Fire Shaka Smart

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

We could get Ben Howland. He'd be a sort of Lon Kruger at OU type of hire, but if he can win at Mississippi State, he's obviously not out of ammo yet.

[Jhawk 1075]

Howland would be very stabilizing. A very solid B hire if a clear cut A isn’t out there and gettable. 

[Scraps 13538]

Sooo....can we fire Shaka already?

Also anyone that seriously wants Kelvin fucking Sampson here can go jump off a bridge, or DIAF, or whack off their nuts, or stick their arm in a wood chipper.   I would take 10 more years of Shaka sucktitude over having that fuckstick as our HC.  I don't even care if it guaranteed one or two final fours.  Good fucking lord.  Kelvin Fucking Sampson?  Some of you must be 18 yrs old and not remember the late 90s-early 2000s.  Fuck this choad motherfucker.   

[Scraps 13538]

I mean shit....Kelvin Fucking Sampson?????  Fuck you.  hell lets fucking hire hollis price and edward najera to be on the staff while we are at it.  Son of a bitch you've got to be kidding me.  Fuck.  

[LonghornSean 3941]

Kelvin Sampson??  Hell to the fuck no

[CurlyDumps 4439]

12 hours ago, 2inDaPink1inDaStink said:

 If Shaka is not let go this week then we better see some serious change around this team

Change? That ship has sailed, sunk, and been condemned to the sea.  It’s year 4 and this team is plagued by the exact same problems we saw in year 1, year 2, and year 3. Erratic offense, shit half court sets, bad shooting, no discipline, no accountability, no identity, sloppy play, horrible late game execution, putrid on the road.

This Kansas game is Shaka’s last stand.  If he loses, his team’s season - and Texas career - is effectively over.

[Goo Punch 4275]

2 hours ago, SwanderedTalent said:

We could get Ben Howland. He'd be a sort of Lon Kruger at OU type of hire, but if he can win at Mississippi State, he's obviously not out of ammo yet.

yeah, he's another guy who could be a good hire. Everywhere he's ever gone he's taken a program that was struggling and then turned them around. in fact at each of his first three stops (Northern Arizona, Pitt, and UCLA) he took over sub-.500 programs and had them winning back to back league titles in years three and four. signs me up for that. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Goo Punch

[Machinator 32097]

Howland sounds like a high-floor, low-to-medium ceiling type of guy. We could do worse. @Sbbruin thoughts?

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

16 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

Change? That ship has sailed, sunk, and been condemned to the sea.  It’s year 4 and this team is plagued by the exact same problems we saw in year 1, year 2, and year 3. Erratic offense, shit half court sets, bad shooting, no discipline, no accountability, no identity, sloppy play, horrible late game execution, putrid on the road.

This Kansas game is Shaka’s last stand.  If he loses, his team’s season - and Texas career - is effectively over.

That dude's a troll, ignore him. There is 0 chance Smart is "let go" this week and as much as I think he needs to be fired, he's done nothing to earn a mid-season firing. Nothing's changed with the loss to Georgia-- well, instead of inept offense, we played inept defense, I guess.

[Sbbruin 21704]

48 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Howland sounds like a high-floor, low-to-medium ceiling type of guy. We could do worse. @Sbbruin thoughts?

I wish he was still here.  Essentially what broke down was that the prisoners started running the asylum.  Howland was perceived by players as hard, inflexible, "my-way-or-the-highway" guy, and you had marginal players leaving after their freshman season, usually busting out in the NBA because they weren't ready.  

He was a hard-ass coach.  Who got results.  If Donovan weren't at Florida at the same time, we might have one or two more banners and Howland would have a statue.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

45 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I wish he was still here.  Essentially what broke down was that the prisoners started running the asylum.  Howland was perceived by players as hard, inflexible, "my-way-or-the-highway" guy, and you had marginal players leaving after their freshman season, usually busting out in the NBA because they weren't ready.  

He was a hard-ass coach.  Who got results.  If Donovan weren't at Florida at the same time, we might have one or two more banners and Howland would have a statue.

welp I got my top candidate

[Red Five 40627]

Kelvin Sampson??  Hell to the fuck no

Don’t worry. According to Iconoclast we couldn’t pry him away from cougar high anyway.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

From the Clarion-Ledger, the paper of record from Mississippi's largest village, heading into last season

An NIT appearance would be progress. This team, now mostly comprised of Howland signees, should be able to at least have a winning overall record. So let’s assume that happens. Then what? Does Howland continue to build here? Or does Howland bolt as if the plan all along was to parlay this job after a two-year coaching hiatus into something more?

