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State's next coach?

Shaka Smart is a legit candidate. Fuck this. K, Roy, Smart, and fucking Bzz. Awesome. Someone kill me.
 
GQCoolest said:
So why are we afraid of a guy who has finished 5th and 4th in the CAA in his 2 years. Seems to be a great tourney coach (won the CBI last year), but it will be interesting to see if he can actually...you know...coach. Running up and down the sidelines is great, but he'll need a top notch staff.

Bilas tweeted that they've hit 12+ threes in 3 of their 5 tournament games. They hadn't done that all year. Sometimes a team just plays out of their skin.
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I am starting to think the same thing, especially since he's using Anthony Grant's players. I don't think he's a horrible coach, but I'm not yet convinced he's John Wooden reincarnated yet either - he may just have lightning in a bottle right now. Regardless, good for him if he capitalizes on it.

If nothing else, hopefully he'll be able to buy some better dress shirts that actually fit him once he gets PAID.
 
Agree with this, Shaka would be a risky hire based on a pretty short and shaky conference track record and a great tournament run.

GQCoolest said:
So why are we afraid of a guy who has finished 5th and 4th in the CAA in his 2 years. Seems to be a great tourney coach (won the CBI last year), but it will be interesting to see if he can actually...you know...coach. Running up and down the sidelines is great, but he'll need a top notch staff.

Bilas tweeted that they've hit 12+ threes in 3 of their 5 tournament games. They hadn't done that all year. Sometimes a team just plays out of their skin.
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If you make $350K you can afford the same shirts you can afford as when you make $1-2M.
 
I'd much rather see Marshall there than Smart. That's all I'm saying.
 
There is nothing I can see that would prevent Shaka from being successful, assuming he is given resources and time. He would definitely have the resources at NCSU. Presumably, he would be given the time (at least 4 or 5 years). Now, whether he will win national championships or get to the final four or displace UNC or Duke - very questionable. But, he will have State competitive and a consistent tournament team, both quickly and regularly. To me, that is "successful" at NCSU (or Wake, for that matter).
 
Oh, I agree - even if Shaka doesn't win them a National Championship, I think he's a solid hire and will take his next program in the right direction. If nothing else he'll be a hire that excites the fan base for a year or two, unlike certain other schools that we have passing knowledge of.
 
ABCDeac said:
There is nothing I can see that would prevent Shaka from being successful, assuming he is given resources and time. He would definitely have the resources at NCSU. Presumably, he would be given the time (at least 4 or 5 years). Now, whether he will win national championships or get to the final four or displace UNC or Duke - very questionable. But, he will have State competitive and a consistent tournament team, both quickly and regularly. To me, that is "successful" at NCSU (or Wake, for that matter).
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Why? I just don't see anything from him that differentiates him from Stan Heath.
 
Rolfe said:
I am starting to think the same thing, especially since he's using Anthony Grant's players. I don't think he's a horrible coach, but I'm not yet convinced he's John Wooden reincarnated yet either - he may just have lightning in a bottle right now. Regardless, good for him if he capitalizes on it.

If nothing else, hopefully he'll be able to buy some better dress shirts that actually fit him once he gets PAID.
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Literally just made this post on the State board comparing Marshall to Smart, I'll just paste it here.


This. It's interesting that the guy in the Final Four, who got an at-large bid, has more coaching concerns than the guy with zero NCAA tournaments in 4 years. The only 4 years he's spent in a conference that isn't complete trash.

VCU had a stretch where they lost 4 out of 5, beating Wichita State in that stretch, and has been fantastic the rest of the season. This whole thing of making it look like he sucked during the season is very overblown. They were looking great before that stretch, and their recovery since that stretch is hugely impressive.
 
GQCoolest said:
Why? I just don't see anything from him that differentiates him from Stan Heath.
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I just posted this in the Dino to Kent State thread:

Interesting to note the career path of Stan Heath after that Elite 8. Highly regarded assistant to a big name coach at a big time program. Comes in and leads an already relatively established mid-major program on a miraculous tournament run, leaves for a bigger conference program, one that had a great history which had been somewhat tarnished by scandal and drama, and has had kind of a "meh" career since.

ETA - Obviously Smart is still alive and could seriously distance himself from that comparison, but I think the point remains. I've definitely liked what I have seen from Smart, though, and I'm not trying to diminish what he has already done or what he still could do.
 
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tintinisahottie said:
Literally just made this post on the State board comparing Marshall to Smart, I'll just paste it here.


This. It's interesting that the guy in the Final Four, who got an at-large bid, has more coaching concerns than the guy with zero NCAA tournaments in 4 years. The only 4 years he's spent in a conference that isn't complete trash.

VCU had a stretch where they lost 4 out of 5, beating Wichita State in that stretch, and has been fantastic the rest of the season. This whole thing of making it look like he sucked during the season is very overblown. They were looking great before that stretch, and their recovery since that stretch is hugely impressive.
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What about last season?
 
looks like last season the team was respectable in terms of kenpom (49 overall) and was relatively unlucky with 6 of their conference losses (including conference tournament)within 5 points (2 in OT, 5 of the 6 on the road) and all of their conference wins by double digits. then they went on to win the CBI.
 
Not saying Shaka is destined to be great. I think the jury is still out. But isn't the object of college basketball to get your team to the tourney and have them playing their best ball once they get there?
 
Deacon2002 said:
Not saying Shaka is destined to be great. I think the jury is still out. But isn't the object of college basketball to get your team to the tourney and have them playing their best ball once they get there?
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Definitely a gamble, but I think it is a gamble NCSU should take.
 
The fact that Stevens has now been to B2B FFs with his overachieving scrubbots probably makes ShakaZulu think he can do the same with the VCU castoffs.
 
Regardless of if he goes to State, he should go somewhere after this run. Don't think he can pull a butler and do it again at VCU.
 
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