Quote from: muwarrior69 on December 23, 2025, 12:56:52 PMSo was he misleading or did he actually believe his guys improved?

That's a legit question. Either would not be good.

He did say during the Creighton post-game presser that several guys practice better than they play, perhaps suggesting that they are still fooling him.

Quote from: Elonsmusk on December 23, 2025, 11:35:19 AMThanks for making my point about some MU fans being ignorant.  Tom Crean hit the lottery with a kid who couldn't qualify academically and three options - Illinois State, DePaul and Marquette - He certainly couldn't sustain any kind of success at MU, and also didn't see MU as a forever job - even with The Al McGuire Center an the vast "resources" at MU.

Buzz Williams?  Best coach since Al, yet MU brass and those self righteous fans sent him packing due to off court issues.

You are delusional if you don't think Shaka would be at the top of the list for any/all off season coaching openings in the Power 4.

Yes, TC had two down years after the Final Four, yet we were on the bubble each year, and probably in the tourney before Travis went down in 2005, leaving us with no PG because Niv Berkowitz tucked tail back home and Brandon Bell was shown the door and sent packing for Detroit. How did Crean react? The Amigos, after we stepped up in competition by joining the Big East, went to three straight tourneys (the Jerel injury killed us in 2007).

Buzz could have stayed; in fact, he had all the power after he got rid of Larry Williams, but he decided he couldn't win at MU because of the NBE's formation and us not having football. He bailed when he was afraid the going was going to get tough. And don't blame MU, he had everything he wanted at Va Tech and A&M and still left. That's who he is.

Quote from: CountryRoads on December 23, 2025, 11:11:46 AMTyler Nickel, the one transfer we were mentioned with, is also having a good year at Vanderbilt. 15ppg on almost 50% shooting from 3. Top 20 team.

well there's the problem. Our academic standards are too high so he had to settle for Vanderbilt.

Quote from: JWags85 on December 23, 2025, 02:11:20 PMBen Simmons is currently a free agent and has reportedly paused any search for a new team to focus on professional fishing with the Sport Fishing franchise he owns.  That is not a Onion headline or NBACentel, its direct from a senior NBA writer.

Assuming this is probably the end cause Ive gotten the impression over the last 5+ years that Simmons doesn't really like basketball all that much.  Wouldn't call him a bust but truly one of the most bizarre career paths of a consensus #1 pick in recent history.

Rowsey chirping him from the bench probably ended his career.

Quote from: MU82 on December 23, 2025, 06:19:33 PMThis.

Shaka has made a brand out of being the one non-portal guy among all high-major coaches. He's been vocal about it and  proud of it. In the days leading up to this season, our university president was crowing about how we're doing things "right" because under Shaka, Marquette is the non-portal, recruit-develop-retain basketball school.

The current version of Shaka would have 0% chance to land a job at any major school that takes pride in its basketball program.

Would Shaka change his philosophy to land a good P5 job? Maybe, he has changed his philosophy before. (And now we all wish he would do so again at Marquette.) Could he convince a school president and AD to hire the New Improved Happy-To-Portal Shaka, even coming off a disastrous season here? Maybe, he's a good salesperson.

But this current, Marquette version of Shaka? A blueblood would laugh at the prospect, as would most "basketball schools." He has severely, perhaps even fatally, damaged this particular brand of his. Even Ners knows it, though he tippy-toes around it.

Marquette should laugh at it as well but I'm afraid they are in too deep with it too.

We got the Freshman of the Year in A-10, an NBA player from Clemson, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and a Starting Center from Oklahoma in one portal session with Kolek, Prosper, Morsell, and Kuath. One session!

That could happen every year and probably should when we have years like this. I hope they can successfully reset.

Quote from: Pakuni on December 23, 2025, 02:27:44 PMIt's not 2023 any more. If Shaka were a stock, he'd be more Pfizer than Nvidia.
Recency bias weighs heavily in coaching searches, and a coach coming off a 18- to 20-loss season in the Big East isn't going to be a hot name on the P4 carousel. And that's not even considering Shaka's stance on transfers and agents. You think Kentucky is hiring a guy who says "I don't talk to agents"?

