A Collective Failure

[BM1090]

Is Shaka mailing it in now?

Maybe it's just the effect of losing, but he didn't seem interested in coaching them to attack.

He's always had a habit of taking his foot off the gas late. The past teams covered it up. This one can't or hasn't yet.

Prior to this year, it was really my only complaint about Shaka

[Billy Hoyle]

Almost like 3+ years of trying to make him poor man's Steve Novak has been a bad idea all along.

Poor man's Dan Fitzgerald, who wss a poor man's Steve Novak.

[WhiteTrash]

It sounds like you're done WT, and if you had the 🔨  would use it immediately. 

You are on the mark. But Shaka has accomplished enough to finish the season.

We can all see at DePaul what 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 win in the BE teams do to attendance and recruiting.  There will be serious repercussions to a season like this.

[Daniel]

He's always had a habit of taking his foot off the gas late. The past teams covered it up. This one can't or hasn't yet.

Prior to this year, it was really my only complaint about Shaka

The offense is creating lots of open shots.  We don't hit them.  We miss 13-14 layups a game.  We have no internal rim defense.  These are problems.  Our players can't shot, and defense this year is mediocre. Now Shaka's the coach so he is responsible.    But shooters shoot in practice but in games they miss.  lol.  Hm.

[MuggsyB]

The offense is creating lots of open shots.  We don't hit them.  We miss 13-14 layups a game.  We have no internal rim defense.  These are problems.  Our players can't shot, and defense this year is mediocre. Now Shaka's the coach so he is responsible.    But shooters shoot in practice but in games they miss.  lol.  Hm.

You're right but there's more nuance to this discussion.  We did miss a bunch of open looks in the last 6 mins, but we also got ZERO opportunities inside the paint minus the Ross miss in transition.  Furthermore, in ultimate crunch time, we had 3 turns, 2 bail outs where we out of control but got to the line, and two asinine fga's.  None of them were good shots.

[BCHoopster]

Team played well for 36 minutes, they the truth happened, poor coaching, no leadership on the court.

I watched Adrian Stevens a lot, did not score, he is a step slow.  Not sure if the new frosh can score next year, but that has to be an area of concern. 

[MarquetteMike1977]

Team played well for 36 minutes, they the truth happened, poor coaching, no leadership on the court.

I watched Adrian Stevens a lot, did not score, he is a step slow.  Not sure if the new frosh can score next year, but that has to be an area of concern. 

True but would rather have Stevens in than Jones. Feel Marquette lost Momentum when Jones was in and it was too late and could not get momentum back after taking out Jones.

[Big Papi]

This team is missing a lot of pieces but the main one is we don't have an alpha scorer.  Ross is a secondary role scorer.

Last year we had Kam and Jop. Prior years, Kolek.

That's why you have games where we cant finish games. No one wants the ball.

That's on Shaka.

[GoldenEagles03]

This team is missing a lot of pieces but the main one is we don't have an alpha scorer.  Ross is a secondary role scorer.

Last year we had Kam and Jop. Prior years, Kolek.

That's why you have games where we cant finish games. No one wants the ball.

That's on Shaka.

Kolek was never our leading scorer in a season. That's what made us so good.

We had a starting lineup of 4 NBA players and Stevie. We are stratospheres away from that. Portal. Portal. Portal.

[MuggsyB]

Mitchell often made huge plays during crunch time.  And timely plays as well.

[GoldenWarrior11]

T-rank projects us to finish 9-22 after tonight (not including BET).  I have no clue where to find four conference wins from.  Projected to be favorites at home against Xavier and DePaul.  That's it.  And that may change shortly.

Marquette history aside, this will be an unprecedented trajectory of failure (four straight NCAAT seasons into a 20+ loss season).  I cannot find a similar case study like this.

[Farley36]

This team is so bad it's not even fun to come troll Scoop anymore.   Anyone of you who want to keep Shaka as coach are insane. 

[DoctorV]

Just heard one of the wildest sports related things I've heard in some time.

