Quote from: Pakuni on January 06, 2026, 03:19:31 PMI asked this earlier in the thread, or another thread, but I'm assuming you didn't see it.
What's your theory for why the seniors' play has fallen off so much?

I'm not sure. 

With Kam last year, there was a more logical explanation for his struggles from 3 in regard to all of the responsibility that was added to his plate playing PG, less catch & shoot opportunities, etc. 

I would imagine Chase's usage is up and he does have added responsibility but not to the level we saw from Kam, IMO, considering how much Nigel has the ball in his hands. 

Chase had good games against IU, Maryland, and Oklahoma so I'm not sure it's just level of competition (he didn't shoot well vs. IU but got to the line 12 times to counteract that). 

Starting with Wisconsin, he's just been horrendous his last 6 games:

-20/74 FGs (27%)
-4/24 3pt FGs (17%)
-2 APG (was average 4 APG prior to this stretch)
-4.2 FTAG (8.6 FTA prior - so he's getting to the line half as much)

Maybe it's just a deep, prolonged slump.  Maybe it's something else. 

For Ben, it's primarily his 3 pt%.  Again, don't know. He seems to be getting good shots.  As Paint Touches posted, 0-10 on unguarded 3s.  He seems to be rebounding better and has been fine defensively but maybe there are metrics that say that's not the case. 

He's been streaky before but not to the extent where you would expect him to be 8-10% below what you could reasonably project his % to be halfway through the season. 

I don't have time to do any kind of deep dive into advanced metrics, usage, catch & shoot vs. off-the-dribble %, etc.  If anyone has more insight it would be great to hear. 

And I'll say even if they were both playing better, we'd still be a bad team.  Not this horrendously bad, but still bad. So Shaka certainly miscalculated there in regard to these guys being good enough to lead a NCAA tourney-quality team.

I just don't think Shaka expecting a consistently higher quality of play from both of them is illogical.   

Quote from: WhiteTrash on January 06, 2026, 03:43:43 PMDuncan, Wade, Magic, David Robinson etc.

Kam too

But I think it's helpful to have some guys..... like Tyler and Travis ......nice guys off the court but not afraid to yell at guys when warranted..........somebody on the court has to be that guy........

Quote from: rocky_warrior on January 06, 2026, 10:17:37 AMBut Smart is steadfast in his belief that incoming portal players should not be paid more than guys who are already in the program. There's a tier-system that Marquette employs when paying players, and Smart is loathe to depart from it.

And he also doesn't like dealing with agents in those situations. He'll deal with agents in other situations, including incoming freshmen. But not with veteran college players looking for a bigger payday.

Is this common?

I was the hardest worker for 4 years on my highschool basketball team but I sucked at basketball so I only played garbage time because way back then my coach recognized skill talent and ability.
In football I was pretty talented and made All Conference and I cruised in practice.
You could reward the hardest worker in practice with 1 start and get him off the floor after 2 minutes.
Has Shaka lost his mind this year.

Quote from: wadesworld on January 06, 2026, 04:17:23 PMMichigan didn't wait long enough to hire another Harbaugh.

Won't be unemployed for long, unless he wants to take a gap year.

London Stadium going to be a Championship venue next season, I love it. You're in the drop zone, you get two massive games that result in 3-0 to Wolves giving them their first win, in a game that was done and dusted by half, get gifted an OG against Forest and still find a way to give the points away. Genuinely don't think that result today would have happened at Upton Park.

Michigan didn't wait long enough to hire another Harbaugh.

Quote from: connie on January 06, 2026, 04:05:17 PMSo we've got that going for us!

Thanks Carl.

Quote from: MarquetteMike1977 on January 06, 2026, 02:00:31 PMDisagree but reasonable minds may disgaree Hamilton's minutes have gone down and rightfully so. Bill Neary was better than Hamilton and Bill contributed to winning as has Ben Gold for many years for Marquette and Internationally.  Hamilton came in at the end of the 1st half against Seton Hall and Marquette lost the lead. Hamilton sucks the energy out of the team the fans and contributes to losing not winning May be wrong but that is my feeling. Time to Beat X any way we can even with Hamilton and get to The Crown. Vegas is not bad.

GE03 claimed that starting Hamilton put Marquette way behind in every game. I decided to look it up, and the facts said otherwise.

Beyond that, I said that I wouldn't start Hamilton if I were Shaka. And I agree with you that the less he plays the better.