MU Coaching Candidates

[Billy Hoyle]

No kidding, fascinating.

How much of a laughingstock is Wojo since you're in the know?

Wojo is no "laughingstock" in the coaching community, and I say this as a "nojo." A "laughingstock" would land a class of Lewis, Garcia, and Oso, nor get a transfer as coveted at Carton. Wojo has not had a losing season since his first at MU and should have been coming off three NCAA tourney bids in four years if not for last year's cancellations. No coach with that record is a "laughingstock." I talked to a D1 coach with WI ties this morning and he was surprised Wojo would be on the hot seat.

[WarriorPride68]

I talked to a D1 coach with WI ties this morning and he was surprised Wojo would be on the hot seat.

[MU82]

Obviously, all of us are very close to Marquette's coaching situation. Even those of us who live far away, or only follow the team casually, know and care a lot more about what's going on at our alma mater than about any other school.

Around the country, however, people don't think Wojo is the worst coach ever -- or that he is even close to being on the proverbial hot seat.

Two basketball writers at The Athletic had a Big East "conversation" that was published today, and the last topic was: How many head coach jobs will open in the Big East after the season?

Their answers:

Charlotte Carroll: The Big East has five coaches who arrived in 2017 or later, and there is a sense of stability in the old names where a lot of turnover seems unlikely. The "Will Jay Wright go to the NBA" talk seems to happen every year, but with the Sixers job filled last offseason, that's even more unlikely. In terms of more conventional coaching changes, it's unlikely Georgetown's Patrick Ewing is going anywhere after an off year, leaving DePaul the most likely and sole opening. The Blue Demons have had just one winning season since Dave Leitao took over the program again in 2015.

C.J. Holmes: The only coach I'd say might be in danger of losing his job is Leitao. The Blue Demons have had just one winning season (19-17, 2018-19) since Leitao returned, and haven't come close to an NCAA Tournament berth. This season DePaul is 3-7 overall, 1-7 in Big East play and 0-2 against Top 25 opponents — albeit both of those losses came in tight games. Either way it might be time to make a change.

As y'all can see, Wojo wasn't even mentioned.

The only Marquette mention in the entire article was to the question: Which team has been the most disappointing?

Carroll: I don't know about disappointing but maybe more surprising in a bad way: It has been interesting to see Marquette flip that script. After starting the season 4-1, with a win over then-No. 4 Wisconsin, the Golden Eagles went from Jan. 16 to Tuesday without a win. Yes, it was going to be a difficult year without Markus Howard, but Koby McEwen, Dawson Garcia and D.J. Carton can all play. There's still plenty of time to finish more middle of the pack, but the last month has been surprising.

Holmes: It has to be Providence. The Friars were picked to finish third in the coaches' poll and had relatively high expectations entering the season. Well, they're in sixth place with a disappointing 9-8 record. The most recent loss to a bad Georgetown team last Saturday was just ugly. It really feels like scoring seems to be the issue for this group. Outside of David Duke (18.6 points per game) and Nate Watson (17.6), the Friars just don't have a lot of offense. They're 6-0 when they score at least 74 points. When they fall short of that total? 3-8.

Just wanted to bring in a little national perspective.

[JWags85]

The fact that they don't think Marquette is disappointing and calls the last month "surprising" makes me roll my eyes at their entire perspective.  9-9, 5-7 in conference (only 1 win was against a team in the top half of the conference). Chalking it up to "no Markus" isn't just lazy, but that alone shows the issue with the team that a coach couldn't overcome the loss of a star player even with two McD AA and other key contributors returning.

As for the hot seat, I don't expect people nationally to think that. Their contacts are largely within the university/athletic department, and we know Wojo is bulletproof within those walls

[Galway Eagle]

The fact that they don't think Marquette is disappointing and calls the last month "surprising" makes me roll my eyes at their entire perspective.  9-9, 5-7 in conference (only 1 win was against a team in the top half of the conference). Chalking it up to "no Markus" isn't just lazy, but that alone shows the issue with the team that a coach couldn't overcome the loss of a star player even with two McD AA and other key contributors returning.

