Is really awful...
Let's start with the 17 seconds x 2
Against Dayton, they can't get a shot off, then today they get a terrible off balance fade away 20 footer. Today there was no ball movement, no screen set ... nothing ...
And the fact that the play was called for
James (not a bad idea) says a lot about this roster.
But, also he allows way too big of scoring/ momentum swings. Against MD he lets MU go from up 9 to down 6 before he calls a TO. Today he lets MU go from up 13 to tied in the 2d half. Awful.
This team he has " built " has two real players ( Ross and James ) and they need all the help they can get. Instead, he allows huge swings and puts all the game pressure on his own team... and they clearly can't handle it.
I don't like timeouts when you have the ball in game end situations. Helps D more than O in my opinion. Especially today's situation. Just play. They were unraveling a little bit and it let them reset.
Quote from: Mu8891 on November 28, 2025, 04:34:08 PMIs really awful...
Let's start with the 17 seconds x 2
Against Dayton, they can't get a shot off, then today they get a terrible off balance fade away 20 footer. Today there was no ball movement, no screen set ... nothing ...
And the fact that the play was called for
James (not a bad idea) says a lot about this roster.
But, also he allows way too big of scoring/ momentum swings. Against MD he lets MU go from up 9 to down 6 before he calls a TO. Today he lets MU go from up 13 to tied in the 2d half. Awful.
This team he has " built " has two real players ( Ross and James ) and they need all the help they can get. Instead, he allows huge swings and puts all the game pressure on his own team... and they clearly can't handle it.
Hey, they shot a mid-range
Really, really bad. Chase passed up a decent look at 3 with 5 second left, not sure why. Nigel try to go 1 on 5 for the first 10 seconds made absolutely not sense. Marquette pays Shaka 60k per game. Didn't earn it today.
More then that, like 200K a game
Quote from: Mu8891 on November 28, 2025, 04:34:08 PMIs really awful...
Let's start with the 17 seconds x 2
Against Dayton, they can't get a shot off, then today they get a terrible off balance fade away 20 footer. Today there was no ball movement, no screen set ... nothing ...
And the fact that the play was called for
James (not a bad idea) says a lot about this roster.
But, also he allows way too big of scoring/ momentum swings. Against MD he lets MU go from up 9 to down 6 before he calls a TO. Today he lets MU go from up 13 to tied in the 2d half. Awful.
This team he has " built " has two real players ( Ross and James ) and they need all the help they can get. Instead, he allows huge swings and puts all the game pressure on his own team... and they clearly can't handle it.
[/quoteQuote from: Mu8891 on November 28, 2025, 04:34:08 PMIs really awful...
Let's start with the 17 seconds x 2
Against Dayton, they can't get a shot off, then today they get a terrible off balance fade away 20 footer. Today there was no ball movement, no screen set ... nothing ...
And the fact that the play was called for
James (not a bad idea) says a lot about this roster.
But, also he allows way too big of scoring/ momentum swings. Against MD he lets MU go from up 9 to down 6 before he calls a TO. Today he lets MU go from up 13 to tied in the 2d half. Awful.
This team he has " built " has two real players ( Ross and James ) and they need all the help they can get. Instead, he allows huge swings and puts all the game pressure on his own team... and they clearly can't handle it.
What game management?
After Dayton game, Shaka said Chase needs to take that shot, not dribble out or pass.
Today....more of the same.
Chase needs to shoot that ball with 5 seconds left.
Final Four - Right. Obviously Ross
( or someone ) needs to shoot w / about 5 or 6 seconds left...
What the hell is happening ( or not happening ) that they can just embarrass themselves in two straight end of game situations?
Its not Shakas fault if guys are passing up open shots. Chase has to just step into that 3 and shoot it. He got an open look, thats all the coaches can do.
Congrats to Coach Smart. He has taken MU to the tier of low mid major in just a few short years. Hurley and Pitino own MU as that gap has become a chasm and are salivating to kick our ass 2 to 3 times a year.
Play the games out and let the chips fall where they may.Not looking too well these days.
Quote from: JTJ3 on November 28, 2025, 11:36:43 PMIts not Shakas fault if guys are passing up open shots. Chase has to just step into that 3 and shoot it. He got an open look, thats all the coaches can do.
I would disagree here. The talk about coaching resiliency, that has to include the willingness to take the shot. We get virtually the same situation as Dayton, once again dribble out half the time, go too late, pass on the best look only to end up with something awkward and rushed at the end.
Time and score are things that can be taught. Taking a good look with five seconds vs driving into the teeth of the defense. We were great on the offensive glass against Dayton and Oklahoma, in that case you're better going too early and having the chance at a putback.
I can forgive NJ passing on looks in his first month, but Chase and Ben in their fourth years shouldn't be passing up the best looks we get on these two possessions. That does feel like a coaching issue.
Quote from: JTJ3 on November 28, 2025, 11:36:43 PMIts not Shakas fault if guys are passing up open shots. Chase has to just step into that 3 and shoot it. He got an open look, thats all the coaches can do.
Agreed. It's not unlike the Tulsa game where Crean drew up an end-of-game play for Wade, and he ran away from the ball, forcing Travis to take a 25-footer. A coach can draw up the perfect play but it's up to the players to execute it.
Quote from: JTJ3 on November 28, 2025, 11:36:43 PMIts not Shakas fault if guys are passing up open shots. Chase has to just step into that 3 and shoot it. He got an open look, thats all the coaches can do.
