What would make you show Shaka the door in March?

[Galway Eagle]

Are they? They are ACTUALLY at blue bloods. Marquette is nowhere near the level of Kentucky or UNC. And Davis has disappointed for multiple seasons.

Yes. Davis has disappointed, that's a far cry from UNC's worst season for over 30 years. Similar with Pope, rough or disappointing years happen, even at blue bloods but those aren't full on catastrophes like this.

Again I'm mostly on your side here and like the gates comp, just calling out the absurd other two.

[brewcity77]

Okay. You are this dumb.

If that's the best you can come up with, probably time to log off and save yourself further embarrassment. Tonight ain't the night to defend this BS.

[DoctorV]

Seriously, anyone, what is one thing Shaka has done in this 2025-26 season that warrants bringing him back?

-He scheduled 2 games in Chicago.
-He secured the commitments of Sheek Pearson and Alex Egbuonu for next season.
-He sent Joplin, Oso, TyKo, and Kam some nice RGV gear
-He hasn't yet turned on his fragile team in the press
-He deservedly and quickly put two freshmen into the starting lineup.

I get you're very upset, you should be.
I don't get you turning on Shaka so quickly, it's pretty myopic.

He deserves a ton of the blame, and I promise you he will wear that blame.
The individuals on the court carry some of it as well. He believed in them and their improvement, and they have let him down.

The thought of avoiding the portal, sticking with your guys, growing old and staying old, etc etc makes a lot of sense in a bubble, especially at Marquette.

He will adapt and correct it by next season, and you will look foolish for even suggesting that he should be canned.
It's preposterous.

Besides, I know it takes some imagination, especially in bleak days like we are currently living, but a future of (current underclassmen)
-Nigel James
-Adrien Stevens
-Royce Parham
-Damarius Owens
-Josh Clark
-Phillips II
-Ian Miletic
-Ethan Johnston
-Nash Walker
-Sheek Pearson
-Alex Egbuonu

from a pedigree and ability standpoint isn't completely devoid of future talent.

Does it excite me without a big splash in the portal? Not quite, but it's not a complete future disaster.

At the end of the day, if Coach Shaka is who I think he is, a year like this one will help improve both him and Marquette in the long run.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

So still not one single thing he's done this year to justify him returning next year. At least you're making use of that shovel.

Come on, you're being absolutely ridiculous. 

I agree he, the staff, and the team have been absolutely horrendous.  And his plan moving forward should be part of the equation. 

But you ignoring the first 4 years of his tenure is inexplicable and illogical. 

[IL Warrior]

Lol. My position is it's absurd to fire a coach that has had nothing but success for his first four years for one bad year, and to determine whether a coach "deserves to be back" every year, without taking into account the entire tenure. That's an absolutely asinine way to run an athletic department. I know we're failing your expectations and I know you think a 7 seed should be MU's down year despite history saying that's crazy, but you're smarter than this.

Gary Parish saying something about guys who haven't had any success at their job doesn't mean it applies to every individual season. There's also a reason Gary Parish is a journalist and not running an athletic department.

He won with Wojo's recruits and transfers. Wojo's recruits are all gone and he has refused to take transfers. This season is what you get with Shaka's RGV.

If you want to focus on the past, here are some stats for you:
Shaka has lost his last 5 NCAA tournament games against single-digit seeds. The last win was in 2012.
Shaka is 1-10 in his last 11 NCAA tournament games against teams seeded 1-14.

We kept our last coach long after it was clear he couldn't cut it at this level. Let's not make that mistake again.

[cheebs09]

What this season has shown that? He's coaching scared. Won't call timeouts. Can't scheme against a zone. Defense is broken. I don't know WTF happened but the biggest problem with this team is what's happening on the sidelines. I've never seen a coach so thoroughly out of ideas.

This season is only half over. It's a train wreck. But I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt based on his career and time at MU.

Maybe I'm just a crazy optimist, but I think he can be very successful here, but he definitely has to change his roster building or else the margin of error is just razor thin.

[panda]

-He scheduled 2 games in Chicago.
-He secured the commitments of Sheek Pearson and Alex Egbuonu for next season.
-He sent Joplin, Oso, TyKo, and Kam some nice RGV gear
-He hasn't yet turned on his fragile team in the press
-He deservedly and quickly put two freshmen into the starting lineup.

I get you're very upset, you should be.
I don't get you turning on Shaka so quickly, it's pretty myopic.

He deserves a ton of the blame, and I promise you he will wear that blame.
The individuals on the court carry some of it as well. He believed in them and their improvement, and they have let him down.

