If MU loses this game, blame Shaka

[The Sultan]

sultan thinks by making demeaning comments it makes him look cooler. Now, that's cute.

Sorry you can't handle criticism. I see why you need Goose to comfort you.

[Elonsmusk]

I think it's cute you come to his defense.

I find it very cute when you, Brew, 82, TAMU all come to each others defenses like clockwork.  And the frequency with which you all do is about 15 to 1 as to that of Goose or the other "meat eaters" here do.

I mean it's why despite your better judgements (as all of you generally have good basketball observatioins/input) you all continued to support Wojo for 5 years before finally shifting tune....once Brew shifted his..then in lockstep so too did the rest of you.  Yet you all wailed against me and my observation that  Wojo sucked for 5 years. 

[ATWizJr]

Sorry you can't handle criticism. I see why you need Goose to comfort you.

I'm not the one labeling opposing opinions as ridiculous. Someone didn't get enough hugs did they? 

[The Sultan]

I find it very cute when you, Brew, 82, TAMU all come to each others defenses like clockwork.  And the frequency with which you all do is about 15 to 1 as to that of Goose or the other "meat eaters" here do.

I mean it's why despite your better judgements (as all of you generally have good basketball observatioins/input) you all continued to support Wojo for 5 years before finally shifting tune....once Brew shifted his..then in lockstep so too did the rest of you.  Yet you all wailed against me and my observation that  Wojo sucked for 5 years. 

😂😂😂  Wojo? The rest of us moved on long ago.

Let me guess...you were the guy who wore his high school letter jacket around campus.

[The Sultan]

I'm not the one labeling opposing opinions as ridiculous. Someone didn't get enough hugs did they? 

How else should I label ridiculous opinions?

[willie warrior]

I find it very cute when you, Brew, 82, TAMU all come to each others defenses like clockwork.  And the frequency with which you all do is about 15 to 1 as to that of Goose or the other "meat eaters" here do.

I mean it's why despite your better judgements (as all of you generally have good basketball observatioins/input) you all continued to support Wojo for 5 years before finally shifting tune....once Brew shifted his..then in lockstep so too did the rest of you.  Yet you all wailed against me and my observation that  Wojo sucked for 5 years.

Amen

[tower912]

😂😂😂  Wojo? The rest of us moved on long ago.

Let me guess...you were the guy who wore his high school letter jacket around campus.

After dunking.

[Uncle Rico]

Amen

Thanks, Wellington

[ATWizJr]

How else should I label ridiculous opinions?

disagreement is the lifeblood of discourse. Disagreeableness is not

[The Sultan]

disagreement is the lifeblood of discourse. Disagreeableness is not

Who says I want to engage in discourse over a ridiculous opinion?

[MU82]

I find it very cute when you, Brew, 82, TAMU all come to each others defenses like clockwork.  And the frequency with which you all do is about 15 to 1 as to that of Goose or the other "meat eaters" here do.

I mean it's why despite your better judgements (as all of you generally have good basketball observatioins/input) you all continued to support Wojo for 5 years before finally shifting tune....once Brew shifted his..then in lockstep so too did the rest of you.  Yet you all wailed against me and my observation that  Wojo sucked for 5 years.

Wut?

So you agree with some that Shaka shouldn't use his bench at all if MU has a lead? That doesn't sound like you ... but bringing a long gone coach into a discussion that has nothing to do with him sounds very much like you.

Give Magic Dawson my love.

[DoctorV]

As Al said, "you want to be a great coach? Recruit great players."   

Our offense is creating tons of open looks every game.  It is brilliant.    Our shooters over the last 4-5 games have missed a lot of open looks that they "normally" would hit.    Hit our average and we would probably have had one loss so far.

One caveat-

Our offense created tons of open looks for easy scores at the rim and going to the rim last season.

As you note, the open looks are now from 3, and it's obvious that much less are of the much easier variety at the hoop for layups and dunks.

So, is this years offense really brilliant or are opposing defenses making it so by design, and in fact it's much less effective than last season?

