Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Shaka is a damn good coach)

[TxshrnsNC]

This could be at 8-10 pages by 7am.

 

[Rotarran9116]

except for that part where he didn't list specific examples from the article to support his claim.

His point was you've become this arrogant guy who has let his ego grow behind the safety of his keyboard to the point you not only act like you're smarter than all of us, you actually believe it. He's using this speedbump of a column this week as an example.

 

[Ketchum]

Are you a bot?

You busted me.

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

How many years did it take Mack to win the first one?

Mack at least played for a few before he won his first. And Shaka hasn't even come close to playing for one. We are routinely out of discussion for the Big 12 title by midseason.

 

[Ketchum]

His point was you've become this arrogant guy who has let his ego grow behind the safety of his keyboard to the point you not only act like you're smarter than all of us, you actually believe it. He's using this speedbump of a column this week as an example.

Sometimes I am smarter. Other times, I'm not.

It's a see-saw of sorts.

 

[Ketchum]

Mack at least played for a few before he won his first. And Shaka hasn't even come close to playing for one. We are routinely out of discussion for the Big 12 title by midseason.

How many years did it take?

 

[JinSOTEX]

Entertaining thread. Triggered central. Nothing matters as Shaka is not getting fired anytime soon

 

[jshorn]

which part was dumb? Quote it.

I can't believe that I feel the need to say this for a sizable portion of Orangebloods, but ...

Fellas ...

Shaka Smart is one hell of a basketball coach.

The focus of the lead-off hitter portion of this weekend's column will discuss a number of layers to the Texas basketball program, some that paint some of Smart's work at Texas as a success and some that will point out large failures, but make no mistake about the popular misnomer of Smart not being a good coach that has been making the rounds ... it's dumb.

Shaka Smart is one hell of a coach.

But ...but ... I don't think he can coach?

You don't think a guy that took a team slotted into the play-in game as a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament to the Final Four can coach? A guy who coached a team to consecutive wins over an 11-seed, a 10-seed, a 6-seed, a 3-seed and a 1-seed can coach?

But ...but ... he's a one-hit wonder!

You think a guy that won 27, 28, 29, 27, 26 and 26 games in his first six seasons as a head coach is a one-hit wonder?

But ...but ... he's done a terrible job this year!

No, he's actually done a very good job this year, so much so that he deserves to be a candidate for Big 12 coach of the year. I wouldn't say he deserves to win the award, but he's a worthy candidate.

That's crazy talk. 85-percent! SJW! You're a clown!

Instead of focusing on what he hasn't done with this team, let's focus on what he has done, which is take one of youngest teams in the country (four in the top seven of the current rotation are freshmen) and put it on the door-step of the NCAA Tournament, despite playing in the toughest conference in the country.

A conference so tough that if the team shows up on any given night and plays like a team full of wide-eyed freshmen, an ass-kicking will commence, no matter the opponent.

Oh, and did I mention that along the way he'd lost his best scorer for the rest of the season because of a battle with cancer?

Texas now has six wins against RPI Group 1 teams, which is among the highest marks in the entire country.

Of its 11 losses this season, seven were to teams that went into this week ranked inside the AP Top 25 - No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 9 Gonzaga, No. 12 Duke, No. 13 Kansas, No. 20 West Virginia and No. 22 Michigan.

Three of those loses went into overtime. Two of the three that finished in regulation were lost by six and two points, respectively.

Do you think Mike Krzyzewski walked off the floor in November and thought, "If only that really young team that dominated my team for much of the game had a good coach?"

Do you think that likely Big 12 Coach of the Year Mike Beard thought to himself, "Yeah, that team was down Andrew Jones and pushed us on our home floor as much as anyone has all year ... if they only had a good coach."

Do you think Lon Krugar is thinking to himself this weekend, "How did we lose twice to a team with shitty coaching?"

Yeah, but last year was the worst year in school history.

It was a disaster and it is the scarlet letter that Smart has to wear right now as the Texas coach. No excuses. His failure to boost the roster in a way that would build off of his first year at Texas is his greatest failure as a head basketball coach.

As it stands, he simply hasn't been a success at Texas. That is a truth at the two-season, 27-game mark of his tenure in Austin.

