NCAA Tournament - WSU vs Drake Pre-Game Predictions and Discussions

[Kel Varnsen]

This team has done an excellent job of staying out of foul trouble (especially early) and not turning the ball over.

Considering his struggles early on, Mo out of everyone has been UNREAL the past four games at staying out of foul trouble when he’s the only big we have (and the only one we trust even when the others are healthy).

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

After watching Drake, I think the keys are spacing the floor, getting good penetration from our guards, and pushing the ball in transition. I think the Shox can exploit the lack of athleticism (compared to most AAC teams) of Drake and take advantage of AG's quickness. They don't seem to have a ton of depth, which could play to the Shox advantage if they get in to foul trouble. The average age of the starters is 23.3 and team average age is 21.5 so they are experienced (but not necessarily NCAA tourney experienced). For comparison, the Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, and Charlotte Hornets have comparable average ages (23-24 range).

[Veritas]

You don't have much of a clue as to the point I was making, but that's not exactly virgin territory for you.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, I've forgotten more about this game than you'll ever know. I've seen Drake several times this year. I'm not overvaluing the win at KState, Kstate was awful when they played. BUT it's still a B12 team on the road and it shows competence at least. The rest of their non-con was miserable, but they get at least a little credit for abusing most of those teams. Are they Gonzaga? Of course not. Are they as good as the Drake team that lost to Western Kentucky in the tournament years ago? I think they are more versatile than that team, but I'm not sure about better.

They are well coached and they play well as a team. Fever is right, because they've played 4 games against decent competition (and lost 2 of them) we don't really know how good they are, and certainly they are better with Penn and Hemphill, but Yesufu is good and the big kid from Seton Hall is more than serviceable, especially against Mo.

This is a game we should win, but we'll have to play better than we did in Ft Worth or hope the Geese are terrible on Thursday.

And anytime you want to get off my nutsack, that would be fantastic.

Typical response from wuducwu as he takes 5 paragraphs to try to refute a single sentence.

[wichshock65]

Its fun to read the "expert" breakdowns of upcoming games. This one, stopped reading after this first sentence. LoL

Wichita State (16-5)


Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2018

NCAA Tournament Seed Rank: 11


The Shockers continued to roll along this year and captured another AAC regular season crown.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Its fun to read the "expert" breakdowns of upcoming games. This one, stopped reading after this first sentence. LoL

The Shockers continued to roll along this year and captured another AAC regular season crown.

[Stickboy46]

Would that be the same Bradley that gave #14 Mizzou a hwole lot tougher game than the Shocks did 2 weeks earlier? In Columbia even. I watched that game (I'm a sports junkie) and thought Bradley looked pretty good.

Drake aslo beat Bradley without Penn and Hemphill.

Look, I'm just hoping the Shockers can play smart and beat a short-handed Drake team, that's all.

I believe when Drake beat Bradley and lost to them Bradley had 4 players suspended.

[ShockingButTrue]

Son, if I were you, I’d put a lot more thought into a lot more things.

Figures you couldn't answer my question.

You're right though, I'll be sure to put a lot more thought into talking intelligent basketball with someone like you, because you come of like a typical smart-a** ChickenHawk fan. What next we're gonna' beat Drake because they've never seen anyone like AG? Oh, wait...

You can take that Son and shove it up your ass. I can't believe there could be Shocker fans as dumb as you.

Nice introduction though. Here's mine:

[Stickboy46]

You can take that Son and shove it up your ass.

