Point and laugh at Shaka Smart

[shadow_operative 15,932]

1 hour ago, Braff Zacklin said:

There is no "one size fits all" to coaching. Some guys need to be torn down to truly reach their potential; others need to be built up. For most, it's probably a mix of both. The key to being a great coach, I think, is understanding how much--or little--of one technique is ideal.

That said, give me Rick over Shaka all day, every day. It's stupid to even be discussing this.

i don't agree. my entire life of being around/watching sports has empirically shown me that the best and winningest coaches share several of the same traits: they're demanding, they're hard on their players, and they are up front about goals and expectations, all of which are grounded in reality. that is the proven formula for winning. you get elite players and elite coaches who push each other and raise each other's level day after day, and you embrace the expectation of being great. if you can't be brutally honest about what you're doing or where you're going then you will never ever win. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

btw, this doesn't mean that you have to be a hard ass or an asshole. that's not what it's about. i'm an arsenal fan, a cubs fan, and a chiefs fan, and Arsene Wenger, Joe Maddon, and Andy Reid are three of the calmest, classiest guys around, with all three winning titles in recent years. no, they don't publicly eviscerate their players a la Barnes or Beard, but you can bet your ass that behind closed doors they are holding their players accountable and being direct and honest with their expectations and performance evaluations. 

Barnes did that, and he won huge here. Now Beard is here (keeping in mind that his mentors include Barnes and Bobby Knight), having already won big in this league, and he handles his players the exact same way. Treat them like men- challenge them, be direct and honest with them, be hard on them between the lines, but show them you care about them as people (that one is particularly important in college athletics). That's how it should be. That's how winning programs have always worked/will always work. There's a template to creating a championship environment, and Shaka Smart deviates from that template something serious. He's clueless.

Edited February 13, 2022 by shadow_operative

[LTtxfan 49,170]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[LTtxfan 49,170]

Interesting prospect for Shakablah...

As of the first of the year, Marquette was the only college basketball program to offer Gold a scholarship according to that Rivals article. The New Zealand native has been spending the last two years in Australia as part of the NBA Global Academy, which led to him playing in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas around the same time that he took an official visit to Marquette for the home game against Villanova. He did an interview with Prospective Insight around that time, which mentions he had an offer from UC Santa Barbara as well, as well as drawing interest from Utah, Washington State, and Georgia Tech.

How about some videos?

Here’s a three minute clip of interviews and highlights from June 2020:

 

 

[closetojumping 62,604]

13 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Interesting prospect for Shakablah...

As of the first of the year, Marquette was the only college basketball program to offer Gold a scholarship according to that Rivals article. The New Zealand native has been spending the last two years in Australia as part of the NBA Global Academy, which led to him playing in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas around the same time that he took an official visit to Marquette for the home game against Villanova. He did an interview with Prospective Insight around that time, which mentions he had an offer from UC Santa Barbara as well, as well as drawing interest from Utah, Washington State, and Georgia Tech.

How about some videos?

Here’s a three minute clip of interviews and highlights from June 2020:

 

 

Before you think you've received tacit approval from readers of this thread to start robotically flooding it with any old random tidbit about Marquette, like uninteresting player commitments, I'd like to intervene and point out that this thread is for mocking the dickhead coaching the Marquette Mariners, and the various posters who can't quit him, and not just the "hey, keep us updated on all things Marquette" thread. That said, I am but one poster, so others may see it otherwise or be unfamiliar with what you wind up doing with threads when unbridled.

[Wulaw Horn 19,069]

11 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Before you think you've received tacit approval from readers of this thread to start robotically flooding it with any old random tidbit about Marquette, like uninteresting player commitments, I'd like to intervene and point out that this thread is for mocking the dickhead coaching the Marquette Mariners, and the various posters who can't quit him, and not just the "hey, keep us updated on all things Marquette" thread. That said, I am but one poster, so others may see it otherwise or be unfamiliar with what you wind up doing with threads when unbridled.

As the person who started the thread I join in what I am sure is the majority opinion. 

[dcar00 14,181]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:37 AM, shadow_operative said:

Rick Barnes has one of the best track records of developing players in all of CBB, and down to a man they all credit him for pushing them beyond what they thought they were capable of. that's a common trait among winning coaches (Barnes is top 20 all time in wins) and it's a trait which Shaka does not have. major d-1 players need to be challenged, not coddled, or worse, repeatedly told that they're the best at what they do when that's far from the truth. you look up now and KD is now one of the better defensive players in basketball, while Febres is a career .358 shooter from deep who has no impact on his team as a senior. you tell me which guy's method works and which one doesn't. 

