Quote from: brewcity77 on December 22, 2025, 07:04:20 AMFirst, you were wrong then and are even more wrong now. We've played 5 teams that are sub-200 & gone 5-0 in those games by an average margin of 20.4 ppg.

This, however, is correct. We're probably in the 125-175 area nationally. Good enough to soundly beat teams of lesser talent, good enough to compete but lose against top-50 to 100 teams, and bad enough to get drubbed by anyone better.

But in the Big East, whether we're #150 (feels about right) or #300 (a foolish assertion but let's go with it) that simply isn't good enough to compete in a league of mostly top-100 teams.

While you're being hyperbolic with your ranking takes, what is true is that we're a bottom-2 team in this league and there's no clear evidence we're ahead of DePaul. That is simply unacceptable at a program with Marquette's history & resources.

Fair points Brew.  But have you considered we are far worse right now than when we played these total cupcakes??  And that we essentially lost to Valpo at home?   Your last sentence is 100% indisputably accurate.  We simply can't have this at MU. 

Quote from: Jables1604 on December 21, 2025, 06:52:56 PMKolek leading the Knicks in +/- though 3 quarters (+14)

https://x.com/tommybeer/status/2003126049853554940?s=46

Thibs getting the boot and Mike Brown getting the Knicks job has been god send for TK.  I don't want to say Brown has saved his career, but he's certainly ignited it in a way that wouldn't have happened otherwise.  Thibs would never have ran TK and Brunson together.

Knicks twitter absolutely loves him, Brunson and Hart continually gas him up.  It's fun stuff to watch as the Bucks flounder 

It would be easier for Marquette to add good players from the portal than it would be to get Top 50 recruits from highschool. Those guys still chase the brands.

Shaka has already admitted that they have had players and agents reach out during the portal window wanting to play for Marquette. They just don't want to get into bidding wars.

This is just for college basketball:

Is it easier to land players from the portal than recruiting top 50 HS recruits? Are the top 50 HS recruits better players than players coming off the portal?

Do the top 50 HS players get better NIL/Revenue sharing deal than portal players?

Should Marquette spend the money on at least one Top 50 HS recruit or a portal player for each class to be competitive?

Not sure what to make of this, but one way or another it has the potential to be highly entertaining.

Bobby Petrino has agreed to become the next North Carolina offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick, sources tell On3's Chris Low, Pete Nakos and Inside Carolina. The move comes after the Tar Heels fired offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens earlier this month after one season.

https://www.on3.com/news/north-carolina-finalizing-deal-to-hire-bobby-petrino-as-offensive-coordinator/

Quote from: Jay Bee on December 22, 2025, 11:23:23 AMThis year's team is bad, but the thought that Derrick Wilson could save us to some degree (e.g., second best player) is a little bit nutzo.

This team just so bad that it is breaking my brain.

Like lets get weird with this...
Derrick Wilson vs Sean Jones
Symir Torrence vs Tre Norman
Steven Taylor vs Caedin Hamilton
Joe Fulce vs Zaide Lowery
Jake Thomas vs Damarius Owens

Would John Dawson help or hurt this roster?

Quote from: Shaka Shart on December 22, 2025, 11:06:13 AMTV mounted too high

Kudos! One of your best.

Quote from: Juan Anderson's Mixtape on December 22, 2025, 11:15:36 AMHere's how I breakdown the 15 players that are currently projected to be on the roster.

Group 1: I hope they stay

Royce Parham
Nigel James
Adrien Stevens

These players all have a positive BPR, so at the very least you want to keep the little talent they have.

Group 2: On the fence
Zaide Lowery
Michael Phillips II
Josh Clark

These three players also have positive BPR, but there are a whole lot of questions in this group. 

Phillips and Clark have small sample sizes.  Clark is barely positive and very easily could end up with a negative BPR, while Phillips is boosted by a couple short stints when he has been hot from downtown.

Considering Phillips reclassified and should still be in HS, and has flashes of shot making, I'd like him to stay.  And Clark has rare height and length, so of all the Shaka projects, he's probably the most worthwhile gamble. (But I think Shaka has spent too much time chasing projects overall.)

Things don't look to be in a great spot with Lowery.  There's always a chance things get rectified, but I'm not holding my breath.

Group 3 incoming freshman and redshirts:

Ian Miletic
Sheek Pearson
Nash Walker
Alex Egbuonu
Ethan Johnston

Sheek and Nash aren't your typical redshirts since both arrived early.  They will join Alex and Ethan in their expected class.

But Ian is your typical redshirt.  From watching his HS games, I knew his defense was far from Big East ready. Hopefully he's having a productive developmental year, but it's kind of concerning he had to redshirt on a team this bad.

Group 4: An inconvenient truth

Sean Jones
Tre Norman
Caedin Hamilton
Damarius Owens

These players all have negative BPR. Shaka's RGV model cannot survive with players being negatives in year 2/3/4. This is the group Shaka needs to have a difficult conversation with each player.  College basketball is basically semi-pro at this point, and along with the upsides that brings, players need to recognize the downsides.

Overall outlook:

Hopefully, Shaka has some serious introspection about how this season went so wrong, several scholarships become available in the off-season, and Shaka returns to the roster building strategy he had when he was hired.  A couple veterans like Morsell and Kuath, a couple transfers with multiple years like Kolek and O-Max, and retaining some young talents and recruits.

If not, his seat will be scorching hot next year (and he may even deserve to be fired if he's unwilling to change this off-season). I really hope things work out with Shaka because he's the rare coach that actually wants to stick around at Marquette for the long haul.  But ultimately, he needs to be judged on his results. And people, whether they are players, coaches, or the AD, need to be held accountable for those results.

I actually like Royce and Zaide quite a bit but if we think Shaka is going to use the portal without drastic turnover, we are only kidding ourselves and for that I'd drop Royce and Zaide down to tier 4. We need Shaka to be absolutely blindsided so he feels that pressure of needing to use the portal.

Bring back Nigel James, Michael Phillips and Adrien Stevens. Commit to the other Freshman and red shirts.

Restart the Junior and Senior classes of next year through the portal. That's how I see it.

This year's team is bad, but the thought that Derrick Wilson could save us to some degree (e.g., second best player) is a little bit nutzo.

Look to the BOT (Board of Trustees) and admission standards.
The coach does not set University policy, he coaches with the team he has.
Junkyard dogs need not apply. 
Marquette likes prep-school student athletes.
Marquette does not deal with "agents", yet.