“I’m 60 years old,” Howland said. “I see myself doing this another five to seven years — here. I am not going to go somewhere else and restart it up again. I’m not doing it. We’ve got a good situation. I love my bosses. I love the people here. I’m putting roots in.”

Howland was referring to a new, 4.5-acre house in the area that he purchased and moved into in April. Howland was previously living in “an uncomfortable rental home,” as he put it, as he awaited the completion of work on a different area of land he bought. There were hang-ups and issues with that home — on which Howland preferred not to comment — and so he moved on.

“I’m way happier than I was a year ago,” Howland said.

[Machinator 32097]

Tangentially relevant: CDC is holding a Texas Athletics Town Hall on February 7: https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=TH&linkID=tex-ath&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=

Quote

Please join us on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. in the LBJ Auditorium on the UT campus as we host the inaugural Texas Athletics Town Hall with Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. This event is a unique public forum for Longhorns to gather as a community to hear updates, plans and visions for the future, as well as a chance for your thoughts to be heard and your questions answered.

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Machinator

[Burt Macklin 18989]

36 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Tangentially relevant: CDC is holding a Texas Athletics Town Hall on February 7: https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=TH&linkID=tex-ath&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=

 

If Derja doesn’t attend and start screaming obscenities at CDC about Shaka shortly before being forcefully escorted off the premises, I’m going to be very disappointed.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

Interesting note: another former Longhorn player is making his way up the NBA coaching ladder.  Matt Hill is an assistant on the Hawk's staff and also spent 5 or 6 years with the Magic before that.  Not that I want him as a head coach anytime soon,  but it's pretty cool that both he and Ivey are making their bones as coaches in the NBA.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Catdaddyhorn

[Goo Punch 4275]

On 1/25/2019 at 7:17 PM, Goo Punch said:

There's nothing that suggests that he can succeed here. Looking back at his resume at VCU and he wasn't any better than any of the coaches who coached there before or after him- 

Jeff Capel- Was there three years, finishing 2nd his first year, and winning the conference and conference tourney his second season there.

Anthony Grant- Set a school record with 28 wins in his first ever year as a HC, winning CAA Coach of the Year (16-2 conf record), and upsetting Duke in the NCAA tourney. He also would win the league the next two years as well. He went 76-25 (52-10) and won three league titles as HC in three years at VCU.

Shaka Smart- Had more talent than any of his predecessors and more talent than any of his conference opponents, but never won either the CAA or the A-10 in six years as HC, this despite having had three NBA players on one roster. His Final Four team finished 4th in the A-10, lost 11 regular season games, and was decried as the worst at-large selection in NCAA tournament history.

Will Wade- Despite losing Briante Weber and Treveon Graham to the NBA, first year coach Will Wade won the school's first ever A-10 championship.

Thats who we hired. We hired a guy who should be a mediocre - bad coach in a league like this. He was a mediocre coach in the CAA and the A-10, and arguably the worst of the four coaches listed here. The guy is a total fraud. But hey, we should probably still keep him, because NC State isn't any good anymore.

I mean seriously, if this post isn't ringing off alarm bells in your head then you are a full fledged Shaka apologist. 

edit- not talking to you @ClubWhatever, i'm talking to the few people we still have here who for some reason believe in this guy. 

 

I just looked up VCU's losses in 2011 for the first time. Wow. How the fuck did this team get into the tournament? Here are some of the notable losses (Kenpom final rank in parentheses)-

77-72 to Tennessee (62)

60-59 to South Florida (129)

72-60 to Richmond (39)

68-65 to UAB (65)

76-66 to Georgia State (217)

91-80 to Northeastern (194)

70-59 to Old Dominion (48)

71-51 to George Mason (24)

64-60 to Drexel (93)

72-69 to James Madison (106)

 

and those lst last five losses all came in their last 8 games of the season! that's unbelievable! i mean i remember the backlash, and how upset people like Jay Bilas were, and how extreme and absolute and unified everyone was in the consensus that this was a total farce to let this team into the tourney, but good lord; this is appalling. i don't even see it as a feel good story anymore, it's more like a crook robbed a bank, got away with it, and then was given a seven figure salary and job promotion for executing such a crime. Steve Patterson is absolutely one of the most incompetent executives in American Sports, which ian like being the worst criminal in Angola. Pretty fucking elite company. 

