buzz really knows how to ugly it up against us

[orangehomer]

I personally cant stand the guy but at the end of the day he can coach. I don't know what the hell he was doing today but he took a team with zero talent and made it close. he started subbing like hockey lines in the second half and I think all the unrest caught us off guard. having said all that, make free throws and it is a 10 point win. it is all BS and buzz is a BS coach. him and his sweaty shirt, clutch and grab, sideline high kick charade.

 

[pearl31]

Good point about the subbing... about midway thru the 1st half he started subbing CONSTANTLY - and it really did have an effect on the game... gawd he's a clownshow on the sideline

 

[Cheriehoop]

Despite all his courtside shenanigans he can coach. He's always been able to cobble together decent teams and have them play hard. At Marquette he used to get some JC players, transfers and physical blue collar players yet manage to mold them into pretty good cohesive teams. It will be interesting to see if he can recruit consistently better at Va Tech.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Free throws. Enough said and 'buzz

 

[teamco]

I never understand those folks who take the attitude of this coach, or coach because their team has a scrappy, pugnacious, or a 'dirty' style. Especially in a case like Buzz Williams at VTech. It's his first year, he comes in taking over a program in poor shape and has to work with what he has. Even at Marquette, and not just in his case but many, many, other cases where coaches don't get to select from the top echelon of HS players, perhaps not even from the top two or three levels, and have to field a team. The idea has always been to put together a team that wins, and not to create a beautiful performance like its the Bolshoi Ballet. A lot of non SU folks find Syracuse's use of the zone an inferior defense and consider the programs unwavering allegiance to it as unworthy- I've even read plenty of complaints about it right here in our own neighborhood. So what? That's life. That's the way JB rolls. Anyway, it's time to 'man up' and stop the b*ll_ whining about the other teams coach, its style, the reffing, clutching, bumping, the sun getting in your eyes, the dog eating your homework, and deal with whatever the opposition throws at you. Either you're the baddest swingin' on the court, or you're a whining mama's boy. Tip of the day- Hey, that is just the way I was raised living on the streets of Brooklyn when I was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's. Eat lunch, or be lunch!

 

[Cuse_1999]

His foul strategy worked cuz we sucked at the FT line. If we made a few it we would have won going away. And Bibbs is talented.

 

[Upstate]

There was a stretch of about 6 minutes where every single loose ball went to VT, every single SU FGA missed and every single VT shot went in. One of the most lopsided portions of a game I can remember.

 

[SUalldway]

His foul strategy worked cuz we sucked at the FT line. If we made a few it we would have won going away. And Bibbs is talented.

When silent G was intentionally fouled at aboot the 2:20 mark I thought that was just a crazy Buzz tactic! Turns out he had a good plan!

 

[MELOKEITH]

Honestly - it's the running out on the court that drives me crazy. I wish someone would just run into him because the refs don't seem too concerned about it.

 

[supp]

Despite all his courtside shenanigans he can coach. He's always been able to cobble together decent teams and have them play hard. At Marquette he used to get some JC players, transfers and physical blue collar players yet manage to mold them into pretty good cohesive teams. It will be interesting to see if he can recruit consistently better at Va Tech.

Give him VCU's roster and he'd finish top three in the ACC. If I'm Shaka Smart, I'd be most worried about Buzz on the recruiting trail. They both recruit the same type of player.

 

[tbonezone]

once his bigs fouled out he opted to simply just send us to the line rather than play defense.
doesn't exactly take a bald sweat soaked genius to figure out that strategy. still not sure why curly didn't insert the big VT 3 point "" sooner tho .

 

[AZOrange]

I think strategy wise Buzz is a below average coach. When the clutch/grab routine isn't working he's got nothing... See Elite 8.

 

[orangefan13]

we shot 8 for 21 in the second half, for 17 points, and maybe 2 freethrows to the 4 minute mark.

This team needs alot of work against Pressure defense

 

[AZOrange]

Good point about the subbing... about midway thru the 1st half he started subbing CONSTANTLY - and it really did have an effect on the game... gawd he's a clownshow on the sideline

It's like his whole strategy is to make the game one big stuffshow. It's straight out of the Dixon playbook. Garbage. As JB might have said... WACKO.

 

[OrangeDW]

I think strategy wise Buzz is a below average coach. When the clutch/grab routine isn't working he's got nothing... See Elite 8.

Agreed. The fact that Buzz, and other coaches that are very much like him, is a successful coach in terms of wins and losses and is considered a "good coach" is a big part of the reason why college hoops sucks and is pretty much unwatchable now. There's nothing there other than foul the hell out of the other team and spazz out all game long. And that's considered "good defense" and "well coached" these days. It's a joke. He sucks. His teams suck. The referees suck. College hoops sucks.

