What would it take for you to be all-in on Shaka?

[HookEm 2432]

With this recent 5-game win streak, I've been thinking about what it would take for Shaka to FULLY win me over as a fan.  When we hired him, I thought it was a slam dunk tremendous hire.  But then he didn't run Havok, we have sucked and fan support has dropped to zero and it has been a grind.  But through it all I have actually liked Shaka as a person and have wanted him to live up to the promise he had when we hired him.  

So for me, I think this would do it:

1. Take us to the Final Four this year.  Get that done and all is forgiven, I'm on the Shaka train.   (or)
2. Keep the win streak going with a Big-12 Tourney championship and an Elite-8 run  (or)
3. Get us to the Sweet 16 this year.  And follow it up with another top-3 Big-12 finish and a Sweet 16 next year.  But I'm not SURE this one is enough.

What would it take for you?

[CooterBrown 17725]

Only thing that makes sense is if you actively root against the Horns.

Fuck that guy.

[jeevsie 3691]

Bout tree-fiddy.

[Goo Punch 4275]

a miracle from God. Shaka is who he is. for me to be "all-in" on a guy who i KNOW isn't the guy would require divine intervention. especially when Beilein is just sitting there for the taking. i mean, what would it take from you to become "all-in" on Charlie Strong? 

[immortal13 4059]

Isn't there already a thread on this subject?

[Pato del Muerto 52036]

Final 4 this month 

[CheesePie 230]

two seasons of sustained excellence

[closetojumping 61997]

There is a zero percent chance of me ever getting back into a headspace in which I am fine with Shaka Smart as the head coach at Texas. I do not give one fat fuck if he's "a good person". Fuck him and fuck that. I don't cheer for coaches. I cheer for Texas. How about being a good coach and winning big? Give me some of that stuff. Go talk shit about your players and dance in the locker room after pimp-rolling some nothing bottom 50 program on someone else's dime, you fraudulent fuckbag. 

[hobbes2702 12516]

He would need to win the national title. He’s proven he isn’t at the level he needs to be for this program to reach the levels it aspires to.

[ChickenSandwich 9760]

Time travel back to 5 years ago. 
 

Ship has sailed. Show his ass the door 

[conVINCEd 21468]

I mean, if you let my pick 2 Pom girls to be at my beck and call, I might be inclined to give him another year.  Absent that incredibly unlikely arrangement, his ass needs to be gone yesterday.  If he won the title this year, I’d view it is an opportunity to dump his ass without paying his buyout.

[SA-KC_Horn 1293]

1. Win an ever elusive Big 12 tourney. 

2. Make it to Sweet 16.

3. Go to Final Four

4. Recruit and develop all-conference players.

5.  Beat ku on the reg.

6. Win 22+ games

Accomplish 2 of the 6 every year.

[TwiceHorn 30834]

A stroke.

[DaysOff 7682]

Completely ruined the sport for me. Haven't watched a game in over two seasons now. Fuck. Him.

[ztejas 42775]

28 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

Charlie never had the success Shaka did and Shaka is largely incompetent. Charlie was and is wholly incompetent. Bad analogy. 

Charlie won multiple national titles as a higher up assistant and led Louisville to beating Florida's ass in the 13 Sugar Bowl. To me that's about as impressive as a lucky Final Four run. 

To expound, they are both flash in the pan fuck sticks that have no business coaching here. That said, I'll still cheer for Texas every step along the way this season.

Edited March 6, 2020 by ztejas

[The Dog 43089]

Man some of you have issues.

If he goes to a final four this year then follows it up with another deep run, then it's probably proof enough that he's turned whatever corner he's been stuck behind since he got here. That won't be "all in", but certainly enough to think he could stay a while longer.

But that's highly unlikely to happen. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by The Dog

[conVINCEd 21468]

20 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Man some of you have issues.

If he goes to a final four this year then follows it up with another deep run, then it's probably proof enough that he's turned whatever corner he's been stuck behind since he got here. That won't be "all in", but certainly enough to think he could stay a while longer.

