Cold hard truth

[ShockerPrez]

The hard truth for me, is that I have very little idea what this team is, so I am throwing out any expectations and am just going to watch games and hope for wins and improvement.

Things are different this year and wins dont come as easy. GM and everyone will learn. They are too good to just lay down. Will enjoy the weekend and watch eagerly to see how they play against Memphis.

Still great to be where we are! Given where we have been. This season is not the end, its just the beginning.

[BostonWu]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShockerVoice/status/959392646530764800

[ShockTalk]

It's also has to do with his job.

[DUShock]

As I posted in the Temple game thread, it is Kennedy's job to make and serve the kool-aid.

[another shocker]

i knew wsu was in trouble down in houston when kennedy said at halftime that the good news was that wsu couldn't play any worse. seriously, i thought, "omg, why did he say that?" talk about the kiss of death.

[SHOCKvalue]

We are all fortunate to live in a country where the only people in influential, high-compensation positions who receive criticism and unfettered advice are those in sport coaching fields.

Can you imagine a world where CEO’s of publicly-held corporations, school superintendents, Supreme Court justices, US Presidents, and so on and so forth, are subject to the same forces and pressure? I shudder at the thought.

[Topshock]

There you go again! Probably going to have to explain yourself.

[SHOCKvalue]

Probably going to have to explain it first to Mike Kennedy, after he’s done telling me the Shocks are a lock for the national championship game, and then if we’re lucky the NBA Finals.

[jdshock]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShockerVo...92646530764800

We're a message board, so it's usually pretty silly to try to shut down discussion by saying "you think you know better than coach?"

But MK is someone I definitely don't mind saying it. MK should be on HCGM's good side. Remember how awkward is was earlier this season when it seemed like HCGM was giving him cold, terse answers? Plus, even though MK is our radio guy, he's not really asking for advice like "tell coach to call more timeouts!"

[ShockerFever]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShockerVo...92646530764800

MK will always be the spin doctor. It's his job. It doesn't mean he's right or not delusional, but it's what he has to do.

[DUShock]

This team and the arena floor needs this reminder:



Go Shocks!

[Walker]

They should've never taken it off the court!

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

Since the thread is "Cold hard truth."

Going back to the Notre Dame game: WSU had a double digit lead and was rolling the ball in bounds to kill the clock? WHAT? The several times that they executed that baffling strategy gave ND valuable seconds added to the end of the game. Head scratcher. Shockers couldn't maintain the lead, not unlike tonight... Or Arkansas St. against us.

Wouldn't you roll the ball to save clock, not kill it?

Also, the Shox have been big on rolling it to save SHOT CLOCK ever since the reduction from 35 seconds. It doesn't mean they are going to take a quick shot. It simply means they want more time to run the offense, run more plays, and get a good shot, now that there is less available time to do so.

Other than that, good post SBT. *facepalm*

[BostonWu]

Just looking through the schedule thus far:

Okay: Marquette, ND, OSU, Baylor, @UCONN

Great: UH

Bad: Cal, SDSU, OU, Ark St, FGCU, SMU, UH, @Temple

[Singeril]

Just looking through the schedule thus far:

Okay: Marquette, ND, OSU, Baylor, @UCONN

Great: UH

Bad: Cal, SDSU, OU, Ark St, FGCU, SMU, UH, @Temple

I agree with most of this...but, I'd only include the FIRST HALF of the first UH game. The second half, due to the bench not playing well, was pretty awful. I'd also change "okay" to "fair". It's NOT okay to play as they did for portions of those games. In other words, I don't think we've had a "great" or even "good" game this season. Lots of "fair" stuff. I don't grade on the curve.

[Singeril]

Wouldn't you roll the ball to save clock, not kill it?

Also, the Shox have been big on rolling it to save SHOT CLOCK ever since the reduction from 35 seconds. It doesn't mean they are going to take a quick shot. It simply means they want more time to run the offense, run more plays, and get a good shot, now that there is less available time to do so.

Other than that, good post SBT. *facepalm*

I didn't like the ball rolling in the tournament either and commented about that at the time. I understand that it adds time to "set up the play" and helps "defeat the shot clock"...but, it also took the team out of any kind of rhythm, allowed the opponents more time to set up, and really ended up hurting the effort in the long run. I'll stick to not liking the "strategy".

[ArtVandalay]

I still see a lot of Missouri Valley in this team. We were more talented and more athletic and we made lazy passes and could take plays off more often and still win in that league. Soft, lazy passes and take too many possessions off in this league is dangerous and we've yet to correct it. We haven't adjusted to the higher level of athlete.

