i think it was TC's last year. MU was playing at Providence and they were leading most if the game. At least twice PC had a dunk and the players were celebrating. MU quickly inbounded, went down court and scored. The look on the Friar player's face was priceless as he realized what happened. Good times...
90% of quotes on the internet are wrong.
- Abraham Lincoln
Celebration was fine, next play wasn't. He thought he earned a heat-check opportunity for 1 bucket by going 1 on 4. Just bad basketball. St Johns also plays bad basketball. They had enough talent to beat us by 40. They aren't going anywhere.
In terms of the original question, yes...I put this season squarely on Buzz, in terms of player selection and inability/unwillingness to develop players (particularly) last year. Buzz knew what he was leaving behind when he "upgraded" to VT.
In terms of where we are now, I guess I came away from last night with a more optimistic view of the team's current status. We've held serve at this point in conference, winning both of our home games and having a chance to win every one of our road games. As mentioned by another poster, our record versus the spread is very good. I understand that many people (including me) don't like moral victories, but given the make-up of this team, those results are extremely encouraging. Think about it...we had a chance to win last night, on a night when three of our eight players combined for two points in 64 minutes...and two of those guys are replaced next year. We had a chance at the end at Georgetown, where even Nova got blown out. Yes, turnovers resulted in very disappointing finishes at DePaul and Xavier, but the team showed in can win if it can learn discipline...something that wasn't taught last season...and something clearly being emphasized by Wojo. If we can play this well with eight guys who are square pegs trying to fit in round holes, I am extremely encouraged to see what happens when we get more disciplined players who fit with Wojo's plan. I'm not giving up on this year's team...we're still net zero on Big East road wins and home losses...but I feel like this season and last are clearly trough seasons where we have to appreciate the progress.
Last edited by 21rooster; 01-22-2015 at 11:56 AM.
Getting caught up, here are a few comments.....
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.
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!
Last edited by IWB; 01-22-2015 at 12:15 PM.
"When March Madness spills into April.... that's the gravy!" - Homer Simpson
Guess I didn't come across as clearly as I wanted. I do like celebrations. But too often, they have become grandiose ways to celebrate "ME". When a football player makes a play and then they point to the name on the back of the jersey. It's all about me. I thought JJJ's celebration went a little too far. It was great to hoot and holler. But his delayed stance there meant he was taking himself out of the next play of the game. And frankly, it has been his only good play in quite awhile. He's had enough dumb plays, such as his next one as has been noted, that celebrating his one good play like that seemed excessive to me. I would like a little more humility in the celebration of "ME", which is why I gave the example of Barry Sanders. An extreme to the other side, yes. But just like that approach better than the ones that go to the excess the other way.