be hard for me to blame that on Wojo.  Can you state what he should have done differently?

I agree - to a point. Every coach loses recruiting battles.

But every coach also wins some, and you can't possibly say that all 351 D1 coaches have "accomplishments" (the ones they win) and none by definition have "failures" (because recruiting is hard and they tried).

"Accomplishments" going after your secondary or tertiary (or worse) targets won't do a coach much good if his primary targets consistently get away. I usually say "meh" when we miss out on a guy. Not Joey H. He been our #1 target in that class forever, he's local and his brother is already at MU. Getting him could pay future dividends, losing him could result in future losses. By all accounts we're the heavy favorite - and losing recruiting battles under those circumstances are failures, plain and simple. The degree of blame that goes to the head coach (a lot, a little, almost none) is debatable - the fact that it's an important failure isn't.

[wadesworld]

I agree - to a point. Every coach loses recruiting battles.

But every coach also wins some, and you can't possibly say that all 351 D1 coaches have "accomplishments" (the ones they win) and none by definition have "failures" (because recruiting is hard and they tried).

"Accomplishments" going after your secondary or tertiary (or worse) targets won't do a coach much good if his primary targets consistently get away. I usually say "meh" when we miss out on a guy. Not Joey H. He been our #1 target in that class forever, he's local and his brother is already at MU. Getting him could pay future dividends, losing him could result in future losses. By all accounts we're the heavy favorite - and losing recruiting battles under those circumstances are failures, plain and simple. The degree of blame that goes to the head coach (a lot, a little, almost none) is debatable - the fact that it's an important failure isn't.

Missing out on a kid who is being recruited by Virginia, Michigan State, and has Duke and others sniffing around isn't a failure.  It'd be a disappointment, but not a failure.

[Galway Eagle]

What if we me miss because the other people we've offered commit?

[GGGG]

I agree - to a point. Every coach loses recruiting battles.

But every coach also wins some, and you can't possibly say that all 351 D1 coaches have "accomplishments" (the ones they win) and none by definition have "failures" (because recruiting is hard and they tried).

"Accomplishments" going after your secondary or tertiary (or worse) targets won't do a coach much good if his primary targets consistently get away. I usually say "meh" when we miss out on a guy. Not Joey H. He been our #1 target in that class forever, he's local and his brother is already at MU. Getting him could pay future dividends, losing him could result in future losses. By all accounts we're the heavy favorite - and losing recruiting battles under those circumstances are failures, plain and simple. The degree of blame that goes to the head coach (a lot, a little, almost none) is debatable - the fact that it's an important failure isn't.

No it isn't a failure.

Ultimately what matters is if they win or lose.  If they don't land Joey, that in of itself isn't a failure.  If they don't land Joey, don't land a good back up recruit, and because of that they lose games, THAT is a failure.

But if they don't land Joey, land Race Thompson or someone else instead, and they go on to win games, then it is a disappointment that the coach worked to fix and ultimately succeeded. 

[muguru]

What if we me miss because the other people we've offered commit?

If someone else commits say Kahvon Moore for example..and Joey still wants to come..you make room. Part of a coaches responsibility is to assemble as much talent as possible.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

No it isn't a failure.

Ultimately what matters is if they win or lose.  If they don't land Joey, that in of itself isn't a failure.  If they don't land Joey, don't land a good back up recruit, and because of that they lose games, THAT is a failure.

But if they don't land Joey, land Race Thompson or someone else instead, and they go on to win games, then it is a disappointment that the coach worked to fix and ultimately succeeded.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Recruiting isn't about winning individual battles, it is about winning the war (basketball games). I don't care if Wojo strikes out on his top 10 recruits as long his 11th ends up winning basketball games for us.

[Galway Eagle]

If someone else commits say Kahvon Moore for example..and Joey still wants to come..you make room. Part of a coaches responsibility is to assemble as much talent as possible.

Ah I see, so then what happens is making room alienates all the high school coaches in Detroit or Twin Cities then you come on here complaining how we can't get the best talent in those places when it's so close.

It's easy to be heartless and cut 18yr old with a small vision but looking to the future a bit it's not so simple.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Ah I see, so then what happens is making room alienates all the high school coaches in Detroit or Twin Cities then you come on here complaining how we can't get the best talent in those places when it's so close.

It's easy to be heartless and cut 18yr old with a small vision but looking to the future a bit it's not so simple.

Eh, I agree that these are factors to consider.....but if Khavon Moore and Joey Hauser commit, I am ok with finding some room. I don't know who gets Pole-Axed but athletic scholarships are awarded to the best athletes. It is a bit heartless but it is the nature of college athletics. I would hope and expect that Wojo and co would help whatever pole-axee find a good landing spot at a new program