Wichita State vs. Omaha (Nebraska) Game Thread

[Kung Wu]

Its the first game of the season and he's always struggled with smaller/faster players.

Agreed. Humor aside, I am not worried about him at all.

[Stickboy46]

Marshall's comment in the postgame on Burtons ankle was "it does not look good" ....

[Yellow Fever]

Shout out to the students... thought they were solid last night. There appears to be some organization and new chants...

https://twitter.com/goshockers/statu...886359040?s=21

Yes, students were solid and attempting to get organized....on the down side, apparently we have decided not to utilize the pep band much in favor recorded music like sweet caroline....

[WstateU]

Marshall's comment in the postgame on Burtons ankle was "it does not look good" ....

Darn it!

[pinstripers]

1. Erik's shot looks good until right at the end.
2. AM turned the corner last winter, but he was dreadful last night.
3. Wade
4. ETN's shot is as pure as anyone I have ever seen here.
5. Pile is better than AM or Poo, easily. WTF?
6. Dex is a highlight reel, no doubt.
7. Mo works hard. That gets you minutes here.
8. Fernandes will get a cameo Saturday, maybe more.
9. Wade
10. JB is one of my favorites. This sucks.

[WSUwatcher]

Marshall's comment in the postgame on Burtons ankle was "it does not look good" ....

If it's what one poster called the dreaded high ankle sprain, maybe they should find a surgeon who knows the "tightrope" procedure that Alabama has used for such injuries to a number of its football players the past few years. Tua Tagovailoa looks like he'll be back for the monster game against LSU this weekend just three weeks after his high ankle sprain, and one of their bg offensive linemen was able to recover enough to play in just two weeks a few years ago.

Granted, a quarterback's footwork isn't the same as a basketball player's, and it appears to make a difference whether the injury is to one's plant foot, which in the case of a hoopster can be either one on any given play. (On the other hand, Burton seldom has anyone trying to tackle him on the court.). Still, it appears to speed recovery substantially, and because it doesn't involve screws, it provides flexibliity and allows rehab to begin very quickly.

https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2019/11/inside-tua-tagovailoas-quick-recovery-from-ankle-surgery.html

[GreatWhiteBuffalo]

Someone please tell me that AM was sick or something. Wow...that was as bad a performance as I've seen him have. I thought that after that block to start the game, he was going to show improvement from last year...not regression. 3G has to find SOMEONE who can score with their back to the bucket. Udeze played better later in the game, so I have some hope there. Really hope Jaime is improved.

I was VERY happy with Sherfield, Etienne, Dex, and Trey. As far as I'm concerned, they can share the bulk of the minutes going forward. I'm also excited to see what Gordon has to offer as he gets comfortable and a bit stronger.

Stevenson dropped a major stinker. I hope that is by far the outlier of his season.

Burton is still Burton, but in much better physical condition. He tripled down on stupid (two bad shots and a horrid turnover in the lane in about 1:00) before leaving the game and he still dribbles too much.

Game 1 this year vs last year is no comparison. This team could be really good.

[1972Shocker]

Taylor Eldridge: How Trey Wade, an undersized juco transfer, has become the Shockers’ ‘savior’

Marshall has stressed to his inexperienced team that the route to more victories isn’t by making more spectacular plays, rather it’s by making fewer mistakes. No player better personifies what Marshall is looking for right now better than Wade, the 6-foot-6, 219-pound junior-college transfer WSU assistant coach Lou Gudino helped snag to replace Markis McDuffie at power forward.

In short, Wade’s game does not have a shortcoming.

[wufan]

I think a few people are being a little unfair to Grant Sherfield. He didn't play a bad game but he needs to improve. A few players took early 3 shots and we didn't run the offense as well as we will later. Grant will be a fine point guard and as a Freshman, he is just getting his feet wet. Fred needed some time to become the point guard he ended up being but he had the luxury of having a top notch point guard to teach him.

GM graded the effort as a C- which means that we have room to improve. Our defense is ahead of our offense. Our 5s didn't play particularly well but Wade looked really good

Who’s being critical of Sherfield?

[Shockm]

Who’s being critical of Sherfield?

I thought I read somewhere that someone didn’t think he was really a Point guard and the offense wasn’t run well. I just think that he can shoot it, he is also a good distributor, especially as a Freshman.

[bighouse]

I think its possible ES just isn't a very good outside shooter. His high school numbers indicated he was a volume shooter coming in, and nothing ive seen in 1 year plus a summer of work says anything other than that. Im a big fan of his, and he does so much to help the team, but he's not the next Baker everyone wants to believe. That said continued work could sure move him closer to that, and he has the desire and work ethic to get there.

As far as AM is concerned...i will not be happy until he is getting a couple offensive fouls a game for being over aggressive, and another couple fighting for rebound. 0 and 2 is unacceptable

[BOBB]

I think its possible ES just isn't a very good outside shooter. His high school numbers indicated he was a volume shooter coming in, and nothing ive seen in 1 year plus a summer of work says anything other than that. Im a big fan of his, and he does so much to help the team, but he's not the next Baker everyone wants to believe. That said continued work could sure move him closer to that, and he has the desire and work ethic to get there.

As far as AM is concerned...i will not be happy until he is getting a couple offensive fouls a game for being over aggressive, and another couple fighting for rebound. 0 and 2 is unacceptable

Baker was not really a good shooter either.

[Cdizzle]

Baker was not really a good shooter either.

Yup. He was an adequate shooter who did a million other things extremely well.

[1972Shocker]

Yup. He was an adequate shooter who did a million other things extremely well.

And one of those things was partnering with Fred VanVleet in providing tremendous leadership and character.

Erik has a chance to be Baker-like but he is going to have to develop a shot that is much more dependable.

Ron is #2 all-time at WSU in 3-pointers made behind Randy Burns but he is not in the top 9 in 3-point percentage (at least 100 made). Fred VV is 9th at 38.6%. Ron was 36.9% for his career. Not sure where that ranks him.

Erik hit 4 of his 6 treys in his Shocker debut against La Tech which was is his best single game performance. Last year he he shot 27.8% on 158 attempts. After going 0-3 against Omaha he is at 27.3%. Ron was 35.7% his freshman year and 35.0% his senior year which were his 2 worst years. If Erik can get it going and get up to say 34%-35% that would make him a very valuable piece of the puzzle.

Here is the list of Shocker career 3-point % leaders:

Percentage (Min. 100 3FGM)
.448 Dwight Praylow 125-279 1985-89
.437 Landry Shamet 159-364 2015-18
.434 Paul Guffrovich 144-332 1987-91
.422 Rob Kampman 130-308 2001-05
.406 Sean Ogirri 200-493 2004-07
.392 Randy Burns 248-633 2001-05
.390 Conner Frankamp 164-420 2015-18
.399 John Cooper 101-259 1987-91
.386 Fred VanVleet 141-365 2012-16

[Cdizzle]

For the record, I have been and remain on the Stevenson bandwagon. I'm willing to buy all unwanted shares. But, that doesn't mean some of the discussion isn't valid. He has not been a good shooter. He hasn't really even been a passable shooter. He needs to be competent.