Wichita State vs. West Virginia Game Thread

[Woodrow]

WVA made over 41% from 3. We shot 24%. If we shoot 41% we win the game. Every team has a game like that occasionally. We'll be fine.

[Aargh]

Here's some stats I wasn't expecting.

We had 62 FG attempts. WV had 61.

WV had 30 FT attempts. We had 28.

[ShockRef]

We're bad. Our bigs are soft. Our PF, who people on this board said was better than McDuffie, can only score against low D1 opponents. We have basically no playmaking. We cant hit open shots. This next month is going to be rough.

Our bigs may be a bit soft, but ripping on TW is bullshit. That dude isn't anything close to soft. He got knocked around tonight by two 260 lb dudes and kept fighting until the end.
The problem is three supposed bigs played like absolute horseshoe and got embarrassed in the paint. The sayingI "Its a mans world in the paint" didn't apply to them tonight. JE tried, but you can tell he still is getting into game shape.
WSU has recruited 3 euro dudes in the last 10 years to play in the paint...EO, TW and AM. The recruiting euro bigs experiment isn't working.
My suggestion - stick to recruiting bigs who start playing basketball here in their youth and not guys when they have a growth spurt and stop playing soccer overseas at 17.
HCGM has work to do with his bigs if he plans to compete for the top of the AAC. Let's see what gets done in the next 3 weeks.

That is all.

[Kung Wu]

That team had two NBA players.

That's illegal.

[ShockAzs]

We got punched in the mouth today. Now our young freshmen *KNOW* what it's like to play at the highest level they have ever played at.

And to have the CHANCE to win this game, despite it all. Each and every one of them will watch tape tonight and see how *they* could have done this just a bit better, boxed out just a bit harder.

And you know what they're going to feel once they know they let a Championship slip from their grasps?

ANGRY! PLAY ANGRY!!

[ShockerPrez]

We took frosh and sophs into the meat grinder the last 2 days. Some showed well, others not so much. But this will make them better. Sucks to lose, but we weren't going to win shooting this bad. We have got to learn to finish at the rim. We got the quickness to get around over-aggressive defenses, but it doesn't do squat unless you finish.

[TheShocktocles]

Anyone else concerned with not only shot making but shot selection?

I am. I did not think we would win this tournament but I expected a better performance than this. WV is going to foul. So you have to make free throws. Our free throw shooting sucks. WTF DD gives us nothing on offense right now. Tired of watching him miss wide open 3. Its time for DD to sit down on the bench more.That kid with the floppy hair from West Virginia could shoot. If AM miss another layup somebody should hit him the mouth. I am tired of watching him miss point blank layups. Our front line was suppose to be a strength this year. We have seen Oral Roberts and WV dominate our bigs like a man dominates a boy. Those guys better tough up. Otherwise we may not have the kind of season we all were hoping for. It's not the loss that's concerns me , it's the way we lost.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

We needed our front court to show up tonight. They struggled instead.
We finally looked like a team of freshmen and sophomores. I expect this to be the exception this season.
West Virginia is better than many people expected.
I've been waiting patiently for DD to play to his potential. I'm getting impatient now. We need him.

[asiseeit]

They were tougher than us. If you want to point fingers this game it would have to be JB, Wade, and DD. Haven't seen the
game stats but those guys have to play much much better. DD stands around on the perimeter and seldom attacks the
rim. JB just dribbles and dribbles and then throws up something off balance. Wade was over matched and may be against
decent D1 teams. More Gordon please. No one else has mentioned this but our ball movement was terrible. The only thing worse
was rebounding. I think I was the only guy who predicted we would lose but didn't expect us to look as bad as we did. We have
to figure something out at PF and passing rather than so much dribbling. Really need to rebound against OSU in more ways than one.
In predicting this loss I also mentioned it would be a good learning experience. Hope it turns out that way and sooner rather than later.

[mattdalt]

My suggestion - stick to recruiting bigs who start playing basketball here in their youth and not guys when they have a growth spurt and stop playing soccer overseas at 17.
HCGM has work to do with his bigs if he plans to compete for the top of the AAC. Let's see what gets done in the next 3 weeks.

That is all.

You mean like Jamie and the kid from West Virginia?

Period

[forevershockerfan]

After an ugly 1st half, the Shocks were only down by 3. The last play of that half was one of several missed box outs by our beloved Shocks which was part of our rebounding woes. Neither team reminded me of the game they played last night. W.V. played bully ball, twin peaks ball, smash mouth D ball, with true grit eating glass ball. The Shocks played hard but could not execute in consecutive runs or shoot the rock. ES played and recovered well, even after he got smashed with the mysterious no whistle play. The Shocks will be fine, and it's games like this that groom us to prepare for a bright strong finish towards the end as done last Season. Coach Marshall will keep teaching and by AAC play, we will be ready to vie for a top 2-4 slot at the finish line we hope. Some really good teams already have a loss this Season. Sleep well because the Shocks will learn, improve, and win their fair share.

[Aargh]

With a young team, you have to expect the team to be up and down. Tonight was a down. It happens.

Young guys haven't played two nights in a row very often either. Catching a big, physical team that probably had a come to God meeting with the coaching staff after their performance last night didn't help.

[N Crestway]

Back to the pre season scenario...going to have to overcome youth to get to where we want to be, and that will probably be later this season.

[Maizerunner08]

Will be interesting to see how WVU does in league play. Will the UNI team show up or tonight’s team?

[ShockRef]

You mean like Jamie and the kid from West Virginia?

Period

Are you saying the three previous mentioned were stone cold winners?
Really?
JE is a decent 2 year player for the program, but is a 25% success rate one to base your recruiting strategy on?
Really?
They hired a specific guy who JOB was to reel in the overseas/international stud to assist with competing with other teams bigs.

If my company only had a success rate of 25%, we would be out of business in a month.
if you were only successful 25% of the time at your job, how long would you have it?

That is all.