Quote from: wadesworld on January 15, 2026, 10:05:59 AMThe biggest thing the portal can address is getting grown men who are proven good basketball players.  Shaka needs to add a few this offseason, and going forward he needs to fill the holes in the roster with them.

The Nova game at home was winnable, but a soon to be 24 year old, former 5 star Kentucky recruit hurt us a lot in the second half.  St. John's we were never going to win, but again there is a soon to be 24 year old, former 5 star Kentucky recruit on their roster.

We thought that we'd stop seeing 23-25 year olds in college athletics after all of the Covid kids were out of college.  But now anybody is eligible.  It's hard to win with 18-22 year olds that you recruit as sub top 100 recruits and try to develop when you're facing 24 year olds who were top 15 recruits.

I'm on board with a roster of mostly high school recruits that you develop, but Shaka has to start hitting on these higher talent recruits he's in on but not landing.  And then he needs to understand the flaws in the roster and address them through the portal.  It doesn't take a new roster every year, just a new guy here and there.

I trust Shaka will adjust.  He's a competitive guy and a good coach.  He was just voted a top 40 "Leader in Sports" by the Athletic, and the quote they had for him was from Bruce Bowen: "What I admire is Shaka's persistence in never being satisfied with where he is until it's better. It's not easy to connect with kids whose ideas of what the game is today may not shape up to be the same as the head coach, but Shaka continues to find a way to connect and enhance along the way."

He misplayed his hand this year.  I trust he'll adjust his strategy moving forward.

This and the original are great takes.  Bravo

It was bad enough to drive some people crazy.

Quote from: 18thandWells on January 15, 2026, 09:26:00 PMBetter than .118.

Or .269, apparently.

They also batted Yelich cleanup.

I typed that because the Brewers hit .118 in the NLCS.

Quote from: wadesworld on January 15, 2026, 09:21:58 PMjust needs to "hit better"

Better than .118.

Whoever the Dodgers knock out with a starting rotation of Yamamoto, Shohei, Snell, Glasnow, Sasaki (who doesn't have to close because they simply signed Diaz), and Sheehan just needs to "hit better" than their lineup of Shohei, Tucker, Betts, Freeman, Smith, Muncy, Hernandez, Edmond, Pagas.

No problem.

You know what is fun? Arguing about what seed 1-4 we'll get.

You know what isn't fun? Arguing about how many BE wins 1-4 we'll get.

Quote from: MuggsyB on January 15, 2026, 07:59:50 PMI've read many posts stating they will no longer watch this team and that it's masochistic to do so.  These same people have also intimated time and time again that winning at this point is meaningless.  I vehemently disagree.  In my view it's more than fair to criticize Shaka,the players, the state of the program, etc.  I do so quite frequently.  What I object to is quitting as a fan of MU hoops and losing all hope for our future. 

Either you are fan of MU hoops, our esteemed history, or you're a fking loser troll (Farley is a good example) as far as I'm concerned.  I believe we will bounce back and Shaka will pivot.  If he doesn't?  He should be immediately shown the door.  But regardless of who's out there, or coaching our program, I will always hope for greatness and getting back to the promised land.  And I say this completely admitting this is the worst MU team I have seen in my lifetime to this point in our season. 

the Scoop unifier is we all want MU basketball to dominate. It's a season of embarrassment and everyone handles it their own way. I admit I can hardly watch this team. Rather, I'll take in the game with Homer & TSmith. At least with Smith, he gives a solid assessment, and can relate since he played 3 of his seasons for Dukiet. (Committed to Majerus but honored the commitment when Majerus was 'encouraged' to depart). I sit in my rec room listening to the games. My wife tells me I keep mumbling 'why' 'how' and 'what the helll' a lot. Is what it is, Muggs.

At least adding one of the best players in baseball will finally deplete some of their top rated farm system this time. Err...