But that's highly unlikely to happen. 

He literally made me quit watching.  And I like basketball. 

[CurlyDumps 4413]

I could be bought. If he wants to split his salary with me, I’ll go full Cameltoe.

[Braff Zacklin 13289]

5 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

I could be bought. If he wants to split his salary with me, I’ll go full Cameltoe.

So weird. This is exactly what I was about to post ... like, verbatim, right down to the "full Cameltoe" remark.

Brother?

[orangecat92 306]

How about just being in the conversation with another team for best team in the state?

[OU Sucks 8678]

23 minutes ago, The Dog said:

If he goes to a final four this year then follows it up with another deep run, then it's probably proof enough that he's turned whatever corner he's been stuck behind since he got here.

He'll never turn a corner.  He lucked into having to play Cunningham out of necessity, who just happens to have one of the best motors on the team.  He literally crashes the basket on every shot.  Yet, he only had a total of 26 minutes until February, instead giving those minutes to Hepa and Liddell, who have done jack shit in shooting, rebounding, assists and everything else.

[ztejas 42775]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

As an assistant for a powerhouse under the 2nd most storied coach this generation. No. And I’m not even including Shaka’s Final 4 run. I’m talking about their performances as coaches at Texas. Shaka is markedly better than Charlie. Charlie was that bad. 

No fucking way Shaka has been "markedly" better than Charlie. That's an absurd claim to make.

[Js1 82949]

I was gonna say, Charlie missed a bowl twice. 

[ztejas 42775]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

He has. I’m sorry if you’re a Charlie apologist. In every metric Shaka is better. 43% winning percentage for Charlie; 53% for Shaka. 44% versus 46% in conference play. 3 out of 3 losing seasons (Charlie); 1 out of 5 for Shaka. Postseason play in 1 of 3 seasons (Charlie); 4 out of 5 for Shaka. 

Charlie was unquestionably the worst coach in our programs history. Shaka Is not the worst in my lifetime. Shaka is not good, but is most definitely markedly better than Charlie who was historically bad. 

You're comparing across different sports. But I guess that wouldn't stop you, you're a regular grass-fed moron around here. Both of them have been absolute, decrepit, failures. To act otherwise or split hairs is pretty unlike one of the best public universities in the world. I don't give a fuck who is marginally better. They both sucked(suck). Go to aggy if you're interested in debating varying degrees of loserness.

[Red Five 40274]

If you want to equate it to football, I’d say Shaka has gone 7-5, 3-9, 6-6, 5-7, and I guess 7-5 this year. Nowhere close to challenging for even a conference championship.

[HookEm 2432]

Winning the NIT was something.  I'm not exactly sure what, but something.

The difference between Shaka and Charlie is that Charlie is almost 20 years older.  Honestly this is why I still hold out a glimmer of hope on Shaka. He is still relatively young.  When Beilein was Shaka's current age (42) he still had not even coached an NCAA tourney game.  In fact Beilein didn't make a Sweet 16 until he was 52.

It is POSSIBLE that Shaka can show that he is learning and improving as a coach.  I'm not optimistic though, which is why it takes some pretty unrealistic events to get me back on the train.

 

 

[GotThatFire 166]

7 hours ago, CheesePie said:

two seasons of sustained excellence

This is the answer.

Yeah, “all-in” is quite a stance. If he made the Sweet 16 this year, then the elite eight next year, and then the final for the year after I suppose you could call me All In. 

[Burt Macklin 18961]

8 hours ago, Dr. Beeper said:

He has. I’m sorry if you’re a Charlie apologist. In every metric Shaka is better. 43% winning percentage for Charlie; 53% for Shaka. 44% versus 46% in conference play. 3 out of 3 losing seasons (Charlie); 1 out of 5 for Shaka. Postseason play in 1 of 3 seasons (Charlie); 4 out of 5 for Shaka. 

Charlie was unquestionably the worst coach in our programs history. Shaka Is not the worst in my lifetime. Shaka is not good, but is most definitely markedly better than Charlie who was historically bad. 

