NORTH TEXAS (7-5, 0-0) at WICHITA STATE (8-5, 0-0) Game Thread

[Singeril]

Guess I'll have to be the first one to say it............Mills is not the answer. I have seen pick up teams play together better than we did tonight. Several analysts have pointed out we need to play through KP. See any of that tonight? Mills does not know how to use him. Don't blame KP on his numbers blame how he is being used in the offense. If I was Mills there are only three players I'd like to keep for next year. Rogers, I guess, QB and KP. Build around those three and encourage the rest to find a D2 home somewhere. Hit the portal HARD. Having said that they still have to coach to their players strengths instead of the coach's preferred style. It's not working for this group of players. I'm ready to see Mcbride get some minutes and Germany.

Sorry. I disagree. KP has soft hands and doesn’t jump. He has not improved during his time at WSU and that isn’t all on the coach. He isn’t a strong presence and reaches instead of going after the ball. He is also very predictable. Try disappointing.

[shockerfan]

I say run Rogers off of 4 screens and let him jack it up and let Ridgnal roll to rebound if he misses. If he puts up 60- 70 shots a game we might have a chance in some of the remaining games.....lol

[Stickboy46]

What is our identity?

Our identity revolves around TOUGHNESS

Like we love to ratchet up the TOUGHNESS by taking hard contested shots

[ShockRef]

What is our identity?

Well...I know what it is not.
HCPM is a confident, proven recruiter. He needs to be cuz no more Drexel, OU or Missouri castoffs are going to get the job done.
I wasn't embarrassedly what was put on the floor tonight, but fortunately time expired.
X was never promoted as the PG savior. Cortes isn't the answer either.
They, like KP are roster fillers until better talent arrives.

And... it can not get here soon enough.
There were more dumb decision on the floor than I could count tonight.
UNT is no national power, but they made WSU look JuCo level at times.
CR is AAC level, and there are some athletes on this team. However, this team is woefully short on AAC level talent.

There are pieces on the current team to be successful. And that's about it.
HCPM and staff have their work cut out for them. I have a lot of confidence in them to get it done.
But its going to take some patience of Shocker faithful, cuz the shitpile left to this staff by the previous staff is deeper than once thought.

That is all.

[BostonWu]

My care factor graded out poor after tonight. Now I gotta search for my fan identity with this program. Time to transfer? I'm looking for PBR NIL deal.

[asiseeit]

Right now our "identity" is a poorly coached bunch of selfish players with low BBIQ's and will to win

[shocktown]

I say run Rogers off of 4 screens and let him jack it up and let Ridgnal roll to rebound if he misses. If he puts up 60- 70 shots a game we might have a chance in some of the remaining games.....lol

Break out the E-ville tapes from yester-year and run some Martyball offense!

[BAShocker]

We don’t pull some magic out of the hat at Temple, we will be a blocked shot at the buzzer away (SIU) from losing 9 in a row…at least.

9.

[shocktown]

Hide the women and children, next home date is Memphis on the 14th

[ShockRef]

Right now our "identity" is a poorly coached bunch of selfish players with low BBIQ's and will to win

Poorly coached is a bit much.
Not a lot there to take and turn into winners.
Pohto is a really nice kid. I was happy when he stayed to fill out the roster. But his new name should be Charmin, cuz he is that soft.
XB is a nice 10-12/mpg type of player. Any more minutes and he becomes a liability.
I can see why Miami told Beverly to look elsewhere. Not AAC or AAC level.
Ditto with DeGray and Cortes.

HCPM and his staff better spend 25+ hours/day on the recruiting trail. The IB leftovers and what they could grab in the short term isn't going to get it done.

That is all.

[ShockTalk]

Bell is just hurting this team, IMO. He doesn’t pass the ball and when he does he throws it to the ankles. He forces way too many shots. I’m just over watching him run this team into the ground so he can get his points.

I didn't watch the game, so all I have is the stats. Bell had an awful shooting night. For the season, he is 33% from 3 and 45 % overall.