Apparently sir you did not see the NAVY SEAL Training(aka twitter photo op) that Shaka set up to show how tough he is on players.

[CurlyDumps 4,471]

1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

Apparently sir you did not see the NAVY SEAL Training(aka twitter photo op) that Shaka set up to show how tough he is on players.

Not sure which coach's plan to instill toughness was more hilarious and ineffective: Shaka's SEAL training, or Mack's PR strategy to start crossing his arms and scowling in photos.

[Js1 85,311]

5 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

Not sure which coach's plan to instill toughness was more hilarious and ineffective: Shaka's SEAL training, or Mack's PR strategy to start crossing his arms and scowling in photos.

Don't forget Tom's dry biscuits and runny eggs. 

[Pato del Muerto 52,489]

Bring on Marquette talk. It might  dilute Rick Barnes talk.

[dcar00 14,181]

If he loses at home  to 0-13 Patrick Ewing led Georgetown tomorrow(FS2 btw) the bottom could drop out.

losing to Butler but beating Nova twice and Providence by 32 is peak Shaka.  he's got a really easy schedule left which means he'll probably go 2-4.

 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

23 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

If he loses at home  to 0-13 Patrick Ewing led Georgetown tomorrow(FS2 btw) the bottom could drop out.

losing to Butler but beating Nova twice and Providence by 32 is peak Shaka.  he's got a really easy schedule left which means he'll probably go 2-4.

 

kenpom has them going 6-0.

[closetojumping 62,604]

13 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

kenpom has them going 6-0.

Had them going 6-0, right? They just buttfucked step one of 6-0, so that seems unlikely now. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

On 2/12/2022 at 8:33 PM, SL Xpress said:

 

I don't think it's that much of a mystery, frankly. It was very apparent from the moment he got to Texas. 

For one, he's charismatic. He's also not ignorant about basketball. Now, what he should do is replicate what he did at VCU. Recruit a team full of athletic guys who may not have pure basketball skills but have a chip on their shoulder. Full court press teams and just send waves of guys off the bench. Count on effort and transition baskets for wins. It's a limited formula, but there's an inherent amount of success available if done right.

But he's not going to do that, because that's not his identity. He wants to coach NBA players. Probably wants to coach in the NBA. He's enamored with getting the most talented guys he can, not in getting the guys who fit his system, or create an identity around a program and recruit to that. Kids want to have freedom on the court. Shaka is going to give them that.

He doesn't know how to build a coaching staff, or a support staff. He doesn't know how to raise the expectations for the people around him. He doesn't know how to create a sense of urgency. He doesn't know how to change his mind on something, and then get buy in on that change in direction. He doesn't know how to manage upwards, through administrations and donors. He has no idea how to manage laterally, through peers within the program or with people outside the program. He only knows how to be charismatic, and he thinks that should be enough. He doesn't have any kind of feel for how to create a legitimate two way relationship with folks.

He doesn't know how to create measurements for success. He doesn't know how to build relationships where he can call people accountable, and they'll respond in a positive manner. 

What this all means is that he'll never create a consistent product. When things go well, it will snowball. Confidence will soar. Players will feed off of one another. When there are struggles, there's no resiliency. People point fingers. They play hero ball. 

Shaka's counter at Texas is opposite of Beard's this year. Shaka would do his best against athletic teams when his team had success, because that success snowballed. Shaka had his most difficulty against disciplined teams that ran systems, especially on defense. Beard on the other hand, is going to have his biggest issues against athletic teams, because his guys don't match up. If I see a team like Kentucky or Auburn in our bracket, it means trouble. But Beard is going to be great against the Abilene Christians of the world, because this team is going to out Abilene Christian them. 

Beard's approach is going to produce a lot more consistency. And if he can get the athletes, too, like he did at Tech, he can make some deep runs. Shaka is always going to have issues, both through the course of a season, and then in the tournament, because he'll never be able to produce a consistent product. 

His success was he had assistant coaches who knew X's, and O's very well. Both of his top assistant coaches are doing well with theIr own teams, Will Wade at LSU, and Mike Rhoades at VCU.  Those are the two guys who made HAVOC run correctly. 

He also had some talented non blue chip kids with a chip on their shoulder who wanted to prove themselves.  He is a great motivator, but a poor, one trick pony, sideline coach.  He probably does not connect with 4, and 5 star kids who view college as a 1 and done scenario.

