Fire Shaka Smart

[orangecat92 306]

Just looked at kenpom numbers. He has us at 68. Looked for other Texas teams close...SMU and North Texas are sitting 7 spots below us,  will we stay above north Texas?  Will we even host an NIT game?

 

[CurlyDumps 4439]

1 hour ago, Dr. Beeper said:

I don’t think we’d be worse off and I guess for an NIT team that goes .500, he’s a plus player. He’s not a good player though, and wouldn’t sniff the floor during most Barnes years. He’s a very, very spotty, weak guard. That the offense flows through him and our coach allows him to dribble so much is a travesty, a sham and a mockery. 

Calling him a solid player is a strange and terrible take. 

Coleman has the 2nd best +/- on the team behind Sims this year per Sports Reference.  For the sake of comparison, Coleman has a better +/- than Tech's starting G Moretti this season. And this is despite being stuck in a shit system run by an awful coach.

Coleman is the 2nd best player on the team and will be a senior next year. Anyone who actually watches the games can see how much better we are when he's on the floor, and the keystone cops shit that ensues when he's not.  We will be significantly worse next season if he transfers.

 

[Camelback80 107]

11 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

Coleman has the 2nd best +/- on the team behind Sims this year per Sports Reference.  For the sake of comparison, Coleman has a better +/- than Tech's starting G Moretti this season. And this is despite being stuck in a shit system run by an awful coach.

Coleman is the 2nd best player on the team and will be a senior next year. Anyone who actually watches the games can see how much better we are when he's on the floor, and the keystone cops shit that ensues when he's not.  We will be significantly worse next season if he transfers.

 

+/- has been shown to be one of the most inaccurate stats that exist on basketball player, the problem being there are 9 of 10 other guys influencing it. Here is the article debunking it: https://kenpom.com/blog/a-treatise-on-plusminus/

"In summary, plus-minus, while neat to look at, is a poor tool in college basketball analysis."

Matt Coleman is a good college basketball player. He worked his butt off in the offseason and it shows. He gives up some size to the super-athletic guards in the NCAA like KU's Dotson and Baylor's Mitchell, but given his heart and ball-handling, I'll take it. Matt Coleman is not the problem.

[CurlyDumps 4439]

5 minutes ago, Camelback80 said:

+/- has been shown to be one of the most inaccurate stats that exist on basketball player, the problem being there are 9 of 10 other guys influencing it. Here is the article debunking it: https://kenpom.com/blog/a-treatise-on-plusminus/

"In summary, plus-minus, while neat to look at, is a poor tool in college basketball analysis."

Matt Coleman is a good college basketball player. He worked his butt off in the offseason and it shows. He gives up some size to the super-athletic guards in the NCAA like KU's Dotson and Baylor's Mitchell, but given his heart and ball-handling, I'll take it. Matt Coleman is not the problem.

Sports Reference’s BPM stat is their own thing, and not a version of adjusted plus/minus. They developed their stat 3 years after that essay was written. 

Introducing BPM

[CurlyDumps 4439]

23 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

We are going nowhere with these guards and would be much better off with freshmen or transfers. 

No freshman is showing up on campus who will be better than Coleman next season. That’s as realistic as Izzo showing up on campus to coach. As for transfers, who? A grad transfer? What quality starting PG who can play right away is gonna choose our dumpster fire rebuild?

What kind of results would you expect with these mystery Coleman replacements? Coleman is good enough to lead us to a 20+ win season and a tourney bid. I’ll gladly take that in year 1 of a rebuild.

[Dbeasy 14969]

There is no way these elite players are all bad because they were over-rated recruits. No way. They are all bad because Shaka has failed to develop them at all. I’d bet they all can’t shoot because he mis-allocates practice time and doesn’t have any competent coaching staff working with the players on their shooting. There is no way all of these guys just can’t shoot. It has to be because of poor coaching.

[orangecat92 306]

Is there any chance he decides he wants to coach somewhere else?  I mean, he has got to feel something when he sees opposing fans take over his home court? Or not.  

[Napoleon 8605]

1 hour ago, orangecat92 said:

Is there any chance he decides he wants to coach somewhere else?  I mean, he has got to feel something when he sees opposing fans take over his home court? Or not.  

Texas Men's Hoops has become the USMNT of college hoops.

Horrible player selection and management and the visiting team on its home court.

[Fastbreak 3959]

17 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

Better yet, you negotiate a buyout for less than $10 million.

Why would Shaka do that?

