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Let's go back to the beginning when 3G arrived and the cupboard was bare. Recruits bailed out, there was a tragic death of a signed recruit, and EO took forever to get here it seemed. The Valley seemed to attempt to junk him some at first. Soon, our Shockers owned the Valley. I was excited about Coach Marshall, but who knew he would become National Coach of the Year? He surrounded himself with Coaches that were big helps in his own success. The very Coach that assisted him maybe the most was Coach Jan's. Coach Marshall gave him a second chance and now he is off to the races with his own successful gig. Speaking of successful, who would have dreamed our beloved Shocks would create their own madness by reaching the Final 4 on the very Season we were picked 4th in the Valley? How was this possible? Finding players such as Cle, Hall, Cotton, Armstead, Baker, and FVV. Not all of them made the NBA, but they all tried out.
So in this world of "me first or what have you done for me lately," there have been some huge setbacks. LS and Austin leaving as Sophomores to the NBA and Oklahoma on the very year we had a solid group of Seniors graduating. Last Season exceeded my expectations with the youngest team ever assembled here. This Season showed improvement as we were even in the top 20 teams in the Nation. Then it hit. The Shocks went from punching their own ticket to a huge bubble in the punch. Players begin to squabble about playing time. There were 2 games back to back that the odds swayed very high to either win outright, or go straight to overtime. These 2 wins would have put us close to Tulsa in standings, but instead we lose them both games in regulation play with self-inflicted errors that happen. The sweeping we suffered to Houston and Cinn. left a mark, but then we manhandled Tulsa who could have won the AAC outright by winning that game.
Sometimes teams can be so close but so far away. Talk about March Madness, we didn't even get to read or live the last chapter this Season to see how this mystery would end. As always, here on SN we were dreaming about another leap forward with only JE. graduating. Just get us 2 or 3 solid players, especially big's, and we are not a Pretender top 25 team, but prolly a Contender to get back Dancing. Then the rumors became reality. Young players bailing out that make the exit doors into revolving doors. Why?
Cool Hand Luke once said, "What we got here, is a failure to communicate?" Was that it? Maybe in part. What about the idea that Coach Marshall has lost his fizz and needs to go? Even Tom Landry who was once so successful as the Dallas Cowboy Coach, but got fired when his teams fizzled? For sure that is not it. Wichita State is among the very elite top 20 plus winning Seasons now under Marshall's flicking watch. Is it that these men leaving are not quality young men? Nope!
I'm not a shrink, and not close enough to the Program to understand the rudiments of all of this. Coach Marshall will have to figure much of this for himself. This can't be only the players fault. The loss of Austin and Burton make us wonder. The turmoil within the squad this Season did seem to be too many pieces of the same puzzle. One or two players seemed to reject authority and become mouthy and spread some poison from within. During games, 3G seemed to react constantly to so many mishaps. He seemed to be in more faces screaming than usual. Coach seemed to still refuse to call time outs on big runs from our foes with is younger team. He got away with that some in the Valley with FVV and Baker, but the Coaches he faces to match strategy with now are a tough step up from Valley coaches IMO. We still needed a point guard. It sounds like the meetings to air out issues were becoming heated, and maybe causing hard feelings? You sure can't make everybody happy in this world.
In conclusion, Coach Marshall will rebuild this Program's dreams and the fans will come. Coach Marshall is our best coach here ever at WSU. Needed changes must be made, and he must start that process from within. I'm hoping the competitive fires in his belly rage as he overcomes all these tough setbacks from the past few Seasons. As one of the best coaches in the Country, I believe 3G can and will do it. These are opinions only from a forevershockerfan that has never made a thin dime coaching. Even so, this Forum allows us to put our 2-cents in. Coach Marshall will get some solid players in here and mesh them Dancing together. How long will that take? Stay tuned.
So in this world of "me first or what have you done for me lately," there have been some huge setbacks. LS and Austin leaving as Sophomores to the NBA and Oklahoma on the very year we had a solid group of Seniors graduating. Last Season exceeded my expectations with the youngest team ever assembled here. This Season showed improvement as we were even in the top 20 teams in the Nation. Then it hit. The Shocks went from punching their own ticket to a huge bubble in the punch. Players begin to squabble about playing time. There were 2 games back to back that the odds swayed very high to either win outright, or go straight to overtime. These 2 wins would have put us close to Tulsa in standings, but instead we lose them both games in regulation play with self-inflicted errors that happen. The sweeping we suffered to Houston and Cinn. left a mark, but then we manhandled Tulsa who could have won the AAC outright by winning that game.
Sometimes teams can be so close but so far away. Talk about March Madness, we didn't even get to read or live the last chapter this Season to see how this mystery would end. As always, here on SN we were dreaming about another leap forward with only JE. graduating. Just get us 2 or 3 solid players, especially big's, and we are not a Pretender top 25 team, but prolly a Contender to get back Dancing. Then the rumors became reality. Young players bailing out that make the exit doors into revolving doors. Why?
Cool Hand Luke once said, "What we got here, is a failure to communicate?" Was that it? Maybe in part. What about the idea that Coach Marshall has lost his fizz and needs to go? Even Tom Landry who was once so successful as the Dallas Cowboy Coach, but got fired when his teams fizzled? For sure that is not it. Wichita State is among the very elite top 20 plus winning Seasons now under Marshall's flicking watch. Is it that these men leaving are not quality young men? Nope!
I'm not a shrink, and not close enough to the Program to understand the rudiments of all of this. Coach Marshall will have to figure much of this for himself. This can't be only the players fault. The loss of Austin and Burton make us wonder. The turmoil within the squad this Season did seem to be too many pieces of the same puzzle. One or two players seemed to reject authority and become mouthy and spread some poison from within. During games, 3G seemed to react constantly to so many mishaps. He seemed to be in more faces screaming than usual. Coach seemed to still refuse to call time outs on big runs from our foes with is younger team. He got away with that some in the Valley with FVV and Baker, but the Coaches he faces to match strategy with now are a tough step up from Valley coaches IMO. We still needed a point guard. It sounds like the meetings to air out issues were becoming heated, and maybe causing hard feelings? You sure can't make everybody happy in this world.
In conclusion, Coach Marshall will rebuild this Program's dreams and the fans will come. Coach Marshall is our best coach here ever at WSU. Needed changes must be made, and he must start that process from within. I'm hoping the competitive fires in his belly rage as he overcomes all these tough setbacks from the past few Seasons. As one of the best coaches in the Country, I believe 3G can and will do it. These are opinions only from a forevershockerfan that has never made a thin dime coaching. Even so, this Forum allows us to put our 2-cents in. Coach Marshall will get some solid players in here and mesh them Dancing together. How long will that take? Stay tuned.
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