The Holy Land of Hoops

I think the Coaching has been really superb from top to bottom this year. Only team I can think of that has under-performed would be my own Musketeers, but I am hoping they can round it out come March (in their defense, it is a very young team).

Here is how I would rank a the Coaches based on their performance thus far this season:

1. Willard - Has the team playing motivated ball using a very young club. This year really signifies a culture change.

2. Wright - Returned a lot of talent, but Coaches should still get credit for maintaining excellence

3. Holtmann - Butler was more talented than I had thought (Kameron Woods is amazing), but still, he has done an excellent job and has preserved Butler's style of play.

4. Cooley - Bryce Cotton who? Gets the most out of his players. Can we imagine the Brown game never happened?

5. Wojo - Doing a lot with the little he has. Can't wait to see him with some talent

6. JT3 - They are in 1st place, but they lost a lot of close games and they have an amazing amount of talent. I think they slightly under-perform.

7. Mack - Pretty much putting for par this year. I don't think we have won a game we weren't favored in. But we have lost a few.

8. Lavin - His style of play still seems dangerous (too many bad shots) but he has them playing motivated, which is half the battle

10. Purnell & McDermott - Both have stunk it up in different parts of the season, but both have done some good things with their limited talent


I think top to bottom they are all good coaches. What really shines is the coaches who do more with less. The only team who doesn't seem to have some kind of large challenge (injuries, depleted roster etc.) are Wright and JT3. And they are both going good.

I have openly spoken against Purnell with DePaul for several seasons now. However, I cannot deny the remarkable job he has done the past several week with the group he has. They are really competing and playing hard. If he manages to have a winning record in conference play, I think he has to get some votes for BE Coach of the Year (Willard would definitely get my vote).

As for Wojo, could not agree more. They play some great defense. Offense is awful, but with the talent he has, each game will probably have a different high scorer. Judge him how he does next year with his recruits coming in (Ellenson, Noskowiak, Cheatham, Heldt).

Coach of the year candidates:

I would give it to Holtman right now
Willard second
Wright third
Cooley in the running

JT3 has put it together and is having a good season.

I like what Wojo is doing

No clue what to think of mack this season.

McDermott gets a free pass from last year.

Purnell and Lavin on the hot seat. Lavin making the dance should save his job, but how likely is that looking right now. Have no idea what depaul is expecting out of their coach, so no clue how hot purnell's seat is.

DudeAnon wrote:I think the Coaching has been really superb from top to bottom this year. Only team I can think of that has under-performed would be my own Musketeers, but I am hoping they can round it out come March (in their defense, it is a very young team).

Here is how I would rank a the Coaches based on their performance thus far this season:

1. Willard - Has the team playing motivated ball using a very young club. This year really signifies a culture change.

2. Wright - Returned a lot of talent, but Coaches should still get credit for maintaining excellence

3. Holtmann - Butler was more talented than I had thought (Kameron Woods is amazing), but still, he has done an excellent job and has preserved Butler's style of play.

4. Cooley - Bryce Cotton who? Gets the most out of his players. Can we imagine the Brown game never happened?

5. Wojo - Doing a lot with the little he has. Can't wait to see him with some talent

6. JT3 - They are in 1st place, but they lost a lot of close games and they have an amazing amount of talent. I think they slightly under-perform.

7. Mack - Pretty much putting for par this year. I don't think we have won a game we weren't favored in. But we have lost a few.

8. Lavin - His style of play still seems dangerous (too many bad shots) but he has them playing motivated, which is half the battle

10. Purnell & McDermott - Both have stunk it up in different parts of the season, but both have done some good things with their limited talent


I think top to bottom they are all good coaches. What really shines is the coaches who do more with less. The only team who doesn't seem to have some kind of large challenge (injuries, depleted roster etc.) are Wright and JT3. And they are both going good.

Mulligan?

Def a mulligan on that one for many who responded. As of today, I'd say:

1. Holtman - BE COY
2. Wright - Top 12 in nation in BOTH offensive and defensive efficiency on a team without stars
3. Cooley - handling injuries, defections, Frosh; such a likable guy--very easy to root for
4. JTIII - people forget he's got a bunch of Frosh too and they all are getting along just fine
5. Purnell - showing signs of life in the Chicago black hole
6. Mack - XU is consistent yet unspectacular and so is Mack; needs to get a win in the tourney
7. Lavin - like the fact that he kept RJ in tow, and has experimented with a smaller lineup; he's fighting
8. Willard - may end of the year at 10 if this thing blows up on him, but as of now his team still has a chance
9. Wojo - his team has fight but playing shorthanded; won't know how good he is until he gets some horses
10. Big McD - Thought he was COY last year after shellacking VU twice; disappointed that they haven't been able to take better advantage of their significant home court advantage; those Jay fans sure show up in force; needs more talent

GumbyDamnit! wrote:Def a mulligan on that one for many who responded. As of today, I'd say:

1. Holtman - BE COY
2. Wright - Top 12 in nation in BOTH offensive and defensive efficiency on a team without stars
3. Cooley - handling injuries, defections, Frosh; such a likable guy--very easy to root for
4. JTIII - people forget he's got a bunch of Frosh too and they all are getting along just fine
5. Purnell - showing signs of life in the Chicago black hole
6. Mack - XU is consistent yet unspectacular and so is Mack; needs to get a win in the tourney
7. Lavin - like the fact that he kept RJ in tow, and has experimented with a smaller lineup; he's fighting
8. Willard - may end of the year at 10 if this thing blows up on him, but as of now his team still has a chance
9. Wojo - his team has fight but playing shorthanded; won't know how good he is until he gets some horses
10. Big McD - Thought he was COY last year after shellacking VU twice; disappointed that they haven't been able to take better advantage of their significant home court advantage; those Jay fans sure show up in force; needs more talent

I think your top 7 are right, but I'd go:

8 Wojo his team has been more competitive than I expected
9 McDermott: As you said his issue is more talent than coaching
10 Willard

GumbyDamnit! wrote:10. Big McD - Thought he was COY last year after shellacking VU twice; disappointed that they haven't been able to take better advantage of their significant home court advantage; those Jay fans sure show up in force; needs more talent

I've seen the reality of the situation this year. The talent just isn't there. We brought in 5 Big East recruits this year. Watson and Huff, the 2 most talented (on the team, not just the BE recruits) are sitting out due to transfer rules, Harrell is redshirting, Gilmore would probably have been redshirted if not for Dingman's early season injury, wasn't ready to play early on and when he was, he injured his knee and needed surgery and will probably miss the rest of the season, and Kreklow is the most consistent player on the team since BE play began.
The remaining 9 are MVC recruits. Of those 9, 4 graduate (Artino, Brooks, Chatman, Dingman, plus Kreklow), Milliken (the second best player in BE play) and Hegner (a 6'10! stretch 5 who is putting up amazing numbers for a freshmen) should return. Zierden (2nd major knee injury), Groselle (graduated this year, but has one year left of eligibility), and Hanson (really under whelmed) are question marks in terms of whether or not they will return.
Next year we will have 7 or maybe more new Big East recruited players.
Bottom line, next year we will have a much better idea of Mac as a coach in the Big East.