Shaka’s mess

[onepost]

The only silver lining of our season being over in two weeks is there is absolutely no excuse not to the play the freshmen and sophomores every minute humanly possible.  Enough with the meaningless "well embedded mole" bullshit via Rothstein, it's time to sink or swim.  Play Owens, Clark, Phillips, James, Stevens, Parham as much as you possibly can, and if they prove themselves, bring em back.  If not, then be a highly-compensated college coach and move on to someone more talented.  This isn't a charity, as much as Shaka's loyalty to scrubs is Make-A-Wish lite.

I would love to see him pull Ian's redshirt and see what he's got.  There's no use in redshirting a guy most of us were surprised is sitting when we need to know right now who can hack it at this level.  I'm done with the Caedin Hamilon, Al Amadou, Emarion Ellis, Tre Norman, Keeyan Itejere leeches who stay on the roster when they have no business playing at this level.

[Charlotte Warrior]

That so many people are losing their sh@& is beyond funny to me.  Shaka is a great coach, builds a program the university and the Alumni can be proud of, does it right and really connects with the players.  I'm glad we stay out of that portal mess, I don't want a "rent a team".  I'd sign up to have him coach my kids every day of the week.  We are having a down year, things will improve, guaranteed.  Step back and take a breath, enjoy the season.  The sky is not falling.  2025 may not be our year, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Sheeesh

[onepost]

That so many people are losing their sh@& is beyond funny to me.  Shaka is a great coach, builds a program the university and the Alumni can be proud of, does it right and really connects with the players.  I'm glad we stay out of that portal mess, I don't want a "rent a team".  I'd sign up to have him coach my kids every day of the week.  We are having a down year, things will improve, guaranteed.  Step back and take a breath, enjoy the season.  The sky is not falling.  2025 may not be our year, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Sheeesh

We've been a bad basketball team for an entire calendar year.  The only difference is the guys who have the talent to make us an actual contender are too young to truly affect winning at a high level.  Congrats on having the patience to wait until 2027-2028 to be good again; in today's day and age, at a program the caliber of Marquette, I personally find that inexcusable.

[NCMUFan]

That so many people are losing their sh@& is beyond funny to me.  Shaka is a great coach, builds a program the university and the Alumni can be proud of, does it right and really connects with the players.  I'm glad we stay out of that portal mess, I don't want a "rent a team".  I'd sign up to have him coach my kids every day of the week.  We are having a down year, things will improve, guaranteed.  Step back and take a breath, enjoy the season.  The sky is not falling.  2025 may not be our year, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Sheeesh

Would like to hear about this guarantee.
It is about returning MU to BB greatness.  Not about coaching kid teams.
The rules about building a team have changed.
One can do it the old way and be a bottom dweller because one isn't using all the resources available to them that other teams are using.

[Hards Alumni]

The only silver lining of our season being over in two weeks is there is absolutely no excuse not to the play the freshmen and sophomores every minute humanly possible.  Enough with the meaningless "well embedded mole" bullshit via Rothstein, it's time to sink or swim.  Play Owens, Clark, Phillips, James, Stevens, Parham as much as you possibly can, and if they prove themselves, bring em back.  If not, then be a highly-compensated college coach and move on to someone more talented.  This isn't a charity, as much as Shaka's loyalty to scrubs is Make-A-Wish lite.

I would love to see him pull Ian's redshirt and see what he's got.  There's no use in redshirting a guy most of us were surprised is sitting when we need to know right now who can hack it at this level.  I'm done with the Caedin Hamilon, Al Amadou, Emarion Ellis, Tre Norman, Keeyan Itejere leeches who stay on the roster when they have no business playing at this level.

You sounded fairly reasonable until your last paragraph.  Also, I was not surprised Ian caught a red shirt.

[Billy Hoyle]

That so many people are losing their sh@& is beyond funny to me.  Shaka is a great coach, builds a program the university and the Alumni can be proud of, does it right and really connects with the players.  I'm glad we stay out of that portal mess, I don't want a "rent a team".  I'd sign up to have him coach my kids every day of the week.  We are having a down year, things will improve, guaranteed.  Step back and take a breath, enjoy the season.  The sky is not falling.  2025 may not be our year, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Sheeesh

Yeah, it would suck to be a Purdue fan being unable to be proud of the Boilers knowing Painter sold his soul for a "rent a team" by bringing in one transfer before the 2023-24 season and one for this season. Just shameful.

[Jay Bee]

So you're saying we have less for hoops than VCU, which committed $4.5 million for revenue share, meaning men's hoops players are getting around $400k each from the school?

I'm saying what you said in the post I replied to is not true.

[Markusquette]

Yeah, it would suck to be a Purdue fan being unable to be proud of the Boilers knowing Painter sold his soul for a "rent a team" by bringing in one transfer before the 2023-24 season and one for this season. Just shameful.

Yup. Portal use is not about overhauling a roster year after year. It's about properly supplementing a growing team of recruits to fill gaps and maintain a high level of competitiveness

[wadesworld]

In general, I of course agree with your point and have said the same exact thing.
But what makes you think 2026 was "a good start"?  We have one player that projects to be a true difference maker, and two guys that SCREAM Tre Norman and Caedin Hamilton-esque talents.

