95-63

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If in 5 years things are the same it will be 15 years since Marquette has been relevant.  Sure, let's wait it out.   Then we can get a new coach and the 15 years prior won't count so we can start the 5 year clock again.

Surely you must agree that we can't fire a coach every year until we find the right one. How long do you think a new coach should be given before firing him?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Bad assumption.   I don't care enough about the team next year to watch any of their games.   I do care enough about all of you on Scoop though to try and stop you from accepting the garbage this program has been turning out.

Super awkward since this is your post history as recent as this year.

The fun is back.  Thank you Shaka!

And

I wouldn't trade anyone on this current team for any of the players who let.  The sum seems greater than the parts right now.   Building a real team that exceeds the talent of the individuals is hard to come by and wouldn't want to substitute anyone.   Additionally, despite their talents, none of those players who left seemed to play below their talent level rather than at or above it.  That probably was mostly Wojo but I'm not heartbroken they are gone.

So which one is it? Can't have it both ways

[Farley36]

Surely you must agree that we can't fire a coach every year until we find the right one. How long do you think a new coach should be given before firing him?

I'm not saying he should be fired.  I'm also not like most here who want to dismiss all the very bad signs the last month+ and excuse them because he's new, expectations were low, etc.   Things are not trending up despite what most on this board want to think.  It's amazing to me that despite all the warning signs and one of the most embarrassing losses in tourney history, the time here seems to be excuse making instead of concern for the future of this program. 

[real chili 83]

Surely you must agree that we can't fire a coach every year until we find the right one. How long do you think a new coach should be given before firing him?

Don't feed a troll.

[Farley36]

Super awkward since this is your post history as recent as this year.

And

So which one is it? Can't have it both ways

Absolutely can have it both ways.  That's the problem with most on this board.  They refuse to adjust when problems start to appear.  That's why we were stuck with Wojo for 3 years too long.   Nothing that made me post those earlier in the year has been present for the past month.  What appeared to be trending in the right direction has taking three steps back.  Effort, attitude, hustle, all gone. 

[MUfan12]

The future of the program starts with this off-season, not with what happened yesterday.

Recruiting, player development, the coaching staff learning from what went wrong this year all are far more important.

[StillAWarrior]

Two consecutive texts I sent to my family yesterday:

10:52 AM
"To my beloved family: I am watching the Marquette game on delay today. Please, please, PLEASE don't text me anything that could even remotely be considered a spoiler. Or call. Or email. Or carrier pigeon. Or smoke signals. That is all. Thank you in advance."

8:03 PM
"Well, that sucked. Maybe someone could have warned me?!"

[jesmu84]

Along with more talent, Shaka can take his coaching game up a notch next year.

He won some great games in the first half of the season when we could sneak up on teams.  Big Kudos to coach.  Spelling Villanova with two L's is not often done by anyone.

He blew it twice with Creighton....just learn and evolve from that as well.  I'll also say something was off later in the season with chemistry and cohesion. I wonder if Shaka has some learning there too. Especially later in the season when the wheels started to fall off. 

That was quite the @$$ whooping yesterday.

Serious question - would you expect the mistakes made by shaka on or off the court this season to be made by a coach  10+ years into his head coaching career at high major D1?

Are we seeing fixable issues? Or is this just who he is?

[Viper]

North Carolina is still a blueblood.  Bluebloods select, all other teams recruit.

we once selected too. Damn

[Elonsmusk]

Serious question - would you expect the mistakes made by shaka on or off the court this season to be made by a coach  10+ years into his head coaching career at high major D1?

Are we seeing fixable issues? Or is this just who he is?

I'll chime in here.  Shaka substantially exceeded Year 1 expectations, despite the "mistakes."  Speaking of which, what mistakes are you referring to off the court?

He's made a Final Four.  Won a Big 12 Championship.  A few hearbreakers in Round 1 of the NCAA.  Yesterday was an outlier.  No need to make it a bigger deal than what it needs to be.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Two consecutive texts I sent to my family yesterday:

10:52 AM
"To my beloved family: I am watching the Marquette game on delay today. Please, please, PLEASE don't text me anything that could even remotely be considered a spoiler. Or call. Or email. Or carrier pigeon. Or smoke signals. That is all. Thank you in advance."

8:03 PM
"Well, that sucked. Maybe someone could have warned me?!"

Now this made me

[Pakuni]

I'll chime in here.  Shaka substantially exceeded Year 1 expectations, despite the "mistakes."  Speaking of which, what mistakes are you referring to off the court?

He's made a Final Four.  Won a Big 12 Championship.  A few hearbreakers in Round 1 of the NCAA.  Yesterday was an outlier.  No need to make it a bigger deal than what it needs to be.

Not jesmu, but I can hazard to guess ... the roster construction could have been better. If you want to build an offensive scheme around "threes and dunks" - which is completely reasonable - then you ought to go out and get yourself some shooters. Shaka didn't. His roster had no one in the rotation who made above 40% from three and only two - brought in by the previous staff - who shot over 35%.
The players brought in by Shaka converted 34.7% (Morsell), 31.7% (Prosper), 28.8% (Joplin) and 28.1% (Kolek), respectively. Kur took zero threes, and Ellis took only nine in very limited minutes.

[jesmu84]

I'll chime in here.  Shaka substantially exceeded Year 1 expectations, despite the "mistakes."  Speaking of which, what mistakes are you referring to off the court?