[dcar00 14028]

22 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

yeah, he's another guy who could be a good hire. Everywhere he's ever gone he's taken a program that was struggling and then turned them around. in fact at each of his first three stops (Northern Arizona, Pitt, and UCLA) he took over sub-.500 programs and had them winning back to back league titles in years three and four. signs me up for that. 

He checks the 2 biggest boxes I have for reducing risk.  done it more than once at different schools and major conferences.  will have to go through a purge big time but in basketball it only takes a couple of elite players even as freshmen and sophmores to turn it around.

If he doesn't have any NCAA stink I'm good.

[Burt Macklin 18989]

Davis kind of overstates the severity of UT’s debt/it’s financial condition, but these tweets show why Shaka’s buyout is likely to keep him in place next year, unless a donor/donors will pay most of it, which is obviously pretty unlikely. CDC would really have to work some magic to fund Shaka’s buyout.

17 hours ago, Machinator said:

 

 

[Braff Zacklin 13406]

There's a very simple checklist to reference when looking for a coach as an established program.

**  Candidate should demonstrate success over multiple seasons and at multiple institutions.

This applies to all sports. Rick Barnes, Mack Brown, Larry Brown, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Bill Self, Kelvin Sampson, et al., whatever you think of them personally, they have a proven track record of winning wherever they go. The burdens and nuances of running a major college program are not lost on them, and they will prosper anywhere, usually almost immediately.

This requirement eliminates the possibility of a coach's achievements being mercurial, such as being carried by competent assistants or by a superlative athlete/group of athletes who came together on their own.

You don't have to take a flyer, you don't have to roll the dice with the hottest up-and-comer, and you don't need to award some greenhorn simply because he's an alum and flies the flag.

You just need to find a candidate in the right situation with a qualifying track record and make him an offer he can't refuse.

He doesn't need to be old, either. Great coaches are extremely ambitious and hyper competitive. To get the money, fame, and attention they crave, they have to be upwardly mobile, so many are on their third or fourth head coaching job by their mid-30s.

 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

29 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

f he doesn't have any NCAA stink I'm good.

he doesn't have any NCAA stink, but he does have a weird funk coming off him from the UCLA situation, namely letting that one subliterate bully his teammates and torpedo morale

but I'll still take him

[Burt Macklin 18989]

I accidentally posted this in the KU game thread...

Just now, Burt Macklin said:

I was actually thinking about this. I’d be willing to bet Charlie got to year 4 if not for losing at kansas. Is there a basketball equivalent to losing at Kansas, or does UT not care enough about basketball for any event/series of events re basketball to have a similar kind of impetus to fire Shaka this year? Obviously, there’s no one game like there is in football,

but would going 4-7 in our next 11 games, losing first round of the conference tourney, be along those lines? We’d finish 15-17, 7-11 in Conf, and likely finish 8th in the Big 12. Id assume that would make us miss the big dance. That sounds pretty fucking miserable, but I’m not even sure that would be bad enough to seal Shaka’s firing, like the Kansas game did for Charlie. Do y’all think we’d have to do even worse than that for Shaka to get fired? 

 

[Goo Punch 4275]

If that happened the heat would be on, and it wouldn't probably be 50/50. In fact, I say that if that happens he is gone if CDC identifies that the right candidate is available. You can't pass on the right candidate when you know the guy at your school is finished. But if that right candidate doesn't exist then he gets another season, and fan interest hits an all time low. 

[Nueces River Rat 5529]

On 1/27/2019 at 12:14 PM, Nolacycling said:

I believe he's here another year strictly because of $. So what are the external and internal signs that it's one more year?

Internal

1 players transferring

2 coaches leaving

3 recruiting is down unless you're a one-&-done

4 Serious. Matthew M. will be at more games.

External

1 assistants won't want to come here for one year

2 CDC places a coach on the team

This probably correct..... unfortunately.

I had to turnoff the UGA game on Saturday because it got old watching a bunch of ball hogs going up to the three point line with plenty of time of the shot clock and taking what is a relatively low percentage shot.   It's been like that all season long and it's like a broken clock.  I wonder how many games we lost that were very winnable if we had just used the proven strategy of looking for an open shot closer to the basket?     