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

12 hours ago, CurlyDumps said:

This notion that we won't be way worse off without Coleman next year is a strange and terrible take. He's a solid player being coached by a fucking dreadful offensive coordinator (his name rhymes with Caca Fart).

What mystery player are you taking over a senior Matt Coleman next year? You want us to tank for draft picks or something? 

The only real problem with Coleman is he's being overused and doesn't play with any other real dribble drive threats. He routinely beats his man only to face the rest of the defense under the paint. If there were more players on the court to keep the defense honest Coleman would be viewed differently. With that being said he has improved himself significantly from last year to this year wrt his outside shooting. He's the exact sort of grad transfer candidate who would throw a good team over the top. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

8 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

This is dumb. Coleman would flourish under better leadership. Underrated defender and has dramatically improved his shot from range.

Agree that he dribbles too much and doesn't always exercise the best judgment, but my sense is those things would've been coached out of him by now if he'd had a better teacher.

He dribbles too much because nobody else can do it reliably. Of course it would help if we didn't have an offense that relied on a guards pounding the air out of the rock for 29 seconds out of the shot clock. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

7 hours ago, Dr. Beeper said:

He’s a pixie that can’t shoot or pass. Perfect for Shaka. He’s too tentative and untalented to ever garner half the minutes/points/assists under Penders or Barnes. He’d never flourish. He’s a less athletic Balbay. Think about that. 

Coleman is shooting 42% from 3 this year. Balbay would be in the NBA if he were capable of shooting 42% from 3. 

[immortal13 4059]

53 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Coleman is shooting 42% from 3 this year. Balbay would be in the NBA if he were capable of shooting 42% from 3. 

Which begs the question: why is anyone else shooting 3's?

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

16 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

Which begs the question: why is anyone else shooting 3's?

Honestly, outside of Ramey none of our volume 3 pt shooters are shooting horribly (Coleman 42%, AJ1 38%, Febres 37%). The problem is too many poor shooters are shooting more than they need to be, and at times Febres and AJ1 have been wreckless with the shots they take (both of them are better pure shooters than Coleman). I'd say most of Coleman's improvement is the result of him being extremely judicious with his 3pt attempts. Overall he has taken relatively few 3s off the dribble (although he's taken way more during Big 12 play than he did in the non conference which knocked him down from a 50+ 3pt shooter to where he is now). 

Our inability to feed the post is ridiculous though. And it has an adverse affect on everything from our FT attempts to our offensive rebounding to the number of 3pt attempts with their feet set that our guards get. There were numerous times against both Baylor and Tech where our bigs (especially Hamm; teams don't even guard him half the time) were wide the fuck open off the roll. We also do a poor job of recognizing or forcing the issue against mismatches. I lost count of the number of times Moretti was switched onto the post guarding Hamm, Sims, or even Kai, but they couldn't even garner a look from our guards. I'd much rather the guards turn over the ball attempting to force feed the post than lose the ball dribbling the air out of it at the top of the key. None of this is high falutin basketball or anything. It's just simple ass, fundamentally sound shit that would elevate the play of a team with our talent level. 

[PilotsError 2282]

Raises the question.

[Bitterwhiteguy 153]

17 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

I’m curious if a career 30% three-point shooter has ever had a 1-25 stretch.  

*stares in Osetkowski*

[Burt Macklin 18998]

The last couple pages have been classic Rex Kramer. He comes in here firing his hot takes responding to every person who broached the subject while showing he has no fucking clue what he’s talking about. Coleman’s a good player and him leaving would be a significant loss for our new coach. 
 

Blaming Coleman for issues that have been consistent under every guard coaches by Shaka in the last five years is silly. Yeah, he over dribbles and makes poor decisions at times, but when he’s stuck in a system that has no creative movement and doesn’t generate any good looks plus he has a coach that makes no adjustments and just leaves his players flailing out there night after night isn’t his fault. There’s been a lot of talented players that have come through the program in the last five years and Isaiah Taylor has been the only guy who’s even marginally been able to overcome Shaka’s coaching. 
 

If you put guys like Coleman, AJ, Hepa, and even Kai, Williams and Ramey with a couple years of development, under a competent coach, they’d all show to be above average CBB starters. Our roster has talent and a lot of the guys on it have value, but that’s being marred by having one of the worst basketball coaches in all of P5, and probably D1, coaching them. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

8 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

There is no way these elite players are all bad because they were over-rated recruits. No way. They are all bad because Shaka has failed to develop them at all. I’d bet they all can’t shoot because he mis-allocates practice time and doesn’t have any competent coaching staff working with the players on their shooting. There is no way all of these guys just can’t shoot. It has to be because of poor coaching.

