Shaka Smart - Out at UT In at Marquette

[Knoxtnhorn 6262]

6 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Not only do I think it I know it. I’ve played at the rec with those ladies. 
Pat Summit used to take guys from the rec and have #1 Tennessee practice against them and she’d have to have the guys dial it back. Yes- a quality JV team from a 6A school would work them. It’s genetically a completely different game- and that’s ok- just don’t try to twist it into something that doesn’t comport with reality. 

This is correct.  I can't recall her name, but I ended up playing against a Lady Vol All-American in a couple of pickup games in the late 90's when I first moved up there.  I think her name was Semeka something or other.  Anyway, I'm 6' and was pretty decent at the time.  And by "decent" I wouldn't have sniffed the court of any Division 1 men's team.  She was a better passer and ball handler; I was a better shooter (using a men's ball) and rebounder.  She was an All-American; I might have average a minute a game in high school if I had remained on the team.

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

3 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

This is correct.  I can't recall her name, but I ended up playing against a Lady Vol All-American in a couple of pickup games in the late 90's when I first moved up there.  I think her name was Semeka something or other.  Anyway, I'm 6' and was pretty decent at the time.  And by "decent" I wouldn't have sniffed the court of any Division 1 men's team.  She was a better passer and ball handler; I was a better shooter (using a men's ball) and rebounder.  She was an All-American; I might have average a minute a game in high school if I had remained on the team.

In my shitty ass high school I had a classmate of mine that was 6’10 and fairly coordinated and a 6’8” dude that could really jump. They were both on the JV as freshmen and sophomores. They’d be a huge fucking problem for anyone in the women’s game. 
Anyone who doesn’t realize that is a white knighting rube. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Wulaw Horn

[Knoxtnhorn 6262]

And before anyone questions my motives for posting.  I can readily admit the inverse happened in a similar situation with soccer.  I'm a decent soccer player.  A few years ago, we added a former Lady Vol soccer player to our team.  She was a RB; I played right mid.  She was not an All-American by any stretch of the imagination, but she was really good.  And, she could throw in a ball from midfield into the goalie box.  Anyway, I felt so stupid trying to keep up with her technical ability and pace, that I eventually moved to a different position on the field.  That girl ran up and down the field like it was nothing.  

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

7 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

And before anyone questions my motives for posting.  I can readily admit the inverse happened in a similar situation with soccer.  I'm a decent soccer player.  A few years ago, we added a former Lady Vol soccer player to our team.  She was a RB; I played right mid.  She was not an All-American by any stretch of the imagination, but she was really good.  And, she could throw in a ball from midfield into the goalie box.  Anyway, I felt so stupid trying to keep up with her technical ability and pace, that I eventually moved to a different position on the field.  That girl ran up and down the field like it was nothing.  

Yep. Size and strength and athleticism are so important in basketball as compared to technical skill that it’s just a non starter. 
technical skill Is the differentiator in hoops- size, speed, quickness and fast twitch athleticism are the table stakes. 

[closetohumping 17776]

18 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

This is correct.  I can't recall her name, but I ended up playing against a Lady Vol All-American in a couple of pickup games in the late 90's when I first moved up there.  I think her name was Semeka something or other.  Anyway, I'm 6' and was pretty decent at the time.  And by "decent" I wouldn't have sniffed the court of any Division 1 men's team.  She was a better passer and ball handler; I was a better shooter (using a men's ball) and rebounder.  She was an All-American; I might have average a minute a game in high school if I had remained on the team.

Semeka Randall?   She was part of a big three of Chamiqua Holdsclaw and Tameka Catchings.

[closetohumping 17776]

35 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Not only do I think it I know it. I’ve played at the rec with those ladies. 
Pat Summit used to take guys from the rec and have #1 Tennessee practice against them and she’d have to have the guys dial it back. Yes- a quality JV team from a 6A school would work them. It’s genetically a completely different game- and that’s ok- just don’t try to twist it into something that doesn’t comport with reality. 

