WSU vs. Houston in the AAC Tournament Game Thread

[ShockerFever]

We lost that game for 2 reasons; 1) poor execution down the stretch (I’m getting tired of saying that....) and 2) lack of athletes in the backcourt. 1 through 3 we lack the foot speed to defend against high major guards. Reaves and Frankcamp both get picked on in ISO D because of their lack of athleticism. Brown has length and girth, but he gets blown by every other play. Landry probably has the best foot speed of our guards who play regular minutes, but he’s probably average at best. I know we lack guard depth, but I’m starting to think we can’t play Reaves and Frankamp at the same time. Start LS, AR, MM, RK, and SM. Have ZB play some minutes at the 2 when LS takes a breather. RK and ZB can handle the ball well enough to help point out if he gets in trouble.

ZB, RK, and "handle" in the same sentence? LOL, surely you jest.

[forevershockerfan]

Here are some interesting tidbits today. Houston had 6 steals and we had 3. Shocks had 12 turnovers and Houston 7. Shocks had 39-31 advantage on rebounds led by Kelly with 12. Austin and Conner both did not shoot a 3-pointer today which I never remember seeing all Season. Z Brown was 0-4 on 3-pointers today. Shaq played 19 minutes and only had 3 fouls. Quit breathing on opponents Shaq. It was said on the radio that 7 opponents scored over 30 on us this Season. Never remember that happening.

Phase 3 of this Season is coming upon our beloved Shocks and they will Dance. What does it all mean? The Shocks are due to win some of these close ones and a very strong finish is what we long for. To do so is very possible if, if, if. What the ifs are will be addressed and understood with the need of executing the solutions to scratch out some big wins for a positive Shocker grand finale' we hope.

[150946shox]

I hate losing, but I’m so happy to be in a conference where we can expect great basketball games. Our recruiting of top athletes will only get better in the American. We went into this year with players we recruited while in the MVC. We have a class coming in that is considered the best class ever. Hopefully our fans will understand that even though the class is great, they still need time to learn and will not be great immediately. They’ll need some time but in a couple years the Shocks will have the kind of athleticism and talent that Coach Marshall will be able to build a force again.

[Kung Wu]

To much complaining about the refs and fouls.

Pretty strong advice from a Cincinatti Boo-cat. Complaining about refs and fouls. That's a laugher.

[Husker4Shockers]

What is there about the man bun that has me thinking hedge clippers?

[Play Angry]

I need the Selection Show to hurry up and get here, this one still stings.

[Kung Wu]

Houston reminds me of the Final Four Shockers.

[proshox]

Missing a shot blocker, but they can do a lot well.

[kcshocker11]

Really great game despite the outcome, refs got way too involved. On to the Big Dance! Go Shockers!

[xshox9]

Anyone think maybe SHJ could be sparingly used on defense for his speed to slow someone like Rob Grey down?

[Shockersarelife]

No

[proshox]

Nope. Not this year.

[Slykryck]

Of the players that have torched us on offense for 25+ points, I want to say Bonzie Coulson was the only one that wasn’t primarily a perimeter player. While this does show that we don’t have the same caliber of defense perimeter players as past years, it also shows how many teams have multiple guards who can truly score.

I seem to recall MM and ZB together more last year with us going small. They are our two best perimeter defenders, but neither have the size to defend the post. The AAC has so many teams that have multiple bigs and guards who can score. A LS-ZB-MM-RK-SM lineup would probably be our best defensive lineup, but the lane would be so congested, we’re not getting buckets with that lineup. Not to mention the lack of ball handlers.

[ShockingButTrue]

MM and ZB on the court together was a "tragic" comedy of errors.

[pinstripers]

It's amazing how we all see different things

[Slykryck]

MM and ZB on the court together was a "tragic" comedy of errors.

Actually the 2 most common starting lineups last year featured both. Even started against Kentucky.

[SHOCKvalue]

If a person could pinpoint the Achilles heel of this team - outside of the obvious #1 of below-average (for WSU) D - it would unquestionably be the offensively spastic black hole that is the 2 spot.

We have near AA levels of 1 and 5 performance with LS and SM, a gaggle of solid dudes to cover 3/4 (at least two of which get the job done in any given game), and then the 2 spot which all season has basically been analogous to a classic exotic automobile that drives and feels amazing for the 15% it will start and get out of the damn garage under its own power but otherwise is useless.

[Blackmag]

I agree that Conner and Austin lack some foot speed but really Austin plays pretty decent defense and seems to have taken quite a few charges this year. He needs to gain more upper body strength and I’m sure now that his surgeries are out of the way he’ll be hitting the weight room. Man-bun hit several big threes when we got our 3 point lead. Landry missed a free throw on a three point play that would have made it a two possession game. We just came up a little short. I agree we need help for Landry and Shaq. Rashard played big, Austin had played well this weekend, just a bad pass at the wrong time. Brown, Mcduffie and Willis need to be more consistent, too many turnovers. Brown needs to shelf the 3, they were baiting him into taking it. Numbers don’t lie. Tough loss but next weekend is what people will remember.