Wichita State vs UConn Game Thread

[ShockRef]

Epic game! Fun to watch!

Epic, not sure about that.
Entertaining, I guess especially when taking in consideration the ending.

Fun to watch?
Yes, the run to get back in the games was nice.

The first half?
Uh, nope.
The first half was about as much fun to watch as seeing the car in front of you hit some old road kill and pitch the parts on your windshield.

It was terrible basketball and 20 minutes of putrid offensive sets that set the game back 50 years.

The crowd deserves some props and contributed to the second half run. The team was obviously feeding off the energy.

DD may have only hit one trey, but it was huge and during crunch time. Dude can play and is the next big thing. His defense has improved big time and caught up with his athletic ability.

Happy for SHJ, but Shocks caught a HUGE break on the no foul call on the Gilbert trey.
I still don't know why Teddy didn't hit it. We always protect airborne shooters and SHJ definitely made contact while AG was in the air.

That is all.

[WstateU]

You beat me to it; we still win the game.

[ShockerDropOut]

I thought SHJ got hip checked by the screener, but would have to check the replay. Can’t call the foul on SHJ without calling the moving screen imo.

[1972Shocker]

In real time it did look like Samajae probably clipped Gilbert. However, when I got home I watched the replay on WatchEspn. John Thompson was also convinced it was an obvious foul. However, video replay showed it probably was not a foul and the officials got it right. Thompson, after seeing the replays, event retracted saying "I stand corrected. the official got that right" or something along those lines.

Otherwise, good post.

[wusphlash]

I do wish we'd show a little more energy during introductions. This bit of sauntering over to the refs, sauntering to the opposing teams coach, sauntering back to our huddle just strikes me wrong. Seems like trying to be cool rather than being excited for the start of the game. Hope next years team shows a little bit more enthusiasm.

[WstateU]

Poor pre-game production is part of the problem... it's pretty lame and seems to suck the energy right out of the building.

https://media.giphy.com/media/E2USislQIlsfm/giphy.gif

[ShockerFever]

Bingo.

[molly jabali]

I guess I would ask ShocerRef if those kind of non calls even out, or is the timing the real criticalness?

I'm surprised Ted didn't call it because I GET THE IMPRESSION that unlike vast majority of refs, he likes BEING THE SHOW. Maybe I'm wrong...

[WuDrWu]

You get the impression? lol He's not called TVTeddy for nothing. Again, I thought he managed the game beautifully. I didn't have a great angle at the tying 3, I thought it was a foul live, but Gilbert was clearly trying to get a foul call and seemed to contort his body AND way overreacted earlier on the cramp that very well may have cost us a bucket and momentum. Just a guess, but I bet Teddy remembered that (he was the one that stopped the game and explained why to Gregg). So from a game management standpoint, and a homer, I had no problem with Teddy passing on the foul. Just a guess here, but if that had rattled out, I imagine we'd have seen a late whistle and 3 FTs with TVT running over to Gregg and explaining in detail the reason for it, with both ref and coach covering their mouths with their free hand.

[asiseeit]

I was disappointed in the number of empty seats, prime ones at mid court, and behind OUR bench.
There was a block of about twenty 7-9 rows up and many others. Quick look at next years 20+ win yr

Centers JE, AM, IC
PF's TA, DG, IC, (RB ? )
SF's DD, ES, DG
SG ES, TE, TB
PG JB, TE, TB, NF
??? wouldn't waste a scholarship but if a can't miss PF or SG presents itself top two in conf

[pie n eye]

WTF I TB?

[AndShock]

Tom Brady. Or Tate Busse. Both will contribute the same amount next year.

[asiseeit]

On at least two recent occasions GM has mentioned that Tate is very athletic and
a VERY good shooter and that he will be in the mix next year. He will have had a
year to practice and learn. Why would anyone rule him out ?

[12eagle]

I do wish we'd show a little more energy during introductions. This bit of sauntering over to the refs, sauntering to the opposing teams coach, sauntering back to our huddle just strikes me wrong. Seems like trying to be cool rather than being excited for the start of the game. Hope next years team shows a little bit more enthusiasm.

Nothing sucks the energy out of the building like our pregame video but whatever you do don't tell Boatright about it on twitter.

[RoyalShock]

[AZ Shocker]

Epic, not sure about that.

For "this" year I should have added. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but really liked seeing AM dominate for a bit. The raw emotion he showed after the dunk! Burton once again hitting a few jumpers. He might be my favorite of all the newbies and I see him being really good as he progresses over the years. Mc D coming on late to hit a big 3 and of course SHJ with the most difficult attempted fadeaway for the win!

Coach gets his 300th on the Duece as the crowd went WILD!!!

GO SHOCKS!!!

[pinstripers]

It was an amazing shot at the buzzer and we are all fortunate that he doesn't have to make 2 out of 3.

[WstateU]

That was a 1 in a 100 shot, but TA knew it was money when he crossed half-court. They see it in practice every day. SHJ might have a shot with the Globetrotters; they specialize in the ‘circus’ shot.

[BOBB]

Or "prove it" like in H.O.R.S.E.

[Jhook89]

Great to get the W, but overall a very uninspiring performance. This may be my least favorite McDuffie performance this year. He came up big down the stretch, but I found his play incredibly selfish during the game. Did he ever pass the ball? Seemed any time he touched it he was going to put up a guarded fade away shot, no matter how much time was on the clock. I usually don’t fault the guy for taking these shots, because many of the times they are the result of no one else on the court being able to create a good shot. Yesterday felt like he wasn’t even trying to get others involved..

