Let's Admit it: Jeff Walz is One of WCBB's Best Coaches

[Wbbfan1]

Wouldn't put Jeff above Tara. I'd have Tara in the Top 3 All Time WBB Coaches. Geno, Pat and then Tara. I'd put Muffet over Jeff as well. Until this year she has dominated Louisville.

Jeff has the horses this year and unlike prior years hs defense matches his offense.

 

[huskyd]

Here in Maryland people in the know argue that Brenda's best years were when Jeff was assisting.
I'm surprised no one mentioned how well prepared L'ville was today. At the outset the Cards took OSU out of its game and out of its comfort zone. The Beavers never recovered. All I could think was what an excellent plan and execution of a plan Walz had designed and his team delivered. Sagging in on Gulich not only prevented her from shooting, but she was often unable to pass the ball to the perimeter--and turned it over. Truly killed two birds with one stone.
You may remember that UConn did exactly the same to the Cards when we played them. In about one quarter the game was over. Perhaps Jeff got the message.

 

[Vowelguy]

Here in Maryland people in the know argue that Brenda's best years were when Jeff was assisting.

And yet Maryland has been to multiple F4s since Walz left.

The notion, pushed by some, that MD's success was solely because of Walz is fallacy.

 

[bballnut90]

Talk about being a prisoner of the moment.

This is the first postseason since 2013 that Louisville hasn't fizzled out before its time.

Now after 5 years of pulling in blue-chip recruits by the handful, they finally have one good regional weekend and suddenly he's a better coach than Tara and Muffet. Hmm.

Bingo. To me, he’s definitely behind the following coaches:
-Geno
-Muffet
-Tara
-Schaefer
-Mulkey
-Rueck
-Staley

His results have been streaky at best. I may get flack for putting Rueck over him, but overall Rueck has done a lot more with less than Jeff has. Walz recruits well and can come up with some good game plans (usually centered around being extremely physical) but player development and molding good basketball teams hasn’t been a strength in recent years.

*edited to include Staley*

 

[ASweet3781]

1. Geno
2. Muffet
3. Tara
.
.
.
.
4- 10 Staley, Schaffer, Rudeck, Walz, Graves, Blair, Freese (all interchangeable at this point)

 

[ASweet3781]

Bingo. To me, he’s definitely behind the following coaches:
-Geno
-Muffet
-Tara
-Schaefer
-Mulkey
-Rueck

His results have been streaky at best. I may get flack for putting Rueck over him, but overall Rueck has done a lot more with less than Jeff has. Walz recruits well and can come up with some good game plans (usually centered around being extremely physical) but player development and molding good basketball teams hasn’t been a strength in recent years.

Agree with you on Walz but strongly disagree on Mulkey being that high up.

It is inexcusable to not reach the Final 4 since 2012 with the talent she has had. Criminal.

 

[bballnut90]

Agree with you on Walz but strongly disagree on Mulkey being that high up.

It is inexcusable to not reach the Final 4 since 2012 with the talent she has had. Criminal.

Agree that it is inexcusable. But, she does have 2 titles to Walz’s 0 and regularly builds better teams than Jeff does, even if they underperform in March.

 

[ocoandasoc]

Walz also comes up with some great game plans and makes pretty good half time adjustments. He did UConn a big favor by upsetting Baylor in 2013.

Speaking of coaches doing favors... Do you think Vic Shaeffer will tell Dawn that he took our UConn last year and now she can return the favor?

 

[ASweet3781]

I find it interesting so many people list Vic Schaefer but not Dawn Staley. She's beaten him in the 3 biggest games they have faced, a national championship and 2 SEC Title games.

 

[jennyo70]

Geno, McGraw, Schaefer, Vanderveer are my top coaches in no particular order except Geno first...hard for me to even say his name, rubs me the wrong way as well. Hard to argue though, he led his 2009 squad to the nat’l championship game.

SN: Wonder how this team would be playing differently had Mariya Moore still been there?

BINGO!
Serious Chemistry issues last year.

We would not be the same team without the attrition.

 

[Plebe]

BINGO!
Serious Chemistry issues last year.

We would not be the same team without the attrition.

Was there friction between Durr and Moore? Seems like it.

 

[sivad40]

And yet Maryland has been to multiple F4s since Walz left.

