Bankrupt upfront

[#UnleashNigel]

I for one cannot make any criticism of Hamilton.  He was an unheralded, nobody Shaka recruit, who redshirted for his culture year at MU and now is entering his third year as the starting center for a Big East team. Good for him, he is doing the best of his ability.  The problem is that he is Shaka's center, his recruit, who he developed and retained in his system. Shaka kept him in the program and did not look to replace him. Clark is identical in his development/background and see how it works out.

Hopefully both work out and don't end up like Al Amadou, who was on the same path as both. He transferred to St. Joes and is at the end of the bench with the team managers.

That's a great story and all, but at the end of the day currently Hamilton looks lost. That's all that matters at the top d1 level.

[Markusquette]

That's a great story and all, but at the end of the day currently Hamilton looks lost. That's all that matters at the top d1 level.

On top of being lost, he's just not there athletically or skills-wise. He'd be lucky to even start for a horizon league team and MU is forced to play him. Pearson appears to be the best big man signing in Shaka's tenure so far. Really have to hope he pans out. With how poor the sophomores and juniors look overall, he really needs to hit on the new signings.

[79Warrior]

Shaka got a reputation for developing raw bigs, but those (Sanders, Allen, Haynes, Kai Jones, Oso) were super athletic. The bigs he's recruited to MU are just the opposite. Gold is at best an OK athlete. Hamilton and Clark are plodding out there.

Disagree with your assessment of Gold. He works his tail off with a cast of misfit bigs. If he had an experienced center to work with his life would be easier.

We will get our ass beat down low again in the BE this season. We do not have the size nor ability to finish around the rim.

Going to be a long season.

[nyg]

That's a great story and all, but at the end of the day currently Hamilton looks lost. That's all that matters at the top d1 level.

That's a great story and all, but at the end of the day currently Hamilton looks lost. That's all that matters at the top d1 level.

My story was having an ending that Hamilton hatred should be placed on Shaka and his staff, not him as a player.  Shaka brought him in and evaluated him.  Shaka made the decision to start him. At this point, it's all MU has unless Gold moves back to the center and Parham at the PF. It's not like Hamilton isn't trying, at this point and maybe never, he does not have the required skill set for Big East caliber play. 

[mileskishnish72]

Take the redshirt off Pearson.

And then we might have the record - THREE centers that aren't ready for Div. 1 college basketball.

[Viper]

Dude. Get off the ledge. We might have a down year. I'll take 1 down year out of 5. And Shaka massively overachieved Years 1,2 and 3.

Some MU fans need to relax and chill out. I for sure am not throwing in the towel on this team/season despite the slow start.

i appreciate your optimism, but if Shaka hadn't 'overachieved' in the seasons you mention, then maybe we should be really worried?...as in...MU got lucky those years...where we are now is where we maybe should have been? I don't think year 1 was an overachieve as much as it was a team underrated going into the season, imo. Year 2 and 3...I didn't expect 2-seeds, but I felt MU was definitely a solid 5, or thereabouts. Yr 4 played out as I anticipated. Yr 5? I predicted on this site some backsliding...9-11 conf record and NIT bid, but with a little good fortune maybe a last-in ncaa type season. However, not sure anyone is on the ledge after today. Rather, the majority is more-so realistic to what we've seen. Which is...the team isn't very good, with too many recruiting misses.

[dpucane]

Dude. Get off the ledge. We might have a down year. I'll take 1 down year out of 5. And Shaka massively overachieved Years 1,2 and 3.

Some MU fans need to relax and chill out. I for sure am not throwing in the towel on this team/season despite the slow start.

Brewcity nailed it in another thread:

Last year is what a "down year" should look like for this program. Spending the money they do on a mid-major team should not fly.

[1SE]

Recruiting misses coupled with being an average to below average in-game coach. His rotations, and his (lack of) use of timeouts in key moments can be real head scratchers.

Maybe this is the year we flip the script and are much better in March than we were in November.

Or maybe the November success of some of the past years is the anomaly and what we've seen in post new year Shaka most years is the real deal.

[Small Orange Soda]

This whole 'let's replace projects with projects' thing is a disaster

[Warrior of Law]

Ideally, MU is spending a fraction on this roster. There's 5 BE players on this roster: James, Gold, Ross, Lowery, and Stevens. I can't imagine paying any of the other players, nor would anyone else. Rebuild and restock the coffers.

[Big Papi]

I'm fine with Hamilton. He'd be fine off the bench. I'm more disappointed in Owens and Parham. I was never one who thought Owens would take minutes from Lowery but I didn't think Owens would be a net negative on the floor. Parham has been better than Owens, but he's nowhere near where I thought he'd be after last year.

The best lineup is Lowery, Ross, Gold, Parham, and James. The guys playing meaningful minutes off the bench should be Stevens, Jones, and Hamilton. The remainder of the bench should be playing only mop up minutes.

I agree.  I am fine with Hamilton.  I like the progress that he has made.  He would be best suited to be a backup getting 8-10 minutes max a game at this point in his development, but he will be solid his next 2 years.  What we don't have this year is legit high level big for this year to take on the other 20-25 minutes.  Gold and Parham are fours. 

