New Hunt article on Buzz

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Ice, I get what you're saying but I don't know of any Goliath college coaches who actually come out and say they are Goliath. Hell, John Calipari every year says his team sucks and will be fortunate to make the NCAA tourney. The master of this was Lou Holtz who would make his powerhouse ND teams feel like they were going to lose to teams like Navy each week through direct messages to the players and to the media. I think the ideal scenario is to build a Goliath program which Buzz is clearly attempting to do, but continue to motivate your kids by telling them they are David so as to avoid contentment and a lack of hunger (which Buzz is clearly attempting to do).

Well...Calipari did talk about 40-0 this year. Didn't work out so well for him.

oh did he? My bad then---I remembered him talking about how they'd be lucky to stay on the court with MSU for that opening game. Maybe Cal was a bad example, but my point still stands.

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Originally Posted by WindyCityGoldenEagle

oh did he? My bad then---I remembered him talking about how they'd be lucky to stay on the court with MSU for that opening game. Maybe Cal was a bad example, but my point still stands.

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Well he did both.

He talked about the goal of 40-0, not necessarily with this team but as a goal he has as a coach, back in May. He then talked about the MSU game similar how you remember it. My guess is that after holding practice with these guys for a few weeks, he realized that they had a lot of work to do.

I sort of went of the rails last night, but seriously, what other choice does Buzz have but to play the underdog card at this point in the season?

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Originally Posted by TheSultan

Buzz's job isn't to please you with his message, but to motivate the team. Underdog tactics may work with one set of players...but may not work with another.

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Again, I get why he does it, but personally as a player if i hear "You're the underdog, no one thinks you are any good etc etc" repeatedly, It would eventually wear on me and I'd think "wow, Coach doesn't even think we are any good". For me anyway, if I were a player, I'd want to hear "you know you're good, you're better than people think, go out and show them". That's saying the same thing, just saying it in a different way. Besides, players shouldn't need little messages like that to motivate themselves. Motivation should come from within. That being said, I realize we are dealing with 18-22 year olds here and today's generation of kids seem a lot tougher to motivate than they used to be.

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Originally Posted by kneelb4zerg

I sort of went of the rails last night, but seriously, what other choice does Buzz have but to play the underdog card at this point in the season?

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I realize Buzz and I are completely different, but me personally with this group..I'd tell them repeatedly, if you don't start playing to your potential, changes are going to be made, and you won't like them. They are only underdogs, because for whatever reason, they have made themselves into that with their performances thus far. Not because this group has peaked and this is the best they are. Buzz knows his guys and what will or won't work with them(hopefully), but with this particular group because they have been playing well below what they are capable, I'd tell them, "you're underdogs because you've sucked and made yourself underdogs..now, you can either start playing like your capable, and turn your season around, or you can keep going the way you have...the choice is up to you, it's your careers and your season, how do you want to be remembered"?? Then I'd ask the Seniors how they want to go out.

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Originally Posted by MU_Iceman

I realize Buzz and I are completely different, but me personally with this group..I'd tell them repeatedly, if you don't start playing to your potential, changes are going to be made, and you won't like them. They are only underdogs, because for whatever reason, they have made themselves into that with their performances thus far. Not because this group has peaked and this is the best they are. Buzz knows his guys and what will or won't work with them(hopefully), but with this particular group because they have been playing well below what they are capable, I'd tell them, "you're underdogs because you've sucked and made yourself underdogs..now, you can either start playing like your capable, and turn your season around, or you can keep going the way you have...the choice is up to you, it's your careers and your season, how do you want to be remembered"?? Then I'd ask the Seniors how they want to go out.

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And therein lies the difference. Buzz gets paid millions of dollars to know what this group needs to hear and tell them that. He's proven over the past few years that he's pretty darn good at it.

I get that everyone thinks they're the smartest guy in the room, but sometimes it's best to simply sit back and accept that some people have a better grasp on things than others. When it comes to managing basketball teams, Buzz seems to have a great grasp on how to both motivate and improve his team's caliber of play over the course of a season. And all the screaming from the keyboard won't change that Buzz is going to do things his way.

I don't know...I just don't get the point of posts like this. If you had the knowledge and drive to know how to properly motivate a team, wouldn't you be coaching instead of posting? Let the coach coach. That's what he's paid for.

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Originally Posted by brewcity77

And therein lies the difference. Buzz gets paid millions of dollars to know what this group needs to hear and tell them that. He's proven over the past few years that he's pretty darn good at it.

I get that everyone thinks they're the smartest guy in the room, but sometimes it's best to simply sit back and accept that some people have a better grasp on things than others. When it comes to managing basketball teams, Buzz seems to have a great grasp on how to both motivate and improve his team's caliber of play over the course of a season. And all the screaming from the keyboard won't change that Buzz is going to do things his way.

I don't know...I just don't get the point of posts like this. If you had the knowledge and drive to know how to properly motivate a team, wouldn't you be coaching instead of posting? Let the coach coach. That's what he's paid for.

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Brew - obviously Buzz is better at pushing buttons and coaching than any of us are, I don't think anyone (except Murph) would argue that. That being said, and I'm not siding with Ice's opinion, but isn't one of the fun aspects of message boards to bring up points about the team, coach, program, recruiting that you believe could improve things? Just because someone is obviously better at it, doesn't mean we can't have fun critiquing, debating it or commenting on it, right?