[Rosiak's Blog] ESPN.com's Katz calls Williams hire a gamble

[ToddRosiakSays]

ESPN.com's Katz calls Williams hire a gamble

Written by: Emmett Prosser


While he has nothing but glowing comments about Indiana's decision to lure Tom Crean away from Marquette, Andy Katz of ESPN.com is lukewarm on the hiring of Buzz Williams.

"The gem, without question so far, was Indiana. The chaotic state of the Hoosier Nation was calmed down by the coup-like hiring of Tom Crean," writes Katz.

Despite the fact that Williams helped rebuild a Texas A&M program once in dire straits, Katz seems to think that MU went for a quick fix with Williams.

Katz wrote: Hiring Buzz Williams was a gamble. These kind of moves to bump up the assistant to keep everyone in the program and the incoming recruits happy can either work -- like Jamie Dixon of Pitt or Frank Martin this past season at Kansas State -- or they can implode -- like Jerry DeGregorio at Rhode Island.

Ff Williams has anything close to the type of success in the Big East that Dixon has had, MU athletic director Steve Cottingham will be quite pleased.



http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/17/espn-com-s-katz-calls-williams-hire-a-gamble.aspx

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It certainly wasn't a "safe" hire and judging from the message boards it's created only concern among Marquette fans.

[NCMUFan]

Let's hope Steve Cottingham knows the real qualities necessary of a coach to produce consistent top 25 teams.  We have to assume that with Buzz being here the prior year those qualities would of became apparent if he possesses them.  Hence, would it of been as big a risk as Katz portrays?  Go Buzz!  Out recruit and out coach Judas!

[jt92]

Katz is right.  Buzz is a huge rsk for a program that has come quite a ways over the past decade.

[3Mer]

Hiring Buzz was a panic move induced by Crean's immediate pursuit of the recruits he had already been paid by MU to procure.  Had Cottingham been more concerned with the long-term health of the basketball program rather than the short-term goal of preserving a mediocre crop of recruits (and maybe his own job), he would have conducted a more diligent search for a qualified (i.e., experienced) coach. 

All the rationalizing about Buzz's recruiting skills is simply putting lipstick on a pig.  Buzz would have stayed on as an assistant (was any other school beating down the door in an attempt to hire Buzz away from MU?).  Instead, Cottingham gave a ludicrous 6-year contract to an assistant coach with an incredibly thin resume.

Buzz may be a great guy personally, and I sincerely hope he turns into the next Jamie Dixon or Frank Martin, but his hiring was a blow to MU's recently restored credibility.

[NYWarrior]

Hiring Buzz was a panic move induced by Judas's immediate pursuit of the recruits he had already been paid by MU to procure.  Had Cottingham been more concerned with the long-term health of the basketball program rather than the short-term goal of preserving a mediocre crop of recruits (and maybe his own job), he would have conducted a more diligent search for a qualified (i.e., experienced) coach. 

All the rationalizing about Buzz's recruiting skills is simply putting lipstick on a pig.  Buzz would have stayed on as an assistant (was any other school beating down the door in an attempt to hire Buzz away from MU?).  Instead, Cottingham gave a ludicrous 6-year contract to an assistant coach with an incredibly thin resume.

Buzz may be a great guy personally, and I sincerely hope he turns into the next Jamie Dixon or Frank Martin, but his hiring was a blow to MU's recently restored credibility.

hold that thought on Frank Martin.........a team with Walker and Beasley is bound to win 20 games and sneak (barely) into the tourney.  But what's next at KState?

Same for Buzz ....... MU should win 23+ games next season.  But what happens down the line?

[StillAWarrior]

Had Cottingham been more concerned with the long-term health of the basketball program rather than the short-term goal of preserving a mediocre crop of recruits (and maybe his own job), he would have conducted a more diligent search for a qualified (i.e., experienced) coach. 

I agree with a fair amount of what you said, but I really doubt that Cottingham made this hire to preserve his own job.  Whether he's a decent AD remains to be seen, but I suspect he's smart enough to know that he made one of the riskiest hires possible.  Buzz's hiring really doesn't strike me as a CYA move for Cottingham.  Whatever it was (and we'll still be debating this 2-3 years from now), I think Cottingham saw something in Buzz that convinced him that Buzz was a great hire.  If he's right, he's a genius and a great judge of coaching talent.  If he's wrong, he's out of a job and will have set the program back several years.

[tower912]

Getting out of bed in the morning is a gamble.   Driving up from Chicago to a game during a bad snowstorm is a gamble.   Getting married and having kids is a gamble.   Choosing majors and changing jobs is a gamble.     Buzz is a gamble.    Miller, Bennet, Grant, Lowery et al would have all been gambles in different ways.    None of them were sure things.   And most of them indicated they DIDN'T WANT TO BE AT MARQUETTE!!!!!    So, by the time the MU powers gave the job to Buzz, he looked like the surest thing available to them.    Of course he is a gamble.   About the only thing that isn't a gamble is whining about it on internet message boards.