Getting a portal big for this year would have been huge.  From a definite need and from a development standpoint for Hamilton, Clark and Pearson. 

[GoldenEagles03]

I get that our tournament hopes are shot but I want to enjoy this year. I feel so bad for Chase and Ben because they have been really good so far. Anything they do the rest of the year doesn't benefit the future of the program. They are playing for this year.

Need an angle for optimism the rest of the way. Who's got one for me?

[Big Papi]

Need an angle for optimism the rest of the way. Who's got one for me?

Where there is failure there is opportunity.

This is a deep group with some higher ceiling players.  Shaka needs to gameplay better and a couple of players need to step it up.  Not out of the question, that some could step up and really elevate their game for the betterment of this team.  Freshmen need to become sophs quickly and Owens/Parham need to believe in their skills.

What I don't get is that for how connected they are as a team/culture, you would think their defending would be significantly better.  24 deflections in a fast paced game is awful.  It can only get better from here. Right?

[GoldenEagles03]

Where there is failure there is opportunity.

This is a deep group with some higher ceiling players.  Shaka needs to gameplay better and a couple of players need to step it up.  Not out of the question, that some could step up and really elevate their game for the betterment of this team.  Freshmen need to become sophs quickly and Owens/Parham need to believe in their skills.

What I don't get is that for how connected they are as a team/culture, you would think their defending would be significantly better.  24 deflections in a fast paced game is awful.  It can only get better from here. Right?

I like it. I want to see how we respond.

A team like we have should be able to come out angry and play with some real energy. You're totally right that it starts with Owens and Parham though because the rest of our guys that are capable, are playing fairly well. Those two need to grow up. Seeing a team respond to adversity is one of the most fun things about the college game. Hopefully we do.

[Pakuni]

Disagree with your assessment of Gold. He works his tail off with a cast of misfit bigs. If he had an experienced center to work with his life would be easier.

We will get our ass beat down low again in the BE this season. We do not have the size nor ability to finish around the rim.

Going to be a long season.

My assessment of Gold is that he's just an OK athlete. Do you think he's comparable athletically to, say, Oso?
Said nothing about how hard he works or his supporting cast.

[Pakuni]

Where there is failure there is opportunity.

This is a deep group with some higher ceiling players.  Shaka needs to gameplay better and a couple of players need to step it up.  Not out of the question, that some could step up and really elevate their game for the betterment of this team.  Freshmen need to become sophs quickly and Owens/Parham need to believe in their skills.

Some might say Owens and Parham need to believe a little less in their skills and believe a little more in playing within themselves and the system.

[wadesworld]

I get that our tournament hopes are shot but I want to enjoy this year. I feel so bad for Chase and Ben because they have been really good so far. Anything they do the rest of the year doesn't benefit the future of the program. They are playing for this year.

Need an angle for optimism the rest of the way. Who's got one for me?

Our Tournament hopes are not shot after 5 games. We just aren't a good team. But the idea that losses to 2 mediocre Power 5 teams in November ends our seasons is crazy.

[GoldenEagles03]

Our Tournament hopes are not shot after 5 games. We just aren't a good team. But the idea that losses to 2 mediocre Power 5 teams in November ends our seasons is crazy.

Given the limited opportunities for quality wins, yes, they needed them. Unless you are thinking they are winning @ Purdue, UW, or against UConn.

[wadesworld]

Given the limited opportunities for quality wins, yes, they needed them. Unless you are thinking they are winning @ Purdue, UW, or against UConn.

So our tournament hopes are not shot. There are plenty of opportunities for wins. The team just isn't good enough to get them.

[brewcity77]

So our tournament hopes are not shot. There are plenty of opportunities for wins. The team just isn't good enough to get them.

I don't think the "we still have a chance because there are games left that we aren't good enough to win" is a rousing endorsement of those tournaments hopes.

[wadesworld]

I don't think the "we still have a chance because there are games left that we aren't good enough to win" is a rousing endorsement of those tournaments hopes.

If we play to your #2 preseason predicted position in the Big East, we will have ZERO problem getting into the NCAA Tournament, despite some here claiming that our NCAA Tournament chances were slammed shut on 11/15.

The reality is, we probably were never good enough to be a Tournament team given how we've played against the two high major teams we've played.  Getting one of the games against Indiana or Maryland is unlikely going to be the difference in us making or not making the Tournament.  So, I guess our season ended in September.

[brewcity77]

That was based on the expectation (largely informed by our own staff) that the young returning players would take a step they haven't taken & SJ was going to be break m very good & he hasn't been.

Also as much an expectation that SJU & Creighton wouldn't be as good as expected, and they haven't been. The only thing I'd change is swapping us and Georgetown.

But regardless, I'm talking about what's actually happened, not preseason predictions.

[TallTitan34]

I think the Theo James fan club has migrated to Caedin.

I don't remember any Scoopers being a fan of Theo James.