Inside of the belly of a Texas fan base that is living through a near decade-long stretch of historically poor performance and doesn't have an ounce of patience left for disgusting failure, last season arrived at the exact wrong time and place.

A fair assessment of his first three seasons in Austin: decent, disaster and damn good. I'll defend Smart in a lot of areas, but I can't argue that the totality of his three seasons have equated to definitive, tangible success.

We're Texas. We can do better.

Can you?

In terms of recruiting, Smart has proven that he can go toe-to-toe with the giants in the sport and win? Let's keep it real, it almost doesn't make sense that a kid from another time zone picked Texas the way that Mo Bamba did. Smart made that happen. Same with Matt Coleman. Smart made that happen. Jarrett Allen could have gone anywhere, but he picked a team that hadn't been to the Sweet 16 since he was in middle school because of Smart.

In terms of being an important leader of men and the kind of representative a school like Texas desires from its high-profile coaches, you simply can't do better than Smart. Hell, I think the reason I personally like Smart so much is because he's nails in this exact area.

College basketball is about to be brought down to its knees in the near future with a scandal that could engulf as many as 50 programs, and yet, there hasn't been so much as a whisper that Smart is involved in any of it.

Where are you going to find a coach with a Final Four and 6 26+ win seasons on his resume, to go along with a profile that includes great recruiting, honorable representation and integrity inside the program?

Yeah, but I still don't think he can coach.

Back to this again?

Look, I'll end the argument with this ... USA Basketball doesn't put a guy in charge of its Under-18 National Team if he can't coach. The coach before him for the 2014 and 2016 Under-18 National Team?

Billy Donovan. You might have heard of him.

So, you're saying he's going to be a success at Texas?

No, I'm not saying that. I think with more time he's going to take the foundation of players that he has and they'll grow into a very good team, but I don't know that.

While Smart had tremendous success with VCU, circumstances sometimes get the best of great coaches. Vince Lombardi didn't have success after he left Green Bay and coached Washington. Jimmy Johnson never returned to the mountaintop with the Dolphins. Joe Gibbs couldn't make it go right in his second-time around. Larry Brown had ups and downs. Bobby Knight's second act was never close to the success of the first one.

Smart has made poor decisions at times in team building, had some bad luck along the way (losing Allen a year earlier than first believed and now Jones) and plays in one hell of a basketball league.

It's possible that next season will feel empty as well. Maybe it won't work out for Smart in Austin. Maybe it never gets off the ground like everyone thought it would when he was hired. So many of you want absolutes in this discussion and struggle with the layers that reside in-between the black and the white.

The one absolute that I am comfortable with?

Shaka Smart is a hell of a coach and his job performance THIS season has been well above average.

 

[Ketchum]

The funny thing about this entire thread is that I have made zero over the top claims about Shaka.

I just said he was a good coach.

I called him a failure at Texas. I called last season a disaster.

But, some would have you believe I went off the rails.

 

[Ketchum]

what was your favorite part?

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

How many years did it take?

Oh come on Ketch comparing Shaka to Mack is ridiculous. Mack is a HoF coach who played for titles. Shaka has yet to even have us in the conversation.

 

[sy1804]

"Social warrior"

... thanks, the Elm "Allerrgies" this day have caused more than a blur in my vision !!! ... here is your missing "R" !!!

 

[HllCountryHorn]

BUY or SELL: Although the sample size is small, you have a good feeling that Texas hired the right baseball coach?

(Sell) I have no idea how to read where the baseball program is headed, as it relates to belonging in the elite of the elite.

Seems like you’d give Pierce more credit at this point applying the same criteria you used in your analysis of Shaka. See what your man McCommas thinks about the two of them.

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

The funny thing about this entire thread is that I have made zero over the top claims about Shaka.

I just said he was a good coach.

I called him a failure at Texas. I called last season a disaster.

But, some would have you believe I went off the rails.

Good coaches aren't complete failures.

 

[jshorn]

The Coach of the Year comments were made to emphasize just how good of a job he's doing this year.

They only emphasized how dumb you are.

