I've changed my mind

[1SE]

I think it ultimately comes down to hubris.

Publicly Shaka seems very down to earth and humble. That said, he had the hubris to believe he could turn Hamilton into a serviceable big. The hubris to believe he could be turn right when everyone else turned left and get the same or better results.

If Shaka is able to take a humble look after this season and say "we need to trim the fat on the team" then he'll get considerably better. If he takes a look and says "the issue is our age, the core pieces were too inexperienced, a year of experience and they'll be great!" Then he'll be out of work.

As Sultan says, shaka will be coaching for his job next year and anyone thinking he's earned back to back years of this level of crap is not objective.

The hubris to deploy the NORMILTON!

[Tums Festival]

I know several will tell you Shaka has changed his tune, and maybe he has.  But did you watch the 60 second vimeo video I linked?

That video was uploaded October 28th of last year. A whole helluva lot has changed since then.

[dgies9156]

Marquette is at a crossroad -- again.

1) Continue the charade of RGV and live in the past. By March 2027, Coach Shaka either leaves and the Marquette coaching merry-go-round continues or we regress into a weak mid-major and losing to DePaul twice, Providence, Seton Hall, Butler and other teams becomes commonplace.

2) Step up, spend money, become a "Purdue" and again compete with UConn and Slick Rick. This will be expensive and a total departure from where we are, but I suspect even the best of our current team, Nigel, Royce and Adrien, would be excited about this if we brought in the "right" people who filled holes.

The need for change is urgent. Failure to act means we lose what we have, as our best players undoubtedly will entertain offers to go where they can win now. We'll be left with a hollowed-out program that is reminiscent of DePaul for the last 30 years, with no apparent way out.

Next year, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our 1977 Championship team. We will be reminded of how good we once were and how great we can be again. Last thing in the world anyone wants to happen as the university celebrates the 1977 accomplishment will be have a team as bad, unfocused and losing as this team is.

[jfp61]

The need for change is urgent. Failure to act means we lose what we have, as our best players undoubtedly will entertain offers to go where they can win now.

With respect to the players currently on the roster.

I don't think anyone on our roster is good enough to be Michigan or Duke's 6th man this year.

If the roster gets blown up... life would be fine.

[Scoop Snoop]

I think it ultimately comes down to hubris.

Publicly Shaka seems very down to earth and humble. That said, he had the hubris to believe he could turn Hamilton into a serviceable big. The hubris to believe he could be turn right when everyone else turned left and get the same or better results.

If Shaka is able to take a humble look after this season and say "we need to trim the fat on the team" then he'll get considerably better. If he takes a look and says "the issue is our age, the core pieces were too inexperienced, a year of experience and they'll be great!" Then he'll be out of work.

As Sultan says, shaka will be coaching for his job next year and anyone thinking he's earned back to back years of this level of crap is not objective.

Nice spot-on summary in italics. Kudos!

Even though scoop is clearly an opinion forum, the posts here are mostly presented as factual-"I'm right, which means you're wrong, and that settles it!"

My opinion is that what Shaka will do is far from predictable. I think that the statement from the Athletic Department was so forced that I do not read his openness to transfers as being something that he wholeheartedly accepts. And despite the enormous ramifications of Shaka departing from Marquette, his walking away would not be a total shock to me, although I think it is very unlikely. He seems so deeply committed to his personal beliefs and the potential consequences that he may say "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" and go down with the ship.

The alternative-that he will finally torpedo RGV as the operating system and stop playing the role of Coach Don Quixote-is also a real possibility. If any good came out of the Gawdawful DePaul fiasco, perhaps any remaining illusions that Shaka may have had that he could make RGV 2.0 work hopefully were extinguished.   

[Galway Eagle]

Regarding RGV and its branding, I think Shaka should use this season as a way to say "it was referring to the Big East Championship team" essentially rebrand it as something that locks Omax/TKO/Oso/Kam/Stevie/Jop/Chase/Ben/Sean all together and say this is a new era with a new mantra time to put that one to bed.

[Scoop Snoop]

Regarding RGV and its branding, I think Shaka should use this season as a way to say "it was referring to the Big East Championship team" essentially rebrand it as something that locks Omax/TKO/Oso/Kam/Stevie/Jop/Chase/Ben/Sean all together and say this is a new era with a new mantra time to put that one to bed.

Agree, but he has dug himself in SO deep on RGV, especially where he has shoehorned the word "growth" into many of his comments. After the UW stomping, our "huge" victory over Valpo and again in his presser after yesterday's game are just a few examples. Glaciers grow faster than some of his projects.

No one knows what is going on in Shaka's head, and that may include Shaka himself. That's why I guess at what he may do but refuse to predict what he will do.

[Billy Hoyle]

Agree, but he has dug himself in SO deep on RGV, especially where he has shoehorned the word "growth" into many of his comments. After the UW stomping, our "huge" victory over Valpo and again in his presser after yesterday's game are just a few examples. Glaciers grow faster than some of his projects.

No one knows what is going on in Shaka's head, and that may include Shaka himself. That's why I guess at what he may do but refuse to predict what he will do.

Hey now, that Valpo team was a MVC title contender per Shaka. Never mind their 8th place finish and recent loss to then 6-23 Evansville.

[Tha Hound]

Serious question: Can we really expect any portal additions next year to be *that* much better than Ross and Gold?  If we found out we were adding a 6'4 slasher who averaged 14.5ppg and a 6'11 big who averaged 8 and 6 and could step out and hit the occasional three pointer, we'd probably be ecstatic.  I'm not saying it's impossible, but without dropping a bag, I'm not sure how much of an upgrade we can expect from those two.

Considering there is much more to what makes a player "good" or a "winner" than a stat like ppg, yes, I think we can add multiple players that are significantly better than those bums.

[Its DJOver]

Considering there is much more to what makes a player "good" or a "winner" than a stat like ppg, yes, I think we can add multiple players that are significantly better than those bums.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to call them "bums", but yes, regardless of who is added, it would not be a surprise at all if Nigel and Royce lead the team in scoring next year. When looking at additions via the portal, the defensive side of the ball should be a priority.

[The Sultan]

I'm not sure I would go so far as to call them "bums", but yes, regardless of who is added, it would not be a surprise at all if Nigel and Royce lead the team in scoring next year. When looking at additions via the portal, the defensive side of the ball should be a priority.

I definitely wouldn't call them "bums." Frankly, that's pretty pathetic.

They are two players who couldn't step up and play larger roles. But both seem like pretty decent dudes who represented the university well.

[MU82]

I definitely wouldn't call them "bums." Frankly, that's pretty pathetic.

They are two players who couldn't step up and play larger roles. But both seem like pretty decent dudes who represented the university well.

Yup. And they also were valuable contributors to teams that did a lot of winning, including Big East championship and Sweet 16 teams.

I'm glad they've been part of our program, and I'd be giving them a nice round of applause if I could attend Senior Night.