Oso planning to go pro
As usual I'm amazed by the "knowledge" expounded by posters with 10,000+ posts by their stage names. No Shaka doesn't get a pass this season and he better make the NCAA tournament. He has 12 high major players on scholarship and most, to all of them, were top 150 recruits and/or have that type of upside. Three are 22+ year old - fifth year seniors and many sophomores where the biggest step up in a player's career often occurs between freshman and sophomore year. Further Shaka has been ruthless in running off players so he could get a roster full of high major players knowing only 8 (possibly 9) will play meaningful minutes. So why should he get sympathy and a pass when he knows his actions will lead to two to three players and their family's not being happy with their roles and transferring? To this point I'm glad he did this as he wants lots of competition to see which cream rises to the top but at the same time he shouldn't have the bar of expectations lowered for him when he's not doing it for any of his players. This roster reminds me of Buzz' rosters which were full of athletic ability including a handful of guys with NBA potential. Heck even our preferred walk-on has some potential upside. Kentucky recently went to back to back Final 4's against Wisconsin with freshman starters. So there is no excuse to write off this year like all the lackeys' are doing already and did constantly for Wojo while making bogus excuse after excuse for him. Last time I checked Shaka isn't a rookie coach either and we're paying him $3MM+ based on the fact he's a known commodity that is supposed to deliver excellent results in exchange for this lofty salary. Otherwise we would have hired a hot assistant or mid-major coach for $1 to $2MM+/-. If he can't get this team winning enough this year to be one of the nation's top 40 teams worthy of an at large bid then this will end up being another bad hire. Finally he better win the Leon Bond recruiting battle as well. We also brought Shaka in to get just these kind of players in our backyard that we've been missing/ignoring since Buzz left. If he can't land Leon Bond and loses him to a coach who just had a mass exodus of transfers this offseason and whose teams scores 50 points a game... then we should have hired Porter Moser. Porter was the better coach but we thought Shaka would be a better recruiter and lead to a quicker fix while also potentially being a better overall coach as well. The bar has not been lowered Shaka! I like what you've done so far but much more is expected and now and not three to five years from now!
I guess if you're willing to believe that Shaka sold Morsell and Kuath on the idea that they were coming here as mentors with limited playing time, I'd buy it. But I imagine it's more likely he recruited them with the promise of significant playing opportunities, not just to teach a bunch of freshmen the ropes.
I'll stick with my opinion on Gold. He'll be in foul trouble within the first eight minutes.
There were a record number of transfers this year, I would have to think that the prospect of significant opportunities for a major conference team, with a coach that has a FF, playing in an NBA arena, would be able to attract better players than Morsell and Kur. If Shaka were truly in a win now mindset, I think he would have done more big game hunting.
This is an entirely circular argument. And one that goes against known facts. We know Shaka went after some very high-end talent on the transfer market. Tre Mitchell, Noah Gurley, Tari Eason, Noah Locke, Boogie Ellis, etc.Shaka did plenty of big game hunting. He just didn't score many kills. But the fact he took so many shots means he wanted to build a winning roster right away.
TAMUI do know, Newsie is right on you knowing ball.
Then I guess we got a real problem, because if Shaka is in win now mode, and offering the cream of the crop, and all he can land is Morsell and Kur, that's worrying. I think what's more likely is that all high end talent that we were linked with were more of the "reaches out", or "makes contact" variety, to gauge the players interest level in playing for a team not currently constructed to make the tournament, and where there are going to be growing pains because the coach is choosing the strategy of focusing on developing the future, and most players weren't interested.
The question that he puts on trial: If Wojo's combination of recruiting and coaching gave us a .500 record and warranted dismissal, how can you reasonably expect Shaka to underperform that?
Is it really harder to sustain? Don't all coaches (new or old) at the end of the season have to try to keep their best pieces around and then try to get some good recruits and top transfers? It's kinda the new normal in NCAAB 2021.
I'm not really too worried about all that. It was a very competitive transfer market, and you're going to take way more shots than you hit (unless you're Chris Beard, apparently). But I think the fact Shaka was going after high-end talent belies the argument that he's in full-on rebuild mode and content to lose with a bunch of freshmen.Also, we were on some of those guys' final lists (Gurley, Russell), so it clearly went beyond just making contact.Anyhow, we've talked this to death, so I'll stop.
Why do you guys insist on feeding the troll?
....its an addiction and the only cure is a winning basketball program.
Hired the coach. Now just add water and "whalla!", instand Final Four!
Kur, Morsell and Elliott will all be rock solid. Kolek was significant contributor at the mid major level and Omax was a bit part player on a bad high major team.
Because Wojo was in his seventh year and starting his third recruiting cycle at Marquette.Shaka is starting his first season. It is very common for things to get worse before they get better with coaching changes.
Crean sucks
Except Shaka is not starting his first season. It will be his 13th year as a head coach, including six at another high major. He's already a known commodity to the AAU programs, the HS coaches, top recruits, etc. He's exactly the type of guy that should be able to fill a roster with players who can win right away. Especially if he has playing time to offer.If we had hired yet another unproven assistant in his first D1 coaching job or some low-major coach that pulled an upset in the NCAA tournament, then, yes, I could see things getting worse before they get better.
Clemson was a 7 seed in the NCAA