We will probably lose to KU tonight much like we lost to them a couple of weeks ago in Lawrence.   Same song, different day.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

57 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

 

We will probably lose to KU tonight much like we lost to them a couple of weeks ago in Lawrence.   Same song, different day.

or beat them on a dead cat bounce

This season feels like a lost cause, but I am willing to bet the players don't feel that way. I am not saying we'll beat KU but what I mean is, we have not hit the tipping point where we're going to lose out or anything. I still think this team has a win streak in it, just enough to at least give some people false hope if not enough to propel us into the NCAAs.

[Katfid54 8591]

1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

I accidentally posted this in the KU game thread...

1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

I was actually thinking about this. I’d be willing to bet Charlie got to year 4 if not for losing at kansas. Is there a basketball equivalent to losing at Kansas, or does UT not care enough about basketball for any event/series of events re basketball to have a similar kind of impetus to fire Shaka this year? Obviously, there’s no one game like there is in football,

but would going 4-7 in our next 11 games, losing first round of the conference tourney, be along those lines? We’d finish 15-17, 7-11 in Conf, and likely finish 8th in the Big 12. Id assume that would make us miss the big dance. That sounds pretty fucking miserable, but I’m not even sure that would be bad enough to seal Shaka’s firing, like the Kansas game did for Charlie. Do y’all think we’d have to do even worse than that for Shaka to get fired? 

Rad.

Ford.

[Machinator 32097]

3 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

Rad.

Ford.

The funny thing is that the Radford loss is terrible, optics-wise, and probably one of the tipping points for the end of Shaka's tenure, if it happens this year. That said, they're not actually a terrible team, though losing to them is inexcusable with our talent and given that we were playing at home.

The only team that is remotely comparable to KU football 2016 is the Citadel.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Machinator

[Katfid54 8591]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

The funny thing is that the Radford loss is terrible, optics-wise, and probably one of the tipping points for the end of Shaka's tenure, if it happens this year. That said, they're not actually a terrible team, though losing to them is inexcusable with our talent and given that we were playing at home. 

Agree with all this.  But optics are all that matter for this question.  And optically, that's what folks will point to when/if Shaka gets the axe at the end of this season.

[Nolacycling 893]

There's not enough fingers on two hands to point out all that he has done wrong.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

10 minutes ago, Nolacycling said:

There's not enough fingers on two hands to point out all that he has done wrong.

keep the categories really broad, like "coaching" and "winning"

[Vince_McCoy_Williams 98]

Im afraid that this fools gold win from Shaka will take just enough heat off of him for him to survive another year. Ugh. 

[Machinator 32097]

Just now, Vince_McCoy_Williams said:

Im afraid that this fools gold win from Shaka will take just enough heat off of him for him to survive another year. Ugh. 

I think it comes down to making the tournament. This was a good win, but we still need to make it to 9 conference wins, IMO.

[Katfid54 8591]

I won't bemoan the fact that we won.  Texas is my team, and I'm super jazzed our guys gutted that win out.  I am glad for them, and it was great to see.

This is, however, another data point that shows we have the roster talent to play with anyone in the country.

 

[dcar00 14028]

6 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

I won't bemoan the fact that we won.  Texas is my team, and I'm super jazzed our guys gutted that win out.  I am glad for them, and it was great to see.

This is, however, another data point that shows we have the roster talent to play with anyone in the country.

 

I do agree but KU is vastly overrated this year.  they get the benefit of the doubt  which is fine but they are definitely overrated.

[texasstrong12 4668]

4 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

I do agree but KU is vastly overrated this year.  they get the benefit of the doubt  which is fine but they are definitely overrated.

Kansas isn't overrated. They just aren't the same team without Azubuike. A lot of their offense was predicated on getting him the ball inside. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by texasstrong12

[Machinator 32097]

3 minutes ago, GOD said:

Lol. Seems some of you Texas fans want to lose. Sorry, you'll have to accept winning and there is nothing you can do about it.

Go to hell.

Your schtick sucks.

[Goo Punch 4275]

20 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

I won't bemoan the fact that we won.  Texas is my team, and I'm super jazzed our guys gutted that win out.  I am glad for them, and it was great to see.

