5 year plan

[skianth16]

In a sincere attempt to understand "the other side of the aisle" - I'm really curious, 4 years and 5 games into the Wojo era, do the Wojo faithful still feel the same optimism from Years 2 or 3 or 4 that Wojo will bring Marquette back to national relevance?

I think most would agree that he's an above average recruiter and that it's nice to not have to worry about the MU name popping up in any FBI investigations. But has his performance to date - accounting for all 130 games - still made you think he's the guy?

To me, the guy seems inflexible as a coach. One-dimensional offenses, limited in-game adjustments, bad (but improving) defenses, not competing for 40 full minutes, sub-par roster management... All the same things he has been critiqued for since Year 1 seem to still be there, with defense maybe being an exception with this year's team.

[skianth16]

And just to be clear, I'm not writing off the season by any means, but I'm also no closer to thinking Wojo is a capable head coach than I have been the last 4 years.

- Joe didn't start tonight.
- Markus was allowed to take a ton of bad shots when we desperately needed points.
- We had a 9 (!!!) minute scoring drought.
- Joe, Jamal, and Sacar look scared to even play offense. 
- We never attacked Azibuike when he got his 3rd foul.
- It took us 35 (!!!) minutes to take a single free throw.

That stuff falls on Wojo in my book. He has a talented roster, but he's not getting 100% out of it right now.

[The Lens]

Louisville is a REALLY big game

[BM1090]

I do not feel the same optimism.

I'm willing to let this year play out.

I'm not upset about tonight.

I'll be very upset if we lose Friday.

[Jay Bee]

Timing of the post....

[skianth16]

Timing of the post....

Just up late fighting off some lingering jet lag from a trip overseas. Not what it may appear to be.

[NorthernDancerColt]

And just to be clear, I'm not writing off the season by any means, but I'm also no closer to thinking Wojo is a capable head coach than I have been the last 4 years.

- Joe didn't start tonight.
- Markus was allowed to take a ton of bad shots when we desperately needed points.
- We had a 9 (!!!) minute scoring drought.
- Joe, Jamal, and Sacar look scared to even play offense. 
- We never attacked Azibuike when he got his 3rd foul.
- It took us 35 (!!!) minutes to take a single free throw.

That stuff falls on Wojo in my book. He has a talented roster, but he's not getting 100% out of it right now.

   Can't fault you for any of this. The last point especially, and it is related to your 4th point. Nobody driving or attacking.  I was one of the few people going in who thought we could win this game, and it was there for the taking.
   Just as I was stewing in my "what could have been" mode, a gentleman sitting next to me at the bar (ironically an IU grad, who didn't watch our debacle against his alma mater) chimed in that MU impressed him greatly. This wouldn't be a big deal, until I found out he coached HS basketball in the Chicago suburbs for years, and really knows the game. He correctly noted how for the first time in years, we have a nice inside presence with Theo (and hopefully Morrow...if that block becomes a regular occurrence), he restated the obvious: how good the Hausers are. He also noted Cain and Bailey's length and that breakout games can take awhile with freshman, and once they get confidence (Brendan), look out. Maybe he was just trying to console me, but his next words shocked me...." your team looks like a team who, by March, nobody will want to play...I could easily see you guys making a deep run." Hope he is right.

And no, I am not drunk (timing of post lol). Just recurring insomnia.

[manny31]

   Can't fault you for any of this. The last point especially, and it is related to your 4th point. Nobody driving or attacking.  I was one of the few people going in who thought we could win this game, and it was there for the taking.
   Just as I was stewing in my "what could have been" mode, a gentleman sitting next to me at the bar (ironically an IU grad, who didn't watch our debacle against his alma mater) chimed in that MU impressed him greatly. This wouldn't be a big deal, until I found out he coached HS basketball in the Chicago suburbs for years, and really knows the game. He correctly noted how for the first time in years, we have a nice inside presence with Theo (and hopefully Morrow...if that block becomes a regular occurrence), he restated the obvious: how good the Hausers are. He also noted Cain and Bailey's length and that breakout games can take awhile with freshman, and once they get confidence (Brendan), look out. Maybe he was just trying to console me, but his next words shocked me...." your team looks like a team who, by March, nobody will want to play...I could easily see you guys making a deep run." Hope he is right.

