Admittedly not as familiar with his Midwest recruiting success, seems like Wojo came in and grabbed some splash talent immediately that Buzz never really landed, but I could be wrong there. Would happily be enlightened into his recruiting successes (or lack thereof) at Marquette, however :thumb:
2017 Coaching Carousel
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Admittedly not as familiar with his Midwest recruiting success, seems like Wojo came in and grabbed some splash talent immediately that Buzz never really landed, but I could be wrong there. Would happily be enlightened into his recruiting successes (or lack thereof) at Marquette, however :thumb:
Didn't he leave MU because either he was going to be fired for a lot of discipline problems or the posse was coming to Milwaukee?
I distinctly remember a big broo haha about him not reporting or helping obscure sexual assault reports or something to that nature.
I think it depends on what you are looking for. To me he seems like a low ceiling but very low floor type of guy. I'd be fine with that at this point.
Deleted member 29907
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Agree - his teams play hard, he recruits athletes and he is well prepared for games. He's turned VaTech around very quickly. Sadly, I question whether he'd see this as an upgrade at this point.
We're clearly behind Va Tech now, but the potential at Illinois is higher.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
There was something like that but I don't remember if there was any concrete resolution to it
I will say, doing a brief glance over what he's doing at VTech, pretty impressive. VT's hoops facilities are 'meh', and their fanbase is not very devoted to hoops. Got me interested enough to do a deep dive
I know more than a handful of people that went there that never went to a game in 4 years of undergrad. His '17 class has an avg grade 97.68 which is better than any Groce has landed on avg score (Groce's 17 is 93.58). VT avg grade (# commits) on recruiting classes:
2017: 97.68 (2)
2016: 83.99 (3)
2015: 92.24 (5)
Marquette:
2014: 96.66 (1)
2013: 89.51 (6)
2012: 90.58 (2)
2011: 91.07 (3)
2010: 91.93 (6)
2009: 91.19 (6)
Results are better than I would've expected, especially for 2009, 2010, 2015 -- those are huge classes with great average grades. Good stuff. Definitely worth consideration, I still love me some Archie, but I'd definitely be happy with Buzz. His teams always play hard.
I will say, doing a brief glance over what he's doing at VTech, pretty impressive. VT's hoops facilities are 'meh', and their fanbase is not very devoted to hoops. Got me interested enough to do a deep dive
VT avg grade (# commits) on recruiting classes:
2017: 97.68 (2)
2016: 83.99 (3)
2015: 92.24 (5)
Marquette:
2014: 96.66 (1)
2013: 89.51 (6)
2012: 90.58 (2)
2011: 91.07 (3)
2010: 91.93 (6)
2009: 91.19 (6)
Results are better than I would've expected, especially for 2009, 2010, 2015 -- those are huge classes with great average grades. Good stuff. Definitely worth consideration, I still love me some Archie, but I'd definitely be happy with Buzz. His teams always play hard.
I just looked him up also. Outside of his one bad year at Marquette, he's had very strong results. He's probably better than I initially thought. He'd be a significant upgrade.
Agreed, the recruiting is definitely better than I'd perceived it to be. Definitely more aligned with that as a possibility now, I don't care if he's an !!!. Just like Cuonzo, the question is if he wants to make what may be perceived (to them) as a lateral move.
His history shows he will if you can make it worth it to him.
homesickalien
- Springfield
People finally jumping on the Buzz wagon! He'd be my guy. Success at Marquette (when the Big East was a MONSTER) and now turning around VT. Teams play hard, recruits well, and is a different personality. Would love him here.
