Pre-Game Thread: vs. Richmond (11/17/22)

[SubGod22]

coming for you next.JPG

I'm not sure anyone is worried about that.

[Kung Wu]

Per KenPom, our "Minutes Continuity" stat is at 18%. Which puts us at 312 out of 353 teams.... So not quite bottom 5% but still really low.

Also of note:

D1 Experience: 1.44 yrs - 276 out of 353

[asiseeit]

Once again I agree with Sub. KP's defense was just fine. Notice RU didn't go inside much and KP gave up very little. He plays his role. All five threes were wide open looks and I would bet you the coachs WANT him to take those shots. I think most of you know he is a good shooter. Our opponents know it too and as long as they respect that part of his game they won't be sagging off him which creates more room for others to drive or work in the paint. His value is more than just shooting ( which I have faith will come ). He plays within himself and keeps the ball moving. He had an off night shooting the three but I don't think we would have won without him. He passed up some good looks so he sure is NOT a chucker by any stretch. MKR is a good poster but way off base this time. I called for changing up defenses last year. I think Kennedy may have had something to do with that after scouting them. All of our bigs are better defending in a zone if you ask me and it didn't hurt rebounding last night.

[CBB_Fan]

Regarding Pohto and his defense, I think he did good enough in start. If he was truly failing, Richmond would have had opportunities inside early, instead they only chucked threes. I don't think they even attempted a 2 until he left the court, which is exactly the type of thing you want to see from the anchor of a zone defense. I also thought he did the best of our starters at keeping his hands up, and challenged shots well without fouling.

Even the blocking call on the dunk was an attempt at defending that in the best way possible, just a little late.

Let me put it this way: if the result of starting Pohto is that all of our opponents start by shooting 8+ 3s before looking inside, we should start him all season.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Don't misinterpret what I am saying folks. I love KP and think he should be in the lineup always. I am just seeing things from him that I would have expected to see early last year as a freshman, not this year. I guess I expected more improvement from him I am not seeing thus far. I want more consistency from him all around.

[Mr. Pickle]

I think most of you know he is a good shooter.

Going to respectfully disagree. He shot 30% last year on 53 threes and is shooting 11% this year. I would stop short of calling him a good shooter and would prefer he reign in the 3s, particularly if he starts a game 0-2, 0-3.

[ShockTalk]

One potential problem I see with the Richmond game is "having to" play 4 players an average of 35 minutes between them including your PG who also had 4 fouls. No one off the bench played double digit minutes and those 5 averaged just over 6 minutes. This is with 2 starters playing 53 minutes while offensively going 2-14 FG, 0-7 3pt, and 0-3 FT.

Even with that, Richmond made the score as close as 52-49 with almost 4 minutes left in the game. From that point, we were 0-3 FG, 4-7 FT, yet Richmond didn't wasn't able to close the gap and had their own problems. Not sure how many times that will all work in our favor.

[Dan]

One potential problem I see with the Richmond game is "having to" play 4 players an average of 35 minutes between them including your PG who also had 4 fouls. No one off the bench played double digit minutes and those 5 averaged just over 6 minutes. This is with 2 starters playing 53 minutes while offensively going 2-14 FG, 0-7 3pt, and 0-3 FT.

Even with that, Richmond made the score as close as 52-49 with almost 4 minutes left in the game. From that point, we were 0-3 FG, 4-7 FT, yet Richmond didn't wasn't able to close the gap and had their own problems. Not sure how many times that will all work in our favor.

We have depth that just needs more time to develop. Not even FVV came out of the gate playing a bunch of minutes.

[SubGod22]

And neither Abidde or Ricks got off the bench.

[ShockTalk]

We have depth that just needs more time to develop. Not even FVV came out of the gate playing a bunch of minutes.

You're really willing to die on that sword? In what world do these 2 teams remotely compare? Certainly not in experience. You had all sorts of upperclassmen on that team, yet no one on the team averaged 29 mpg for the season. Also, only one player averaged less than 10 mpg (Lufile at 8.9) for the season. For the record, FFV averaged 16.2 mpg and played 56 minutes in the first 4 games of that season. Even White averaged 10.6.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

[ShockTalk]

And neither Abidde or Ricks got off the bench.

I am mostly surprised with Okafor, a senior, only playing 6 minutes after playing 23 minutes in each of the first 2 games.

But yea, those 2 should have more experience with the system than most.

[shock]

We need to remember how insanely lucky WSU is to have a player like KP. A WSU big man usually has no impact on the game until his jr and sr year. KP has been decent to good since day one. He’s an anomaly.

[SubGod22]

I am mostly surprised with Okafor, a senior, only playing 6 minutes after playing 23 minutes in each of the first 2 games.

But yea, those 2 should have more experience with the system than most.

I was going to say something about Okafor, but I wanted to verify that he played as little as I thought he did before doing so.

Only six minutes? He hasn't played that poorly and is one of the few guys who has actually hit from behind the arc so far.

I haven't gotten into analyzing all of the numbers yet.

[Dan]

You're really willing to die on that sword? In what world do these 2 teams remotely compare? Certainly not in experience. You had all sorts of upperclassmen on that team, yet no one on the team averaged 29 mpg for the season. Also, only one player averaged less than 10 mpg (Lufile at 8.9) for the season. For the record, FFV averaged 16.2 mpg and played 56 minutes in the first 4 games of that season. Even White averaged 10.6.

That’s quite a rebuttal to a statement about Fred’s minutes 2 games into his freshmen season. Talk about drawing conclusions. I suggest you re-read the post I was responding to.