Choosing new MU assistants

[NotAnAlum]

Now that Buzz is on board the next major task is choosing assistances.  While I realize this really must be based on who the head coach “knows” I’d like to offer a few suggestions and see what everybody else feels as well.  Since to my knowledge Buzz, like Crean, didn’t pay college ball I think his choice of assistances is more important than normal. 
I think we need a guy who played the post in college, either PF or center.  We’ve already got a reputation as a guard oriented offense.  We really need someone to fill the role Darin Stephens filled in the early Crean years.  A guy who knows the post, can relate to what these guys have to do and for that matter can use that understanding to help recruit.  We also need a guy who can teach proper shooting technique.  In the most recent years there was such a emphasis on helter skelter play and defense that it seemed a lot of the time our guys were “throwing” the ball at the hoop rather than shooting.  We need one of the assitances to be good at teaching the outside jump shot.  I would like to see 2 of the 3 assistances be black.  I just think its important to try to combat this image of MU as kind of a lily white school.  One black coach is an absolute must but 2 would be better.  On Crean’s staff everybody was expected to work 24 hrs/day especially on recruiting.  We now have a head coach who knows recruiting best so I think we can afford to sacrifice some (a little not much) in that area to get a guy that knows the way the game should be played and meets other criteria.

[avid1010]

Bo Ellis had experience playing the post

Buzz has to hire the coaches he feels comfortable with.  Whether they be black, white, short, tall, playing experience, no playing experience...

I think the hardest thing about even attempting to talk about this subject is we really don't know Buzz Williams that well.  We don't know what his strengths and weaknesses are.  Hopefully, he's aware and can choose accordingly.  He may have to recruit coaches the way he does players! 

[Man Clam Chow]

Darin Stephens definitely bewitched the big men. 

[77ncaachamps]

As I see it, Buzz will need:

- X's and O's guy to help him. So this has to be a more experienced coach from the D-II, D-III or high school ranks. I'd love for one of the Dieners or similarly solid WI coaches to fill the void. It'll also help shore up the state for us, recruit-wise.

- Big Men coach. The Big East is really the Big Men East, and this conference will pound you in the blocks. Hopefully, Buzz can get someone who can fill this important post - pun intended.

- A Name. What else can be better for this program with an upcoming, young assistant with a NAME? It'll help recruiting and give the program the energy to keep moving forward. Former high DI player preferably.

[Pardner]

Darin Stephens definitely bewitched the big men. 

 

I think Danny Partridge is pretty good with the crossover dribble too.

[Mayor McCheese]

Now that Buzz is on board the next major task is choosing assistances.  While I realize this really must be based on who the head coach “knows” I’d like to offer a few suggestions and see what everybody else feels as well.  Since to my knowledge Buzz, like Crean, didn’t pay college ball I think his choice of assistances is more important than normal. 
I think we need a guy who played the post in college, either PF or center.  We’ve already got a reputation as a guard oriented offense.  We really need someone to fill the role Darin Stephens filled in the early Crean years.  A guy who knows the post, can relate to what these guys have to do and for that matter can use that understanding to help recruit.  We also need a guy who can teach proper shooting technique.  In the most recent years there was such a emphasis on helter skelter play and defense that it seemed a lot of the time our guys were “throwing” the ball at the hoop rather than shooting.  We need one of the assitances to be good at teaching the outside jump shot.  I would like to see 2 of the 3 assistances be black.  I just think its important to try to combat this image of MU as kind of a lily white school.  One black coach is an absolute must but 2 would be better.  On Crean’s staff everybody was expected to work 24 hrs/day especially on recruiting.  We now have a head coach who knows recruiting best so I think we can afford to sacrifice some (a little not much) in that area to get a guy that knows the way the game should be played and meets other criteria.

those two sentences I put in bold shouldn't matter, pick who is the best candidate, no matter what skin color, if they happen to be purple, well, who cares, they will be the best for the system...

because he didn't play basketball his choices are more important, please indulge on that one.  If you have become the head coach of a D1 program, no matter whether you played the sport in the NCAA's, you know the game, I don't see playing being an issue.  Some of the best players in the history of the game don't know dick about coaching.  Isiah Thomas easily comes to mind. 

[bilsu]

We really do not know if Buz needs help with X's and O's. An experience coach would be nice, but game decisions come from instinct. Why do we assume Buz cannot handle this? I would argue that it was Crean's shortfall, but that does not mean it is Buz's shortfall.

