#13 WSU vs Tulane Game Thread

[shoxlax]

NM

[proshox]

well played

[pinstripers]

Coaches presser was interesting after the game. After he looks at tape he could temper his opinions but this was what stuck out to him

Conner and Shaq were great
CJ played really good
MM played well
After those 4 tough to find any production
CJ was perfect from the free throw line, could be a lock down defender but sometimes watches shots standing flat footed. Is very athletic during warm ups but needs to translate that athleticism to the defensive part of his game on the court.
AR got called for fouls trying to stay in front of his guy. Coach doesn't know what he did to the Refs? but they called him on everything. He wasn't very good missing free throws and throwing it away but he sat for long periods and that may have thrown him off but he just wasn't very good.
Upfront guys are not defending like he would like.

Coach is very fortunate that he said that, rather than post it here.

[ShockerFever]

CJ played better defense than ZB. His guy was constantly burning him and beating him to the rim.

If ZB isn’t playing adequate defense, then he is a complete black hole on the floor.

[pinstripers]

Taylor Eldridge

@tayloreldridge

12h12 hours ago More



Step back for Wichita State's defense, giving up 86 to Tulane. Green Wave shoot 50% from the field, 58% from 3 (11/19), and score at 1.18 PPP.

[ShockerPrez]

This was the time last year where RK stepped up, got boards and dunks within the offense. Looking for that to repeat.

I also expect Markis to have a monster game before the season is over.

Our offense is just on another level when we drive to the basket with our guards.

More CF aggresiveness.

I would love to see a lineup of LS, AR, CF, MM and SM and just run the floor for 6 or 7 minutes.

[Dan]

I would love to see a lineup of LS, AR, CF, MM and SM and just run the floor for 6 or 7 minutes.

The wildcard in that lineup being MM staying in control and taking smart shots.

[Jhook89]

If Shamet doesn’t come back next season it may be a long year.

[martymoose]

If Shamet doesn’t come back next season it may be a long year.

You talk as if we have never graduated or lost our best player before....

[Jhook89]

And don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we are going to fall off the face of the earth. Just probably won’t be a tournament team.

[ShockerFever]

Didn’t we lose a good chunk after the 2012 season? I can’t remember how 2013 went though.

[Jhook89]

I’ll give it to you, that is a good example. We also only lost 5 that year and had a graduate transfer and juco All-American coming in. I do get your point that anything is possible though.

[Shocker_Power]

If Shamet doesn’t come back next season it may be a long year.

This just coming across the news wire..... "He ain't coming back!"

[ShockdaWorld]

Maybe...or it could be fake news.

[asiseeit]

Totally different team next year. Probably have a rocky start but I predict a strong finish. Third or
fourth in the AAC. Lomax and Stephenson are going to be very good to go along with AR. MM
will settle in at the PF slot. Biggest question mark will be at center where AM and Udeze could
struggle some early but be much better players by February. Lomax, AR and ES will be very
good together. Can't believe I am saying this BUT if Jones would just learn his role, see the court, play
under control and use his athleticism to the teams advantage instead of his own he could be
a very valuable player. If LS stays though he should probably consider Newman or Friends and be
a DII AA

[BOBB]

Shaq is a man. He is damn near unguardable if he catches down low. We will miss that safety valve next year.

Conner was terrific. He will be torching YMCA's well into his sixties, which appears to be about ten years from now. He makes Cotton look like a first grader.

I have to believe that Shamet and McDuffie will be back next year unless one or both of them goes off regularly in a deep tournament run. Unless we get some favorable matchups we don't seem to be able to defend well enough to do that. Of course you never know what the matchups will bring.

I really feel for SHJ. It seems like the pieces are there but he is a liability much of the time. I would like him to finish his career here if he wants, but his role is not likely to increase next year.

This has been a fun year to watch games. They have been entertaining by and large...too entertaining sometimes. Like Punxsutawney Phil I hope to see six more weeks of basketball.

[jdshock]

Ragland was a juco guy

[BOBB]

Yep. I forgot... And Hannah. So we are back 8 years.

[WSUwatcher]

Clevin Hannah was also a juco, and Armstead passed through a juco on his circuitous route here.