Someone asked Geno how his Uconn team would do against a men's team.  He said they'd have  hard shot even getting a shot off.

 

Also, some high school teams have beaten our US women's soccer team.

Edited March 30, 2021 by closetohumping

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

Just now, closetohumping said:

Someone asked Geno how his Uconn team would do against a men's team.  He said they'd have  hard shot even getting a shot off.

Yep. And he loves those ladies. And he’s the best that ever was at coaching that sport. It’s white knighting bullshit to say otherwise. It’s not physiologically possible for women to keep up with high level athletic men. 
would those ladies kick my ass up and down the court?  Sure. When I was at my athletic peak?  Nah- they were better than me but not ridiculously so. And I wasn’t able to play competitively past 8th grade. 
when I played against my buddies I couldn’t do anything with them. When I played against the ladies at UT I could get my shot off and get to my spots and block out and stay in front of them. They were better with the ball and better with their decision making but they weren’t staying on the court any longer than I was on their run. 
I’d be assigned to guard one of them as the 4th or 5th on my team during my run typically. 

[Pancho 46047]

Telling your story of how you out-“athleted” a D1 women’s athlete is pointless if you follow it up with the reason you did it is because of generics.  You’re just trying to be billy badass on this website. 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

5 minutes ago, Pancho said:

Telling your story of how you out-“athleted” a D1 women’s athlete is pointless if you follow it up with the reason you did it is because of generics.  You’re just trying to be billy badass on this website. 

 

Not at all trying to be billy badass. Iiterally the entire point of my story is that I’m not billy badass, never have been, and was able to compete with them on a physical level in a way that they wouldn’t be able to compete with a solid JV squad athletically. 
how many women on the UT team play above the rim?  On a solid JV team at a 6a school that number is 2-5. 
Don’t believe me listen to Geno on the subject. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Wulaw Horn

[MAUFRAIS 6731]

When I was a junior in high school (hadn’t played basketball since 8th grade) my cousin was on the team at SWT and she beat be in 21 during thanksgiving. I wasn’t allowed to carve the turkey because my dad thought I might slit my wrists. 
 

 

[boilerhorn 1602]

Conradt did the same thing at Texas in the mid-to-late 80s.  My BIL's roommate's team won the UT intramural basketball championships as "independent."  That team would often scrimmage the women's team and could handle them fairly easily.  And that was a women's team that was consistently makings its way to the elite 8.

I should point out that the intramural champs had to beat a team that included Keith and Kerry Cash.

[Machinator 32102]

Women's basketball talk not going away.

[Chico_SA 528]

1 hour ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

 She was a RB; I played right mid.... Anyway, I felt so stupid trying to keep up with her technical ability and pace, that I eventually moved to a different position on the field. 

Well no wonder she schooled you. You were on the wrong side of the pitch! 😀

[ButtFumble 5246]

1 hour ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

And before anyone questions my motives for posting.  I can readily admit the inverse happened in a similar situation with soccer.  I'm a decent soccer player.  A few years ago, we added a former Lady Vol soccer player to our team.  She was a RB; I played right mid.  She was not an All-American by any stretch of the imagination, but she was really good.  And, she could throw in a ball from midfield into the goalie box.  Anyway, I felt so stupid trying to keep up with her technical ability and pace, that I eventually moved to a different position on the field.  That girl ran up and down the field like it was nothing.  

which one of you looked better in those little Soffe shorts and more importantly which one of you was better at flopping on the field?

[BornOrange 1441]

23 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Conradt did the same thing at Texas in the mid-to-late 80s.  My BIL's roommate's team won the UT intramural basketball championships as "independent."  That team would often scrimmage the women's team and could handle them fairly easily.  And that was a women's team that was consistently makings its way to the elite 8.

I should point out that the intramural champs had to beat a team that included Keith and Kerry Cash.

I think the team that beat the Cash brothers in intramurals had at least a couple of former scholarship players under Weltlich.

That Cash brothers intramural team had at least 4 if not all 5 starters from their SA Holmes team that lost in the state championship.