 

[Ketchum]

Oh come on Ketch comparing Shaka to Mack is ridiculous. Mack is a HoF coach who played for titles. Shaka has yet to even have us in the conversation.

How many?

 

[Ketchum]

Good coaches aren't complete failures.

Sometimes they do fail.

Sometimes it takes a while to get programs off the ground.

 

[riloh05]

Did he outcoach Chris Beard in two games?

@Ketchum No and he hasn’t all season. Beard is also sitting atop the big 12 without a lottery pick and a 4 Star PG. Last note, he could also win a loaded conf which is more than the damn fine coach has done. Ever. Lastly, if Shaka wasn’t here i hope we go after someone other than beard.

 

[Ketchum]

They only emphasized how dumb you are.

 

[riloh05]

How many years did it take Mack to win the first one?

Comparing a game with 5 starters and one with 22 is lazy and dumb. This is embarrassing. Be better.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum No and he hasn’t all season. Beard is also sitting atop the big 12 without a lottery pick and a 4 Star PG. Last note, he could also win a loaded conf which is more than the damn fine coach has done. Ever. Lastly, if Shaka wasn’t here i hope we go after someone other than beard.

He didn't outcoach him in Austin?

 

[Ketchum]

Comparing a game with 5 starters and one with 22 is lazy and dumb. This is embarrassing. Be better.

No one wants to answer the question.

 

[Hornangeblood]

I hope Shaka succeds here but his offensive coaching is a problem. Having Mo, who is a great rebounder and shoots 60% from 2 pt range and 27% from 3, constantly hanging around the 3 point line makes zero sense.

 

[Lhorn1]

Look at me! I want to be significant!

 

[riloh05]

He didn't outcoach him in Austin?

Your confusing W’s and L’s with good coaching because you don’t understand the game of basketball. It’s not in a vacuum. If our players shoot and defend well there is enough talent on the wood to win games. Good players overcome bad coaching- ever heard that?

 

[riloh05]

No one wants to answer the question.

I answered it. You have yet to answer mine.

 

[Ketchum]

I hope Shaka succeds here but his offensive coaching is a problem. Having Mo, who is a great rebounder and shoots 60% from 2 pt range and 27% from 3, constantly hanging around the 3 point line makes zero sense.

Offense has to improve. Experienced guard play will eventually help, if it ever happens.

 

[Ketchum]

I answered it. You have yet to answer mine.

How many years?

What was your question?

 

[Ketchum]

Your confusing W’s and L’s with good coaching because you don’t understand the game of basketball. It’s not in a vacuum. If our players shoot and defend well there is enough talent on the wood to win games. Good players overcome bad coaching- ever heard that?

So, the team is on the cusp of qualifying for the Tournament in spite of its head coach?

 

[Ketchum]

Look at me! I want to be significant!

Awwwww, you are significant. Don't let anyone ever tell you different.

 

[Topo Chico]

Sometimes I am smarter. Other times, I'm not.

It's a see-saw of sorts.

Sometimes, you’re a real twatwaffle to the people who pay your salary. You often struggle to actually realize the temperature of the room. There are people in this and many other threads, who are considering taking their money elsewhere and you’re doubling down on hot takes that 99% of your readership doesn’t agree with. Man, you’ve got to be able to realize when your words are off the mark or when you’ve lost a battle. Be willing to admit when you’re wrong. In your own words, be better.

 

[drunk randoke]

What a shit show thread.

 

[Ketchum]

Sometimes, you’re a real twatwaffle to the people who pay your salary. You often struggle to actually realize the temperature of the room. There are people in this and many other threads, who are considering taking their money elsewhere and you’re doubling down on hot takes that 99% of your readership doesn’t agree with. Man, you’ve got to be able to realize when your words are off the mark or when you’ve lost a battle. Be willing to admit when you’re wrong. In your own words, be better.

I admit I'm wrong all the time. I'm not wrong about saying Shaka Smart is a good coach. That's a minimal level of concession about his ability. He needs to be better than that good and he hasn't yet.

 

[Ketchum]

What a shit show thread.

No one has wanted to answer this question, so I'll toss it your way.

How many wins is Andrew Jones worth?

 

[SMTX65]

Great coach!