Say what you want about SHJ, but the kid can make an open shot. If he could figure out how to not take terrible shots half the time and developed a pg mindset he could have a long overseas career. How the hell does one go from getting so anxious before games that he can’t play to demanding the ball for the game winning shot?? Crazy.

Seems 3G has shortened his rotation. RT and JB can’t be on the court at the same time, so that makes sense RT didn’t play much. I wonder why ES played so few minutes?

[ShockTalk]

No, I not bucking for extra post numbers, but since you made the comment about "RT and JB can't be on the court at the same time" I'll copy my post from the Plus/Minus thread in case you don't read it:

Only reason I'm posting this is because I always try to watch for the times that JB and RT are on the court at the same time. It seemed to me that the flow of the game improves when both are in and they are not in together very often.

In the top box, RT is listed as playing 4.82 minutes with a +/- of 0 (9-9 scoring while in).

In the middle box, the time total of combinations 1 minute or longer is 38.77, all but 1.23 minutes of the game. That middle box also has a total score of 59-61 in favor of UConn.

In the middle box it is also showing RT is shown playing 4.18 minutes and a +/- of -4 (5-9 scoring).

However, this is my fun part of the second half:

12:32 33-40 JB/RT sub in for DD/ES

12:27 35-40 JR hits jumper in the paint assisted by RT

11:54 37-40 MM hits 2 FTs and JE sub in, AM out

11:32 steal by MM

11:24 39-40 on fast break jumper by SHJ

10:52 missed 3pt by Vital, rebound by Cobb

10:50 foul on JE

10:50 sub out RT, sub in DD

10:32 39-42 dunk by Carlton

In the missing time combinations is 38 seconds where WSU scored 4-0 and included in the time combinations is the 64 seconds WSU was 2-0.

During the time RT and JB were in the lineup together, the score was +6 going from 33-40 to 39-40 and the WSU offense seemed to click better the rest of the half. We scored 30 points over the last 12.5 minutes of the game. 46% of our total points in 31% of the game time.

[wufan]

DD and JB are taking minutes away from ES.

[proshox]

He had at least one assist to SHJ and kicked it to open shooters multiple times.

[Dan]

I wonder why ES played so few minutes?

Because UConn is more athletic than us. We needed Dennis out there

[ShockerFever]

Great to get the W, but overall a very uninspiring performance. This may be my least favorite McDuffie performance this year. He came up big down the stretch, but I found his play incredibly selfish during the game. Did he ever pass the ball? Seemed any time he touched it he was going to put up a guarded fade away shot, no matter how much time was on the clock. I usually don’t fault the guy for taking these shots, because many of the times they are the result of no one else on the court being able to create a good shot. Yesterday felt like he wasn’t even trying to get others involved..

Say what you want about SHJ, but the kid can make an open shot. If he could figure out how to not take terrible shots half the time and developed a pg mindset he could have a long overseas career. How the hell does one go from getting so anxious before games that he can’t play to demanding the ball for the game winning shot?? Crazy.

Seems 3G has shortened his rotation. RT and JB can’t be on the court at the same time, so that makes sense RT didn’t play much. I wonder why ES played so few minutes?

Solid post.

[LoneStar48]

I was glad to see SHJ take those charges. Definitely helped with the win. After he bull fighted Cumberland in the Cincy game, I didn't think he would take any charges the rest of the year. He drives me crazy; a really good kid who does fantastic things, but like your pup, sometimes he chews up a pair of shoes.

[pinstripers]

Yeah, he did sidestepped one in the Memphis game also. Really stood in last night, though.

[Aargh]

At one point last night I commented to a friend that the Shox taking a 3 was like picking up the ball, walking over to a Connecticut player, handing it to him and saying, "Here, you can have this".

There was an earlier comment that we're lucky SHJ doesn't have to hit that last-second shot 2 out of 3 times. I think we're lucky he doesn't have to hit it 2 times out of 20. If I'm a Connecticut player, I would give that shot to anybody any time - maybe not LeBron James, but LeBron would have had a better shot.

That was not a good shot, it was a lucky shot, but "lucky" always beats "good". This was certainly not the game to criticize SHJ's play. His shot was falling and he was taking decent shots. I'll try to be politically correct and merely say that McDuffie did not have one of his better games.

If Burton can score the way he did last night, then Torres and Burton can be on the court at the same time, but I think last night was an anomaly.

[wufan]

SHJ (and MM) take shots like that all the time. That’s why they shoot 35%. He would hit the shot 7 times out of 20.

[pinstripers]

I would cover any amount that you want to bet that he could not do that

[pie n eye]

Who is JR?? If I could change one thing about Shockernet I would love for people to use last names, full or shortened. It is such a pain in the ass to read posts that use initials and I know all the players names. Does it really save that much time?

[WSUwatcher]

Come on, pie -- He's the guy that Larry Hagman played on Dallas for many years. Or maybe that very tall flamethrower for the Astros whose pitching career was suddenly cut short by a stroke.

[TheShocktocles]

We all have to tell it like it is. Other than MM making some big shots he played terrible. I hope all the guys come focused to play SMU on Sunday. I have a feeling SMU is going to be psyched to beat the shocks. Shocks need to bring their A game.