[Zubcut]

I agree completely. These post entry passes worked in the MVC. Better and bigger athletes cause deflections and turnovers. Some of these passes have no chance and it makes you wonder what they are seeing to make them even attempt them. The stat that shows the biggest difference between the two leagues is turnovers. The Shockers went from a low turnover offense and high turnover defense to the exact opposite. This with basically the same players. The only difference being the level of competition. Hopefully it's an adjustment they can still make before the end of the season. They have to stop telegraphing post passes and they have to be more accurate and crisper with their passes. This isn't the MVC. USF and ECU probably gave them a false sense of security. They needed to realize that those teams are even below MVC standards. These teams with length and quickness are a different animal. The Shockers definitely don't have MVC level players, but too often they play as if they are still playing MVC level teams.

[another shocker]

I didn't like the ball rolling in the tournament either and commented about that at the time. I understand that it adds time to "set up the play" and helps "defeat the shot clock"...but, it also took the team out of any kind of rhythm, allowed the opponents more time to set up, and really ended up hurting the effort in the long run. I'll stick to not liking the "strategy".

you're supposed to do that when you are behind, not when you are ahead, as the shockers were. worked out very well for notre dame.

[Slalomshocker]

There is a lot of truth in this thread. And a lot of kool aide drinkers that can't seem to accept that the best coach in WSU history is struggling right now. The team is pressing, and so is the coaching staff (or at least GGG). We are in uncharted territory for everyone, and nobody seems to be making the adjustments. And that includes us fans. Honestly I had @Temple marked as a loss when conference season started, so losing there isn't too big of a deal to me. However the manner in which we accomplished that....its a little bothersome.

I'm all on board with the 'call a timeout' train. In response to Mike Kennedy's "and tell them what? Make the open shot?"... no Mike, tell them its okay, to settle down and trust their abilities. Coach has one job on game day, put his players in the best situation to succeed. He failed miserably last night. The lineup that was the main culprit for the 16-2 run.... can't happen. You just simply cannot put that lineup in the game. Even if you do, you call a dang TO and get it fixed when it goes south, not roll with it until the game has flipped on you. Add the timeouts remaining and our end of game performance????? Call the TO and settle the troops. GGG trusts Landry, which is great. But where has Landry consistently proven he can be 'that guy' at the end of a game? OK St, Kentucky....Baylor? How many times has he failed in that situation? My point isn't blaming Landry, my point is that Gregg is treating Landry like he is a Sr that has proven he can handle that multiple times, but I have yet to see where Landry has earned that. Especially given his current location at the bottom of the grand canyon of slumps. Just not the highest percentage play to roll the dice and hope he magically pulls it out, imo.

Bottom line, this team is not what any of us thought it was, not right now. Hopefully coach can make some adjustments, including his own, and this team can get right in time for March. Plenty of ball left to be played, but we definitely played our way out of the conference race in all likely hood.

[Kel Varnsen]

Cold hard truths, in my opinion:

- We are slow. We just don't have the foot speed or the athletes that some of these other schools do, even teams like UCF that we handled quite easily.
- The mismatches we were able to hide (Conner on defense, Rashard and Zach on offense) in the Valley, we are not able to get away with in the American.
- We miss Chris Jans.

Some encouragement for this season is that Landry cannot be any colder than what he has been lately, and Austin is starting to show his chops.

Some encouragement for the future, in my eyes, is that I am totally here for the Lomax-Reaves-Moore show that's going to terrorize the American and the rest of the country over the next couple years.

[Topshock]

And don't forget Stevenson

[proshox]

We are not slow.. We have a 6'7" wing defending play-making point guards, and we have centers defender small forwards with "play-making" skills. It is unfair to the players because they are constantly in "no-man's land." Go small and most of these problems go away...

MM & RK are always fours (there will be times when MM can slide to a three, but it shouldn't be the main option).

SM, DW, and SM are always fives (there will be times when DW can slide to the five, but it should happen less than MM playing the three)

ZB, LS, and AR can all play the three

AR, LS, and CF can all play either guard spot.

[12eagle]

Also don't forget we will only play two of those players at one time so that we can be sure and play two 5 men at once.

[Shock Top]

Cold hard truths, in my opinion:

- We are slow. We just don't have the foot speed or the athletes that some of these other schools do, even teams like UCF that we handled quite easily.
- The mismatches we were able to hide (Conner on defense, Rashard and Zach on offense) in the Valley, we are not able to get away with in the American.
- We miss Chris Jans.

Some encouragement for this season is that Landry cannot be any colder than what he has been lately, and Austin is starting to show his chops.

Some encouragement for the future, in my eyes, is that I am totally here for the Lomax-Reaves-Moore show that's going to terrorize the American and the rest of the country over the next couple years.

Don’t forget one more year with Markis and Landry