Quote from: brewcity77 on Today at 11:12:58 AMNow in tomorrow's post game, Ben HAS to ask about it, and Shaka HAS to respond. That's a stupid position to put the program and coach in when they could've just said nothing and it would've blown over.

Ben was going to ask about the reasons for Zaide's departure anyhow. And Shaka was going to have to respond anyhow. And once they do, it'll blow over.

Quote from: jesmu84 on Today at 10:05:39 AMThe venn diagram of people freaking out over the MUBB tweet and the people irrationally mad about shaka/this season is an overlapping circle.

No matter what MU did or did not do after the davenport tweet would have been framed as wrong.

100% correct.  As is Pakuni and his take that this is nothing more than faux outrage from those who are all twisted about this tweet language.

The Cracked Sidewalks tweet was ridiculous and more faux outrage - I'm sure BrewCity77 is responsible for this clown tweet:

https://x.com/CrackedSidewlks/status/2005469477069373483

Like my pappy used to say, builds character.

Like Buzz used to say, reveals character.

It is a bad season.  They happen.  The only interesting things are how we react and what happens next.

Quote from: StillWarriors on Today at 11:03:28 AMThe departure is getting more attention than it otherwise would have because MU chiming in about an altercation put a lot more eyes on the issue than a tweet by "Whitesoxbill" to his 1,500 followers would have. People leave programs all the time; there aren't often reported altercations leading to those departures.

So, nobody in the mainstream media is talking about Marquette basketball's tweets.
Got it.

QuoteJust frustrating and hard to believe how badly MU has fallen in a blink. I was pretty supportive and proud of what Shaka was trying to do with the program. I had no idea they could possibly mis-evaluate what they have in house so incredibly badly. That got this snowball rolling downhill and this Zaide episode is likely a byproduct of the frustration they must all be feeling. The tweets are not a huge deal, but they certainly gave people fodder for more MU jokes than just about terrible play.

1. Your frustration/unhappiness with how poorly the season has gone is totally understandable. I share them 100% and have been more critical of Shaka's strategy than most here going back to last offseason. But none of that has anything to do with a poorly worded tweet. It's not related. There's no cause-and-effect. It's not symptomatic of the program's struggles. It's just a poorly worded tweet.
2. You probably shouldn't care so much about what fans of other teams have to say about Marquette on twitter or anywhere else.

Golden - I agree. The worst is yet to come ... both on and off the court.

I expect more embarrassments. Wish there was a way to throw in the towel and pass on the next two months of this disaster

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on Today at 10:22:57 AMAnd I have a friend that is in high-level PR that completely disagrees with you.

The false info had already started to spread.  You had dummies here that were taking it as fact. 

Which doesn't mean you have to validate it.

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on Today at 10:22:57 AMWhen something starts to spread and it involves allegations of a physical altercation the right approach is to squash it and set the record straight.

Except...they didn't do that. With the original tweet or the edit.

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on Today at 10:22:57 AMThe only issue was Marquette's response should have been worded better.

Perhaps you should look for a new line of work.

No, the correct response would have been far different. First, it shouldn't have been a flippant Twitter reply. It could've been an anonymous report to a trusted local or national source, like Ben Steele or Matt Norlander. Or have an official statement that actually reflects the message you want to put out there.

There's no way to justify making an inadequate response to a known troll account that was "corrected" to make the problem worse as not an issue. Now in tomorrow's post game, Ben HAS to ask about it, and Shaka HAS to respond. That's a stupid position to put the program and coach in when they could've just said nothing and it would've blown over.

Quote from: Pakuni on Today at 10:33:04 AMI think he believed they could turn them into Big East players. I think he saw the previous wave of players (Kam, Oso, Stevie, TK, OMax, etc.) steadily improve over their time at Marquette and thought the next wave would follow suit - as did a whole lot of people around here.

His mistake/miscalculation was in the type of player he had in the first wave and didn't have in the second. With the exception of OMax, that first group all arrived at MU with a set of discernible basketball skills - TK has high-end basketball IQ; Kam is a natural bucket-getter; Oso has great handles and passing for a big man; Stevie has great defensive skills and instincts; and even Jop had offensive skills.