As for the hot seat, I don't expect people nationally to think that. Their contacts are largely within the university/athletic department, and we know Wojo is bulletproof within those walls

Garcia's the only McDAA

[wadesworld]

The fact that they don't think Marquette is disappointing and calls the last month "surprising" makes me roll my eyes at their entire perspective.  9-9, 5-7 in conference (only 1 win was against a team in the top half of the conference). Chalking it up to "no Markus" isn't just lazy, but that alone shows the issue with the team that a coach couldn't overcome the loss of a star player even with two McD AA and other key contributors returning.

As for the hot seat, I don't expect people nationally to think that. Their contacts are largely within the university/athletic department, and we know Wojo is bulletproof within those walls

If that's the case then Wojo isn't on the hot seat.  And local people shouldn't think he is on the hot seat either, then.

[tower912]

It isn't surprising.   It is a big picture, global perspective.    We all dwell on the trivia and take the losses personally.   Nationally, there is not nearly the disappointment in Wojo as there is here.   

[Dr. Blackheart]

The fact that they don't think Marquette is disappointing and calls the last month "surprising" makes me roll my eyes at their entire perspective.  9-9, 5-7 in conference (only 1 win was against a team in the top half of the conference). Chalking it up to "no Markus" isn't just lazy, but that alone shows the issue with the team that a coach couldn't overcome the loss of a star player even with two McD AA and other key contributors returning.

As for the hot seat, I don't expect people nationally to think that. Their contacts are largely within the university/athletic department, and we know Wojo is bulletproof within those walls

MU was picked sixth preseason by the coaches and national pundits. They are a half game out of 6th.

MU fans expectations are top 3 and steady improvement over 7 years.

The fissure between the two on expectations is not surprising.

[MU82]

We're all just biased here, and that's normal.

We care about Marquette, are more invested in the situation, than we are about the situation at USC or George Mason or Kentucky. Or even other BEast schools.

Like many (most) others here, I am disappointed in our season. And I am disappointed that Wojo is more likely to get a contract extension than he is to get fired.

But those who follow college basketball for a living -- those who might be "lazy," as Wags says, or those who are pretty connected -- do not see Wojo as an abject failure.

I don't really see him as an "abject failure," either. I think he's done some good things at Marquette. After 7 years with little to show for it, I just think it's time for both sides to move on.

I'd thank him for his service ... and fire him today.

[panda]

I'll expound on the laziness.

I don't believe it's necessarily lazy, but Marquette has been so far out of the national spotlight for almost a decade that writers haven't seen had to pay much attention to the product.

I'm starting to see a shift amongst BE centric pundits as well as BE fans all saying that Wojo has been poor.

[Golden Avalanche]

I'll expound on the laziness.

I don't believe it's necessarily lazy, but Marquette has been so far out of the national spotlight for almost a decade that writers haven't seen had to pay much attention to the product.

I'm starting to see a shift amongst BE centric pundits as well as BE fans all saying that Wojo has been poor.

An All-American, NPOY candidate, and greatest scorer the Big East conference has ever witnessed played for Marquette 11 months ago.

[Billy Hoyle]

An All-American, NPOY candidate, and greatest scorer the Big East conference has ever witnessed played for Marquette 11 months ago.

the program as a whole has been out of the spotlight, not one player. We're just another BE program that isn't Villanova right now.

[willie warrior]

I'll expound on the laziness.

I don't believe it's necessarily lazy, but Marquette has been so far out of the national spotlight for almost a decade that writers haven't seen had to pay much attention to the product.

I'm starting to see a shift amongst BE centric pundits as well as BE fans all saying that Wojo has been poor.

And this has happened primarily with Wojo-Dukiet. He has taken the program downhill. Call it a laughingstock, disappointment, embarrassment, disgrace, whatever, it is unacceptable for MU, and time to do something about it.

[panda]

An All-American, NPOY candidate, and greatest scorer the Big East conference has ever witnessed played for Marquette 11 months ago.

The last time we've been ranked in the AP pre season poll was 2013/14.

In season, we've made it as high as 10th in 2018/19 and 18th in 19/20.

We haven't been ranked in the AP post season poll since 2012/13.

We haven't won a tournament game since 2012/13.

The program is out of the national spotlight and has been for the majority of the last seven years.

[willie warrior]

The last time we've been ranked in the AP pre season poll was 2013/14.

