I saw where Depaul

[brownale]

cranked up 45 3 pointers (out of 76 total shots) against Prov. I looked up their season stats - they average 37 attempts per game.
Nine players have 40 or more attempts.

 

[huskeynut]

cranked up 45 3 pointers (out of 76 total shots) against Prov. I looked up their season stats - they average 37 attempts per game.
Nine players have 40 or more attempts.

Nothing new for DePaul.

Doug Bruno has been having DePaul do this for a while now. He recruits 3 point shooters who can run. He also employs a "hockey line style" change in his lineup when he has the players.

 

[VAUConnFan]

It is interesting how little pushback Coach Bruno has gotten here for this style of play. Maybe it is a style whose time has come to earn widespread acceptance. It might also be because Coach Bruno's relationship with Coach Auriemma has made him immune to such criticisms.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Maybe the game against UConn is a bad example. I was really unimpressed with DePaul's shot selection. Not all 3 point attempts are equal. I watch Oregon St. a lot, they take a lot of 3's and are probably a bit too dependent on it this year as well. But the majority of their attempts are good shots, in the flow of the offense, often wide open after a sequence of ball movement. DePaul just kinda looked like whoever is behind the arc chuck it up there as soon as you can. Didn't look like they were trying to create good shot opportunities. I see all the love for Coach Bruno on this board but I'm not really onboard myself.

 

[LoTrader]

The 3-ball is important in the game of basketball these days. But as nwhoopfan points out, you cannot make it far in the tournament if you depend on the 3-ball at the near exclusion of an inside/2-point game. Likewise, you have to have a plan to defend the team that is highly skilled (and effective) with the 3-point shot, as a team like this can take you out of the tournament if they get "hot" behind the 3-point line.

 

[CPD016]

Unlike some of the surly loudmouth coaches out there coach Bruno is an old school gentleman. He has said in the past that he would like to coach a "big" team (like baylor) just once to see what it feels like. Instead he executes a game plan with what he has -press and shoot - platoon - then press and shoot again. Although he will never win a N.C. his games are always entertaining to watch unlike many of the teams that go the traditional route.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'd like to see Bruno get beyond the Sweet 16 for once. His lack of post season success is fairly glaring to me. 23 Tourney appearances (at least he gets to the Tourney consistently), 4 Sweet 16s, a whole bunch of first and 2nd round losses.

 

[Plebe]

I'd like to see Bruno get beyond the Sweet 16 for once. His lack of post season success is fairly glaring to me. 23 Tourney appearances (at least he gets to the Tourney consistently), 4 Sweet 16s, a whole bunch of first and 2nd round losses.

His teams are always undersized, and he rarely gets top 100 recruits. He's adopted a style of play that matches his personnel limitations. The 3-point shot is something of an equalizer when you're undersized and out-talented.

They pulled off HUGE upsets in the tournament in consecutive years, first over a 2-seed Duke at Cameron and then a thrilling win at 3-seed Louisville. Last year they were a buzzer beater away from beating A&M at College Station.

 

[DefenseBB]

Doug Bruno... employs a "hockey line style" change in his lineup when he has the players.

OMG, what are you doing??? Writing that out will only further encourage CharlieBB to continue his advocacy for 11 scholarship offers next year and then Coco will go nuts and the thread will get shut down by the ADMINISTRATION.

 

[DefenseBB]

I'd like to see Bruno get beyond the Sweet 16 for once. His lack of post season success is fairly glaring to me. 23 Tourney appearances (at least he gets to the Tourney consistently), 4 Sweet 16s, a whole bunch of first and 2nd round losses.

We all like Doug and respect the heck out of what he has accomplished BUT he has talent limitations that will prevent him from elite results (ie Elite 8 or Final Four).

So unless he can recruit a few top 100 players, particularly posts, he will struggle in March. And given his age and program, I think his ability to garner this talent is limited. Too few talent vs. too many up and coming coaches and programs that the talent will tend toward.

Imagine if he had Holly or Karen Aston’s talent? Wow...

 

[brownale]

I was in the Chicago area in the late 70s when Doug was the coach of the Chicago Hustle. One game he got into a wrestling match with a referee that eventually involved some of the crowd.

 

[nwhoopfan]

So, everybody is giving him a pass for talent limitations, why doesn't he recruit better? He's been there a long time, he has an established program. If recruiting isn't his forte then get an assistant coach that has a knack for recruiting. Chicago and the Big East shouldn't be that hard of a sell. Central Michigan and Buffalo looked pretty good getting to the Sweet 16 last year. You can't tell me that those schools have recruiting advantages over a Big East team like DePaul.