[shadow_operative 15932]

amd look, forget about Embiid. no.5's speed and athleticism alone would have him with 30+ points and double digit rebounds vs our women's team. and that's ok. that's genetics. that's billions of years of science, and it doesn't take from or diminish anything that our women do, imo.

and for the record, while a team of more athletic men with HS level basketball skill should be/would be favored to beat our women, that doesn't mean that our women would not embarrass those men at times themselves. i could see Celeste Taylor dropping a couple of guys with her ball handling, or using her savvy and skill to shot fake some guys into orbit. that would happen. still, the disparity in speed, size, strength, and athleticism would be too much to overcome. not a diss, and honestly shouldn't be a controversial take. this is what happens when motownhorn disses someone else's intellect. i hope he's happy with himself. 

 

[Horn Dogg 4277]

I was at the Texas Tech Rec center when I was in high school and I saw Sheryl Swoopes playing in a pickup game with some of the guys from the Tech men’s team.  She held her own pretty well.  They didn’t knock her around or anything, but she was just as fast and could shoot like a mofo.

[CurlyDumps 4618]

11 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

 

 No chance it takes that long. 

Couldn’t sleep so I was looking for something to listen to and found the “CBS Eye on College Basketball” emergency Shaka podcast. This CBS CBB writer, Gary Parrish, thinks Marquette fans should be “thrilled” about the hire.

I continue to be perplexed by these national guys who cover CBB for a living thinking Shaka is a kickass coach. Also funny that he said we finished “3rd” in the big 12 in ‘19-‘20 as a feather in Shaka’s cap, without mentioning it was a 4-way tie for 3rd. Or that we could have finished in lone possession of 3rd place (and clinched an at-large bid) had we not gotten blown out at home by a bad OSU team in the most important game of that season.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by CurlyDumps

[BurntOrange&White 41645]

Women’s basketball is stupid and boring. 

[ClubWhatever 12276]

6 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Women’s basketball is stupid and boring. 

To a rock or a stump, yes. 

[Burt Macklin 19209]

10 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

You seriously think a men’s high school Jv team would dominate our women’s team?

im sorry but you just don’t know basketball if that’s your argument 

The guy who wanted to keep Shaka and thought we should all eat crow because he beat Tech and OSU to win the Big 12 tournament is telling other people they don’t know basketball. 
 

 

[PassiveAggressiveCoach 118]

10 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

You seriously think a men’s high school Jv team would dominate our women’s team?

im sorry but you just don’t know basketball if that’s your argument 

Most varsity teams would though. 

[closetohumping 17776]

10 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yep. And he loves those ladies. And he’s the best that ever was at coaching that sport. It’s white knighting bullshit to say otherwise. It’s not physiologically possible for women to keep up with high level athletic men. 
would those ladies kick my ass up and down the court?  Sure. When I was at my athletic peak?  Nah- they were better than me but not ridiculously so. And I wasn’t able to play competitively past 8th grade. 
when I played against my buddies I couldn’t do anything with them. When I played against the ladies at UT I could get my shot off and get to my spots and block out and stay in front of them. They were better with the ball and better with their decision making but they weren’t staying on the court any longer than I was on their run. 
I’d be assigned to guard one of them as the 4th or 5th on my team during my run typically. 

I was by no means a superb athlete.   I did t play on the basketball team.  Did play footballl but basketball wasn’t a focus.  Lived next door to the star of the girls 8th grade basketball team.  She challenged me to a game and I mopped the floor with her.   I was 22 so already four years out of high school.  Just kidding I was 13.  Dated soccer players (women you sick fuck) and none of them could keep up with me in any athletic endeavor.  It’s science

[BurntOrange&White 41645]

CTJ would beat all of them in a foot race, that aint no shit either.

