The Bare cupboard

[Newsdreams]

But why? Lewis was a returning 6th man. Garcia and Carton have been backups in their other college stops. And Morsell was the defensive stopper who didn't do a ton offensively in his other college stop. That's about 4 complimentary players. So not sure why that would equate to a second weekend team.

I would have expected NCAAT with that roster.

[brewcity77]

I always chuckle when I see the NBA players Wojo inherited and Juan referenced. Yes, he got there, but he wasn't remotely that player when he was here. It took 5 years of bouncing around for him to develop to being a NBA contributor.

I know from a strict factual perspective, Wojo inherited future NBA player Juan Anderson, but the closest flashes he showed of that potential before leaving Marquette was a high school mixtape.

[MU82]

I always chuckle when I see the NBA players Wojo inherited and Juan referenced. Yes, he got there, but he wasn't remotely that player when he was here. It took 5 years of bouncing around for him to develop to being a NBA contributor.

I know from a strict factual perspective, Wojo inherited future NBA player Juan Anderson, but the closest flashes he showed of that potential before leaving Marquette was a high school mixtape.

Balderdash! Wojo was the only coach in the world who, in 2014, didn't know that Juan Anderson would be Steph Curry's wingman in 2021.

I mean, if Al had been coach back then, Juan would have scored 20 ppg ... but only after Al punched him in the face, of course.

[Lennys Tap]

Balderdash! Wojo was the only coach in the world who, in 2014, didn't know that Juan Anderson would be Steph Curry's wingman in 2021.

No he wasn't. What he was was a poor coach in over his head at this level. Some knew it then (not me), others figured it out over the next few years and the final stragglers figured it out last year.

[brewcity77]

No he wasn't. What he was was a poor coach in over his head at this level. Some knew it then (not me), others figured it out over the next few years and the final stragglers figured it out last year.

I don't think Wojo was a good coach by any means, but Buzz had Juan for three years and Juan's career high seasons in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks came with Wojo, as did his highest offensive efficiency.

No one was getting Juan Anderson, NBA contributor, in 2015. Not Wojo, not Buzz, not Al, not Cal or K or Beard or anyone. Juan wasn't an NBA player when he was here, nor was he close to that level.

[Lennys Tap]

I don't think Wojo was a good coach by any means, but Buzz had Juan for three years and Juan's career high seasons in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks came with Wojo, as did his highest offensive efficiency.

No one was getting Juan Anderson, NBA contributor, in 2015. Not Wojo, not Buzz, not Al, not Cal or K or Beard or anyone. Juan wasn't an NBA player when he was here, nor was he close to that level.

Brew

I said nothing in my post about Juan Anderson. Nobody has said that Juan was NBA ready when Wojo arrived. But at least he had the potential to become an NBA player and he realized that potential. Likewise, Wojo wasn't ready to be a head coach when he arrived. Did he have that potential? My answer is no but even his biggest fans now admit that he hasn't reached it yet. Had Wojo actually turned out to be a good coach the "bare cupboard" argument as an excuse for his early futility might hold water. But he was still a bad coach in year 7, so I have no problem crediting his early futility to the fact that he was a bad coach in year 1 also. "Bare Cupboard" was a facile and at the very least an exaggerated cover up for the fact that Wojo wasn't the guy.

[4everwarriors]

'bout dis tyme last yeer, Woj sed his playas were tired. Eye wuz tired oh 'im inn yeer 1, doe he annually had nice Christmas deckorations at his crib, aina?

[brewcity77]

I said nothing in my post about Juan Anderson.

But that's what was in the post you quoted and the topic you were joining into.

[WarriorFan]

The transitions are totally different.  Brent left a bare cupboard, and Wojo came in with unfortunately no identity and no style of play but - as an excellent recruiter - was able to convince some pretty good players to join the program over time.  The program just never had an identity.

Shaka has probably inherited less (although time will tell with Oso/Lewis/Greg) but was also able to immediately bring in players that suit the style he wants to play.  They won't be great as a team for a while because they lack the talent, but I for one shed no tears with the departure of Carton (dime a dozen) and Theo (a 6th defender on offense, and a risky defender on defense).  Losing Dawson may turn out to be an issue because I thought he could fit in Shaka's style if he improved his fitness

I think the other big difference is that (IMHO) the BEAST is a tougher league now than it was a few years back.  Every away game is tough to win, and the top 3 teams can beat anyone, anywhere.  I hope we're looking at a Mike Anderson / St John's style tournaround but  with a higher ceiling.

