Can Wojo finally...

[jsglow]

Starting no matta. Jae (Big East Player of the Year) would regularly come in off the bench because he had a habit of picking up a foul within 90 seconds of a game.  Look at total minutes, and who is playing in crunch time.

You're misremembering just a bit.  Jae came off the bench his Junior year for precisely that reason.  He started his Senior year when he was BEPOY.

[Its DJOver]

You're misremembering just a bit.  Jae came off the bench his Junior year for precisely that reason.  He started his Senior year when he was BEPOY.

My B.  I just remember people questioning why he wasn't starting and Buzz explained that he thought that Jae was just more comfortable coming into a game that already had some flow.  Point still stands.

I have no idea if this is a real stat or not but listening to Paschke and Johnny Mac call a bucks game earlier this year, they were talking about record in clutch games, which defined as any game that is within 5 points at any time in the last 5 minutes.  Who's playing those minutes is the stat that should matter.  Also how players perform in those 5 minutes should matter.  If I remember correctly, Kevin Jones of WVA averaged more points are boards than Jae, but had a tendency to disappear in crunch time, which is why Jae got POTY.

[Newsdreams]

I highly doubt Wojo has seen his team play zone defense hundreds of thousands of times in practice.  In fact, I'd estimate he's spent less than 10% of his defensive practice time on zone.  It would be foolish to spend 50% of your time practicing a defense that you only use 5% of the time.

I'm not claiming to be a bigger expert than Wojo.  Have never said that.  I do have real concerns about some of his in-game coaching and playing time decisions.  I keep harping on the Burton/Cohen thing, because how anybody in their right mind could think Cohen was a better player Day 1 on campus at MU than was Burton, coming off an All Big East Freshman campaign - just baffling.

I was glad to see Wojo use Cain A LOT more against Creighton.  In fact I posted about it at halftime of that game - wanted to see a lot more Cain/Theo, than we saw in first half (regardless of what defense we were playing.)  That was a good adjustment.  Cain is a huge X-factor for this team.  He alone can make the team markedly better on the defensive end/d-rebounding.

I stand by the assertion, that when you are physically outmatched in terms of size, strength, speed - zone is a better defensive approach.

Here is the reality of what happened to Burton. If you read it before then I do not know why you keep on bringing up  the Wojo anti-Burton agenda.
https://www.si.com/nba/2017/06/17/nba-draft-prospect-deonte-burton-journey

[Floorslapper]

Here is the reality of what happened to Burton. If you read it before then I do not know why you keep on bringing up  the Wojo anti-Burton agenda.
https://www.si.com/nba/2017/06/17/nba-draft-prospect-deonte-burton-journey

Because what you linked does NOT change the coaching decision/playing time decision Wojo made.  Furthermore, the decision to not start Deonte DID add to his desire to get out of Milwaukee.  He wasn't happy about playing 15 minutes a game, and not starting.  It made the decision a no-brainer to get out of MKE. 

I'll concede he MAY have left any way, if he were starting and playing 30 minutes per game, but, the PT issue sealed the deal.

Put yourself in his position.  WTF would you think if you saw a player like Cohen come in and start ahead of you, and getting twice as much PT.  Burton played 12 and 13 minutes the first two games of that season.  Games 3 and 4, he played 26 and 14 respectively. 

I won't comment any further.  Have the last word.

[jesmu84]

Because what you linked does NOT change the coaching decision/playing time decision Wojo made.  Furthermore, the decision to not start Deonte DID add to his desire to get out of Milwaukee.  He wasn't happy about playing 15 minutes a game, and not starting.  It made the decision a no-brainer to get out of MKE. 

I'll concede he MAY have left any way, if he were starting and playing 30 minutes per game, but, the PT issue sealed the deal.

Put yourself in his position.  WTF would you think if you saw a player like Cohen come in and start ahead of you, and getting twice as much PT.  Burton played 12 and 13 minutes the first two games of that season.  Games 3 and 4, he played 26 and 14 respectively. 

I won't comment any further.  Have the last word.

You're blatantly wrong.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Put yourself in his position.  WTF would you think if you saw a player like Cohen come in and start ahead of you, and getting twice as much PT. 

