Excellent Shaka Media Day Press Conference

[Herman Cain]

Shaka outlines the team in detail.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BmOroJC8LDE

[MU82]

Uh-oh ... He quotes Crean in the opening 30 seconds.

Ipso fatso, Shaka sucks?

But seriously, some takeaways ...

++ Replace Lewis/Morsell scoring "by committee."

++ O-Max understands the game better. More poised. Makes better reads. Was "stalwart defensively" last year.

++ "As you know, we have a young team. We've got a lot of guys that are still becoming." (It's a fact. Also a pre-emptive excuse?)

++ Fans need to be patient with Wrightsil. (We're so good at that.) "He's a winner."

++ Sean Jones will be a good change of pace from Kolek but also will play with Kolek. Also, Sean plays so fast that he actually will need to slow down sometimes.

++ Big expectations for O-Max and Oso. (The Killer O's?)

++ "If we press our advantages, we have a chance to be a very, very good team."

++ Has talked with team at length about the difference between 8-1 and 3-6 stretches -- team wasn't "as connected" during the late-season lull. "You have to submit to the team ego." Sounds like some guys got too big for their britches, in his opinion. "Our goal is to be playing our best at the end of the year."

++ Will set more screens for Kam and Joplin. Oso will handle the ball a lot more. Still lots of screen-and-rolls.

++ Joplin's role will increase, "it's just a matter of how much -- and that's the part that's up to him."

++ More on Joplin: "He's a guy that is capable of someday leading this conference in scoring. Someday. He has to decide when that day is. I asked him out there who do I coach the hardest, he said him. Maybe, maybe not, but I'm definitely hard on him because he has more to give. He has more in there to pull out. He's definitely pulled more out of himself this year so far than he did last year, but he's still got way more in there. I hate this term, but he's a 'gamer.' So he gives you a little more in a game than he does in practice. But he's also gotta learn, if you don't build habits on a consistent basis in practice -- which he's been much, much better about -- then there's still gonna be a cap or a ceiling on how good you can be when the game comes. He's had 2 or 3 practices this fall where he's been by far the best player on our team. So now his goal needs to be to extend that from 2 or 3 in the course of a month to doing it on a regular basis."

Listen ... we takin' about practice? Not a game, not a game, not a game ... we talkin' about practice, man. How silly is that? We talkin' about practice, man. We ain't talkin' about the game. We talkin' about practice, man.

[Elonsmusk]

Shaka outlines the team in detail.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BmOroJC8LDE

Glad we have Shaka leading our program.  What a sharp and likable guy.  Quite the contrast from his predecessor.  Loved Buzz but Buzz had a little too crazy in him.  Shaka seems to have the best qualities of any of our coaches since Maguire.  The program is on the rise.

[MuMark]

My memory isn't as good as it used to be.......has a an MU coach ever not called his team young?

I mean could Buzz have said that with a straight face in his first season?

I swear we could have 5 fifth year seniors starting and the coach would start out the season by asking for patience with our young team.......lol.

With that being said.......we are pretty young this season......but Kolek, Oso, and Prosper are  in 3rd year of college BB.......Wrightsil in his 5th......with the obvious caveats......and Kam and Stevie got lots of good experience last season.

It's not like are starting 3 or 4 freshmen.

[Nukem2]

My memory isn't as good as it used to be.......has a an MU coach ever not called his team young?

I mean could Buzz have said that with a straight face in his first season?

I swear we could have 5 fifth year seniors starting and the coach would start out the season by asking for patience with our young team.......lol.

With that being said.......we are pretty young this season......but Kolek, Oso, and Prosper are  in 3rd year of college BB.......Wrightsil in his 5th......with the obvious caveats......and Kam and Stevie got lots of good experience last season.

It's not like are starting 3 or 4 freshmen.

No, though Oso and Prosper are really in their 2nd year of true playing time and they need to play bigger roles than last year. as do Stevie and Kam. As to Wrightsill, we'll have to see what will happen as he acclimates to D1 play. Itejere surely is raw and he is the only true depth at the 5. Joplin had limited PT last year and will be counted on for much more now. The frosh are frosh and they look like they will get some reasonable PT. There is experience here, but most other than Kolek are in a new space in terms of PT and being counted on to positively contribute. Also, the obvious lack of size (not necessarily height) and physicality is a significant hurdle for this group as well. Lots of questions to be answered. Could be another roller coaster of a season.

[NolongerWarriors]

Glad we have Shaka leading our program.  What a sharp and likable guy.  Quite the contrast from his predecessor.  Loved Buzz but Buzz had a little too crazy in him.  Shaka seems to have the best qualities of any of our coaches since Maguire.  The program is on the rise.

Where's the evidence the program is on the rise?

It's certainly not in the quality of recruits.

Is it because SS is a better talker/bullcrapter than Wojo?

[The Sultan]

Where's the evidence the program is on the rise??