[SL Xpress 7,513]

1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

His success was he had assistant coaches who knew X's, and O's very well. Both of his top assistant coaches are doing well with theIr own teams, Will Wade at LSU, and Mike Rhoades at VCU.  Those are the two guys who made HAVOC run correctly. 

He also had some talented non blue chip kids with a chip on their shoulder who wanted to prove themselves.  He is a great motivator, but a poor, one trick pony, sideline coach.  He probably does not connect with 4, and 5 star kids who view college as a 1 and done scenario.

He is not a great motivator. He sounds like a great motivator. There’s a difference. Someone can be charismatic and still not be a good leader. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

18 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

He is not a great motivator. He sounds like a great motivator. There’s a difference. Someone can be charismatic and still not be a good leader. 

Oh yes he is for the kids that want to listen. The 4 and 5 star recruits they don't wanna listen to anybody typically.  I watched what he did with the kids at VCU. They bought into his style.

[SL Xpress 7,513]

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Oh yes he is for the kids that want to listen. The 4 and 5 star recruits they don't wanna listen to anybody typically.  I watched what he did with the kids at VCU. They bought into his style.

Being a great motivator at VCU is not the same as being a great motivator. You either are or you’re not. He is charismatic. He can lift people temporarily. But being a great motivator is about the ability to build relationships. Great motivators have the ability to motivate disparate groups. He can’t do that. He can get people’s best performances one moment, and then completely lose them in the next. There’s nothing about that which speaks to being a great motivator. The fact you have to go back to VCU to buttress your point in your own mind simply illustrates it even more. 

[SilasCoade 2,622]

1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Oh yes he is for the kids that want to listen. The 4 and 5 star recruits they don't wanna listen to anybody typically.  I watched what he did with the kids at VCU. They bought into his style.

You can't define a great motivator based on qualities of their audience. It's like saying Greg Davis was a great OC for QBs named Vince and Colt but the only marginally superior talents couldn't implement his genius.

The ability to generate buy-in is the literal defining characteristic of a motivator.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Llogg

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

6 minutes ago, Llogg said:

You can't define a great motivator based on qualities of their audience. It's like saying Greg Davis was a great OC for QBs named Vince and Colt but the only marginally superior talents couldn't implement his genius.

The ability to generate buy-in is the literal defining characteristic of a motivator.

Yeah you can.  Some people just aren’t gonna listen, and 19 year old kids who’ve been whispered they’re great all their lives, and who are just biding time to move on don’t always listen no matter who’s talking.

 

Part of the reason coach k, and other long time coaches are leaving the game is for that very reason.

[Loop 1604 227]

23 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Before you think you've received tacit approval from readers of this thread to start robotically flooding it with any old random tidbit about Marquette, like uninteresting player commitments, I'd like to intervene and point out that this thread is for mocking the dickhead coaching the Marquette Mariners, and the various posters who can't quit him, and not just the "hey, keep us updated on all things Marquette" thread. That said, I am but one poster, so others may see it otherwise or be unfamiliar with what you wind up doing with threads when unbridled.

I had to put him on ignore. Every thread in football or basketball forum is twitter spam. Firing off post after post. It’s like Machinator on crack.

Not to mention the constant hot takes from 2 weeks ago on how we were probably going to miss the tournament and/or lose all the rest of our games.

[SilasCoade 2,622]

1 minute ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yeah you can.  Some people just aren’t gonna listen, and 19 year old kids who’ve been whispered they’re great all their lives, and who are just biding time to move on don’t always listen no matter who’s talking.

 

Part of the reason coach k, and other long time coaches are leaving the game is for that very reason.

Yes, it's definitely the kids' fault.

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

3 minutes ago, Llogg said:

Yes, it's definitely the kids' fault.

 

Oy vey, whatever sport. 

[SilasCoade 2,622]

Imagine thinking that someone who is paid multiple millions of dollars per year for the express purpose of motivating a handful of star athletes aged 18 to 23 should be allowed to blame the 18 to 23 year old star athletes for their own inability to motivate the athletes.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Llogg

[Herpa Derpa 6,125]

34 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Part of the reason coach k, and other long time coaches are leaving the game is for that very reason.

Sure, other than the fact that he's 75 and has explicitly said he's not leaving because of the current or future state of the game, that's the very reason. What other projective nonsense can you pull out of your ass next?

I bet you're one of those guys that blames the dog for shitting on the carpet.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Herpa Derpa

[shadow_operative 15,932]

if Shaka was a great motivator then methinks his ultra experienced back court would not have had 23 TO's while his NBA front court got crushed on the offensive glass vs a Juco looking Abilene Christian team, in the NCAA Tournament, with Shaka's job on the line. i know Greg Brown sure was motivated that night. motivated to gtfo out this program as quickly as possible.

