2018-19, a retrospective

[tower912]

It may be too soon for this, but I think I can be rational.
1.  IMO, losing Greg really hurt.   It could have been managed, but it was coupled with Chartouny not panning out, a la Lockett, Carlino, Kaitin.     Those two things left MU woefully thin at guard.    It came back to bite MU down the stretch.
2.  The Hausers.   Man, they have pretty shots.    Man, they are slow.   I believe Sam's hip and Joey's ankle prevented them from getting the strength and conditioning they would have otherwise and affected their overall quickness by a half step.     They both had really great moments, but Joey hit the freshman wall and struggled overall after February 1.    He isn't the first or last freshman to do so.    It is my fervent hope that both are able to really work on their legs and core during the offseason and find a half step each. 
3.   Markus.   BEPOY, Second team all American.    Occasional bouts of hero ball, sure, but until he hurt his wrist and groin he treated MU fans to performances unlike any we have ever seen before.   I would have loved for him to sit more.    See 1.
4.   Sacar.   I did not think he would play as much as he did.    In some ways, his play was a harbinger of the team.   When he was good, the team was good.    When he was tentative with the ball and in foul trouble, the team was bad.   
5.   Theo made great strides.    But he needs to make more.   IMO, he got block happy and it impacted his rebounding positioning.   
He needs to get another year smarter.
6.   Morrow was a nice back up center who had some nice moments.   But he is not a 4 and should not be a starter.   
7.  I said after the first game that Bailey was quicker than Joey.    He certainly was.    He showed real promise as a defensive stopper.   He earned his minutes down the stretch.  I fully believe he will find his shot next year.   
8.   Cain and Heldt.    A case could be made that both deserved more minutes, even a few to help them find their confidence and rest others.     A case can also be made that their on court performance indicated they were playing the correct amount.    Thank you, Matt, for 4 years of great character and representing the university so well.     I hope Jamal comes back.
9.  Wojo..... I have spent a lot of time pointing out flaws.    When you take those flaws into account, the 23-4 record and 20-2 run are remarkable things.     Down the stretch, though, when other teams adjusted, Wojo's counter adjustments were not successful.   A case can be made that he did the best he could with the pieces he had.   A case can be made that there were options he could have tried and didn't.   I see the wisdom of both arguments.   I have mentioned before and I will say it again.   He is starting to remind me of Crean.   He has yet to make a team more than the sum of its parts.     I haven't given up on him yet, but I am not blind to the frustration of others or their reasoning.   

The team met my expectations.    The last 3 weeks have been difficult, no doubt.   

[NBBomber]

Easily the best, and most well reasoned, post of the post season....for now.

[nyg]

Agree with Joe C, he was not even close to what expectations were.  Not even close.

Don't agree with injuries with Hausers. Yes, Markus hurt wrist and that was accurate.  But, he said he was 100% healed and good to go.  Whether to believe unknown, might have said it for opponents sake.  No mention whatsoever, nothing, about Sam's hip or Joey's ankle all year.  MU goes into slump and all of a sudden Sam's hip is an issue, now Joey's ankle. 

Maybe an error that Morrow is not a 5, not the 4 you mentioned. 

Shocked if Jamal returns. 

Good stuff. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Who's going to the Awards Banquet, aina?

[Billy Hoyle]

Agree with Joe C, he was not even close to what expectations were.  Not even close.


Good stuff.

What were expectations for Chartouny?  He was the third leading scorer on a garbage Fordham team and wasn't even all A-10. He was a back-up and little more. Even Cremo, who everyone was made we lost, only averaged 4.3 a game for Nova after averaging 17 at Albany. I feel many put far too much hope in graduate transfers.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Agree with Joe C, he was not even close to what expectations were.  Not even close.

Don't agree with injuries with Hausers. Yes, Markus hurt wrist and that was accurate.  But, he said he was 100% healed and good to go.  Whether to believe unknown, might have said it for opponents sake.  No mention whatsoever, nothing, about Sam's hip or Joey's ankle all year.  MU goes into slump and all of a sudden Sam's hip is an issue, now Joey's ankle. 

Maybe an error that Morrow is not a 5, not the 4 you mentioned. 