Arsenal FC, the soccer team that I support, recently changed managers, and *literally* every player has magically gotten better overnight. we even had one guy who, under the previous manager, made himself persona non grata with the club and fans, and he already had one foot out the door of the club at the time of the coaching switch. he's started every Premier League game since then and has been one of our most important players, and the fans are all thanking god that we didn't give him the boot. players who were garbage are now solid-great, and guys we didn't know could even play are now starting every match. Arsenal hasn't lost a single game in 2020. same exact players, brand new coaching staff, and voila- it's like a whole new team.

[immortal13 4059]

I stopped reading at soccer

[Dirk X West 772]

38 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Arsenal FC, the soccer team that I support, recently changed managers, and *literally* every player has magically gotten better overnight. we even had one guy who, under the previous manager, made himself persona non grata with the club and fans, and he already had one foot out the door of the club at the time of the coaching switch. he's started every Premier League game since then and has been one of our most important players, and the fans are all thanking god that we didn't give him the boot. players who were garbage are now solid-great, and guys we didn't know could even play are now starting every match. Arsenal hasn't lost a single game in 2020. same exact players, brand new coaching staff, and voila- it's like a whole new team.

Same thing has happened at Everton with Ancelotti, but the turnaround has been even more dramatic.  Coaching isn't quite everything - you still have to have talent on your roster - but it's huge.  Good coaches can win with mediocre talent, but good talent rarely wins with poor coaching.

[Goo Punch 4275]

10 minutes ago, Dirk X West said:

Same thing has happened at Everton with Ancelotti, but the turnaround has been even more dramatic.  Coaching isn't quite everything - you still have to have talent on your roster - but it's huge.  Good coaches can win with mediocre talent, but good talent rarely wins with poor coaching.

exactly. a lot of people seem to think that teams just roll the ball out and the play just takes care of itself. coaching at this level is a 70, 80+ hour/week job that entails so much more than most folks will ever know. take Roy Williams for example- he's been sending a few more guys to the NBA as of late, but how many of his former KU or UNC players went on to be NBA studs? same with Coach K- how many Dukies between Grant Hill and Kyrie Irving went on to be NBA stars? coaching is huge, and especially so at the college level when the entire team is a bunch of kids who don't even know the difference between a good coach and a shitty one. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Donovan Williams and Kai Jones particularly could use a new coach. Zero reason that both of them aren't much bigger pieces of our team, but that's just one specific example of an area where Shaka is severely lacking and out of his depth (no pun intended)- dude is the absolute worst coach i've ever seen at integrating his young talent into the fold. i mean what kind of fucking ass-backwards moron, year after year, refuses to use his depth during the non conference schedule, only to find himself scrambling to find his best players/lineups throughout conference play? 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

37 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Donovan Williams and Kai Jones particularly could use a new coach. Zero reason that both of them aren't much bigger pieces of our team, but that's just one specific example of an area where Shaka is severely lacking and out of his depth (no pun intended)- dude is the absolute worst coach i've ever seen at integrating his young talent into the fold. i mean what kind of fucking ass-backwards moron, year after year, refuses to use his depth during the non conference schedule, only to find himself scrambling to find his best players/lineups throughout conference play? 

RT dude is the absolute worst coach i've ever seen at integrating his young talent into the fold

The absolute worst!!! 

From the very beginning his roster management has been abysmal. 

[Horn80 6075]

1 hour ago, immortal13 said:

I stopped reading at soccer

Yes, that post was almost neg blanket party offense

[dcar00 14035]

1 hour ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

RT dude is the absolute worst coach i've ever seen at integrating his young talent into the fold

The absolute worst!!! 

From the very beginning his roster management has been abysmal. 

That roster mgmt was just the bad luck CDC was referencing, dont ya know!

[Tired Horn 734]

17 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

That roster mgmt was just the bad luck CDC was referencing, dont ya know!

Maybe just being in over his head is the bad luck. It happens to everyone not qualified for the job they have.

At times, though, I still marvel at Shaka. He made his bones with the whole Havoc thing, then decided that wasn't the best system for maxing out at Texas. Okay. Whatever. But he's literally replaced his signature style with... nothing. It's like he picked up "The Idiot's Guide to Basketball" and took stray ideas here and there that he subsequently deploys at random. That's why our play has no rhythm or flow or discernible signs of growth. We just mix and match random components of successful basketball without any higher brain function to integrate them into a style.

