What was Wojo's alternative?

[NWarsh]

That's a nice narrative, but not necessarily true. Many times, he would pass up a good shot, and there would not be a good shot afterwards. If your narrative were true, he would have alot more assists.

This - I feel like people are not remembering Sam's game all that well.  He was a spot up shooter and rarely created anything for anybody else.  He had an assist rate of 14.5 last year, that was even lower than Joey's 15.2, and a lot lower than the 27.2 Markus had.  I loved Sam as a player and thought he might have been our most important player going into last year, but the things Markus did last year changed my mind on that.  He was what made our offense work because he was the only one that could create either for himself or for others.  If we got to make the choice between Markus or the Hauser brothers give me the BEPOY, AA, and one of the best scorers MU has ever seen any day of the week.

[JakeBarnes]

Here are my alternatives:

• When Markus wasn't 100%, don't play him so many minutes. He didn't play against Georgetown and we managed. He clearly wasn't right at the end of the season & the team struggled because of that.
  
• When you say "the strength of our team is our team", let that play out on the court as well. Script plays for other guys. If players don't get the ball to those other guys, let them sit on the bench for a bit so you can explain and reinforce that the strength of the team is indeed the team.
• Push other players in the media. Yes, Markus has a compelling story, but it's not the only compelling story on the team. The coach can influence how the team is covered, do that to promote your other leaders.
• Going further back, this comes down to recruiting. We needed someone to take Markus off the ball. It's better for Markus & the rest of the team. Maybe McEwen will be that guy, but clearly Chartouny wasn't a good fit & that comes down to staff evaluations.
• Frankly...there are I'm sure a dozen other things that could've been done. Ultimately, it is the job of the head coach to assemble a roster & keep it together. I believe 100% that Wojo was aware there were issues. That being the case, it was his job to make it work. That's what he's paid for. So the question of what was Wojo's alternative is answered simply by "fix it" because that's why he was hired to sit in that seat in the first place.

Chicos actually made a thread suggesting this. *ducks*

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

How about borderline mutiny?

What do you all think is going on?

So your take is there's a borderline mutiny going on because Howard is a cancer.

Don't give up your day job.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

So your take is there's a borderline mutiny going on because Howard is a cancer.

Don't give up your day job.

That’s my take because that’s what is happening.

[brewcity77]

Chicos actually made a thread suggesting this. *ducks*

I remember tweeting this late in the game at Seton Hall:

I love Howard. Love his game. But right now, up 13, I'm not sure I want him back in the game. Unless there's a real need.

https://twitter.com/brewcity77/status/1103462851438628864?s=21

He was killing us late in games. It was right there to see.

[CTWarrior]

This - I feel like people are not remembering Sam's game all that well.  He was a spot up shooter and rarely created anything for anybody else.  He had an assist rate of 14.5 last year, that was even lower than Joey's 15.2, and a lot lower than the 27.2 Markus had.  I loved Sam as a player and thought he might have been our most important player going into last year, but the things Markus did last year changed my mind on that.  He was what made our offense work because he was the only one that could create either for himself or for others.  If we got to make the choice between Markus or the Hauser brothers give me the BEPOY, AA, and one of the best scorers MU has ever seen any day of the week.

I remember his game well.  He would pass up a shot and kick it out if he thought we could get a better one.  Not necessarily leading to an assist and as MU82 pointed out, not 100%always  the correct decision.  Assist rate is out of context the way you are using it anyway.  Markus had the ball 5x as much as Sam so of course he is going to get a much higher percentage of assists while he is on the floor.

[#UnleashSean]

This - I feel like people are not remembering Sam's game all that well.  He was a spot up shooter and rarely created anything for anybody else.  He had an assist rate of 14.5 last year, that was even lower than Joey's 15.2, and a lot lower than the 27.2 Markus had.  I loved Sam as a player and thought he might have been our most important player going into last year, but the things Markus did last year changed my mind on that.  He was what made our offense work because he was the only one that could create either for himself or for others.  If we got to make the choice between Markus or the Hauser brothers give me the BEPOY, AA, and one of the best scorers MU has ever seen any day of the week.

If only basketball used the hockey assist stat. Cant just poke into any stat withoutboooking at everything

[NWarsh]

I remember his game well.  He would pass up a shot and kick it out if he thought we could get a better one.  Not necessarily leading to an assist and as MU82 pointed out, not 100%always  the correct decision.  Assist rate is out of context the way you are using it anyway.  Markus had the ball 5x as much as Sam so of course he is going to get a much higher percentage of assists while he is on the floor.