[Hozz 1033]

11 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

And before anyone questions my motives for posting.  I can readily admit the inverse happened in a similar situation with soccer.  I'm a decent soccer player.  A few years ago, we added a former Lady Vol soccer player to our team.  She was a RB; I played right mid.  She was not an All-American by any stretch of the imagination, but she was really good.  And, she could throw in a ball from midfield into the goalie box.  Anyway, I felt so stupid trying to keep up with her technical ability and pace, that I eventually moved to a different position on the field.  That girl ran up and down the field like it was nothing.  

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

[Catdaddyhorn 3462]

I must say, it's a bit revealing that anytime a basketball thread devolves into a discussion about women's basketball it immediately becomes inundated with the exploits of men dominating women in sports. Not sure why the idea that a man would physically out athlete a woman is such a provocative or worthwhile discussion, nor am I certain of why that negates the skill level women's basketball players have, but the discussion is an interesting thing to observe. 

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

2 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I must say, it's a bit revealing that anytime a basketball thread devolves into a discussion about women's basketball it immediately becomes inundated with the exploits of men dominating women in sports. Not sure why the idea that a man would physically out athlete a woman is such a provocative or worthwhile discussion, nor am I certain of why that negates the skill level women's basketball players have, but the discussion is an interesting thing to observe. 

It’s always the same. You have someone like Motown say- sorry you don’t understand or don’t like quality basketball or some sort of something about solid Fundamentals or any other code words and then call that other person a sexist. Then it’s explained that some people like watching a higher level product (unless they are otherwise emotionally involved) and the it’s official to the races. 
I’m usually good for a couple go rounds with anyone willing to tell me the sky is orange. It’s a bad habit of mine. People acting like women can compete in the sport that most values height and physicality with men is an arguing about nonsense that I’m usually willing to engage in like a dog chasing a car bc there is something wrong with me. 
IOW if you say “I like women’s basketball” I will say- cool- good for you”

If you say you are sexist Bc you don’t like women’s basketball or women can play basketball just as well as men then I take the bait and argue. 
Motown did both. 
he also took a victory lap and spiked the football after the big 12 tournament acting like that erased 6 shitty years so I should probably ignore rather than engage. We’ve all got some Derka in us about some things though. 

[Huckleberry 34404]

It's a different sport, now everybody shut up. I don't care that you don't care about women's basketball. The whole discussion on this thread is dumb. It's dumb to bring up women's basketball and it's dumb to post the same dumb gif 5 times because you're super cool because you don't care about women's basketball.

You're all idiots, now shut up. Thanks.

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

10 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

It's a different sport, now everybody shut up. I don't care that you don't care about women's basketball. The whole discussion on this thread is dumb. It's dumb to bring up women's basketball and it's dumb to post the same dumb gif 5 times because you're super cool because you don't care about women's basketball.

You're all idiots, now shut up. Thanks.

You can’t tell me what to do- you’re not my real dad. 
 

[BurntOrange&White 41645]

15 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

It's a different sport, now everybody shut up. I don't care that you don't care about women's basketball. The whole discussion on this thread is dumb. It's dumb to bring up women's basketball and it's dumb to post the same dumb gif 5 times because you're super cool because you don't care about women's basketball.

You're all idiots, now shut up. Thanks.

You like women’s basketball. 

[Machinator 32102]

A few MU fans have circulated this article discussing Shaka's bad luck at Texas as why things could work out better for them. To the author's credit he acknowledged that Smart's results at Texas were not good for the talent he had.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2021/03/29/shaka-smarts-lack-ncaa-wins-texas-includes-terrible-luck/7044199002/

[Dr. Teeth 5868]

Definitely unlucky when you can't figure out how to score down low against the cast of the Wizard of Oz.

[Js1 86926]

2016 - I mean sure, but a 6 seed shouldn't be in a position to lose on a half court buzzer beater.  If they lose, it's entirely their fucking fault. 

2017 was entirely his own doing.  That team was ass. 

2018 was def bad luck with Jones.  The blown lead in the tournament ended up being something we've just seen a lot - really shitty halftime adjustments. 

2019 - whatever, yay NIT championship? 

2020 - COVID

2021 - that shit wasn't bad luck, that was incompetence. 

