Pre-Exhibition Thread: vs. Newman University (11/02/22)

[shock-it-to-me]

Some thing I noticed all night is that we don’t block out very well. They appear to think that they can use their athleticism to just come flying in through the air and snatch a ball off the rim but that seldom works. You’ve got a to put your butt in a guy

[Shocktoberfest]

Some things that stood out to me:

Craig Porter went for 13/5/4 and sounded as good as ever.

Shammah Scott had 5 assists (likely could have had a couple more) and sounded really solid running the point behind Craig Porter. Unselfish player but has the ability to score when needed.

Quincy Ballard had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 10 minutes. Start the hype train?

Rojas, Okafor, and Abbide make me hopeful that the PF position won't be the black hole it was last season. All three can score in a variety of ways and seem to get after it on the glass.

Without a doubt we have upgraded at the 4 spot. This team is athletic. There is potential for sure.

[Stickboy46]

My takes:

If there is ever such thing as an ugly 31 point win .. this was it. Team came out completely flat. Second unit brought the pressure and turn the game around with their effort. Second half was overall much better. There are a LOT of stuff to work on, but a few things to be excited about too. While execution definitely needs work, I don't remember many dribble off our feet or leg type plays that have plauged us the last couple years. Feels like there is hope we are better ball handling team. 12 TOs is still a lot but a lot of those came from errand passing or just poor execution. Hopefully those things can get fixed.

Most of my takes are from the second half because the first half was rough.

Porter: Looked really good. In control. Overall good shot selection. Agressive at getting to the rim on multiple occasions and finishing.

Scott: Pleasant surprise. Really good overall. Good ball control and movement. Good passing including setting up some nice pick and rolls and some good kick outs. I think he will end up being a great late add.

Ballard: Non existent in the first half, but really settled in during the second half. He really should be able to do 3 things. Block and alter shots, catch the ball on pick and roll, dunk the ball. He looked very serviceable against an undersized and overmatched opponent. His presence on the defensive end altered many shots even though he only had 3 blocks.

Pohto: Probably my biggest disappointment. He got bully balled on multiple occasions down low. His back to the basket game is still really bad. Hopefully a one game fluke.

Rojas: Another pleasant surprise. He was active and involved. Buried a couple deep threes, got a couple steals, some good passing. Felt like he was always in the play.

Walton: Didn't really show off too much today. Couple nice plays and drives but seemed really solid on the defensive end.

Okafor: Seems promising but struggled to finish at the rim. Did shoot 3-6 from 3 though.

No one else really stood out from a good or bad standpoint to me.


Areas of concern for me:
Overall Execution. Lots of polish needed. Seemed like players were getting bunched up and not knowing where they are at. Hopefully that will get worked out with time.

3 pt shooting from the guards. 33% from 3 isn't great .. even worse, only 2 of the 9 threes we made were from the guards.

Rebounding: Only out rebounding a team that we were quite a bit bigger than by 3 isn't great.

Positives
Defense felt solid. Some lapses early, but the pressure D was really nice. Will be interesting to see if it translates when we don't have an obvious athletic advantage over the opponent.

PG play: Porter and Scott feels like a very good combo. Granted its 1 game vs a D2 team but there cause for optimism there.


Definitely lots of causes for concern but also some causes for hope.

[Stickboy46]

It is on the radio, KEYN, but whoever decided to not put it on any TV station can kiss this.

interesting .. never knew this or paid attention to previous exhibitions viewing options.

[ShockerFever]

We have some good players but I just have no hope in an offensive game plan under IB. None whatsoever. It'll be hidden under the half-dozen creampuffs he loaded onto the schedule in the first couple of months. This has ECU basketball written all over it. Build up a gaudy record in the non-con against crap opponents, then reality sets in come January.

Not overreacting to one exhibition game on Novemeber 2nd. Just have a feeling this is the way it's gonna go down.

[shoxlax]

Really sucks not having Rogers who is clearly our best perimeter shooter.

[Atxshoxfan]

We have some good players but I just have no hope in an offensive game plan under IB. None whatsoever. It'll be hidden under the half-dozen creampuffs he loaded onto the schedule in the first couple of months. This has ECU basketball written all over it. Build up a gaudy record in the non-con against crap opponents, then reality sets in come January.

Not overreacting to one exhibition game on Novemeber 2nd. Just have a feeling this is the way it's gonna go down.

I used to hate your negative and pessimistic views, but for some reason ( IB ?) I've jumped in your boat. It will take several games of aggressive defense and team offense coupled with good rebounding before I will have any confidence in my shox. And that really sucks.

[Atxshoxfan]

Curious:
what was attendance for this exhibition game?
How much were tickets?

[Shocknroll33]

Okafor will score. And score when it counts.

Ballard is Orupke with hands instead of 2 bricks glued to the end of his arms. EVERY part of his game is at or better except blocks, and that might match by January. Gawd he needs to stay for 2+years. Yes, he will be a dominate rebounder.

Shammah is better than any backup PG we had last year,even with his limited exposure to Shocker I-Brown offense.