 

[orangefan13]

Agreed. The fact that Buzz, and other coaches that are very much like him, is a successful coach in terms of wins and losses and is considered a "good coach" is a big part of the reason why college hoops sucks and is pretty much unwatchable now. There's nothing there other than foul the hell out of the other team and spazz out all game long. And that's considered "good defense" and "well coached" these days. It's a joke. He sucks. His teams suck. The referees suck. College hoops sucks.

They need to put more emphasis on bodying and handchecking outside of freethrow line distance (this isn't the nba).


Just fa few of the things that were killing us against pressure defense.
1. long entry passes to rak who wasn't even in the low post, instead of short.
2. trever, kaleb, buss, and gbinije not scoring or creating assists off penetration.
3. we didn't catch the offensive boards and go back up in the second half to much vollyball and fumbling.
4. didn't get to the line
5. no swing pass buckets, not one the entire second half.
6. Didn't utilize a strength advantage to drive or score the second half (not raks fault imo).
7. Vtech was speeding the game up, should have been a high scoring second half reguardless.

We do all of those things pretty well when the pressure defense isn't on us.

 

[tbonezone]

put me in the less whistles the better camp.

let them play. hard.

 

[81South]

Buzz is a spazz but I think he is underrated as a coach.

 

[orange4u]

Buzz was hilarious yesterday! I thought he was going to blow a head gasket and his head was going to explode. When he put his hand over his mouth screaming at his players, my wife and I were LMAO. My wife is not a basketball fan but know a lot about SU B-ball, but now she loves BUZZ. I'm a fan of Buzz but don't care a rats ass if he wins or loses!

 

[Briancuse]

Give him VCU's roster and he'd finish top three in the ACC. If I'm Shaka Smart, I'd be most worried about Buzz on the recruiting trail. They both recruit the same type of player.

I wouldn't, Va tech is a really tough sell, Blacksburg is in the middle of nowhere, and they have lousy facilities.

 

[two3zone]

I wouldn't, Va tech is a really tough sell, Blacksburg is in the middle of nowhere, and they have lousy facilities.

Milwaukee is Milwaukee though, think Va Tech should probably throw a little of that football money towards hoops and they might have something to work with.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I think strategy wise Buzz is a below average coach. When the clutch/grab routine isn't working he's got nothing... See Elite 8.

...and yet it did get him to the elite 8, and two straight sweet sixteens before that. At Marquette. Just sayin.

 

[ORANGEsPHK]

I don't agree with everything that's been said in this thread but I LOVE this thread for the many perspectives it provides. I will, however, side with those that feel that Buzz gets his team to play with intensity and with passion, with the never-give-up attitude. I love that type of passion and it only transpires on the court because of leadership.

I'm not the biggest fan of Buzz, with his sideline (court?) antics, but his players buy into it and play with passion. They showed intensity in the 2nd half, down 19, and got themselves into the game. I won't second guess JB (but I will), but if our team played with such urgency and passion on every possession, would we have let VT back into the game? Maybe, or maybe not. But I can't help but admire the passion that a HC gets his players to play with. It is what makes the NCAA men's basketball great.

(And just so you guys don't think I'm passively making a dig at the SU coaching staff, I have seen Rak play with desire, I've seen KJ correct some of his early mistakes, Cooney taking more of a leadership role, Roberson being aggressive at what he needs to do, and the team, as a whole, starting to play together to their benefit. These guys are coachable, and JB has mellowed from the earlier calling-out of players and seems to be coaching them to understand where they can improve)

 

[Full_Rebar]

Why does he wear a shirt and tie? I mean give him a dri-fit polo so we don't have to look at a sweat-stained shirt the final 10 minutes. Not a good look.

 

[reedny]

Despite all his courtside shenanigans he can coach. He's always been able to cobble together decent teams and have them play hard. At Marquette he used to get some JC players, transfers and physical blue collar players yet manage to mold them into pretty good cohesive teams. It will be interesting to see if he can recruit consistently better at Va Tech.

No doubt he can coach. He gets the best out of his guys ... and his tee shirts.

After we dominated the first half, you can bet Buzz went ballistic in the locker room. Tech came out for the second half looking like they'd just escaped from prison. Buzz promptly tore off his vest and tie (circa Rollie Massimino) as his guys busted out some old-school, Buzz Williams-style, clutch-and-grab defense. We started turning it over and our offense sputtered as Tech hacked us up and down the floor (I remember seeing Muller glaring at Rak after a slash down low -- like cutting someone off and then flipping them off). In any event, Bibbs was penetrating at will and Will Johnson decided he could play like Rudy for the last 5 minutes of regulation. In the end we did what we had to ... although Patterson's meltdown at the FTL made it interesting.

No use waxing nostalgic about old BE rivalries. It's "on" in the ACC.