Sandy Cohen minutes in the 8 games Deonte was here: 98 minutes
Deonte Burton minutes in the 8 games Deonte was here: 129 minutes

IIRC, Sandy started the first four games and was then relegated to the bench. I don't remember who took his spot in the starting 5.

Again, Deonte was in foul trouble most of the game against UT Martin so his minutes were limited. In the second game against OSU, Deonte went 1/4 and Sandy went 3/5. Deonte played more minutes in every other game. I think you are doing a disservice to Deonte if you think one game of Sandy playing more minutes then he did was enough to get him to transfer.

[MomofMUltiples]

It's not all about basketball, you know.  That semester, Deonte was in the process of losing/lost his mother.  That takes an enormous emotional toll on a person.  Maybe he wasn't mentally up to performing on the court.  Maybe Wojo knew what he was dealing with and was taking it easy on him.  He's made it clear that his decision to leave was related to getting out of Milwaukee after his mom died.  Why can't you accept that?

[Pakuni]

It's not all about basketball, you know.  That semester, Deonte was in the process of losing/lost his mother.  That takes an enormous emotional toll on a person.  Maybe he wasn't mentally up to performing on the court.  Maybe Wojo knew what he was dealing with and was taking it easy on him.  He's made it clear that his decision to leave was related to getting out of Milwaukee after his mom died.  Why can't you accept that?

Because it doesn't fit the narrative he's been preaching for three years.

[Loose Cannon]

Because it doesn't fit the narrative he's been preaching for three years.

Yeah, once you accept that, its easy to move on.

[Newsdreams]

Because what you linked does NOT change the coaching decision/playing time decision Wojo made.  Furthermore, the decision to not start Deonte DID add to his desire to get out of Milwaukee.  He wasn't happy about playing 15 minutes a game, and not starting.  It made the decision a no-brainer to get out of MKE. 

I'll concede he MAY have left any way, if he were starting and playing 30 minutes per game, but, the PT issue sealed the deal.

Put yourself in his position.  WTF would you think if you saw a player like Cohen come in and start ahead of you, and getting twice as much PT.  Burton played 12 and 13 minutes the first two games of that season.  Games 3 and 4, he played 26 and 14 respectively. 

I won't comment any further.  Have the last word.

Either you didn't read it or didn't understand what you read.

[MU82]

Sandy Cohen minutes in the 8 games Deonte was here: 98 minutes
Deonte Burton minutes in the 8 games Deonte was here: 129 minutes

What the hell, TAMU? Facts? You're trying to subdue Ners with facts? When the heck did that ever work?

Shame on you. Please tell the rest of us you'll never let it happen again!

[TSmith34, Inc.]

What the hell, TAMU? Facts? You're trying to subdue Ners with facts? When the heck did that ever work?

Shame on you. Please tell the rest of us you'll never let it happen again!

I mean, Chicos is back bemoaning the plight of oppressed white males while Ners is once again talking about Derrick and Dawson (!).  It's some hellish version of Ground Hog Day.

[MUBigDance]

As the original question...3 in a row not the issue. The issue is the same thing for all 5 wannabe Big East teams. How to you break free from the 10-8,9-9 dystopian middle of the Big East.

We’re all woulda, shoulda, coulda teams.

Next year my expectation with a lot of others is we’ll not be here. We will elevate. We will be top tier. And 3 in a row won’t be a question.

[Galway Eagle]

As the original question...3 in a row not the issue. The issue is the same thing for all 5 wannabe Big East teams. How to you break free from the 10-8,9-9 dystopian middle of the Big East.

We’re all woulda, shoulda, coulda teams.

Next year my expectation with a lot of others is we’ll not be here. We will elevate. We will be top tier. And 3 in a row won’t be a question.

One might call it the middle east

[Its DJOver]

As the original question...3 in a row not the issue. The issue is the same thing for all 5 wannabe Big East teams. How to you break free from the 10-8,9-9 dystopian middle of the Big East.

We’re all woulda, shoulda, coulda teams.

Next year my expectation with a lot of others is we’ll not be here. We will elevate. We will be top tier. And 3 in a row won’t be a question.