That sounds highly inappropriate

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

[1972Shocker]

Warning: Long Boring Post Mostly For Accountants

I have not seen Drake play this season and really know little about them except that they will be without their 6-0, 185 R-Jr point guard Roman Penn who started the first 24 games this season averaged 11.2 PPG, 5.5 APG, 2.25 TPG (2.43 A/T Ratio), and 3.3 RPG before going down with a season ending foot injury. However, his backup 6-0, 180 So Joseph Yesufu has has played in all 29 games, averaging 22.9 MPG, for Drake this year and started the 5 games since Penn went down may be a better offensive player than although perhaps not as good of a assist man. Yesufu has a season average of 12.1 PPG. However, in his last 5 games as a starter he played all but 1 minute over those 5 games and he averaged 22.0 PPG in those games with a high of 36 against Evansville and a low of 12 against Loyola in the Valley Tournament. Penn and Yesufu have almost identical overall FG% but Yesufu appears to be a better and more prolific 3 point shooter. Penn was 20-60 (33.3%) on 3-ptrs and Yesufu was 39-105 (37.1%). Yesufu (63-78 for 80.8%) also gets to the free throw line more than Penn (40-57 for 70.2%).

6-6 Sr. F Shanquan Hemphill lead Drake in scoring at 14.1 PPG and also grabbed 6.3 RPG through the first 20 games of the season before surgery on a fractured left foot on February 11th sidelined him for a projected 4 weeks. That 4 weeks is up and so Hemphill may very well play on Thursday but how basketball ready he will be in terms of conditioning and rustiness remains to be seen. His replacement in the lineup, 6-3,175 Jr Garrett SturRtz has average 9.5 PPG with a pretty impressive 6.8 RPG at his size. Sturtz like Yesufu also played all but 1 minute of Drakes last 5 games. Not sure whether Hemphill will start or not and whether he does or not how long he will be able to go. Hemphill was the Valley Newcomer of the Year. He played to years of juco at Florida Southwestern, played his junior season at Green Bay then sat out the next season with a medical redshirt before transferring to Drake.

Looks like Drake has really shortened the bench and relied mostly on their starters over the last 5 games after losing Penn.

Since I have not seen Drake play I pretty much limited to looking at the roster and at the stat sheet for Drake. I will leave to others to provide more qualitative analysis of Drake based on actually seeing them play. For now I will assume Hemphill will start in this game

Point Guard:
Drake: Joseph Yesufu 6-0, 180 So -- 45.3% FG, 37.1% 3FG (39-105), 80.8% FT, 12.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.76 APG/1.14 TPG, 1.55 A/T Ratio
Shocks: Alterique Gilbert 6-0, 180 R-Sr -- 35.1% FG, 30.4% 3FG (28-92), 71.7% FT, 10.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.15 APG/2.24 TPG, 1.86 A/T Ratio

2 Guard:
Drake: D.J. Wilkins 6-2. 182 Jr -- 43.1% FG, 41.8% 3FG (66-158). 78.4% FT, 10.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 2.11 APG/0.94 TPG = 2.25 A/T Ratio
Shocks: Tyson ETN 6-2, 200 So -- 37.9% FG, 39.9% 3FG (65-163), 76.1% FT, 17.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.62 APG/1.15 TPG = 2.28 A/T Ratio

3 Man:
Drake: Shanquan Hemphill 6-6, 195 Sr -- 58.7% FG, 33.3% 3FG (1-3). 64.9% FT, 14.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8 Blocks
or Garrett Sturtz 6-3 175 Jr. -- 56.3% FG, 33.3% 3FG (5-15), 75.4% FT, 8.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 9 Blocks
Shocks: Dexter Dennis 6-5, 210 Jr -- 36.1% FG, 33.7% 3FG (34-101), 80.8% FT, 9.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 14 Blocks

4 Man:
Drake: Tremell Murphy 6-6. 210 R-Sr -- 51.4% FG, 37.9% 3FG (36-95). 71.4% FT, 10.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 25 Blocks
Shocks: Trey Wade 6-6, 221 Sr -- 40.0% FG, 30.0% #FG (18-60), 55.2% ft, 6.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 13 Blocks

5 Man:
Drake: Darnell Brodie 6-10, 275 Jr -- 57.5% FG, 62.1% FT, 7.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 14 Blocks
Shocks: Morris Udeze 6-8, 235 Jr -- 60.2% FG, 70.3% FT, 9.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 189 Blocks

Bench:
Point Guard: Not sure if Drake has another point guard with Penn out. I would guess that if Yesufu needs a break or gets in foul trouble Drake would slide Wilkins to the point and bring in one of the other bench players to play the 2.
Shocks: Craig Porter 6-2, 185 Jr and Trevin Wade 5-11, 175 Jr. Trevin may actually come in handy if he is able to play Thursday if Porter is not quick enough to keep Yesufu in front of him.

