Buzz Williams wasn't shy about expressing his borderline-obsessive love for numbers in his first two years at Marquette, often noting in interviews precisely how many days he had been the school's head coach.
So it seemed strange the other day that when somebody asked him what day he was on, and he said he would have to go look it up.
Dialing back his ability to recite statistics isn't the only change Williams is trying to make this season. Leading a team with plenty of potential but not much experience trying to stay in the top half of the brutal Big East, he knows he will have to work on his patience.
''I think that we've always taught things the right way,'' Williams said. ''But I think the difference this year is going to be when we teach it, and how long it takes them to execute what we're teaching, because we're dealing with so many new guys.''
Entering his third season since taking over for Tom Crean, Williams has been able to sustain the Golden Eagles' success, taking them to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances - making it five straight tournaments for the program dating to Crean's tenure.
Now the challenge changes.
Two seasons ago, he had the ''Big Three:'' Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James, at least until James broke his foot. Last season, he had standout forward Lazar Hayward and the conference's best 3-point shooter, Maurice Acker.
He has some promising players to build around this season. But outside of forward Jimmy Butler and guard Darius Johnson-Odom, most of them haven't done it on this level.
''It is hard to predict what it is that we have,'' Williams said. ''I have a good pulse on what we have. So many of the guys that we'll rely upon have never been at this level, and the guys that we'll really count on on a daily basis have never had to produce at the level that they're going to have to produce.''
Hayward led the team with 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, then became a first-round pick in the NBA draft. The Golden Eagles will miss Acker and fellow guard David Cubillan, both of whom could stretch defenses with perimeter shooting.
Outside of Butler and Johnson-Odom, only two other returning players - Dwight Buycks and Joseph Fulce - played more than 10 minutes per game last season.
The team doesn't have much experience at point guard. Sophomore Junior Cadougan missed most of last season with an Achilles' tendon injury. Freshman guard Reggie Smith could be called upon to run the offense.
Williams calls point guard play the ''swing vote'' that will go a long way toward determining the direction of the season.
''I think that's why my personality's going to have to be a little bit more patient,'' Williams said. ''Because they're going to have some ups and downs, and they've got to know that I'm right there with them, even when they're struggling.''
The Golden Eagles shouldn't have a problem getting scoring from their backcourt.
There's Johnson-Odom, a junior college transfer who joined the team last season and averaged 13 points per game. He shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range, trailing only Acker among conference leaders.
Buycks could be called upon to play a bigger role. And there's excitement about freshman Vander Blue, a guard from Madison who verbally committed to Wisconsin before changing his mind and going to Marquette in a recruiting coup for Williams.
Butler, who averaged 14.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, will be the leader in the frontcourt.
Among the newcomers is another significant junior college transfer for Williams, 6-6 forward Jae Crowder, last year's junior college player of the year.
''He's a really good player,'' Williams said. ''But every junior college player has an adjustment. The game is played at a much faster pace.''
Fulce and Erik Williams will be expected to contribute more. Marquette also added two freshman forwards, Jamail Jones and Davante Gardner. Center Chris Otule has missed most of the past two seasons because of foot injuries and will be counted on to contribute more.
Despite his team's steep learning curve, Williams still expects a strong season.
''Are we going to get beat? Yeah. Are we going to struggle? Yes. Is it going to be a lot of fun and hopefully in the end it works out the right way? I think so,'' Williams said. ''When is it going to work out? I don't know, but I know we'll keep working at it until it works out, and that's kind of the way our team was last year.''