Same for lack of size. Recruit some under the radar post players and develop them. Other coaches manage to do it.

 

[Plebe]

I was in the Chicago area in the late 70s when Doug was the coach of the Chicago Hustle. One game he got into a wrestling match with a referee that eventually involved some of the crowd.

Wow, I had no idea he'd coached a pro team. That's some serious old school!

Relevant Wikipedia passage: "Bruno was involved in what has been called "[t]he WBL's most serious officiating dispute."[4] Bruno thought his point guard was getting roughed up, and had responded by kicking a folding chair in one game, although it was reported that he tossed the folding chair "30 feet across the floor at an official".[4] In a subsequent game, he thought his point guard was fouled with no call, so he went after the referee. Three security guards pulled Bruno off the referee, but not before the fans got involved. The fights included 70 people, requiring a call to the police to restore order. After a delay, the Chicago team won 128–123 in overtime.[4]"

Doug Bruno - Wikipedia

 

[Plebe]

So, everybody is giving him a pass for talent limitations, why doesn't he recruit better? He's been there a long time, he has an established program. If recruiting isn't his forte then get an assistant coach that has a knack for recruiting. Chicago and the Big East shouldn't be that hard of a sell. Central Michigan and Buffalo looked pretty good getting to the Sweet 16 last year. You can't tell me that those schools have recruiting advantages over a Big East team like DePaul.

Same for lack of size. Recruit some under the radar post players and develop them. Other coaches manage to do it.

Bruno has been to four Sweet Sixteens and has reached the 2nd round in 8 of the last 9 years. I'm pretty sure last year was the first for Central Michigan and Buffalo. I'd hardly say they've overtaken DePaul as a program. Let's not fall prey to recency bias.

DePaul seems to be ranked in that 15 to 30 range every year. Maybe you feel that's not good enough, and that there's no excuse for him not to be in the top 10. To each their own opinion. But how many other non-"power conference" coaches other than Geno can claim Bruno's level of sustained success, modest though it may be?

 

[JellyBean]

That is coach Bruno's offensive philosophy.

 

[triaddukefan]

Unlike some of the surly loudmouth coaches out there coach Bruno is an old school gentleman. He has said in the past that he would like to coach a "big" team (like baylor) just once to see what it feels like. Instead he executes a game plan with what he has -press and shoot - platoon - then press and shoot again. Although he will never win a N.C. his games are always entertaining to watch unlike many of the teams that go the traditional route.

Wow, I had no idea he'd coached a pro team. That's some serious old school!

Relevant Wikipedia passage: "Bruno was involved in what has been called "[t]he WBL's most serious officiating dispute."[4] Bruno thought his point guard was getting roughed up, and had responded by kicking a folding chair in one game, although it was reported that he tossed the folding chair "30 feet across the floor at an official".[4] In a subsequent game, he thought his point guard was fouled with no call, so he went after the referee. Three security guards pulled Bruno off the referee, but not before the fans got involved. The fights included 70 people, requiring a call to the police to restore order. After a delay, the Chicago team won 128–123 in overtime.[4]"

Doug Bruno - Wikipedia

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm not quite sure what that meme is Triad, but I like it anyway.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Bruno has been to four Sweet Sixteens and has reached the 2nd round in 8 of the last 9 years. I'm pretty sure last year was the first for Central Michigan and Buffalo. I'd hardly say they've overtaken DePaul as a program. Let's not fall prey to recency bias.

DePaul seems to be ranked in that 15 to 30 range every year. Maybe you feel that's not good enough, and that there's no excuse for him not to be in the top 10. To each their own opinion. But how many other non-"power conference" coaches other than Geno can claim Bruno's level of sustained success, modest though it may be?

Certainly he's done better than the vast majority of his peers. I'm not saying he should get canned. I just don't agree with the amount of adulation he gets on this board. It seems to me like it's been status quo there for a long time without any upward movement. Not quite sure about labeling the program as non power conference if you look at his career on the whole. The old Big East was certainly a power conference. Great Midwest and C-USA before DePaul moved to the Big East were borderline power conferences in men's hoops, I'm really not sure about women's. But that was before BCS and Power 5/6 or whatever, so the terminology really doesn't even apply. You're really only looking at the first his few years (North Star Conference?--never even heard of it; also not really counting his brief stint at DePaul when it was an indie in the late 70s) and 5+ years in the new Big East. That's less than 1/3 of his career.

I was just using CMU and Buffalo as examples of teams from lesser conferences than the Big East that recently made it out of the first weekend while facing the same recruiting challenges as DePaul and then some. I recognize that they don't have anywhere near the history of consistently making the Tourney that DePaul does.