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Next up: A long offseason

Marquette
66
Marquette
Scrimmage
Date/Time: Oct 4, 2025
TV: NA
Schedule for 2024-25
New Mexico
75

WadeDienerNovak

1) From year to year, most of his players get worse, not better, under his watch

For example: Luke Fischer, who had his best year as a sophomore and lost his starting spot to Matt Heldt as a senior; Matt Heldt who started as a sophomore and junior but was relegated to garbage time as a senior; Cheatham, who showed remarkable promise as a freshman but failed to develop as a sophomore and then transferred; JaJuan Johnson, who appeared to be turning a corner as a junior but ended up in and out of the lineup and clearly wasn't on the same page as Wojo as a senior; Duane Wilson who played his best ball as a red-shirt freshman and was then relegated to a 9th man role before transferring; Harry Froling had a year to learn the game from the bench and get in shape but by the time he hit the court he looked utterly inept on both offense and defense. If there were a scattering of players who diminished under Wojo it would be less concerning. But this is a trend.

2) Within individual seasons, most players do not improve under his watch

For example: Juan Anderson and Carlino as seniors got much worse as the season wore on; Henry Ellenson added nothing to his game as his single season at MU wore on; when Rowsey stepped into a more substantial role as a senior he was a great shooter who couldn't play a lick of D and on the day he graduated Rowsey was a great shooter who couldn't play a lick of D; Joey Hauser had a far better first half to his single season at MU than he did in the second half. Guys don't improve intraseason.

3) He can not make game-to-game adjustments when opponents key in on weaknesses

In 2018/19, our loss to Villanova put a clear blueprint for frustrating Markus on film. Trap him with two bigs at the top of the key and he will struggle passing out of the trap. If he breaks the trap and coasts into the lane, interior defenders should leave their man and try to take charges in the lane. One team after another executed this simple strategy as we lost five of our last six games leading into the tourney. Turnovers skyrocketed as the team played more carelessly to finish the season than they did to start it. Although the Hausers were consistently effective posting or facing up from 10-12 feet outside the lane, we failed to emphasize this option in our half-court sets. Wojo failed to adjust. Unclear if he is unable to communicate a change in strategy or doesn't understand the problem to begin with. In 2017/18, our defense was statistically worse than any other high major program in the country. As the season wore on and his offense-friendly lineups continued to get us crushed, he made no apparent adjustments and we let another year pass, missing the tourney in spite of our impressively talented roster. 

4) He can not make in-game adjustments when it becomes apparent the game plan isn't working

Wojo's strategy in guarding Ja Morant (a dynamic passer) was to double him at the top of the key and see if he could make the correct read and pass to the open man. In the first half he ate us alive with one assist after another. Wojo's misguided strategy was getting us nowhere but he came out in the second half and continued on, possession after possession. When our offense stagnated he continued allowing Markus to play hero ball at the end of the shot clock instead of getting the ball to the Hauser's 10-12 feet from the hoop where they were (ONCE AGAIN) having success. In his only other postseason appearance, South Carolina crushed us by 20 as Wojo looked on like a deer in headlights. They scored nearly 100 points as we failed to make any defensive adjustments whatsoever.

5) He cannot adequately handle personality conflicts

His botching of the Howard/Hausers conflict was unacceptable. Some have asked, "What was he supposed to do? Let them have their way?" This is besides the point. It never should have gotten this out of control to begin with. He should've anticipated they would be displeased with his constant failure to adequately incorporate their obvious talents into the offense. Wojo came into the season talking about Markus needing to be "more selfish" if we were going to win. Markus doesn't need to be selfish. Run an equal opportunity offense. This is college basketball. Not the NBA. You don't need to encourage isolation play instead of moving the ball and taking what the offense gives you. If the Hausers are having success posting up, why force them to watch Markus struggle as turnovers accumulate and the lead dwindles away? Wojo not only allowed this personality conflict to spiral out of control....he seemingly unwittingly set the whole thing up. This is the second Wisconsin basketball family he has watched leave on sour terms. His handling of the Ellenson brothers was a disgrace. He burnt a bridge with the family when he sent Wally packing after Henry declared. The parents were understandably upset and his mother was vocal about her displeasure. He grossly mismanaged the situation.

6) The motion offense he runs is ineffective

As stated above, although it is technically a motion offense, it is clearly not "equal opportunity," and the players know it. It stagnates. Last second heaves are commonplace. Players don't look as though they get more comfortable in his offense over time.

BM1090

Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Agree
Undecided but leaning towards agree.
Disagree

Boone

What a depressing topic -- and very well stated. Can't wait for that empty suit to leave MU.

Herman Cain

Quote from: Boone on April 17, 2019, 09:27:54 PM
What a depressing topic -- and very well stated. Can't wait for that empty suit to leave MU.
I agree with this analysis.
"It was a Great Day until it wasn't"
    ——Rory McIlroy on Final Round at Pinehurst

Eldon

7)  Milwaukee recruiting completely off limits due to the handling of DuWil and Burton

8)  NOWI recruiting completely off limits due to Ellenson and now Hauser family meltdowns

9)  Chicagoland recruiting off limits because Chris Collins is there.