[ecompt]

No one knows what's down the line, but if Buzz hadn't been hired we might have been looking at six scholarship players and a 10-18 record next year, and the new coach would be starting from scratch. So do you win 24 games next year and keep the winning tradition going in the minds of recruits, or do you rebuild a club that would finish 13th in the BE? I also think MU rushed into the decision, but with each passing day it looks better.

[3Mer]

Getting out of bed in the morning is a gamble.   Driving up from Chicago to a game during a bad snowstorm is a gamble.   Getting married and having kids is a gamble.   Choosing majors and changing jobs is a gamble.     Buzz is a gamble.    Miller, Bennet, Grant, Lowery et al would have all been gambles in different ways.    None of them were sure things.   And most of them indicated they DIDN'T WANT TO BE AT MARQUETTE!!!!!    So, by the time the MU powers gave the job to Buzz, he looked like the surest thing available to them.    Of course he is a gamble.   About the only thing that isn't a gamble is whining about it on internet message boards.

One man's "whining" is another man's expression of frustrated expectations.  I think any fan -- particularly long-term season ticket holders -- have the right to complain when the program they support makes objectively unreasonable decisions.  I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid by believing that Buzz's hiring was the result of an appropriately diligent search for the head coach of a Top-20 program.

[tower912]

So lets stage a coup and overthrow Cottingham and Wild and let you and PRN run the place.   

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Getting out of bed in the morning is a gamble.   Driving up from Chicago to a game during a bad snowstorm is a gamble.   Getting married and having kids is a gamble.   Choosing majors and changing jobs is a gamble.     Buzz is a gamble.    Miller, Bennet, Grant, Lowery et al would have all been gambles in different ways.    None of them were sure things.   And most of them indicated they DIDN'T WANT TO BE AT MARQUETTE!!!!!    So, by the time the MU powers gave the job to Buzz, he looked like the surest thing available to them.    Of course he is a gamble.   About the only thing that isn't a gamble is whining about it on internet message boards.

By almost all accounts, Lowery was willing to listen. We were so enamored with the JUCO and Texas contacts of our 9-month assistant, we didn't bother to interview him.

As for the poster that suggests we'd only have 6 scholarship players, that's absolutely and completely ridiculous.

Kids say a lot of things when a coaching switch is made. Very few are willing to sit out an entire year or risk their entire futures by leaving school.

By the way, we still lost our two highest rated recruits.

No matter who we hired, we'd have been a good team next year. It's just that now we'll be a good team with a coach, who is among the least inexperienced in the country.

[LastWarrior]

Earth to Katz... you're an idiot!!

[muwarrior69]

The position has been filled, Buzz is our coach. I too had my concerns about the hire but over the past week he has kept the team intact albeit Christopherson, has recommitments from Fulce, Otule and Erik Williams and recruited Jimmy Butler (all kids who want to get a good Jesuit education). Like D. Wade, Buzz just might be that diamond in the rough. Only time will tell. And if Buzz does succeed here and then decides to go back home to Coach at the University of Texas - Austin, I would not blame him one bit after all the sour grapes about his hire on this board.

[jt92]

You people are absolutely unreal!!!   The bottom line here is that no one really knows what MU is going to get with Buzz.  You cannot tell me with a straight face that you are not concerned.  This doesn't mean we don't support him, but to call Katz an idiot is stupid.  People are still mad at him for all of those rumors over the years about Crean which turned out to be true.   The hiring of Buzz Williams is a huge risk, this doesn't mean he can't be successful...but to say there is no risk here is beyond foolish.

[RawdogDX]

Buzz just might be that diamond in the rough.

GOd, i hope he is, and I really do think there is a chance that is the case.  But regardless of if he is, I think people are upset about the choice though because they didn't feel like we should have been looking in the rough, perhaps we should have gone to a diamond mine, a jewlry store, or hell even a pawn shop.

[tower912]

jt92, I fully realize that if Buzz bombs we will be competing with SJU, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and USF to avoid finishing last in the BEast.   I posted several times to the TC haters to be careful what you wish for because it is entirely possible that it was the TC show @MU, and not the MU Program with tc coaching at the moment.    I fully believe that TC worked wonders to build the program back up to a place of national interest and that will NOT automatically be self-sustaining.    But Buzz hasn't coached a game here yet, has so far handled a difficult situation with class, and seems to be achieving a level of continuity with recruits and returnees while rapidly bringing in a potentially good replacement for players who don't want to be at MU without Crean.    Once TC left, shoes were going to drop and eggs were going to break.  I don't know what Buzz could have done better, other than secretly being Roy instead of Buzz Williams.

[ChicosBailBonds]

We'll know in a few years if this was a good hire. Those that are saying it was a solid hire, don't know.  Those that say it wasn't a solid hire don't know.  Those that say it was a gamble...are correct (because all hires are gambles to some degree).  The question becomes whether the gamble pays off and we won't know that for a few years.