And no, I am not drunk (timing of post lol). Just recurring insomnia.

Was the IU guy drunk?
It is just past 10:30 am CST and that second half from last night makes me want to have a drink.
I appreciate that our guys will improve, but what about our coaching?
By all appearances Wojo is a really good guy, represents MU in the way I think that way most of us want to be represented.
But.....nothing I have seen would suggest that he can coach at the level we aspire to. In game adjustments, or lack of would support this IMO.
Lots of people on Scoop with good info say the seat is not hot, ok but I think it should be. At least an audible clock ticking in the background.
Gotta beat L'Ville or there will be a smoking crater where Scoop used to be.
Happy Thanksgiving to all you Scoopers.

[skianth16]

By all appearances Wojo is a really good guy, represents MU in the way I think that way most of us want to be represented.
But.....nothing I have seen would suggest that he can coach at the level we aspire to. In game adjustments, or lack of would support this IMO.
Lots of people on Scoop with good info say the seat is not hot, ok but I think it should be. At least an audible clock ticking in the background.

Call me crazy, but if the biggest thing in the pros column for Wojo is just the squeaky clean image, that can't be enough for him to keep his job. Right? Winning (aka ROI) has to mean something to the powers that be.

[Newsdreams]

And just to be clear, I'm not writing off the season by any means, but I'm also no closer to thinking Wojo is a capable head coach than I have been the last 4 years.

- Joe didn't start tonight. Agree
- Markus was allowed to take a ton of bad shots when we desperately needed points. Yes and no shooters will shoot, remember same about Rowsey, but can't be PG for that long
- We had a 9 (!!!) minute scoring drought. Missing shots we made in 1st half and dumb turnovers
- Joe, Jamal, and Sacar look scared to even play offense. Joe and Sacar not expected to play good on offense that is gravy if they do. Cain had a bad offensive game, it happens, plus maybe too much energy spent on hard D 
- We never attacked Azibuike when he got his 3rd foul.Don't really have someone to be able to and refs (not to say it is their fault) seemed more reluctant to call fouls in 2nd half against him
- It took us 35 (!!!) minutes to take a single free throw. We couldn't really drive against their bigs inside, the few times we tried we weren't successful most of the time, and don't think refs were giving us benefit of the doubt on fouls

That stuff falls on Wojo in my book. He has a talented roster, but he's not getting 100% out of it right now. He is the coach so ultimately, yes, but I saw a lot of improvement

This game gave me a better feeling than IU. One of the main things I put on Wojo when Joe and Markus are in at the same time no way should Markus be PG, Joe becomes a liability on offense and it is easier to defend Markus. Tomorrow's game is huge. If we win I think we will be right on our way, if we lose it will become almost a must we win all remaining non conference games.

[GGGG]

Call me crazy, but if the biggest thing in the pros column for Wojo is just the squeaky clean image, that can't be enough for him to keep his job. Right? Winning (aka ROI) has to mean something to the powers that be.

The powers that be are very happy with Wojo and how he represents the University.

[skianth16]

The powers that be are very happy with Wojo and how he represents the University.

Are basketball coaches such degenerates that no one out there is capable of both winning and playing by the rules? Or is that at least the university's position?

[Warrior1969]

Things are really off right now, definitely think other coaches would be getting more out of this team. Very disappointing for a year five team.   Very depressing that we keep seeing the same mistakes and horrible offense in year five.  I am just not sure Wojo is the guy.

[GGGG]

Are basketball coaches such degenerates that no one out there is capable of both winning and playing by the rules? Or is that at least the university's position?

Obviously not and I don't know.

[4everwarriors]

Are basketball coaches such degenerates that no one out there is capable of both winning and playing by the rules? Or is that at least the university's position?

All coaches cheat.

[#UnleashSean]

if being "clean" (IE not caught) is the top pro we have for him, things are looking bleak. I think by far the most glaring issue is that of the scoring droughts. They happen in every big game, and even a lot of cupcakes. Now all teams can go a couple of minutes without scoring every once and a while. But Marquette has perfected that art, how many games have been lost in the past 5 years because they didn't make a basket for 5,6,7,8,9 or 10 minutes?

