Deep Friar thoughts

[NickelDimer]

Two seniors.

And an NIT quality roster. You asked the question and I gave you an accurate answer

[GGGG]

Sultan

Your belief of your ball knowledge is far fetched.

And all you do is b*tch and complain.  So...

[GGGG]

And an NIT quality roster. You asked the question and I gave you an accurate answer

Two seniors, one of which was an actual point guard, with two future first round picks on the roster.

Not NIT talent.

[Goose]

Sultan

Just win and no bitching.

[1SE]

I think Dwight turned himself into an NBA player.  If anything, he completely underperformed at Marquette given what he has accomplished since then.

But now you're trying to have it both ways...

"Buzz only made the NCAAs because he had NBA talent on his rosters"

but then

"Future NBA guys on Buzzes teams underperformed while they were at MU"

[skianth16]

LOL.  OK.

#banwojo > #bansultan

Your defense of Wojo is about as solid as his defensive plans

[NickelDimer]

Two seniors, one of which was an actual point guard, with two future first round picks on the roster.

Not NIT talent.

Ok lol. If your point is Buzz wouldn't coach circles around Wojo I would strongly disagree and all the evidence is on my side of that argument

[GGGG]

But now you're trying to have it both ways...

"Buzz only made the NCAAs because he had NBA talent on his rosters"

but then

"Future NBA guys on Buzzes teams underperformed while they were at MU"

That's not having both ways.  JFB and Jae didn't underperform.  Dwight did.  I mean, no one thought he would be an NBA player when he left here right?

[Goose]

Nickel

I do not think Buzz would coach circles around Wojo. The type of players he recruited  and style of ball would.

[MarquetteDano]

Two seniors.

But two undersized guards with an undersized center in Hayward. Per Pomeroy a much better defense than this team.

Buzz was a much better defensive coach. Prob offense too.

[GGGG]

But two undersized guards with an undersized center in Hayward. Per Pomeroy a much better defense than this team.

Buzz was a much better defensive coach. Prob offense too.

That's not what we are debating, but yeah...

[Marcus92]

I thought this team was better than they're playing. And that they'd get better over the course of the season, with the addition of Harry Froling and game experience for the freshmen, enough to contend for a second straight NCAA berth.

That's not at all what I'm seeing, at least over the past 4 games. This team looks like one that has just 2 upperclassmen, started 4 sophomores and plays 3 freshmen off the bench.

This game was all the more disappointing after the strong start. MU has to play a lot better the rest of the way to see any postseason.

[We R Final Four]

What did you expect this year?

Certainly not 7-2 prior to the Butler game.

[GGGG]

I thought this team was better than they're playing. And that they'd get better over the course of the season, with the addition of Harry Froling and game experience for the freshmen, enough to contend for a second straight NCAA berth.

That's not at all what I'm seeing, at least over the past 4 games. This team looks like one that has just 2 upperclassmen, started 4 sophomores and plays 3 freshmen off the bench.

This game was all the more disappointing after the strong start. MU has to play a lot better the rest of the way to see any postseason.

This team lives and dies with Sam IMO.  When he got himself into foul trouble early (which he does too often), the tide really turned.  He is a fantastic player.

[Goose]

Sam is a very, very good system player. He is not a stand alone fantastic player. Big fan of his and hope he gets "real" talent around him. Again, big fan, but far from fantastic player at a high level BE program.

[Marcus92]

The last 4 games, Marcus has 10 assists (2.5 apg), 14 turnovers (3.5 tpg) and is shooting 10-32 (31.3%) from 3-point range. He's forcing shots and not looking for his teammates. This doesn't all fall on him, of course. But we need him to play smarter.

[muguru]

A good Coach has a system(in this case defense), that fits the talent he has, not a system that sets up the talent he has to fail. I've seen enough of the losing at home under Wojo and the mediocre results. I'm tired of the "young" excuse too. How many games of basketball have all these kids played in their lifetimes?? Between HS, AAU, and now their college careers, they have played plenty..Teams have won with youth before. But hey, there is always next year right?? Year 4, 1 NCAA tourney, make whatever excuses you want(and that's all they are at this point), that is completely unacceptable for a program that spends as much on their program as MU does. What's Wojo, like a combined 5-21 vs. Xavier, Butler and Nova in 4 years?? Pathetic.