Ethan Johnston was terrible this past summer, really from the time he committed onward.  To me, he looks like a longer Tre Norman.  And Nash Walker is so bad at everything but shooting that Shaka's spinniest spin on his commitment was "he's bad at everything but shooting".  I would argue 2026 was much more comparable to the 2022 Chase Ross, Ben Gold, Sean Jones class than anything close to Nigel James, Adrien Stevens, Sheek Pearson, Ian Miletic, Michael Phillips class: in other words, a giant step back.

That's why losing out on Dooney Johnson was such a killer.  THAT is the level of talent Shaka needs to be bringing in every year, and the kid was a local product that the staff felt was in the best position for.  I'm as low on Marquette basketball as I was in the 2020-2021 Wojo era, and that's fucking alarming.  Only difference is Shaka is actively making life so much harder on himself: he's playing with one arm tied behind his back (no portal usage) and blind (settling for back-end top 100 kids and no-name projects no one else wanted).  He's basically the Helen Keller of college basketball.

Because Sheek was part of the 2026 class as well. And I'll take shooters that are "bad at everything else." Egbuonu to me is Shaka's best freshman recruit. We'll see if that turns out right or not, but that kind of big bodied athlete is the kind of guy we really need.

[wadesworld]

We've been a bad basketball team for an entire calendar year.  The only difference is the guys who have the talent to make us an actual contender are too young to truly affect winning at a high level.  Congrats on having the patience to wait until 2027-2028 to be good again; in today's day and age, at a program the caliber of Marquette, I personally find that inexcusable.

When did Marquette fans suddenly think Marquette is North Carolina?

Like I said before, the reaction here is absolutely bonkers. We're not above a down season.

[MU82]

Shaka's peak at MU may well turn out to have been December 20th, 2023. It's actually been pretty grim since then

That's just dopey.

[Viper]

We've been a bad basketball team for an entire calendar year.  The only difference is the guys who have the talent to make us an actual contender are too young to truly affect winning at a high level.  Congrats on having the patience to wait until 2027-2028 to be good again; in today's day and age, at a program the caliber of Marquette, I personally find that inexcusable.

100%. The collective angst is basically (and justifiably, imo) ...we're taking a step back, r u serious? Others reload and basketball centric Marquette RGV's to 20 L's. Must avoid DePaulville. Bad neighborhood to be in.

[CountryRoads]

Yup. Portal use is not about overhauling a roster year after year. It's about properly supplementing a growing team of recruits to fill gaps and maintain a high level of competitiveness

Which is what MU has done throughout their history up until now for some reason. No one ever complained about any transfer in or thought we were renting a team. Always been a good option to fill a hole with an experienced player.

[wadesworld]

100%. The collective angst is basically (and justifiably, imo) ...we're taking a step back, r u serious? Others reload and basketball centric Marquette RGV's to 20 L's. Must avoid DePaulville. Bad neighborhood to be in.

Name the programs that haven't had one down year in the five years?

Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston, Tennessee, and Baylor are the only schools with longer NCAA Tournament streaks than Marquette. All have Hall of Fame coaches who have been at their schools much longer than Shaka besides Scheyer.

And the idea that we've "been bad for a year" just goes to show what a spoiled baby fanbase we have. We finished tied for 4th in the Big East and were a 7 seed in the Tournament. I know some here think that's unacceptable and something to turn our nose up at, but those people are not in touch with reality.

We're a good program that somehow some people here think only Shaka is stopping us from being peak John Wooden's UCLA.

[Viper]

When did Marquette fans suddenly think Marquette is North Carolina?

Like I said before, the reaction here is absolutely bonkers. We're not above a down season.

you are correct 100%, we are not UNC. But we do have a helluva basketball pedigree. This extreme of a step back is self-inflicted. Need not happen.

[Pakuni]

When did Marquette fans suddenly think Marquette is North Carolina?

Like I said before, the reaction here is absolutely bonkers. We're not above a down season.

Nobody's saying MU is above a bad season. Some are concerned that Shaka's model seems to have the program trending the wrong way. Since Feb. 1, Shaka's teams are 5-11 against non-cupcakes. None of those wins were over a KenPom top 40 opponent. Four were over teams rated 90+. Bottom line, MU is 1-11 vs quality opponents since Feb. 1, and that's being generous to Maryland and Dayton.

And next year's roster looks less talented than this year. We can I hope - I hope - for some developmental leaps from guys like Owens, Parham and Lowery. Or maybe the freshmen save the day. But right now we're heading into next season with Zaide Lowery as the team's best player. And no disrespect to Zaide, but he would be a bench player on the 22/23, 23/24 and 24/25 teams.

The worry isn't a down season. It's down seasons.

[wadesworld]

you are correct 100%, we are not UNC. But we do have a helluva basketball pedigree. This extreme of a step back is self-inflicted. Need not happen.

It needs to get better. And if this approach isn't going to work Shaka needs to adjust. I trust he will. But we aren't immune to a down year with his current approach, and we won't be immune to a down year if he adjusts how the fanbase wants him to or if we get a new coach. Just reality.