IWB Speaks...

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

MU may have gotten played by Smart.  No one at MU should be cruicified for that.  Who knows, maybe Smart told IWB's sources it was a "done deal"?  Where is the anger at Smart for leading along the MU adminsitration?  Will everyone be just as mad at Smart if later today VCU announces a new contract for Smart with a significant pay increase?

Beginning to wonder if this hasn't happened multiple times involving him...

[Lennys Tap]

 Patience is a virtue.

Patience is a virtue
Practice if you can
Seldom in a woman
Never in a man

[keefe]

Little respect please.

IWB made his bones when most of you were TRYING TO go out with cheerleaders!!

[Eldon]

MU may have gotten played by Smart.  No one at MU should be cruicified for that.  Who knows, maybe Smart told IWB's sources it was a "done deal"?  Where is the anger at Smart for leading along the MU adminsitration?  Will everyone be just as mad at Smart if later today VCU announces a new contract for Smart with a significant pay increase?

Smart has absolutely no allegiance to MU.  It's in his self-interest to play us like a fiddle to get their new athletic facility built, a nice raise for himself, more comp tickets, etc.  

If in the end we don't get Shaka or Howland, I blame MU for playing the high stakes on such an important decision.  Hindsight may prove that it was hubris to think that we would be different than Minny, UCLA, and Illinois.

[wadesworld]

synopsis?

Somebody asked if maybe Shaka had agreed to be Marquette's next terms and Marquette is waiting to first announce its new president before announcing Shaka as the men's basketball coach, making it look like the new president is making his first hire.  Posters said no people would see right through that.  BigDaddy quoted the post and said it was the first intelligent (and he wants to say Smart) post he has seen in 24 hours.

[brandx]

I think that "I'm hearing Shaka Smart is the next men's basketball coach at MU" would have been an appropriate way to phrase it and he wouldn't be getting the vitriol being spewed right now. Those who are calling him a hack may be going a bit too far, but saying it's a done deal when no news was imminent was premature and he shouldn't be offended if he gets called out for that.

+1 Absolutely correct. Whether it's taking video with a cellphone or putting out a newsflash, everyone wants to be someone now. IWB had no credible information because there was none. Whether he was right on other tips is irrelevant.

This was the equivalent of Dick Cheney leaking false news to the New York Times and then going on Meet The Press and using "Even the New York Times says it is true" as his justification.

He didn't say that he had sources that told him a deal was close or that negotiations were taking place. He said "Done Deal" without knowledge of a deal being done. He put 1 + 1 together and got 4. It was irresponsible reporting.

Now Shaka may still end up here, but IWB was wrong and should not have reported "Done Deal".

[Blackhat]

Somebody asked if maybe Shaka had agreed to be Marquette's next terms and Marquette is waiting to first announce its new president before announcing Shaka as the men's basketball coach, making it look like the new president is making his first hire.  Posters said no people would see right through that.  BigDaddy quoted the post and said it was the first intelligent (and he wants to say Smart) post he has seen in 24 hours.

That's nice and all but that gives VCU more time to counter/ organize funds.

[Wisco]

If the same thing happens with Shaka year after year he is going to start losing some suitors because everything is going to seem fake. Remember guys we arent the first ones to go through this. The biggest question mark I still have is why have we still not heard anything from Shaka or his camp. Usually by now he has said something to the media about how the rumors are false. Still have hope, not much hope, but still some.

This hasn't happened year after year. Shaka has gone through a normal negotiation process with multiple schools, just like many other coaches before him. There is absolutely zero evidence that he has "gamed" anybody. I seriously don't understand where this stuff is coming from.

[DienerTime34]

What will live on longer: "It's Indiana, it's Indiana" or "Done Deal."

[The Process]

This hasn't happened year after year. Shaka has gone through a normal negotiation process with multiple schools, just like many other coaches before him. There is absolutely zero evidence that he has "gamed" anybody. I seriously don't understand where this stuff is coming from.

Ask Bucky fans about the 300k raise their football coach just got today and how that happened.

[brandx]

This hasn't happened year after year. Shaka has gone through a normal negotiation process with multiple schools, just like many other coaches before him. There is absolutely zero evidence that he has "gamed" anybody. I seriously don't understand where this stuff is coming from.

The one who said "Done Deal" is the one that gamed everyone here.

[connie]

This hasn't happened year after year. Shaka has gone through a normal negotiation process with multiple schools, just like many other coaches before him. There is absolutely zero evidence that he has "gamed" anybody. I seriously don't understand where this stuff is coming from.

I think there are some at Minnesota who would disagree.  No "done deal" but from what they heard they were pretty confident they had an agreement in principle.

[Wade for President]

What will live on longer: "It's Indiana, it's Indiana" or "Done Deal."

+1

[StCroix64]

I think there are some at Minnesota who would disagree.  No "done deal" but from what they heard they were pretty confident they had an agreement in principle.

Not entirely true.  As a Gopher fan, we all had expectations and hopes...EXACTLY like Marquette fans.  When Pitino was announced, we were told by Teague, negotiations never happened with Smart.  I can't tell you how similar the thread is here to there last year.  

What I don't understand about Smart, like last year, IF he has no interest, why not come out and say so?  I think he uses this annually to get more $$$.  Kind of a pissy way to do business if you ask me, but it is reality for lots of negotiators.

Didn't someone say last night Howland was no longer interested (don't want to go back and look)?  I would think, if thats the case, it would be a GOOD sign that someone else is close to being hired.  That way, Howland, wherever he lands, can always say "this was my first choice".