[PatSolitanojr 518]

 

48 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I must say, it's a bit revealing that anytime a basketball thread devolves into a discussion about women's basketball it immediately becomes inundated with the exploits of men dominating women in sports. Not sure why the idea that a man would physically out athlete a woman is such a provocative or worthwhile discussion, nor am I certain of why that negates the skill level women's basketball players have, but the discussion is an interesting thing to observe. 

I would be a dominant force in the WNBA

[Wanker Bob 379]

Men regaling tales of beating up on women in sports. 

No wonder Americans are having far less sex these days 

[The Dog 44771]

9 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Men regaling tales of beating up on women in sports. 

No wonder Americans are having far less sex these days 

Oh shut the fuck up

[Bevo14 8468]

7 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Men regaling tales of beating up on women in sports. 

No wonder Americans are having far less sex these days 

Does that you mean you don't want to hear about my exploits on the court as a fetus lining up against 3 HoF WNBA players?

[Deej 77665]

16 minutes ago, PatSolitanojr said:

 

I would be a dominant force in the WNBA

 

[83Horn 1665]

 

[CurlyDumps 4618]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

2016 - I mean sure, but a 6 seed shouldn't be in a position to lose on a half court buzzer beater.  If they lose, it's entirely their fucking fault. 

2017 was entirely his own doing.  That team was ass. 

2018 was def bad luck with Jones.  The blown lead in the tournament ended up being something we've just seen a lot - really shitty halftime adjustments. 

2019 - whatever, yay NIT championship? 

2020 - COVID

2021 - that shit wasn't bad luck, that was incompetence. 

2019 - last game of season - pathetic home loss to a bad TCU team with an NCAA berth on the line 

2020 - last game of season - pathetic home loss to a bad OSU team with an NCAA berth on the line.

Just more bad luck at the worst possible time I guess.

And spinning the Covid stoppage as UNLUCKY is a whopper. It likely saved him from losing to Tech and missing the tourney. 

We’ll see how tolerant Marquette is of Shaka’s continued run of “bad luck” when his teams collapse in every game that matters.

Edited March 30, 2021 by CurlyDumps

[Burt Macklin 19209]

23 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

2019 - last game of season - pathetic home loss to a bad TCU team with an NCAA berth on the line 

2020 - last game of season - pathetic home loss to a bad OSU team with an NCAA berth on the line.

Just more bad luck at the worst possible time I guess.

And spinning the Covid stoppage as UNLUCKY is a whopper. It likely saved him from losing to Tech and missing the tourney. 

We’ll see how tolerant Marquette is of Shaka’s continued run of “bad luck” when his teams collapse in every game that matters.

Marquette is an entire fan base of cameltoes right now. It will be hilarious to see how they change over time. They are going to turn on Shaka fast.

 

I just found this Marquette SB Nation write up on Shaka and it is hilarious. They call his time at VCU a success because of the one final four run while ignoring everything else and they say he “has shown an ability to succeed in win-or-go-home circumstances.” 😂

They then note how he’s below .500 in the Big 12 and come up with this gem: “Is that a problem? Maybe. Or maybe Smart caught some bad breaks.” 
 

https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2021/3/26/22352277/marquette-golden-eagles-mens-basketball-new-coach-hire-shaka-smart

 

Spoiler

Smart comes to Marquette after a six year tenure as head coach at VCU and a six year stretch as head coach at Texas. He guided the Rams to the NCAA tournament in five of his six seasons in charge, including a Final Four as a #11 seed in his first ever appearance as a head coach in the tournament. Each of Smart’s last four teams at VCU were single digits in the NCAA tournament.

The results at Texas were a little bit more mixed. After putting the Longhorns into the NCAA tournament as a #6 seed in his first year in Austin, Smart missed the field of 68 in two of the next three seasons and the Longhorns were not projected to reach the tournament before the 2020 event was cancelled. Smart bounced back from that season to go 19-8 overall and 11-6 in the Big 12 in 2020-21 and won the Big 12 conference tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA field and landed as a #3 seed, his best ever seeding in eight appearances.