[Murffieus]

Buzz's UNO team gave up 75 ppg----seems to me he needs defensive help more than anything!

[77ncaachamps]

So what if Buzz didn't play college ball...

Where does it mention TC played college ball?

Ralph Pim got the Alma College basketball coaching job in August 1986, two weeks before school started. He hired 19-year-old Crean as an assistant coach the next week. Crean was entering his sophomore year at Central Michigan University in nearby Mount Pleasant, his hometown.

He hadn't been a starter at Mount Pleasant High School. He knew if there was a place for him in basketball, it was in coaching. He already was a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, and Pim knew he was good. Crean also was working free nights as a stock boy/cashier at a convenience store. His wellspring of energy was as deep as his passion for basketball.

A typical day began with an 8 a.m. class. Or a skipped 8 a.m. class and a 25-mile drive to Alma's Hogan Center to conduct breakout drills for the Scots' post men. Then it was back to CMU, a gulped lunch if there was time, on to the high school for practice, then back to Alma for practice.

"Then there was recruiting," Pim said. "You can imagine what he was doing at night, on the phone, going to games. I have never met anybody in my life with so much energy."

In three years at Alma, an NCAA Division III school that offered no athletic scholarships, Crean recruited 12 All-State players. Several walked away from full rides at bigger schools.

During Crean's senior year at Central Michigan, Alma went 17-7, its best record in 47 years.

Nowhere...because he DIDN'T.

[avid1010]

Not sure how much we can take from Buzz's short stint at UNO.  The more I read and hear (mostly outside of this board) the more confident I am that Buzz will be a good fit.  I still think Buzz had more to do with Marquette beating Kentucky then he's getting credit for.  Interesting to think about at the very least....

Buzz knows Billy G. inside and out.  He publicly stated this before the game was played.

Buzz helps Crean beat Kentucky with this knowledge.  Hey, we saw TC coach for 9 years.  I don't believe he's capable of out coaching Billy G. without some serious help.

Crean leaves for IU.  TC had to take a better job while he could get it.  TC wasn't being mentioned for open coaching jobs nearly as much as before (see D. Wade), IU is certainly not a great situation, and TC realized his stock was going down.  If MU looses to UK does IU take Crean?  Personally, I think IU had to be hard up to accept TC's plea for the job seeing as the last time they saw TC coach it was against Stanford.  

Buzz gets the MU job.  He'll do a great job of holding the team together next year using the experience he gained under Billy G. and TC.  He'll have a great, well BALANCED, recruiting class come in and Marquette will rise to a new level.

Seeing as the Bucks suck, Farve is retired and baseball is just too slow for me this is how I have now chosen to see the future of MU basketball which will help me to avoid depression when I cannot be fishing on Lake Mich.

[NotAnAlum]

If you'll re-read my post I said that Buzz didn't play college ball and neither did Crean.  And what was Crean best at, recruiting and promoting the program, inspiring the players.  And what was Crean weakest at.  I'm not the first to say that it was the the fundamental side of the game and the Xs and Os.
The point I'm trying to make is that instead of the knee jerk reaction that "we need assistants that are good recruiters" in our case we now have and had before a head coach who had recruiting as his strong suit so MAYBE we should prioritize other qualities ahead of that. 
Second I'm glad to see that you are all so color blind but I can assure you the rest of the world is not.  It has an effect on the kids and their choices.  In a sport where so many of the top preformers are black it only makes sense to try to reflect that in your staff.

[Murffieus]

Avid1010--------MU was favored over UK by 5 points and won by 5 or so (UK was within 2 points with one minute to go). Furthermore Gillespie didn't do anything out of the ordinary-----just the regular stuff-----pick & roll and pass the ball around.----and did that stuff very well. We didn't stop  their strength as their best player had 36 points ( 3 players scored all their points)------ Gillespie is an excellent coach, but was undermanned against MU. Not sure what Buzz's contribution was.

[avid1010]

Furthermore Gillespie didn't do anything out of the ordinary-----just the regular stuff-----pick & roll and pass the ball around.----and did that stuff very well.

Your game analysis is a little different than mine, I guess. 

[Norm]

avid1010,

What have you read about Buzz outside of this board this makes you more confident in Buzz being MU's coach? What I've read actually makes me less confident, with stories of him crying in post-game interviews and drawing up plays down on all fours on the court.