18,107

[MUMountin]

Really appreciate you sharing that Goose.

I think Shaka's value of investing in relationship is really at the core of what makes him so successful.  On the radio show this week he and Kam talk about texting each other at 2 or 4 in the morning, watching college football together (at Shaka's house, I believe), Shaka's comments about DO's family,etc.  He clearly goes far above and beyond what is required or expected for a good coach because it sounds like he really cares and wants to build those relationships. 

Likely, that probably also reflects on the struggles he had with the system he felt he had to run at UT.  It is way harder to build those sorts of relationships with players that will only stick for a year.  And those relationships are what really lets him fight the national currents—because the players really develop trust in him and what he is preaching. So, he has to find people that are naturally looking to buy into that sort of culture and then stick with it long enough to build the trust, even after some initial adversity (team or individual).

I'm in somewhat of an analogous position with law students—I work closely with a new cohort each school year, only to see them leave just as we all really start to click.  It is so rewarding and yet takes a lot of energy to do well.  It requires being vulnerable with a new group of young people each year. That can be easier said then done.  It is also not an automatic formula, but requires active engagement with each new person to join. Shaka's model works well, but only if you can really commit to it, which he clearly is doing.  Lot to learn for the rest of us!

[94Warrior]

I saw this as well.  Not sure I condone the surveillance going on here but the text is hilarious.

https://x.com/MarqStool/status/1865506392842612998?t=a0FBl0D_hB7Uf10RAugXyA&s=19

Soft!!!!

Love that Stevie is standing in front of her drink rail seat, and she is so defeated she's not even attempting to watch the game.  I was there and Badger fans were outnumbered 8-10 to 1. At most 15%.  Less red than previous years.  Also, red was much quieter.  Of course, it's hard to get excited about watching Tonje drawing foul after foul and living at the FT line in 1h, and 2h there wasn't much for them to cheer about. If Klesmit has an average shooting night we win by 25.

[GoldenEagles03]

I wasn't able to attend so I can't debate it. That's almost 4,000 people. Basically double what Georgetown gets at their games. That seems like a lot.

I was midcourtish in 209 across from the benches, so from what I saw across from me if felt like more red than in 2022, but a lot quieter as well!

[DoctorV]

82

I think they had a legit FF chance the last two years and it looks like they could have a chance again this year. There never was a doubt in my mind what the ceiling was for MU, just whether or not it would happen in my lifetime.

I know this sounds crazy, but how Shaka has build culture has carried over into my personal and professional life. I'm not embarrassed to say that a 46y basketball coach has changed my perspective on how I handle myself.

Crazy part, when I was a kid Al influenced me a great deal. Unfortunately most by questionable traits come from him. Now, I'm learning more skills that are less eccentric.

This is great stuff, completely agree.

The exchange between Goose and MU82 here, two MUscoop heavyweights, is what makes this site great.

I've mentioned before that Coach Smart has carried over into my personal life and positively affected several aspects of it, especially in business, but also in personal relationships.

To MU82s point, from November to soon to be April, I schedule all my off days and as many, if not all, of my personal events around Marquette basketball.
Wouldn't have it any other way.

By the way, the part about most of the questionable traits coming from Al is great, got a chuckle outta me 🤣

[MU82]

quote author=DoctorV link=msg=1697138 date=1733683978]
Goose and MU82 here, two MUscoop heavyweights

Can't speak for Goose, but I had a compression fracture in my back and wasn't able to exercise for several months. Trying now to become a bit less of a heavyweight ... but celebrating all these Marquette wins 🍺 🍻 🍺 doesn't make it easy!

[Biggie Clausen]

What really stood out to me yesterday was Kam's postgame interview with Jim Jackson where he talked about how Shaka didn't want to go into the portal to get a PG because he had faith in Kam.  In an era where coaches like Bennett and Wright are hanging it up because they don't want to deal with NIL and most schools are bringing at least a couple of transfers in every year to play major minutes, Shaka is truly taking a different approach and doing it well.

[PointWarrior]

Nice reading badger board complimenting how awesome the game atmosphere was at Fiserv. 

Of course Eric The Red had thrown in that it's partly because this is Marquette's Super Bowl.  Pretty sure the #5 ranked team is not treating this game as a superbowl. 

And funny to read that someone said Marquette and Purdue can only do the recruit and retain program building cause they don't have high-major football. 

Well, Wisconsin does not have high-major football either.