That's also why we're so excruciating to watch. It's like watching a musical where no one knows how to dance, there's no choreography anyway, and the music is off key.

WTF? 

[closetojumping 62245]

23 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

What on earth has Will Baker shown you to make you think "yeah, I hope that guy sticks around"?

Will Baker is a rich, untalented white kid from a prestigious neighborhood that can't help himself but get into the middle of other peoples' efforts and buttfuck the whole thing to oblivion. Of course Rex Kramer is going to be an admirer. There's a solid chance that Rex Kramer IS actually Will Baker. If not, the two of them should get together and go bowling. 

Also, read the last 2-3 pages of this thread and then hang your head in shame for even bothering to give that fucking rube the dignity of an interaction. 

[jimmyjazz 45558]

11 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Why would Shaka do that?

The only way I could see it happening is if we could guarantee he'd make more total at another school.  Something like "we will supplement your next 3 years by whatever amount it takes to get to $10M, plus throw in a $2M going away bonus".  Say he signs somewhere else for $2M annual, we'd be on the hook for $6M ($4M added salary + $2M bonus).  Beats throwing away $10M.

The kicker would be finding some AD stupid enough to give Shaka $2M per year (cough).  The breakeven point with my numbers would be if he signed for $333K per year at some place like UT-Arlington.  (Chris Ogden makes ~ $400K annually.)  We'd owe him $2.67M per year plus the bonus.

All of these musings are stupid and it's probably not legal, or at the very least it's probably against UT system rules.  I'm winging it.  Shaka is not leaving any part of that $10M on the table.

[Js1 85110]

8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The only way I could see it happening is if we could guarantee he'd make more total at another school.  Something like "we will supplement your next 3 years by whatever amount it takes to get to $10M, plus throw in a $2M going away bonus".  Say he signs somewhere else for $2M annual, we'd be on the hook for $6M ($4M added salary + $2M bonus).  Beats throwing away $10M.

The kicker would be finding some AD stupid enough to give Shaka $2M per year (cough).  The breakeven point with my numbers would be if he signed for $333K per year at some place like UT-Arlington.  (Chris Ogden makes ~ $400K annually.)  We'd owe him $2.67M per year plus the bonus.

All of these musings are stupid and it's probably not legal, or at the very least it's probably against UT system rules.  I'm winging it.  Shaka is not leaving any part of that $10M on the table.

Mike Perrin is interim AD somewhere else? 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The kicker would be finding some AD stupid enough to give Shaka $2M per year (cough). 

That specific part of your post doesn't really seem that far-fetched. 

[Deej 76568]

6 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

RT dude is the absolute worst coach i've ever seen at integrating his young talent into the fold

The absolute worst!!! 

From the very beginning his roster management has been abysmal. 

"We should wait until after the OU game to give him reps."

 

[Fastbreak 3959]

5 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

All of these musings are stupid and it's probably not legal, or at the very least it's probably against UT system rules.  I'm winging it.  Shaka is not leaving any part of that $10M on the table.

Exactly...

CDC: "Hi Shaka, we'd like to work on a buyout. How about $6 million cash to walk away?"

Shaka: "I'm owed $10 million."

CDC: "hmmmm.. ok"

Shaka has absolutely no reason to take anything less than the full amount. We have no leverage in any form of reduced settlement. 

[Deej 76568]

What if there's video of him being pegged by Plonsky? Asking for NowThis.

[Tired Horn 734]

2 hours ago, Dr. Beeper said:

And because Baker has a ton of talent and I don’t trust Shaka Fucking Smart to either recognize it or develop it. 

Well, to be fair, negative growth is a kind of development. Shaka seems to have some ability at fostering that.

[Etexhorn13 3036]

Here’s his excuse for not being fired at the end of the season... plus rumors about Sims being out for rest of the season. 

 

[satyanash 14281]

😥

 

[MotownHorn 1731]

Oh no! One of the worst players in Texas basketball history won’t be able to play! Definitely gotta give shaka a pass then.

(I meant Febres FTR)

Edited February 13, 2020 by MotownHorn

[ChickenSandwich 9798]

16 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Exactly...

CDC: "Hi Shaka, we'd like to work on a buyout. How about $6 million cash to walk away?"

Shaka: "I'm owed $10 million."

