What does this team do well?

[Class71]

Wow, what a flame out.

Do not blame the kids. It is the coaches plan, not theirs.

 

[dpucane]

In past years, prior to the game staring, the announcers would always discuss MU's type of play, deflections and other issues.  Past two games, they discuss the non portal strategy and philosophy of Shaka.  Fanta/Bahe brought it up even during the game. Brain Anderson last two prior games discussed it and again used the "culture" wording throughout.

So, it has come down to this, not talking about actual on the court play, but philosophy of a coach.  Is that what MU is now noted for?

this is what makes all this so much worse. Marquette is clearly behind these narratives we get fed every pregame by the tv crew. We're constantly getting lectured about how this is the right thing to do.

[jesmu84]

To be clear, I'm 110% on board with shaka. Don't want him to go anywhere. I'm on board with whatever philosophy he wants in team building. I'm eternally grateful for the success he has brought to MU so far.

But this team, this year, stinks so far

[rocky_warrior]

eternally grateful

!!!

[onepost]

I'm on board with whatever philosophy he wants in team building.

This is just so so so foolish. How can so many on this board be so dense.
WHY? He is showing you year after year that his philosophy is unnatural carnal knowledgeing awful.

[Pakuni]

To be clear, I'm 110% on board with shaka. Don't want him to go anywhere. I'm on board with whatever philosophy he wants in team building. I'm eternally grateful for the success he has brought to MU so far.

But this team, this year, stinks so far

I say this with all due respect, but I don't understand this kind this kind of slavish devotion to Shaka or any other coach. Crean and Buzz did more for this program than Shaka (and I'd argue KO as well), and I don't remember anyone saying stuff like this about them.

Shaka has done great work at MU and his seat should be ice cold right now. But a Sweet 16 and conference title isn't a lifetime pass or guarantee of future employment. Shaka needs to earn his job every year like the rest of us. Bad seasons can happen to good coaches, and if that's all this is, fine. But if his philosophy in team building leads to more bad seasons, I'm most definitely not OK with that. None of us should be..

[wadesworld]

Good luck getting anything here.
All wades wants to do is nitpick phrasing and play semantics as some sort of own. But a justification for why he thinks that way? Don't hold your breath.

I've said it many times. Not sure what you expect him to do in the middle of the season. Unfortunately no trading in college basketball.

Well, actually I do know what you expect him to do. You expect him to play all the freshman and pull redshirts in a lost season so that you personally can decide whether those players are worth keeping around. Logical, to say the least.

[wadesworld]

This is just so so so foolish. How can so many on this board be so dense.
WHY? He is showing you year after year that his philosophy is unnatural carnal knowledgeing awful.

Lol yes. The guy who took over a program with 0 Tourney wins in the previous decade and got a 9 seed, 2 seed, 2 seed, and 7 seed his first season has shown year after year that his philosophy is unnatural carnal knowledgeing awful.

[NCMUFan]

Has Shaka hit his ceiling as a coach?
Should we stop thinking he is the Wizard of Oz?
Is recruiting now a 24/7 365 days a year job and do we need to stop believing he can change every HSer he recruits into a top 25 team ranked caliber player?

[wadesworld]

Has Shaka hit his ceiling as a coach?
Should we stop thinking he is the Wizard of Oz?
Is recruiting now a 24/7 365 days a year job and do we need to stop believing he can change every HSer he recruits into a top 25 team ranked caliber player?

He needs to up the talent level in the program, yes.

[79Warrior]

He needs to up the talent level in the program, yes.

Exactly. What we see on the floor is a flat out recruiting bust for the most part. Call it what it is. Too many players just not high major guys. No shooters other than Chase and Nigel. Going to be a long season.

[jfp61]

can we bench caedin now

[GoldenEagles03]

can we bench caedin now

Is 0-4 on layups as a starting center really that bad?

[onepost]

I've said it many times. Not sure what you expect him to do in the middle of the season. Unfortunately no trading in college basketball.

Well, actually I do know what you expect him to do. You expect him to play all the freshman and pull redshirts in a lost season so that you personally can decide whether those players are worth keeping around. Logical, to say the least.

