Level of discouragement ?

[jocoshock]

On a scale of 1 to 10: 0.1

[RoyalShock]

I had some expected discouragement after the game yesterday. I was doing much better until I turned on the game today and immediately felt like we should be there.

Every now and then a team needs a well-timed taste of defeat. I hope that's all this turns out to be and the guys can at least win a couple more.

[GoShockers89]

We'll be fine. Two weeks to whip our frustration into a batch of wheat-brewed whoop azz before the tournament kicks off. Our guys will be one pissed and determined group come round one.

The damage will be minimal if it only drops us from a strong 4 to a weak 5. I can live with that.

[RowShock87]

3

[ShockerPrez]

I won't be discouraged at all when we hoist the NC trophy 4 weeks from tomorrow.

:)

[another shocker]

'Not discouraged. They'll win the MVC tourney next year.

[shox1989]

I won't be discouraged at all when we hoist the NC trophy 4 weeks from tomorrow.

:)

Boy that would be nice! I was discouraged after the game yesterday, because I felt like we had lost our "mojo". We had been playing so well for so long it was discouraging to see my optimistic bubble burst. But this team has gone on long winning streaks this year after losses and really played well after last years loss to Indy St at the Arch.

So I am pretty optimistic today. I think we will still get a 5 to 6 seed and in a lot of ways a 6 seed is better than a 5 seed anyway. So I am looking forward to next Sunday and finding out where our season starts again!

It is just great knowing that for only about the 6th time or so that I can remember WSU will be in the NCAA Basketball tournament.

[proshox]

Negative five. Best WSU team in my lifetime.

[WSUwatcher]

On a scale of 1 to 10: 0.1

That bad, joco? I'm wavering between 0 and -1 -- i.e., not discouragement, but ENcouragement, on the theory that (a) this will light a fire under the team by reminding them how unpleasant it is to lose, (b) it also reminds them of the need to toughen up and be strong and aggressive against physical play, which is what they're likely to encounter in the NCAA (only in the real tournament, they'll be allowed to push back) and (c) it may reduce the national level of Shocker talk and thereby help the team feel like they have some things to prove. Plus, it gave Marshall a chance to turn in one of the great pieces of venting I've seen or heard, which may cost him some money (as if he cares) but may also embarrass Elgin a bit about the quality of officiating in the tournament, which is probably worth about half a point of encouragement right there.

This loss may upset some of our manic-depressive fans -- like molly's friend who apparently wasn't happy with WSU holding IlSt to under 35% shooting, and may have thought Marshall should have called time out to remind the guys to make some of those shots they were missing -- and posters for awhile, but it is NOT going to do the team any harm. Exactly the opposite, I'm confident.

[WSUwatcher]

We'll be fine. Two weeks to whip our frustration into a batch of wheat-brewed whoop azz before the tournament kicks off. Our guys will be one pissed and determined group come round one.

The damage will be minimal if it only drops us from a strong 4 to a weak 5. I can live with that.

No, bring on the 6!

[pie n eye]

That bad, joco? I'm wavering between 0 and -1 -- i.e., not discouragement, but ENcouragement, on the theory that (a) this will light a fire under the team by reminding them how unpleasant it is to lose, (b) it also reminds them of the need to toughen up and be strong and aggressive against physical play, which is what they're likely to encounter in the NCAA (only in the real tournament, they'll be allowed to push back) and (c) it may reduce the national level of Shocker talk and thereby help the team feel like they have some things to prove. Plus, it gave Marshall a chance to turn in one of the great pieces of venting I've seen or heard, which may cost him some money (as if he cares) but may also embarrass Elgin a bit about the quality of officiating in the tournament, which is probably worth about half a point of encouragement right there.

This loss may upset some of our manic-depressive fans -- like molly's friend who apparently wasn't happy with WSU holding IlSt to under 35% shooting, and may have thought Marshall should have called time out to remind the guys to make some of those shots they were missing -- and posters for awhile, but it is NOT going to do the team any harm. Exactly the opposite, I'm confident.

I appreciate that you're able to find te silver lining and, while I can't say I'm encouraged when the shockers lose, I think you make good points about the team using this as a coach able moment an getting that much more prepared for the tourney where all teams will be fighting for their life like ISUr was this weekend.

Although I will say the 35% from the field is not a terribly useful stat because it does not acknowledge that they also shot 90% from the free throw line on 22 attempts.

[WSUwatcher]

I'd rather have them win than lose, too, pie. But in the long run I believe this particular loss will help them more than it hurts them; that's why I'm not bothered.

As for the numbers, 22 isn't an extreme number of FTs (and the Shocks managed 17 despite the one-sidedness of the officiating) -- what's extreme is making 20 of them. So I'll agree with you on this: the Shocks do need to tighten up their FT defense these next couple of weeks while they're waiting to play again. But apart from that, they held IlSt to 33.9% from the field and 33.3% on threes, while winning the rebound battle. Give me those numbers every game from here on out, and we'll be seeing the Shocks play for long enough that Jason King's forecast of the Shocks as one of the last eight standing may prove conservative. I suspect Marshall would take those numbers on defense, too.

The Shocks do need to tighten up on the turnovers, and especially the margin, but the margin will improve once they get into games where either the extreme hacking is called or the Shocks can push back. So, as the saying goes, I'm not worried.

[kcshocker11]

No discouragement here, on with the NCAA's and support my Shocks win or lose! Always a great day to be a Shocker!

[SHOXAAC]

No discouragement at all. We've gone on a winning streak after every loss this season. This team seems to respond well to adversity and bulletin board material. If this doesn't piss them off and send them on a tear through the real tournament, I don't know what will.

...but we won't be playing the scrubs of the MVC that made up the greater part of the winning streaks. This is the NCAA Tournament...teams very similar to us. With that said, I am on board with starting a multiple game winning streak.

[SHOXAAC]

And just how many games at the D1 level have you won?

You might want to call the show this week and give him that sage advice.

I'm not looking for a battle here, but why do some posters feel the need to play the "you have never blah, blah, blah, so you shouldn't comment" card. Does calling timeouts at key points of the game when your team is struggling, like coaches that have won at the D1 level (coach K, Tom Izzo, etc...) , require a special basketball rocket science degree I don't know about? It's always been a short coming of Marshall. No, I don't want him to leave, but he's not perfect...surprise!!! And that's ok...I'm not either (surprise, ha, ha x infinity).