CDC: "hmmmm.. ok"

Shaka has absolutely no reason to take anything less than the full amount. We have no leverage in any form of reduced settlement. 

then don't fire him.  Just replace him.  Take away his office, parking space etc, anything not stipulated in his contract.  Then have him shag balls at shoot around, tutor kids for class work, maybe some laundry and sit at the end of the bench for each game (3yrs).  He is free to quit if he is unsatisfied. 

[Js1 85110]

4 minutes ago, satyanash said:

😥

 

Cool, maybe then Shaka will be forced to actually play his 6'11 freshman in the post. 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

coaches aren't responsible for losses in seasons where their best player is unavailable

it's another mulligan for Shaka Smart!!!

[dcar00 14035]

fucking great.  this is all we need for dumbasses like Bilas and Fran to say we shouldn't be firing him...If they keep him I'm done with CDC and his bullshit.

[immortal13 4059]

1 hour ago, ChickenSandwich said:

then don't fire him.  Just replace him.  Take away his office, parking space etc, anything not stipulated in his contract.  Then have him shag balls at shoot around, tutor kids for class work, maybe some laundry and sit at the end of the bench for each game (3yrs).  He is free to quit if he is unsatisfied. 

Make him the fucking towel boy

[Bottlecap 1522]

didn't we basically do that to Mackovic? Have him design golf courses in bellmont for a few years or some shit?

[Goo Punch 4275]

2 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

then don't fire him.  Just replace him.  Take away his office, parking space etc, anything not stipulated in his contract.  Then have him shag balls at shoot around, tutor kids for class work, maybe some laundry and sit at the end of the bench for each game (3yrs).  He is free to quit if he is unsatisfied. 

yeah that'll really attract all of the top flight coaches to Texas.

"So let me get this straight- Texas hired Shaka Smart, then have him an extension after one year, and because they now "can't afford" to fire him they're just openly treating him like shit? yeah sign me up for that shit show."

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, Goo Punch said:

yeah that'll really attract all of the top flight coaches to Texas.

"So let me get this straight- Texas hired Shaka Smart, then have him an extension after one year, and because they now "can't afford" to fire him they're just openly treating him like shit? yeah sign me up for that shit show."

So you're saying the strategy is rash, fleeting, and poorly thought out?  So basically it's the Havoc of Contract Negotiations?  Got it.  

[ChickenSandwich 9798]

6 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

yeah that'll really attract all of the top flight coaches to Texas.

"So let me get this straight- Texas hired Shaka Smart, then have him an extension after one year, and because they now "can't afford" to fire him they're just openly treating him like shit? yeah sign me up for that shit show."

You kidding?  He would have a chance to learn under a real coach and his family gets to stay in Austin. 
 

It’s not that they can’t afford to fire him, it’s just getting their money’s worth while paying him either way. Nothing would stop him from taking another job and Texas would be getting SOMETHING for their money. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Tennessee's personnel/injury crisis dwarfs ours (although we are clearly gaining ground) and they are still having a better season than we are (Tenn is #58 in KenPom, Texas #70). just like the last three years, when their lineups full of players who nobody wanted coming out of HS were vastly outperforming our rosters full of top 100/top 50/HS All American players. these injuries should have *nothing* to do with the decision to fire/retain Shaka, and if CDC were to say otherwise then he can join Shaka on the next bus out of town. 

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Goo Punch

[immortal13 4059]

23 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Tennessee's personnel/injury crisis dwarfs ours (although we are clearly gaining ground) and they are still having a better season than we are (Tenn is #58 in KenPom, Texas #70). just like the last three years, when their lineups full of players who nobody wanted coming out of HS were vastly outperforming our rosters full of top 100/top 50/HS All American players. these injuries should have *nothing* to do with the decision to fire/retain Shaka, and if CDC were to say otherwise then he can join Shaka on the next bus out of town. 

 

Shut your fucking mouth about Tennessee. No one gives a fuck. Post that stupid shit on your Barnes thread

[Goo Punch 4275]

10 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

Shut your fucking mouth about Tennessee. No one gives a fuck. Post that stupid shit on your Barnes thread

shit your fucking mouth about every goddamn post i make. the shit in my post is 100% germane to the discussion at hand, while your incessant bitching and crying has fuck-all to do with anything. 

[immortal13 4059]

30 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

shit your fucking mouth about every goddamn post i make. the shit in my post is 100% germane to the discussion at hand, while your incessant bitching and crying has fuck-all to do with anything. 

Fuck you. No one cares about Tennesee on this entire board except your fat ass. Quit clogging up every fucking basketball thread with your Barnes/Tennessee bullshit.

 

They fucking suck

Edited February 13, 2020 by immortal13