10)  JUCO recruiting off limits because that's not SLU's style


MUHoopsFan2

#5
What are you all complaining about???

I think he is a very good coach and recruiter. And he comes from a winning pedigree having come from Duke.

I think they lost some close and very tough games, late which happens.

Big deal.

But in this instance, it's the player's man, not the coaches at the end of the day. You have to factor that in. Coaches get too much of the blame in college ball.

Hey, I will take Wojo and 24 wins EVERY YEAR. His deficiency was NO POINT GUARD PLAY.

That was out of his control with guys sitting out and another guy injured and the other they brought in playing too passive.

So after Rowsey left he had to devise a system that suited his next best player, and feature player, and that happened to be one Markus Howard. even some might not agree.

I even admit that I thought that they did not use the big man enough and work it from the inside/out on offense instead of having one guy hoist up the shots.   

When Greg went down and Chartouny gave them nothing that forced Markus to do more than he should and had him play out of position.

It was a testament that they won as many as they did actually with the infighting and the turmoil we are just learning about.

In January they were a top 5 team in the entire country. He will be just fine when this kid McEwen comes and Greg is back and he can play a more uptempo and aggressive style the full length of the court.

The defense was much improved, they were a surprisingly good rebounding team and you saw some improvements and some of his players get better like Theo and Sacar.

If the team stays as it is, and no one else jumps ship I am excited for next year...

brewcity77

Quote from: MUeagle1090 on April 17, 2019, 09:18:51 PM
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Agree
Undecided but leaning towards agree.
Disagree

This is a more accurate assessment.


drewm88

Somebody should go tell Sacar, Brendan, Theo, Sam, and Markus about #1 and #2.

Also, sophomore Matt Heldt started 7 games and played 13 minutes. Senior Luke Fischer started 25 and played 24 minutes. Even if you were accurate, how is it a knock on Wojo that he brought in better players (Ed vs. Harry freaking Froling) that passed up Matt?

Warriors, Come Out and Playeeyay

11) His timeout huddles are never instructional or directional, but mainly vague statements.

Sentence 1 : (Something obvious about hustle/boxing out/ball movement)
Sentence 2 : (While looking around at the 5 starters... state the exact same thing in the reverse order

Example :
S1 : 'We need to outhustle our opponent!' (pause, pause, pause)
S2 : 'Outhustling our opponent will be key!'  (pause, pause, pause, horn to resume game)

Boone

And the classic "Don't be dismayed."

Too late, Coach. I'm very dismayed by your tenure

Vander Blue Man Group

Quote from: Warriors, Come Out and Playeeyay on April 18, 2019, 02:42:00 PM
11) His timeout huddles are never instructional or directional, but mainly vague statements.

Sentence 1 : (Something obvious about hustle/boxing out/ball movement)
Sentence 2 : (While looking around at the 5 starters... state the exact same thing in the reverse order

Example :
S1 : 'We need to outhustle our opponent!' (pause, pause, pause)
S2 : 'Outhustling our opponent will be key!'  (pause, pause, pause, horn to resume game)

So you really think what they show on tv is all that is discussed in huddles?

Wow.

RJax55

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on April 18, 2019, 02:54:51 PM
So you really think what they show on tv is all that is discussed in huddles?

Wow.

I too laughed about this point on Wojo when it was first said a few years ago.

FS1 does this with all the league coaches, though. Gotta say, a good number provide a lot more nuance during the in the huddle segments than Wojo does. My favorite is McDermott.

Goose

I think FS1 gets a kick out of putting the huddle conversation on TV. He seems to get more air time than most coaches. Five years in and the same huddle talk.

BM1090

Quote from: Goose on April 18, 2019, 03:23:09 PM
I think FS1 gets a kick out of putting the huddle conversation on TV. He seems to get more air time than most coaches. Five years in and the same huddle talk.

He gets the same air time as every other coach in the conference.

rocket surgeon

  here's what i think happened-wojo may have told joey something along the lines of-his role on the team would be different next year as we've got some new stuff coming in to compete for minutes.  his defensive woes along with his turnovers were cited.  joey was given such a long long leash that jamal was goin, what the...

   wojo takes heat for the team meltdown, re-thinks his strategy and after 5 seasons, decides he needs to put his big boy coaches pants on and...

    that's when all schnit hits the fan.  sammy(and daddy) says, that's a wojo no-no and decides to sacrifice a year with joey(family's that play together, stay together), work on their games and use all of this as bulletin board material.   

just my 32 cents worth.  ok, play nice
felz Houston ate uncle boozie's hands

NickelDimer

Quote from: rocket surgeon on April 18, 2019, 06:17:15 PM
  here's what i think happened-wojo may have told joey something along the lines of-his role on the team would be different next year as we've got some new stuff coming in to compete for minutes.  his defensive woes along with his turnovers were cited.  joey was given such a long long leash that jamal was goin, what the...

