[Paint Touches] Done Deal Was A Blessing In Disguise

[PaintTouches]

I've been thinking about this for over a year now, but finally was able to flesh this out. It sucked to live through, but Shaka not taking the MU job in 2014 was one of the best things to ever happen to MU.
https://painttouches.com/2023/03/12/greska-done-deal-was-a-blessing-in-disguise-marquette-shaka-smart/

[tower912]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgf3gzVzRZg

Shaka talking about the tourney. 

TKO and Joplin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5K9nyMsukY

[Skatastrophy]

I appreciate Andrei not updating his profile pic this whole time.

[BLWarrior91]

It is absolutely true that getting Shaka in 2021 is better than in 2014.  If he came straight from VCU, there would be the lure of the big P5 school.  He had that experience and now can be our coach for the long term. 

We need a strong SJU, Georgetown, and DePaul to make the Big East even stronger.  That makes the allure of the premier basketball-centric conference even better.  That atmosphere at MSG was incredible. 

As Goose has said, Shaka will turn out to be the best hire by Marquette in ages. 

[PaintTouches]

I appreciate Andrei not updating his profile pic this whole time.

Sheeet, I still use it for my Teams pic at work.

[Skatastrophy]

Sheeet, I still use it for my Teams pic at work.

That's hilarious. I'm going to dig through my final four run pics to find a new Slack profile pic for tomorrow

Nice writeup. I think you're right. They call it "Set and setting" when you're planning to take hallucinogens. To experience a good trip, you need to have the right mindset and the right time/place/people around you. I have found that has been true in a lot of different moments of my life. When your set and setting are right, everything just falls into place.

[AlienWarrior]

Outstanding article-a perfect fit at the perfect time for Shaka and his warriors

[DavidBoone2inchesTaller]

It is absolutely true that getting Shaka in 2021 is better than in 2014.  If he came straight from VCU, there would be the lure of the big P5 school.  He had that experience and now can be our coach for the long term. 

We need a strong SJU, Georgetown, and DePaul to make the Big East even stronger.  That makes the allure of the premier basketball-centric conference even better.  That atmosphere at MSG was incredible. 

As Goose has said, Shaka will turn out to be the best hire by Marquette in ages.

Excellently said. The moment Saint John's, Depaul, and Georgetown return to prominence is the moment the recalibrated Big East Conference will explode in a fashion not seen since 1982-1987. I am so much looking forward to that day.

Marquette missed the boat not joining the Big East in 1979. History would be completely different for the program. Coach Rick may have stayed, recruiting, facilities upgraded, etc. But DB+2... There'd be no "Our Kev" to save the program lol!

When Marquette joined the Big East in 2005 it was the best thing to happen to the program outside of Coach Al, Coach Hank, Coach Nagle, Coach Hickey, and the 3 Final Four (now Coach Skaka too).

Joining the Big East marked a major turning point for the MU program. The Big East meant automatic national prominence for MU lacking since Coach Al, but it also meant some forced accountability to maintain that national prominence. A forced accountability to maintain national prominence was something the program never really had as an independent or a member of a mid-major conference.

Keep in mind, this forced accountability to maintain national prominence was something Coach Al had during his tenure, but not the program itself. As soon as Al retired it was gone and the program was lost in the wilderness.

Coach Hank was a great coach, but he did not have the edge, nor the resonance that Coach Al did. Coach Hank was a kind kind man. A true "gentle" man. Coach Hank 100% trusted his players, especially Doc who basically ran practice with Coach Rick. You could already tell Doc was gonna be a future leader as a Sophomore in practice. But MU no longer had an ass kicker in practice that created adversity for no reason like Coach Al... but I digress because I love those memories.

I sense that Saint John's, Depaul, and Georgetown are struggling with the same thing. They've never really figured out how to maintain national prominence since their dominant coaches retired: Carnesca, Meyer, and Thompson. Like Al, these coaches brought a national prominence and self-accountability for it with them. Then, took it with them when they left their programs. For Marquette it took 28 years to re-claim this for themselves. The Big East finally solved it Marquette. It was the dangling carrot MU always needed.

I thought a new facility would finally do it for Depaul. I hope it still does.

Georgetown needs to clean house from the Thompson years and all links to him. It seems similar to post-Lombardi in Green Bay. Get over it and move on!

