Wichita State vs Furman Paladins Pregame

[MelvinLoudermilk]

Feels good!!! Go Shox!!!

[Bearcats#1]

Heck of a job this year all things considered. Glad WSU is in the AAC. Best wishes in the NIT.

[shockerfan]

Heck of a job this year all things considered. Glad WSU is in the AAC. Best wishes in the NIT.

Thanks! Good job today and good luck to you all as well! I actually like you guys to advance to the 2nd weekend. Tell the team not to let me down lol ;)

[shockerfan]

https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article228067614.html

[shox1989]

KWCH says the game is at 6 pm on ESPNU. https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Wi...507279711.html

[ShockBand]

Looks like we will have several experimental rule changes in the mix as well.

The NIT has experimented with rule changes and will have three rule changes that will carry over to the 2019 tournament:

• The three-point line will be extended by 20 inches to match the same distance used by FIBA at 22 feet, 1.75 inches.
• The free-throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, consistent with the width used by the NBA.
• The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of the full 30 seconds.

Here are the three new rule changes that will be implemented in this tournament:

• Team fouls will reset at the 10-minute mark of each half for the purpose of determining free throws.
• One-and-one free throws will be eliminated. Teams will shoot two bonus free throws after the fifth team foul of each 10-minute segment.
• Teams will be awarded two free throws for every foul committed under two minutes remaining in each half.

[shockerfan]

KWCH says the game is at 6 pm on ESPNU. https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Wi...507279711.html

I trust goshockers.com over KWCH

Its Wednesday on ESPN3

[Blackmag]

OU being in is a real head scratcher. They eat my and I suppose that’s all it took. And ku being in the mid-west is just typical. They got a pretty easy bracket if you ask me

[shockerfanmas]

You're kidding me right? KU is looking at Auburn or New Mexico State in the 2nd Round. If they win that, most likely North Carolina. Then if they get lucky enough to win that, they probably play Kentucky. Aside from maybe getting to play in KC, there is nothing easy about their bracket. They'll be lucky to make it to the 2nd weekend, let alone win there. Unless some upsets happen which I don't expect.

I'll agree with you on Oklahoma though. I don't give a flying piss how tough a conference is, if you can't finish at least. 500, you don't deserve to play for a national championship. That rule needs to change, it's a crock of crap. I hope they get hammered by 30 in the 1st round.

[ETSUShocker]

Hello from Johnson City, TN! Congrats on your NIT bid and great run at the end of the season. We were very disappointed to not get in the NIT, because we had a 71 NET ranking. The BUCS had the highest NET ranking, besides Liberty, that did not get an at-large bid. The BUCS will be playing at home in the CIT. I would guess Coach Forbes will be on the line with Coach Marshall to give him a scouting report on the Paladins. The BUCS split with Furman this year. We beat them handily at home and they beat us handily at Furman. The BUCS were coming an emotional OT loss to Wofford and did not play well. Furman is a very good team. They have an outstanding post player, Matt Rafferty, that can score with his back to the basket and facing up. He is an outstanding passer as well. The Paladins shoot the 3 very well and play solid defense, They were nationally ranked during December, after road wins at Villanova and Loyola. Like your team, the BUCS had 10 new players this year, and return their entire team next year. Coach Forbes has won 100 games in 4 years, the only HC to do that in ETSU history. We are hoping we can hold on to him. His name is constantly being mentioned with job openings. Unfortunately, the BUCS play in the CIT the same night you play Furman. I would have loved to drive down and see your team play. We are only a couple hours north of Greenville, SC. Wish you the best vs. the Paladins and thanks for sending Coach Forbes our way. He is doing a phenomenal job....The SoCon was very good this year with Wofford, UNCG, ETSU, and Furman. Each team won over 24 games and the SoCon was rated the highest it's ever been.....Good Luck

[Jhook89]

The whole Southern Conference got screwed. No reason ETSU shouldn't be in the NIT. Furman and UNCG both should be in the NCAA. On the bright side, I think there is a real good opportunity for the Southern Conference to separate itself as a top tier midmajor conference. With the MVC, A-10, and C-USA being poached these last 5 years there is an opportunity for a smaller conference to step up and make itself a go to conference right after the big 7.

[SB Shock]

Furman according to Kenpom has 74% of beating WSU (71-64).

Furman strengths are:
Shooting Defense - holding their opponents to 47.7% EFG% (42nd in the nation) -- WSU offense is 325th with 46.7% EFG%
Steals - ranked 8th in the nation (WSU is ranked 12th in the nation in not allowing defenses to steal the ball so it might be a push).
Offense - 55.7% EFG% (56.9% from 2, 36.2% from 3).