The middle of the pack in the Beast has been extremely close the last two years. However, of the teams that finished 9-9, or 10-8 this year, we were the second youngest in terms of year of top 5 minutes.  If Wojo had SH line-up, with 4 seniors starting, and only got to 10 wins, I would be a lot more concerned going forward.  Even with PU line-up with 3 seniors a Junior and a sophomore I would be concerned with only 10 wins.  Next year I expect that there will be much more separation in the middle, and for us to be above the middle with at least 11 wins.  The top 5 players in mpg for the middle of the pack are as follows:

MU: 1) Soph. 2) Senior. 3) Soph. 4) Soph. 5) Junior (This does not include Haanif who would have been 4th or 5th had he stayed)
BU: 1) Senior. 2) Soph. 3) Junior. 4) Fresh. 5) Soph (only team younger, plus their 6th in minutes is also a Senior, plus Lavall had Holtmans players)
PU: 1) Senior. 2) Senior. 3) Senior. 4) Soph. 5) Jun
SH: 1) Senior. 2) Soph. 3) Senior. 4)Senior. 5) Senior
CU: 1) Senior. 2) Junior who appears in mock drafts. 3) Junior. 4) Soph. 5) Senior.

I would expect to finish above all of these teams next year, with SH taking the largest step back.  PU is interesting becasue they graduate 3 senior, but will have Diallo, Holt (back from injury) Young, and a 5* PG coming in. CU has some question marks, especially if Thomas goes pro, and Krampelj likely being out to start the season, and possibly into BEast play.  With BU, the biggest question mark is still the coach, because we all know that you need 4-5 years to judge, also based on what I could find, they only have one 3* in the fold for next year.  Obviously all teams are still able to improve in the Grad transfer market, but there will be significant separation in the middle next year and we should finish above it.   

[MU82]

We got next year!

[skianth16]

I would expect to finish above all of these teams next year, with SH taking the largest step back.  PU is interesting becasue they graduate 3 senior, but will have Diallo, Holt (back from injury) Young, and a 5* PG coming in. CU has some question marks, especially if Thomas goes pro, and Krampelj likely being out to start the season, and possibly into BEast play.  With BU, the biggest question mark is still the coach, because we all know that you need 4-5 years to judge, also based on what I could find, they only have one 3* in the fold for next year.  Obviously all teams are still able to improve in the Grad transfer market, but there will be significant separation in the middle next year and we should finish above it.

I'm happy with how our team looks heading into next year and even happier that we should  be able to make a run at being in the top of the conference. I may need to temper expectations a bit, but I think we're positioned very well for next year. I'm curious to see where our SOS will end up next year, both as a team and as a conference, given the changes we can expect from the middle-tier teams. In total, it seems like the conference will be weaker next year because a lot of the top talent will be leaving. Are we going to see the Big East look like this year's Big (Four)Te(e)n type of top heavy conference?

[Its DJOver]

I'm happy with how our team looks heading into next year and even happier that we should  be able to make a run at being in the top of the conference. I may need to temper expectations a bit, but I think we're positioned very well for next year. I'm curious to see where our SOS will end up next year, both as a team and as a conference, given the changes we can expect from the middle-tier teams. In total, it seems like the conference will be weaker next year because a lot of the top talent will be leaving. Are we going to see the Big East look like this year's Big (Four)Te(e)n type of top heavy conference?

I don't think that the bottom of the BEast will be as bad next year as the B14 this year.  DePaul should still be down there, and St. Johns is almost entirely dependent on whether Ponds goes pro (I don't think he will).  Georgetown should be better if Govan and Derrickson  stay.  I actually think that SH will finish last next year, after Powell they have next to nothing.  I think a lot of the middle tier teams will take a step back next year, but I still think the conference can get 5 bids, and 2-3 more in the NIT. Keep in mind that the bottom of the B14 is truly terrible and no Beast team should be that bad.

[SaveOD238]

I don't think that the bottom of the BEast will be as bad next year as the B14 this year.  DePaul should still be down there, and St. Johns is almost entirely dependent on whether Ponds goes pro (I don't think he will).  Georgetown should be better if Govan and Derrickson  stay.  I actually think that SH will finish last next year, after Powell they have next to nothing.  I think a lot of the middle tier teams will take a step back next year, but I still think the conference can get 5 bids, and 2-3 more in the NIT. Keep in mind that the bottom of the B14 is truly terrible and no Beast team should be that bad.