For Saint John's, they need a dynamic coach that is also comfortable in New York and the New York  media adores. And... no Rick Pitino is not the answer. Too much risk with that slimeball. 

[We R Final Four]

I keep hearing scoopers say how great it will be gor the Bug East when St Johns, Georgetown, and Depaul return to glory.
Well, you know who is doing everything in their power (process, coaching staffs, money allocation, student bodies, etc.)?
Marquette, Creighton and X.
Some of you sound like you are in bed with the UConn fan boy who said the the BET would be better if UConn would have won.

[WarriorDoc]

I keep hearing scoopers say how great it will be gor the Bug East when St Johns, Georgetown, and Depaul return to glory.
Well, you know who is doing everything in their power (process, coaching staffs, money allocation, student bodies, etc.)?
Marquette, Creighton and X.
Some of you sound like you are in bed with the UConn fan boy who said the the BET would be better if UConn would have won.

They aren't doing a great job at saying why - the teams you mentioned are the largest Big East markets (New York, DC, Chicago) with at least two of them being national brands.  Big markets = big media coverage. 

Also, a rising tide lifts all boats.  The 2016-17 Big East sent 7/10 teams to the tourney.  That year, you heard the same talk about the Big East like you do about the Big 12 this year - "meat grinder" and "every conference victory is gold" and "conference play is a slog".  Yes, we'd need 2-3 "bottom feeders" to make 7 teams happen again, and I don't wish MU to be in that group, but having St John's, Georgetown, and DePaul come into conference winning 80-90% of their noncon games makes for a stronger conference and better competition.

[DavidBoone2inchesTaller]

They aren't doing a great job at saying why - the teams you mentioned are the largest Big East markets (New York, DC, Chicago) with at least two of them being national brands.  Big markets = big media coverage. 

Bingo Warrior Doc! That's what it's all about... having the New York, DC, and Chicago media markets totally engaged in the Big East with those teams doing very well.

WeRFinalFour, your callin' me someone in bed with a UConn fanboy? I should posterize you right now for being clueless and kind of jerky. But I've givin' up posterizing for Lent.

[The Lens]

The Wojo years absolutely sucked, they were soul sucking & disheartening.  We lost ourselves & our identity.

BUT they led us here, so it was worth it. 

[Goatherder]

They aren't doing a great job at saying why - the teams you mentioned are the largest Big East markets (New York, DC, Chicago) with at least two of them being national brands.  Big markets = big media coverage. 

Also, a rising tide lifts all boats.  The 2016-17 Big East sent 7/10 teams to the tourney.  That year, you heard the same talk about the Big East like you do about the Big 12 this year - "meat grinder" and "every conference victory is gold" and "conference play is a slog".  Yes, we'd need 2-3 "bottom feeders" to make 7 teams happen again, and I don't wish MU to be in that group, but having St John's, Georgetown, and DePaul come into conference winning 80-90% of their noncon games makes for a stronger conference and better competition.

You need bottom feeders in the sense that somebody has to finish last.  That does not mean they have to be terrible.  The original Great Midwest had six, then seven teams.  I think the first year, three of them made the NCAA and two made the at the time much better NIT.  That was the pattern for the four years.  It was to place half or more of the teams in the NCAA and most in the post-season.  The year Marquette went to the NIT final, I think four teams made the NCAA and two more went to the NIT.  That is six out of seven.  The two years prior, Marquette made the NCAA and once won the league and made the Sweet Sixteen.  Memphis made the Elite Eight the first year before losing to conference rival Cincinnati.  Saint Louis started out in the dregs and wound up nationally ranked. 

So there is always going to be somebody who is last, but it does not have to be the same team every year, and the ones that do not rise to the top can still be competitive and make your conference strong.  So maybe Providence drops off for a year or two and Butler and DePaul get better.  Maybe we have an off-season, as we are bound to do.  This year, Villanova, who has been the class of the conference, was a quality also-ran. Out of 11 teams, the Big East has seven in post-season play.  It perhaps would have gotten more in the old larger NIT that did not have automatic bids.  Those teams tend to be ones that are on the bubble at some point in the season, but fell short.  They are good enough to make beating them worth the effort, and losing to them not a disaster.  That is what I would like to see the Big East become, as it has been some years in the past.