A Well Managed Decline

[DoctorV]

Can't believe I made it thru that entire post, but I did.

Two things that jump out at me
1- you say the team was flawed, but don't blame Shaka for the flawed team. It was his guys, his team.

2- you compared Shaka to Wojo in several occasions and there's no comparison. One is awesome and one was not. However, Kam was a talent that Wojo saw and recruited.

If this years team was flawed, why will next years and the one after that not be flawed?

[Scoop Snoop]

Can't believe I made it thru that entire post, but I did.

Two things that jump out at me
1- you say the team was flawed, but don't blame Shaka for the flawed team. It was his guys, his team.

2- you compared Shaka to Wojo in several occasions and there's no comparison. One is awesome and one was not. However, Kam was a talent that Wojo saw and recruited.

If this years team was flawed, why will next years and the one after that not be flawed?

Thanks for reading that rambling post and telling us what you saw. I took one glance at it and decided the poster had way too much to say and he lumped it all together. Reminded me just a little of Fieldhouse Flyer, but FF is in a class by himself.

[Vino-D]

I appreciate your response to my rambling post, it was, but I think we (me) need some perspective.
Coaches coach and players play, and this team was inconsistent in their shooting, and they couldn't rebound and shoot foul shots, all things a coach can't do, and if I wasn't clear about that, my bad, that was my point.
I never implied that WOJ didn't recruit Kam, I know he did, he just didn't know what to do with the talent he recruited, and he did recruit some very good talent.
As far as next year, I have no idea how it will play out, and if it doesn't, then I will be very willing to post that I was wrong. I love MU bball, and want them to have every success, so I'm willing to see what happens next year, and if it's a dud, I will easily admit I was wrong....deal!

[MarquetteMike1977]

I think MU is reloading and will make the tourney.

Agree.

In addition hear them saying during the Big Dance this year over and over that the tougher team wins. Feel our not playing as well in the 2nd half was in part due to our toughness being called out. Kam even said he started hearing the chatter from outsiders about the team being soft. Kam's and our teams shooting was also not as efficient in the second half. But toughness and rebounding or lack there of might need to be improved.

That said believe Marquette is reloading and will be back in Big Dance too.

[mileskishnish72]

I don't think that we have the horses to get to the Dance next year. Shaka has exceeded my expectations annually. If I'm correct, given what he's accomplished thus far, I'm willing to give him a pass and see what happens going forward. If I'm wrong Shaka's got a booster for life.

[NCMUFan]

Next year, I'm expecting an inaugural Big East type season with Ben Gold playing the Steve Novak role and the 3 Amigos still to be cast.

[DoctorV]

I appreciate your response to my rambling post, it was, but I think we (me) need some perspective.
Coaches coach and players play, and this team was inconsistent in their shooting, and they couldn't rebound and shoot foul shots, all things a coach can't do, and if I wasn't clear about that, my bad, that was my point.
I never implied that WOJ didn't recruit Kam, I know he did, he just didn't know what to do with the talent he recruited, and he did recruit some very good talent.
As far as next year, I have no idea how it will play out, and if it doesn't, then I will be very willing to post that I was wrong. I love MU bball, and want them to have every success, so I'm willing to see what happens next year, and if it's a dud, I will easily admit I was wrong....deal!

Thanks for posting!

As a fellow rambler, I appreciate a great ramble.

Much like you, we all love MUbb and that's why we are here, we all want them to have every success.
To your point, Shaka could have never expected Jop and Kam to shoot 31% from 3 for a full season on a ton of attempts, seems unfathomable, as does Joplin going 0-11 or whatever that was in an E8 game and missing 3 consecutive FTs, but here we are.

Those two, along with Stevie, were great for MUbb but couldn't get us to the promised land, most can't.
Hopefully the next batch can. We are definitely in good hands with Coach Smart and he deserves all the support in the world- if we don't trust him and give him a chance to make it happen, after his first 4 years and history of actually being able to make it happen, then who would we trust?
While he's trying to make it happen he will certainly continue to be a great representative for Marquette and an excellent leader of young men.

He's got a lot of work to do though, 4 more years!!!

[bilsu]

1. I do not think Marquette was soft this year. They competed hard every game.
2.The problem I see is MU's style works well in November, when teams are still learning to play together. It will not work well in NCAA tournament, because MU will not be playing teams with earlier season flaws.
3. The finish was disappointing, but MU exceeded my preseason expectations. Did any of you believe we would go 3-0 against the Big 10?

[Zog from Margo]

1. I do not think Marquette was soft this year. They competed hard every game.
2.The problem I see is MU's style works well in November, when teams are still learning to play together. It will not work well in NCAA tournament, because MU will not be playing teams with earlier season flaws.
3. The finish was disappointing, but MU exceeded my preseason expectations. Did any of you believe we would go 3-0 against the Big 10?

I think some of the comments about toughness relate more to physical characteristics than to attitude. MU's guards were fairly slight, Jop was a little undersized for the 4, and Gold doesn't have much girth. It's hard for them to bang against the better teams and Hamilton wasn't ready yet for the other aspects of the game.

[MarquetteMike1977]

I think some of the comments about toughness relate more to physical characteristics than to attitude. MU's guards were fairly slight, Jop was a little undersized for the 4, and Gold doesn't have much girth. It's hard for them to bang against the better teams and Hamilton wasn't ready yet for the other aspects of the game.

Agree with this. Also heard Kam asked at the mid point of the season rhetorically why am I laying it all on the line for Marquette. Felt Marquette might be in trouble when I heard that but feel Kam did not mean that

[wadesworld]

Agree with this. Also heard Kam asked at the mid point of the season rhetorically why am I laying it all on the line for Marquette. Felt Marquette might be in trouble when I heard that but feel Kam did not mean that

Lol. That's literally the exact opposite of everything I've ever heard about Kam and his experience at and feelings towards Marquette. Everything anyone says about him is he absolutely loves Marquette. Go listen to him after the NM loss.

The whispers in your head are going crazy.

[GoldenEagles03]

Agree with this. Also heard Kam asked at the mid point of the season rhetorically why am I laying it all on the line for Marquette. Felt Marquette might be in trouble when I heard that but feel Kam did not mean that

I'm gonna need you to explain this one please.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I'm gonna need you to explain this one please.

Will be hard to explain considering it probably didn't happen.