A mediocre player leaving a horsesh!t college basketball team is barely news (except to those invested in the program, such as Scoopers).

As soon as "altercation" between a player and a coach became a possible thing, it became actual news ... but really only if it turns out to have been a physical altercation.

Will we ever find out what really happened? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe a player or two will write a letter about it.

Quote from: MarquetteMike1977 on Today at 05:04:15 PMIn an effort to try and be positive lol. Shaka may save the season by having as bad as Marquette has played in the first half maybe Marquette plays the opposite in the second half. Hopefully Nash is an exception and hopefully Marquette has enough talent to make it happen.

love your optimism, MarquetteMike, but this season is toast. It can turn around quickly in basketball...case in point Shaka's first season at MU!! But, he's reverted to using a Garmin suction-cupped to his windshield. The programming has him taking the long way dirt road to Loserville.

Quote from: K1 Lover on Today at 05:25:35 PMThanks for pointing out the obvious. Nowhere did I suggest that MU doesn't value relationships. This is a temporary, non-defining circumstance,, and I'm simply pointing out the irony of having a visitor while sh*t is actively hitting the fan.

It's not that deep bro — don't read too far into it.

Sorry if I misunderstood the intent of your post.

Quote from: MuggsyB on Today at 02:06:51 PMI would define it as a Gargantuan/🦣"sports disaster".  There's no other way to see it.  Pushing #200 NET?  Cannot Happen at Marquette.  We must respond from this debacle as quickly as humanly possible. 

We - as in Scoopers - have responded. Quickly and forcefully. Over and over again. Such as ...

Quote from: WhiteTrash on Today at 02:28:37 PMI agree the Neptune comparison was not apples to apples. He was just someone who jumped to mind as being universally perceived as in over his head in the BE as a coach, but was never this year's MU bad.

Aside from the 'just bad' or 'disaster' season debate, the bigger question in my head is how did Shaka get here? I follow the logic of Shaka being arrogant or so fully convinced that his system would work, but it still seems unlikely for such a successful, experienced and intelligent coach.

Some of the reasons put forth would make sense if Shaka was in his 5th year of being a HC, but that dismisses all his accomplishments. I'm probably wrong, but I still think something else is going on. 

It's a theory. We'll see!

... in yet another Biggest Disappointment ranking, this time from The Athletic:

Team: Marquette

Shaka Smart's longtime "no transfers" approach worked out OK the last few seasons — especially with Tyler Kolek, Kam Jones and Oso Ighodaro as a reliable core — but everything has come crashing down for the Golden Eagles this season. Marquette sits at 5-8, without a single top-200 win, and has looked completely out of its depth against most of the high-major competition it has faced. Senior guard Sean Jones, a potential breakout candidate coming off a torn ACL last season, has missed six of the team's 13 games with a nagging shoulder injury, but a team's margin for error is slim without portal reinforcements. Marquette made the NCAA Tournament in each of Smart's first four seasons, but with that streak almost certainly coming to an end, it's hard to imagine Smart won't be shopping in the portal next offseason.

Honorable mention: Kentucky (9-4), St. John's (8-4)

Since I can select up to 5 options, I'll take the top five.

?

Wow, we warped ahead to 20260115

Sh*t is hitting the fan on message boards.  Players change schools all the time.

Quote from: 21Jumpstreet on Today at 03:15:04 PMBut which part of the altercation part, that's the issue. The existence of an altercation? Physical? Verbal? Zaide? Assistant coach? The meaning of "altercation?"

Hah, true. "Zaide put down an ass-whooping on assistant coach Cody Hatt" could be more accurate (though...I'm not saying it is).