2 Guard:
Drake: Garett Sturts 6-3, 175 Jr. or perhaps Jonah Jackson a 6-3, 210 Sr. Sturtz has played about 3 times more minutes than Jackson has this year and per above filled in for Shanquan Hemphill at the 3 in the last 9 games. Good possibility the Sturtz may start in place of Hemhill at the 3. No doubt he will certainly need to spell Hemphill for signfiicant minutes even if Hemphill does play.
Shocks: The Shocks would seem to have a lot more flexibility here. They could insert Ricky Council IV 6-6 205 Jr. in the 3 and move Dexter to the 2 or Craig Porter can back up Tyson at the 2 in needed. I prefer the first option.

3-Man:
Drake: A lot depends on how much Hemphill can play and how effective he can be. But Drake doesn't look to have a lot of options here outside of Hemphill and Sturtz.
Shocks: Ricky Council IV, 6-6 205 Jr. -- Ricky could present some issues for the Bulldogs.

4-Man & 5 Man:
Drake: Another spot where Drake doesn't seem to have a lot of options. They have 2 R-Fr, Issa Samake 6-8, 220 and Nate Ferguson 6-8, 210 that each paly about 10 minutes per game. Feguson has not played in any of he last 5 games and his minutes were diminishing prior to that. So assuming he is available I would expect it to be for some brief minutes to give either Murphy or Brodie a blow or a break glass in case of emergency. Samake appears to be the primary guy of the bench available to back probably Brodie primarily and maybe Murphy. The other option if Murphy needs a blow or gets in foul trouble is Drake goes small and perhaps uses Hemphill and Sturts in the lineup at the same time.

Shocks: Clarence Jackson, a 6-7, 210 So, is a terrific backup for Trey Wade at the 4 and I don't think many Shocker fans would upset to see Trey and C-Jack get equal minutes. Hopefully, Poor Bear, 6-9, 250 Jr, is ready to go and can back up Mo. Not sure how skilled Drake's Brodie is, but he is a very large man and from the pictures I have seen of him he carries that weight as muscle. That can wear a player down having to battle that size. OTOH, if Poor Bear can give the Shocks some good minutes perhaps he and Mo can wear down the big man aerobically.

I would say a couple things about the stat comparisons. I would guess that the athletes WSU have been going against on average are probably quite a bit better that the athletes Drake has been competing against on average. Now maybe Drake can make up for that by playing very smart, team oriented basketball. We'll just have to see about that.

It would appear the Drake most likely will rely heavily on their top 6 guys (assuming Hemphill can give then some decent minutes). The Shocks would seem to have a clear edge in their bench quality and depth.

The Shocks still need to clean some things up. Be a little more patient perhaps. AG getting the team in its offense and not dribbling away the time clock, sharing the ball, taking and making good shots and, of course, defend and rebound, defend and rebound, defend and rebound.

That's my purely quantitative take on this game.

[ShockingButTrue]

That sounds highly inappropriate

Don't you just hate trying to have an intelligent basketball conversation with stupid fans? Can you believe the lack of smarts in "what 'til they get a load of us?"

Drake's without their first team all-conference general, and their best player has just missed 6 weeks and Vegas says that makes this a pick-em game.