Correct, it should be expected he had a higher assist rate.  There is also a reason he had the ball in his hands 5x more than Sam, because he could create for others.  Again, nothing against Sam, but he is what he is, a spot up shooter who did not really do all that much to set his teammates up for better shots.  Markus is what he is, a high volume scorer who still needs to improve in knowing when to shoot and when not to.  Both are learning that last part, Sam by knowing when to actually shoot and Markus when not to.

[Dr. Blackheart]

eFG% during parts of a possession (# of attempts):

Transition:  Howard 57.0% (178), Sam 56.6% (83), and Joey 52.8% (39).

Non-transition:  Howard 49.9% (422), Sam 58.0% (293), and Joey 54.5% (198).

Late:  Howard 35.8% (66), Sam 61.3% (71), and Joey 57.4% (34).

This is the over usage and hero ball problem. Markus was a killer in transition, horrid at the end. Sam consistent rock across all but money late. Joey consistent. 

That's what Wojo needs to replace and fix. 

[BM1090]

eFG% during parts of a possession (# of attempts):

Transition:  Howard 57.0% (178), Sam 56.6% (83), and Joey 52.8% (39).

Non-transition:  Howard 49.9% (422), Sam 58.0% (293), and Joey 54.5% (198).

Late:  Howard 35.8% (66), Sam 61.3% (71), and Joey 57.4% (34).

This is the over usage and hero ball problem. Markus was a killer in transition, horrid at the end. Sam consistent rock across all but money late. Joey consistent. 

That's what Wojo needs to replace and fix.

The late numbers can be misleading though. Late in shot clock we'd go to Markus to get a difficult shot up. We wouldn't go to Sam or Joey because they were not nearly as capable of creating a shot.

Markus' numbers go way down because he was the only one who could create a shot. Late shot clock most of Sam's (and even moreso Joey's) were catch and shoot or post ups.

I'm not saying the numbers have no validity. They do. But I can remember a minimum of 50 possessions with 5 seconds left on the clock where someone threw the ball to Markus near halfcourt and he had to go get a shot.

[bilsu]

When Sam developed and proved himself to be a potential star, an All-Conference performer, Wojo could have coached the team to acknowledge this.  An inability, or disinterest, in making Sam anything more than an a wing outlet.  Markus is a phenomenal scorer and a great player, but he had a near historic usage rate.  And given the offense and direction of the team during the slide at the end of the year, there is nothing to insinuate that would have changed next year.

No, you don't banish Markus.  But its a coaches job to manage his star in a way that allows the team to shine the best collectively, which doesn't mean dedicating yourself to the Markus Show at the expense of others.  Sam and Joey likely saw that Wojo didn't have a plan or desire for that, next year would be more 40%+ usage rate basketball with Howard, for better or for worse, and made a choice.

Had Sam stayed he probably would of finished top 5 in scoring at MU. That to me indicates Sam was getting his shots.

[willie warrior]

Had Sam stayed he probably would of finished top 5 in scoring at MU. That to me indicates Sam was getting his shots.

And he will now be getting shots somewhere else. Three years at MU and a very good player has left the building. Anybody know why?

[Avenue Commons]

How about borderline mutiny?

What do you all think is going on?

One player wanted to leave and took his brother with him.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

One player wanted to leave and took his brother with him.

Two players DID leave after Markus announced he was coming back. Are you sure it was just them who wanted to leave?

[jesmu84]

Two players DID leave after Markus announced he was coming back. Are you sure it was just them who wanted to leave?

Are you really claiming Markus is faking his mental illness for special treatment on/off the court?

Jeez

[Dr. Blackheart]

The late numbers can be misleading though. Late in shot clock we'd go to Markus to get a difficult shot up. We wouldn't go to Sam or Joey because they were not nearly as capable of creating a shot.

Markus' numbers go way down because he was the only one who could create a shot. Late shot clock most of Sam's (and even moreso Joey's) were catch and shoot or post ups.

I'm not saying the numbers have no validity. They do. But I can remember a minimum of 50 possessions with 5 seconds left on the clock where someone threw the ball to Markus near halfcourt and he had to go get a shot.

Sam had more shots than Markus late in possessions. Markus had 66 last second shots as I noted in parenthesis in my post and Sam had 71.  This is the only time instance of the three where Sam had more shots as Markus dominated early and within the offense. 