[Small Orange Soda]

Had Wojo actually turned out to be a good coach the "bare cupboard" argument as an excuse for his early futility might hold water. But he was still a bad coach in year 7, so I have no problem crediting his early futility to the fact that he was a bad coach in year 1 also. "Bare Cupboard" was a facile and at the very least an exaggerated cover up for the fact that Wojo wasn't the guy.

This. The bare cupboard argument for Wojo is over. He spent the next six years proving he couldn't get the best out of his squad. His first team wasn't tourney quality, but it was better than what he achieved. Turned out to be a recurring theme.

[rocky_warrior]

If we could use this excuse for one second, please.

For 7 years I've heard the excuse of "bare cupboard" in response to wojo being bad.

Why is this nonexistent for Shaka? He has 3 returning players. 2 freshman, one who got minutes, and Greg Elliot

This. The bare cupboard argument for Wojo is over. He spent the next six years proving he couldn't get the best out of his squad. His first team wasn't tourney quality, but it was better than what he achieved. Turned out to be a recurring theme.

How this thread started, and where it's at is odd. 

So does Shaka have a bare cupboard or not?  I really am not sure.  Is this an excuse for Shaka?  He had a bare cupboard therefore we shouldn't expect him to be over .500 this season?  Or the dearly departed should have done better?  What's the consensus?

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Old father Wojo went to the cupboard
To fetch his poor team a win
When he got there, the cupboard was bare
And now Marquette basketball is dead

[ATL MU Warrior]

Old father Wojo went to the cupboard
To fetch his poor team a win
When he got there, the cupboard was bare
And now Marquette basketball is dead

This made me chuckle...well done.

[Clam Crowder]

If we could use this excuse for one second, please.


For 7 years I've heard the excuse of "bare cupboard" in response to wojo being bad.

Why is this nonexistent for Shaka? He has 3 returning players. 2 freshman, one who got minutes, and Greg Elliot (who, eventhough every scooper loves him, has been injury prone his entire career)

Shaka has a fully new team, mostly of underclassmen learning a completely new system. Why is everyone downtrodden about this team? crap their 2-0, and they didn't lose to belmont or Omaha Nebraska. This should already but positive thoughts into your minds .

I am TRYING to be patient. I think alot of it is just expectations with the coach...With Wojo I feel like alot of folks were more willing to be patient because he had never been a HC and because Buzz had just broken our hearts by leaving. Wojo was an awful hire.... This time around we fired WOJO and said enough is enough we need to be better and we hired a coach with a strong track record. Expectations have been tempered the first 2 games and after tonight I full expect my hopes for this season to be dramatically lower than the delusional hopeful ones I had before the season started

[jfp61]

I am TRYING to be patient. I think alot of it is just expectations with the coach...With Wojo I feel like alot of folks were more willing to be patient because he had never been a HC and because Buzz had just broken our hearts by leaving. Wojo was an awful hire.... This time around we fired WOJO and said enough is enough we need to be better and we hired a coach with a strong track record. Expectations have been tempered the first 2 games and after tonight I full expect my hopes for this season to be dramatically lower than the delusional hopeful ones I had before the season started

Having our two NC home games be UCLA and IU didnt help the patience, but if we are similar to last year and this team improves late, and at least shaka has a plan

[Clam Crowder]

Having our two NC home games be UCLA and IU didnt help the patience, but if we are similar to last year and this team improves late, and at least shaka has a plan

100%-I fully expect to see us get annihilated against UCLA/U of I. The main thing is I want to see improvement. I want to see a season where we finish strong and have momentum for next year versus seeing us crap ourselves like we did under Wojo near the end of the year. If we can see significant growth from Oso/Stevie/Kam and go into next year with some legit optimism about our returning guys thats a positive

[warriorstrack]

Having our two NC home games be UCLA and IU didnt help the patience, but if we are similar to last year and this team improves late, and at least shaka has a plan

Apples and Oranges, I know...
Looking at the early results from other games this year, I can find examples of teams that were ranked and got beat by "lesser" teams, why not us, but yeah also need to be realistic.

I'm expecting a great effort tonight, I don't know enough about the team to just go negative or just expect a loss, that's why they play the game right?

That said, tonight will show me some things I haven't seen yet,
i.e. how the scouting may give us a chance to win against a better (top 10) team (Big East team), how the in-game adjustments will stop the hemorrhaging if the game starts to go sideways, and can impose our game plan on them and not the other way around.

I'm excited and curious to get the answers to these questions, support the team, and looking forward to seeing them in person for the first time this year, ahhhh that new seat smell, ha