Wichita State: vs Memphis (02/23/23)

[BostonWu]

Porter has become a really special player this. He’s cut down his turnovers and sloppiness quite a bit and has learned the push the ball. I would dare say he’s a cusp NBA player if he had a more consistent 3 point shot. He’s a better player than Toure Murray and he had a sniff. Not sure he’ll even make 2nd team All AAC but he’s one of the top 2 players on the floor just about every game we play.

Totally and respectfully disagree. I'd take TM 7 days a week and twice on Sunday over CP (and I like CP). To this day TM is still one of my all time favorites. One of the most physically rugged guards. To me that is the biggest difference between the two. His on-ball defense is the biggest difference. Defensively there is no comparison. It was very difficult to rattle TM when he had the ball in his hands. A very steady presence. And no, CP is in no way an NBA prospect, although he'll make a nice living playing overseas. Just my 2 cents.

[BostonWu]

I think a huge factor in overall fan engagement is we went from a rather entertaining alpha dog leader to one who has the personality of a cardboard box.

[Kel Varnsen]

A majority of this board is still on the bargaining stage of grief.

Different game thread. Still applies.

[Stickboy46]

Are you sure? I had a friend there that was amazed at how empty it was. He'd been to a game or two previously this year. Also, on TV, it looked like maybe 5k at best. There was very little seen in the upper half on TV.

Lower bowl was probably 90% full, upper bowl maybe 30-40%

[Stickboy46]

I think a huge factor in overall fan engagement is we went from a rather entertaining alpha dog leader to one who has the personality of a cardboard box.

Me personally I don't care what the coach does on the sideline. Has zero impact on my cheering. I know my engagement in games this year has dropped a bit because I EXPECT us to find a way to lose at home. That's the biggest thing. We've had heartbreaker after heartbreaker at home. Games that look like we are going to win all game only to find a way to lose it. So even last night, I was up and cheering but was expecting to lose it.

[SubGod22]

That 30-40% must have mostly been conveniently on the camera side as the video didn't show that.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Lower bowl was probably 90% full, upper bowl maybe 30-40%

There was a time late in the second half where the camera zoomed out to capture more of the crowd during a Memphis possession. I thought it looked like a pretty good environment on TV, especially with the student section rocking.

[Stickboy46]

That 30-40% must have mostly been conveniently on the camera side as the video didn't show that.

I wouldn't know .. because I was physically in the arena not watching what was shown on TV.

but yes "conveniently" the side the camera is on has consistently been fuller all season that the side the camera shows. (This is likely because the ticketing system seems to sell 108 first when selecting a section, I've noticed this in TBT tickets. I buy the second they go live and always end up in 108. The camera is at the top of 108)

But challenge away from your data you have from your couch.

EDIT: Just did a test with the USF game .. If you just select Upper Chairback (cheapest chairback seats) it assigns you in 107, so camera side. This matches with my experience. The system assigns the camera side first (probably just because its a lower number) which explains the "convenient" aspect of this. Also was shocked to see single game tickets for USF at 30-75 .. with everything non GA at 40 ... all before fees. That also explains why it might be lower attendance. (though they do have a GA BOGO offer it appears)

[ShockRef]

Was off last night so was able to watch the entire game.
As many have said, can not fault the effort. Guys were obviously energized for Memphis and ready to play - especially Rojas.
Memphis has AAC caliber athletes and it showed on a number of levels. They also do a lot of dumb stuff that their athleticism has to overcome.

Penny isn't a top level coach, but even he recognized that when Flanigan was in the game to attack him.
Flanigan is a great story, walk-on and such, but he is not an AAC level player. He would be fine in The Valley. But was woefully overmatched last night.
Pohto was overmatched also. Williams and Dandridge were too physical and moved him wherever they wanted him to go. He does fine against smaller, less physical post players.

Overall the team played as well as their ability allowed. They were highly motivated and treated the game as their tournament game, especially with an ESPN2 audience.
But now they go to Tulane followed by a trip south to Houston. I don't want to go as far as calling both 'lead pipe losses' but they will be decided underdogs in both.

That is all.

[BostonWu]

Me personally I don't care what the coach does on the sideline. Has zero impact on my cheering. I know my engagement in games this year has dropped a bit because I EXPECT us to find a way to lose at home. That's the biggest thing. We've had heartbreaker after heartbreaker at home. Games that look like we are going to win all game only to find a way to lose it. So even last night, I was up and cheering but was expecting to lose it.

Let me expand. GM was the perfect coach to engage the movers and shakers...the folks who pay the bills. From everything I've heard IB is incapable of this. He's basically forced to engage the donor base. None of it is natural or organic. Don't discount that aspect.

[Stickboy46]

Let me expand. GM was the perfect coach to engage the movers and shakers...the folks who pay the bills. From everything I've heard IB is incapable of this. He's basically forced to engage the donor base. None of it is natural or organic. Don't discount that aspect.

Oh i completely agree with that. I thought you meant the fan engagement DURING the games.

[1972Shocker]

Nice effort by the Shocks. No doubt the team has shown significant improvement over the past month although still some things they need to work on. But if whoever is coaching the Shocks is going to have to put together a totally new team every year then the chances of success will be pretty meager.

We have a few nice pieces on this team that we need to retain but we are also losing 2 of our 3 best players heading into next year and the depth on this team has not proven to be a strength and that will probably continue to be an issue if the mass exodus of players continues year after year.

[BostonWu]

Oh i completely agree with that. I thought you meant the fan engagement DURING the games.

Both aspects

[CBB_Fan]

This is the first time in the Isaac Brown tenure I felt the team has been better in February than November. I don't have any faults with our effort and thought our play was mostly at the same level as we've seen the past couple of weeks: more consistency, better rebounding and effort, and still a bunch of bad offensive sets. That said, Penny outcoached Isaac and that is why Memphis won. His team attacked the right people to get easy buckets, and he adjusted after half-time and got his guys to value the ball more.

Memphis is a much better team than we are, if we look at the full body of work, and we gave a good fight. That shouldn't be good enough, but I'm past anger.. I'll repeat my common refrain against Isaac Brown: the worst indictment isn't that we lost, it is that I expected it and my investment is so low at this point I don't really feel upset that we lost.. In years past, we'd have had pages cursing out refs for not calling a T on the uppercut, now even fan boards barely care enough to comment on it.

[Woodrow]

Are you sure? I had a friend there that was amazed at how empty it was. He'd been to a game or two previously this year. Also, on TV, it looked like maybe 5k at best. There was very little seen in the upper half on TV.

Looked like it to me. I've been to every game but 2 this year and it appeared to be one of the better attended games. The student section even had quite a few in it.