Shaka gets an A- imo

[MuggsyB]

I like our three iia's (immediate impact additions), not to mention retaining the Nigel, Royce, Adrien Triumvirate.  And maybe we'll get more from DO and MP than people think.  I get the concerns at the back-up 5, but all in all MU/Shaka addressed our most pressing needs.  This team absolutely has significant potential.  I believe our combination of returning players is exponentially better than the so called experts realize.   

[Jay Bee]

If you switch initials, DO MP can become MO DP. Between this fact and us adding a 5'10" married, country music loving evangelical traditional, reeko is PUMPED.

[The Sultan]

The way to get Muggs to inflate your grade is to recruit a short-guy apparently.

[MuggsyB]

The way to get Muggs to inflate your grade is to recruit a short-guy apparently.

That's totally absurd.

[Uncle Rico]

If you switch initials, DO MP can become MO DP. Between this fact and us adding a 5'10" married, country music loving evangelical traditional, reeko is PUMPED.

You have me confused with Marquette dental grads

[SchnitzelBoy]

I'd give Shaka an A is they kept Sheek, held off on Crowdis, and signed Porter.

But a B+ seems appropriate given the portal adds of Fru, Minessale, and Porter with the Sheek loss. Some teams are adding SERIOUS high-major talent or even former pros that just received eligibility, so there's no way MU gets an A+. We'll see if it sticks, but I think Shaka has set his squad up to be considerably better than last year. Hell, they might even be better than the 2024-25 squad.

[The Sultan]

Crowdis is a glorified walk-on. His addition is completely irrelevant to whatever grade you give him.

[Galway Eagle]

Hell, they might even be better than the 2024-25 squad.

At which point in the year?

[NCMUFan]

You have me confused with Marquette dental grads

Who do you use to fix you teeth?
Or isn't that an issue now?

[Uncle Rico]

Who do you use to fix you teeth?
Or isn't that an issue now?

Jesus will protect my teeth

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

He clearly knows dental care.

[NCMUFan]

Divine smile!

[dgies9156]

Brother Muggsy:

I tend to agree with you. But after being burned last year, I'm reluctant to grade until we see more.

The scorch marks from last year are still sore!

[MuggsyB]

Brother Muggsy:

I tend to agree with you. But after being burned last year, I'm reluctant to grade until we see more.

The scorch marks from last year are still sore!

You're right to be cautiously optimistic brother dgies but I think our roster is light years better. Fru changes our defense and can finish at the rim. RP could really have a monster season with even more open space and we all know Nigel can't be guarded in the open floor. There are some rebounding and defensive concerns, but I think MU will be extremely difficult to guard. 

[brewcity77]

Crowdis is a glorified walk-on. His addition is completely irrelevant to whatever grade you give him.

I'd agree if walk ons were still a thing, but now it's a dedicated roster slot. The counter argument is "but only 8-10 guys are going to play" but adding Crowdis to Walker, Miletic, Clark, Hamilton, and Egbuonu (based on general reports that he has promise but probably isn't ready) means we're closer to playing guys we'd prefer not play and don't have the room to add an experienced big that we would want to play.

[Captain Quette]

I am optimistic that our 12 win team last year, can win 15 to 20 this year. Does shaka deserve an A for this bad to good transition? Not sure as my expectations have been for wins in the 22 to 27 range.

I give him a B at this point, roster still has hole and NJ our only elite player. BE will also be much tougher.

[brewcity77]

I am optimistic that our 12 win team last year, can win 15 to 20 this year. Does shaka deserve an A for this bad to good transition? Not sure as my expectations have been for wins in the 22 to 27 range.

This is my concern. We improved over the season last year. From Jan 18 to the end of the year we played like the #42 team in the country per T-Rank. So right side of the bubble good, but we also went 6-7 during that stretch indicating that better play wasn't necessarily winning play.

This team could improve but if it's only by 3-5 wins, we'll still likely be on the outside looking in come March. It really needs to be a 9+ win improvement to feel like we're back to the program we were in Shaka's first four years.

We should absolutely be better, but there's a very broad spectrum of improvement between what we were last year and the 2023/24 seasons. I'm not yet convinced we're closer to the latter than the former in terms of that spectrum.

[Jay Bee]

This is my concern. We improved over the season last year. From Jan 18 to the end of the year we played like the #42 team in the country per T-Rank. So right side of the bubble good, but we also went 6-7 during that stretch indicating that better play wasn't necessarily winning play.

It was propped up by an insane shooting (eFG%) advantage. Unfortunately, much of our 'good' (still weak, but better) offense was because many of our opponents had absolutely disgraceful defenses. Not to mention.. and this is amazing to think... we held a nice 3FG% advantage over our opponents in those last 13 games.

So.. yeah.. I see the #42 t-rank thing (or #41 if we stop on Selection Sunday).. but there should be a huge asterisks by it aina.

It's another year where we need a nice year of shooting, especially from deep, or we are eff'd. #LastYear

[Badgerhater]

I am optimistic because MU will be able to do more things on offense and will have more opportunities to exert their will on an opponent.

MU will have a difference maker on the floor the entire season, not just the second half of one.

An overmatched Ben Gold will not be on the floor.  Gold did all the right things as a 5, but if the three wasn't falling he contributed nothing on offense.  Defenses will have to account for Fru and that only benefits James and company.

With rosters expanded to 15 having a Crowdis for practice is fine.  Not everyone is a star.  The new normal is roster churn so it's not a long term issue for schollie "walk-ons" to hold one of them.

MU will be a far tougher team next year and historically the best MU teams have had that intangible factor.

A- for assembling this team. 

[NCMUFan]

I am optimistic that our 12 win team last year, can win 15 to 20 this year. Does shaka deserve an A for this bad to good transition? Not sure as my expectations have been for wins in the 22 to 27 range.

I give him a B at this point, roster still has hole and NJ our only elite player. BE will also be much tougher.

15 wins with a number against buy game teams good enough?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

So MU played like the #42 team but with some caveats that contributed to that ranking.  Fine.

They're also bringing back the potential BE POY.  Parham played like an ALL BE player the last half of the conference season.  Stevens was grew tremendously during conference play.  They've all had an offseason to continue getting better.

Then you add an excellent center that shores up multiple weaknesses and a big guard with a diverse skill set from the portal.  Not to mention the recent add for PG depth.

Owens and Phillips have both had healthy offseasons.  Shaka has consistently been raving about  Phillips.  That feels like a pretty good 8-man rotation already.

Is there anyone from that remaining group that will surprise or at least give serviceable minutes?  We'll see. 

Perhaps I'm setting myself up for disappointment but I'm bullish on this team as of today.

[WhiteTrash]

15 wins with a number against buy game teams good enough?

A .500 record would be a material improvement from last year. Shaka has shown he's not a rebuild kind of HC, so gradual improvement seems realistic.

IMO, anything less than 17 wins is concerning. Meaning, MU powers appear to have higher expectations than even Wojo could deliver. Shaka doesn't have to worry about WT's concerns 

[The Sultan]

They will be significantly better than .500 next season.

[WhiteTrash]

They will be significantly better than .500 next season.

Define "significantly". 

[Mu8891]

Quette - if MU only wins 15 games then
Shaka will be fired.  That would effectively be NO improvement ...

That said, I think they win 20+ games and
make the Tournament.  Fru is better than
Gold.  It might take a bit, but Nolan will be better Ross.  They should finish in the top 4 or 5 of the BE.