This is a stupid post, even for your standards. Shaka hasn’t been markedly better. Of course his overall record is better and he’s had more winning seasons, because basketball gets way more cupcake games, but you just showed in your own post that Shaka only won 2% more in conference, and he took over a program that was in a much better state than what Charlie inherited.
 

Shaka has not been “markedly” better than Charlie at all and Shaka’s worst season at Texas was way worse than Charlie going 5-7. 

[CheesePie 230]

In fact, you could argue that Shaka has done less with more. Charlie didn’t produce any first round draft picks while Shaka has had lotto picks 3 out of 4 years. The only year Shaka didn’t put a guy into the lottery was his most successful. His first season with Rick’s team. 

[bschoolprof 6219]

I'll never be all-in on Shaka.  He's not a good coach and should be let go.  Period.  Basing retention decisions on winning a few games here and there at the end of season 5, instead of the body of work, is myopic, idiotic, illogical, and yet perfectly fitting for our decision-makers at Belmont.  If CDC keeps him, fuck that guy.  He and his extended, guaranteed contract are big parts (or symptoms) of the problem as well. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3438]

19 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

I'll never be all-in on Shaka.  He's not a good coach and should be let go.  Period.  Basing retention decisions on winning a few games here and there at the end of season 5, instead of the body of work, is myopic, idiotic, illogical, and yet perfectly fitting for our decision-makers at Belmont.  If CDC keeps him, fuck that guy.  He and his extended, guaranteed contract are big parts (or symptoms) of the problem as well. 

^

^

^

Here's a guy who clearly knows what he's talking about?

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

16 hours ago, HookEm said:

I have actually liked Shaka as a person

why? and why does it matter if you like someone if they can't fucking do their job?

[You don't know me 1161]

In order for me to be all in on Shaka at Texas I'd have to be a fan of a different school in the conference. So, nope, not gonna happen.

[Goo Punch 4275]

Shaka brings in consecutive recruiting classes ranked 6th, 6th, and 8th nationally (in *basketball*, where there's only five guys on the floor and even one good player can have a huge impact) and he proceeds to lead those classes to 4-14, 8-10, and 8-10 records in the conference. three full years removed from that first class and this year will be his first year to go .500 in the conference. Shaka has been every bit as disappointing and underperforming as Charlie Strong ever was. Shaka's teams have had way more talent (particularly per player) and yet they are performing just as poorly as Charlie's did. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Shaka has recruited better than 8/9 of his league opponents, and yet he's finished 10th (dead last), 6th, and 6th in the league. In the last 4 years he's brought in better recruiting classes than all but maybe 4-5 programs (KU, UK, Duke, and...??), and yet Texas has one tourney appearance and zero tourney wins in that time. There's really no way you can objectively look at his time/record here and not conclude that he's done an appallingly poor job, just like Charlie Strong. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Goo Punch

[dcar00 13919]

I'm going to fully give shaka credit for this last month of basketball. Just like I'm going to give him credit for the 4.5 years of futility and shitty basketball before this. Unfortunately, He will probably get another year that will be similar to the others. Treading water in a conf he is not prepared to ever win. If he plays jase febres and hepa more that just breather minutes next year I will know he hasn't learned.

Edited March 6, 2020 by dcar00

[Funk Doctor Spock 11692]

Just...fuck that guy. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

if Jase Febres doesn't get hurt then Shaka is a dead man walking right now. so weird to think about. 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

36 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Shaka has recruited better than 8/9 of his league opponents, and yet he's finished 10th (dead last), 6th, and 6th in the league.

dude

dude

we are TIED FOR THIRD this year

these are the salad days!

[Goo Punch 4275]

2 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

dude

dude

we are TIED FOR THIRD this year

these are the salad days!

hopefully the parade route hits Pflugerville.

[TwiceHorn 30834]

17 hours ago, DaysOff said:

Completely ruined the sport for me. Haven't watched a game in over two seasons now. Fuck. Him.

