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

[Stickboy46]

While that is true. We didn't have as big of "talent" problem here at WSU as many tried to portray it. GM and Chris Jans were superb at finding superior talent, frequently talent that had been overlooked by others. My hope is that Coach Mills and his staff will be able to do the same thing. He did pretty well with that at ORU.

Yes and no .. His resume is pretty rough. One good year, other than that .. he never found the talent or system to finish better than 3rd ... in the summit league.

Point being ... what he's done in the past isn't going to work here. He's going to have to recruit better and change up his system if he wants to succeed here.

[Stickboy46]

Does HCPM have the stones to give some of his non-AAC players a firm handshake at the end of the season? I unfortunately don't see it happening...

Eric Konkol at Tulsa basically told the entire roster to get lost (I'm sure many left willingly as well) and they are much, much improved this season.

Depends on how he sees things are going ... if he thinks he has a big buffer on results because everyone is giving him a break for "what he inherited" .. then no we probably wont see him running off the players that aren't AAC level players. If he knows he has 3 years to get results or his seat is going to be really hot? then maybe we might.

[Topshock]

Yes and no .. His resume is pretty rough. One good year, other than than .. he never found the talent or system to finish better than 3rd ... in the summit league.

Point being ... what he's done in the past isn't going to work here. He's going to have to recruit better and change up his system if he wants to succeed here.

You could have said the exact same thing about GM when he was hired.

[Kung Wu]

Are you referring to Degray's pass on the fast break attempt?

Maybe it was Degray. He was trying to beat a defender 1-v-1 and sort of panicked and chucked it at Rogers who wasn't even looking at him. Popped him on the back of the head, I think.

[Maizerunner08]

I just want to get back to the post season. The NCAAs seems light years away right now.

[Stickboy46]

You could have said the exact same thing about GM when he was hired.

Actually no you couldn't have. Winthrop won their league 7 of the 10 years he was there. The other results were 2nd, 2nd, 3rd. It was obvious he was able to compete consistently, he just needed to "level up" to the MVC at the time.

Mills hasn't shown the ability to even dominate a lower level conference so far, so he's going to have to change what he does if he wants to do it here.

[shockerfan]

You could have said the exact same thing about GM when he was hired.

I am not one that likes to dwell on Marshall and compare every coach to him. It's like comparing every PG to Fred...it's not fair.

BUT

In 9 seasons at Winthrop Marshall had 6 regular season conference titles and 7 conference tournament titles.

So no...I don't think you could have said the same thing about Marshall. He was DOMINANT in his conference.

[SB Shock]

Do any of you who go to the games pay attention to the pre-game shoot around? Just curious. How many of our players do you see hitting most of their perimeter shots? Last night I watched pretty closely. We are not good at making uncontested pre-game shots. Now add a 6'7" freak athlete coming at you with arms raised. CR is our only option. Period. That is a huge problem.

I will actually count shots by both teams and see what % they are hitting of their 3's. I assume that is probably their upper limit. Especially this year, WSU has been terrible.

Against quality competition

Xavier Bell 2-11 (18%)
Colby Rogers 8-28 (28%)
Kenny Pohto 3-13 (23%)
Harlond Beverly 1-8 (13%)
Dalen Ridgnal 1-11 (9%)

There is no reason for this team to be shooting 3-point shots unless they want to save their energy from having to run an offense. For this team, a 3-point shot is a turnover.

We can also bury the myth that all we needed was Cortes eligible. 5 assists and 10 turnovers. 4 for 16 from the field.

[asiseeit]

This is why Pohto should spend more time in both the high and low post areas. He's done a good job at seeing openings and passing lanes when put in a position to do so. Though it also helps if you have guys not just standing around doing nothing when he gets the ball. Some of the times he forces things is because nobody gives him any other options.

Thank you Sub ! Now see if you can get that through to Singeril and a few others

[shoxlax]

Baylor wins by having more talent, as in big, strong inside players and dynamic offensive guards. They also play gimmick defenses that are effective. It is not because Scott Drew is a great Xs and Os coach. He is a hell of a recruiter who manages player expectations and playing time very well.

So far I see all of that in Tang, but not so much in Mills.

[asiseeit]

I will actually count shots by both teams and see what % they are hitting of their 3's. I assume that is probably their upper limit. Especially this year, WSU has been terrible.

Against quality competition

Xavier Bell 2-11 (18%)
Colby Rogers 8-28 (28%)
Kenny Pohto 3-13 (23%)
Harlond Beverly 1-8 (13%)
Dalen Ridgnal 1-11 (9%)

There is no reason for this team to be shooting 3-point shots unless they want to save their energy from having to run an offense. For this team, a 3-point shot is a turnover.

We can also bury the myth that all we needed was Cortes eligible. 5 assists and 10 turnovers. 4 for 16 from the field.

To quote Sub, this is why KP needs to be in the high and low post areas where he can be a facilitator, passer, rebounder and post scorer at times...........like the 2nd half of last season

[wichshock65]

Mills came here with a winning track record that came mainly on the back of Abmas. How many times did 3G say that having FVV on the floor made his coaching job much easier. Now without Abmas, can he still get results?

We need a leader on the floor. We need a PG.

[Stickboy46]

Mills came here with a winning track record that came mainly on the back of Abmas. How many times did 3G say that having FVV on the floor made his coaching job much easier. Now without Abmas, can he still get results?

We need a leader on the floor. We need a PG.

Was curious to see if Abmas' talent transitioned to playing at Texas since I haven't really paid attention to UT this year. Well .. he's "only" averaging 17.2 ppg, 4.4 assist to 2.2 TO, shooting 38% from 3 for a Top 20 11-2 Texas team.

So yea.. let's hope Mills can pull that rabbit out of his hat again. Would have been nice for him to land an Abmas style player for this year .... like.. you know ... Abmas.

[Dan]

Mills said. “We need to do a good job of explaining the urgency of getting to shooters.

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...#storylink=cpy

there's no longer an excuse for not having energy, or a sense of urgency. We have 2 extra guys now and everyone needs to play all out until they're gassed and ready for a breather. I don't know how many times I see one of our guys miss a shot or even make a shot and then jog down to play D only to get beat to the rim by the opponent. Not even paying attention to what's happening on the court.

[Topshock]

Actually no you couldn't have. Winthrop won their league 7 of the 10 years he was there. The other results were 2nd, 2nd, 3rd. It was obvious he was able to compete consistently, he just needed to "level up" to the MVC at the time.

Mills hasn't shown the ability to even dominate a lower level conference so far, so he's going to have to change what he does if he wants to do it here.

I'm not a Mills apologist but to be fair it must be pointed out that Mills was at ORU for 6 years while GM was at Winthrop for 8. Point being with the ball rolling chances are 7 & 8 would have been pretty good for Mills.

He also was not a one team wonder as besides having the undefeated season he had another team that went to the Sweet 16 in those 6 years