The thought of avoiding the portal, sticking with your guys, growing old and staying old, etc etc makes a lot of sense in a bubble, especially at Marquette.

He will adapt and correct it by next season, and you will look foolish for even suggesting that he should be canned.
It's preposterous.

Besides, I know it takes some imagination, especially in bleak days like we are currently living, but a future of (current underclassmen)
-Nigel James
-Adrien Stevens
-Royce Parham
-Damarius Owens
-Josh Clark
-Phillips II
-Ian Miletic
-Ethan Johnston
-Nash Walker
-Sheek Pearson
-Alex Egbuonu

from a pedigree and ability standpoint isn't completely devoid of future talent.

Does it excite me without a big splash in the portal? Not quite, but it's not a complete future disaster.

At the end of the day, if Coach Shaka is who I think he is, a year like this one will help improve both him and Marquette in the long run.

This is insane. What a wild post.

And of the players you're hanging your hat on moving forward? Only James and parham have played what I would consider meaningful minutes at this level. And neither of them are lighting it up. 

[Shooter McGavin]

Firing Shaka after his first bad year would be insane. Deciding every year whether a coach has done well enough in that year to bring him back is a horrendous way to run a basketball program.

I think this a good point on a regular down year. .500 maybe a little better.  Remember when Wojo went 8-10 in Big East play?

But Chicago St. bad?  Wow.  I like Shaka as well but this is utter incompetence. 

Hope he does the right thing with his roster at the end of the season.  Keep the best.  Jettison the worst.  Back fill with high level portal players.

[panda]

I think this a good point on a regular down year. .500 maybe a little better.  Remember when Wojo went 8-10 in Big East play?

But Chicago St. bad?  Wow.  I like Shaka as well but this is utter incompetence. 

Hope he does the right thing with his roster at the end of the season.  Keep the best.  Jettison the worst.  Back fill with high level portal players.

I hope to look back on this post at the end of the year and think how silly it is based on the hopeful improvement from the team. However, so far, this is a fireable performance. Heck we almost/should have lost to VALPO at home! Without their best player for half the game! It's time for a restart. Shaka is not willing to put a decent product on the floor and values relationships more than actually winning.

[Newsdreams]

He won with Wojo's recruits and transfers. Wojo's recruits are all gone and he has refused to take transfers. This season is what you get with Shaka's RGV.

If you want to focus on the past, here are some stats for you:
Shaka has lost his last 5 NCAA tournament games against single-digit seeds. The last win was in 2012.
Shaka is 1-10 in his last 11 NCAA tournament games against teams seeded 1-14.

We kept our last coach long after it was clear he couldn't cut it at this level. Let's not make that mistake again.

He did win with his transfers

[JTJ3]

We're also forgetting how Shaka left Texas... he knew he was going to be fired after one more year so he left for Marquette to save his image and start fresh.

Could easily see that happening this offseason, since he's done it before.  He has to know he's boxed himself in here, he needs more talent but to cut guys and add real talent he'd be destroying everything he's preached about relationships the past 4 years.

Plus this would also save Marquette from having to pay the buyout next year.  Win/win.

[brewcity77]

Come on, you're being absolutely ridiculous. 

I agree he, the staff, and the team have been absolutely horrendous.  And his plan moving forward should be part of the equation. 

But you ignoring the first 4 years of his tenure is inexplicable and illogical.

It's not illogical. The logic is that he built a 4-year run of success effectively on the backs of players: transfers Morsell, Kuath, Prosper, & Kolek, Wojo recruits Lewis, Ighodaro, Jones, & Mitchell, and his own recruits Joplin & Ross.

When he was using the transfers he no longer takes and the players he didn't identify, he did well. But we saw results start to flag last year with his own guys taking a heavier load and see complete ineptitude with his first full RGV roster.

This happening once, it's a disastrous season. But letting it happen again would be courting DePaul territory. And once a coach is on the hot seat, they never really get off.

I'm not ignoring the first four years, I'm following the logic that they were an anomaly this staff is actively choosing to not repeat.

[WhiteTrash]

This is insane. What a wild post.

And of the players you're hanging your hat on moving forward? Only James and parham have played what I would consider meaningful minutes at this level. And neither of them are lighting it up. 

I'd guess the chance that James comes back is fading every game.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

It's not illogical. The logic is that he built a 4-year run of success effectively on the backs of players: transfers Morsell, Kuath, Prosper, & Kolek, Wojo recruits Lewis, Ighodaro, Jones, & Mitchell, and his own recruits Joplin & Ross.

