The 2014 hiring of Wojo has indelibly marred the reputation of this program...

[MU82]

Man up for a good cause.

Do I get to choose the cause?

I was thinking the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

[Skatastrophy]

"man up"

Buncha old farts playing tough guy on the internet. Go spend some time with your loved ones.

[Billy Hoyle]

Do I get to choose the cause?

I was thinking the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

I was thinking about something animal related, like ASPCA. My wife and I are big rescue advocates.

[Cheeks]

Do I get to choose the cause?

I was thinking the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

I would like it to go to Juvenile Diabetes Research or Alzheimer’s Research, but I could get on board with others.

I just want it to be significant and the crow eating to be vast.  Time for people to put up or shut up, and what better cause than charity.  Real money, not any of this $100 crap.  If we are going to do this, do it right and the guilty here that continue to flub this myth can feel good by their humiliation knowing the money goes to a good cause.

[Cheeks]

I'll gladly do that for you to prove you aren't WarriorDad

You just called me Billy...we will start there with that humiliation and go from there.  Or are you finally going to admit you are wrong?

Which is it?  And now that money is involved your are cowering away?  Sad.  Good charities on the line here.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

You just called me Billy...we will start there with that humiliation and go from there.  Or are you finally going to admit you are wrong?

Which is it?  And now that money is involved your are cowering away?  Sad.  Good charities on the line here.

So just to clarify,  you won't take bets on whether or not you're WarriorDad?

[Billy Hoyle]

Odd... I figured you live in SoCal considering the intimate knowledge of the niche-California sport water polo you & Cheeks share

I find it odd the obsession with claiming Cheeks has multiple screen names that he's using. You know, multiple individuals can share similar opinions on particular topics.

Is it insecurity in your own stances that leads to the "Billy is Cheeks, Finkle is Einhorn" obsession?

[leever]

I'm Spartacus!

[Dawson Rental]

I agree with this analysis.  Get one of the assistants to be an interim, call next year a wash in terms of both on the court play and recruiting, and then bring in a guy like Rick Barnes (not him, obviously, but someone like him) who has a proven track record of being able to win anywhere he goes.

Wojo is a dead man walking.

Yes, he definitely won the "getting fired" thing at Texas.

[Dawson Rental]

Change my mind

Why would I want to make you unhappy?

[Dawson Rental]

It is going to be a weird season, no doubt. Plus, Wojo has shown to be pretty thin-skinned at times. How's he going to react with the heat really on?

From a basketball point-of-view, MU just lost their entire floor spacing with the Hausers leaving. That's huge. Now, coaches won't think twice to have their entire defense collapse on Markus when he drives.

If you believe the Hausers, Marquette had already lost its entire floor spacing due to Markus' inability or disinclination to drive and kick the ball out.

[Dawson Rental]

Under the current administration, Marquette has focused on one thing......THE MISSION....and they have put that above all else.  It's ironic that the first lay president in history seems to care far more about THE MISSION than any of his Jesuit predecessors but that is the direction they're taking the institution as a whole, not just the basketball program, so as long as the current administration remains the same, they will not hire anyone that is not 100% committed to THE MISSION or who's values they don't believe are aligned with it.

Buzz got us to an Elite Eight and onto the FRONT PAGE of the Chicago Tribune for a very wrong reason.

There's something to be said for not being mentioned in the testimony of assistant coaches and player representatives who are on trial in federal court for fraud.

[Eldon]

I find it odd the obsession with claiming Cheeks has multiple screen names that he's using. You know, multiple individuals can share similar opinions on particular topics.

Is it insecurity in your own stances that leads to the "Billy is Cheeks, Finkle is Einhorn" obsession?

I think it's done in good fun.  I don't think anyone seriously believes that you and Chicos and WarriorDad are all the same person.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised nobody has ever accused me of being Chicos.  It's a Scoop rite of passage that I have yet to go through I guess.

FWIW, I hate California traffic; I think there is a non-trivial element of randomness to the NCAA tournament; and I think water polo is an underrated sport.