[wadesworld]

What really stood out to me yesterday was Kam's postgame interview with Jim Jackson where he talked about how Shaka didn't want to go into the portal to get a PG because he had faith in Kam.  In an era where coaches like Bennett and Wright are hanging it up because they don't want to deal with NIL and most schools are bringing at least a couple of transfers in every year to play major minutes, Shaka is truly taking a different approach and doing it well.

I liked that pretty much everyone on the team at minimum slapped him on the back, and most said something to him as they walked past him on the way to the locker room. They're all rooting for each other.

[wadesworld]

Nice reading badger board complimenting how awesome the game atmosphere was at Fiserv. 

Of course Eric The Red had thrown in that it's partly because this is Marquette's Super Bowl.  Pretty sure the #5 ranked team is not treating this game as a superbowl. 

And funny to read that someone said Marquette and Purdue can only do the recruit and retain program building cause they don't have high-major football. 

Well, Wisconsin does not have high-major football either.

I love when Wisconsin fans pretend this game doesn't mean much to them but means so much to us. Go check out UW's IG post before the game. Devin Harris narrating a highlight film of the rivalry talking about how much more this game means and you can throw out the rankings in the rivalry.

It used to mean a lot more to me when we were a bubble type team. Chance for a nice win, plus always love beating UW. Now that we're scheduling much tougher in the non conference game and we're consistently fighting for a top 2 seed, it means a lot less to me. Obviously still want the bragging rights, but it's like our 15th most important game each season now.

[K1 Lover]

Can you expound on the bolded paragraph a little, Goose? How has it changed things for you?

The main thing for me has been connecting more regularly with some of my old Marquette friends. They were always MU hoops fans, obviously, but these last couple of years they have gotten so into it. We have great text-chain discussions all week and during games. They are amped to see where MU is in the rankings every Monday. Stuff like that. It's so much fun.

The other thing is that I plan events around Marquette's schedule. If someone says, "You wanna grab dinner Tuesday?" I first have to look at MU's schedule before I accept ... because I ain't missing a game!

The scheduling thing is so real. I no longer count days until the weekend — just days until the next Marquette game.

[K1 Lover]

What really stood out to me yesterday was Kam's postgame interview with Jim Jackson where he talked about how Shaka didn't want to go into the portal to get a PG because he had faith in Kam.  In an era where coaches like Bennett and Wright are hanging it up because they don't want to deal with NIL and most schools are bringing at least a couple of transfers in every year to play major minutes, Shaka is truly taking a different approach and doing it well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again (as I likely will 100+ more times in the future).

Shaka's truly the living embodiment of what it means to "be the difference".

[Viper]

I love when Wisconsin fans pretend this game doesn't mean much to them but means so much to us. Go check out UW's IG post before the game. Devin Harris narrating a highlight film of the rivalry talking about how much more this game means and you can throw out the rankings in the rivalry.

It used to mean a lot more to me when we were a bubble type team. Chance for a nice win, plus always love beating UW. Now that we're scheduling much tougher in the non conference game and we're consistently fighting for a top 2 seed, it means a lot less to me. Obviously still want the bragging rights, but it's like our 15th most important game each season now.

they hate us...and hey, a little hate...is good. After we had a run of something like 18 of 19 on them at one point, it was THEIR coach saying the rivalry is dead. It was dead, in fact,  until they followed our lead and elevated their program!! When they started to get a few wins on us late '80's early '90's and their football and basketball programs became relevant ...to the point they passed us in hoops...it's been game-on since. Sure, some of their fans will try to be Joe-cool and downplay things, but this is THE basketball game they want to win. Absolutely no doubt.

[MUfan12]

I laugh that stuff off. Of course the game means more to us. Basketball means more to us. It's what makes us different from them.

This is always the point where UW fans come out of nowhere and chirp, and aren't heard from again until March.

[Biggie Clausen]

I love when Wisconsin fans pretend this game doesn't mean much to them but means so much to us. Go check out UW's IG post before the game. Devin Harris narrating a highlight film of the rivalry talking about how much more this game means and you can throw out the rankings in the rivalry.

It used to mean a lot more to me when we were a bubble type team. Chance for a nice win, plus always love beating UW. Now that we're scheduling much tougher in the non conference game and we're consistently fighting for a top 2 seed, it means a lot less to me. Obviously still want the bragging rights, but it's like our 15th most important game each season now.