Shocked if Jamal returns. 

Good stuff.

With the Hauser's, tower was saying they weren't building strength and quickness in the off season because they had to recuperate first before they can train and grow. 

[NickelDimer]

Nice balanced post. I think next year is Wojo's last. That's all I got.

[Mike Deane's Seat Belt]

As remarkable as the 23-4 record was so is the record that closed out the season.  Completely erased anything positive that was built prior to the collapse.

And mu is treading water as a program another season

[The Sultan]

What were expectations for Chartouny?  He was the third leading scorer on a garbage Fordham team and wasn't even all A-10. He was a back-up and little more. Even Cremo, who everyone was made we lost, only averaged 4.3 a game for Nova after averaging 17 at Albany. I feel many put far too much hope in graduate transfers.

I thought he would be a decent defender and adequate ball handler.  He looked the former at times, but he was terrible at the latter.

[Cheeks]

Disappointing finish, but about where I thought they would be.

Top 3 Big East, some big wins, some not so great losses, NCAA bid, and then the crapshoot based on who we get.  We beat a 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 seeded teams in this tournament during the regular season.  Who you play matters.  Plenty of teams we could have played and beat, but not that type of team. 

Crapshoot

[mileskishnish72]

Re #9:

Was driving home from the XL Center (a horribly designed, outdated pit) and while cogitating about the pathetic game, thought "What the hell did Wojo change after the slide was obvious?"

We stopped for dinner, and my spouse, a dedicated fan but not a font of knowledge with respect to hoops, asked me the same GD question!

I've basically been a supporter of Wojo. He recruits well. He has the program trending up, and so far it's apparently clean.

Down 7 at the half, I facetiously said "Wait until you see the adjustments our genius makes at the half." Well, from down 7 to down 20 in short order.

I believe he is committed to his players, I've seen him get emotional discussing them a couple of times. I think he is interested in running a clean program. I believe he has improved the program.

I do, however, have serious doubts about his ability to be a really good tactitian. I was re-reading the post and the "slide" referred to relates not to the game tonight but to the season.

I know people will say "He had limited options." Well, that's partly on him. The Gregg injury (or the exacerbation of the original) was unlucky, but I don't know if he would have been the answer.

I'm sure he will be with us for another year (pocketing several million dollars along the way).
The team next year is supposed to be even better than this year' edition. If we are still having these kinds of discussions a year hence, would we all not be in agreement as to the future of Wojo?

[NickelDimer]

Good post miles and a fair question. Wojo was severely out coached down the stretch. Today he had is rear handed to him and would have vs most teams in this tournament. That has nothing to do with it being a crapshoot

[Dish]

I like Woj, I really do, but it pains me that he can't take an MU team up a notch. In a way, his career accomplishments at MU perfectly define him as a coach. Good enough to be good, but far from great. In a season where the BE was way down, MU had a fantastic schedule in conference play to their advantage, MU found a way to lose the regular season title, rather than go out and grab it.

What's of interest to me is what other options were there outside of Chartouny. Did MU possibly pass on another player to get dibs on Joe? His roster spot became much more valuable once Elliott redshirted. For the record, MU probably wasn't going to get some 5 star stud instead of Joe, but down the stretch of the season when MU really needed someone there, he obviously was not the answer. That was a clear player evaluation mistake by the coaching staff.

I'll give Woj another year, but agree with Topper...a year from now if MU is still winless in the NCAA's under Woj (who will have coached an NBA lottery pick, MU's all time leading scorer, and perhaps the best brother tandem in Wisconsin basketball history), then Woj should be immediately gone.

[nyg]

What were expectations for Chartouny?  He was the third leading scorer on a garbage Fordham team and wasn't even all A-10. He was a back-up and little more. Even Cremo, who everyone was made we lost, only averaged 4.3 a game for Nova after averaging 17 at Albany. I feel many put far too much hope in graduate transfers.

I had thought he would be the defensive point guard that Rowsey wasn't. The one asset MU was missing, a tall defensive guard, not two midgets.
Didn't he like lead country or conference in steals?  How did he do that as a backup at Fordham?  I must be missing something here. 
I have much more confidence in McEwen next year over what Joe was. 