This is, however, another data point that shows we have the roster talent to play with anyone in the country.

 

we don't have the talent to play with the top teams. we do however play good enough defense and efficiently on offense to compete with top 15-ish teams. Duke, Gonzaga, UVA, Tennessee, MSU, Michigan, etc would crush us. 

[2inDaPink1inDaStink 106]

 Contract extension?

[Horn80 6075]

26 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

I do agree but KU is vastly overrated this year.  they get the benefit of the doubt  which is fine but they are definitely overrated.

Worst KU team that I have seen.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

His staying will have nothing to do with this game. For 1, I don't think he'll be fired this year regardless of how we finish due to the money situation. But beyond that he's going to have to do an amazing turnaround in terms of presenting something that actually attracts a fanbase to be here beyond next year. The analytics/Houston Rockets style of constant ball screens and isos isn't an attractive game to the eye. And we won't ever shoot at a high enough clip to make watching anything other than a chore. Unless somehow we have a boatload of Andrew Joneses arrive on campus next year. 

[2inDaPink1inDaStink 106]

Hooray we won, but seriously  whoopty freakin doo! If we think this means anything more than a W, it doesn’t. Call me a troll if that gets your rocks off. The win proves we should not have lost to the soft weak teams we did loose to.

That is all.

[Machinator 32097]

5 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

His staying will have nothing to do with this game. For 1, I don't think he'll be fired this year regardless of how we finish due to the money situation. But beyond that he's going to have to do an amazing turnaround in terms of presenting something that actually attracts a fanbase to be here beyond next year. The analytics/Houston Rockets style of constant ball screens and isos isn't an attractive game to the eye. And we won't ever shoot at a high enough clip to make watching anything other than a chore. Unless somehow we have a boatload of Andrew Joneses arrive on campus next year. 

I think he goes if we miss the tournament, despite the money. The optics of missing the tournament twice in four years, both times with first-round type talents, would be pretty bad.

But I do think that if he stays, CDC is going to demand true excellence next season, and I don't think Shaka will deliver.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

Yeah I can agree with that. I hope we go to the tournament. March Madness is my favorite part of the sports year and it sucks to not have your team in it. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Catdaddyhorn

[ztejas 43262]

8 minutes ago, 2inDaPink1inDaStink said:

Hooray we won, but seriously  whoopty freakin doo! If we think this means anything more than a W, it doesn’t. Call me a troll if that gets your rocks off. The win proves we should not have lost to the soft weak teams we did loose to.

That is all.

You beat Kansas. Enjoy it and cheer for your team the rest of the season. Quit being a cunt.

[Braff Zacklin 13406]

5 minutes ago, GOD said:

You GO TO HELL.

IM BETTER THAN YOU, YOU FUCKING NOBODY.

FUXKING LITTLE SHIT BOYS ALL OF YOU.

NONE OF YOU PEOPLE WORK.

 

ALL DAY WITH YOUR DUMB LEBOWSKI MEMES AND SNARK. 

 

YOU BORING HIVE MIND PUSSIES.

 

FUCKING LAWYERS AND DORKS.

 

NONE OF U SHITS HAVE THE ABILITY TO SOCIALIZE.

FREAKS ANS GEEKS AND CREEPS.

 

DO SOME GOD DAMN WORK AT YOUR JOBS YOU BUNCHA WHINY WHITE BOYS.

Whoa, dude. Whoa.

Strongly disagree--Lebowski memes and related snark are never dumb.

imgur

[texasstrong12 4668]

God might be drunk. 

[Nolacycling 893]

If God is an agroid, glad I'm an atheist.

[texasstrong12 4668]

If Texas fires Shaka the key is having a replacement ready to hire. 

Will Baker, Kai Jones, and Donovan Williams is a lot of talent and would give the next coach a great jump start. Keeping those recruits would be big. 

[HookEm 2442]

Oh no, we're good again.

[SquishMitten 10397]

Agree with all this.  But optics are all that matter for this question.  And optically, that's what folks will point to when/if Shaka gets the axe at the end of this season.

As a slightly-more-than-casual fan (meaning I watch about 70% of our BB games), I’m going to completely disagree with this statement. Radford “sounds like” one of the many random/unknown/obscure teams that most would assume they might see when filling out their bracket. If you go ask 20 people if they’re good this season, 19 of them won’t know.