[closetojumping 62,604]

5 hours ago, Loop 1604 said:

I had to put him on ignore. Every thread in football or basketball forum is twitter spam. Firing off post after post. It’s like Machinator on crack.

Not to mention the constant hot takes from 2 weeks ago on how we were probably going to miss the tournament and/or lose all the rest of our games.

To be clear, I do like dear, sweet, spammy @LTtxfan as a poster when he's capable of showing restraint. 

[dcar00 14,181]

7 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Oh yes he is for the kids that want to listen. The 4 and 5 star recruits they don't wanna listen to anybody typically.  I watched what he did with the kids at VCU. They bought into his style.

The kids at VCU generally are pissed they are playing at VCU and probably think they should be in ACC, Big Ten, etc and have something to prove themselves.

as an aside, it was obvious Will Wade made that team go.

Texas high ranking kids want to listen but they don't do well when someone feeds them bullshit.

A good motivator does not lose to Abilene Christian

[Wulaw Horn 19,069]

51 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

The kids at VCU generally are pissed they are playing at VCU and probably think they should be in ACC, Big Ten, etc and have something to prove themselves.

as an aside, it was obvious Will Wade made that team go.

Texas high ranking kids want to listen but they don't do well when someone feeds them bullshit.

A good motivator does not lose to Abilene Christian

That team coached by me, @shadow_operative and @Catdaddyhorn doesn’t lose to ACU (at least not the ACU that played that night. Look, I get a 14 seed being underrated and then playing over their head and pulling off a shocker. But those guys sucked. They shot 20% from 3, 35% overall, played like shit and still frank our milkshake. Most inexcusable game I’ve ever seen. 

[dcar00 14,181]

2 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That team coached by me, @shadow_operative and @Catdaddyhorn doesn’t lose to ACU (at least not the ACU that played that night. Look, I get a 14 seed being underrated and then playing over their head and pulling off a shocker. But those guys sucked. They shot 20% from 3, 35% overall, played like shit and still frank our milkshake. Most inexcusable game I’ve ever seen. 

agreed and thank you, jesus for small miracles.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

9 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That team coached by me, @shadow_operative and @Catdaddyhorn doesn’t lose to ACU (at least not the ACU that played that night. Look, I get a 14 seed being underrated and then playing over their head and pulling off a shocker. But those guys sucked. They shot 20% from 3, 35% overall, played like shit and still frank our milkshake. Most inexcusable game I’ve ever seen. 

lol you actually gave them too much credit. ACU shot 16.7% from deep and 29.9% from the field. they were terrible. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3,444]

Absolutely the worst loss by a top 3 seed in tourney history. I haven't gone back to look at the stats but I remember dwelling on how horribly ACU played yet they still managed to beat our ass. A 14 seed playing as atrociously as ACU played typically gets them beat by 30, but not that night. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

 

they took 27 more shots than we did, and killed us on the offensive glass 18-5. truly one of the worst, most inexplicable losses in NCAA history. 

[dcar00 14,181]

holy crap.  I don't think I ever really looked at the box score 23 turnovers and 27 more shots.

I wonder how many times a team shot less than 30% from the field and under 20% from 3 has ever won an NCAA tournament game? 

[Catdaddyhorn 3,444]

39 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

holy crap.  I don't think I ever really looked at the box score 23 turnovers and 27 more shots.

I wonder how many times a team shot less than 30% from the field and under 20% from 3 has ever won an NCAA tournament game? 

I'll save you the research, NEVER. At least not in the 1st round over a top 3 seed. That's what made it so egregious. We were a fucking 3 seed and lost to a 14 seed that not only didn't have to shoot lights out to beat us, they didn't even have to break 20% from the 3pt line to do it. That's it!!! Y'all've ruined my night reminding me of that shit. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

3 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I'll save you the research, NEVER. At least not in the 1st round over a top 3 seed. That's what made it so egregious. We were a fucking 3 seed and lost to a 14 seed that not only didn't have to shoot lights out to beat us, they didn't even have to break 20% from the 3pt line to do it. That's it!!! Y'all've ruined my night reminding me of that shit. 

time for some immersion therapy. 