Only NOTHING Shaka did created that brief open look from 22 feet for Chase. Chase hung back and took a hand off from Nigel after he dribbled around going nowhere and with no action. Come on. Let's call that last possession for it was, a massive failure by Shaka (again) after a timeout.
Quote from: Billy Hoyle on November 29, 2025, 09:34:44 AMAgreed. It's not unlike the Tulsa game where Crean drew up an end-of-game play for Wade, and he ran away from the ball, forcing Travis to take a 25-footer. A coach can draw up the perfect play but it's up to the players to execute it.
Yes and maybe on a third try on a last possession to win, Shaka will get around to drawing something up that actually resembles a play to help get a good shot up.
Quote from: Billy Hoyle on November 29, 2025, 09:34:44 AMAgreed. It's not unlike the Tulsa game where Crean drew up an end-of-game play for Wade, and he ran away from the ball, forcing Travis to take a 25-footer. A coach can draw up the perfect play but it's up to the players to execute it.
Crean was awesome.
Chicos loved that guy.
Chase is not comfortable as an iso player either to rise and fire or make plays for others. It's not his game and he hasn't really learned this skillset like Kam did by his Sr. season. He's excellent with the hard downhill throttle all the way to the rim, but teams will eliminate that at the end of games. Nigel can get into the paint pretty much when he wants, but needs more experience to make the right decisions consistently.
Now, having three other players on the floor during crunch time, essentially doing nothing other than a high screen, is No Bueno. Shaka and our coaching staff must find a way to be far more creative in our h-c offense which is amemic and predictable. I think this is part of the reason for our over pressuring defensively. It's obviously easier to score in transition.
However the disappearance, or lack of trust in much of our roster, is a bona fide disaster and beyond painful and upsetting to witness. It's pretty fking clear: we have to get WAY more from Zaide, Ben, and Royce. If Caedin isn't good enough to play, sit him. See what we have with DO and clearly increase Stevens' mins and maybe Tre. Zaide in particular showing up for small stretches at best is frustrating the F out of me. He has to want it and understand his scoring and overall production is critical to any future success. I'm talking a consistent scorer and solid overall numbers every game.
Quote from: We R Final Four on November 29, 2025, 10:07:53 AMCrean was awesome.
Chicos loved that guy.
I did too. Some great memories of being at the 2001 GAS and the Final Four run and his appreciation for those of us who supported him from the start by traveling for games. He even had the entire team come over to thank the three of us who travelled up to Vancouver for their "foreign" trip in 2007. After being in school during the Deane era, it was great to have optimism back.
But man, the Tulsa and Stanford games are two of the most painful losses I've experienced in my 45 years as a sports fan.
I think Chico's has said something eerily similar to that....
Quote from: We R Final Four on November 29, 2025, 10:29:36 AMI think Chico's has said something eerily similar to that....
He may have, wasn't he working for MU during the Deane years? A lot of us felt excited with Crean was hired.
Though I don't remember him at the GAS or Vancouver games. I would have made him buy beers if he had been there. The US dollar was equal to the Canadian dollar that year. Uggh! Those pints at Granville Island were not cheap!
I'll tell him you said hello.
Quote from: Billy Hoyle on November 29, 2025, 10:43:55 AMHe may have, wasn't he working for MU during the Deane years? A lot of us felt excited with Crean was hired.
Though I don't remember him at the GAS or Vancouver games. I would have made him buy beers if he had been there. The US dollar was equal to the Canadian dollar that year. Uggh! Those pints at Granville Island were not cheap!
I'll tell him you said hello.
LOL
Quote from: brewcity77 on November 29, 2025, 07:34:25 AMI would disagree here. The talk about coaching resiliency, that has to include the willingness to take the shot. We get virtually the same situation as Dayton, once again dribble out half the time, go too late, pass on the best look only to end up with something awkward and rushed at the end.
Time and score are things that can be taught. Taking a good look with five seconds vs driving into the teeth of the defense. We were great on the offensive glass against Dayton and Oklahoma, in that case you're better going too early and having the chance at a putback.
I can forgive NJ passing on looks in his first month, but Chase and Ben in their fourth years shouldn't be passing up the best looks we get on these two possessions. That does feel like a coaching issue.
We generally agree, but the situations were different.
Against Dayton, the game was tied. You want the last shot if at all possible. If you shoot too early and Dayton gets the rebound with, say, 6 seconds left, you've put yourself in position to lose.
Against Oklahoma, we were behind by a point. Getting the lead is all that matters. You want to get off a good shot fairly early in the possession, give yourself a chance to grab an offensive rebound or, if necessary, to foul.
We failed in both situations. Our guys looked clueless in both situations. Both situations were disheartening.
Not unreasonable to say that with better in-game coaching we'd be 7-1 right now -all talent issues aside - and that would be a very different looking season.
Shaka is a great guy, great character and a great ambassador for Marquette. His in-game coaching skills are average. I think he does a good job of player development although if we only look at this year, I could see someone saying he is not good developing players. I don't know about recruiting. That he is stubborn with the portal is a huge detriment to putting out the best team year after year.
Quote from: Big Papi on November 30, 2025, 01:29:12 PMShaka is a great guy, great character and a great ambassador for Marquette. His in-game coaching skills are average. I think he does a good job of player development although if we only look at this year, I could see someone saying he is not good developing players. I don't know about recruiting. That he is stubborn with the portal is a huge detriment to putting out the best team year after year.
Agree! Feel Shaka is an awesome Coach who has temporarily lost his way but will get it back.