New Mexico, who beat Marquette in the tournament, lost EVERY SINGLE PLAYER AND COACH from last years team. Pitinos son left for Xavier.
Every single player.
They are 10-2!

Marquette lost 0 players and coaches.
They are 5-9.
Unbelievable. Remarkable. Devastating.

[MuggsyB]

T-rank projects us to finish 9-22 after tonight (not including BET).  I have no clue where to find four conference wins from.  Projected to be favorites at home against Xavier and DePaul.  That's it.  And that may change shortly.

Marquette history aside, this will be an unprecedented trajectory of failure (four straight NCAAT seasons into a 20+ loss season).  I cannot find a similar case study like this.

In college hoops history??

[mug644]

Poor man's Dan Fitzgerald, who was a poor man's Steve Novak.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Josh Ritter songs, "Kathleen," including the lyrics near the beginning...
"They try and they try but everything that they do
Is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen"

https://youtu.be/2Wbqlok2GbE?si=wJDJB4bHkVEZdNN-

And, yes, tonight's performance was a collective failure. Though I am a passionate and relentless MU fan, I choose to step away from the craziness and desolation of our current situation. I hope for better next year, like I did as a student from 84-88. Yikes.

[MuggsyB]

Just heard one of the wildest sports related things I've heard in some time.

New Mexico, who beat Marquette in the tournament, lost EVERY SINGLE PLAYER AND COACH from last years team. Pitinos son left for Xavier.
Every single player.
They are 10-2!

Marquette lost 0 players and coaches.
They are 5-9.
Unbelievable. Remarkable. Devastating.

Wow.  That is worth noting. 

[onepost]

Elonsmusk is somewhere fuming that he can't point to a win as some evidence of "progress". Poor guy.

[Markusquette]

Elonsmusk is somewhere fuming that he can't point to a win as some evidence of "progress". Poor guy.

I was impressed with a couple stretches where they got lost in the fight

[BLWarrior91]

Marquette basketball is a game of runs. And by runs, I mean sh*tting ourselves whenever we have a significant lead.

Sadly, Marquette closes the year without a single Q1, Q2, or Q3 win. Hopefully next 2026 will be better.

By 2026, I assume you're referring to next Fall?

[Pakuni]

Just heard one of the wildest sports related things I've heard in some time.

New Mexico, who beat Marquette in the tournament, lost EVERY SINGLE PLAYER AND COACH from last years team. Pitinos son left for Xavier.
Every single player.
They are 10-2!

Marquette lost 0 players and coaches.
They are 5-9.
Unbelievable. Remarkable. Devastating.

Pretty sure Marquette lost a few important players.

[Newsdreams]

This is the best MU has played this year. Getting Gold in for Hamilton helped. Gold played well. Gold is the only frontline player that MU has who can play position D. He just needs to stop shooting 3s.  James played well. Jones made some critical mistakes at crunch time and shows he's no PG. MU lost due to lack of talent and poor roster construction. MU's bigs get pushed around like rag dolls. MU was killed on the glass. Payne had over 20 rebounds. 

He won't stop shooting 3's, if he is open is what he is supposed to do.

[Newsdreams]

Well, I'll be in Hawaii tomorrow.  Maybe I'll calm down a click or two. 

Enjoy the new 11% tax

[rocky_warrior]

I was impressed with a couple stretches where they got lost in the fight

That was the 30 minutes in between them just being "lost", right?

[JTJ3]

It's going to be funny when Shaka moves on after this year but Nigel, Stevens and Sheek stay for the new coach instead of going with him

[Pakuni]

He won't stop shooting 3's, if he is open is what he is supposed to do.

The problem isn't him taking open 3s. The problem is that taking 3s is the entirety of his offensive game most nights. And if you're hitting them at a below 35% clip - and below 30% this year - that should not be the entirety of your offensive game.
Ben should have been developed as a well-rounded big who could stretch teams when necessary, but also provide some offense in the post. Instead, he was developed as a really tall spot-up shooter.