What will it take for Shaka to survive this year?

This Texas team should have 20 wins, that they only have 15 and basically have to win their last three games and probably at least one game in Big XII tourny to make the NCAA tourny is exhibit "A" of just awful coaching this season. Its been said far too often the offense seems to be stand around for 25 seconds then try some one on one move. I don't think Smart will be fired after this year for the economic reasons that have been discussed earlier in this thread but I would have no issue if he was and Texas just sucked it up and paid the buy out to go get someone to make actual use of the talent on this team.

 

It's obvious that Texas doesn't always play smart. But the main weakness of this team within coaching circles is they don't play hard.

 

I'd be fine with moving on from Shaka, but I hope that CDC makes the decision when there is a available upgrade. Firing Shaka just because he's underperforming is one thing. Firing Shaka when there's a good alternative is even better.

 

It's not college football and we don't need to go after a "Nick Saban" of hoops. In basketball, teams can have quicker turnarounds just by getting someone who understands the role that fundamentals and scheming will have on opponents. Tech and TCU have had remarkable fortune with guys who weren't considered Coach K, but are obviously good enough at what they do to win.

The only thing we need to worry about is whether anyone we interview is tied to all of the Adidas stuff, but beyond that, I'd take a heady 6A HS coach at this point over Mr. Not-So-Havoc.

 

Perhaps. I don't know that CDC is of that mindset though. Seems like every hire he's made thus far has been the "splash" type. I'd see that to follow through with basketball. Name isn't going to get it done alone, but look for CDC to be targeting someone who can gamechange in the recruiting world or in the transfer market.

 

At this point I'd be happy just to see a simple adjustment, such as subbing in Sims on defense when Hepa can't grab a rebound when he's the only guy on the court.

 

Don't know about the guy at ttu before tech made the hire; but he certainly does know how to coach up his players, and evaluate talent. How he gets those kids to go to Lubbock is a mystery to me.

On the other hand, Jamie Dixon at tcu was a known commodity. He had coached in the Big East, a top BB conference, for years, was Big East Coach of the year at least once, and had taken teams into the NCAA to the sweet 16 and elite 8. He got to TCU when the program had very little to build on and took them to the top half of the B12 instantly.

If we got a Dixon like hire, I think we'd be contending for a B12 title within one or two years. If we threw 4-5 million at the Gonzaga coach who knows.

 

It's too painful to watch a Shaka coached team.

 

If CDC doesn't already have a list of 2 or 3 coaches he thinks could be good at Texas, then he is not earning his money. I think he probably is earning his money though.

 

Texas need a New Men's and Women's Basketball Coach.

 

True. It's just a question of what the market shows is available or not.

 

Bob Weltlich was the worst basketball coach UT has had in my lifetime, but at least he won the Conference in his 4th year. Shaka is now 65-63 and could very well be 66-66 by the time we get our NIT or CBI invitation. Time to move on.

 

Yes, but he was umpteenth choice. It was so bad that I told Deloss to find someone that NOT turn us down and reveal it to the media. I think I actually said something like I didn't care if it was Pfluegerville Junior High coach, just find a coach.

 

I once had a beer with a former Gonzaga NCAA compliance employee. After a few beers, he laughed and laughed and said "why does Gonzaga win? We cheat and pay players better than anyone." No, we do not need anyone associated with Gonzaga.

 

We are so bad we are not even worthy of the group meme

 

We could/should lose two of the last three games leaving us 16-15 for the year and 8-10 in conference. That means his overall record in his 4 years at Texas is a stellar 63-64 and 28-39 in conference play. Is that what you get for $3.2 mil a year? I trust CDC knows this and is thinking hard about it. I need to apply for a coaching position. Rick was fired for going 20-14, 8-10 so Shaka should be fired for this hot mess.

 

All I know is that our players are also very talented. Shaka's recruiting classes are equal to or BETTER than Gonzaga's. The difference is that their players are better coached.

Paying players doesn't win games, necessarily. Paying coaches a lot of money doesn't necessarily win games.

Well coached players win games, conferences, and win championships.

 

Wow. ^^^ Four years and a losing record, both overall and in conference. And top 10 recruiting classes every year. That is clearly underachieving/unacceptable.

SMH.

 

Kaiser Bob years were painful. However, I opine Kaiser Bob is a better coach than “Shiny Top”. Kaiser Bob would have won more games with the talent Shiny Top has had. Conversely, Shiny Top would have lost more games with the talent Kaiser Bob had. Shiny Top must be booted this year.

 

It’s really worse than that. Take out the first season of 20-13 with Barnes recruited players and Smart is woefully under .500 with his recruits and does not have a winning record in conference. They are not likely to finish with a winning conference record this year. The last loss was almost entirely on Smart. The offense(if you make a big assumption that we run one) is usually better in the first half away from Smart. In the second half in front of the Texas bench the players wait 10-12 seconds for Smart to tell them to do something, another 3-4 seconds for the three players who are not involved to go to their spot to get out of the way and don’t move. Leaving about 15-18 seconds on the shot clock for the other two players to run a pick and roll even against a zone. This takes all the energy out of the players even on the defensive end.