The notion, pushed by some, that MD's success was solely because of Walz is fallacy.

Maryland has even beaten Louisville to get one of those .

 

[Vowelguy]

Maryland has even beaten Louisville to get one of those .

At Louisville, as the lower seed, no less.

 

[shiverz45]

I find it interesting so many people list Vic Schaefer but not Dawn Staley. She's beaten him in the 3 biggest games they have faced, a national championship and 2 SEC Title games.

Correction...3 SEC title games. A lot of people just don't like Dawn. She has won 4 regular season championship games, 4 tournament championship games, 2 final 4s, and 1 National championship in the last 5 years. However a lot of people don't see her as a great coach. When was the last time Temple has been decent to good. Probably not since Dawn left.

 

[shizam]

No question he is one of the best right now. I don't care for him but I'll take this Jeff Walz over the one who went off two years ago in a post game rant deflecting from himself after losing to Brenda (who he hates) and Maryland in Dec '16 at The Yum calling his players losers who weren't willing to work hard. He forgot he recruited them. I don't recall Brenda after an embarrassing loss in the tournament that year to Washington calling her players losers. That was part of his "trophy" speech. This Jeff Walz is terrific but not the Jeff Walz that would have excuses when they lost to Kentucky 5 straight times instead of just saying KY was better and if they weren't he might of been out coached. His offenses the last 3 years (before this year) were unwatchable. It started to look like he couldn't coach offense they had so little chemistry. His team lost went 11 straight against top 15 at the end of the year (Feb '15- all of '16-'17) . He has finally got a terrific team with some chemistry. The last 3 years prior to this year he hasn't.

 

[shizam]

Oh yeah. See what MD did with him on staff and what they have done since his his work at Louisvlle. I think most folks on the board just like to poke fun at his all out recruiting.

Walz will go after any talent he likes if he thinks he has any shot at them. He just likes to know asap if he doesn't so he doesn't burn resources. He's had several recruits that didn't work like anyone else. B. Jones #40 Hoopgurlz to Geo Wash, DeGrate #99 to Tex Tech, Ciera Johnson #17 (McD AA) transferred to A&M, Taja Cole #26 (McD AA) transf to Georgia but that worked out since they picked up Dana Evans. Mariya Moore #42 to USC worked out great since she'll get to play with her sister and Jasmine Jones got her minutes which improved team athleticism and defense. Last few years they have carried 14-15 on roster to make up for the misses which of course will lead to transfers. This year he has 10 on the bench (after redshirts) which is ideal. He told Ciera Johnson she was the missing piece to a Nat'l Championship. He may get it without her.

 

[Checkmate]

And yet Maryland has been to multiple F4s since Walz left.

The notion, pushed by some, that MD's success was solely because of Walz is fallacy.

How did Maryland do in the final 4s without Walz ?

They were destroyed and had very talented teams.

 

[Joetro]

I don't like Walz very much, but I'm glad to see recruiting that also matches his coaching talent. I'm still stunned with all the top-flight talent that has chosen Aston, Mulkey, JPM and Warlick of late, despite poor tourney results with immense talent. Many of the coaches cited above develop talent and teams much better and should be reaping recruiting success.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Correction...3 SEC title games. A lot of people just don't like Dawn. She has won 4 regular season championship games, 4 tournament championship games, 2 final 4s, and 1 National championship in the last 5 years. However a lot of people don't see her as a great coach. When was the last time Temple has been decent to good. Probably not since Dawn left.

Temple was pretty good last year. They made the tournament and lost to Oregon by only one point.

 

[JellyBean]

Yeah Jeff is pretty decent. Doing a great job with his program.

 

[Gus Mahler]

If one were to go by accomplishments, Tara is the third-best coach of all time. Accomplishments being: Total wins, conference regular season and tournament championships, domination of her conference, Final Fours, and National Championships. She's also pretty good at putting a decent team together over the course of a season. And she does all this with probably the toughest admissions standards in the P5 conferences.

Is Walz a talented coach? Absolutely. One of the best in the game? For sure. Ahead of Tara? He's got to go some.

@Wally East, where the hell you been?

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Geno, Muffett and Tara are the top 3 and then there is a pretty big gap.