[ABC]

Warning: Long Boring Post Mostly For Accountants

I have not seen Drake play this season and really know little about them except that they will be without their 6-0, 185 R-Jr point guard Roman Penn who started the first 24 games this season averaged 11.2 PPG, 5.5 APG, 2.25 TPG (2.43 A/T Ratio), and 3.3 RPG before going down with a season ending foot injury. However, his backup 6-0, 180 So Joseph Yesufu has has played in all 29 games, averaging 22.9 MPG, for Drake this year and started the 5 games since Penn went down may be a better offensive player than although perhaps not as good of a assist man. Yesufu has a season average of 12.1 PPG. However, in his last 5 games as a starter he played all but 1 minute over those 5 games and he averaged 22.0 PPG in those games with a high of 36 against Evansville and a low of 12 against Loyola in the Valley Tournament. Penn and Yesufu have almost identical overall FG% but Yesufu appears to be a better and more prolific 3 point shooter. Penn was 20-60 (33.3%) on 3-ptrs and Yesufu was 39-105 (37.1%). Yesufu (63-78 for 80.8%) also gets to the free throw line more than Penn (40-57 for 70.2%).

6-6 Sr. F Shanquan Hemphill lead Drake in scoring at 14.1 PPG and also grabbed 6.3 RPG through the first 20 games of the season before surgery on a fractured left foot on February 11th sidelined him for a projected 4 weeks. That 4 weeks is up and so Hemphill may very well play on Thursday but how basketball ready he will be in terms of conditioning and rustiness remains to be seen. His replacement in the lineup, 6-3,175 Jr Garrett SturRtz has average 9.5 PPG with a pretty impressive 6.8 RPG at his size. Sturtz like Yesufu also played all but 1 minute of Drakes last 5 games. Not sure whether Hemphill will start or not and whether he does or not how long he will be able to go. Hemphill was the Valley Newcomer of the Year. He played to years of juco at Florida Southwestern, played his junior season at Green Bay then sat out the next season with a medical redshirt before transferring to Drake.

Looks like Drake has really shortened the bench and relied mostly on their starters over the last 5 games after losing Penn.

Since I have not seen Drake play I pretty much limited to looking at the roster and at the stat sheet for Drake. I will leave to others to provide more qualitative analysis of Drake based on actually seeing them play. For now I will assume Hemphill will start in this game

Point Guard:
Drake: Joseph Yesufu 6-0, 180 So -- 45.3% FG, 37.1% 3FG (39-105), 80.8% FT, 12.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.76 APG/1.14 TPG, 1.55 A/T Ratio
Shocks: Alterique Gilbert 6-0, 180 R-Sr -- 35.1% FG, 30.4% 3FG (28-92), 71.7% FT, 10.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.15 APG/2.24 TPG, 1.86 A/T Ratio

2 Guard:
Drake: D.J. Wilkins 6-2. 182 Jr -- 43.1% FG, 41.8% 3FG (66-158). 78.4% FT, 10.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 2.11 APG/0.94 TPG = 2.25 A/T Ratio
Shocks: Tyson ETN 6-2, 200 So -- 37.9% FG, 39.9% 3FG (65-163), 76.1% FT, 17.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.62 APG/1.15 TPG = 2.28 A/T Ratio

3 Man:
Drake: Shanquan Hemphill 6-6, 195 Sr -- 58.7% FG, 33.3% 3FG (1-3). 64.9% FT, 14.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8 Blocks
or Garrett Sturtz 6-3 175 Jr. -- 56.3% FG, 33.3% 3FG (5-15), 75.4% FT, 8.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 9 Blocks
Shocks: Dexter Dennis 6-5, 210 Jr -- 36.1% FG, 33.7% 3FG (34-101), 80.8% FT, 9.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 14 Blocks

4 Man:
Drake: Tremell Murphy 6-6. 210 R-Sr -- 51.4% FG, 37.9% 3FG (36-95). 71.4% FT, 10.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 25 Blocks
Shocks: Trey Wade 6-6, 221 Sr -- 40.0% FG, 30.0% #FG (18-60), 55.2% ft, 6.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 13 Blocks