[BallBoy]

Well, no one actually said this.  You really beat the hell out of that strawman, though.  Well done.

On the other hand, I quoted someone who appears to sincerely believe that this program was such garbage that they couldn't believe a career assistant (and not our first choice), even wanted it.  Reads like quite a bit of hyperbole to me.

Now, I'm not saying the talent left for Wojo was great, or that they should've been a tournament team.  But considering that once Wojo finally got rid of all those terrible players he inherited we actually took a step backward (Which doesn't jive with this bizarre "We've improved every year under Wojo" take that somehow gets tossed around without any pushback around here), either the cupboard wasn't as bad as people said it was or Wojo did a crummy job in year 4.

I exaggerated a little but I can point to hundreds of posts expecting MU to be in NCAA tournament and contending for the conference championship and making up for Buzz’s last season.

I do believe the talent got better every year under Wojo. The only debate is year 4 which I believe was a better team then year 3 but did not improve relative to the other bubble teams. If you recall MU was arguably an DePaul lost from the NCAA and Sam was playing on one leg for most of the season and Elliot was playing with one hand.  That played out with a deeper run in the NIT.

The talent that came into year 4 set the stage for year 5 which by all measures was the best year.  So yes I would say the trend over Wojo’s tenure has been upward. Had he had the same starting point as Buzz I think we would have had a better year three and year four.   

You continue into blaming Wojo for a lack of experience in year 4 but fail to acknowledge the roster he needed to bubble gum together in years one to three.

[MU82]

I would like it to go to Juvenile Diabetes Research or Alzheimer’s Research, but I could get on board with others.

I just want it to be significant and the crow eating to be vast.  Time for people to put up or shut up, and what better cause than charity.  Real money, not any of this $100 crap.  If we are going to do this, do it right and the guilty here that continue to flub this myth can feel good by their humiliation knowing the money goes to a good cause.

You're funny, Eldon.

[Dawson Rental]

The worst thing that can happen to coach is to lose your team. There's going to be times when the opponent is simply more talented, more experienced or even better coached. That happens.

But, for experienced team to blow-up (and that's exactly what has happened since mid-Feb.) and implode is sad to watch.

Again, this has been mentioned, but what exactly did Wojo take away from his years on the Duke bench? Managing talent, managing egos, expectations, playing time, etc., is what Coach K has been doing successfully for years.

When Wojo got to Duke, he was a top recruit going to a top program with other top recruits, and later he was an assistant coach in the same circumstances.  In that situation, you do what the HC wants or you sit and get replaced by someone else with a comparable resume.

Sam and Markus came to a decent but not great MU program that was elevating to become one of if not the favorite to win the league largely due to their play.  Then one of them forgot the part that the other played in making that happen, along with the contributions of all his other teammates.  Fallout happened.

My point is that managing egos and ball touches is much easier in a program that is already at the top then at a program that is just arriving there.  In the later case it's much easier for a player to see themselves as essential rather than replaceable.   I doubt that Wojo ever saw Coach K have to handle anything quite like this one.  We're seeing now the repercussions for Wojo of losing the Hausers to transfer.  How much better or worse would it have been, if he were dealing with the repercussions of sitting the Big East POY at the end of the season?

The differences between Howard and the Hausers were irreconcilable.  Wojo made a choice.  Isn't that what a HC has to do?  Now he's dealing with it with a show of team unity and by doubling down on recruiting.  Will it work?  Who knows?  If it does, he's earned his spot, if not he moves on.  Letting him go now while he still has a chance to right the ship would lead to a disintegration of the current team, a major disruption in recruiting and another minimum five year wait to build a competitive team.  I can't be for that.

[Dawson Rental]

There are great coaches out there. The question is why do we settle for unproven assistant coaches? St. John`s at least tried. We seem to assume we are 3rd tier and can not recruit the best or just below. Look at  Witchita State, South Carolina, any Hurley to start. Then try Nate Oats, Steve Forbes, Nathan Davis. Don't like any of them create your  own list.