He's made a Final Four.  Won a Big 12 Championship.  A few hearbreakers in Round 1 of the NCAA.  Yesterday was an outlier.  No need to make it a bigger deal than what it needs to be.

Yes, he exceeded preseason expectations that most here had.

Even still, were his mistakes a coach with 10+ years of experience should be making?

"Off the court" - RC mentioned possible issues with chemistry and cohesion. I would categorize that as a problem off the court, rather than an on the court X/O thing

[Shooter McGavin]

Yes, he exceeded preseason expectations that most here had.

Even still, were his mistakes a coach with 10+ years of experience should be making?

"Off the court" - RC mentioned possible issues with chemistry and cohesion. I would categorize that as a problem off the court, rather than an on the court X/O thing

The "mistakes" Shaka made are simply having a patchwork roster that had holes in it.  This was done out of necessity and quickly.  Let's see how the roster looks next year and future years.  Overall he did a really good job getting this team to the tournament.  The problem was playing a tournament level team with no rebounding and a point guard who can't shoot from distance or in the midrange.  Hell,  he couldn't even hit a layup with regularity. 

Upgrade those positions with development and player acquisition and he should be fine.  Shaka needs to do some heavy lifting this off season.

[Superfan]

My biggest concern with Shaka is the inability to land any notable recruits this year.  No 4-stars for this upcoming season.  While the transfer portal has become an element of team building I'd rather that it be a supplement rather than the key focus.  Let's get guys that will be here for a while rather than one year fill-ins.

[lawdog77]

Along with more talent, Shaka can take his coaching game up a notch next year.

He won some great games in the first half of the season when we could sneak up on teams.  Big Kudos to coach.  Spelling Villanova with two L's is not often done by anyone.

He blew it twice with Creighton....just learn and evolve from that as well.  I'll also say something was off later in the season with chemistry and cohesion. I wonder if Shaka has some learning there too. Especially later in the season when the wheels started to fall off. 

That was quite the @$$ whooping yesterday.

Some have been pushing the narrative that once the other coaches got a second look at us, our team started to unravel. We were 5-4 the second time through.

[Mu8891]

Super ...

Good question:  Why does it seem no one is concerned about his lack of recruiting?   Let's say he gets a pass for last year ... he's not landed even one
4 star recruit.  No one can honestly think any of the 3 freshmen will make much of a difference next year.

If Lewis leaves, the roster next year will
( as it stands )be worse than this year.

[Uncle Rico]

Super ...

Good question:  Why does it seem no one is concerned about his lack of recruiting?   Let's say he gets a pass for last year ... he's not landed even one
4 star recruit.  No one can honestly think any of the 3 freshmen will make much of a difference next year.

If Lewis leaves, the roster next year will
( as it stands )be worse than this year.

Because recruiting isn't done yet and will include the transfer market.

We all overrate freshmen here anyway.

[willie warrior]

Serious question - would you expect the mistakes made by shaka on or off the court this season to be made by a coach  10+ years into his head coaching career at high major D1?

Are we seeing fixable issues? Or is this just who he is?

I would not expect it from that experienced coach including big time programs and conferences and dance experience
As far as fixable, don't know. He has to fix himself from whom he is. Needs some big time heat under his ass. Can MU provide that? Doubt it.

[willie warrior]

I'll chime in here.  Shaka substantially exceeded Year 1 expectations, despite the "mistakes."  Speaking of which, what mistakes are you referring to off the court?

He's made a Final Four.  Won a Big 12 Championship.  A few hearbreakers in Round 1 of the NCAA.  Yesterday was an outlier.  No need to make it a bigger deal than what it needs to be.

What evidence of an outlier. Look at his last job. Got his ass kicked by a marginal team in NCAA tourney.

[willie warrior]

Super ...

Good question:  Why does it seem no one is concerned about his lack of recruiting?   Let's say he gets a pass for last year ... he's not landed even one
4 star recruit.  No one can honestly think any of the 3 freshmen will make much of a difference next year.

If Lewis leaves, the roster next year will
( as it stands )be worse than this year.

Hey we are told that we have a solid class coming in. But no studs.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm not saying he should be fired.  I'm also not like most here who want to dismiss all the very bad signs the last month+ and excuse them because he's new, expectations were low, etc.   Things are not trending up despite what most on this board want to think.  It's amazing to me that despite all the warning signs and one of the most embarrassing losses in tourney history, the time here seems to be excuse making instead of concern for the future of this program.

You didn't answer the question.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that this who are focusing on how we can improve are excusing our shortcomings

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Super ...

Good question:  Why does it seem no one is concerned about his lack of recruiting?   Let's say he gets a pass for last year ... he's not landed even one
4 star recruit.  No one can honestly think any of the 3 freshmen will make much of a difference next year.

Personally I don't give a poop about what a player is ranked. I care how they perform when they get here. If the three recruits end up being subpar, then I'll be disappointed with the recruiting

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

An L is an L, margin no matta. What's worse, MU losing by 32 or #2 seed Kentucky losing to a #15 seed?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Super ...

Good question:  Why does it seem no one is concerned about his lack of recruiting?   Let's say he gets a pass for last year ... he's not landed even one
4 star recruit.  No one can honestly think any of the 3 freshmen will make much of a difference next year.

If Lewis leaves, the roster next year will
( as it stands )be worse than this year.

Davante Gardner was a two star, Harry Froling was a borderline five star, and Jimmy Butler was an afterthought behind Fulce.

Rankings no matta.