[im4wsu]

Never ceases to amaze me how gritty ShockerNation is showing up. It's bloody awful outside. Yeah, a couple hunskie no shows in the GA section and I'm sure zero walk up crowd due to the time and weather. And geez, if anyone is like me, and feels like rotting rhino ass warmed over, still battling Hantavirus, bubonic plague or whatever the eff is going our town right now, you might not have felt like being on your feet and screaming at the top of your lungs either, if in fact you have any lung capacity remaining. I didn't think I was going to make it, and I was positive when it was over I wasn't going to make it home. Tough conditions for sure.

Once we heard Landry was out I knew Conner was the MVP, IF we win. He was huge. But what is he going to do against 6'5" athletic guards? He just can't guard them. Everyone knows it, they isolate him and it's tough sledding. We have to help and someone is open and tonight, again, that someone knocked down every freaking 3. Come on, 60%? It's laughable at this point.

I give CJ credit for not vomiting, making free throws and hitting the glass. You have to start somewhere. But dude was completely lost defensively. There were times it was 4 guys trying to guard 5, usually Conner trying to cover 2 kids, and CJ is just praying a Tulane player will magically run into him so it will look like he guarded someone. Austin was screaming at him to try and get him in the right spot (from his foul prone spot on the bench) but to no avail. Still, that was an exceedingly tough spot for the young man, and he did some things well.

Markis' 3 with about 90 seconds left may have been one of the worst shots in the history of basketball. He can be so damned good sometimes. I wish he'd relax just a touch and let the game come to his immense talent.

So damned happy for Conner and proud of his effort. We HAD to have to him tonight and he delivered. I kept begging him to not ever pass but he's just not selfish enough. It has to be hard for him.

This is one of the greatest WSU teams of all time. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am. Coach's comment about us being fools gold is right, if you're talking about winning a Natty. Right now we don't play D well enough to do that. And maybe that's just this team, I don't know. But I love watching them play, and I love what they have accomplished and what they have yet to accomplish. And they rarely, if EVER don't make me proud to be a supporter and fan. And I thank all of them for that.

And I hope someone recorded the victory song in the locker room. Go Shocks!

I almost forgot, because like so many fans, I'm spoiled rotten, but Shaq again was incredible. There aren't enough descriptors for the young man. Guys pounding him, goading him, trying anything to slow him down (you CANNOT stop him these days) and all he does is drop 25 and 9 with essentially zero help. The kid has been abused, screamed at, benched, left at home, challenged and at times even ridiculed and he's responded by being one of the most genuine and fun loving young man I've ever known at WSU, and just maybe one of the top 20 or so all time Shockers when it's all said and done. Another great game by SHAQ.

Also when he was called for a foul on that very clean block in cruch time and he just smiled and clapped. He's become a true leader!

[DJShocker10]

Also when he was called for a foul on that very clean block in cruch time and he just smiled and clapped. He's become a true leader!

Also threw in a little “ball don’t lie” after the missed FT. Gotta love it!

[WstateU]

This just coming across the news wire..... "He ain't coming back!"

For 'us' old farts...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-enjcgV1o

[wusphlash]

NM, wrong post.

[wusphlash]

Fact, the 16/17, 17/18 teams are not as good defensively as the 14/15, 15/16 teams.
Fact, the 16/17, 17/18 teams are superior offensively to the 14/15, 15/16 teams.
Fact, the 16/17, 17/18 teams lost 10 games (albeit so far), the 14/15, 15/16 teams lost 14 games.
Some believe that this team cannot succeed without playing defense comparable to Fred and Ron's last two. Maybe those two teams would have been more successful if scoring came easier.
The bottom line is that all four of these teams have been successful, different but successful. Don't write this team off just because they're doing it differently.

[1972Shocker]

Are you defining succeed as limited to winning an NC? I think that is setting the bar a bit too high unless you have a team of 5 first round NBA Draft picks.

[AndShock]

No, my point is I think that everyone thinks this team can succeed. All of the naysayers who point out this team’s flaws still thinks it can succeed.

[wusphlash]

I, like 1972, haven't reached the point of defining success or failure by National Championships. The NCAA tourney is a crap shoot for even the best of teams.