   wojo takes heat for the team meltdown, re-thinks his strategy and after 5 seasons, decides he needs to put his big boy coaches pants on and...

    that's when all schnit hits the fan.  sammy(and daddy) says, that's a wojo no-no and decides to sacrifice a year with joey(family's that play together, stay together), work on their games and use all of this as bulletin board material.   

just my 32 cents worth.  ok, play nice
No
No Finish Line

rocket surgeon

felz Houston ate uncle boozie's hands

Goose

Rocket

Joey was not going to have diminished role. Again, everyone is high on Elliott making a big jump, but based off small sample size. Joey has a much bigger sample size and to not think he would improve is crazy. The loss of Joey will prove to big a one down the road.

Vander Blue Man Group

Quote from: Goose on April 18, 2019, 06:40:32 PM
Rocket

Joey was not going to have diminished role. Again, everyone is high on Elliott making a big jump, but based off small sample size. Joey has a much bigger sample size and to not think he would improve is crazy. The loss of Joey will prove to big a one down the road.

Joey would have been a major piece but do you really believe he wouldn't have lost some minutes with KM and GE being added?  JC only averaged 10-11 mpg from the start of Big East play to the end of the season and KM and GE could easily account for 35-40 this season.  I think you believe Sacar would have lost the most time but I'm not entirely sure of that.

rocket surgeon

Quote from: Goose on April 18, 2019, 06:40:32 PM
Rocket

Joey was not going to have diminished role. Again, everyone is high on Elliott making a big jump, but based off small sample size. Joey has a much bigger sample size and to not think he would improve is crazy. The loss of Joey will prove to big a one down the road.

hey goose-i wish him a the good fortunes in the world.  he's got everything one needs to have in order to improve. 

btw, if he goes to wisconsin, just remember butch and sam
felz Houston ate uncle boozie's hands

rocket surgeon

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on April 18, 2019, 06:46:27 PM
Joey would have been a major piece but do you really believe he wouldn't have lost some minutes with KM and GE being added?  JC only averaged 10-11 mpg from the start of Big East play to the end of the season and KM and GE could easily account for 35-40 this season.  I think you believe Sacar would have lost the most time but I'm not entirely sure of that.

exactly my thinking there blue
felz Houston ate uncle boozie's hands

SERocks

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on April 18, 2019, 02:54:51 PM
So you really think what they show on tv is all that is discussed in huddles?

Wow.

And yet all season long whenever they showed Wojo in the huddle it was the same stuff.  When they showed other teams/coaches, I saw some good strategy and discussion taking place.  Is Wojo that paranoid that someone might hear him give good basketball advice that he won't when the cameras are on?  Weird.....

brewcity77

Wojo's actual deficiencies, in my estimation:

  • Adjustments: I feel like he lags in terms of halftime adjustments & changing strategies on the fly. His gameplans are generally fine, his ATO plays are great, but if the overall scheme isn't working, I don't know that he's one of the best to change things up to turn the tide of a game.
  • Recruiting to system: I love the Hausers, but they didn't fit the defense he wanted to run. The Rowsey/Howard combination was notably problematic. I feel like, especially early on, he was adjusting entire classes as he learned what didn't work. Hopefully this improves, but to date it's been a problem.
  • Ball Dominant Offensive Players: Howard is just the most recent. Rowsey, Ellenson, & Carlino were similar. Wojo's offense at its best is predicated on sharing the ball, having multiple shooters, & being able to feed the post with efficient post scorers. 2017 is, in my mind, what it's supposed to look like. 5 guys hit 50+ threes, Luke & Matt were both incredibly efficient, 7 guys scored between 8-13 points. All the other years the offense was centered on 1-2 players. I'm not sure why he falls into it, but I feel it's a deficiency.
  • Communication: Whether it's the overdiscussed huddles, the inability to keep next year's roster together, or the complaints we've heard from Froling of late, it seems like there's a communication problem. Strife & competitiveness between players is fine. That is just life. But you need to be able to settle it. If he doesn't correct this, I suspect his tenure at Marquette won't be for much longer.

wadesworld

Lol at the complaints about Wojo's huddles resurfacing.  Absolutely hysterical and 100% proof that the fans just look for anything to complain about when it comes to Wojo.  I get it, people think I'm as big of a Wojo apologist as they come.  The reality is, and I've said this many times, there are plenty, PLENTY, of things to complain about with the coaching staff/schemes/program.  But the timeout huddles shown on FS1?  L-O-L!  They contractually cannot show anything strategic being discussed!

But you guys are right, it became VERY evident how Jay Wright won 2 national titles when FS1 cut into their huddle and he gave his team a speech about how this was a "great opportunity in front of them" and how they "didn't have to be perfect, but they needed to value every possession!" when they were down 15 at Marquette in the second half.  Just completely profound stuff there, a sign of a truly good coach.

Come on now.  The FS1 huddle cam.

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