Wichita State at Houston Game Thread 1-8-22

[asiseeit]

IB might want to consider more zone with certain players and combo of players in
the line up to help address individual defensive weaknesses. For example
bringing in RC4 and KP together might be a good time for a zone. I want KP
around the rim and not chasing an opponents big outside the paint and RC might do
better in a zone also. Could be one or two others, as well.

[Dan]

Dexter is the king of driving in the lane with no real plan. He runs into 3 defenders, pulls up and then starts looking around for somewhere to pass, which is too late.

[calfan]

I watched my recording of the Houston game, yesterday. If RC4 and Jackson didn't have to play defense, they would be good players. RC4 thinks about defense the way Iverson use to think about practice.

It's something you have to bother with till you get to the stuff. In Iverson's case it's the game, in RC4's case it's the offense.

Jackson plays better defense than RC4, but that is to say, at least he tries. It still needs improvement.

The only player on the bench that might play good defense is Grant. I didn't see enough of him to comment on his defense.

On offense, our bigs Saturday set a pick, but never rolled to the basket.

Our guards drove the lane and shot the ball instead of passing to an open teammate.
A 2 guard usually shoots the ball even against a double team.
A point guard usually draws a double team and passes.

WSU starts with 2 shooting guards and no real point guard.

Those are not recipes for a lot of success.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Did a little research and for what it's worth, the only AAC teams that have smaller rosters than WSU (based on players averaging at least 10 minutes a game) are Tulsa, Tulane and SMU. Yay!!

[Dan]

HCIB is still coaching like an interim coach, as noted above.

TE should be used strictly as a catch and shoot SG. I don't want to see the ball in his hands coming up the court ever again. I don't care if everyone is hurt and the only options at PG are TE and Mo. It would be MO in that situation. The PG experiment with him is over. He is not a PG. Alas, I know that HCIB will not do this and he will continue to be allowed to act like he's a PG. He doesn't look for the open guy and he doesn't see the floor like a PG.

Porter, Dex, Monzy and Pohto continue to impress and I feel bad for them that the rest of the team is sucking the life out of this squad. JP and Qua are not cutting it. My starting five would be Porter, TE (short leash), Dex, Monzy and Pohto. Has to be an improvement over what we are seeing.

The offense seemed to get their sh!t together when they began to have some motion, actually ran a set play with Pohto out of a stoppage, and utilized driving to the basket as he go to rather than a chucked up prayer three. Then TE tried to go all Dame Time and the offense sputtered again.

This is so maddening because this team has so much talent. Not much height, but talent and generally battles on defense.

I have very similar feelings. I would add Council to the group that is the future of this program but it does concern me when Council and Monzy are in the game together as they both tend to get too reckless - we can only handle one at a time. If we just had another good ball handler with length that could shoot the ball we'd be in a lot better shape (or if CP could turn into a scorer).

[WstateU]

I enjoy some hyperbole as much as the next guy, and while I agree that Tyson as the PG has been a complete failure, Mo should never, and I mean never, dribble more than once.

[Shockm]

Just an aside observation. Similarities only, not exactly the same, but it struck me watching Kelvin Sampson against the Shockers on Saturday.

Sampson, Marshall, and even Chris Jans *when I watched NMSU once) have similar basketball coaching personalities. Constant Coaching, Constant Aggression, Relentless, bulldog, yelling at everyone (referees and players), Developer of players, never sitting down, All winners (although Sampson seems to have the corner winning).

Obviously there are other coaches who fit in this category, and some are probably not winners. We don't seem to have coaches with these characteristics although our current coaches have had to have won at various levels to reach the Div. 1 level they are at. They have recruiting capabilities, scouting, administrative skills, etc. Last year was a good year for IB. We won quite a few games, but showed some weaknesses at the same, and never really had very much adversity during the season. Seemed like magic happened last year. We won, but our metrics were average. I do wish that IB could have "cut his teeth" on being a Head coach before last year.

Just an aside and Interesting to me.

Go Shox.

[SubGod22]

TE should be used strictly as a catch and shoot SG. I don't want to see the ball in his hands coming up the court ever again. I don't care if everyone is hurt and the only options at PG are TE and Mo. It would be MO in that situation. The PG experiment with him is over. He is not a PG. Alas, I know that HCIB will not do this and he will continue to be allowed to act like he's a PG. He doesn't look for the open guy and he doesn't see the floor like a PG.

I enjoy some hyperbole as much as the next guy, and while I agree that Tyson as the PG has been a complete failure, Mo should never, and I mean never, dribble more than once.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

HCIB is still coaching like an interim coach, as noted above.

TE should be used strictly as a catch and shoot SG. I don't want to see the ball in his hands coming up the court ever again. I don't care if everyone is hurt and the only options at PG are TE and Mo. It would be MO in that situation. The PG experiment with him is over. He is not a PG. Alas, I know that HCIB will not do this and he will continue to be allowed to act like he's a PG. He doesn't look for the open guy and he doesn't see the floor like a PG.

Porter, Dex, Monzy and Pohto continue to impress and I feel bad for them that the rest of the team is sucking the life out of this squad. JP and Qua are not cutting it. My starting five would be Porter, TE (short leash), Dex, Monzy and Pohto. Has to be an improvement over what we are seeing.

The offense seemed to get their sh!t together when they began to have some motion, actually ran a set play with Pohto out of a stoppage, and utilized driving to the basket as he go to rather than a chucked up prayer three. Then TE tried to go all Dame Time and the offense sputtered again.

This is so maddening because this team has so much talent. Not much height, but talent and generally battles on defense.

[pinstripers]

Which one? :)

early in the game I think

[Ashockalypse]

Random thoughts:

Coach is blind to Monzy’s value and Joe’s lack thereof.



Coach Brown has not coached like a head coach but instead like an assistant coach who is filling in for the head coach who has been sick or temporarily suspended.

[mattdalt]

Bob Lutz @boblutz

That shot just taken by Etienne should piss off someone on this coaching staff.

Which one? :)

[pinstripers]

Bob Lutz @boblutz

That shot just taken by Etienne should piss off someone on this coaching staff.

wondered if anybody else saw this

[pinstripers]

Bob Lutz @boblutz

That shot just taken by Etienne should piss off someone on this coaching staff.

[shock]

3547668E-EBB1-42EF-8D24-A455B8F9ED25.jpeg

Went and got fuel, watched the start of the local 300 mile sled dog race, drove home, blew out both CV axles in my truck, watched the chiefs game, and only then did I try to ruin my day by watching the shocks.

This team is really frustrating because the talent is there to be a really good team. Hell, they just made the #3 team in the net work for their W on sheer hustle alone. The problem is the offense is horrible. IB should be embarrassed to be coaching this mess. There is no reason that TE shouldn’t be taking normal shots, except IB can’t scheme. 5th grade girls YMCA defense would have no problem keeping up with IBs offense.

There is one good thing about IB being HC. I think we are finally seeing why the team struggled for the last few years under HCGM. The fact there was any success at all with this staff shows how great GM was.