And this is why people don't take you seriously on this board. Hyperbole this, semantics that, no actual discourse.

"He can't trade players! Unless I missed that lolol. Nothing he can do!" The crux of all of this is his roster construction is so terrible we WISH he could trade. His loyalty to bad players in lieu of proven transfers is why we're here. So yes, his years of bad decisions is enough for me to criticize him on his 2025-2026 results. His loyalty to Caedin Hamilton is legitimately losing us games RIGHT NOW. And if you argue we have no better options at C, refer up a couple sentences.

"You expect him to pull all the redshirts and play only freshmen 40 minutes so YOU can decide if they should play at Marquette. I take what you say literally and will not deduce your comment to a larger point. I am very intelligent!" It's been obvious this season is a lost cause for any tourney aspirations. So yes, I'd like to see Shaka develop his freshmen and sophomores so we're not left holding the bag with players like Ben Gold, Tre Norman, Sean Jones in their junior and senior years. Sure, I would have pulled Ian's redshirt to get him game action. I'm looking at Creighton and Hudson Greer went from a redshirt to being one of their better players. But you're clearly ok with this trajectory so nothing I say will dissuade you from it.

[onepost]

Lol yes. The guy who took over a program with 0 Tourney wins in the previous decade and got a 9 seed, 2 seed, 2 seed, and 7 seed his first season has shown year after year that his philosophy is unnatural carnal knowledgeing awful.

You're proving my point without realizing it. Yes, Shaka is a great coach and I've said numerous times I want him to be at Marquette for a long time. The fact he's shown he's capable of that success is why it's so frustrating this is the result we're getting. Yep, he's had 9, 2, 2, and 7 seeds, and it's clear we are tending downward considerably. He took O-Max and Kolek and got a 2 seed. Had Kolek and got a 2 seed. Didn't do anything at all and we got a 7 seed and were on life support from January on. Didn't do anything at all and now we're one of the worst teams in the Big East and incapable of beating any high major teams, 2 at home and 2 in Chicago in front of lots of our fans. Yet you see that and again don't see the same issues. Which is beyond perplexing.

The very route he took (out of necessity) gave Marquette great success. And now he is actively refusing to go the same route that gave him said success and we are only getting worse. Riddle me that, semantics boy.

[Newsdreams]

You're proving my point without realizing it. Yes, Shaka is a great coach and I've said numerous times I want him to be at Marquette for a long time. The fact he's shown he's capable of that success is why it's so frustrating this is the result we're getting. Yep, he's had 9, 2, 2, and 7 seeds, and it's clear we are tending downward considerably. He took O-Max and Kolek and got a 2 seed. Had Kolek and got a 2 seed. Didn't do anything at all and we got a 7 seed and were on life support from January on. Didn't do anything at all and now we're one of the worst teams in the Big East and incapable of beating any high major teams, 2 at home and 2 in Chicago in front of lots of our fans. Yet you see that and again don't see the same issues. Which is beyond perplexing.

The very route he took (out of necessity) gave Marquette great success. And now he is actively refusing to go the same route that gave him said success and we are only getting worse. Riddle me that, semantics boy.

Calm down, you might have a heart attack at a young age. Those are the worse, mostly fatal, R-E-L-A-X

[The Sultan]

He needs to up the talent level in the program, yes.

So why then do you get all out of sorts when people are concerned that he apparently completely ignores one path in which he can do so?

[onepost]

Calm down, you might have a heart attack at a young age. Those are the worse, mostly fatal, R-E-L-A-X

*can't dispute what's being said*
"Calm down"

[Viper]

Make the fanbase sound like my five 5 year old and younger nieces and nephews at 8 PM after all of their energy has run out.

suggestions on how to improve things?

[Viper]

To be clear, I'm 110% on board with shaka. Don't want him to go anywhere. I'm on board with whatever philosophy he wants in team building. I'm eternally grateful for the success he has brought to MU so far.

But this team, this year, stinks so far

you serious? You are on board with this garbage?

