Open practice

[Shooter McGavin]

So if four guys turn into draft picks on this team and 2 are all Americans does that devalue Shaka's coaching job in the future?

He did a great job that year.  Let's see how this talent plays out.  Not seeing it yet.  If there are four NBA players on this years team it will definitely be easier for Shaka to win.  Chicken or the egg type of thing.

[tower912]

Growth is a program pillar.

[Shooter McGavin]

Maybe they made the NBA because Shaka is really good at coaching?

Or they are really talented players as well.  Confident Shaka would say the same thing. 

[tower912]

I remember when TKo wasn't a PG, when Sean Jones was going to be handed the keys on day 1, all OMax could do was fall down, and Oso would never be a Big East center.  9th place finish upcoming.

Growth is a pillar.

[Shooter McGavin]

Talent is a pillar as well.  But I am not disputing that Shaka is a great coach. 

[tower912]

There is talent.   MU fans have been spoiled the last three season with MU only starting 8 players.  Roster turnover is usually the one constant in college basketball.   Young players stepping into new roles is the circle of life.   Even the teams that hit the portal the hardest are going to have new players in new roles.  That IS college basketball.
   MU has a lot of interesting and talented pieces.  When Shaka says there may be changes to the starting line up, I believe him.  And not just because of injury.  I still doubt it, but DuaneWade may have just been a season early in his call to start freshmen.  We shall find out.   

Schrodinger's cat.  Right now, the season both sucks and is awesome.

I think this is a big dance team.

[Shooter McGavin]

I agree with you.  Roster turnover is a constant in college basketball. I think there is talent but I'm not convinced it is as high level as needed to make the tournament this year. But if the talent evaluation by Shaka is on point (to me the most important aspect of a college basketball coach, need NBA level talent to succeed) then he is a good enough coach to extract every bit of potential out it.

[brewcity77]

Going through rosters, I will say it's absolutely insane to see the levels of continuity at other programs. 5 of our 10* non-con opponents have 0-1 returning player that I expect to be in a 9-man rotation. Only two (Little Rock and Purdue) have more than 3 returning players in the top 9. How much of an advantage that is remains to be seen, but there are a lot of teams plugging in low and mid major guys that haven't done anything at this level or high major guys that haven't won at this level.

I also think people tend to ignore the defensive end. Chase and Zaide are both top-tier defenders. They are likely the best 1-2 defensive punch in the league. Sean is height-challenged, but has quick hands that create turnovers and has shown he's strong enough to hold position even when someone posts him up. And as maligned as Ben is, he's an incredibly solid defender. People only remember the Zuby games and forget how well he did against Derek Queen, TKR, Asa Newell, and Thomas Sorber. If Royce and DO have average sophomore year improvement on defense and James and Stevens are as ready to go as early reports indicate, we only need an average offense to be a tourney team.

Offensively, Ross, Gold, and Lowery are all hyper-efficient. Some guys will have to step up in terms of usage without losing too much efficiency, but projecting this as a tourney team feels like a pretty safe floor, IMO.

* Southern has not yet posted their 2025-26 roster, but at least 3 players that started 15+ games graduated and (at least) 3 more starter/rotation players transferred.

[tower912]

Preach.

[JakeBarnes]

Growth is a program pillar.

It's pronounced Pilarz