[JakeBarnes]

With the Hauser's, tower was saying they weren't building strength and quickness in the off season because they had to recuperate first before they can train and grow.

Been saying the Hausers one for a bit. They just look underconditioned. Part of the issue with rehabbing, as stated above. Team ran out of steam. Just wish it wouldnt have happened this way.

[Da 'Lanche]

Re #9:

Was driving home from the XL Center (a horribly designed, outdated pit) and while cogitating about the pathetic game, thought "What the hell did Wojo change after the slide was obvious?"

We stopped for dinner, and my spouse, a dedicated fan but not a font of knowledge with respect to hoops, asked me the same GD question!

I've basically been a supporter of Wojo. He recruits well. He has the program trending up, and so far it's apparently clean.

Down 7 at the half, I facetiously said "Wait until you see the adjustments our genius makes at the half." Well, from down 7 to down 20 in short order.

I believe he is committed to his players, I've seen him get emotional discussing them a couple of times. I think he is interested in running a clean program. I believe he has improved the program.

I do, however, have serious doubts about his ability to be a really good tactitian. I was re-reading the post and the "slide" referred to relates not to the game tonight but to the season.

I know people will say "He had limited options." Well, that's partly on him. The Gregg injury (or the exacerbation of the original) was unlucky, but I don't know if he would have been the answer.

I'm sure he will be with us for another year (pocketing several million dollars along the way).
The team next year is supposed to be even better than this year' edition. If we are still having these kinds of discussions a year hence, would we all not be in agreement as to the future of Wojo?

Great post.  I have largely been on the Wojo bandwagon and felt the program was progressing on and off the court in an acceptable and predictable pace.  And his recruiting chops seemed solid as we have been on many coveted recruits and landed more than enough to compete at a high level.  But his coaching feels more and more suspect.   The lack of in game adjustments in the last Creighton and Georgetown games had me confused and concerned.

His seat should be hot.  Should be  no excuses and I am not a perpetual wait until next year optimist.... but, he has all of his players, experienced, back...the roster composition is all on him.  If he can't have a seriously significant season next year with signs of consistent enduring program success...it is time to move on...6 years is beyond an objectively fair opportunity.

[muwarrior69]

Is Symir a guard or a wing? At any rate would be nice to have him on board next year. Wojo's woes have been when we have guards we have no bigs. Now that we have bigs we have no guards in particular a pg.

[4everwarriors]

Fools are in da Nile, hey?




You can't hide your lyin' eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes
Honey, you can't hide your lyin' eyes

[RJax55]

Tower, you're being very kind to Wojo on the Crean comparison. Five years in, TC had real accomplishments to point to. What the hell has Wojo done?

[Herman Cain]

Wojo's closest comp is Mike Deane.

[RJax55]

Wojo's closest comp is Mike Deane.

I mentioned this a few weeks ago. With the season now in the books, it's fair to look at. And by the five year mark, KO, TC, and Buzz all had conference titles and NCAA success during that period. What's Wojo have?

[frozena pizza]

Lockett, Carlino and Reinhart were very solid contributors. Chartouny was not and there's really no comparison.

The Hausers have great size and can really score. They just aren't great athletes and not very quick. I wouldn't expect that to change and Wojo just needs to plan around it.

[Lennys Tap]

Disappointing finish, but about where I thought they would be.

Top 3 Big East, some big wins, some not so great losses, NCAA bid, and then the crapshoot based on who we get.  We beat a 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 seeded teams in this tournament during the regular season.  Who you play matters.  Plenty of teams we could have played and beat, but not that type of team. 

Crapshoot

We beat the 4,5 and 7 a loooong time ago. The last THREE times we played the 6 and 10 we lost. We were finished a month ago. Every potential 12, 11 and 10 were praying to get us. Didn't matter who, we were going down. This match up, crapshoot stuff is weak sauce excuse making. #bullshyte #slurper

[Da 'Lanche]

Fools are in da Nile, hey?

Nah, they were in a lot of scoopers' moms about 9 months before they were born...hey?

[CountryRoads]

Successful season. We our Super Bowl against UW-Madison. All that matters.