It's easy to just say "make that damn shot," but see the road game at Illinois- Shaka and Marquette, by design, gave them a TON of open 3s and they clanked. Marquette gave them little inside and they won the game.

This offense has to find a way to get good and easy looks at the basket as it did last season- by getting the ball in Tyler the creators hands and better spacing- and then my suspicion is that that'll open up the lid to better outside shooting

[DoctorV]

But it doesn't. The evidence clearly shows that Shaka knows what he's doing.

And that's the point. Substituting this way has worked plenty of times. And you're just complaining about it afterwards.

This isn't true in my case, I don't do the revisionist stuff.
I complained instantly and in the moment when I saw the 3 guys at the scorers table and then it came to fruition, hence my upset over it

[Elonsmusk]

Wut?

So you agree with some that Shaka shouldn't use his bench at all if MU has a lead? That doesn't sound like you ... but bringing a long gone coach into a discussion that has nothing to do with him sounds very much like you.

Give Magic Dawson my love.

Could you kindly link where any Scooper has stated the bolded? 

Btw - I love Shaka and am a big fan, but I've made a few criticisms of his coaching - and standard procedure for you guys is to jump right to suggesting me or other Scoopers know more about basketball than Shaka (or Wojo) for that matter...which dumbs it down to a first grade level discussion.

I don't think Shaka is a rigid coach AT ALL, and is flexible (yet generally consistent) in his approach which is one of the main reasons I love him, beyond being an A+ human and as bright as they come (unlike our former meathead coach.)

We all get to armchair decisions here, and no doubt every coach has decisions they would like back.  I did feel Shaka left Sean out too long during the last 5 minutes.  I also feel that a case could have been made to let the starters roll (as some posted here) a bit longer than their usual sub pattern as they were rolling and playing with an efficiency we haven't seen for a good portion of this year.

[DoctorV]

Wut?

So you agree with some that Shaka shouldn't use his bench at all if MU has a lead? That doesn't sound like you ... but bringing a long gone coach into a discussion that has nothing to do with him sounds very much like you.

Give Magic Dawson my love.

If you're going to discuss, and you're a good discusser, please don't twist things and say that others are claiming something that isn't true simply for effect, you know better than that.

There isn't a single person that is claiming Shaka shouldn't use his bench in a lead.

As a matter of fact, I've clearly said otherwise.
I've acknowledged that he has a set pattern and that the pattern has worked very well in most games.

That aside, I've suggested that maybe he shouldn't be so rigid with it if the flow of the game dictates otherwise, and that is all I'm saying.
That's what I saw yesterday, and just yesterday, and I thought it was a terrible time to sub 3 guys in.
Just like I thought it was terrible to sit Sean BOTH in the 3-4 min span before the 230 mark where SH extended the lead to 10 AND on the last play of the game when he was clearly in a nice zone.

Look at the Oso bucket at 40s to make it a 1 point game- SJ22 has an open 3 that many guards would have hoisted in that moment in time after making a few. Instead, he passes on it and makes a great pass for an Oso bucket.
Brilliant play, he was dialed in.

I thought he needed to play the entire last 5 minutes of the game and be in on the final play.
Our future hall of fame coach disagreed and went with his stats in the most pivotal moments and that's ok.
He was wrong yesterday and the team lost.

It's ok to question it without getting super dramatic and claiming that people are arguing that he should never sub anyone if the team is winning, so don't do that if that's not what someone is claiming.

[DoctorV]

Could you kindly link where any Scooper has stated the bolded? 

Btw - I love Shaka and am a big fan, but I've made a few criticisms of his coaching - and standard procedure for you guys is to jump right to suggesting me or other Scoopers know more about basketball than Shaka (or Wojo) for that matter...which dumbs it down to a first grade level discussion.

I don't think Shaka is a rigid coach AT ALL, and is flexible (yet generally consistent) in his approach which is one of the main reasons I love him, beyond being an A+ human and as bright as they come (unlike our former meathead coach.)

