[Paint Touches] Strotman: How Shaka brought me back

[panda]

We reached dangerous levels of mediocrity and apathy during the Wojo years.

Glad to see we have a program builder back at the helm in Shaka.

[Small Orange Soda]

Whatevs. My fandom never changed.    Born of the last two years of Majerus and the first two of Dukiet.  Wojo was easy.  Not particularly inspiring. 

Welcome back.

When people have to go back 30 years to reference when things were worse, they're kinda proving the point.

[panda]

When people have to go back 30 years to reference when things were worse, they're kinda proving the point.

Or by comparing the era to the worst stretch of modern Marquette basketball.

[tower912]

When people have to go back 30 years to reference when things were worse, they're kinda proving the point.

We just referenced a 50 year old event without you commenting.   Thanks for the recognition.  I am proud of my affection for MU hoops

[dgies9156]

MU will never be the MU of the 1970's and I am fine with that, but it can be a modern version of it.

Brother Goose:

Like you, I was a child of 1960s and 1970s Marquette. It helps to have a Dad who was an MU Engineer and wildly supportive of anything Marquette.

I don't agree with your premise. The closest thing to MU of the 1970s has been Villanova. Consistently Top 10 under Jay Wright. National Champions in 2016 and 2018. Consistent top recruiter, strong fan base and city that is madly in love with them. What they didn't have is someone as colorful and obnoxious as Al. We can be Villanova if we want to be. Shaka, as you note, has us pointed in the right direction.

If we keep Shaka and maintain the Commitment to Excellence that we must have, we'll get there! Think of all these young whippersnappers who will experience what we did in the 1970s for the first time! Not sure they can handle it! LOL

[Elonsmusk]

Obviously not yours, though.

Somebody call the waaambulance for the snowflake "without bias." 

[Small Orange Soda]

Or by comparing the era to the worst stretch of modern Marquette basketball.

I wonder if back at the end of the Dukiet days the older folks were calling into radio shows going, "I dunno what these young whippersnappers are complaining about, I experienced the last three years of Bill Chandler!"

We just referenced a 50 year old event without you commenting.   Thanks for the recognition.  I am proud of my affection for MU hoops

True! I had no idea what that thread was about.

[MU82]

Good read, glad the author is "back."

I'm a hopeless optimist, so I gave Wojo way too long a leash, but even I came around eventually to say enough is enough.

I sure have enjoyed most of these two seasons under Shaka. Last year's finish was disappointing, but that was last year and it has nothing to do with this season.

I love the way our guys play, and Shaka's a heck of a coach with the perfect personality for our program. I'm thinking this can be a real special season, and the program obviously is in great hands.

We Are Marquette!

[Milkshakes]

That $81 is now going to cost you roughly double at about $159. 

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Same age as Mark - freshman in 08, graduated 2012.  Came to Milwaukee as a life long hockey player/fan, and didn't care too much about hoops.  Well, let's just say that changed in a hurry and I fell in love with Lazar and the Amigos in a snap of the fingers.  I was at every home game and planned my weeks around making sure I was available to watch the road games.  I wouldn't miss one. This continued all the way through college and the early portions of my professional career, albeit I moved away from Milwaukee.  My now wife and I would plan at least a trip a year to go back to Milwaukee and/or to attend the annual thanksgiving tournament, wherever that may be.  We've been in Charleston, we've been to Maui, Florida, NYC multiple times, etc.  Marquette hoops was a big part of my November-March agenda.   

While I never got the point of swearing off Marquette and not watching games; truthfully I probably have been in person or watched 495 of the last 500 Marquette games, with those 5 being the odd non-televised game, or I just so happened to be on a plane situation. But apathy definitely began to creep in.  A Marquette loss used to crush me; by around 17-18 and half a dozen years removed from Milwaukee, I was pretty used to losing and would just go about my day thereafter. It was sad.  I always tried to stay positive about Wojo - as the end of the day this just a hobby of watching college kids through a ball in a hoop - but it definitely made the winters less interesting.

