First day of practice, Marshall talks about the Shocks

[Topshock]

Not sure we want him taking out DD at the rim. He'll be fine.

He will be fine on offense, it's just the defense, which improved some throughout the year but was still bad throughout, that I am worried about.

[Shocktoberfest]

Well that looks just like the AM from last year. Just saying..

My thoughts exactly. Poor AM.

[Stickboy46]

He will be fine on offense, it's just the defense, which improved some throughout the year but was still bad throughout, that I am worried about.

I don't think anyone would have stopped DD on that dunk with a full head of steam. Business Decision

[Cdizzle]

You guys must have missed the last 15 games of last season.

I suggest revisiting. If you want to complain about defense on that possession, I might suggest any of the other 4 yellow shirts that didn't stop ball.

[Topshock]

You guys must have missed the last 15 games of last season.

I suggest revisiting. If you want to complain about defense on that possession, I might suggest any of the other 4 yellow shirts that didn't stop ball.

I most certainly did not miss any games and all you have do to is look AM"s defensive rating for those last 15 and you will see it was still in the bottom 1/4 of the entire NCAA.

I like the kid and don't wan't to have to rail on him but facts are facts and crazy opinions are just that.

[Cdizzle]

I'll stick with my crazy opinion. This play is a perfect example of why defensive metrics are tough. You see AM getting dunked on. I see 3 WSU guards not stopping the ball.

Midtgaard learned to quit going for blocks out of his area over the last 10+ games of last season. As a result the team defense and rebounding improved and his blocked shots actually increased. He was starting to not leave his feet and just be 7' and giant.

Our 5 rotation has a chance to be elite this season. Like, Top 10 5 positions in the country. And we're going to need it. But, that's my crazy opinion.

[wichshock65]

[im4wsu]

I most certainly did not miss any games and all you have do to is look AM"s defensive rating for those last 15 and you will see it was still in the bottom 1/4 of the entire NCAA.

I like the kid and don't wan't to have to rail on him but facts are facts and crazy opinions are just that.

yessir, there he is, right at the bottom 1/4 of the NCAA, yet second best among the Shockers in DRtg = points per 100 possessions
.

Player	G	ORtg	DRtg
Jaime Echenique	18	101.8	93.7
Asbjorn Midtgaard	17	126.7	99.4
Erik Stevenson	18	97.2	99.5
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler	16	117.6	102.1
Dexter Dennis	18	107.8	103
Ricky Torres	18	94.6	103.2
Rod Brown	18	95.8	103.4
Morris Udeze	4	102.6	103.8
Markis McDuffie	18	109.4	104.6
Jamarius Burton	18	101.7	105.1
Samajae Haynes-Jones	18	101	107.5
Eli Farrakhan	6	0	107.8
Brycen Bush	2	0	112.7
Jacob Herrs	3	230.2	112.7

[Aargh]

Well that looks just like the AM from last year. Just saying..

A 7' guy weighing in at 270 isn't likely to have a great vertical, but did you notice he was at the basket defending in transition? I guess haters gotta hate.

Perhaps some posters have been overly critical of DD's ball handling and ability to get to the rim. Looks like he's got some skills in that area.

[Shockm]

During the NIT and I would even say, during the conference portion of the season following our game against UCF and Tacko Fall, there were few easy baskets in the lane when AM was in the game. He defended almost everything.

[ShockAzs]

Taylor, I would like to see a piece written about IPBC's journey to High Major Athletics at WSU. How did his youth challenge him to get here? How did it help him prepare for his arrival here? Etc etc

[Topshock]

yessir, there he is, right at the bottom 1/4 of the NCAA, yet second best among the Shockers in DRtg = points per 100 possessions
. [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0, width: 266"]

I don't know where you are getting your stats Imforwsu or which ones you are cherry picking but the following are from Synergy and are overall stats from the most respected stat collector on the planet.

Arrgh while I frequently agree with you in this case it is not hating when facts back me up.

Shockm, sorry you are just wrong.

Cdizzle, I respect your opinions but the facts just don't back this one up.

Look, he is a good kid and I hope he gets better but it is just crazy to say his defense last year was anything but awful.

Multi-Game Player Views/Regular Season - Defensive - Asbjorn Midtgaard #33 7'0" 270 lbs

Report Contents - Man and Zone Defense		Print	Report Generated: 10/04/2019
Season: 2018-2019	Team: Wichita State Shockers	Date Range: 11/06/2018 to 03/09/2019	Number of Games: 24

Overall Defense	% Time	Poss	Points	PPP	Rank	Rating	FGm	FGM	FGA	FG%	aFG%	%TO	%FT	%SF	%Score
Asbjorn Midtgaard	100%	51	56	1.098	6%	Poor	22	22	44	50%	58%	9.8%	7.8%	7.8%	47.1%

Multi-Game Player Views/NIT Tournament - Defensive - Asbjorn Midtgaard #33 7'0" 270 lbs

Report Contents - Man and Zone Defense		Print	Report Generated: 10/04/2019
Season: 2018-2019	Team: Wichita State Shockers	Date Range: 03/20/2019 to 04/02/2019	Number of Games: 4

Overall Defense	% Time	Poss	Points	PPP	Rank	Rating	FGm	FGM	FGA	FG%	aFG%	%TO	%FT	%SF	%Score
Asbjorn Midtgaard	100%	17	22	1.294	8%	Poor	6	9	15	60%	63.3%	0%	11.8%	11.8%	64.7%

[12eagle]

AM is a good person and a good player on offense but to say he is a good defender is laughable and biased.

[12eagle]

To further address this the drop off in plus minus from JE to AM was the most dramatic of any starter to backup last year. JE was plus 189 vs AM -26. The drop off from mcduffie to brown wasn’t even this significant.

[wichshock65]

Wow, I thought he was doing better than that. I guess that with a "Defense First" system that 3G runs, AM will never see the floor this year.