We all get to armchair decisions here, and no doubt every coach has decisions they would like back.  I did feel Shaka left Sean out too long during the last 5 minutes.  I also feel that a case could have been made to let the starters roll (as some posted here) a bit longer than their usual sub pattern as they were rolling and playing with an efficiency we haven't seen for a good portion of this year.

Good post, well said.

You are right about his flexibility, he's a much more flexible coach than many before him at Marquette so me calling him rigid is incorrect.

I moreso meant that I feel he's locked in to always trying to such certain guys at certain times in the 1H only, he varies it up much more in the 2H. It's seemingly worked for him though so I get it...
Although you could say the first halves haven't been stellar so it's worth another look and some more analysis on his part- especially the Sean+Ben simultaneous stuff.

I cringe remembering coaches sub out players immediately after a mistake- I think back to Wojo with Jamal Cain- and I'm very thankful that Shaka doesn't do that stuff and is flexible to give guys the right rope at the right time.

Not sure why the sitting Sean late in both the last two games though, but I'm sure he's got good reason in his mind

[MU82]

Could you kindly link where any Scooper has stated the bolded?

Sure!

Yes, if you continue to roll you let the starters play 40 - or until the game is well and truly put away. These are not 45 year olds playing in an old man rec league - these are some of the most conditioned people on the globe - they could play 40 straight minutes without breaks, much less with time outs, half time, etc.

And others have at least suggested similar without coming right out and saying 40 minutes.

And of course Shaka is not above questioning his decisions. It goes with the job.

[ATWizJr]

Who says I want to engage in discourse over a ridiculous opinion?

every thread of your being.

[panda]

every thread of your being.

Lol

[1SE]

Sure!

And others have at least suggested similar without coming right out and saying 40 minutes.

And of course Shaka is not above questioning his decisions. It goes with the job.

or until the game is put away.

We leave the starters in for another few minutes, we're up 16, go ahead and sub. All starters NEVER PLAY 40  in reality b/c you either get stagnant or have put the game away. Neither had happened when Shaka pulled the line change.

I don't know which of you were the pro-jo slurpers, but in these guys are human- they make mistakes - you can still be a fan admitting that - Shaka not leaving the starters in another few minutes yesterday was one of those.

[1SE]

The point is none of these 20 year olds "need" a sub for the rest. If a coach thought the way to win was playing them for 40 there is no conditioning reason not to. Subbing "for the sake of subbing" is the opposite hyperbole.

[The Sultan]

The point is none of these 20 year olds "need" a sub for the rest.

Sorry but that's ridiculous.

[1SE]

Mugsy averaging 39 min per game!

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/men/mp-per-g-player-season.html

[brewcity77]

Going to the bench wasn't a mistake. It's our standard subbing pattern and if the starters are going to stay fresh, they need rest throughout the game.

My problem is going to the bench always seems to involve bringing in Sean and Ben together. That's a poor combination. Defensively, Ben is a liability in man while Sean isn't a great team defender. I also think it's an offensive risk because both are streaky shooters. That combination makes us primed for a run going against us. When he goes to the bench, I'd prefer to see their minutes staggered.

[1SE]

Going to the bench wasn't a mistake. It's our standard subbing pattern and if the starters are going to stay fresh, they need rest throughout the game.

My problem is going to the bench always seems to involve bringing in Sean and Ben together. That's a poor combination. Defensively, Ben is a liability in man while Sean isn't a great team defender. I also think it's an offensive risk because both are streaky shooters. That combination makes us primed for a run going against us. When he goes to the bench, I'd prefer to see their minutes staggered.

Yes, my biggest problem is that it was a line change that brought in a Ben/Oso lineup and completely altered the make up of what had been clearly working.

Bringing Sean in for Stevie? Fine.

Chase for Kam or Jop? Fine (get better soon Chase!).

But Gold is and has been awful - without his shooting  he is a major liability. At this point (at least with a healthy Ross) he shouldn't be seeing more than 5 a game unless there is foul trouble.