[skianth16]

This game gave me a better feeling than IU. One of the main things I put on Wojo when Joe and Markus are in at the same time no way should Markus be PG, Joe becomes a liability on offense and it is easier to defend Markus. Tomorrow's game is huge. If we win I think we will be right on our way, if we lose it will become almost a must we win all remaining non conference games.

This is a great point too. It falls under roster management issues, which Wojo still struggles with. Something has to give here soon.

[skianth16]

if being "clean" (IE not caught) is the top pro we have for him, things are looking bleak.

This is exactly why I wanted to hear from other people who are still fans of his. So far, we aren't really getting any feedback about what there is to like or why we should be optimistic.

[CountryRoads]

Wojo is a good guy and wants to succeed badly here. However, he hasn't met my expectations as a fan which are:

Five year period:

-3 NCAA tournaments (seed doesn't matter and losing in the first round is acceptable)

-1 NCAA tournament (team has a 5+ seed and wins 1+ games)

-1 year of no postseason (NIT is a bonus but I don't really care about that tournament personally)

Certainly a failure in the first five years. Yes, you can point to the fact that it was a "total rebuild" but honestly a good coach should have his team up and running by year 2 (or 3 at the latest).

What concerns me is that I'm not confident wojo will meet my expectations (which I think are pretty reasonable) in the second five year plan (MU_FiveYrPlan_2.ppt).

I also think the wojo "hot seat" talk is loser talk. Anytime fans start debating whether the coach is on the hot seat means only one thing which is that the team kind of sucks and has for quite some time.

Are there any examples of coaches that have once been on the "hot seat" (according to fans) and have gone on to turn it around and have sustained success?

[WarriorDad]

Call me crazy, but if the biggest thing in the pros column for Wojo is just the squeaky clean image, that can't be enough for him to keep his job. Right? Winning (aka ROI) has to mean something to the powers that be.

Winning while not dragging the university's name through the mud is paramount.  MU has long made that decision. Some of you either better get on board with this, or start following another program. That isn't going to change despite protestations from some fans.

[Daniel]

Winning while not dragging the university's name through the mud is paramount.  MU has long made that decision. Some of you either better get on board with this, or start following another program. That isn't going to change despite protestations from some fans.

Well, winning AND not dragging the university's name in the mud is good.    We need to work on the winning part.  Winning regularly, getting ranked, getting to NCAA tourney and winning some games there

[Goose]

Chico's is right. MU made decision on how they want the basketball program to be run, and good for them. Seven years ago I realized the direction of the program changed. Sadly, I still slip into believing that MU is still a basketball school.

[WarriorDad]

Well, winning AND not dragging the university's name in the mud is good.    We need to work on the winning part.  Winning regularly, getting ranked, getting to NCAA tourney and winning some games there

Average of 20 wins the last three years.  One NCAA and one NIT.  .500 record in the Big East in that time period in which the conference was never worse than 3rd in the nation. 

We will go to the NCAAs this year.  The amount of panic over two losses that all experts and unbiased (Ken pom) said would happen has been strange.  I know, it was not that we lost, but how.  At the conclusion, Michigan State lost to Kansas as did Marquette.  An L is an L.


Unbiased ranking (Ken Pom)

2019   34th currently
2018   53rd
2017   32nd
----------
2016   97th   
2015   93rd
2014   68th  (Coach Williams last year)
It looks to me like the last few years are different than the ones preceding

[WarriorDad]

Chico's is right. MU made decision on how they want the basketball program to be run, and good for them. Seven years ago I realized the direction of the program changed. Sadly, I still slip into believing that MU is still a basketball school.

Ok Chicos.    

Meanwhile, Marquette is still a basketball school.  To suggest otherwise is wrong.  We are playing in Fiserv Arena, not at some dump down the street. We're in the Big East, not some mid major conference.  We have improved over the last three years and will make the NCAAs this year, next year and beyond.  Some of you have the outlook of negativity that is downright depressing.

[wadesworld]

So we're punting on year 5 just 5 games into the season?