However, he had 4 assists (double anybody else on the team) and only 2 TOs. Ridgnal was the only other positive plus/minus at 2 assists and 1 TO. Cortes was 0/4. So, you're sure we have better? We had 10....10 assists to go with 14 TOs.

[Aargh]

I have commitments on Thursday evenings, so I didn't get to watch the game. I caught bits and pieces here and there and did some digging on Live Stats. Just from that I have some observations

1. We got beat in EVERY category that's tracked in stats.

2. From the little I watched, we got beat in EVERY category that isn't tracked by stats. Example: Two guys standing at the basket after a NT shot and neither one saw the NT guard who just ran past them for a point blank put back I could have made.

3. Shox need more basketball players on the roster. Too many on the roster who can play basketball, but aren't basketball players. Wholesale changes out of the portal might be an option. That's desperation, but maintaining the current roster with the current coaching staff isn't looking promising.

4. In the battle of first-year coaches, Mills came out the BIG loser. Inherited rosters affected that, but Mills needs to turn a corner with this team pretty quick or he's going to lose the remnants of the fan base that are still going to games.

5. Maybe this group of players would respond better to an ass-chewing than a piece of paper with a score given to them in the locker room.

6. There are going to be some 3,000 - 4,000 sized crowds in our future.

7. In this system Pohto is a fish out of water - and in a block of styrofoam.

8. Maybe the fact that one of our better rotation players couldn't get a starting spot at Missouri State is an actual indication of the talent on this team compared to other teams.

I've got more, including a new way of looking at Mills that is losing some of my earlier "give him a chance, he's new" thoughtds, but this post is already too long. And he's not that new any more.

Unfortunately, it's hard to do a rebuild when the players you've got from the portal are some of the ones that need to be replaced.

Oh, one more

9. With a 6'10" guy and a 6'11" guy starting, we got beat on points in the paint. That's probably because we don't have guys who can consistently hit from 3. Valley teams who recruit unathletic guys from Indiana and Iowa who can hit 3's would beat us on points in the paint with 6'7" post players.

[SubGod22]

I'm really regretting the trip I booked to catch the Shox on the road. Hopefully the rest of my trip will be memorable or they pull their heads out of their asses and figure out how to play basketball in the next few weeks.

Best chances at wins moving forward are UTSA and Rice. Next best are ECU and USF.

Outside of those, it's going to take a ****ing miracle to find wins

[ShockerFever]

First game I've attended in person in 4 years. A Christmas present for my dad.

I'm not sure if there's a better way to keep fans away than watching that one. Now I know things have changed a lot in 4 years but that was probably the most frustrating, painful experience I've had in Koch Arena in at least 20 years. And by painful, I mean excruciatingly hard to watch.

Bell is a lost cause. 0 for everything. I'm not sure why he gets the minutes he does. I'm sorry but if you're gonna drive it into the lane every single time you touch the ball, you better make the freaking free throws if you get the whistle. Beverly is also looking like the same category. Just forces everything, doesn't look to pass, and has some of the worst finishes I've ever seen. Pohto is what he is at this point. At least he only took 1 three this time. But why doesn't Ballard get more minutes? Is it fatigue? And why don't we go through him more? Ridginal brings so much energy and effort. He definitely is above DeGray on the charts. Not even close. And Cortes makes some stupid turnovers but at least he can make free throws. I'd take him over Bell. This should be Rogers and Ballard's show on offense and we just don't act like we know what the plan is. The offense is not fluid at all. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on there. Tonight, I saw some actual defense get played for the first time in forever but it seemed like the game was basically out of reach for most of that time.

I know it's Year 1 and I've been preaching patience but good Lord. North Texas just came in here and owned us. From the tip. I'm thinking Doc's win prediction is going to be closer to correct than some realize. This is a double-digit conference tournament seed come March. This is gonna be rough before hopefully it gets better.

Yuck.

[wichshock65]

My last Root Canal was more enjoyable to sit through than that game was. Thank god for the Grannies so we could see some enjoyable basketball.

I wish I was exaggerating but I’m really not. Yuck.