WICHITA STATE (8-3) vs. KANSAS STATE (8-3) Game Thread

[Stickboy46]

Looking at Mills History with ORU in order to find some data

Regular Season wins vs KP Top 100 teams: 1 (#48 Liberty in 22-23. Add +2 wins when adding in the 2021 Tourney)

Regular Season losses vs KP Top 100 teams: 35 (+2 if you add tourney).

So 1-35 vs top 100 teams (or 3-37 with Tourney Results)

Either that means that his system struggles with better teams, or he was unable to get the right players to run his system. Still TBD on that. Hopefully its the 2nd one and he can land some good guys in the portal this offseason.

(NOTE: noticed I switched from Top 150 in my post above to Top 100 here. Did it for ease of scanning the data. for reference though, record vs Top 150 is: 9-49)

[Stickboy46]

Did Kstate ever sign up to play us under Coach Marshall? I know ku didn't. Trying to remember.

This agreement was signed with Marshall as head coach I believe.

[AZ Shocker]

While listening to Coach Mills on pregame with Kennedy...coach spoke very confidently on how good of a rebounding team we were and thought we had an advantage there against Kstate. I remember thinking...why would you say that. I honestly don't know why it bothered me...but it did.

[pinstripers]

1. Worst + has been. Neighbor a half mile away said his was perfect, same provider.
2. We have athletes, not shooters.
3. We need a rim protector who protects the rim.
4. Yeah, we were out-coached.
5. The Cats ain't very good.
6. MK is a homer, but we got jobbed.
7. Cortes is fun to watch.
8. 500 is a reasonable goal.
9. No, KP did NOT have big-time offers while in the portal. No.
10. We will never sell out the Roundhouse this year.

[SubGod22]

One of the big problems in a lot of games we've had lately is Pohto is rarely receiving the ball in places where he can be dangerous to pass/create/score. I know he's had some issues in finishing in a few games, but we were at our best when we weren't going one on one 80% of the time and Pohto was getting the ball in areas he could create opportunities. The game plan lately seems to involve more of him floating around the perimeter setting screens.

Ballard is probably the better option for doing that as he's more athletic and is a bigger threat on the pick and roll. Pohto needs to be getting the ball in the high post/low post/short corner areas to be most effective.

First game for Cortes and the jury is still out. He'll do some good things and showed some of what he can do, both positive and negative. I love a pass first PG, but I'm not a fan of a PG that won't even look at the rim. He had a number of opportunities to put up shots from 10 to 15 feet and the thought never seemed to even cross his mind. There were also some just plain dumb passes. Maybe you can chalk that up to first game issues, but I believe that was a concern at OU as well. We can't rely on a PG who refuses to shoot and have a poor A/TO. We obviously have to give him some time to work back into the flow of things, but if he doesn't make vast improvements, we may be looking at a lot of PT next year for Zion, which isn't inherently a bad thing.

[ShockHat]

One of the big problems in a lot of games we've had lately is Pohto is rarely receiving the ball in places where he can be dangerous to pass/create/score. I know he's had some issues in finishing in a few games, but we were at our best when we weren't going one on one 80% of the time and Pohto was getting the ball in areas he could create opportunities. The game plan lately seems to involve more of him floating around the perimeter setting screens.

Ballard is probably the better option for doing that as he's more athletic and is a bigger threat on the pick and roll. Pohto needs to be getting the ball in the high post/low post/short corner areas to be most effective.

First game for Cortes and the jury is still out. He'll do some good things and showed some of what he can do, both positive and negative. I love a pass first PG, but I'm not a fan of a PG that won't even look at the rim. He had a number of opportunities to put up shots from 10 to 15 feet and the thought never seemed to even cross his mind. There were also some just plain dumb passes. Maybe you can chalk that up to first game issues, but I believe that was a concern at OU as well. We can't rely on a PG who refuses to shoot and have a poor A/TO. We obviously have to give him some time to work back into the flow of things, but if he doesn't make vast improvements, we may be looking at a lot of PT next year for Zion, which isn't inherently a bad thing.

May be looking at a lot of PT on the table as a whole. This isn’t gonna do it at any if the positions except for maybe Colby Rodger. I’m actually mostly okay with Bell. He’d be incredibly dangerous if he developed that outside shot and passed out every so often.

[Stickboy46]

May be looking at a lot of PT on the table as a whole. This isn’t gonna do it at any if the positions except for maybe Colby Rodger. I’m actually mostly okay with Bell. He’d be incredibly dangerous if he developed that outside shot and passed out every so often.

