Wichita State vs Temple Game Thread

[BostonWu]

Only one Fr truly excites me for the future (another is working his way up that). Scary thought.

Tough grader. I'm ecstatic about both DD & IPBC. I do think some of the freshman were "best available" at the 11th hour and will turn out to be rent-a-players for one season.

[Shock Top]

Well, you just name them.

[Husker4Shockers]

1) Gregg is the best run stopper I've ever seen...for the opponents. His insistence on running players in/out no matter what's happening on the court is maddening. If it ain't broke don't fix it!
2) Gregg needs to pay more attention to how players are performing during the game rather than his game plan or who did what in practice. Leave a hot shooter in the game!
3) Who gives a damn if a player fouls out when we lose by starting the second half with our best players on the bench?

[60Shock]

Why does ES get the number of minutes he does? He can't score and he can't defend. Oh, I forgot, once in a while he Plays Angry,

[shoxtop]

Lack of options at the position?
Hope for growth?
Trial by fire?

[asiseeit]

Now that I have calmed down the most glaring thing to me was such terrible passing by so many.
Soft lazy a** passes. THAT is what cost us the game. Plenty of blame to go around. You just
can't play not to lose basketball and that is what we did the second half.

[LoneStar48]

I swear, some of the passes looked like they were in slow motion. Not only were they poor decisions, but it was like the ball had brakes.

[NCAABound]

Why does ES get the number of minutes he does? He can't score and he can't defend. Oh, I forgot, once in a while he Plays Angry,

Yeah games of 16, 18, 21....and he can't score.

[60Shock]

And just what has he done lately? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he is in a horrible shooting slump and if he needs to work it out.
If he was playing even decent defense, it would be a different matter, but that is not the case.

[captain]

I believe that we are seeing the direct results of a failure to translate a fantastic run on the court to recruiting success. Getting a 4* every couple of years just is not enough talent to compete at the high level that we have been fortunate to witness over the last few years. This issue is exacerbated by the EXTREME drop-off at PG.

[pinstripers]

1. Call a ****ing time out.
2. Erik is completely mind-****ed. Dunno if he can be salvaged.
3. They are way faster and quicker than we are. Way.
4. I suppose we shot 65% in the first half. Makes you forget the screw-ups.
5. Etch may have worsened his injury. That would be bad.
6. Brown and AM, we'll always have Paris.
7. 3 kids that appeared to be recruits were on the concourse at halftime. Wonder what they thought.
8. 7 turnovers by our team "leader"
9. With 90 seconds gone in the second half, and a handful of bad choices, the end was already in sight
10. I guess we'll never know what was supposed to happen at the end of regulation

[proshox]

Rewatched the play, either IBPC sets his screen in the wrong spot or SHJ failed to get the right angle. There was zero “brush” between the two. As stated, before i would rather let SHJ go to work in space vs. bring 2-3 defenders to him.

[60Shock]

Let's hope, if they are any good, they were thinking - I'll be a starter next season on this team.

[Royalno5]

We are a team that recently went to the final four, won 25 games ten years in a row, went undefeated with all kinds of positive national exposure and these are the best recruits we can get. Why is this? I really would like to understand,

[ShockerFever]

Why does ES get the number of minutes he does? He can't score and he can't defend. Oh, I forgot, once in a while he Plays Angry,

Why does MM and SHJ get the number of minutes they do? They turn the ball over at will and take plenty of bad shots (unrecorded turnovers). Oh, I forgot, they do score and we all know basketball is just about scoring.

[shoxlax]

While I truly feel your pain I’m not sure the other options are anywhere near as good.

On the other side of the coin the trashing of Eric Stevenson by some people is wayyy over the top

[ShockTalk]

shoxlax, I value your opinion, but JB has been out playing ES for some time now and can play the 3. ES saw 11 minutes in the 2nd half and OT. JB saw 5. I like ES, his hustle, and knowledge of our plays, but fouls a ton. JB also shows the good qualities of ES, but has outscored him 23-4 over the previous 3 games and for the season ES is now 34-112 FG and JB 24-55.

[60Shock]

So you choose to completely ignore the fact that I listed DEFENSE. as well. While there are certainly many other tangibles to BB like like rebounding and passing,etc., if you are not scoring, then you damn well need to be able to play defense. ES is a decent rebounder and made at least one beautiful pass which ended up in a score. I did not indicate ES should not play, only that perhaps that other Freshmen could benefit from some of the playing time he is taking up, until he gets his shooting back on track and improves his defense.

Then of course there is the distinct possibility, that like MM and SHJ, he too is by far the best choice at his position.

[shoxlax]

Some more of the worst posts in history.