Any Hurley, huh?  How'd that go for St. John's?  In spite of all those great guys being available, didn't St. John's just have to settle for the guy just fired at Arkansas? 

BYW, Nate Oats has already been hired by Alabama.

[Small Orange Soda]

I exaggerated a little but I can point to hundreds of posts expecting MU to be in NCAA tournament and contending for the conference championship and making up for Buzz’s last season.

I do believe the talent got better every year under Wojo. The only debate is year 4 which I believe was a better team then year 3 but did not improve relative to the other bubble teams. If you recall MU was arguably an DePaul lost from the NCAA and Sam was playing on one leg for most of the season and Elliot was playing with one hand.  That played out with a deeper run in the NIT.

The talent that came into year 4 set the stage for year 5 which by all measures was the best year.  So yes I would say the trend over Wojo’s tenure has been upward. Had he had the same starting point as Buzz I think we would have had a better year three and year four.   

You continue into blaming Wojo for a lack of experience in year 4 but fail to acknowledge the roster he needed to bubble gum together in years one to three.

I guess it's nice that they almost made the NCAA in year 4, but ultimately they didn't.  That's what I'm basing my criticism on.  But I agree, the team would've been better had they won more games.  I'd say that goes for all of Wojo's teams, actually.

I don't know why we should assume Wojo would've done better in Year 3-4 if he'd been left what Buzz had.  Buzz hit the Sweet 16 in year 4.  Crean hit the Final Four.  They did that with their own guys, not relying on any cupboard.  Wojo didn't make the Tournament.

I'm not sure how much credit you're expecting me to give for years 1-3.  I'm not gonna give him credit or blame for year 1, but getting a McDonald's AA and not even making the NIT in Year 2 was a bummer.  Year 3 was a nice building block result wise.  I had hoped he'd build off that the next season since he finally got rid off all those terrible players Buzz left him, but alas.

[burger]

I take those odds, how much you want to bet

Been doing a lot of long distance driving and streaming Chicago radio.....

When he was offered the St. John's job and turned them down.....

The radio guy who is relatively close with him alluded that he thought Moser stayed because he wants to stay in the Midwest and he thinks there are going to some "opportunities" open up in the next year or two that would be a "better job" than St. John's.....

1 + 1.......

[MUHoopsFan2]

Shush up with the negativity man...lol Another fire the coach topic...<sigh>

I take 24-10 any year and 1 game near contention of a Big East title lost to the national champs...

If we were 10-24 first yer in Fiserv Forum, and in last place . . . then you can whine.
But please calm down. He has done a great job.

He just got poor PG play at the most important position that effects the entire team all at once after it was exposed...

Fix that and they are Champs.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I find it odd the obsession with claiming Cheeks has multiple screen names that he's using. You know, multiple individuals can share similar opinions on particular topics.

Is it insecurity in your own stances that leads to the "Billy is Cheeks, Finkle is Einhorn" obsession?

Where’s Hoopaloop?

[Cheeks]

PRN you in?  Let’s blow out this charity contribution

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

PRN you in?  Let’s blow out this charity contribution

I may be in if there's a warriordad bet

[willie warrior]

I find it odd the obsession with claiming Cheeks has multiple screen names that he's using. You know, multiple individuals can share similar opinions on particular topics.

Is it insecurity in your own stances that leads to the "Billy is Cheeks, Finkle is Einhorn" obsession?

Or it could be the 3 fscrs of eve

[Cheeks]

I think it's done in good fun.  I don't think anyone seriously believes that you and Chicos and WarriorDad are all the same person.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised nobody has ever accused me of being Chicos.  It's a Scoop rite of passage that I have yet to go through I guess.

FWIW, I hate California traffic; I think there is a non-trivial element of randomness to the NCAA tournament; and I think water polo is an underrated sport.

Eldon, you know you are me....stop pretending to be otherwise.