[Billy Hoyle]

this is what makes all this so much worse. Marquette is clearly behind these narratives we get fed every pregame by the tv crew. We're constantly getting lectured about how this is the right thing to do.

The Spirit Shop has a ton of RGV branded shirts, hars, pint glasses, keychains, etc to unload. Need to keep the narrative going.

If we're under . 500 in February it will become the new "Buzz's Bunch."

[Viper]

You're proving my point without realizing it. Yes, Shaka is a great coach and I've said numerous times I want him to be at Marquette for a long time. The fact he's shown he's capable of that success is why it's so frustrating this is the result we're getting. Yep, he's had 9, 2, 2, and 7 seeds, and it's clear we are tending downward considerably. He took O-Max and Kolek and got a 2 seed. Had Kolek and got a 2 seed. Didn't do anything at all and we got a 7 seed and were on life support from January on. Didn't do anything at all and now we're one of the worst teams in the Big East and incapable of beating any high major teams, 2 at home and 2 in Chicago in front of lots of our fans. Yet you see that and again don't see the same issues. Which is beyond perplexing.

The very route he took (out of necessity) gave Marquette great success. And now he is actively refusing to go the same route that gave him said success and we are only getting worse. Riddle me that, semantics boy.

100% agreed

[wadesworld]

And this is why people don't take you seriously on this board. Hyperbole this, semantics that, no actual discourse.

"He can't trade players! Unless I missed that lolol. Nothing he can do!" The crux of all of this is his roster construction is so terrible we WISH he could trade. His loyalty to bad players in lieu of proven transfers is why we're here. So yes, his years of bad decisions is enough for me to criticize him on his 2025-2026 results. His loyalty to Caedin Hamilton is legitimately losing us games RIGHT NOW. And if you argue we have no better options at C, refer up a couple sentences.

"You expect him to pull all the redshirts and play only freshmen 40 minutes so YOU can decide if they should play at Marquette. I take what you say literally and will not deduce your comment to a larger point. I am very intelligent!" It's been obvious this season is a lost cause for any tourney aspirations. So yes, I'd like to see Shaka develop his freshmen and sophomores so we're not left holding the bag with players like Ben Gold, Tre Norman, Sean Jones in their junior and senior years. Sure, I would have pulled Ian's redshirt to get him game action. I'm looking at Creighton and Hudson Greer went from a redshirt to being one of their better players. But you're clearly ok with this trajectory so nothing I say will dissuade you from it.

If you don't like what you post then don't post it. Or if you don't mean what you post, then post what you mean. I'll respond to what you say. Sorry if I read your posts...well, as they're posted.

[wadesworld]

So why then do you get all out of sorts when people are concerned that he apparently completely ignores one path in which he can do so?

Because it's different to say "Shaka's refusal to use one of the most important avenues to building a roster" and another thing to say Shaka is showing "year after year that his philosophy is unnatural carnal knowledgeing awful" when his philosophy has brought the highest two single seeds MU has ever got in an NCAA Tournament and two other single digit seeds in his four seasons here. There's criticism and there's being a whiny baby. Even if the person claims his posts aren't literal once he sees how absurd they are.

Shaka has had nothing but success until this season while at MU. He will have to adjust, whether that's landing higher level high school players, recruiting the portal, or both. People are acting like there's no shot in hell he's going to do anything to try to improve the roster, he's just going to sit here and be too good for those adjustments. I personally think the guy's a good coach and a competitive guy who misread his roster this year. I think he'll make necessary adjustments. Other people think he only takes good players against his will and need to be forced to bring in players he doesn't want by his assistants.

[Pakuni]

I've said it many times. Not sure what you expect him to do in the middle of the season. Unfortunately no trading in college basketball.

I don't expect him to do anything about it in the middle of the season.
I do expect him to use his 20+ years of coaching experience to adequately assess the weaknesses of his roster, and then use all the tools at his disposal to address them.

What we've seen the past couple of years is him either missing the flaws of his teams; seeing them and choosing not to address them in service to a principle; or seeing them but believing he's found a way overcome them through relationships and growth.
I tend to suspect it's a bit of all three.