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

[Shooter McGavin]

I like it Rico, Tower and Brew.  Hope you guys are absolutely spot on with your predictions that this is a tournament team.

With regard to defense, I think that will be a strength as well.  That to me is where the coaching and continuity comes in above all else.  That is the culture and identity of the program. 

Will be curious to see who the alpha scorers are this year.  The go to guys at the end of games.  Are they limited offensively in this regard.  Do they have a versatile scorer or two? Are there guys who can get their shots off in traffic?  Zaide looked like he could last year but didn't do it enough.  Chase, is a good straight line driver but doesn't seem to be able to get a shot off in traffic and isn't long enough to simply go over people.  Owens could be Omax and dunk over people but TBD.  Parham could be J Lewis but TBD.  Ben needs to get out of his role player shell but not sure this will happen.  Sean is lightning quick but is short and can get lost in the lane.  Others have pointed out that he isn't a consistent shooter from the arc.  I think his development is crucial to the teams success. So lots of question marks and i suppose that makes it fun.

Who are the bucket getters on this team?

[tower912]

Shaka said 'by committee'.  So, that is still TBD.

[mileskishnish72]

Shaka said 'by committee'.  So, that is still TBD.

Hope we get a horse and not a camel.

[muwarrior69]

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.

I'll take a one and done team over not getting into the dance. As the observer I rather see a live Schrodinger's cat.

[tower912]

I'll take a one and done team over not getting into the dance. As the observer I rather see a live Schrodinger's cat.

Meh, not a cat person.

[muwarrior69]

Meh, not a cat person.

Well then, a live Golden Eagle. At the very least another game in Dayton would not be so bad.

[MU82]

I like it Rico, Tower and Brew.  Hope you guys are absolutely spot on with your predictions that this is a tournament team.

With regard to defense, I think that will be a strength as well.  That to me is where the coaching and continuity comes in above all else.  That is the culture and identity of the program. 

Will be curious to see who the alpha scorers are this year.  The go to guys at the end of games.  Are they limited offensively in this regard.  Do they have a versatile scorer or two? Are there guys who can get their shots off in traffic?  Zaide looked like he could last year but didn't do it enough.  Chase, is a good straight line driver but doesn't seem to be able to get a shot off in traffic and isn't long enough to simply go over people.  Owens could be Omax and dunk over people but TBD.  Parham could be J Lewis but TBD.  Ben needs to get out of his role player shell but not sure this will happen.  Sean is lightning quick but is short and can get lost in the lane.  Others have pointed out that he isn't a consistent shooter from the arc.  I think his development is crucial to the teams success. So lots of question marks and i suppose that makes it fun.

Who are the bucket getters on this team?

Well, we know that Sean is willing to take the big shot. And we also know, in a very limited sample size, that he has been able to make a few of them, including arguably Marquette's most important basket of the 2023-24 regular season. Can he do similar in an expanded role?

Chase has hit some big shots, too, including in NCAA tournament games. In his previous role he wasn't asked to do so often, so it's fair to ask the same question about him in an expanded role.

But again, Shaka's second MU team entered the season with numerous question marks about who would be able to take and make the big shots. Though we hoped Kolek, Kam and OMax could, not a single one of them had proven any ability to do so before the season.

So we'll get to see in real time who the go-to guys are and who has improved the most. And you're right, that's part of the fun.

We Are Marquette!

[brewcity77]

Who are the bucket getters on this team?

My money would be on Royce to lead us in scoring. He should get the minutes and is the most assertive returning offensive player. But I think that's probably a 13-14 ppg scoring leader rather than a Justin Lewis/Kam Jones type.

I could see Royce, Chase, Sean, Ben, & Zaide all between 10-14 ppg. We might even have a double digit sixth man in Owens. I'm guessing Sean or Chase takes that last second shot, and I'm good with that.

Ultimately, I really trust the system. We know that on offense we're going to be patient in the half court and work for high percentage looks at the rim or the arc. On defense, we're going to speed teams up, turn them over, and score in transition. While other teams are figuring out their rosters (Indiana, Maryland, Dayton) we'll be collecting resume wins.

And in terms of talent, there are maybe 4 teams at our level or better in the Big East. That gives me a lot of confidence going into the league. We may not have the star power of years past, but we still have a high floor.