They made the tournament last year after not making it the year prior.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Where's the evidence the program is on the rise?

It's certainly not in the quality of recruits.

Is it because SS is a better talker/bullcrapter than Wojo?

🥱

[GoldenEagles03]

My memory isn't as good as it used to be.......has a an MU coach ever not called his team young?

I mean could Buzz have said that with a straight face in his first season?

I swear we could have 5 fifth year seniors starting and the coach would start out the season by asking for patience with our young team.......lol.

With that being said.......we are pretty young this season......but Kolek, Oso, and Prosper are  in 3rd year of college BB.......Wrightsil in his 5th......with the obvious caveats......and Kam and Stevie got lots of good experience last season.

It's not like are starting 3 or 4 freshmen.

Youngest in the Big East yet again. They have 1 Senior and he's never played D1 Hoops.

[Newsdreams]

Glad we have Shaka leading our program.  What a sharp and likable guy.  Quite the contrast from his predecessor.  Loved Buzz but Buzz had a little too crazy in him.  Shaka seems to have the best qualities of any of our coaches since Maguire.  The program is on the rise.

Still mopping about the past administration? Who the F is Maguire?

[Elonsmusk]

Still mopping about the past administration? Who the F is Maguire?

Quite the opposite.  Grateful AF that we have Shaka, Scholl, and the influential and deep-pocketed booster(s) that knew we needed to move on. 

[Lennys Tap]

Still mopping about the past administration? Who the F is Maguire?

Mopping? LOL.

Mope's been dismissed, floor's been mopped, locker room disinfected. We're good to go.

[Newsdreams]

Quite the opposite.  Grateful AF that we have Shaka, Scholl, and the influential and deep-pocketed booster(s) that knew we needed to move on.

Who is Maguire?

[Newsdreams]

Mopping? LOL.

Mope's been dismissed, floor's been mopped, locker room disinfected. We're good to go.

Can't dismiss mope and then mope the floor....be mopping

[mileskishnish72]

Nice interview. Best comments were about Jop. Nothing he did last year screamed "leading BE scorer." We'll see how smart Shaka is.

[Elonsmusk]

Mopping? LOL.

Mope's been dismissed, floor's been mopped, locker room disinfected. We're good to go.

I enjoyed the irony of News misspelling moping, while calling out my misspelling of McGuire. 

[Newsdreams]

I enjoyed the irony of News misspelling moping, while calling out my misspelling of McGuire.

No you're mopping
verb (used with object), mopped, mop·ping. to rub, wipe, clean, or remove with a mop (often followed by up): to mop up a spill. to wipe as if with a mop: to mop the face with a handkerchief. verb (used without object), mopped, mop·ping.

[brewcity77]

Nice interview. Best comments were about Jop. Nothing he did last year screamed "leading BE scorer." We'll see how smart Shaka is.

Maybe not screamed, but there was enough there to see a strong suggestion of it. In his freshman year, Justin took 25.2% of the shots when he was on the floor. That number, when escalated slightly (29.0% as a sophomore) and in doubled minutes led to 16.8 ppg, enough to be right there in the leading scorers mix. He was a few points behind JFL and Champagnie, but high enough up that he would've been the favorite as a junior had he come back.

Joplin, by comparison, took 26.1% of the shots when he was on the floor. He would have to increase his minutes to a larger degree than Justin did, but if he doubles his minutes next year, and the year after, while increasing his usage by 2.5 points per year, he wouldn't be far behind where Howard and Powell were at in terms of volume shooting. That 26.1% number was the highest number of any freshman in the conference, regardless of minutes. Higher than Aminu Muhammed (24.2%) and Arthur Kaluma (23.8%). Had he played enough minutes to qualify, that number would've ranked 9th in the Big East, so right up there with guys like Rhoden, Sanogo, and Harris.

If Jop is getting starter minutes and playing with the same offensive aggression he demonstrated last year, he would only need to improve his efficiency by moderate jumps over the next couple years to be up there. I'm not sure anyone in Shaka's system will ever be a 20+ ppg scorer, but Jop (and Kam) are the types that could get to that 15-18 range.

[jfp61]

The most interesting thing about this interview was the planted question about coach haynes. Safe to guess he'll be a HC candidate at the end of the year.

[real chili 83]

They made the tournament last year after not making it the year prior.

[muwarrior69]

Youngest in the Big East yet again. They have 1 Senior and he's never played D1 Hoops.

When was the last time we had a non-transfer goto senior not named Howard?

[Shooter McGavin]

When was the last time we had a non-transfer goto senior not named Howard?

Cain, Elliott, Anim

[Shooter McGavin]

Theo

[Daniel]

Shaka is so enjoyable to listen to.    He is consistent in his message, thoughtful in responses.   So great to have him leading our program.   

[Lennys Tap]

Cain, Elliott, Anim

None of these (or Theo) were "go to" guys.