 

[dcar00 14,181]

6 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I'll save you the research, NEVER. At least not in the 1st round over a top 3 seed. That's what made it so egregious. We were a fucking 3 seed and lost to a 14 seed that not only didn't have to shoot lights out to beat us, they didn't even have to break 20% from the 3pt line to do it. That's it!!! Y'all've ruined my night reminding me of that shit. 

dude, that might have been the best thing that ever happened to us(although I kind of think he was gone even if he had won that game and lost the next).

I'm pointing and laughing at the final Shaka Smart box score at Texas.

[jimmyjazz 45,899]

9 hours ago, dcar00 said:

dude, that might have been the best thing that ever happened to us

Yeah, I never like the "lose to upgrade" mentality, but if it's gonna happen, that one almost surely worked out well for us.  

I was looking at Beard's track record in 5 years as head coach at Tech with regard to the NBA, and saw that he developed 3 draft picks, one a lottery pick (Culver, #6), along with another first-rounder (Smith, #16) and a second-rounder (Ramsey, #43).  Conversely, in 6 years at VCU, Shaka helped develop 1 draft pick (Sanders, #15), and he was a junior who left at the end of Shaka's first season, and who had already begun to shine under Anthony Grant by the time Shaka arrived..  So, despite the "risk" of hiring a new coach, I'm pretty comfortable with a guy who made the championship game and developed NBA caliber talent over the guy who ran a system that was tailor made for athletic but less-talented players.

[Red Five 40,852]

Haha we had a bunch of NBA dudes in the front court and got out-rebounded by ACU. 

[dcar00 14,181]

1 hour ago, Red Five said:

Haha we had a bunch of NBA dudes in the front court and got out-rebounded by ACU. 

It's like Jester West 5th floor/Sigma Chi B team beating the football players at gregory

[Revolution512 1,487]

I want to neg Derka but it’s not his fault

[shadow_operative 15,932]

3 hours ago, Red Five said:

Haha we had a bunch of NBA dudes in the front court and got out-rebounded by ACU. 

we also had a back court full of fourth and fifth year guys who turned the ball over 23 times, and it wasn't because of ACU's smothering defense either. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

i wonder how many times a team has gotten NINE blocks in a game where their opponents never blocked a shot, only to be out-rebounded? im guessing that the ACU game is the only recorded instance of this happening.

[Wulaw Horn 19,069]

6 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

i wonder how many times a team has gotten NINE blocks in a game where their opponents never blocked a shot, only to be out-rebounded? im guessing that the ACU game is the only recorded instance of this happening.

I look at box scores all the time. I basically never look at total shots. If you skip that column the entire box score is totally incomprehensible. 

[closetojumping 62,604]

Meanwhile, the Marquette Masqueraders won a hard fought game last night against the Patrick Ewing-impaired Georgetown Hoyas, sending GT further into their death spiral at 6-19. It was an epic saga, with the score finishing at 77-66. This nail biter was so entertaining that it's the been the talk of XM84 college sports radio all day today.

Shakablah was interviewed after the game by ESPN 8 and admitted that this victory was long awaited payback, stating: "They viciously buttfucked my Texas team on national television at Madison Square Garden in 2019. We would have won that one too if the boosters and athletic department at Texas hadn't kept getting in my way during the game." 

Still, sad news for resident Shakablah fanboi and starfucker, @MotownHorn, in terms of the spread. The spread at tipoff was -13 for Marquette and they only won by 11. Early reports are that Motown bet his wife and his March rent money on the Maulers, so it portends to be a grim next few weeks unless Mo's bookie will take Motown's 2013 RAV4 as collateral for his next wager against the mighty (checks notes) ... Creighton BlueJays away in Omaha this weekend.

[jimmyjazz 45,899]

5 hours ago, closetojumping said:

unless Mo's bookie will take Motown's 2013 RAV4 as collateral

OK, even I laughed at that.

[Rimbo 25,920]

9 hours ago, Revolution512 said:

I want to neg Derka but it’s not his fault

[shadow_operative 15,932]

11 hours ago, Revolution512 said:

I want to neg Derka but it’s not his fault

the voices in my head said the very same thing. 

Edited February 18, 2022 by shadow_operative

[Napoleon 8,669]

What are the odds that the selection committee matches Texas up with Marquette in the first or second round?

[Wulaw Horn 19,069]

2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

What are the odds that the selection committee matches Texas up with Marquette in the first or second round?

Like 11 out of 10. Right now looks like a guaranteed 4 v 5 matchup. 

[SL Xpress 7,513]

15 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Like 11 out of 10. Right now looks like a guaranteed 4 v 5 matchup. 

Well…I don’t know if guaranteed is the word I’d use regarding a second round matchup.