In season, we've made it as high as 10th in 2018/19 and 18th in 19/20.

We haven't been ranked in the AP post season poll since 2012/13.

We haven't won a tournament game since 2012/13.

The program is out of the national spotlight and has been for the majority of the last seven years.

.....and Wojo-Dukiet lost the Hauser Bros..

[JakeBarnes]

So are we getting Shaka or no?

[Dr. Blackheart]

So are we getting Shaka or no?

Rick Pitino, your table is ready!

[SaveOD238]

the program as a whole has been out of the spotlight, not one player. We're just another BE program that isn't Villanova right now.

THIS is my biggest problem with how we've performed the last few years.  Marquette basketball is just another program right now, not the dynamic, exciting squad I remember from my undergrad years (08-12).  No one outside of Milwaukee cares.  Hell, even people IN Milwaukee don't care.  Even when we had a transcendent, award winning player, no one cared.

All I want is to wake up on Monday excited to see where we land in the AP poll.

[MU82]

THIS is my biggest problem with how we've performed the last few years.  Marquette basketball is just another program right now, not the dynamic, exciting squad I remember from my undergrad years (08-12).  No one outside of Milwaukee cares.  Hell, even people IN Milwaukee don't care.  Even when we had a transcendent, award winning player, no one cared.

All I want is to wake up on Monday excited to see where we land in the AP poll.

Again, this is recency bias.

People "cared" for most of the 2018-19 season, which was just 2 years ago.

When we were going 20-2 and (seemingly) closing in on a conference title, a national panel of sportswriters ranked us in the top 10. Pundits and bracketologists were talking about us possibly being a top-2 seed. Markus was a big national story. The Hausers were getting national pub, especially Sam after the shot against Creighton. And after the season, despite the late collapse and ad loss to Ja Morant, we were projected as a top-5 team in "too early for 2019-20" articles.

And even after Hausershima, we moved back into the top 20 last season and got noticed for a very good recruiting class.

But sure, we're not as nationally recognized as we were during Buzz's best seasons or 2003 or some other post-Al stretches.

A lot of work to get us back there, and I agree with your frustrations.

[Golden Avalanche]

The last time we've been ranked in the AP pre season poll was 2013/14.

In season, we've made it as high as 10th in 2018/19 and 18th in 19/20.

We haven't been ranked in the AP post season poll since 2012/13.

We haven't won a tournament game since 2012/13.

The program is out of the national spotlight and has been for the majority of the last seven years.

So the attention the program got the last two seasons battling for a conference title and having an All-American counts for nothing in your assessment?

[D'Lo Brown]

It isn't surprising.   It is a big picture, global perspective.    We all dwell on the trivia and take the losses personally.   Nationally, there is not nearly the disappointment in Wojo as there is here.   

MU doesn't really register in national discussions. From the national perspective they are like any other middle of the pack high major team. If they finished in dead last it would register, otherwise, probs not.

If you take this perspective, Wojo might be the coach for the next 30 years

[panda]

So the attention the program got the last two seasons battling for a conference title and having an All-American counts for nothing in your assessment?

Yes Marquette was relevant in 18/19. In seven years that has been that's been their only stretch which warranted national attention. It ended in the program receiving national attention for all the wrong reasons, collapse down the stretch when they couldn't win one game in their last 4 to clinch the BE and two of their best players ended up transferring.

How much national attention is player like Scottie Pippen Jr or Matthew Hurt garnering? Great players on average/bad teams aren't a national media talking piece. Markus, as much as you and I believe differently, didn't receive the close to the attention he deserved because Marquette wasn't that great last year.

*Edit Markus didn't even win POY in the BE last year even though he was better than Powell by every metric. That's example A of lack of national recognition.

[Silent Verbal]

So the attention the program got the last two seasons battling for a conference title and having an All-American counts for nothing in your assessment?

We didn't get as much attention as you seem to think we did.

[The Sultan]

We didn't get as much attention as you seem to think we did.

Compared to whom?  Certainly not a top 10 team or a blue blood but Markus got us plenty of attention.

[JakeBarnes]

Rick Pitino, your table is ready!

Milwaukee needs to up its Italian restaurant game immediately.