[Marcus92]

Sam is a very, very good system player. He is not a stand alone fantastic player. Big fan of his and hope he gets "real" talent around him. Again, big fan, but far from fantastic player at a high level BE program.

I saw Sam creating his own offense this afternoon. He backed down his man at least a couple times for fadeaway jumpers, and used ball fakes and jab steps to get open looks or drive. And he might just be the best passer on the team right now (14 assists and just 5 turnovers over the past 4 games).

Sam has improved his game immensely over the past year. I think it's quite possible he'll be one of the best players in the Big East by this point next season.

[Goose]

Marcus

If Sam has studs around him he can be a high level BE player. If he first or second option next year, it will be great games against stiffs and rough games against the elite. Give the guy some studs, he can be very, very good. Keep in mind, we played the sixth place team at home today and he did not steal the show.

Want to say it again, I am a big Sam fan, and his style is not usually my style of preference. He is a very nice player.

[mileskishnish72]

1SE, I hate all the things that you do.

Much as I love MU Basketball, I realize that the current team, as currently constructed, has significant shortcomings. Part of that is related to the personnel (and we have had countless references to the two undersized guards) but in year four, we know where to look for that responsibility. What bugs me is seeing teams that don't have our highly-rated recruits playing decent defense. Of course, that might lead to a discussion of whether the recruit ratings are too offense-related, but that's a discussion for another day. At any rate, we have athletes that are talented enough that they could (and should) be able to be taught to play at least adequate defense. Either Wojo can't teach D, or the players can't/won't learn. I don't think Wojo is tolerating this out of choice, I think he realizes that he needs offense as well.

What I hate more than anything (save for the losing) is hearing all the "We'll be better next year" repetition. As a lifelong Bosox fan, I can tell you that that was the mantra in NE for generations.
I DO think we should be better next year. We lose only Rowsey (optimistically), and add Morrow, Joey and Bailey. All the others will benefit from another year of development. Something will need to be done about the point, and I'm assuming that will happen.

All that said, what level of accomplishment next year is acceptable? Having thought it over, I'd say top 4 in the BE. If that happens a bid should be forthcoming. If they stumble through another season, missing the dance, or beating the bubble to absorb another first-round beating, would one not think that Wojo's tenure has played out?

[1SE]

A good Coach has a system(in this case defense), that fits the talent he has, not a system that sets up the talent he has to fail. I've seen enough of the losing at home under Wojo and the mediocre results. I'm tired of the "young" excuse too. How many games of basketball have all these kids played in their lifetimes?? Between HS, AAU, and now their college careers, they have played plenty..Teams have won with youth before. But hey, there is always next year right?? Year 4, 1 NCAA tourney, make whatever excuses you want(and that's all they are at this point), that is completely unacceptable for a program that spends as much on their program as MU does. What's Wojo, like a combined 5-21 vs. Xavier, Butler and Nova in 4 years?? Pathetic.

This has been the heart of my beef. If BOT wants a bottom tier BE program we can get it for a lot less. Put the money elsewhere. You know how many tenure track lines 1,000,000 supports? How many scholarships?

[connie]

But that wasn't my point. My point is taking whatever talent level you have and moving it beyond that. So taking talent that should get to the FF and winning the NC - that's a good coach.

A good coach gets more results out of their team than the talent should suggest.

Wojo hasn't done that, and doesn't look to do that this year.

i don't see how this can be disputed (except it's scoop  )  This shifting defense of Wojo is also growing tired.  He didn't have his guys; he has his guys but they're too young to learn anything; he has his guys but they aren't the guys he needs to play defense the way he wants; or offense; and my favorite---I expect top performance but will continue to excuse this teams' failures because I am so smart that at the beginning of the year, I predicted that they would be better than than only DePaul, Georgetown and St. Johns! 

[Goose]

1SE

I started the whole SLU thing six years ago, based off my belief the BOT wanted clean over winning. I am fine with that, spend less!!!

[Herman Cain]

I thought the team would go 7-2 to finish out the season in 3rd place in the league. In order to do that they will have to run the table .  We have the talent , they all have to be synchronized to win. Every possession is a battle in the Big East. No room for error now.

[Eye]

I was with you until today. I'm no longer convinced they'll be over .500 in BE play, even with the weaker sched down the stretch. Better shot they go 0-2 vs Creighton than 2-0. NIT bound, and that's assuming they're don't lose to someone they shouldn't in the current bottom 3. If they do, that very well may be out the window, too.