Hell, none of us have seen him for one second on the sideline, in the huddle, at the end of a game.  We just don't know.

Until then, we wait and see, hope for the best.

[Pakuni]

You people are absolutely unreal!!!   The bottom line here is that no one really knows what MU is going to get with Buzz.  You cannot tell me with a straight face that you are not concerned.  This doesn't mean we don't support him, but to call Katz an idiot is stupid.  People are still mad at him for all of those rumors over the years about Judas which turned out to be true.   The hiring of Buzz Williams is a huge risk, this doesn't mean he can't be successful...but to say there is no risk here is beyond foolish.

Katz is an idiot, but not because he tells us Buzz is a gamble.

He's an idiot because he substitutes "Buzz is a gamble" for any thoughtful analysis of the situation. Sheesh, when my wife who watches maybe five Marquette games a year and might be able to name three players heard the news she said "sounds like a risky hire." I would expect better analysis from the so-called World Wide Leader.

FWIW, I cannot recall a single post over the past two weeks that has said or implied that there is no risk here. There's plenty of risk here. Perhaps even more risk than had MU gone with someone like Lowery or Brownell. But what the other side of the debate can't or won't admit is that there's also a ton of potential here. IMO, Buzz already has shown he's a quality recruiter. If he can coach just as well, MU could be very good under his tenure for many years.

[ecompt]

PRN, name me the players you know for a fact would have stayed and/or come to MU. I've counted, and the number could very well be  six. And what exactly has Lowery done to make himself so desirable?

[Pakuni]

PRN, name me the players you know for a fact would have stayed and/or come to MU. I've counted, and the number could very well be  six. And what exactly has Lowery done to make himself so desirable?

He's won with Matt Painter's players. Kinda like Mike Deane with Kevin O'Neill's players.

Actually, I like Lowery a lot and think he would have been a solid choice. But the notion that he would have been a slam dunk or significantly less risky than Buzz is silly. Up until this year, Lowery has not recruited well as a head coach and the overall play of the Salukis moved sharply in the wrong direction. I still like him and would have been happy to have him, but he by no means is a sure thing on the next level.

[Big Papi]

We'll know in a few years if this was a good hire. Those that are saying it was a solid hire, don't know.  Those that say it wasn't a solid hire don't know.  Those that say it was a gamble...are correct (because all hires are gambles to some degree).  The question becomes whether the gamble pays off and we won't know that for a few years.

Hell, none of us have seen him for one second on the sideline, in the huddle, at the end of a game.  We just don't know.

Until then, we wait and see, hope for the best.

Your right.  We really won't know for a few years but it will be very interesting to see who he hires as assistants.  Its starting to look like there is the potential to hit some out of the park and if that is the case, I will be very very pleased early on in the Buzz coaching administration.   Nevertheless, so far so good in my book.  Kept Mbakwe which I think is huge.  Kept Erik Williams who again I think is huge.  The big 3 and Hayward are happy.  Lets see what happens over the next week.

[3Mer]

My problem is with Cottingham and the administration -- not with Buzz.  As has been repeated ad infinitum, he may/may not turn out to be a competent coach.  That's not the point.

Why should the fans be satisfied with the decision to turn over a Top-20 program to a unqualified candidate who will have to "learn on the job?"  MU is not (or should not) be a program headed by a novice. 

While Buzz has done an admirable job of preserving a mediocre recruiting class, the goal under Crean was to become successful enough to attract the 5-star recruits necessary to advance beyond the first/second round of the NCAAs.

How does hiring Buzz make MU more attractive to the recruits needed to advance the program?  Or is what we're saying in these posts is that the fans should be satisfied with the status quo, or even something less?

[ChicosBailBonds]

My problem is with Cottingham and the administration -- not with Buzz.  As has been repeated ad infinitum, he may/may not turn out to be a competent coach.  That's not the point.

Why should the fans be satisfied with the decision to turn over a Top-20 program to a unqualified candidate who will have to "learn on the job?"  MU is not (or should not) be a program headed by a novice. 

While Buzz has done an admirable job of preserving a mediocre recruiting class, the goal under Judas was to become successful enough to attract the 5-star recruits necessary to advance beyond the first/second round of the NCAAs.

How does hiring Buzz make MU more attractive to the recruits needed to advance the program?  Or is what we're saying in these posts is that the fans should be satisfied with the status quo, or even something less?

Well stated and those were my concerns.  I'm not anti-Buzz, just surprised by the hire considering where we were as a program.  There are risky hires and their are risky hires.  At this point it doesn't matter as it what it is (sorry for the cliche), just hope they got it right.  We'll know in a few years.  If they did, fantastic.  If they didn't, hopefully it doesn't set us back too much.  I was just hoping not to have to go through with so much uncertainty at this point.

[Bling]

who gives a f@#*$ what Andy Katz says?  Oh, man!  Andy Katz said this was a gamble!! Oh my God!!