Buzz is an awesome coach. But it would take an enormous financial commitment to get him, and with a lot of chatter about the behavior of his players I could see us not pushing all-in the way we might be willing to for a Gregg Marshall (who would also require an insane amount of money).
homesickalien
- Springfield
2008–09 Marquette 25–10 12–6 5th NCAA Second Round
2009–10 Marquette 22–12 11–7 5th NCAA First Round
2010–11 Marquette 22–15 9–9 T–9th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Marquette 27–8 14–4 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2012–13 Marquette 26–9 14–4 T–1st NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14 Marquette 17–15 9–9 6th
2014–15 Virginia Tech 11–22 2–16 15th
2015–16 Virginia Tech 20–15 10–8 T–7th NIT Second Round
2016–17 Virginia Tech 12–1 1–0
2009–10 Marquette 22–12 11–7 5th NCAA First Round
2010–11 Marquette 22–15 9–9 T–9th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Marquette 27–8 14–4 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2012–13 Marquette 26–9 14–4 T–1st NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14 Marquette 17–15 9–9 6th
2014–15 Virginia Tech 11–22 2–16 15th
2015–16 Virginia Tech 20–15 10–8 T–7th NIT Second Round
2016–17 Virginia Tech 12–1 1–0
His better Marquette teams were just a nightmare to play. Never stopped attacking at both ends.
Bring back Lon.
And yes, I know it'll never happen
Is that the craziest idea in the world?
Lon leaves everywhere.
To me the biggest question regarding a head coach is what kind of basketball do you want to watch? What type of players and style of play would make you happiest... given the choice of successful coaches with the reasonable assumption they'll continue to succeed here?
Or put another way, what past Illini team would you most want to see replicated today? '84 Efrem/Douglas? Flying Illini? Frankie and the gang? Dee/Deron? Whatever your choice, are there any coaching candidates out there that might lead us to that type of team and style of play?
Or put another way, what past Illini team would you most want to see replicated today? '84 Efrem/Douglas? Flying Illini? Frankie and the gang? Dee/Deron? Whatever your choice, are there any coaching candidates out there that might lead us to that type of team and style of play?
I like Groce's style of ball a ton. We just run it poorly.
I'd be fine with weeny Bill Carmody nonsense if we did it well and won.
The biggest question you should ask about a head coach is are they a difference maker?
For the record, I am not on the Buzz bandwagon, but he's now on my radar more than before Stylistically, I hate heavy iso offenses. Mismatch isos, fine, but I don't want to default to standard ISO. In my perfect world, we get off-ball movement, the works.
Have we ever actually run whatever his style actually is? I honestly couldn't tell you what it's supposed to be. He says ball screen O, but we can't even do the "screen" part properly.
Stylistically, I hate heavy iso offenses. Mismatch isos, fine, but I don't want to default to standard ISO. In my perfect world, we get off-ball movement, the works. Have we ever actually run whatever his style actually is? I honestly couldn't tell you what it's supposed to be. He says ball screen O, but we can't even do the "screen" part properly.
You and I disagree on this. I hate the style Groce would ideally play. Running down and jacking up the first shot you get doesn't interest me. I can't get away from it though as the Rockets hired D'Antoni here. Seeing 45 3's being chucked up a game isn't entertaining I don't care how many you make.
When you have the right guys in pick and rolls it is unguardable. There's a reason it's works on every level. Groce just hasn't gotten the right guys.
I don't really know what to term it, but it's very inside-out focused on offense, either drive and kick or post and kick and guys have a lot of freedom to shoot from three. And obviously on defense it's a pack line type concept where we close hard on shooters.
I feel like it rewards players with energy and aggression and in theory prioritizes high-efficiency looks on offense and allowing low-efficiency looks on defense.
But when you break down in late shot clock situations on O and your bigs are all turnstiles on D, well, it doesn't work.
This. Just one person's opinion, but I'd prefer it if our next head coach did not have a history or trying to hinder sexual assault investigations.
Oh I don't think THAT'S fair. We've never been a super high-tempo team under Groce. It's not like we're Tark-era UNLV.
College threes are very efficient shots. You gotta let your shooters shoot.
Those late-model Weber teams where our kids didn't know what he wanted them to do on offense and played thinking, tentative basketball were brutal.
I'm not debating whether or not it works, I know that it does. It's just not an appealing brand to me personally. I'd prefer to see a motion type of offense honestly, that gets more movement and more people involved.
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