The Athletic Power Rankings

[TallTitan34]

I'll just post the Marquette section if that's ok.

11. Marquette (14-4)
We have a 4-month-old baby. They say you're supposed to talk to your baby a lot, which we try to do all day, but when basketball is on and/or the writing is happening we sort of get distracted and forget sometimes. The good news? Good basketball makes us talk to no one in particular — and perhaps no team in 2022-23 elicits more involuntary exclamations per 40 minutes than Marquette. There is a lot of "wow" and "great pass" and "yessir" happening, said idly, to no one in particular. And then there are the full-on yelps that wake and startle the whole house, let alone the infant under your care.

This was one of the latter:

https://twitter.com/eamonnbrennan/status/1613347982639861761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1613347982639861761%7Ctwgr%5E4fcd450b544a87cc8f5cdfa07b1ac78175ee65c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F4082565%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Fcollege-basketball-power-rankings-tennessee-alabama-houston%2F

The alley-oop and dunk over a very tall and sturdy Donovan Clingan is one thing. But the play that sets it up is a thing of beauty. Marquette's offense is incredible to behold, for a variety of reasons detailed in this publication already, but even if you understand all the hows and whys of Marquette's tactical approach, the actual effect of watching Marquette play is a sensation all to itself.

https://twitter.com/csgkam/status/1613212603664465921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1613212603664465921%7Ctwgr%5E4fcd450b544a87cc8f5cdfa07b1ac78175ee65c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F4082565%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Fcollege-basketball-power-rankings-tennessee-alabama-houston%2F

This pretty much sums it up: You can spend a lot of time dissecting the precise movements of Shaka Smart's offensive system. You can clip the footage and append your arrows and trot out whatever terminology fits. But at the end of the day, Marquette's players are reading each other, reacting, playing. Hooping.

It looks like the most fun you could possibly have on a basketball court.

[TallTitan34]

Please forward this to every recruit.

[MU82]

Have there been 5 more complimentary things written about Marquette basketball in the post-Buzz era? Not that I can recall.

TallTitan might have been joking, but I'm serious: Shaka or one of his lieutenants should be making sure that every recruit (and every recruit's parents) sees that.

[tower912]

Hey, wait, I said the same thing in different words about that play. 

[Skatastrophy]

Hey, wait, I said the same thing in different words about that play. 

"They hoopin" - tower

[Tha Hound]

That Kam tweet is an all-timer

[Elonsmusk]

That Kam tweet is an all-timer

Link?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Link?

2nd link in 1st post of thread

[TallTitan34]

TallTitan might have been joking, but I'm serious: Shaka or one of his lieutenants should be making sure that every recruit (and every recruit's parents) sees that.

Also serious.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Add 'We just hoopin' to all the MU merch and give Kam some NIL cash.

[GB Warrior]

God I love this incarnation of this team

[brewcity77]

The most amazing thing is watching all the quick turnarounds in recent years. Tommy Lloyd did it with someone else's NBA players. TJ Otzelberger did it with upperclassmen transfers. Jerome Tang and Dennis Gates followed that TJO model. But Shaka has rebuilt us into a top-15 team in two years with long-term players, a mix of freshmen and young transfers. That we are already this good and could bring this roster back for the next two seasons is insane to me. I'm not sure anyone in the country has done a better rebuild these past two years considering how well it invested in the program's future.

[DoctorV]

The most amazing thing is watching all the quick turnarounds in recent years. Tommy Lloyd did it with someone else's NBA players. TJ Otzelberger did it with upperclassmen transfers. Jerome Tang and Dennis Gates followed that TJO model. But Shaka has rebuilt us into a top-15 team in two years with long-term players, a mix of freshmen and young transfers. That we are already this good and could bring this roster back for the next two seasons is insane to me. I'm not sure anyone in the country has done a better rebuild these past two years considering how well it invested in the program's future.

💯💯

The vision, the execution, the commitment to that vision and those players in that vision, the subsequent growth of every single one of those young players, and the patience and hard work required to accomplish all of those things in short order is simply remarkable.

Not to mention the Xs and Os, the handling of personalities, and the complete buy-in from a group of young and inexperienced NCAAb athletes.

I think back to those 2+ weeks when Shaka first came aboard and he seemingly went into a bunker at the AL and did a bunch of work behind the scenes to recruit and bring these guys all in. We heard nothing for what seemed like forever, and then news of what seemed like an absurd amount of incoming transfers came in all at once, guys that we really had no idea he was even after.

It all started there, and look at where it's gone.
Actually it all started when he was brought in, but the work that been put in thus far and the results that have come with it in the way that it's been done without taking shortcuts is by far the best part

[MUUWUWM]

The most amazing thing is watching all the quick turnarounds in recent years. Tommy Lloyd did it with someone else's NBA players. TJ Otzelberger did it with upperclassmen transfers. Jerome Tang and Dennis Gates followed that TJO model. But Shaka has rebuilt us into a top-15 team in two years with long-term players, a mix of freshmen and young transfers. That we are already this good and could bring this roster back for the next two seasons is insane to me. I'm not sure anyone in the country has done a better rebuild these past two years considering how well it invested in the program's future.

SO TRUE!

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

The most amazing thing is watching all the quick turnarounds in recent years. Tommy Lloyd did it with someone else's NBA players. TJ Otzelberger did it with upperclassmen transfers. Jerome Tang and Dennis Gates followed that TJO model. But Shaka has rebuilt us into a top-15 team in two years with long-term players, a mix of freshmen and young transfers. That we are already this good and could bring this roster back for the next two seasons is insane to me. I'm not sure anyone in the country has done a better rebuild these past two years considering how well it invested in the program's future.

Next year, possibly, maybe even likely. But I would be stunned Oso and O-Max are back the following year.  They're too good to stay in college 5 years.

[BLWarrior91]

Next year, possibly, maybe even likely. But I would be stunned Oso and O-Max are back the following year.  They're too good to stay in college 5 years.

You are right on both but there's a lot of difference between the G League and first round picks.  An extra year to get stronger and work on your weaknesses is there if they need it.

If everyone comes back next year, we should be highly ranked going into the season. 

[MU82]

If everyone comes back next year, we should be highly ranked going into the season.

Every word of this could be true.

Also, this year's team could be highly ranked quite soon.