When he was using the transfers he no longer takes and the players he didn't identify, he did well. But we saw results start to flag last year with his own guys taking a heavier load and see complete ineptitude with his first full RGV roster.

This happening once, it's a disastrous season. But letting it happen again would be courting DePaul territory. And once a coach is on the hot seat, they never really get off.

I'm not ignoring the first four years, I'm following the logic that they were an anomaly this staff is actively choosing to not repeat.

Saying 4 years of success is an anomaly but one disastrous year isn't is illogical.

Now, if he flat out says he will not use the portal this offseason than that changes the equation.

[panda]

Saying 4 years of success is an anomaly but one disastrous year isn't is illogical.

Now, if he flat out says he will not use the portal this offseason than that changes the equation.

*3.5 years of success

[DoctorV]

This is insane. What a wild post.

And of the players you're hanging your hat on moving forward? Only James and parham have played what I would consider meaningful minutes at this level. And neither of them are lighting it up. 

Yep took some pretty wild mental gymnastics to defend the dude that has given Marquette a Big East double and several 2 seeds in his first 4 seasons at Marquette, especially when he's got a decent crop of highly ranked recruits in the pipeline.

He came in and spent 2 weeks recruiting and put together a crop that included TyKo and Omax, along with retaining the talent Wojo had secured.

Then, he made what he thought was a logical decision in going away from the portal in order to entice future recruits and aid in retention of his talented guys already in house. He thought he could improve another crop of players the way he did that first crop, and he was wrong.
He was very wrong.

That doesn't mean we should doubt his ability to put an elite team together.

I mean we've already seen it for Chrissakes

[brewcity77]

He deserves a ton of the blame, and I promise you he will wear that blame.

In the post game with Homer, he didn't take any fault. Blamed Chase & Ben not showing up, said we need 5 guys to play like Owens, effectively blaming everyone else's effort, but the biggest avoidance goal I've seen this season is Shaka avoiding accountability.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

*3.5 years of success

🙄

[DoctorV]

In the post game with Homer, he didn't take any fault. Blamed Chase & Ben not showing up, said we need 5 guys to play like Owens, effectively blaming everyone else's effort, but the biggest avoidance goal I've seen this season is Shaka avoiding accountability.

What a jag.

Expecting his seniors to not completely suck arse

[panda]

Yep took some pretty wild mental gymnastics to defend the dude that has given Marquette a Big East double and several 2 seeds in his first 4 seasons at Marquette, especially when he's got a decent crop of highly ranked recruits in the pipeline.

He came in and spent 2 weeks recruiting and put together a crop that included TyKo and Omax, along with retaining the talent Wojo had secured.

Then, he made what he thought was a logical decision in going away from the portal in order to entice future recruits and aid in retention of his talented guys already in house. He thought he could improve another crop of players the way he did that first crop, and he was wrong.
He was very wrong.

That doesn't mean we should doubt his ability to put an elite team together.

I mean we've already seen it for Chrissakes

Incredible memories which will mostly be erased by what is already the worst Marquette basketball season in modern history. And with no hope for the future unless he completely gives up on RGV.

It's time to go

[WhiteTrash]

In the post game with Homer, he didn't take any fault. Blamed Chase & Ben not showing up, said we need 5 guys to play like Owens, effectively blaming everyone else's effort, but the biggest avoidance goal I've seen this season is Shaka avoiding accountability.

This is getting very concerning.  I'm starting to think Shaka is done MU.

[DoctorV]

Incredible memories which will mostly be erased by what is already the worst Marquette basketball season in modern history. And with no hope for the future unless he completely gives up on RGV.

It's time to go

Memories like those are never erased, they are etched in stone.

Your gratitude towards them is what's easily erased, and for that you should be ashamed

[panda]

🙄

This is not be being pedantic. Ignoring the portal last year gave zero depth to a team that completely ran out of gas the second half of the season. And then ignored the portal again to put out the worst Marquette team many of us have ever seen on the floor.

So yes, I'm not giving him 4 years of success. 3.5

[Vander Blue Man Group]

This is not be being pedantic. Ignoring the portal last year gave zero depth to a team that completely ran out of gas the second half of the season. And then ignored the portal again to put out the worst Marquette team many of us have ever seen on the floor.

So yes, I'm not giving him 4 years of success. 3.5

Ok.

[Biggie Clausen]

This is getting very concerning.  I'm starting to think Shaka is done MU.

He's kind of behaving and coaching like a guy who's going to step down after the season.