Wichita State vs. Cincinnati Game Thread 3-13-21

[pie n eye]

• 16 shots from Gilbert is probably too many. How did he miss that layup after the steal?
• Ricky with some good scoring production but his defense is questionable at times and he had ZERO rebounds in two games this weekend. He’s too athletic for that to happen.
• We won a lot of games this year because we went to the FT line more often than our opponents. That trend went the other way against Cincinnati and we lost a close game.
• Speaking of free throws, Dexter took 2 all weekend. That’s not enough. We need him to be more aggressive. The down side to that is he is prone to bouncing the ball off his foot out of bounds but I’ll take a few of those if it means he’s driving.
• Doesn't feel like we got much in transition.
• Tyson and Gilbert forced too much during moments where we needed a bucket. At least try to get an open look somewhere vs going one on one and shooting a contested off balance jumper. If that’s the best we can do at the end of the shot clock then so be it. At least then we can crash the boards because everyone knows the shot is going up.
• USF and Cincinnati are both good rebounding teams but it’s been our biggest weakness all year and it hurt us in crunch time of the UC game and almost bit us against USF. It is what it is at this point. We might have some better performances but the hope of being a more consistent rebounding team has been pushed off to a goal for next season.
• I feel like we as soon as we get a 4+ point lead we start to act like it’s game over. Our shot selection goes to hell, defense lets up, etc. I don’t understand it.

[ShockTalk]

I agree that we deserve the conference championship because we won the games put in front of us, beat the best team in the league, avoided any pitfalls, and were willing/tried to reschedule games against SMU and Memphis.

I’m not on board with playing the blame game and pointing the finger at other teams. For one, we don’t really know the circumstances that lead to their pauses. None of that information was released.

I also think there was a bit of “there but for the grace of god go I” at play this year. We had our own pause early in the season and then two guys missed the conference tourney. Similarly a team like KU went all season without issue then had to back out of the conference tourney.

OK. I was upset over the post, which in my opinion, belittle what our players did both on and off the court while making assumptions of what could have happened and giving a pass to other teams and their players for what they did or did not do.

[ShockingButTrue]

Memphis nor Houston could beat Tulsa at Tulsa. It was a good win for the Shocks. Beating #6 Houston is what won them the Conference, and got 'em into the tournament. The Shocks also played a good schedule this year. No asterisk needed.

[Dan]

Yep, winning the conference isn’t only about winning the big games. It’s also about navigating the minefield and taking care of the lower teams. Winning on the road is usually the differentiator. We did what we needed to do given our schedule while UH and Memphis tripped up.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Memphis nor Houston could beat Tulsa at Tulsa. It was a good win for the Shocks. Beating #6 Houston is what won them the Conference, and got 'em into the tournament. The Shocks also played a good schedule this year. No asterisk needed.

This. WSU avoided the dreaded "bad" loss during the regular season. Took care of business when they needed to and added the cherry on top by beating Houston in Wichita. No apology or asterisk necessary. Everyone knew the rules and policies before the season. All games WSU missed during conference were the result of other schools Covid issues. Not sure why we are even having this conversation.

[JVShocker]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. WE didn't avoid anything. SMU has no one but themselves to blame for missing our 2 scheduled games. They and Memphis managed not to play us while we sat around for 12 days with no games. Penny, himself, turned down an AAC proposal to play us. Lastly, we split with Houston. So we TIED Houston and fellow top conference mates put the Cougars BEHIND us. You're also assuming those conference mates would win. Prestigious or not, we did not fail our obligations. OUR players did everything they could to see that they would be able to play a full conference schedule. There was more to this season that just winning on the court. There was also making sure you are there to play. I will not short change OUR players for doing their part when other team's players did not.

I find it difficult to believe he wouldn't want a game. Is this confirmed?? If so, wow, just knowing that the winner of that game (if it were played) would have been a serious contender for an at large. Again, if so, kudos to the league for trying to mediate.

[shockerfan]

I find it difficult to believe he wouldn't want a game. Is this confirmed?? If so, wow, just knowing that the winner of that game (if it were played) would have been a serious contender for an at large. Again, if so, kudos to the league for trying to mediate.

He did turn it down. His claim was too many road games in a row wasn't fair. But he did in fact dodge the game.

[Stickboy46]

I find it difficult to believe he wouldn't want a game. Is this confirmed?? If so, wow, just knowing that the winner of that game (if it were played) would have been a serious contender for an at large. Again, if so, kudos to the league for trying to mediate.

Penny rolled the dice. He didn't want to play 4 road games in a row, so he was hoping by not scheduling WSU, they would fit in both the @UH and UH@Memphis games. Sampson said no because he wanted Memphis to come to Wichita to beat us so UH could win the conference. Ended up neither team got their wish and it likely cost Penny an at-large bid.

[JVShocker]

Penny rolled the dice. He didn't want to play 4 road games in a row, so he was hoping by not scheduling WSU, they would fit in both the @UH and UH@Memphis games. Sampson said no because he wanted Memphis to come to Wichita to beat us so UH could win the conference. Ended up neither team got their wish and it likely cost Penny an at-large bid.

Wonder what the fans think of it now, then. Sucks for them, I'm sure, I thought they would be dangerous in post season.

[Stickboy46]

Wonder what the fans think of it now, then. Sucks for them, I'm sure, I thought they would be dangerous in post season.

Fans are still in honeymoon mode. None of the last 3 years are his fault. First year was Tubbys fault. Last years was the NCAAs for screwing over wiseman, this year is NCAA and Houstons fault. NCAA for not clearing Williams quick enough and Houston for "stealing" their home game.

[JVShocker]

Fans are still in honeymoon mode. None of the last 3 years are his fault. First year was Tubbys fault. Last years was the NCAAs for screwing over wiseman, this year is NCAA and Houstons fault. NCAA for not clearing Williams quick enough and Houston for "stealing" their home game.

I thought Memphis was a lot better with Mike Miller on the sideline.

[pie n eye]

Memphis is the one team that really made WSU look bad this year. Following that game they split with SMU and ran roughshod over their remaining schedule then they played two great games against Houston.

We’re really trying to tear down Penny? They started slow, sure, but so did a lot of teams.

I wasn’t high on the hire either but he looks to have them headed the right direction so I’m willing to either admit I was wrong or at least wait and see how the next couple of years go. Not the time to double down, IMO.

[ShockerFever]

Memphis is the one team that really made WSU look bad this year. Following that game they split with SMU and ran roughshod over their remaining schedule then they played two great games against Houston.

We’re really trying to tear down Penny? They started slow, sure, but so did a lot of teams.

I wasn’t high on the hire either but he looks to have them headed the right direction so I’m willing to either admit I was wrong or at least wait and see how the next couple of years go. Not the time to double down, IMO.

Their insufferable fanbase is reason enough to tear them down.

[another shocker]

Penny rolled the dice. He didn't want to play 4 road games in a row, so he was hoping by not scheduling WSU, they would fit in both the @UH and UH@Memphis games. Sampson said no because he wanted Memphis to come to Wichita to beat us so UH could win the conference. Ended up neither team got their wish and it likely cost Penny an at-large bid.

too bad for them. they had a bam adebayo clone in cisse. now he'll go pro and memphis can start over again.. just the way they wanted it, with those 5* recruits coming in.

[pie n eye]

Their insufferable fanbase is reason enough to tear them down.

Fair enough, I just don’t really visit other fan boards or pay attention those kind of things. But how the fan base acts isn’t really Penny’s fault, is it? Even if it was they can be an annoying fan base/coach and still be a good team.