 

Smart has compiled a head coaching record of 272-142 in 12 seasons as a head coach. He went 163-56 at VCU and 109-86 at Texas. Along the way, Smart has show an ability to succeed in win-or-go-home circumstances, guiding VCU to a CBI title in 2010, a CAA tournament title in 2012, and an Atlantic 10 tournament title in 2015 in addition to his Final Four in 2011. At Texas, the Longhorns won an NIT title in 2019 and the aforementioned Big 12 tournament this past season. He has a record of 19-8 in conference tournaments, 7-8 in the NCAA tournament, and perfect 5-0 marks in both the NIT and the CBI.

We should probably talk about Texas a little bit more. Marquette is hiring a coach who has not won an NCAA tournament game in three appearances in the last six seasons.... which is exactly the same number of NCAA wins as the previous head coach in the previous seven seasons and the same number of appearances if you give Steve Wojciechowski credit for the canceled 2020 tournament. Smart was just 52-56 in Big 12 play, which means he had a losing record in conference play, just like Wojciechowski did in the Big East. Is that a problem? Maybe. Or maybe Smart caught some bad breaks. Texas was ranked somewhere in the AP poll at least once in five of Smart’s six seasons in Austin. He missed the NCAA tournament in three of them, if we presume that the Longhorns were going to miss the 2020 tournament as projected when it was canceled. He also made the NCAA tournament with a team that was never ranked in the top 25 in 2018. 

In Smart’s first season, he made the NCAA tournament even though senior starting center and #2 scorer Cameron Ridley missed nearly everything from January onwards. In Year #2, leading scorer Tevin Mack was lost for the season after January 11th. Year #3, leading scorer Andrew Jones was diagnosed with leukemia while leading the team in scoring and essentially didn’t play again until Year 5. Are those excuses or explanations? I don’t know. 

Of course we’ll have to wait to see what happens at Marquette, but what we can tell from Smart’s history as a head coach is that his focus seems to be on getting his teams to play defense. According to KenPom.com, Smart’s worst ever Adjusted Defensive Rating came in his first season as a head coach when VCU ranked #98 in the country. The second worst was his second season at VCU when they finished #78 in the country.... after reaching the Final Four. Since then, in the intervening 10 seasons as a head coach, Smart’s teams have never ranked lower than 40th in defense per KenPom, an accomplishment that eluded Steve Wojciechowski in his seven seasons. The offense has been all over the place. The tempo has been all over the place, especially after abandoning his Havoc style of play while moving from VCU to Texas. Smart’s Longhorn teams never forced turnovers like his Rams teams did, and this past year there almost seemed to be an attempt to completely avoid trying for turnovers. But it was still a top 40 defense. The overall defense persists, no matter what year it is or what his roster looks like. 

Perhaps most importantly as basketball evolves in the third decade of the 21st Century, Smart’s teams deny three-pointers. It’s a general trend for all 12 seasons of his career, but Texas ranked #6 in the country in defensive three-point attempt rate in 2020 and #49 this past season. All but one of his Texas teams have been in the top 100 in the country in that category according to KenPom. Three of his six VCU teams ranked in the top 100 in denying opponents three-pointers.  We talked about this back in December in relation to how the Marquette season was going: Denying three-pointers is an important part of playing defense because three-point shooting defense is mostly just luck. 

With a new coach in place, we move on to new business. What’s up with the existing Marquette roster? What’s up with signed recruits Kam Jones and Stevie Mitchell? What’s up with committed recruit Jonas Aidoo? Who are the assistant coaches going to be? Maybe there’s even more questions to be asked and answered that we can’t see right now. Keep your eyes and ears peeled and opened respectively, and we’ll bring you all the info that you need to know right here at Anonymous Eagle.

 

[Wanker Bob 379]

11 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Marquette is an entire fan base of cameltoes right now. It will be hilarious to see how they change over time. They are going to turn on Shaka fast.