If Porter misses fewer than 2 games bc of injury, and neither are make or break the season games, he will carry many W's, and be on the cusp of 1st/2nd team AAC.

If Bell and Pierre are good to very good +/- on TO's, and average 13+/game combined, it will be a huge net positive from last season TE.

Jaykwon is the total package. If he hits a consistent stride by mid-Dec, he will be to win shares as Cle was 1st season of Cle. He is also the best thing possible for Ricks development as a 2nd gun. A hungry player like him is what RCouncil needed.

Our 4/5 rotation is going to be why we finish top 4 (3?) In AAC. Sooo many tantalizing combo options. The best part of it is we once again have some MEN down low. They want rebounds, they like contact, they R hungry. Rojas goes hard, Gus Bus only goes hard. As said above, Ballard came to play. Waaaay more fluid than I imagined.

We can once again win games on Rebounding and especially OR's. Wings and guards all have a knack for rebounding. Big difference is we have enough shooters to not crumble from 3 when 1 or 2 guys are off.

I trust in Pohto getting into a groove. Didn't show much, but will earn his starting spot. If he can shoot 36%+ from 3 on 5att/gm, we might just go next level.

This is just what I (the guy confident in a top 4 finish)
Saw. The 2nd half showed me that I wasn't wrong with that potential, and we are further along than I thought we would be.

Since I don't want to wait to "told you so" on the top 4 finish, Imma drop a prediction I can spout off about sooner.

"Shox are winning their November tourney"

[asiseeit]

Curious:
what was attendance for this exhibition game?
How much were tickets?

Don't know the attendance but if you don't have reserved parking it's a zoo out there. Had I known two of their cheapest tickets was going to be $60 I would not have gone. Have to have a better product for that. I'll watch on TV from now on or search for much cheaper tickets. Looks like there is some talent but coaching remains the biggest question mark.

[Shocktoberfest]

Attendance wasn't announced last night. I would guess about 5k. Also, the on court emcee action was much better than at the madness event. Hopefully that will get worked out as we go.

[shock-it-to-me]

Don't know the attendance but if you don't have reserved parking it's a zoo out there. Had I known two of their cheapest tickets was going to be $60 I would not have gone. Have to have a better product for that. I'll watch on TV from now on or search for much cheaper tickets. Looks like there is some talent but coaching remains the biggest question mark.

Nine dollar tickets on StubHub and plenty of easy free parking in my opinion. there were spots south of the reserved parking sections

[Signman]

Okafor will score. And score when it counts.

Ballard is Orupke with hands instead of 2 bricks glued to the end of his arms. EVERY part of his game is at or better except blocks, and that might match by January. Gawd he needs to stay for 2+years. Yes, he will be a dominate rebounder.

Shammah is better than any backup PG we had last year, even with his limited exposure to Shocker I-Brown offense.

If Porter misses fewer than 2 games bc of injury, and neither are make or break the season games, he will carry many W's, and be on the cusp of 1st/2nd team AAC.

If Bell and Pierre are good to very good +/- on TO's, and average 13+/game combined, it will be a huge net positive from last season TE.

Jaykwon is the total package. If he hits a consistent stride by mid-Dec, he will be to win shares as Cle was 1st season of Cle. He is also the best thing possible for Ricks development as a 2nd gun. A hungry player like him is what RCouncil needed.

Our 4/5 rotation is going to be why we finish top 4 (3?) In AAC. Sooo many tantalizing combo options. The best part of it is we once again have some MEN down low. They want rebounds, they like contact, they R hungry. Rojas goes hard, Gus Bus only goes hard. As said above, Ballard came to play. Waaaay more fluid than I imagined.

We can once again win games on Rebounding and especially OR's. Wings and guards all have a knack for rebounding. Big difference is we have enough shooters to not crumble from 3 when 1 or 2 guys are off.

I trust in Pohto getting into a groove. Didn't show much but will earn his starting spot. If he can shoot 36%+ from 3 on 5att/gm, we might just go next level.

This is just what I (the guy confident in a top 4 finish)
Saw. The 2nd half showed me that I wasn't wrong with that potential, and we are further along than I thought we would be.

Since I don't want to wait to "told you so" on the top 4 finish, Imma drop a prediction I can spout off about sooner.

"Shox are winning their November tourney"

Quick comment on Shammah Scott. He should be ahead in all of the sets because he was with Greg Heiar's NW Florida Juco championship team. He told me the other day that they ran almost exactly the same stuff. Agree with most everything else.

They do have a long way to go on boxing out. Agree with Shock it to Me that they are just trying to out jump everyone. That might work against D2 but not most D1 schools.

Help side defense / man - ball vision was inconsistent. Usually comes with the territory with young inexperienced players.

[JMAN_KC]

GoShockers says all 14 players who dressed; played. Any news on Poor Bear status ?

[SubGod22]

GoShockers says all 14 players who dressed; played. Any news on Poor Bear status ?

Still waiting on a waiver like Rogers.


I wasn't there, but I'm curious about the redshirts from last year and haven't seen much said about Ricks or Abidde. Can anyone provide any insight on how they looked? Did either do anything of note?