Rant + Turning Point

[Elonsmusk]

While yesterday's loss was frustrating, and Scoop is the home to the most passionate MU basketball fans, it has been disappointing to read some of the negativity and overreaction by some.  Seems we are quickly becoming an entitled fanbase, and that's the one thing that will cause a coach to sour on their situation.  This team and staff work their assess off and deserve better from our fanbase than some of the commentary here.  I mean 15-3 and 6-1 in Big East play and we have a handful of people bitching - granted it is heat of the moment venting but let's be better?

Rant aside - some positive/turning points to takeaway from yesterday:

1) Ben Gold channeled Oso with the tap back rebounding, and was a major positive impact in the game despite limited scoring.

2) David Joplin continues to emerge and get better and better diversifying his game by being able to finish at the basket.  His 3-ball has a high probability of improving percentage-wise.  And his defense has taken a big step up from last year.

3) The team dug deep and will see a marked difference in their level of grit/effort in the last 15 minutes of the game versus the preceding 25.  Good film to have from a coaching perspective.

4) Shaka has a tenent of our culture as being "win anyway."  Yesterday was a perfect example of nearly winning, despite the basketball gods slanting everything against MU.  So many rebounds caromed to X's favor, many of our deflections looked like sure fire steals only for X to inexplicably recover the ball.  I can think of three of our 3 point attempts that were about as far down as possible without going in, all in the second half - Jop, Kam, and Tre.

Further I tend to think the refs willingness to "let them play," favored Xavier as they are bigger/thicker at every position - yet we battled through the physicality in the last 15.  And the inconsistency of the call against Stevie on a blockout, and X getting a pass on a dangerous undercut/clear out of Ben Gold going for an O-rebound was terrible at a crucial time in the game.

5) The team showed a ton of heart yesterday, when they clearly were off their A-game, and our All-American also struggled and is shooting just 19% from 3 in conference play at 9 of 46 - yet we almost won.  Kam will get the three-ball back.

6) We have Stevie Mitchell and Chase Ross on our team - absolute warriors.

7) Above all else, Shaka is our head coach.  And yes, just like any of us, Shaka isn't perfect, and certainly will have games where he maybe isn't his "best," but Shaka not at his best is better than any coach we've had at MU in my lifetime.  Appreciate what we have.
 

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

This is a great post and helpful reminder of how far we've come in such a short time under Shaka. I didn't see us being a top 10 team coming into the season but we have been for most of the season without always playing our best ball. I was very frustrated watching yesterday's game and it is only because they have already shown me more this season than I expected coming in. So I definitely fit the "entitled" label on this one and that is more troubling than anything I saw from our team yesterday.

Shaka's leadership skills are apparent each post game during conference play. It hasn't been pretty but Shaka doesn't throw his players or coaches under the bus (unlike Mick Cronin) or whine about the adversity. I know that I would struggle to be as composed as he is in those situations as I'm sure he is frustrated as a competitor as well. And due to Shaka's leadership, our team fought back yesterday and had a chance to tie/win it despite the lids on the basket for the first 30 minutes. We're also one of a handful of schools left in the country where we can watch players develop as people and players year over year while seemingly building a natural affinity for the University we all love. That is solely because of Shaka's leadership and care for his players.

I think everyone agrees we need to find a way to stop digging ourselves holes early in games. I personally think the physicality of these conference games makes the conference schedule a slog every night and hurts the Big East come March. However, our team has fought through it. Our players care and are great ambassadors for Marquette day in and day out. The reality is that they are much more invested in Marquette than I ever have been and they and Shaka have earned our support (even when it isn't pretty) given their history here to date.

[82fanatic]

Thank you guys.  A little perspective helps!   

[bradforster]

While yesterday's loss was frustrating, and Scoop is the home to the most passionate MU basketball fans, it has been disappointing to read some of the negativity and overreaction by some.  Seems we are quickly becoming an entitled fanbase, and that's the one thing that will cause a coach to sour on their situation.  This team and staff work their assess off and deserve better from our fanbase than some of the commentary here.  I mean 15-3 and 6-1 in Big East play and we have a handful of people bitching - granted it is heat of the moment venting but let's be better?

Rant aside - some positive/turning points to takeaway from yesterday:

1) Ben Gold channeled Oso with the tap back rebounding, and was a major positive impact in the game despite limited scoring.

2) David Joplin continues to emerge and get better and better diversifying his game by being able to finish at the basket.  His 3-ball has a high probability of improving percentage-wise.  And his defense has taken a big step up from last year.

3) The team dug deep and will see a marked difference in their level of grit/effort in the last 15 minutes of the game versus the preceding 25.  Good film to have from a coaching perspective.

4) Shaka has a tenent of our culture as being "win anyway."  Yesterday was a perfect example of nearly winning, despite the basketball gods slanting everything against MU.  So many rebounds caromed to X's favor, many of our deflections looked like sure fire steals only for X to inexplicably recover the ball.  I can think of three of our 3 point attempts that were about as far down as possible without going in, all in the second half - Jop, Kam, and Tre.

Further I tend to think the refs willingness to "let them play," favored Xavier as they are bigger/thicker at every position - yet we battled through the physicality in the last 15.  And the inconsistency of the call against Stevie on a blockout, and X getting a pass on a dangerous undercut/clear out of Ben Gold going for an O-rebound was terrible at a crucial time in the game.

5) The team showed a ton of heart yesterday, when they clearly were off their A-game, and our All-American also struggled and is shooting just 19% from 3 in conference play at 9 of 46 - yet we almost won.  Kam will get the three-ball back.

6) We have Stevie Mitchell and Chase Ross on our team - absolute warriors.

7) Above all else, Shaka is our head coach.  And yes, just like any of us, Shaka isn't perfect, and certainly will have games where he maybe isn't his "best," but Shaka not at his best is better than any coach we've had at MU in my lifetime.  Appreciate what we have.
 

Beautifully and cogently stated.