I think part of Smart's appeal as a coach boils down to his ability to get players to buy in completely to his approach.
For whatever reason, they didn't in Texas. Perhaps it was that they had too much talent and too many other options.
At Marquette, he'll be free to recruit those less heralded guys who have a chip on their shoulders, who should be more willing to buy into "havok!".
Speaking of, IMO, Smart's biggest issue was that his Longhorn offense was antiquated. They ranked 68th in attempts from distance and 90th in percentage last season. The year before that, they ranked 92nd in attempts and 173rd in percentage. In 2018, it was 70th and 154th. So maybe it's about establishing the post or looking for easy layups, right? That'd work, I guess.
Were that the case, they'd have a bunch more free throws attempted. They've been near the bottom in the entirety of Division I hoops for three years running on free throw attempts, though.
Clearly, they're settling for mid-range jumpers instead of either driving to the hoop or driving and kicking out to an open teammate. That's an offensive decision, likely from the head coach. And while those shots might be open, there's a reason why more teams don't take them-- they're bad shots when compared to every other type of shot on the offensive side of the ball.
Smart's Texas teams played a plodding style and focused on the exact wrong types of shots in order to be successful. He was a bit more successful with that style at VCU-- and he definitely had better shooters. I'm guessing he'll get back to recruiting those types of guys-- the Troy Daniels of the world, who feel underappreciated and work their tails off in order to succeed and therefore work harder at shooting (and other habits) than do ultra-talented guys who he recruited at Texas.
For a team that plays with as much reckless abandon as Smart typically does, that's way, way too low.