I don't rank at this point but the next tier would be Mulkey, Staley, Freeze, Waltz, Schaefer and Rueck. Stringer and Hatchell are both good coaches who have experienced a great deal of success but haven't done as well the last few years. Rutgers and UNC remind me of Georgia towards the end of the Landers years, winning enough to get by but lacking the talent to compete at a high level. Perretta at Nova and Bruno at DePaul have had some good teams but just haven't gotten as much exposure as some others but neither squad is an easy W for most teams.

 

[DefenseBB]

He’s a good coach, no doubt, but he has had several years of underachieving and he hasn’t developed talent to the level that many other top rate coaches do. For example, last year they significantly underachieved. He’s done a great job this year, but he isn’t in my top 5 coaches list.

Fair comments but you can’t say “not in my top 5” and not give you list. So, if I may ask, who is your top 5 and where would Jeff rate after that?

As they say, you have to be in it to win it so if a coach can’t get to the final four, how great can they be? Getting talent is as important if not more than the x’s and o’s, though both are required. Here’s mine with name, NC’s, # of Final Fours (of what I counted)
Geno 11/16, Muffet 1/7, Tara 2/13, Kim 2/3, Jeff 0/3, Dawn 1/2, Brenda 1/3, Vic 0/2, Rueck 0/1.

while there are others who have made a few Final Fours and even won a title, I am not as inclined to put them in my top 10 (Hatchell, Coale, Blair, CVS) as I don’t see enough winning league titles or deep runs in the Tournament to qualify a top 10.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I like Jeff... he's in a good groove right now. Has he played Tara, Kim and Muffett lately? What is his record against them?

 

[VA Huskie]

I like Jeff... he's in a good groove right now. Has he played Tara, Kim and Muffett lately? What is his record against them?

3-0 against Tara and Muffet this year. He beat Rueck as well.

As an aside, I met him at the FF a couple of years ago. Seemed like a nice enough guy. Why do so many hate him?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Bingo. To me, he’s definitely behind the following coaches:
-Geno
-Muffet
-Tara
-Schaefer
-Mulkey
-Rueck
-Staley

His results have been streaky at best. I may get flack for putting Rueck over him, but overall Rueck has done a lot more with less than Jeff has. Walz recruits well and can come up with some good game plans (usually centered around being extremely physical) but player development and molding good basketball teams hasn’t been a strength in recent years.

*edited to include Staley*

Walz has only been a head coach for eleven years, including this one. Muffet and Tara have been at it for decades. Coach Geno didn't win the NC until a decade had passed. Compare first decades.

I put him ahead of Muffet and Tara now. Just like Summit did after Coach Geno showed up, Tara is fading. The jury is out on Rueck and Schaefer for the long-term.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

I put him ahead of Muffet and Tara now. Just like Summit did after Coach Geno showed up, Tara is fading.

Louisville has made the Final Four three times under Jeff Walz: 2009, 2013, and 2018.

Stanford has made the Final Four 12 times under Tara Vanderveer. From 2009 onward, when Walz made his first, Stanford has made six Final Four appearances, including last year. To say that Tara is fading after only making the Sweet 16 this year is a bit much.

 

[shizam]

I like Jeff... he's in a good groove right now. Has he played Tara, Kim and Muffett lately? What is his record against them?

Walz verse Muffet is 3-12 with a 2 game winning streak.

He lost by 33 points in Sweet 16 to KIM last year but beat her in Griner Sweet 16

He is 1-3 I believe vs Brenda
Tara in past 5 years he is 1-0

Geno 0-17. One game was within single digits
(Going into this year Walz was 1-28 verse Geno/Muffet)
This year 2-1

5-6 verse arch rival Kentucky

 

[nwhoopfan]

Louisville has made the Final Four three times under Jeff Walz: 2009, 2013, and 2018.

Stanford has made the Final Four 12 times under Tara Vanderveer. From 2009 onward, when Walz made his first, Stanford has made six Final Four appearances, including last year. To say that Tara is fading after only making the Sweet 16 this year is a bit much.

Plus a Final 4 the year before Walz' first, 2008. 7 Final 4's in the last 11 years, only UConn has done better. Everybody should be so lucky as to fade like that.

 

[Kevin G]

Well I'll take Waltz over Muffet. Oh wait we're talking about coaching. Yeah Im not changing my mind