[connie]

Not entirely true.  As a Gopher fan, we all had expectations and hopes...EXACTLY like Marquette fans.  When Pitino was announced, we were told by Teague, negotiations never happened with Smart.  I can't tell you how similar the thread is here to there last year.  

What I don't understand about Smart, like last year, IF he has no interest, why not come out and say so?  I think he uses this annually to get more $$$.  Kind of a pissy way to do business if you ask me, but it is reality for lots of negotiators.

Didn't someone say last night Howland was no longer interested (don't want to go back and look)?  I would think, if thats the case, it would be a GOOD sign that someone else is close to being hired.  That way, Howland, wherever he lands, can always say "this was my first choice".

I won't disagree other than to note that "negotiations" is somewhat broad.  Serious discussions leading to what some thought was a path to "negotiations" is likely. As we have learned here over the past week, often where there is smoke there is fire. (See, Oklahoma, SMU, God knows where else).

[ChicosBailBonds]

Patience is a virtue
Practice if you can
Seldom in a woman
Never in a man

HE IS ALIVE

[ChicosBailBonds]

You guys sure a fickle bunch of jerks.  When he is right and feeding you information one way or another he is a hero... but the second, LITERALLY THE SECOND, he MIGHT be wrong (sometime in the future) you guys crucify him.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

IWB deserves better than this.  Wait for him to be wrong or right before you start lighting the pyre.

MU deserves better than this as well.  MU has to be f'ing FURIOUS over the leaks.  When you have a coach like Smart that has year after year flirted with various schools, only to run back, you have to be careful what gets out there.  I'm not blaming IWB, I figure all these guys have basically the same source or one source polluted a bunch of other "credible" sources.  Who knows.

Still hope it happens, but I have to think MU is not happy if this truly had a chance and it doesn't work out.  If it all works out, then everyone can chill.  If it doesn't, I'm sure many folks will be quite disillusioned and MAY think that stuff blowing up on twitter and elsewhere COULD have been a reason to say no thanks. 

[Hards Alumni]

MU deserves better than this as well.  MU has to be f'ing FURIOUS over the leaks.  When you have a coach like Smart that has year after year flirted with various schools, only to run back, you have to be careful what gets out there.  I'm not blaming IWB, I figure all these guys have basically the same source or one source polluted a bunch of other "credible" sources.  Who knows.

Still hope it happens, but I have to think MU is not happy if this truly had a chance and it doesn't work out.  If it all works out, then everyone can chill.  If it doesn't, I'm sure many folks will be quite disillusioned and MAY think that stuff blowing up on twitter and elsewhere COULD have been a reason to say no thanks. 

Oh, I completely agree.  No one wants to admit they have leaks, nor should they.

[TJ]

 Hindsight may prove that it was hubris to think that we would be different than Minny, UCLA, and Illinois.

+1

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

If I was Shaka I would be flattered. Guaranteed Ben Howland would not get this type of response from our message boards or twitter or anything like that. Nothing against Howland but I would say that Shaka has the unwavering support of the Marquette faithful. Which is hard to come by these days.

[humanlung]

Somebody asked if maybe Shaka had agreed to be Marquette's next terms and Marquette is waiting to first announce its new president before announcing Shaka as the men's basketball coach, making it look like the new president is making his first hire.  Posters said no people would see right through that.  BigDaddy quoted the post and said it was the first intelligent (and he wants to say Smart) post he has seen in 24 hours.

That was my post he quoted.  Howland or Smart, it would seem to erase a big issue that's been raised here - that no coach would come in not knowing who was running the show.  Looks like a new thread on the next President is getting some traction now, too.  

[Wisco]

Not entirely true.  As a Gopher fan, we all had expectations and hopes...EXACTLY like Marquette fans.  When Pitino was announced, we were told by Teague, negotiations never happened with Smart.  I can't tell you how similar the thread is here to there last year.  

What I don't understand about Smart, like last year, IF he has no interest, why not come out and say so?  I think he uses this annually to get more $$$.  Kind of a pissy way to do business if you ask me, but it is reality for lots of negotiators.

Didn't someone say last night Howland was no longer interested (don't want to go back and look)?  I would think, if thats the case, it would be a GOOD sign that someone else is close to being hired.  That way, Howland, wherever he lands, can always say "this was my first choice".

The way I see it, he has no reason to come out and say he is not interested. He'd just be feeding the media cycle that we are all currently rallying against. There is no credible evidence that he ever had an interest (credible, as in public reports or tweets from Goodman etc). Fans don't deserve anything from Shaka...this circus was partially created by them.

[Henry Sugar]

If I was Shaka I would be flattered. Guaranteed Ben Howland would not get this type of response from our message boards or twitter or anything like that. Nothing against Howland but I would say that Shaka has the unwavering support of the Marquette faithful. Which is hard to come by these days.

Unwavering?

I'm just waiting to dust off the "eFG% is 63% of efficiency" article for Shaka

[TJ]

What I don't understand about Smart, like last year, IF he has no interest, why not come out and say so?  I think he uses this annually to get more $$$.  Kind of a pissy way to do business if you ask me, but it is reality for lots of negotiators.

That's an unreasonable expectation to place on the man.  Is he supposed to constantly scour the internet during the offseason looking for fanbases that are getting the idea he might go coach for them.  This isn't even a national news story, it's a Milwaukee news story.  What is there that he should have to refute at this point?

Or should he make an announcement every day at 5 pm that there is no announcement?

[Dawson Rental]

This hasn't happened year after year. Shaka has gone through a normal negotiation process with multiple schools, just like many other coaches before him. There is absolutely zero evidence that he has "gamed" anybody. I seriously don't understand where this stuff is coming from.

Frustration.