The Athletic: How Shaka Smart turbocharged Marquette basketball’s offense

[The Equalizer]

Interesting read--
https://theathletic.com/4052114/2023/01/03/marquette-shaka-smart-tyler-kolek/

Couple of highlights for those without a subscription:

Team Spirit - aligns with the recent Fun Quotient thread

"It was then that Smart, who coached just one more season at Texas before leaving for Marquette, had an epiphany. He had come to realize "there's nothing more powerful for the spirit of your team" than going on a scoring run, and offense hadn't been very much fun for his 2019-20 Longhorns.

"These guys are human beings," he says. "When the ball's going in for them, they feel a lot better about themselves. And then the opposite is true as well. There's an emotional component of it. At VCU, we were coaching these guys and just expecting them to press every possession and fly around all the time. That's been an evolution for me. I probably didn't have a good enough appreciation for just the human side of it."


Where MU's offense comes from--lot of talk here about Nevada Smith, but there seems to be a lot of Ben McCollom in MU's offense this season:

"Smart also connected with Northwest Missouri State coach Ben McCollum, a name sent to him when he was looking to replace an assistant coach. McCollum had already won two Division II national titles — he's since won two more — and his teams were scoring at historically efficient rates. Smart told McCollum he should remain a head coach, but he still wanted to learn from him.

"We ended up talking a bunch about offense," Smart says. "And it was pretty one-sided conversation — him talking and me listening."

On Kolek:

"The person that deserves the most credit for our offense is (point guard) Tyler Kolek," Smart says. "He is the best passer I've ever coached."

On Kolek & Ighadoro

"A great pick-and-roll partnership ages like wine. Think Stockton-to-Malone. Those two played together for 18 seasons. Kolek and Ighodaro were on separate teams in practice last season. Marquette coaches helped speed along their partnership by making them roommates this season.

"Chemistry doesn't just happen on the court," Kolek says. "It happens off the court."

[NotAnAlum]

Did a little reading on Ben McCollum.  He sounds like the Bo Ryan of D2.  Too bad Shaka couldn't offer him something he'd be willing to take like Associate HC because from the sound of things he might be a real genius and eventually some D1 program will figure it out.  If his incites are responsible for our top 20 offense I'd love to have him around

[jfp61]

Did a little reading on Ben McCollum.  He sounds like the Bo Ryan of D2.  Too bad Shaka couldn't offer him something he'd be willing to take like Associate HC because from the sound of things he might be a real genius and eventually some D1 program will figure it out.  If his incites are responsible for our top 20 offense I'd love to have him around

Ben McCollum turned down low level D1 HC jobs last cycle

[Uncle Rico]

Did a little reading on Ben McCollum.  He sounds like the Bo Ryan of D2.  Too bad Shaka couldn't offer him something he'd be willing to take like Associate HC because from the sound of things he might be a real genius and eventually some D1 program will figure it out.  If his incites are responsible for our top 20 offense I'd love to have him around

His name has popped up in college basketball circles before for jobs.  I think he can be picky based on his success at D-2. 

[JTJ3]

Pay Nevada Smith whatever he wants to stay and coordinate the offense.

[DoctorV]

Pay Nevada Smith whatever he wants to stay and coordinate the offense.

Yup^^^

Keep the coaching staff intact for as long as you can.
Let Nevada do this thing- the change offensively in Shakas last season at Texas and this season at MU should put a premium on coach Smith.

Let Shaka handle the defensive side which he has been very good at for a decade.
Let Nevada run the Offensive side and thinks should continue to look bright.

If any changes need to be made by necessity I'd look at more of a veteran coach with a history of good defense, especially on the interior/rebounding.
As we've discussed before, with Shakas defensive style interior defense and team rebounding has always been a weak spot.

[The Equalizer]

Yup^^^

Keep the coaching staff intact for as long as you can.
Let Nevada do this thing- the change offensively in Shakas last season at Texas and this season at MU should put a premium in coach Smith.

I get the impression that Nevada Smith could be a hot commodity in the 2023 coaching carousel.

[The Sultan]

Ben McCollum turned down low level D1 HC jobs last cycle

His name has popped up in college basketball circles before for jobs.  I think he can be picky based on his success at D-2. 

Also, Northwest Missouri has a really well funded athletic department. And he's only 41 years old. Bo Ryan was 52 when he got the job at UWM, and 54 when he got to Madison. He can afford to wait for better gigs.

[UWW2MU]

This article by itself is worth the annual discounted subscription price I paid for the Athletic.  If you haven't yet, you should find a way to read this article in it's entirety.   

[The Sultan]

I get the impression that Nevada Smith could be a hot commodity in the 2023 coaching carousel.

The problem is that he doesn't recruit in his current role.  That's why he has the Special Assistant to the Head Coach title.  Berry, Hatt and Haynes are the official assistant coaches. 

Is a college going to be interested given that? I actually think his next stop may be on an NBA bench.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Just read the article - great stuff.  Especially a section on how Shaka incorporated the players into this process - gives more insight into the culture and unselfishness of the entire team. 

[mubb3434]

This article by itself is worth the annual discounted subscription price I paid for the Athletic.  If you haven't yet, you should find a way to read this article in it's entirety.

I was just about to say this. Worth every Penny.

[Silkk the Shaka]

This article by itself is worth the annual discounted subscription price I paid for the Athletic.  If you haven't yet, you should find a way to read this article in it's entirety.

^yes agreed on both

[Jay Bee]

Also, Northwest Missouri has a really well funded athletic department. And he's only 41 years old. Bo Ryan was 52 when he got the job at UWM, and 54 when he got to Madison. He can afford to wait for better gigs.

How old when he got the hand job, hey

[MU82]

Just read the article - great stuff.  Especially a section on how Shaka incorporated the players into this process - gives more insight into the culture and unselfishness of the entire team.

The best Marquette-related article I've read in a long time. Very informative, gives great insight not only in the basketball stuff but also the personal interactions.

[Dish]

CJ Moore, the writer of the MU article in The Athletic, is a good dude too. When he wrote an article in The Athletic a few years ago about me and my son at Kansas, we hung out with CJ all day, I think I still have his number in my phone.

[GoldenEagles03]

Article was really good.

[BLWarrior91]

Awesome article.  Thanks for sharing.  Well worth the cost for a monthly subscription.  Hopefully we will give them reason for more in-depth articles.

[JakeBarnes]

Awesome article.  Thanks for sharing.  Well worth the cost for a monthly subscription.  Hopefully we will give them reason for more in-depth articles.

Helps that Shaka is such a good interview.