DePaul only loses Marin Maric and Tredarius McCallum.  That's not bad, especially with Strus and Cain back.  They could get to 7 or 8 wins and avoid playing on Wednesday in the BET next year.

[Charlotte Warrior]

Rethinking the decision of 4 years ago, what would you rather have

Buzz's turnaround and VT Results
Shaka turnaround and Texas Results
Howland turnaround and Miss Results
Bruce Pearl turnaround and Auburn Results
Danny Manning turnaround and WF Results
Bobby Hurlery turnaround and ASU Results
Cuonzo Martin turnaround and his 2 stops Results

Be nice to put this poll up?

[MU82]

Rethinking the decision of 4 years ago, what would you rather have

Buzz's turnaround and VT Results
Shaka turnaround and Texas Results
Howland turnaround and Miss Results
Bruce Pearl turnaround and Auburn Results
Danny Manning turnaround and WF Results
Bobby Hurlery turnaround and ASU Results
Cuonzo Martin turnaround and his 2 stops Results

Be nice to put this poll up?

Well, the main problem with this is that "the decision" was a series of decisions, and at least one of them was not Marquette's decision.

We offered Shaka; Mrs. Shaka turned us down.

I'll leave it to others to pick apart the rest of this ... if there's even interest in doing so.

[burger]

Millennials defer too much......

WOJO needs to win today.....No excuses......

If he does not.....First step towards the door.....

Sure he gets next year......But the seat will be lukewarm at best.....

There is not reason with 4 days to game plan and rest you can not beat a very fallible DePaul team...

We have Top half of the league talent with Bottom half of the league results.....

Put a stake thru their hearts.....and pile it on.....

[Aughnanure]

Rethinking the decision of 4 years ago, what would you rather have

Buzz's turnaround and VT Results
Shaka turnaround and Texas Results
Howland turnaround and Miss Results
Bruce Pearl turnaround and Auburn Results
Danny Manning turnaround and WF Results
Bobby Hurlery turnaround and ASU Results
Cuonzo Martin turnaround and his 2 stops Results

Be nice to put this poll up?

I think it’d be interesting to poll as long as we don’t include our current situation as a choice (basically ensuring that thread dives into a s***show right off the bat).

Shaka, Buzz, and Cuonzo all look pretty even right now. Pearl brings the FBI investigation with it so makes it easy there.

Been impressed with Cuonzo so far. Buzz’s teams are tough and bring that mentality I miss, but I always have wondered if he would just get stuck in that 7-11 range in a conference that deep and top heavy with only a VT brand. Louisville taking a deep hit will help...but will Cuse stay low for long?

[Silkk the Shaka]

Millennials defer too much......

WOJO needs to win today.....No excuses......

If he does not.....First step towards the door.....

Sure he gets next year......But the seat will be lukewarm at best.....

There is not reason with 4 days to game plan and rest you can not beat a very fallible DePaul team...

We have Top half of the league talent with Bottom half of the league results.....

Put a stake thru their hearts.....and pile it on.....

Ah yes, millennials are to blame if we lose today.

[Floorslapper]

What the hell, TAMU? Facts? You're trying to subdue Ners with facts? When the heck did that ever work?

Shame on you. Please tell the rest of us you'll never let it happen again!

Here are some facts, since some of you can't let the issue drop:

Burton didn't start 1 game before transferring.  He played over 20 minutes in 1 of the 8 first games.  That's some real buy-in from a coach, right?

Whether it was Cohen that started in front of him, Juan, JJJ, Derrick - none of those guys were better players.  Any objective basketball fan would agree Burton was FAR better than any of these guys.

If the theory held true that "Wojo rides the hot hand," why in Game 4 against NJIT didn't Burton get more than 14 minutes with a 143 O-Rating, and 1 Personal Foul. What's the excuse made there?  He had foul trouble in one game, UT-Martin, no foul trouble in any of the others.  Why in the Wisconsin game where we scored a whopping 38 points did our most talented offensive player get 11 minutes?

Chew on those FACTS.