2018-2019 Shox Offseason Predictions and Discussions

[im4wsu]

I don't mind all of the transfers as none were going to make an impact. Better for everyone.
Although I was one of SHJ's toughest critics I'm not ready to kick him to the curb as he showed
he has lots of potential. He could very well start. I think he has higher potential upside than MM.
I thought MM played very soft this season and never seemed to blend into the offense. Hope he
toughens up and makes me eat crow. Despite all the set backs I am as excited as ever about
next season. I think ES will play SF and give us a threat we didn't have there this past year. CM
could be good, as well.

Duff may have had a difficult time coming in mid-season either not at 100% or not 100% confident in his ability to move/cut/break/jump. With a summer to be "the man," and bulk up, he may be a welcome surprise next season. I certainly hope so.

[1972Shocker]

At this point we have 3 open scholarships.

The present class make up is: 2 seniors (Markis and Samajae), 2 juniors (Austin and Jaime), 1 sophomore (Asbjorn) and 5 freshmen (Rod, Chance, Erik, Morris and Isaiah).

Position wise we have (just guessing and there could be some mixing and matching):
5's - Asbjorn, Morris and Jaime
4's - Markis, Isaiah
3's - Rod, Chance
2's - Austin, Erik
1's - Samajae (with a big ?)

Looks to me like we could use another 4 (preferably a stretch 4) so Markis could be used at the 3 or the 4. The 2's and 3's are kind of interchangeable depending on the match ups. Probably need 2 point guards but perhaps a true point plus a good combo guard would work out. Austin give us some flexibility being able to paly the 1, 2 or 3 depending on the match ups.

From a class standpoint a grad transfer, a juco transfer and 1 freshman would work okay. A grad transfer and 2 jucos would work as well but I'm sure 3G will value talent over balancing his classes.

Not sure there are any redshirt candidates. Maybe Jaime due to his relative lack of experience and need to bulk up. But if you do that we would really need another 4/5 combo.

This is definitley going to be intgriguing.

[ShockTalk]

Rod and Chance may play some 4 if needed.

[GreatWhiteBuffalo]

Always the option of finding another like Landry, who might have the juice to leave early. Have to consider that aspect as well.

[Slykryck]

Well...I guess you can disregard any comment I made about the role CJ would play this year. I was wrong.

[1972Shocker]

You weren't necessarily wrong but we'll never know for sure.

[another shocker]

18-12 something like that

[ShockerMarch]

Eh, that's low. God, I hope not.

[pinstripers]

18-12 something like that

Given our home attendance, 18-12 might get us a home game in the NIT, but I doubt 17 wins would

[choida]

We win AAC and get in the big dance and win one game

[AndShock]

Next season every single guarantee game should be a gimme. 8-5 in the non-con. Hopefully we can manage .500 in conference play, especially with no one being an NCAA tournament lock. That puts us at 17-14. Anything better than that is gravy, imo. I say that now but I’m still gonna have a meltdown after every loss.

[SHOXAAC]

The roster is 3 players from being full and we are making predictions on record for next year. Ugh!!!

[1972Shocker]

Perhaps a bit early to be making predictions. Maybe 10 games into next season would be about the right timing. I suppose the big thing is we really don't even know what our roster will look like at this point.

If we add say Juco Tyler Cheese and Freshman James Akinjo at the guard postion and then find us a decent grad transfer or juco 4 (prefereably a stretch 4) I think the outliook becomes bit brighter. Still a real challenge to integrate so many new faces but at least 3G would have some quality clay to mold.

Then there is the matter of what the non-con schedule will look like. And as Paul Suellentrop reported the AAC will look a lot different next season. At this point it is hard to say if that is good or bad but 9 of the 13 players on the AAC 1st and 2nd All-Conference teams and the honorable meniton players will not be returning next year. And 2 of the others (Frazier and Rose) are still considering whether or not to go pro.

How long will it take the newcomers to adapt to D-1 basketball and 3G's system, will the newcomers be as good as we hope, who will emerge as the team leaders and what kind of team chemistry will develop???? What will Markis bring to the table next year? Will Austin be able add some upper body strength? Can Samajae overcome his issues and be a contributor? Will Asbjorn be ready to make a big step up in playing time? How much has the redshirt year helped Rod?

The range of possibilities at this point in time are in country mile territory.

[AZ Shocker]

Coach alreeady has a lot to sell to recruits at Wichita St.... but this time he has an excellent incoming class to sell to the 3 new scholarship players he's currently searching for. This class may end up being even better when its all said and done.

[Woodrow]

The best thing GGG has to sell to recruits right now is lots of playing time.

[Steeleshocker]

And a rabid fan base, and a great home atmosphere, and almost every game on an ESPN network, and getting 6 players to the NBA, and lots and lots of winning...

[Woodrow]

I agree but we already had all of those. We haven't had a true opportunity for freshmen to get much playing time or even start. It should help bring in a talented player who is not thrilled to sit for a year or two.

[Stickboy46]

Coach alreeady has a lot to sell to recruits at Wichita St.... but this time he has an excellent incoming class to sell to the 3 new scholarship players he's currently searching for. This class may end up being even better when its all said and done.

This ... next year might be rough .. but it's going to force a lot of playing time to young players. Players that will then have more and more experience as the next couple of years come through.

[WSUwatcher]

As others have noted, predicting results for a team with three current openings is a fool's errand. So I'll pass.

Also, those who expect a rough year should be reminded that $3MG hasn't exactly shown a history of trouble reloading. Finally, everyone seems to be forgetting that before this past season, one of the reasons WSU was expected to be so good was that the Shocks had TWO all-conference caliber players, only one of whom has left. The other didn't act the part as he struggled to recover from injury, but if Markis comes back healthy next year, he may have the huge impact that was expected this past season -- and if so, the "roughness" may smooth out quite a bit.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I too think Markis is due for a monster season. He's the elder, he's the star, this is his team now--and it isn't even close. It's a crappy situation working your way back into the mix midseason after an injury which makes you miss all of practice and non-conference. He's WAY too good of a player to not make up for it next year.

[AZ Shocker]

Another thing to perhaps consider is we had to scout every team in the AAC this past season and our AAC brethren only really had to scout one (us). Now...heading into next year our scouting should be easier while our AAC opppnents will have to deal with a completely different slew of characters from us.

We got a whole new group and even though most will be Freshmen...our opponents are gonna be like...."whaaaat????" Lol