WSU vs Catawba

[shockersx]

I liked Erik’s game tonight. I think he got off to a solid start. He played good defense and moved his feet well (save for one blocking foul), and crashed the boards harder than any of the other guards. What I also liked was that he was one of the few players who wasn’t out there just chucking up wild shots and forcing things - he was very controlled.

Man, Markis is not very good. He made some jumpers late in the game which was good to see, but his skill set is just not existent. His basketball smarts are really lacking, too. I don’t wanna dog on him too much cause I know he’ll be a key player still, but whew. I hope he’s more consistent going forward.

[Dan]

Markis can be very effective but he has to play his role and not try to be The Guy. He is a good catch and shoot player, mix it up underneath and play good D. When he tries to drive the ball in traffic, lead fast breaks and generally act like he’s Fred VanVleet or Landry Shamet, he’s really bad.

[ShockTalk]

Looked good or played better than expected:

JB ++
ES
IPBC
Mo

Thought I'd see more or was disappointed:

DD--
MM
RT--

I was also hoping for more from Brown, being a RS among these players.
SHJ did pretty much what I expected against this level of competition.
Thought I'd see more from JE. That's on you Cold.
AM is who he is. As the season goes on, I expect he will play less and less.
CM did OK. Neither disappointed or impressed.

[pie n eye]

Was pleasantly surprised by Brown myself especially defense and rebounding. Had some strength to finish a couple down low but then got stripped twice because he was weak with the ball. Seems like a guy with chance to be a contributing role player this year.

[asiseeit]

Ugly game. Don't know what you were all expecting out of AM. He did some good things on defense. Were
going to need all four centers. Doesn't matter who starts. Neither JB or ES looked like freshmen - both solid.
Most of the rest DID look like freshmen.

[pinstripers]

1. Burton is a MAN. Nice motor, too. Can't shoot.
2. Duff is the same as last year. Bad.
3. AM ........
4. DD looks like a player, but gotta stay on the floor.
5. Jones can shoot it, didn't drive and get blocked.
6. Moore could use a year in the weight room, but looks like he can score, so he'll play
7. Echenique is long and tall
8. Brown is a PF in a 6'4" body
9. Udeze good motor, foul prone
10. Chandler surprisingly athletic, foul prone
11. Torres was juco AA?
12. Marshall was fairly calm

[pie n eye]

You may be right about Burton’s shooting ability but not sure why that would be a takeaway from this specific game. Only shots he took besides layups were four free throws that were nothing but net.

[ShockerFever]

1. Burton is a MAN. Nice motor, too. Can't shoot.

He doesn't need to shoot. As I recall, Tekele Cotton couldn't shoot a lick his first year either.

[pinstripers]

My thought as well

[JVShocker]

A few more things....
7. Warmups. You know how fans flock to see Curry warm up? Dude is relaxed, having a good time, no nerves, then goes off on the team they're playing against. When a team come into Koch arena, watch a little of the other teams warmup. Where we looked stoic, or focused, maybe concentrating on the task at hand, Catawba was smiles, hitting jumpers easy in warmups, even dancing on the floor at times. That relaxation let them start the game hot, and being as we're fairly young and inexperienced, probably contributed to out poor start and inability to make the game "look easy" as it should when you are playing AT HOME against a D2 team in your only exhibition. I don't know who all remember this, but the last time I really recall something like this was against Manhattan (Turgeon era, I think), And they came in during warmups and put on a dunking exhibition. We lost that game.

I don't have many expectations, but I hope the guys find a way to enjoy what they are doing, and be a little more confident in their teammates (one of the lowest assist games I can recall). I realize some of this is the responsibility of coaches at this level, to find that balance between caring and chewing (ass) bubblegum. After a while, the bubble gum loses all its flavor.

[Topshock]

UNLV came in here a few years ago and put on an amazing dunking contest in pregame. WSU then proceeded to destroy them in the game.

[wichshock65]

I figured this would be a somewhat frustrating year but was surprised I was the most frustrated with MM. His first half was painful to watch.

JB WAS A MAN AMONG BOYS. Without a doubt he will be a starter this year.

ES played hard but timid on offense. His O will come.

My god, do we need Teddy.

I'm trying to keep in mind that this team beat OSU last week. Guessing tonight was nerves brought on by the 10,000 fans???

