2019-20 Expectations for Shocker Basketball – “Fall-time Edition”

[ShockBand]

I have to bump this thread.

When Shockernet is rational and not emotional, we're actually damn good as a group.

But as the family car starts driving closer and closer to the trees, the forest becomes a really big, blurry place.

Then added on top you have this going on in the backseat:

[FadedCrown]

I expect Cincy to struggle some in the nonconference as the team gets used to Brannen's system, then improve throughout the conference schedule--much to the dismay of the rest of the conference.

The most accurate take in this whole thread.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

The most accurate take in this whole thread.

The ONE time I'm right about something and it had to be this.

[Kung Wu]

Well done Rocky Mountain Shock !

[pie n eye]

Go shocks

[Kung Wu]

Shocker1976 BOBB I don’t see them in this thread, do you care to share what your pre-season expectations were?

Just curious since you’re both kind of the de facto face of the opinion that we’re not in a rebuild/reload but that Marshall is no longer a good coach (if he ever was at all) and the players aren’t talented enough.

I didn’t post mine either so I’ll say my expectation was generally to see improvement. Specifically I thought a top 4 finish in the American and NCAA bid was reasonable given the youth of the squad.

Bah, let's not spread the cancer over into this thread.

[Kel Varnsen]

Bah, let's not spread the cancer over into this thread.

You know, it actually might work out, because no one can fight a war on two fronts.

[pie n eye]

Bah, let's not spread the cancer over into this thread.

Fair enough. I was legitimately curious but I see your point.

[BOBB]

Shocker1976 BOBB I don’t see them in this thread, do you care to share what your pre-season expectations were?

Just curious since you’re both kind of the de facto face of the opinion that we’re not in a rebuild/reload but that Marshall is no longer a good coach (if he ever was at all) and the players aren’t talented enough.

I didn’t post mine either so I’ll say my expectation was generally to see improvement. Specifically I thought a top 4 finish in the American and NCAA bid was reasonable given the youth of the squad.

If you go back and read my posts, you’ll see that I stated that HCGM is still better than 90% of the options. His trendline is down and not commensurate with the resources allocated. I’ve also been pretty clear that I agree we ARE in a rebuild and that is my number one complaint. The really good programs don’t do rebuilds. Squad and class management are a big part of HCGM’s job. He bet the house on that 17-18 team and crapped out. We’re still trying to repair that damage.

I figured somewhere between 1-4 with an 8ish to 9ish seed. I also figured Memphis would be the team to beat, so wtf do I know? We are smaller and less athletic than I thought. We’re not any younger than Houston or Memphis really, other posters have demonstrated this mathematically, and we had a lot of returning players. I was more right about our relative lack of length after the WVU game than I had convinced myself after playing the two Oklahoma schools.

To borrow some soccer terms, our results have been close to expectations, but our recent form has been poor. I’m not trying to have a flame war on every thread, but, I am tired of my position being misstated. You can disagree with my premise, but don’t put words in my mouth.

[Ashockalypse]

I just no!

[ShockerPrez]

My updated expectations are to roll Memohis. A win that looks good and feels good. Then we finish up with another business like 'did what we needed to do' win over Tulsa, pulling off the 4-0 finish that looked unrealistic a couple weeks ago.

This lets us all rest easy and look ahead to March Madness.

We win a game in Ft Worth, but then drop another to Houston or Cincy. We limp into the tourney as a 10 seed.

In the tourney, our shooting woes rear their ugly head again, and we drop a heartbreaker.

All in all a successful year and one we should feel good about.

Then next year, our expectations will be a little down, but we will be surprisingly good and spend it in the top 25.

[WstateU]

If you go back and read my posts, you’ll see that I stated that HCGM is still better than 90% of the options. His trendline is down and not commensurate with the resources allocated. I’ve also been pretty clear that I agree we ARE in a rebuild and that is my number one complaint. The really good programs don’t do rebuilds. Squad and class management are a big part of HCGM’s job. He bet the house on that 17-18 team and crapped out. We’re still trying to repair that damage.

I figured somewhere between 1-4 with an 8ish to 9ish seed. I also figured Memphis would be the team to beat, so wtf do I know? We are smaller and less athletic than I thought. We’re not any younger than Houston or Memphis really, other posters have demonstrated this mathematically, and we had a lot of returning players. I was more right about our relative lack of length after the WVU game than I had convinced myself after playing the two Oklahoma schools.

To borrow some soccer terms, our results have been close to expectations, but our recent form has been poor. I’m not trying to have a flame war on every thread, but, I am tired of my position being misstated. You can disagree with my premise, but don’t put words in my mouth.

Hate to be late to the party, but HCGM has said numerous times "we're not going to play in the slop" and recruit 'low character' individuals. And we also know that there are a lot of players that can't/won't play for coach Marshall. So that tells me our recruiting targets are less than a lot of our peer programs in the AAC.

I'm sure we could find a top level coach or a 'rising star' that would recruit marginal character players. I might be in the minority, but I want to see all WSU programs continue to recruit 'high character' individuals (coaches and players); young people we can all be proud of.

Sure, I want to win a National Championship, but not at the expense of lowering our standards and having the NCAA sniffing around again. It takes time to adjust to a new conference and I'm continuing to purchase stock in our program... I truly believe our best days are ahead of us. Oh, we can't reload like the true "blue bloods", so we'll likely face a 'minor rebuild' following the upcoming National Championship... stay tuned, I can feel it in my old bones.



Typical P7 recruiting...

[The Mad Hatter]

The really good programs don’t do rebuilds.

Given that Duke, Kansas, and Gonzaga are the only other schools besides Wichita State to have 22 wins every year since 2010, I have a hard time buying that we have done poorly if the metric is having rebuilds. No one else has reached that benchmark because every other program has had at least one season with a worse record than our worse record over that same time.

[BOBB]

Hate to be late to the party, but HCGM has said numerous times "we're not going to play in the slop" and recruit 'low character' individuals. And we also know that there are a lot of players that can't/won't play for coach Marshall. So that tells me our recruiting targets are less than a lot of our peer programs in the AAC.

I'm sure we could find a top level coach or a 'rising star' that would recruit marginal character players. I might be in the minority, but I want to see all WSU programs continue to recruit 'high character' individuals (coaches and players); young people we can all be proud of.

Sure, I want to win a National Championship, but not at the expense of lowering our standards and having the NCAA sniffing around again. It takes time to adjust to a new conference and I'm continuing to purchase stock in our program... I truly believe our best days are ahead of us. Oh, we can't reload like the true "blue bloods", so we'll likely face a 'minor rebuild' following the upcoming National Championship... stay tuned, I can feel it in my old bones.



Typical P7 recruiting...

Stand up citizens like Teddy Buckets

[WstateU]

Stand up citizens like Teddy Buckets

Good point, but I don’t believe we actually recruited him... he and his ‘handlers’ came to coach Marshall and begged him to give TA (B) a chance... unfortunately, he crapped in the nest and coach Marshall likely won’t go that route again. It was a gamble that didn’t pay off.