 

I just found this Marquette SB Nation write up on Shaka and it is hilarious. They call his time at VCU a success because of the one final four run while ignoring everything else and they say he “has shown an ability to succeed in win-or-go-home circumstances.” 😂

They then note how he’s below .500 in the Big 12 and come up with this gem: “Is that a problem? Maybe. Or maybe Smart caught some bad breaks.” 
 

https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2021/3/26/22352277/marquette-golden-eagles-mens-basketball-new-coach-hire-shaka-smart

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Smart comes to Marquette after a six year tenure as head coach at VCU and a six year stretch as head coach at Texas. He guided the Rams to the NCAA tournament in five of his six seasons in charge, including a Final Four as a #11 seed in his first ever appearance as a head coach in the tournament. Each of Smart’s last four teams at VCU were single digits in the NCAA tournament.

The results at Texas were a little bit more mixed. After putting the Longhorns into the NCAA tournament as a #6 seed in his first year in Austin, Smart missed the field of 68 in two of the next three seasons and the Longhorns were not projected to reach the tournament before the 2020 event was cancelled. Smart bounced back from that season to go 19-8 overall and 11-6 in the Big 12 in 2020-21 and won the Big 12 conference tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA field and landed as a #3 seed, his best ever seeding in eight appearances.

 

Smart has compiled a head coaching record of 272-142 in 12 seasons as a head coach. He went 163-56 at VCU and 109-86 at Texas. Along the way, Smart has show an ability to succeed in win-or-go-home circumstances, guiding VCU to a CBI title in 2010, a CAA tournament title in 2012, and an Atlantic 10 tournament title in 2015 in addition to his Final Four in 2011. At Texas, the Longhorns won an NIT title in 2019 and the aforementioned Big 12 tournament this past season. He has a record of 19-8 in conference tournaments, 7-8 in the NCAA tournament, and perfect 5-0 marks in both the NIT and the CBI.

We should probably talk about Texas a little bit more. Marquette is hiring a coach who has not won an NCAA tournament game in three appearances in the last six seasons.... which is exactly the same number of NCAA wins as the previous head coach in the previous seven seasons and the same number of appearances if you give Steve Wojciechowski credit for the canceled 2020 tournament. Smart was just 52-56 in Big 12 play, which means he had a losing record in conference play, just like Wojciechowski did in the Big East. Is that a problem? Maybe. Or maybe Smart caught some bad breaks. Texas was ranked somewhere in the AP poll at least once in five of Smart’s six seasons in Austin. He missed the NCAA tournament in three of them, if we presume that the Longhorns were going to miss the 2020 tournament as projected when it was canceled. He also made the NCAA tournament with a team that was never ranked in the top 25 in 2018. 

In Smart’s first season, he made the NCAA tournament even though senior starting center and #2 scorer Cameron Ridley missed nearly everything from January onwards. In Year #2, leading scorer Tevin Mack was lost for the season after January 11th. Year #3, leading scorer Andrew Jones was diagnosed with leukemia while leading the team in scoring and essentially didn’t play again until Year 5. Are those excuses or explanations? I don’t know. 

Of course we’ll have to wait to see what happens at Marquette, but what we can tell from Smart’s history as a head coach is that his focus seems to be on getting his teams to play defense. According to KenPom.com, Smart’s worst ever Adjusted Defensive Rating came in his first season as a head coach when VCU ranked #98 in the country. The second worst was his second season at VCU when they finished #78 in the country.... after reaching the Final Four. Since then, in the intervening 10 seasons as a head coach, Smart’s teams have never ranked lower than 40th in defense per KenPom, an accomplishment that eluded Steve Wojciechowski in his seven seasons. The offense has been all over the place. The tempo has been all over the place, especially after abandoning his Havoc style of play while moving from VCU to Texas. Smart’s Longhorn teams never forced turnovers like his Rams teams did, and this past year there almost seemed to be an attempt to completely avoid trying for turnovers. But it was still a top 40 defense. The overall defense persists, no matter what year it is or what his roster looks like. 