Once again 3G shows he is not afraid to rip a referee a new ass in an exhibition game. Man was he pissed!

[pinstripers]

That D II team scored easily on their first possession each half. When is the last time that happened?

[Blackmag]

Sloppy game at best. MM needs to play within himself (he has no ball handling skills) and not try to do more than he’s capable of. Need to find out who our scorers are and develop some sort of inside game. We looked tight but I figured that, we have good length and I think we’ll be decent defensively, but man we need to find some offense.

[shockersx]

I liked Erik’s game tonight. I think he got off to a solid start. He played good defense and moved his feet well (save for one blocking foul), and crashed the boards harder than any of the other guards. What I also liked was that he was one of the few players who wasn’t out there just chucking up wild shots and forcing things - he was very controlled.

Man, Markis is not very good. He made some jumpers late in the game which was good to see, but his skill set is just average. His basketball smarts are really lacking, too. I don’t wanna dog on him too much cause I know he’ll be a key player still, but whew. I hope he’s more consistent going forward.

[calfan]

I didn’t expect a lot out of the freshman. The two things that concern me are no point guard, yet and a lack of an inside offensive game. Haynes-Jones- 1 assist and 1 turnover. Burton- 3 assists 3 turnovers. That won’t cut it. Way too much shooting one on one and not enough passing. We had 3 perimeter players in double figures and no center in double figures. The inside offense needs to get better.

It’s the first game of the season. This is a big game for our opponent and an exhibition for WSU. I don’t think we are going to really know what this team is capable of until next Tuesday. Then the games count for real.

Even the crowd was in exhibition game mode, IMO. I know the crowd will be better next week, too!

[Slykryck]

Part of the problem, I’ll be it after one game, is our scorers and defenders are not the same. Almost like sacrificing one for the other. Our bigs didn’t appear to be great rim protectors so our perimeter defense has to be on point. My take;

Moore can get a bucket, but sometimes looked lost on defense. His one-on-9pne defense wasn’t bad, but awareness just wasn’t there.

Stevenson looked solid on defense and hustled hard, but never seemed to look for a shot ( not certain he can beat guys off the dribble).

Not sure Burton took a shot more tha 5 feet from the basket...going to be tougher to score like that against D1 athletes.

Didnt see enough from Torres or Dennis to form an opinion.

We never established a post game. Only guys who went to the rim with a purpose was Burton and Moore. Only SHJ could consistently hit an outside shot.

[Aargh]

Good news: This season won't be any longer (probably shorter) than any other season.

Bad news: This season is going to SEEM really long.

The 3 returning players are a PG, a PF, and a C. The most obvious weaknesses tonight were at PG, PF, and C.

For those saying how good Chandler looked, did you not notice that at one point his line had 3 fouls and 1 minute played?

Either Marshall has no clue what floor combinations could possibly work, or he didn't care and just kept trying different ones as an experiment.

I've been trying to hold out hope that Midtgaard could emerge as a legitimate D1 post. I'm having second thoughts about that. Neither Miller nor Stutz looked much better at the beginning of their So years, I think Udeze will start ahead of him in a few weeks.

What's this crap about Echenique looking like a stud this summer? So far, he's making Wamukota look like a stud. Orupke couldn't catch or throw a pass, but he could at least absolutely stop opponents at the rim. I have yet to see any detectable basketball skills from Echenique. Perhaps he looked good this summer because he was playing against the rest of WSU's non-existent talent in the post.

8th in the AAC may have been a generous prediction.

[Slykryck]

Not sure if this was posted earlier or not. It appears Stevenson refuses to be outwoeked...

[ShockTalk]

I liked Erik’s game tonight. I think he got off to a solid start. He played good defense and moved his feet well (save for one blocking foul), and crashed the boards harder than any of the other guards. What I also liked was that he was one of the few players who wasn’t out there just chucking up wild shots and forcing things - he was very controlled.

Man, Markis is not very good. He made some jumpers late in the game which was good to see, but his skill set is just average. His basketball smarts are really lacking, too. I don’t wanna dog on him too much cause I know he’ll be a key player still, but whew. I hope he’s more consistent going forward.

Erik also had 2 blocks. By the way, did you forget that you placed the same exact post about 45 minutes prior to this one?