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

[molly jabali]

Have you and Wu given any thought to my last couple posts re team chemistry with the addition of TWO new players? How are IA and DR going to react to diminished PT ?

No idea how they react…. Great coaches are creative with keeping kids involved….part of Mill’s job… maybe does not have to be huge minutes but some minutes

[1972Shocker]

So we go from being concerned about having no depth , bitching about the NCAA waiver process and complaining about the lack of a point guard and how having RD3 and Bijan would make us so much better and more competitive to how are we going to keep players happy now that we have more of them.

If nothing else we are consistent.

[Dan]

Is it though?

You can question our team, but D1 is high level not matter who you play for. There are 13 players on a team and 8-10 on any given team get to play. All teams will have unhappy players.

[Atxshoxfan]

So we go from being concerned about having no depth , bitching about the NCAA waiver process and complaining about the lack of a point guard and how having RD3 and Bijan would make us so much better and more competitive to how are we going to keep players happy now that we have more of them.

If nothing else we aee consistent.

Kind of like some women I know, you just can't make them happy, always bitching about something.

[WuShock16]

Kind of like some women I know, you just can't make them happy, always bitching about something.

[asiseeit]

Don't like being misrepresented so I'll try and clear the mud puddle up a little. My posts did not say anything about any concern for a short bench. I simply posed a question to a couple other posters, whose opinions I respect, how they thought the addition of two new players would impact team chemistry. So far, just based on a SINGLE game, I pointed out that IA&DR had sub par games. I sensed a let down on their part. As the season progresses I certainly hope the new blend is a big positive but it had a poor start.

[SubGod22]

Don't like being misrepresented so I'll try and clear the mud puddle up a little. My posts did not say anything about any concern for a short bench. I simply posed a question to a couple other posters, whose opinions I respect, how they thought the addition of two new players would impact team chemistry. So far, just based on a SINGLE game, I pointed out that IA&DR had sub par games. I sensed a let down on their part. As the season progresses I certainly hope the new blend is a big positive but it had a poor start.

I would say it's too early to jump to any real conclusions. DR has kind of been trending down before DeGray was added. Though a downward trend probably should have been expected on some level as he started the season at a peak.

IA is also a wildcard regardless of how deep we are. It has been nice to see him get extended minutes and truly contribute, but this is also really the first we've seen of him in that regard.

Cortes really shouldn't have much effect on either of them. Cortes will allow Bell and Beverly to get a little more rest, but time will tell how much he will actually impact them or the game.

DeGray will have a greater impact on the other two. I'd think since he at DR seem to be fairly similar players, that may be the one who he will have the greatest impact on over time. But he also allows Ballard and Pohto to get more rest as needed. If IA can find some consistency, what he brings to the team is different than DR and RD and that could be pretty dynamic.

Regardless, I'd rather take our chances on some guys having a few less minutes to us having next to no depth.

Some kids hate having to compete for PT. If you don't want to compete for it, you probably don't need to be here next year anyway.

[asiseeit]

Thanks........some rationale thought to my question. Only time will tell how coaches and players respond. I need to be more patient

[ShockerFever]

I need to be more patient

You’re patient as anyone compared to a couple of the oddballs around here that expect instant success because Mills is getting paid millions.

[Topshock]

Kind of like some women I know, you just can't make them happy, always bitching about something.

If nothing else, here on shockernet, we prove it has nothing to do with gender.

[Aargh]

I've seen some dropoff in the effectiveness of Pohto, Ridgnal, and Abidde. It seems to correspond to facing better competition. The Shox are pretty good at beating up on and looking good against overmatched teams. DrWu's fool's gold comment earlier in the season was spot on.

Mills needs to recruit over a few players when the portal opens up. Nills seems to prefer spacing and a drive and dish game. Either hit layups or 3-pointers. The current roster is not well-suited for that type of offense.

[asiseeit]

Again, you can correlate KP's "effectiveness" to how he is being used in the offense. If he is standing in the corner don't expect rebounds and points.

[Kung Wu]

Again, you can correlate KP's "effectiveness" to how he is being used in the offense. If he is standing in the corner don't expect rebounds and points.

Come to think of it not only was Pohto getting dialed in at the end of last season, so was the future NBA point guard dishing him the ball. I think Pohto is only going to be as effective as the PGs that are feeding him. If Cortes can get dialed in by conference tourney time, Pohto might have a chance to shine at the end again. But if we can't get the PG to figure out how to best feed Pohto by then, then Pohto might struggle until the bitter end.

[WuDrWu]

Always enjoy Wu's posts and analysis. I actually have some concerns chemistry wise with the add of two players. I think it could have a negative impact on IA, DR and possibly XB as they see their previous roles somewhat diminshed.......especially DR and IA. I thought I may have noticed some of that vs KSU. What do YOU think Wu? Can Mills get them to play at their previous levels??

There's a lot to unpack here, and by that I mean a lot of variables in play.

Chemistry is always a concern and it's one of the toughest parts of coaching in my opinion. It's pretty easy to for me as a coach to pick my 5 best. It's an entirely different goal to find the 5 best together. And then factor in that even if you can pick the best group playing together, what is "best" against KState for instance probably won't be best against Ku. Then you have to factor in things like fatigue and foul trouble and who's hot etc etc. It's tough.

But let's kind of ignore that for the sake of this discussion. There's no doubt IA and DR had "off" games. Was it because of Bijan and/or Ronnie being given more time? Tough call. I'd 'argue' that Dalen has been trending down for a few games any way. I don't think his minutes are being stolen. Kind of feel the same way about Ike. But regardless of why, the Coach has to find the motivation that works the best for each student athlete.

There's no easy answer. I'll say this. So far, from what I've seen, I believe HCPM is capable of choosing kids to follow his lead, whatever that lead may be. It won't always be perfect and I'm certain from time to time there will be either push back or 'diminished production'. That being said, I don't think ANY of the 12 that are here would be here if he didn't believe they were likely to follow his lead. So for now I'll trust the process but I want to add, I believe that a player's stat line production can go down at the same time the player and the team get better. The hard part is getting kids to understand that, and again, that's the coach's hardest job.

My comment about 'losing the team' kind of addresses this....it's really, really difficult to keep kids happy when you're losing. I don't care how many points you're scoring or how many minutes you play. Saturday is going to be tough, to say the least. It's going to be a loud, big crowd against us and we'll be playing a bigger, faster, stronger, better team. The outcome could be ugly, probably will be ugly. That's ok....get better. Then let's see how conference goes. We have to find a way to win at least 2 of the first six and probably 3 and that's with 2 of them basically being losses. 3-3 keeps us engaged and in the moment. Something bad like 0-6 or 1-5 and you just don't know how everyone is going to react. I trust we won't find out, BUT I think it's Coach's biggest strength. Culture and team. That's why I'm not worried about how the guys will react to reduced minutes.

FWIW and it's not much, I know.

[WuDrWu]

To my favorite poster and long time friend… love your analysis , love your levelheaded ness , treasure your friendship… merry Christmas to you as well

If I actually do have any or all of those attributes that you have assigned me, I would owe a lot of it to your mentoring & example. There have been many times in my life when I asked myself, what would molly jabali do in this situation.

Thank you for making my Holiday!