While I cannot say the passion I once had has returned to its fullest extent, I am again on the edge of my seat for each game.  I am yelling at the TV again and fist pumping/high fiving my wife on big plays.  This season has different feel; something I haven't felt since the pre-13/14 Buzz days.  I can actually see a plan getting executed and the team improving each game.  Its exciting stuff, and very glad my fandom allowed me to stick it out.

[#UnleashSean]

Whatevs. My fandom never changed.    Born of the last two years of Majerus and the first two of Dukiet.  Wojo was easy.  Not particularly inspiring. 

Welcome back.

I read this incorrectly and was shocked for a minute that you were much younger then I thought.

[tower912]

Now that would be funny. 

[Lennys Tap]

Obviously not yours, though.

Any criticism from you is a compliment. So thanks.

[#UnleashSean]

That $81 is now going to cost you roughly double at about $159.

We should probably start a superbar thread, but isn't that just downright sad?

[We R Final Four]

Im no better than anyone on here.....but I have never passed up MUBB tickets to watch a movie. MH was must see tv.

[Lennys Tap]

Same age as Mark - freshman in 08, graduated 2012.  Came to Milwaukee as a life long hockey player/fan, and didn't care too much about hoops.  Well, let's just say that changed in a hurry and I fell in love with Lazar and the Amigos in a snap of the fingers.  I was at every home game and planned my weeks around making sure I was available to watch the road games.  I wouldn't miss one. This continued all the way through college and the early portions of my professional career, albeit I moved away from Milwaukee.  My now wife and I would plan at least a trip a year to go back to Milwaukee and/or to attend the annual thanksgiving tournament, wherever that may be.  We've been in Charleston, we've been to Maui, Florida, NYC multiple times, etc.  Marquette hoops was a big part of my November-March agenda.   

While I never got the point of swearing off Marquette and not watching games; truthfully I probably have been in person or watched 495 of the last 500 Marquette games, with those 5 being the odd non-televised game, or I just so happened to be on a plane situation. But apathy definitely began to creep in.  A Marquette loss used to crush me; by around 17-18 and half a dozen years removed from Milwaukee, I was pretty used to losing and would just go about my day thereafter. It was sad.  I always tried to stay positive about Wojo - as the end of the day this just a hobby of watching college kids through a ball in a hoop - but it definitely made the winters less interesting.

While I cannot say the passion I once had has returned to its fullest extent, I am again on the edge of my seat for each game.  I am yelling at the TV again and fist pumping/high fiving my wife on big plays.  This season has different feel; something I haven't felt since the pre-13/14 Buzz days.  I can actually see a plan getting executed and the team improving each game.  Its exciting stuff, and very glad my fandom allowed me to stick it out.

I see a pattern in this thread. The guys who went to school when the program was good to great were down on the program during the Wojo era. The guys who went to school when the program was meh to crappy didn't mind. Maybe it brought back memories.

[tower912]

Any criticism from you is a compliment.   So thanks

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I see a pattern in this thread. The guys who went to school when the program was good to great were down on the program during the Wojo era. The guys who went to school when the program was meh to crappy didn't mind. Maybe it brought back memories.

I think that's it exactly. The Wojo era was less than ideal, but it wasn't awful compared to other Marquette eras I have witnessed. If people only became part of the program from 2002 onwards, I can see why the Wojo era seemed like an historic low.

[tower912]

I think that's it exactly. The Wojo era was less than ideal, but it wasn't awful compared to other Marquette eras I have witnessed. If people only became part of the program from 2002 onwards, I can see why the Wojo era seemed like an historic low.

Well stated.

[Richie]

Well stated.