So true.  Basketball is a great spectator sport.  However, I have just had a foul taste in my mouth and can't even get interested in the tournament until maybe the final four, unless it's all teams I dislike.

[Vic Mackey 46668]

Nothing. Fuck him. So what if he takes us to a Final 4. It would be nothing more than a fluke season he had at VCU. And he would never duplicate it or it would take almost a decade to do it. Move on from him.

[hobbes2702 12516]

17 hours ago, DaysOff said:

Completely ruined the sport for me. Haven't watched a game in over two seasons now. Fuck. Him.

Yep. I still watch several games but at about game 10 every year I’m basically out.  I will still watch a few but if there is an NBA game matches against it I end up watching the pros. We jjst have a terrible product. Bad basketball, low effort (minus the last 5 games), and no real plan. It’s awful

[MotownHorn 1714]

Final 4 run and a great season next year and I'll be sold.

Honestly he's coming back at this point, and I'm not gonna root against our team, so something like Sweet 16 and great season next year (top 2 in the Big 12, top 20 overall, good tournament run) and I'll be all in.

I think his luck is likely to run out soon, though. I wouldn't be shocked if we lost tomorrow and again in the Big 12 tournament.

[HookEm 2432]

Answering the question of why it matters whether or not I like the coach, I don't have a good answer for you.  Shaka seems like he cares about the players. He seems like a decent human being and representative of the university.  All other factors aside, I would rather see people like this succeed.  

Contrast that with Tom Herman.  He seems like an egomaniac douche.  Just an all-around dick.  If you are going to act like that, you better be Saban.

I haven't seen anyone address the youth element, which again is why I hold out a small amount of hope.  Tom Izzo made his first Tourney appearance at 42.  

[JustBecause 112]

Hanging a NCAA Championship banner in the rafters at the EC. Maybe a FF run.  That's it.

[Catdaddyhorn 3438]

4 hours ago, Dr. Beeper said:

You are probably right. It’s wholly inexplicable why that guy played more than a reserve role. 

And I was dead wrong on Coleman and Jones. They have really impressed me, and I was just wrong. 

Jones had leukemia and missed a year and a half of basketball. It was sort of dumb to make any definitive judgment on him.  

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

38 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Tom Izzo made his first Tourney appearance at 42.  

in his third year as a head coach (and they won the Big Ten that year). He made the Final Four the next year and won the national title the year after that. Shaka Smart would basically have to defeat the Monstars to catch up to that trajectory.

I think college basketball changes so much over any 20-year period that it's not particularly helpful to look at what coaches went through in other eras to project what might be possible for a given current coach, just to avoid having a certain type of poster smugly slapping down the Coach K card to justify keeping even the most pathetic loser of a coach until said loser turns it around just like the 2nd greatest college basketball coach of all time did. 

If you want to assess Smart's youth charitably, you could look at Tony Bennett's career. I don't think many Virginia fans expected him to hoist a banner after his fourth year, but he started winning big in year 5.

[Goo Punch 4275]

11 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

in his third year as a head coach (and they won the Big Ten that year). He made the Final Four the next year and won the national title the year after that. Shaka Smart would basically have to defeat the Monstars to catch up to that trajectory.

I think college basketball changes so much over any 20-year period that it's not particularly helpful to look at what coaches went through in other eras to project what might be possible for a given current coach, just to avoid having a certain type of poster smugly slapping down the Coach K card to justify keeping even the most pathetic loser of a coach until said loser turns it around just like the 2nd greatest college basketball coach of all time did. 

If you want to assess Smart's youth charitably, you could look at Tony Bennett's career. I don't think many Virginia fans expected him to hoist a banner after his fourth year, but he started winning big in year 5.

yeah but Tony Bennett knows who he is. 

[Walden Ponderer 12638]

Shaka will make some noise in his 50s. He will be coaching somewhere else at the time, and I probably won't resent him.

That is the literal best he can hope for from me -- I just want him fired, I don't want him drawn and quartered (like I felt about Weltlich, Mackovic and Strong, for comparison).