Disappointment is fine but thinking the program is better off without Shaka Smart is not
Losing in the NCAA Tournament is never easy. The finality of the season concluding so abruptly always makes it worse.
The reaction to the Golden Eagles' first-round defeat in the Marquette social media world (and even on alumni text chains) made it seem like this team just lost to Western Michigan at home during the first round of the NIT.
That did happen in 2005, and imagine what the reaction would have been if social media had been in full swing instead of being in its infancy (or if text messaging had been free).
Sure, the message boards existed, but the entire lunatic fringe of some fanbases did not feel emboldened to express such extreme views knowing they did not have an echo chamber to shout back "You're right."
Let's be clear, it is disappointing that Marquette lost to New Mexico in the first round, especially after there was hope of a Final Four once the team reached No. 5 in the AP rankings.
Remember, seeds matter more than rankings.
As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's MU hoops beat writer Ben Steele pointed out there were plenty of flaws with this team exploited once the calendar turned to February that getting to the third weekend seemed impossible.
That still does not mean this was the worst season ever despite another untimely March exit.
20 wins should still be considered an accomplishment in college basketball. Heck making the tournament, especially after getting to just two in the Wojo era, is always nice.
Reaching the floor does not mean a complete failure. It just means coming up short on some goals.
While it is frustrating this program has come up short for three straight seasons, let's hope two nights' sleep has calmed some of you down.
Especially, if you are in the camp of thinking Shaka Smart is not the guy to guide the program toward having sustained success. Maybe, you might want to re-examine how high your expectations should be.
Fan how you want but if you are in the camp citing Shaka is riding a Final Four run a decade ago, then hopefully you were not one of those in attendance at Fiserv Forum when former head coach Tom Crean got a standing ovation.
That guy made a career off of guiding the 2003 team on that magical run (all because of Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener, Robert Jackson, and Steve Novak).
It is fair to point out that Shaka Smart has not beaten a single-digit seed in the big dance in a while. You can also view it as the next hurdle to clear just like when the criticism was Shaka could no longer get to the Sweet 16. He checked that box last season for those keeping scoring.
Also, I just make these suggestions to those demanding heightened standards as I used to be among you.
Sometimes you must zoom out and realize winning in the tournament is hard. Especially in the NIL and transfer portal era.
The website is now defunct, but I once wrote a scathing (and regrettable) piece on Sportsbubbler.com tackling how Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wesley Matthews only won two NCAA Tournament games. I argued that made them not great enough.
Looking back, that was really unfair (and I deserved the tongue-lashing I got from the now current AD and a good portion of the fan base) especially after I lived through the Wojo days.
Making the tournament should still be an expectation for every fan.
Making deep runs is a whole different story since it is so hard to win one game in this type of tournament let alone many, especially now that the tournament landscape has seen 16 seeds pull of upsets.
A cold shooting night or a bad matchup in January means a conference loss. In a one-and-done tournament like this, it means the season is over.
A short-term injury in December is survivable. An injury late in the season can be crippling. All things this program has dealt with in March the past couple of seasons.
To avoid everything like that plus any negative variance working against you for six straight games is tough.
If you want to cite programs like Duke, UConn, Michigan State, or Kansas that keep finding ways to make runs in the tournament, that's fine.
Also, realize the big picture thing those programs have (or have had).
Their head coaches have stayed long enough to establish those high standards. That means sometimes it is better to be patient.
Duke is not a brand name had the upset portion of their fan base gotten their way before 1986 and ran off Coach K.
You want an elite program?
You need a head coach who can recruit and develop talented players. You need that coach to stick around. Now NIL is going to alter that a bit, but still, the secret sauce is having a strong leader who stays.
Right now, the coaches who have proven capable (Kevin O'Neill, Crean, and Buzz Williams) have treated this job as a stepping stone.
Shaka might finally be the guy to realize the grass is not always greener (since it was not in Texas) and build off of his four-year success here.
Yet, a 3-4 record in March so far has a portion of the fan base questioning a coach who has won 98 games along with a Big East regular season and tournament title in four years.
That is also after taking over a program left in the gutter by Steve Wojciechowski.
Imagine if two decades ago Villanova had that same stance toward Jay Wright.
It took him until his fourth year just to get the Wildcats into the dance and he did not win a Big East title until his fifth year. He also went 13-19 in 2011-12. Then he won two titles and is a Hall of Fame coach.
However, this is not to discount your hope for more March success from the core of Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro, Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, and David Joplin.
That was a great core, and one Sweet 16 run that could have been a Final Four feels like being short-changed.
It is also fair to question Shaka's coaching when it comes to this team's rebounding ability and being so hesitant to use the transfer portal especially after he got Kolek and O-Max in the portal.
However, acting like everything is awful because of a poor stretch, well, then I suggest you keep checking out our guy Joe McCann's tweet to readjust your perspective.