Exactly...having 4 years at Marquette with the last year of Rick and three years of Dukiet conditioned mid-to-late 80's Warriors for anything...Wojo was frustrating but was nothing compared to Dukiet

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I see a pattern in this thread. The guys who went to school when the program was good to great were down on the program during the Wojo era. The guys who went to school when the program was meh to crappy didn't mind. Maybe it brought back memories.

Ummmmm, no. "Didn't mind" is wrong. "Having perspective" maybe, but even if you had to live through the Dukiet years, Wojo's yearly collapse and consistent underachievement relative to the talent he recruited were painful.

That said, being ranked more than occasionally and having a talented team were things Dukiet-era students could only dream of.

[GBPhoenix1993]

I am so happy to see where this Marquette program is headed under Shaka. 

I will be the first to say, I have been sort of an "inconsistent" fan of Marquette since fall of 1983.  I began heavily following them when I was in high school and rooted hard for them in the Rick Majerus years and the very early Bob Dukiet years.  Then I went off to college, UW-Green Bay to be exact and I didn't follow Marquette as much during those years as UWGB surprisingly became a very strong mid-major team during the Dick/Tony Bennett years that I attended.

I moved to Milwaukee area after graduating and I will confess that at times I was more of a Badgers fan while Dick Bennett was at UW and during the very early Bo Ryan years.  2005 was the year of my "conversion" to a pretty strong Marquette fan and more of an MU fan than UW since that time.  I have to thank the 3 Amigos and Steve Novak for a really enjoyable 2005-2006 season and from that point on I've been a pretty consistent Marquette fan (I'll admit I didn't like Buzz his last 2 or 3 seasons though and was happy he was gone despite the success on the court). 

I liked Wojo, seemed like a good guy who worked really hard to make Marquette great.  Unfortunately, everything about his coaching era was hype and teasing of potential but ultimately nearly every season ended in a bit of a disappointment.  There were stretches of promise during the Wojo era, but the Wojo doubters were right, he just didn't have what it took to make Marquette consistently good in the Big East.  He clearly was outclassed by many of the Big East coaches, not all of them, but enough of them that you could see by the end the corner was never going to get turned with him at the helm.

Oh well, here we are today, and Marquette really truly looks like they are heading the right direction in every way.  Shaka has an extremely likeable personality. He seems to have the perfect coaching temperament, he's confident but not arrogant, and you can tell his players play with confidence under his leadership and they seem to love playing for him.  My gut feeling is Shaka is building something special.  Maybe those are my homer glasses on, but man, just seeing the incredible improvement all his guys have made from year 1 to year 2 is very impressive.

I honestly like everyone on this team warts and all.  Everyone brings something to the table.  I didn't necessarily feel that way at times over the past decade, but this year's roster is a lot of fun to watch.  Here's to hoping I don't jinx everything by being extremely excited by the progress under Shaka but I guess I'll just say I am incredibly impressed with what I have seen the last year and half.  Hopefully the arrow continues to be pointed upwards under his leadership. 

[BLWarrior91]

Exactly...having 4 years at Marquette with the last year of Rick and three years of Dukiet conditioned mid-to-late 80's Warriors for anything...Wojo was frustrating but was nothing compared to Dukiet

My four years at Marquette were the worst stretch the program has had in over 50 years...last two years of Dukiet and first two of KO.  Only the first year of KO had a winning record in that stretch and that was mostly because of Tony Smith.  KO reignited the program after it had bottomed out.

The Wojo era was very frustrating because he could never build a consistent winner.  Plenty of talent but limited success.  I still never stopped watching but last year really started up the excitement and this year even more so.  Love hearing everyone else's take on this as well.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I Wasn't even born for most of the KO years but in my opinion, KO saved the program, Shaka reinvigorated it.

Marquette as a brand after Wojo was never really in danger and will always have been fine because they have the dollars to spend.

If KO didn't come along though, who knows what could have happened.

Side note, always find it interesting that KO never won another NCAA tourney game after Marquette.

[Goose]

NM