WSU strengths are:
WSU is 44th in the nation in Off rebound %, Furman is ranked 296th on defense in defending against off rbd.
Furman has 11.6% of its shots block (322nd) - WSU is an average shot blocking team (153rd, but this could be exploited by WSU).
WSU has a strong ability to get to the line.
WSU has a deeper bench

Both teams have similar experience levels.

[Shock Top]

That tells me the numbers think Furman would have finished better in the American than WSU did, which I think there is little chance that would happen.

I am a big fan of numbers and metrics, but sometimes they can lie. WSU now isn’t the same team that lost to La Tech and Davidson.

I like WSU’s chances as a lot stronger than 25%.

[ShockerFever]

WSU has a strong ability to get to the line? Really?

[rjl]

The buffet line.

[California Shocker]

How good is their conference? Hoping their numbers were against lower tier competitions. Like MVP vs ACC scenario.

[The Mad Hatter]

The Southern Conference had 4 teams in Kenpom's top 100 this year, including #19 Wofford, so it was a pretty good conference this year. Not as strong as the American, but no pushover (especially as the top).

[N Crestway]

Furman sounds like a finely tuned machine with a veteran nucleus...will also be playing at home in a small, probably packed, arena. To me, a very tough scenario for a win over this type of team. Will be an interesting matchup, however. Think WSU can rise to the challenge with our youngsters now having a full season under their belts. Can't wait for Wednesday...

[California Shocker]

Definitely dangerous in such environment. But atleast we know we can beat them. If the right team show up for us. It'll be fun.

[molly jabali]

Hello from Johnson City, TN! Congrats on your NIT bid and great run at the end of the season. We were very disappointed to not get in the NIT, because we had a 71 NET ranking. The BUCS had the highest NET ranking, besides Liberty, that did not get an at-large bid. The BUCS will be playing at home in the CIT. I would guess Coach Forbes will be on the line with Coach Marshall to give him a scouting report on the Paladins. The BUCS split with Furman this year. We beat them handily at home and they beat us handily at Furman. The BUCS were coming an emotional OT loss to Wofford and did not play well. Furman is a very good team. They have an outstanding post player, Matt Rafferty, that can score with his back to the basket and facing up. He is an outstanding passer as well. The Paladins shoot the 3 very well and play solid defense, They were nationally ranked during December, after road wins at Villanova and Loyola. Like your team, the BUCS had 10 new players this year, and return their entire team next year. Coach Forbes has won 100 games in 4 years, the only HC to do that in ETSU history. We are hoping we can hold on to him. His name is constantly being mentioned with job openings. Unfortunately, the BUCS play in the CIT the same night you play Furman. I would have loved to drive down and see your team play. We are only a couple hours north of Greenville, SC. Wish you the best vs. the Paladins and thanks for sending Coach Forbes our way. He is doing a phenomenal job....The SoCon was very good this year with Wofford, UNCG, ETSU, and Furman. Each team won over 24 games and the SoCon was rated the highest it's ever been.....Good Luck

Thanks for this breakdown, and good luck yourself!!!

[Ixiah]

Was reviewing the Furman team and stats …

- All but one of their big menare in the 6'8" and 6'7" range and around 200 lbs. The exception is a player at 6'8" and 240 lbs. and he does not play much.

- The have a couple of 6'5" guards and the rest are around 6'

- Normally go 7 deep (3 forwards and 4 guards). The 8th guy in minutes is at 294 and the 9th is at 103.

- ESPN has a typo on a guard named Andrew Brown - says 5'2" and 212 lbs.!! He is actually 6'5".

- They shoot a LOT of 3's (13th in the NCAA). A bit over 47% of their shots are from 3. As a comparison - WSU had 39%.

- Rebounding Margin : WSU is 98th in the NCAA and Furman is 130th. I would think WSU would have a bit larger an advantage here as they have faced some of the best programs in the country at this statistic.

- Furman is 24th in the NCAA in assists. WSU is 142nd.

- One of the experimental rules that will be used is moving back the 3 point line. I would think this would bother Furman more than WSU as more of their offense comes from behind the arc.

- WSU goes to the FT line a lot more. Taking about 100 more FT attempts (592 to 496). Furman has one of the lowest foul totals in the NCAA at 16th and also people rarely foul them (316th). By comparison WSU 288th and 246th in those statistics.

- Both teams are good defensively in opponent shooting % with Furman at 53rd and WSU at 72nd.

- Furman is 4th in the NCAA at non-blocked 2 pt. % Wichita is 277th.

- WSU is 27th in shots taken. Furman is 113th.

Ix