Yet, Sam hit a much higher percentage. So your eye test doesn't support your conclusions.

[Mutaman]

And he will now be getting shots somewhere else. Three years at MU and a very good player has left the building. Anybody know why?

In a small town like Milwaukee, you would think someone with a little inside info could come up with a answer to this.  Instead all we get is endless speculation.

[brewcity77]

In a small town like Milwaukee, you would think someone with a little inside info could come up with a answer to this.  Instead all we get is endless speculation.

I think the majority of it is on here. But this site has been a bit of a jumbled mess since Monday morning.

[Mutaman]

I think the majority of it is on here. But this site has been a bit of a jumbled mess since Monday morning.

You might be right and I'm missing the forest for the trees. But this still makes no sense to me. Can you do me a favor and give me a short sum up of "the majority of it".

Sam delaying the NBA for a year and Joey giving up a year's eligibility because Markus won't pass them the ball?  Because they decided after all this time they hate Wojo? To transfer to Wisconsin, a program in major decline, of all places? Just makes no sense. 

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Are you really claiming Markus is faking his mental illness for special treatment on/off the court?

Jeez

I’m not sure I went as far as that.

[brewcity77]

The majority is probably this:

• Rift seems to have started over usage rate of Howard, especially in late-game situations during the losing streak.
• Players went to Wojo with complaints but nothing changed.
• Players wrote a letter to Wojo reaffirming those complaints but nothing changed.
• The situation developed into a Markus or the Hausers choice for Wojo.
• Markus came back, which led to the Hausers transfer. Sam does sit one/play one, Joey gives up a year of eligibility to leave.
• Virginia, Michigan State (runners up for Sam & Joey respectively) become early favorites, Wisconsin also emerges as an option due to the connections to Trevor Anderson & the Davison family, along with heavy speculation by UW-M media types like Potrykus.

I'm sure there's plenty more on the site, but I think those are the basics of what's being discussed.

[Lennys Tap]

Sam had more shots than Markus late in possessions. Markus had 66 last second shots as I noted in parenthesis in my post and Sam had 71.  This is the only time instance of the three where Sam had more shots as Markus dominated early and within the offense. 

Yet, Sam hit a much higher percentage. So your eye test doesn't support your conclusions.

+1. Good job Doc. People love the "eye test" because it allows them to affirm their biases. Thank you for some data.

[BM1090]

Sam had more shots than Markus late in possessions. Markus had 66 last second shots as I noted in parenthesis in my post and Sam had 71.  This is the only time instance of the three where Sam had more shots as Markus dominated early and within the offense. 

Yet, Sam hit a much higher percentage. So your eye test doesn't support your conclusions.

Interesting. Never would have guessed that. Do you have numbers on turnovers or fouls drawn late in clock?

[connie]

The majority is probably this:

• Rift seems to have started over usage rate of Howard, especially in late-game situations during the losing streak.
• Players went to Wojo with complaints but nothing changed.
• Players wrote a letter to Wojo reaffirming those complaints but nothing changed.
• The situation developed into a Markus or the Hausers choice for Wojo.
• Markus came back, which led to the Hausers transfer. Sam does sit one/play one, Joey gives up a year of eligibility to leave.
• Virginia, Michigan State (runners up for Sam & Joey respectively) become early favorites, Wisconsin also emerges as an option due to the connections to Trevor Anderson & the Davison family, along with heavy speculation by UW-M media types like Potrykus.

I'm sure there's plenty more on the site, but I think those are the basics of what's being discussed.

I have to ask where any of the assistant coaches were as this developed, because this entire debacle reeks of coaching malpractice.  Someone on the staff has to:
1)be aware of the severity of the issue; 
2)be a buffer/safe space for venting player discontent;
3)be able to talk to Wojo about some kind of accommodation;
4)sell the Hausers on some accommodation.

I sure there are other points to be added, but I am still stunned that this wasn't headed off in some way.  No way this issue should have reached the point it did. The more that comes out the more ridiculous it gets.  This whole letter thing is utter madness. 

We have assistant coaches for a reason, and one of them is helping manage disputes over ego, usage, playing time and jealousies, coaching stubbornness and whatever you want to put in the mix. We don't have a numbers guy that can go through the end of game efficiency stats or whatever the issue of the day is and work something out?  The whole team self destructs in three to four games?  Its just ridiculous.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Connie raises a good point.