Message boards are like a boat. The rougher the seas, the more projectile vomit comes out of the passengers mouths.

Not yours Fev. You’ve at least stayed consistent

[Ta Town Shocker]

First game of the year for me. Like others have previously stated, I thought the video before player intros was awful. I realize classes haven't started yet but there were very few traditional students in the student section. Half the section sat just like the rest of the crowd. Not impressed.

DD The sky is the limit for this kid. He had a few mental lapses on defense but he's a heck of an athlete. The rebounds towards the end were huge. The block on Rose was impressive to say the least.
ES didn't play great but I think he still has plenty of confidence and it's only a matter of time for him.
RT seems the offense sputters a bit without him but I don't foresee him being anything more than serviceable.
MU didn't seem prepared and not sure he would have seen the floor the first time if IPBC was on the bench. Not sure if IPBC had to use the bathroom or what but he was back shortly.
JB there were flashes but he still seems a little too loose with the ball.
JE loved the emotion after getting the loose ball. He had some nice moments. Tough to watch him out there limping though. Take some time to rest big guy.
IPBC is looking better every game. I want to see him mature a little.

[ShockingButTrue]

1. Call a ****ing time out.
2. Erik is completely mind-****ed. Dunno if he can be salvaged.
3. They are way faster and quicker than we are. Way.
4. I suppose we shot 65% in the first half. Makes you forget the screw-ups.
5. Etch may have worsened his injury. That would be bad.
6. Brown and AM, we'll always have Paris.
7. 3 kids that appeared to be recruits were on the concourse at halftime. Wonder what they thought.
8. 7 turnovers by our team "leader"
9. With 90 seconds gone in the second half, and a handful of bad choices, the end was already in sight
10. I guess we'll never know what was supposed to happen at the end of regulation

No need to add anything to this thread, because everything that needs to be said has been said... sooo, all that can be done is to draw attention to point #2 listed above. It wouldn't be inappropriate to add ------- (whomever) to that list and it would have to be the bare-bones most honest truth of what we've witnessed the last month and a half... Well, really the last 10 months, if one includes last March's debacle, i.e., mass exodus. I myself personally thought R. Torres displayed all the symptoms of said mind-******* about 7 or 8 games ago...

[ShockerFever]

We are a team that recently went to the final four, won 25 games ten years in a row, went undefeated with all kinds of positive national exposure and these are the best recruits we can get. Why is this? I really would like to understand,

We lost 3 players unexpectedly last year.
We have 11 new bodies, mostly freshmen.
Do some of you think we're Duke or Kentucky or something?

[captain]

nm

[ShockerFever]

I could be wrong, but I believe we had the 3rd best recruiting class last year?

[ShockTalk]

I'll add another oddity. JB played 13 minutes in the first half. He or RT were playing PG the whole half I believe. JB also played a little 3. We led by 13 at half.

Second half and overtime, JB played only 5 minutes, none in OT I believe. He is, IMO, the best defender between he, RT, and SHJ. I'm pretty sure SHJ played PG most of the OT. I'm not saying he should have not been in there as the SG, but JB would have given more organization to the offense and good D. Unfortunately, ES and DD in with SHJ just doesn't seem to work.

Add to this that HCGM also subbed in MU in the OT (a player that is 4-12 FT for the season) for IPBC at one point and that blew up.

[shoxlax]

All valid points and stuff assistants should be pointing out as they unfold. Burton earned more time in my opinion and could’ve been able to drive the guy guarding him at the end

[proshox]

He had some "freshman" moments, but was a net plus IMO. Should have played more.

[ShockerFever]

I'll add another oddity. JB played 13 minutes in the first half. He or RT were playing PG the whole half I believe. JB also played a little 3. We led by 13 at half.

Second half and overtime, JB played only 5 minutes, none in OT I believe. He is, IMO, the best defender between he, RT, and SHJ. I'm pretty sure SHJ played PG most of the OT. I'm not saying he should have not been in there as the SG, but JB would have given more organization to the offense and good D. Unfortunately, ES and DD in with SHJ just doesn't seem to work.

Add to this that HCGM also subbed in MU in the OT (a player that is 4-12 FT for the season) for IPBC at one point and that blew up.

Valid points. The subbing patterns were odd. I'm still trying to figure out why IPBC ate bench the whole OT. Did we miss something?

[WstateU]

Poor Bear briefly went back into the tunnel with the trainer; he appeared to have strained something and was stretching it out... unfortunately it was MU or AM at that point or go smaller.

[ShockTalk]

Thanks, WstateU. I didn't see that. I was probably too upset that SHJ was back to playing the PG in the OT.

[proshox]

IPBC asked out during OT....