Bell has been pretty impressive this year. He's finishing at the rim at an extremely high level. If we can find a way to leverage that to get the RIGHT shooters some kick outs, we can be dangerous. Right now any kick outs go to Pohto or one of the forwards. We should be finding ways to get those kickouts to Rogers (Like SDSU was able to do with their shooter)

[Maizerunner08]

It's not just turnovers with this team, it's bad turnovers. On the flip side, we still have issues executing fast break offense when we get a turnover.

[ShockHat]

Bell has been pretty impressive this year. He's finishing at the rim at an extremely high level. If we can find a way to leverage that to get the RIGHT shooters some kick outs, we can be dangerous. Right now any kick outs go to Pohto or one of the forwards. We should be finding ways to get those kickouts to Rogers (Like SDSU was able to do with their shooter)

Yeah I actually thought Abidde has had some good shots. He did poorly last game though. I just hate that again, shooting is poor even though we consistently hear how great of shooters we have. So far Colby is the only one who’s proven that.

I do wonder why we don’t lean on him more…

[shocker43]

I didn’t read all of this thread, so probably some repeat comments in here.

I was at the game, left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. This KSU team is not good, but we have no shooters on this team. The two big lineup has to end, especially if Pohto can’t make a shot and is too soft to play down low. Ballard was pretty good, but he was just too gassed by the end of the game.

Cortes was fine. Tried to be too flashy at times. Had the ugliest floaters I’ve ever seen, despite having guys open in the corner behind him. Hopefully it’s just a first game thing. We’ll need him moving forward.

Not usually one to mention the refs, but they had a major impact on the game. Yes, bad calls both ways, but foul calls aren’t created equal. We couldn’t play transition defense without getting a horrible call. Meanwhile, Ballard gets tackled by a guy who had no shot at getting the ball, and they call a foul on us for an and-one at the other end. Insane.

I would rather be at AFH, by myself, than ever be around a KSU fan again. They’re just coded to boo. They don’t even know what they’re boo’ing about. Thought it was pretty classy for the student section to flip off Beverley when he fouled out.

[ShockerFever]

Looking at Mills History with ORU in order to find some data

Regular Season wins vs KP Top 100 teams: 1 (#48 Liberty in 22-23. Add +2 wins when adding in the 2021 Tourney)

Regular Season losses vs KP Top 100 teams: 35 (+2 if you add tourney).

So 1-35 vs top 100 teams (or 3-37 with Tourney Results)

Either that means that his system struggles with better teams, or he was unable to get the right players to run his system. Still TBD on that. Hopefully its the 2nd one and he can land some good guys in the portal this offseason.

(NOTE: noticed I switched from Top 150 in my post above to Top 100 here. Did it for ease of scanning the data. for reference though, record vs Top 150 is: 9-49)

How many of those Top 100 games were at home?

[ShockerFever]

While listening to Coach Mills on pregame with Kennedy...coach spoke very confidently on how good of a rebounding team we were and thought we had an advantage there against Kstate. I remember thinking...why would you say that. I honestly don't know why it bothered me...but it did.

It bothered you because he was lying out of his pie hole.

[1972Shocker]

We can't even kick to a shooter with a half decent pass.

I noticed that as well. Seems like most of them were ankle high.

[Shock Top]

I didn’t read all of this thread, so probably some repeat comments in here.

I was at the game, left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. This KSU team is not good, but we have no shooters on this team. The two big lineup has to end, especially if Pohto can’t make a shot and is too soft to play down low. Ballard was pretty good, but he was just too gassed by the end of the game.

Cortes was fine. Tried to be too flashy at times. Had the ugliest floaters I’ve ever seen, despite having guys open in the corner behind him. Hopefully it’s just a first game thing. We’ll need him moving forward.

Not usually one to mention the refs, but they had a major impact on the game. Yes, bad calls both ways, but foul calls aren’t created equal. We couldn’t play transition defense without getting a horrible call. Meanwhile, Ballard gets tackled by a guy who had no shot at getting the ball, and they call a foul on us for an and-one at the other end. Insane.

I would rather be at AFH, by myself, than ever be around a KSU fan again. They’re just coded to boo. They don’t even know what they’re boo’ing about. Thought it was pretty classy for the student section to flip off Beverley when he fouled out.

“Class” (and going to class, in some cases) left college campuses long ago.

[1972Shocker]

Yeah I actually thought Abidde has had some good shots. He did poorly last game though. I just hate that again, shooting is poor even though we consistently hear how great of shooters we have. So far Colby is the only one who’s proven that.

I do wonder why we don’t lean on him more…

Perhaps because other teams know Colby is our only proven shooter?