#50 Wichita State Shockers

[another shocker]

I watched McDermott in some Valley games last year (other than vs WSU), and I was impressed. He is long, and VERY smooth with the ball.. good on the boards and scoring. He looked every bit the real deal to me. No surprise he did so well with the USA under-19 team. Echenique also impressed me last year (in games other than vs WSU).

But WSU tore them up on the team rebounding! Now, Blair, Durley and Ellis (and Hatch) are gone..- Stutz (especially), Hall, Anacreon and Smith got some big shoes to fill, on the boards! That's what WSU has to overcome.. the potential loss of their REBOUNDING prowess (it's not like those big men lost were shot-blockers, because they weren't).

[wufan]

Well, Creighton (with Doug McDermott, Gregory Echenique, Antoine Young, etc.) did sweep WSU last year, so ... wait ... News Flash = "WSU swept CU" ... but this isn't important. Anybody who can take Iowa State to the NCAA tourney must be great ... No NCAA tourney? :whistle:

Here's why CU is often picked 1st in the pre-season rags:

Last year they were not deep and they relied heavily on three players; Young, Gregg E and McD Jr. Those three got huge minutes, and as a result, huge stats. Compare that to WSU with our 10 deep rotation and returnging senior PG only playing 21 mpg. Also, our big body has graduated (as did most of our forwards). Stutz will create equally difficult match-ups, but he didn't have the minutes to garner the attention of a Gregg E.

McD was a STUD freshman that played on the US National team. He did more as a freshman than so many highly regarded forwards accomplish in a four or five year career in the Valley. It's hard not to buy into him. He should only get better.

Daddy McD was a new coach last year, and he should improve this year.
CU appears ready to fill in some of it's weaknesses (after the big three) with a deep bench full of complimentary underclassmen, freshman, and transfers.

Over the past 20 years, CU has traditionally been better than WSU.

[Dan]

We beat CU last year with tenacious defense. We collapsed on their big guys every time they touched the ball and CU couldn't hit the outside shots. Our guards were all over Echenique swatting at the ball every time he got it. He eneded up in foul trouble, IIR and it totally took them out of their game. I think we can still give them the same problems, whether they have improved outside scoring is another issue.

[WstateU]

Well, Creighton (with Doug McDermott, Gregory Echenique, Antoine Young, etc.) did sweep WSU last year, so ... wait ... News Flash = "WSU swept CU" ... but this isn't important. Anybody who can take Iowa State to the NCAA tourney must be great ... No NCAA tourney? :whistle:

Here's why CU is often picked 1st in the pre-season rags:

Last year they were not deep and they relied heavily on three players; Young, Gregg E and McD Jr. Those three got huge minutes, and as a result, huge stats. Compare that to WSU with our 10 deep rotation and returnging senior PG only playing 21 mpg. Also, our big body has graduated (as did most of our forwards). Stutz will create equally difficult match-ups, but he didn't have the minutes to garner the attention of a Gregg E.

McD was a STUD freshman that played on the US National team. He did more as a freshman than so many highly regarded forwards accomplish in a four or five year career in the Valley. It's hard not to buy into him. He should only get better.

Daddy McD was a new coach last year, and he should improve this year.
CU appears ready to fill in some of it's weaknesses (after the big three) with a deep bench full of complimentary underclassmen, freshman, and transfers.

Over the past 20 years, CU has traditionally been better than WSU.

[Ixiah]

Interesting stat on Creighton last year:

3-11 in road games.

- Wins were against ISU Red, SIU, and Evansville
- The SIU win required OT
- Not a single win in non conference play
- After Jan 9th there are no road wins
- Only neutral win was against UNI without O'Rear in 1st round of MVC by 3 points.

[jocoshock]

Whether the rank is too low or not, the assessment overall is pretty accurate in my opinion.

:goshocks:

[another shocker]

Interesting stat on Creighton last year:

3-11 in road games.

- Wins were against ISU Red, SIU, and Evansville
- The SIU win required OT
- Not a single win in non conference play
- After Jan 9th there are no road wins
- Only neutral win was against UNI without O'Rear in 1st round of MVC by 3 points.

We were fortunate to beat them here, though. Of course, firstly, WSU ran an extended layup drill (off the backboards.. rebounding) against the BJ's up in Omaha.