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

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24 hours from now we'll be talking about the need for West Lafayette's city sanitation crew to clean up all the goose down filling their streets. Then our attention will take a weird turn to blowing up Trojans. Can't wait!

Shox win tomorrow by 20 and the nation falls in love with TE.

Bank. On. It.

GD that dunk by RC4...

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I'm interested to see if Coach Brown has bottled Marshall's secret sauce for post-season next-levelness.

[WuDrWu]

Stay out of foul trouble, especially early, EVEN if that means not contesting baskets early. Better to stay in the game.

Maybe we can get by Drake without a lot of 3s, but THIS team's long term success in this tournament will be on the back of good three point shooting.

Shooting 3s, good 3s mind you, very early in the shot clock is NOT a bad thing, especially for this team. Transitional, in rhythm, OPEN 3s for Dex, AG and especially Tyson are encouraged, if not demanded by this fan. There is no such thing as a bad, open 3 for Tyson, no matter how close to 30 the shot clock is (situational sets aside).

Use length and athleticism, mostly with subs like RC4, Monzy, CP and PB (maybe Jaden too) to heat 'em up and speed 'em up. Those guys can wear some fouls.

Continue to take care of the ball, play within yourself and make free throws.

And don't allow a repeat of the end of Cincinnati game....even if we're ahead, if we have 2 fouls at the under 8, be aggressive. Challenge every shot, go for steals, push on the o-boards. Either get away with fouling or get to the 6 foul mark so you're there if you need to be there. No harm in the first 6 fouls if you're smart about it.

And we need our bench guys to provide sparks. Effort, confidence and control. Come in and make a difference. Guys like Rashard Kelly, Zach Brown, Markis McDuffie etc were key with their 100% effort plays early in their careers. We need those guys to spell the starters and give everything for a limited time, then get our stars back in. And they have to have the confidence to make plays. RC4 likely does, Monzy will give the effort for sure....can they put it all together?

We'll know in about 20 hours.


Go Shocks! Beat Drake!

[AZ Shocker]

I'm still going with my 16 point prediction. That is if we play the way we know we can play.

Watched a couple Drake games the last couple days. Yeah no. Ain't happening. Really nice season they had but yeah no....ain't happening.

[SubGod22]

I'd like to say we win by 20. But once we get a 10 point lead we'll act like the game is over and end up only winning by 5 and expending way more energy than necessary

[Dan]

We just don’t blow people out. We can get a nice comfy lead but then make it too close for comfort. I’d say Shox by 8.

[60Shock]

We need to win this first game and then everything thereafter is gravy. Just carry a 14 point lead into halftime and win by 16.

[pie n eye]

Reading Taylor’s breakdown of Drake (Drakedown?) doesn’t give me much confidence.

I think maybe the people predicting a double digit win are doing it based on conference affiliation, not reality. If we win by double digits it will be a significant accomplishment and will bode well for the next game, or two.

My guess is it will be very close the entire game or maybe the shockers will have to battle back from a deficit if they want to win this one.

[pinstripers]

I think maybe the people predicting a double digit win are doing it based on conference affiliation, not reality.

exactly.........a Valley team can't upset anybody

[asiseeit]

My perspective is this. Losing to Drake would mean ending the season with three straight poor games and would
certainly taint the overall success the team has had to date. It would not set well with me and I would have to question
how good the team and the coach really are. For me, beating Drake makes this a successful season and losing
would make it a disappointing one even though you might say it was just one game. That is just how I feel right or wrong.
A win tonight and it has been a good season, two wins would make it a damn good season even with a final loss to KU.

[WstateU]

GD that dunk by RC4...

You might have missed this; I started buying stock when I first seen the video...

Yipes Stripes Beechnut Gum!

[shockersx]

This isn’t super important but anyone know if we’re wearing black?

[WuDrWu]

I hope his head is in the right place. We need Dex to be 100% on point.

There is someone that replied to Dex on Twitter regarding this post, and that person is mentally unbalanced. If said person is here, please stop. And frankly, get some help.

If anyone here knows this person, intervene. I mean, seriously, you cannot take things that personal as an adult. Just STOP.

[shockerfan34]

This isn’t super important but anyone know if we’re wearing black?

I haven't heard anything official, but WSU is higher on the official seed list which would suggest being the home team.

[Stickboy46]

There is someone that replied to Dex on Twitter regarding this post, and that person is mentally unbalanced. If said person is here, please stop. And frankly, get some help.

If anyone here knows this person, intervene. I mean, seriously, you cannot take things that personal as an adult. Just STOP.

I saw that too. It's fine to not agree with players getting paid and doubt the feasibility of it .. but to publicly basically tell a player of a team you "support" to "shut up and play" is a really bad look.