Buzz responsible for what we have become?

[Gato78]

A couple of things come to mind about Buzz while watching tonight's game.

1. Talent level is woeful. Did he leave because he didn't want to deal with what he knew was a talent drop off?
2. What is the real story about Jameel McKay? I don't think we ever got the real story. My guess is he had some grade manipulation to get into MU and had to go. He obtained a ridiculous number of credits in a short time. How can anyone think he would need to redshirt with the lack of scoring and athleticism? Was Buzz that clueless? Doubtful.
3. We had more talent last year and did no better than this year. What the hell was going on last year?

I give this team credit. Doing everything they can but each player is somehow limited. Carlino can't dribble and guard; Derrick cannot score etc etc. No one on this team is a well rounded player. That is on Buzz either due to recruiting errors or development errors. Derrick and Juan are playing like dogs who have been beat too much, spend half their life just covering up. I think that is entirely on Buzz. The proof is Derrick on the line--made fts in high school at a good rate. Now, he is afraid of the line, shooting less than 50%. What the hell happened?

[79warrior]

A couple of things come to mind about Buzz while watching tonight's game.

1. Talent level is woeful. Did he leave because he didn't want to deal with what he knew was a talent drop off?
2. What is the real story about Jameel McKay? I don't think we ever got the real story. My guess is he had some grade manipulation to get into MU and had to go. He obtained a ridiculous number of credits in a short time. How can anyone think he would need to redshirt with the lack of scoring and athleticism? Was Buzz that clueless? Doubtful.
3. We had more talent last year and did no better than this year. What the hell was going on last year?

I give this team credit. Doing everything they can but each player is somehow limited. Carlino can't dribble and guard; Derrick cannot score etc etc. No one on this team is a well rounded player. That is on Buzz either due to recruiting errors or development errors. Derrick and Juan are playing like dogs who have been beat too much, spend half their life just covering up. I think that is entirely on Buzz. The proof is Derrick on the line--made fts in high school at a good rate. Now, he is afraid of the line, shooting less than 50%. What the hell happened?

Legit points. We will be in a situation with no point guard, very little returning scoring and plenty of inexperience. I think Duane Wilson will be good, Sandy Cohen has lots of potential and Fisher will be fine. JJJ, well not sold on him. I have no idea how how ended up so highly rated coming out of HS. Unless Wojo lines up some Juco's, next year will be very similar to this year.

[Gato78]

JJJ has plenty of talent. He needed to be coached last year. He is playing like a frosh. Right now, if you go player to player, it seems like the last two years were a complete waste and they are all trying to figure it out--except Carlino, who wasn't here. Every guy on the roster is one or years away from where they should be. Juan Anderson has plenty of ability and hustle. What happened to his development?

[Nukem2]

Obviously, Buzz ( and MU ) was a victim of Murphy's Law. He could only go so far as what was left to him and his Juco connections. Was not a developer of talent. Rather, a reaper of available talent. We as MU reaped those benefits. Unfortunately, those benefits were not renewable given the restraints of the new administration under Fr. P and Larry W. we move on. I believe Wojo will do fine from what we ave seen. Frustrating right now, but the future looks good. We thank Buzz, but we move on

[TheSultan]

Mentioned this on Scoop, but recruiting misses in successive years with Jamail Jones, TJ Taylor and Jamal Ferguson left the team woefully short in the 2/3 positions. Then Blue leaves early, and Mayo is a complete f*ck up, and you are left depending on guys that are talented on paper but can't perform yet on the floor.

So yeah Buzz the GM is who I think is to blame primarily for last year and this year.

[IrwinFletcher]

If you believe that Buzz was a detriment to the development of some of these guys (and it is hard to argue with you on that point) I am worried that Wojo is doing the same to JJJ. Kid has some talent and it is apparent but seems Wojo has picked him out as the guy he is going to use to make a point. In turn , he will be run off when in fact there is talent there to be found.

Just so frustrated right now on how this program has fallen so quick and so hard.

[TheSultan]

If you believe that Buzz was a detriment to the development of some of these guys (and it is hard to argue with you on that point) I am worried that Wojo is doing the same to JJJ. Kid has some talent and it is apparent but seems Wojo has picked him out as the guy he is going to use to make a point. In turn , he will be run off when in fact there is talent there to be found.

I'm not sure about that. Wojo looks to be the second coach who can't get to him. I think you are probably looking at a guy who isn't very coachable.

[Markedman]

I thought we had the real story on McKay.....Buzz discussed redshirting with him and he freaked out and quit......Hasn't IWB confirmed that version of events?

[IWB]

Getting caught up, here are a few comments.....

