Wichita State vs Oral Roberts Game Thread - Dec 2, 2020

[shocker43]

For only having three bench players, basically no real practice, first game played against another team, and a new coach, I'm pretty excited about this team. New guys looked good. Tyson is going to be our best player. Dexter will be fine. The bigs will be fine, but we don't have a 5 man that can guard on the perimeter. I like the pace the team played with, hopefully we can keep that up while getting rid of the "street ball" part of the offense.

[ShockAzs]

Did Poo play at all in the second half? And we only had 2 centers?

No. It was because HCIB forgot about IPBC. Nothing more, nothing less. Not sure if he had any defensive lapses during the game? His stat line warrants more minutes.

[TheShocktocles]

Dex is trying to too hard to get to the NBA, IMO. He wants to be James Harden but he’s really just a spot up 3 point shooter, despite his build. He needs to do 3 things to help this team: be the best defender on the floor, catch and shoot three pointers, give us some highlight reel breakaways when available. If he just focuses on these things, the lane will eventually open up for an occasional drive to the hoop.

Totally agree. And pick his spots when he goes for the drive. And make sure the lane is not crowed. He is an outstanding free throw shooter.

[pinstripers]

No. It was because HCIB forgot about IPBC. Nothing more, nothing less. Not sure if he had any defensive lapses during the game? His stat line warrants more minutes.

FOUR coaches forgot that their center had played the entire second half?

[wufan]

I agree with all the observations from last night, but will not draw any lasting predictions/conclusions on future performance.

Gilbert will have games with more assists
Etienne will miss three in a row on crucial possessions
Udeze will get everyone excited
Jackson will make bone-headed plays and get lost
Porter will eat up minutes from lil Wade

Good win! Glad to see the guys take the court. I am tempering any enthusiasm/dread.

[TheShocktocles]

I just watched the interview from Taylor’s article. To summarize, HCIB said that IPBC played well when he was in and that he needs to find IPBC more minutes. He didn’t mention anything about mistakes that I was able to hear.

I too thought IPBC played well. Both he and MU did a fine job at center. The problem both had is that K. Obanor for ORU is a match up problem. They are not quick enough to guard Obanor on the perimeter. Thus they played off from him because he is quick enough to drive past them. And when they do that he then shoots lights out from the three. Some of his shots hit nothing but net.

Coach IB needed J Bileau and Jayden S. to guard Obanor and he didn't have them available. I think MU and IPBC will be a better match up against traditional centers. Go Shocks.

[Stickboy46]

FOUR coaches forgot that their center had played the entire second half?

To be fair.. with the 17 row deep bench setup this year, it's easy to lose a kid in it

In all seriousness .. that's just such an odd answer. I'll write it off as first coaching game jitters

[FlyingWheat]

The bigs will be fine, but we don't have a 5 man that can guard on the perimeter.

Hoping Bilau can fill that role. Should have the size and athleticism for it.

[ShockTalk]

FOUR coaches forgot that their center had played the entire second half?

IPBC did play around 3+ minutes during the first third of the 2nd half. Also, CJ did play the 5 at 1 or 2 times during the 2nd half. At least at one point late in the game, Mo, TrW, and CJ were all in the line up together.

[TheShocktocles]

IPBC did play around 3+ minutes during the first third of the 2nd half. Also, CJ did play the 5 at 1 or 2 times during the 2nd half. At least at one point late in the game, Mo, TrW, and CJ were all in the line up together.

Yeah. Thats true. And I think the reason we saw that is that the shocks needed to have some quickness guarding ORU 5 man or bigs.

[asiseeit]

I agree with all the observations from last night, but will not draw any lasting predictions/conclusions on future performance.

Gilbert will have games with more assists
Etienne will miss three in a row on crucial possessions
Udeze will get everyone excited
Jackson will make bone-headed plays and get lost
Porter will eat up minutes from lil Wade

Good win! Glad to see the guys take the court. I am tempering any enthusiasm/dread.

Udeze just doesn't excite me. Poor defensively and does not block out well. We are going to miss AM.
Jackson brings energy and rebounding but will likely make some bad plays now and then.
If Porter is better than lil Wade that would be great but lil Wade really played good D last night.
We seemed to be trying too hard to get the ball to MU at the start of the 2nd half and that put us in
a hole. When he gets it down low he only has one thing on his mind. I did not see any improvement from
last season in his game.

[Stickboy46]

Udeze just doesn't excite me. Poor defensively and does not block out well. We are going to miss AM.
Jackson brings energy and rebounding but will likely make some bad plays now and then.
If Porter is better than lil Wade that would be great but lil Wade really played good D last night.
We seemed to be trying too hard to get the ball to MU at the start of the 2nd half and that put us in
a hole. When he gets it down low he only has one thing on his mind. I did not see any improvement from
last season in his game.

I laughed last night when watching this .. mainly because I think the only time all night that MU made a shot without dunking was when he went up over 3 defenders. He missed all the other "easier " shots (easier as in only double teamed)

[CBB_Fan]

My main takeaway from this game was the Jackson was extremely impressive even with the defensive lapses. Most of our returners were the players I thought they would be, but I didn't come into the game with any expectation for Jackson to be an immediate contributor. Many of the lanky forwards we've brought in young have been very green, trying a little too hard on offense and needing a redshirt year to polish up. But Jackson didn't hunt for shots, and instead brought an A+ motor and what appears to be a natural ballhawk instinct to the game. These are my favorite types of players because they can make an impact without ever needing a possession to run through them.

I was also particularly impressed by his want-to when he started cramping late in the second half. He went through something like 3 possessions pushing himself to stay in, until he literally couldn't take another step through the pain. I don't think that was very smart (it did give up an easy 2), but it clearly showed his heart was in the right place. And if you've ever tried to play through a cramp, you know how tough Jackson had to be to fight through it and play on.

[pie n eye]

Udeze just doesn't excite me. Poor defensively and does not block out well. We are going to miss AM.
Jackson brings energy and rebounding but will likely make some bad plays now and then.
If Porter is better than lil Wade that would be great but lil Wade really played good D last night.
We seemed to be trying too hard to get the ball to MU at the start of the 2nd half and that put us in
a hole. When he gets it down low he only has one thing on his mind. I did not see any improvement from
last season in his game.

My thought was “Mo is trying to show everyone how much he’s improved”. I hope is once he settles down, quits trying to do too much and lets the game come to him that he will look better. I think I see improvements under all the noise but admittedly I could just be projecting my hope.

Agreed that he needs to be A) more willing to pass out of the post, B) able to execute more than just his one spin move, and C) better recognize where his defender is. There were a couple times he could have drop stepped baseline for a dunk after catching it but instead held the ball, allowed his defender to reposition, then spun right into the defender.

[1972Shocker]

I agree with all the observations from last night, but will not draw any lasting predictions/conclusions on future performance.

Gilbert will have games with more assists
Etienne will miss three in a row on crucial possessions
Udeze will get everyone excited
Jackson will make bone-headed plays and get lost
Porter will eat up minutes from lil Wade

Good win! Glad to see the guys take the court. I am tempering any enthusiasm/dread.

A wise and mature way to approach this at this point. What's the matter with you!

A couple of additional points.

Bilau will eat up some minutes at the 5 at some point (I hope).
Dexter will have some good games.
Hopefully, we will also see some Council IV III.
Will any of our guys redshirt - Maybe Jenkins or Seymour? I assume both are well down on the depth charts at their positions.