Shaka interview with Rothstein

[MuMark]

https://youtu.be/VFvWMHbUn18?is=SA9wBuyFOrMyczdb

[JakeBarnes]

https://youtu.be/VFvWMHbUn18?is=SA9wBuyFOrMyczdb

Lots of little birdies incoming

[mug644]

That was a good discussion, and I liked Rothstein's questions. Shaka definitely articulated lessons learned and set a path for the coming year(s). I like that he said Phillips might make the biggest gains for the returning players, though I wish it was Clark.

[JoanofArcMascot]

That was a good discussion, and I liked Rothstein's questions. Shaka definitely articulated lessons learned and set a path for the coming year(s). I like that he said Phillips might make the biggest gains for the returning players, though I wish it was Clark.

Loved hearing him say Phillips as well for biggest leap. Big improvements from Phillips, Owens and Clark would make Marquette a very deep team. Some good questions but some wasted ones that steered Shaka to talk about RGV. His answers on that are well-chronicled and don't need to be repeated every interview.
It was also was interesting to hear Shaka bring up that Stevens, because of his defense, outplayed someone just taken as a lottery pick. He didn't give a name, but my first thought was Illinois' one-and-done guard. Love how high Shaka is on Stevens. Maybe Stevens will be one of those guys who breaks through to next performance level in second half of soph year, a la Parham.
Speaking of Parham, Shaka said he's been team's best player spring/summer combined.
So much to like about this team.

[#UnleashThePortal]

Im having flash backs

[Shooter McGavin]

Stay healthy and this team is top 25 good. 

[tower912]

The potential is there.

Do you believe that last season is the new normal or an aberration? 

I think it was a learning opportunity.

[JoanofArcMascot]

Loved hearing him say Phillips as well for biggest leap. Big improvements from Phillips, Owens and Clark would make Marquette a very deep team. Some good questions but some wasted ones that steered Shaka to talk about RGV. His answers on that are well-chronicled and don't need to be repeated every interview.
It was also was interesting to hear Shaka bring up that Stevens, because of his defense, outplayed someone just taken as a lottery pick. He didn't give a name, but my first thought was Illinois' one-and-done guard. Love how high Shaka is on Stevens. Maybe Stevens will be one of those guys who breaks through to next performance level in second half of soph year, a la Parham.
Speaking of Parham, Shaka said he's been team's best player spring/summer combined.
So much to like about this team.

Correction: Darius Acuff Jr. must have been the player Shaka said Stevens outplayed. Wow! After listening again, Shaka said he played for IMG Academy and Acuff (Arkansas) only lottery pick from IMG.

[Shooter McGavin]

The potential is there.

Do you believe that last season is the new normal or an aberration? 

I think it was a learning opportunity.

Learning opportunity for all involved.  Mostly Shaka and his yearly evaluation of his own players.

This year there is clear high major talent at multiple positions.  Multiple alphas.  Last year before the season, only HOPE for players to emerge into new roles. 

Do I like the depth at center and point guard.  Nope.  But, if healthy, this team is legit.  I guess that is the one HOPE I have for this year.  But that is much better than hoping we have enough talent in the starting lineup.

[muwarrior69]

The potential is there.

Do you believe that last season is the new normal or an aberration? 

I think it was a learning opportunity.

We'll find out this coming season.

[Scoop Snoop]

We'll find out this coming season.

If my tally is correct, that is the 157th time you said that.

[The Sultan]

If my tally is correct, that is the 157th time you said that.

You read 157 of his posts?

[MU82]

We'll find out this coming season.

Thanks for the insight, eeyore69.

[Scoop Snoop]

You read 157 of his posts?

Nah. Of course not! I had a computer nerd friend who came up with a way to count his "we'll find out..." posts.

[PointWarrior]

Such a bold statement

We'll find out this coming season.

[WarriorFan]

Loved hearing him say Phillips as well for biggest leap. Big improvements from Phillips, Owens and Clark would make Marquette a very deep team. Some good questions but some wasted ones that steered Shaka to talk about RGV. His answers on that are well-chronicled and don't need to be repeated every interview.
It was also was interesting to hear Shaka bring up that Stevens, because of his defense, outplayed someone just taken as a lottery pick. He didn't give a name, but my first thought was Illinois' one-and-done guard. Love how high Shaka is on Stevens. Maybe Stevens will be one of those guys who breaks through to next performance level in second half of soph year, a la Parham.
Speaking of Parham, Shaka said he's been team's best player spring/summer combined.
So much to like about this team.

Good to hear about Phillips, but remember last summer it was Hamilton.  That turned out not so well..

[muwarrior69]

Such a bold statement

Thanks for the insight, eeyore69.

Your welcome. 

[Jay Bee]

Your welcome.

Smh

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Good to hear about Phillips, but remember last summer it was Hamilton.  That turned out not so well..

Perhaps I'm wrong but I don't recall Shaka talking about Hamilton in the same way last offseason. Personally, I wouldn't put much stock in that comparison.

If Phillips and DO can take a leap, and we can get a handful of serviceable minutes out of Clark and/or Hamilton, I'm pretty bullish on the ceiling for this team.

I think we have 3 guys in James, Parham, and Fru that can be all Big East players.  I'm also excited about Stevens and Minessale.  If we can get some sizable development from a couple of other guys, things should look pretty good.

[MUbiz]

Perhaps I'm wrong but I don't recall Shaka talking about Hamilton in the same way last offseason.

Wasn't Shaka the "embedded mole" talking to Rothstein? Either way someone from the staff was talking 18 up last offseason - we have 2 years of embedded mole tweets to prove that.

[MU82]

Shaka spoke optimistically about Hamilton before last season, and Hamilton significantly underperformed based on those expectations.

Ipso fatso, Shaka is always wrong about these things, and he is misleading us about Michael Phillips and anyone else he says will play well in the future.

Forget about the fact that he was right about Kolek. And Oso. And Kam. And OMax. And Morsell. And Stevie. And Nigel. And Parham. And even about Ross before Ross' first three seasons. Those were all outliers. Hamilton was the standard.

Bottom line: We just can't trust Shaka again ever, so we might as well fire him yesterday.

[BCHoopster]

How much does a player improve in 3 months?

[MUbiz]

Shaka spoke optimistically about Hamilton before last season, and Hamilton significantly underperformed based on those expectations.

Ipso fatso, Shaka is always wrong about these things, and he is misleading us about Michael Phillips and anyone else he says will play well in the future.

Forget about the fact that he was right about Kolek. And Oso. And Kam. And OMax. And Morsell. And Stevie. And Nigel. And Parham. And even about Ross before Ross' first three seasons. Those were all outliers. Hamilton was the standard.

Bottom line: We just can't trust Shaka again ever, so we might as well fire him yesterday.

You can hype every player Shaka got right, but it doesn't change the reality: being totally wrong about 18 helped sink last year into a top‑3 worst season in MUBB history. That miss Shaka had dragged the program into lower lows we haven't touched in decades. Hopefully Shaka learns from his mistakes from last year.