I feel like the rivalry meant more during the Crean era (and maybe the first few years of Buzz) when the two schools were really competing against each other for the top in-state recruits.  Brian Butch, Keaton Nankivil, Travis Diener, Devin Harris, Marcus Landry, Steve Novak, Vander Blue, etc.  Some of those recruiting battles were more heated than others (I don't think Novak ever really considered UW) but there were a lot of good players who chose one school over the other during that time period.

Shaka and Gard, with a few exceptions, don't really go head to head that much.  Gard recruits Minnesota heavily (as did Bo), Shaka gets guys from all over the country, and top in-state players like Kon Knueppel go elsewhere.  Twenty years ago, Knueppel would've gone to either MU or UW, imo.  That's just how it was.

Anyway, it's still a fun game, and one I'm a little more invested in than normal.

[GoldenEagles03]

I was midcourtish in 209 across from the benches, so from what I saw across from me if felt like more red than in 2022, but a lot quieter as well!

Just seeing the game on TV, and it looks like a lot less red than I thought. Maybe because I was up high and could see the whole arena yesterday...either way, the Blue and Gold were fantastic. Crowd never let off the gas even for a second of game action.

[CountryRoads]

It's a good rivalry. Like some others have said, the current state of our program makes it slightly less important. Not as many recruiting battles either.

Would be crazy to meet them in the NCAA tourney sometime. Can't imagine what that UNC vs Duke game was like for the fans in the final four in Coach K's last game, for example. A moment like that for us and the badgers would add a lot to the rivalry.

[Big Papi]

The lower bowl which has the most seats in the arena by far, didn't have a lot of red.  In the upper sections, with a lot less seats, there was a lot of red.  Definitely not 20%.  The Marquette fans were loud the entire game, and I don't recall a single time where you heard the badger fans get loud.  There really wasn't any run or wow plays by the badgers so no reason to get loud.

And yes, the badger fans love to get all hoity toity saying this is not a rivalry or this game is not important. It is b.s. talk and easier for them to dismiss a loss when your argument is this is just another game.  Trust me, whenever they lose to MU, it hurts a little bit more which means the game means something a little bit more than most games.  So it is important to them and that we play them every year, it kind of is a rivalry game.

[Uncle Rico]

Just another game on the schedule

[GB Warrior]

Biding time til the Big 10 championship game

[DoctorV]

What really stood out to me yesterday was Kam's postgame interview with Jim Jackson where he talked about how Shaka didn't want to go into the portal to get a PG because he had faith in Kam.  In an era where coaches like Bennett and Wright are hanging it up because they don't want to deal with NIL and most schools are bringing at least a couple of transfers in every year to play major minutes, Shaka is truly taking a different approach and doing it well.

At first I thought to myself that after seeing Kam play toward the end of last season, sans TyKo, there was no way Shaka was legit considering portaling for a pg.

Then I realized he actually tested the waters with Seth Trimble...

That said, I'm pretty sure Shaka is so next level that he knew Kam was his guy all along, and used that comment as motivation for Kam to get better and prove to coach and himself that he's got those pg and leadership skills.
Boy oh boy is it working

[muwarrior69]

Phenomenal crowd yesterday. Probably 20-25% UW fans, most in the upper deck.

The environment Shaka has created around the program is unlike anything I've experienced in 30+ years of going to games. Everyone knows the assignment. Knows what the staff values, and can sense when the guys on the floor need a push. The connection is strong and it just keeps building.

Are there 20-25% Marquette fans at the Kohl Center when we play there? Just asking?

[wadesworld]

At first I thought to myself that after seeing Kam play toward the end of last season, sans TyKo, there was no way Shaka was legit considering portaling for a pg.

Then I realized he actually tested the waters with Seth Trimble...

That said, I'm pretty sure Shaka is so next level that he knew Kam was his guy all along, and used that comment as motivation for Kam to get better and prove to coach and himself that he's got those pg and leadership skills.
Boy oh boy is it working

Seth is not a point guard at all.

[The Sultan]

I also get the impression that Trimble was more interested in MU than Shaka was in him. Regardless he would likely have been the first guard off the bench had he came here.

[brewcity77]

Then I realized he actually tested the waters with Seth Trimble...

I don't think we tested the waters with Trimble. Seemed like Trimble entered the portal expecting more local interest than he got, then went back to UNC when he didn't hear what he wanted to.

[Sir Lawrence]

Are there 20-25% Marquette fans at the Kohl Center when we play there? Just asking?

My subjective guess, having gone every time it's played in Madison (including twice at the Field House) since 1983, currently it's about 15%.