Perhaps most importantly as basketball evolves in the third decade of the 21st Century, Smart’s teams deny three-pointers. It’s a general trend for all 12 seasons of his career, but Texas ranked #6 in the country in defensive three-point attempt rate in 2020 and #49 this past season. All but one of his Texas teams have been in the top 100 in the country in that category according to KenPom. Three of his six VCU teams ranked in the top 100 in denying opponents three-pointers.  We talked about this back in December in relation to how the Marquette season was going: Denying three-pointers is an important part of playing defense because three-point shooting defense is mostly just luck. 

With a new coach in place, we move on to new business. What’s up with the existing Marquette roster? What’s up with signed recruits Kam Jones and Stevie Mitchell? What’s up with committed recruit Jonas Aidoo? Who are the assistant coaches going to be? Maybe there’s even more questions to be asked and answered that we can’t see right now. Keep your eyes and ears peeled and opened respectively, and we’ll bring you all the info that you need to know right here at Anonymous Eagle.

 

Tbh that's what sports fans do. It's no different than what all of you have done with your football program hiring a washout alcoholic who rode Nick Saban's coattails and elite talent advantage to landing the job at your program. On paper based on his previous stops it's going to be a massive failure, but things don't always work out as they look on paper. He might be a success for you the same way Shaka might actually be a success in Marquette with different circumstances. 

[Wulaw Horn 19560]

3 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

What the fuck does this wanker know about basketball or real football anyway?   Go back to what you know about sports, i.e., pretending that you’re going to win every World Cup even though you’re never better than like the 6th best team in Europe.   Imagine a country where Rooney and Beckham and Andy Murray your alpha athletes.  You’d be a wanker, too, if you had to champion that shit.

Out of rep. 

[Machinator 32102]

Wanker Bob is begging for the Carl treatment.

[Bevo14 8468]

21 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Tbh that's what sports fans do. It's no different than what all of you have done with your football program hiring a washout alcoholic who rode Nick Saban's coattails and elite talent advantage to landing the job at your program. On paper based on his previous stops it's going to be a massive failure, but things don't always work out as they look on paper. He might be a success for you the same way Shaka might actually be a success in Marquette with different circumstances. 

Not a completely unreasonable post but I still hope somebody spills your afternoon tea.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Bevo14

[Steel Shank 9533]

Sorry if I missed it, but has Shaka publicly said why he left UT? Has anybody addressed it formally?

Also, I used to execute monster dunks on the 8 ft. basket at the neighborhood elementary. Legendary stuff.

Found this interesting:

Quote

This wasn't the first time Marquette made a run at Smart. Marquette pursued Smart in 2014, but he stayed at VCU. The Golden Eagles instead hired longtime Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski, who was fired March 19 after going 128-95 with no NCAA tournament victories in seven seasons.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Steel Shank

[Wanker Bob 379]

44 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

What the fuck does this wanker know about basketball or real football anyway?   Go back to what you know about sports, i.e., pretending that you’re going to win every World Cup even though you’re never better than like the 6th best team in Europe.   Imagine a country where Rooney and Beckham and Andy Murray your alpha athletes.  You’d be a wanker, too, if you had to champion that shit.

[CurlyDumps 4618]

9 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Don't you have some black footballers to heckle? Uh oh, are you out of bananas? Better go check! Chop chop, you know that clock never stops!

[DanTheHorn 5061]

Shaka has great coach speak game, if I did not know how badly he sucked here I would want him as our coach. At one point during the questions he talks about alignment! So, the one thing he learned at Texas was to take advice from Tom Herman? Man I am very happy he is gone, does not matter to us how he does at Marquette as long as his interest do not intersect with our interest. Listening to his presser just reminds me that as fans we drink the kool-aid when the old is out and the new is finally here no matter what the prior record is and which red flags are present for us to see.

[Red Five 41593]

He really looks better bald. That is a very exclusive club (Bruce Willis, Captain Picard) and I can't believe he's wasting it.