This.

Shaka has made a brand out of being the one non-portal guy among all high-major coaches. He's been vocal about it and  proud of it. In the days leading up to this season, our university president was crowing about how we're doing things "right" because under Shaka, Marquette is the non-portal, recruit-develop-retain basketball school.

The current version of Shaka would have 0% chance to land a job at any major school that takes pride in its basketball program.

Would Shaka change his philosophy to land a good P5 job? Maybe, he has changed his philosophy before. (And now we all wish he would do so again at Marquette.) Could he convince a school president and AD to hire the New Improved Happy-To-Portal Shaka, even coming off a disastrous season here? Maybe, he's a good salesperson.

But this current, Marquette version of Shaka? A blueblood would laugh at the prospect, as would most "basketball schools." He has severely, perhaps even fatally, damaged this particular brand of his. Even Ners knows it, though he tippy-toes around it.

Quote from: wadesworld on December 23, 2025, 05:29:10 PMLike Galway said, if you're under 55 years old you are old enough to remember just two runs further than what Shaka has provided in your lifetime. Why you think this program is above a Sweet Sixteen loss is beyond me.

We all hoped for deeper runs. To scoff at that? Some fans need to check in on what program they're rooting for.

A Sweet 16 run is a big success and should be celebrated.
One Sweet 16 run in five seasons shouldn't be celebrated as Marquette basketball at its zenith. It should be treated as an expectation.
And more importantly, Shaka Smart is not uniquely gifted with the ability to have success at Marquette, as at least one person here seems to believe. Kevin O'Neill had success here. Tom Crean had success here. Buzz Williams had success here. We're not some bottom feeder program rescued from the college basketball wasteland by a miracle worker named Shaka. We weren't Gonzaga before Dan Monson, or - perhaps a better comparison -Houston before Kelvin Sampson. There have been ups and downs over the past 40 years, but it's been a mostly successful, respected program since Dukiet.
Shaka's had a great run at Marquette, and that's earned him an opportunity to fix the mess he's made this season. But if he's unwilling or incapable of doing that, I have no doubt MU can find someone else to run a successful program.  MU basketball is bigger than one coach.

Quote from: brewcity77 on December 23, 2025, 05:13:03 PMI'll be honest, after 7 years of Wojo, I NEVER would've pegged you as the blind faith, coach walks on water, dedicated slurper you've become. Good lord, we can't even have a good faith discussion about the state of the program under Shaka without you getting apoplectic in lemming support. Of all the people...

LOL - I'll slurp a winner like Shaka who has some skins on the wall, brought a lot of success to MU, and is trying to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of college basketball in a way that he felt could make success sustainable at MU.

A loser like Wojo?  Not a chance.  Help me understand why for 5 years you preached patience with Wojo, but 2 months in for Shaka, after massively exceeding anything Wojo did in their first four years on the job, respectively - you are among the leaders of the Shaka sucks sentiment?

You have patience to back losers, but fly off the rails when a winner struggles?  And do you recall if we pursued Owen Freeman in the portal this past off season?  You do realize just because you pursue a player, doesn't mean you land them, correct?

Quote from: wadesworld on December 23, 2025, 05:29:10 PMLike Galway said, if you're under 55 years old you are old enough to remember just two runs further than what Shaka has provided in your lifetime. Why you think this program is above a Sweet Sixteen loss is beyond me.

We all hoped for deeper runs. To scoff at that? Some fans need to check in on what program they're rooting for.

And one of the two quite literally took having arguably a top 25 basketball player the game has ever seen posting a triple double along the way.

Gallup's latest poll asked if Americans approved of the jobs being done by various leaders in Congress, the administration, the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve. Nobody received anywhere near 50% approval rating.

The highest rating? 44% approved the job being done by Jerome Powell, who has put up a good fight to keep inflation under control and to protect the Fed's independence.

I won't go into the other names because most are politicians, but everyone knows them.