5 Man:
Drake: Darnell Brodie 6-10, 275 Jr -- 57.5% FG, 62.1% FT, 7.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 14 Blocks
Shocks: Morris Udeze 6-8, 235 Jr -- 60.2% FG, 70.3% FT, 9.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 189 Blocks

Bench:
Point Guard: Not sure if Drake has another point guard with Penn out. I would guess that if Yesufu needs a break or gets in foul trouble Drake would slide Wilkins to the point and bring in one of the other bench players to play the 2.
Shocks: Craig Porter 6-2, 185 Jr and Trevin Wade 5-11, 175 Jr. Trevin may actually come in handy if he is able to play Thursday if Porter is not quick enough to keep Yesufu in front of him.

2 Guard:
Drake: Garett Sturts 6-3, 175 Jr. or perhaps Jonah Jackson a 6-3, 210 Sr. Sturtz has played about 3 times more minutes than Jackson has this year and per above filled in for Shanquan Hemphill at the 3 in the last 9 games. Good possibility the Sturtz may start in place of Hemhill at the 3. No doubt he will certainly need to spell Hemphill for signfiicant minutes even if Hemphill does play.
Shocks: The Shocks would seem to have a lot more flexibility here. They could insert Ricky Council IV 6-6 205 Jr. in the 3 and move Dexter to the 2 or Craig Porter can back up Tyson at the 2 in needed. I prefer the first option.

3-Man:
Drake: A lot depends on how much Hemphill can play and how effective he can be. But Drake doesn't look to have a lot of options here outside of Hemphill and Sturtz.
Shocks: Ricky Council IV, 6-6 205 Jr. -- Ricky could present some issues for the Bulldogs.

4-Man & 5 Man:
Drake: Another spot where Drake doesn't seem to have a lot of options. They have 2 R-Fr, Issa Samake 6-8, 220 and Nate Ferguson 6-8, 210 that each paly about 10 minutes per game. Feguson has not played in any of he last 5 games and his minutes were diminishing prior to that. So assuming he is available I would expect it to be for some brief minutes to give either Murphy or Brodie a blow or a break glass in case of emergency. Samake appears to be the primary guy of the bench available to back probably Brodie primarily and maybe Murphy. The other option if Murphy needs a blow or gets in foul trouble is Drake goes small and perhaps uses Hemphill and Sturts in the lineup at the same time.

Shocks: Clarence Jackson, a 6-7, 210 So, is a terrific backup for Trey Wade at the 4 and I don't think many Shocker fans would upset to see Trey and C-Jack get equal minutes. Hopefully, Poor Bear, 6-9, 250 Jr, is ready to go and can back up Mo. Not sure how skilled Drake's Brodie is, but he is a very large man and from the pictures I have seen of him he carries that weight as muscle. That can wear a player down having to battle that size. OTOH, if Poor Bear can give the Shocks some good minutes perhaps he and Mo can wear down the big man aerobically.

I would say a couple things about the stat comparisons. I would guess that the athletes WSU have been going against on average are probably quite a bit better that the athletes Drake has been competing against on average. Now maybe Drake can make up for that by playing very smart, team oriented basketball. We'll just have to see about that.

It would appear the Drake most likely will rely heavily on their top 6 guys (assuming Hemphill can give then some decent minutes). The Shocks would seem to have a clear edge in their bench quality and depth.

The Shocks still need to clean some things up. Be a little more patient perhaps. AG getting the team in its offense and not dribbling away the time clock, sharing the ball, taking and making good shots and, of course, defend and rebound, defend and rebound, defend and rebound.

That's my purely quantitative take on this game.

[ABC]

OMG. Please summarize

[1972Shocker]

OMG. Please summarize

Shockers win!

However, for any posters suffering from insomnia that post is for you.

[NCAABound]

OMG. Please summarize

This is the summary. You should've seen it before he cut it down.