 

I completely agree. I actually considered adding that into my post, but I thought the overall results are bad enough on their own.

 

Well, maybe the answer to the question at the top of this thread is about to be answered.

Last night St. Mary's beat Gonzaga to grab the auto bid from the WCC.

Saint Mary's vs. Gonzaga - Game Recap - March 12, 2019 - ESPN

Four days ago ESPN's analysis noted that after the Texas loss to TCU, Texas is probably in a "need-to-win" situation in it's first round Big 12 tourney game against KU:

Bubble Watch: Saint Mary's wins; bubble shrinks

From the link:

"Work to do

Texas Longhorns

This is what Bubble Watch is talking about with that whole "40 minutes away" thing. With a win at home against TCU in the season finale, Texas would be a world away from where the Longhorns find themselves now. But where Shaka Smart's guys find themselves now is in the moral equivalent of a must-win situation in the first game against Kansas at the Big 12 tournament. A loss there would leave Texas at 16-16 for the season. Obviously, it would be unheard of for a .500 team with 16 losses to receive an at-large bid, even if said team does have the neutral-floor win over North Carolina and one at home over Purdue. "Unheard of" here doesn't necessarily mean impossible, it just correctly flags the fact that we've never seen it before. Reasonable observers can differ on the merits of the Horns' profile, but, speaking empirically, asking the committee to do something it's never done before is not a promising course of action. (Updated: March 9)"

-------


After last night's upset of Gonzaga, a bubble spot just popped as St. Mary's grabbed an unexpected auto bid from Gonzaga, squeezing Texas.

 

I don't follow college basketball much, if at all. Judging from the threads about how horrible Texas is this year, the fact they still have a chance to get to the NCAA tournament just shows why I don't care about college basketball.

 

Texas has no business being considered for the tourney. Pro ball to me is even more of a joke. Not sure why anyone would buy into any pro team....a bunch of merchants for hire that mostly couldn't care less about the city they play in. College is turning that way but I love the Cinderella story of a bunch of Juniors and seniors coming together playing the game they love to take down the one and done blue chip team. In my opinion that's the only true spirit of the game left.

 

I guess my limited interest in college basketball this year has centered somewhat on Wofford --- yes, that Wofford, the scruffy, little mongrels from South Carolina. nationally ranked No. 20, Bracketologied right now as a 7 seed.

This cannot stand --- Texas nowhere to be found in the hunt for the Big Dance, and Wofford a darling pick.

Reason enough for a change.

Woof, woof!

I mean, Hook 'em!

 

No. 4 Men's Swimming and Diving wins 40th-straight conference championship - University of Texas Athletics

From the link above:

"Day and Meet Notes

Texas won its 40th-straight conference title under head coach Eddie Reese. The Longhorns won the final 17 SWC titles and all 23 Big 12 Championships."

-------------

Damn.

--------------

A few decades ago, I think it was Indiana U that was the recognized king of men's swimming and diving.

Along came Eddie Reese https://texassports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1563 to Austin, and I know it's not the B1G, but...

Completed his 40th season at Texas (2017-18) by winning his fourth consecutive NCAA team title

Has led Texas to an NCAA-leading 14 national team titles, 11 NCAA runner-up finishes and 32 top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships

39 consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships

39 consecutive conference titles

Three-time head coach, U.S. Olympic men's swimming team (1992, 2004 & 2008)

70 NCAA individual champions and 48 NCAA champion relays (through 2018 season)

29 Olympians who have collected 39 gold medals, 16 silver medals and eight bronze medals

Three-time CSCAA National Coach of the Year (2015, '16, '17), 8-time NCAA

Coach of the Year (1981, '88, '89, '90, '92, '96, 2000, '01) and 4-time ASCA Coach of the Year (1991, 2005, '06 & '09)

Eddie Reese, the only college swimming coach to win NCAA team titles in four separate decades"

--------------

Point of this info on a BB thread; if the right coach can take a non-swimming school to heights never before seen in men's swimming and diving, we should at least expect a men's basketball coach to be competitive.

It's not that he needs to be the next Knight or Krzyzewski, but better than a 0.500 coach over 4 years.

 

Over a four year period there is no reason to be below .500 with the recruits coming here. They come to win, they deserve a coach who can coach them up and win 20+ games year in and year out.

 

I don't watch much college hoops anymore, tonight reminds me why. Ball hogging, limited passing, street ball. We look pathetic. Completely uninteresting and it's been that way for over ten years.

Waiting for the next baseball game on LHN

 

Which description do you prefer:

1) Abomination

2) Disorganized mess

3) Total cluster f**k

 

What's sad is with Tech losing to WVU, we could easily have a good chance of playing for the championship if we just had a little bit of a game plan.