1. Talent level is woeful. Did he leave because he didn't want to deal with what he knew was a talent drop off? I think that is a big part of it.
2. What is the real story about Jameel McKay? I don't think we ever got the real story. My guess is he had some grade manipulation to get into MU and had to go. He obtained a ridiculous number of credits in a short time. How can anyone think he would need to redshirt with the lack of scoring and athleticism? Was Buzz that clueless? Doubtful.
It was not a short time period like Crowder. McKay committed early for a Juco and had more than a year to do it. A lot of work yes, but enough time. It was tougher because Larry wouldn't allow online courses, even though they were allowed for guys like Vander & DJO. High school kids are still using them to improve grades, need to do what you can, your classroom grades aren't everything so your GPA isn't always set in Stone.
3. We had more talent last year and did no better than this year. What the hell was going on last year? Good question, no clue.

I give this team credit. Doing everything they can but each player is somehow limited. Carlino can't dribble and guard; Derrick cannot score etc etc.
Carlino wasn't a Buzz recruit, he was a Wojo recruit. Derrick wasn't a big scorer in high school either, but he was a big physical guard which was a need in the old Big East with the old guard play rules. Now you can't touch a guy on the perimeter or its a foul, 5 years ago guards were getting abused at the top and Derrick fit that mold of someone who could protect the ball with that type of play.

Derrick and Juan are playing like dogs who have been beat too much, spend half their life just covering up.
Agree on Derrick and Juan, and love the Springsteen reference. Now thanks to you I haven't been able to get that song out of my head since I read your post.

The proof is Derrick on the line--made fts in high school at a good rate. Now, he is afraid of the line, shooting less than 50%. What the hell happened?
On Derrick's free throws - same as John Harris. John Harris was an 88% free throw shooter in high school, was a joke at MU. Does it get in guys' heads? I don't know.

I thought we had the real story on McKay.....Buzz discussed redshirting with him and he freaked out and quit......Hasn't IWB confirmed that version of events?

Mark - That is not accurate. There were three parts to his decision, besides outside influences. Here is what happened.
Part 1: Buzz held a clinic for high school & college coaches. Part of that clinic was an actual MU practice. After the practice Buzz held a Q&A. Some of the players took seats in the bleachers and stayed. During the Q&A one of the questions was 'How do you know when it is best for someone to redshirt?' Buzz answered that there are different circumstances, and said, "Jameel McKay would be a perfect example. A year off would help him gain some much needed body mass and also, coming from a Juco, the extra year would almost assure he graduates with a degree." McKay was one of the players in the seats. He told his people that "Buzz had really hurt his feelings". Buzz hadn't addressed it with him at that point.
Part 2: McKay said that he felt he was lied to when he was recruited because Buzz told him he would have a chance to start at the PF spot. However, when he was recruited Buzz expected that Otule would be gone. Otule stayed. That pushed Davante to the PF spot with Steve & Juan backing him up, so McKay had been working at the 5 spot. He didn't want to play the 5. Was he lied to? No, of course he was given the chance, but things changed and he wasn't better than Davante, Steve or Juan. Not yet anyway.
Part 3: He told Buzz that he wanted to transfer on Saturday morning. Buzz suggested they sit down and talk about it in the office on Monday morning. This would give McKay time to blow off some steam and Buzz could explain what he said, why he aid it etc. An hour later McKay was tweeting to other college coaches, tweeting that he was leaving etc. That was it.

I've been saying all along that Buzz hs a history of running when things get tough. He ran from New Orleans and Marquette. Yes, he can justify each individually. But there is a pattern.

He was running away from something, not to something.

Mayor - While I can agree that he was running away from the problems at MU, I won't accept that he "ran from New Orleans". None of us know what it was like to live in post-Katrina New Orleans. Buzz' number one reason for leaving was that he felt it was not a safe environment for his family. He had very young kids and was living in a very unstable environment. I don't believe he ever said that in the media, but on top of that his coaches weren't getting paid, his players weren't getting equipment, food, books etc. But the main reason was to get his kids out of there. Can't blame a guy at all for that.

Various comments on Jajuan post dunk - I agree, thought the same thing when it happened. Sure, go ahead and yell, pound your chest - it gets the team fired up. But don't stand there for a half hour, get your ass back on defense. That is when he finally moved, when St. John's inbounded the ball and started heading down court. Harrison did the same thing in second half, then had to sprint because Derrick inbounded and MU was running down court.

Final comment on Buzz - was going back and forth with him the other day, and like Crean, Karma can be a bitch. They suited up 7 guys against UNC. 4 freshman, 2 walkons, a soph PG and a 5'8 2G. Sounds a lot like Crean's first year at Indiana, proof that the grass ain't always greener!

[pbiflyer]

Final comment on Buzz - was going back and forth with him the other day, and like Crean, Karma can be a bitch. They suited up 7 guys against UNC. 4 freshman, 2 walkons, a soph PG and a 5'8 2G. Sounds a lot like Crean's first year at Indiana, proof that the grass ain't always greener!

4 +2 + 1 + 1 = 8

But if you look at the box score, he played 9 players. God, his poor me schtick is annoying.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400587928