What can/do we say about the next wave? Chase and Zaide can jump. Sean Jones is fast. Caedin is thick. Josh Clark is tall. DO is long and athletic. Tre has size for a guard. Al Amadou is long and springy.
Where are the high-end skills and instincts? They don't exist.
The two guys who supposedly arrived withskill - Ben Gold's shooting and Royce Parnham's scoring - are below average at those skills.

I suspect Shaka believed he and his staff could develop skills in these guys and was terribly mistaken. Is he surprised by the results of this season? I have no idea. But I think he's surprised by the lack of development from these players.

I agree that Shaka appears surprised by the lack of development of the returning players. And sometimes it seems he is still trying to convince himself (and others) that his charges are better than they really are - a recent comment about how much better players they are in practice than in games was pretty telling IMHO.

As for skills ...

Ross is a very good athlete who as a sophomore and junior was a darn good defensive player and a competent bucket-getter who made some big baskets. For the first month of this season, he was leading the Big East in scoring, mostly by attacking the basket and either making driving shots or getting to the FT line. So I do think that he has skills and that he'd get lots of PT for almost any program out there, but it's difficult to showcase them when the opponent keys on you because the rest of the team is so limited. That was never a problem when he was the third, fourth or fifth option on a good team.

Gold is a streaky shooter. He has had long stretches - month-plus-long stretches - in which he has made more than 40% of his 3s. And also stretches in which he hasn't been able to buy a bucket. So it's maybe not the most reliable skill, but it is a skill that convinced at least one since-departed Scooper that he'd be an NBA player. Gold also has become a good defensive big when he's not told to chase guards 40 feet away from the basket.

I think opposing coaches would look at Parham and believe he'd be worth poaching because they would be confident in their ability to develop him as a scorer. He has shown many flashes during his 1.5 seasons, but he also disappears for long stretches.

And there is some evidence that Owens can be a bucket-getter. He has had a few (too damn few, but a few) stretches in which he has scored in bunches. Shaka probably saw him do that a lot in preseason practices, enough to think Owens would take the next step. I sure was hoping that would be the case, but it hasn't been.

Even if the above have Big East-level skills (and I allow plenty of room for debate on that), your overall point is well taken. The offensive and defensive systems Shaka runs requires skills that too many players he has brought in do not have. As has often been bemoaned on Scoop (for good reason), running a 3-pointer-centric offense without having several pure shooters available to spread the court is simply bad coaching, as much as it pains me to say it.

I like Shaka, and I hope he is willing to make adjustments so that he can turn things around next season. If there is a next season for him.

Quote from: SOSW on Today at 10:12:35 AMI mean, I've been working in higher education PR for 30 plus years and given workshops in crisis communications particularly focusing on social media.

At the very least it's given me a great new example of how NOT to do things.

Responding to a troll... using imprecise language away from your well crafted initial statement... watching it Streisand Effect out of your control, etc.

It's actually impressive how bad they managed this.

Higher education, 30 years, giving workshops in communication - and you didn't get to adverbs yet?

Quote from: Pakuni on Today at 10:39:46 AMWho in the mainstream media is talking about Marquette's tweets?

The departure is getting more attention than it otherwise would have because MU chiming in about an altercation put a lot more eyes on the issue than a tweet by "Whitesoxbill" to his 1,500 followers would have. People leave programs all the time; there aren't often reported altercations leading to those departures.

Just frustrating and hard to believe how badly MU has fallen in a blink. I was pretty supportive and proud of what Shaka was trying to do with the program. I had no idea they could possibly mis-evaluate what they have in house so incredibly badly. That got this snowball rolling downhill and this Zaide episode is likely a byproduct of the frustration they must all be feeling. The tweets are not a huge deal, but they certainly gave people fodder for more MU jokes than just about terrible play.

Zaide Lowery is a Junior that started the first nine games of the season. He lost his starting position to a freshman. I am sure that is difficult to take. Obviously Zaide didn't handle the situation in the best of ways. It happens. Good luck to him at his next school. People need to move on. Doesn't mean the program is falling apart. Is this a tough season? Absolutely. Unfortunately some posters are handling it like Zaide did his situation.