WICHITA STATE (8-8, 0-3) at #23/RV FLORIDA ATLANTIC (13-4, 3-1) Game Thread

[Blackmag]

Mill’s success will come down to recruiting and finding players who can play at this level. I’m just not into our offensive scheme. We don’t have the talent for a dribble drive, one on one offense. We don’t have the passing or dribbling skills to pull that off. He needs to adapt to the players we have. I do give props to changing up the lineup. We just don’t have the talent at this time. Time will tell

[Stickboy46]

The one positive for me was Cortes and Ballard connection. Cortes is getting better but doesn't appear to be a threat to finish at the rim consistently. Will be interesting to see if they can maintain that two man game.

And much better 3 pt shooting from Cortes.

Everything else looked about status quo for us.

[forevershockerfan]

FAU won on most stats too tonight. Out rebounded us by 4, six less turnovers, 7 more assists, 4 more steals, 8 more throws. USF will be also a tough challenge on the cold and lonely road by upsetting Memphis.

[shocktown]

Ballard with 18 points in 21 minutes, never thought I’d see this production, keep it coming.

2 rebounds though is unacceptable. I need to go back and see how many he had a hand on but didn’t secure, way to many. Burn a couple fouls attacking that ball like you want it. To me Big Q looks like he might be too nice and just doesn’t want to hurt somebody. Ding somebody with aggression and they will learn to respect your ability.

[Shocktoberfest]

Ballard with 18 points in 21 minutes, never thought I’d see this production, keep it coming.

2 rebounds though is unacceptable. I need to go back and see how many he had a hand on but didn’t secure, way to many. Burn a couple fouls attacking that ball like you want it. To me Big Q looks like he might be too nice and just doesn’t want to hurt somebody. Ding somebody with aggression and they will learn to respect your ability.

100% agree with this. We are always yelling at the screen for QB to get mean. Get tough! He seems to be a really nice dude. So frustrating!

[asiseeit]

Good scoring production from our centers. BC with a better game but needs to know his limitations in the paint. We don't block out well or take care of the ball. Can't even shoot FT's. Good defense the first half but terrible the 2nd. Chalk up another Loss en route to another on Sunday. At least this game was watchable for 30 minutes. Did anyone feel confident with ten minutes to go?

[ShockTalk]

We went away from the Cortes + Bell tandem and gave extended minutes to the least effective center, Pohto.

Ballard made 8 of 10 field goals on the night?!

I don't see what Cortes + Bell minutes have to do with Pohto minutes.

While Ballard was 8-10 with 18 points, he also played 21 minutes but had only 2 rebounds.

Our least effective center, Pohto, in 18 minutes, had "only" 9 points (I say that because he was 3rd in scoring), but had 6 rebounds (tied for the most).

I haven't seen yet where Ballard can play 25+ minutes a game and he may be more effective if he doesn't. But he's going to have to do better than 1 rebound every 10 minutes.

[MadDog]

So I wonder if this is the worst free throw shooting team in school history? This is about the 8th game in a row we’ve shot in the 50%-60% range. QB may be our best free throw shooter. I honestly believe our free throws may have been the main reason we lost this one.

[Stickboy46]

So I wonder if this is the worst free throw shooting team in school history? This is about the 8th game in a row we’ve shot in the 50%-60% range. QB may be our best free throw shooter. I honestly believe our free throws may have been the main reason we lost this one.

FT didn't help .. but main reasons we lost were Turnovers, losing track of shooters and allowing too many second chance points

[asiseeit]

I don't see what Cortes + Bell minutes have to do with Pohto minutes.

While Ballard was 8-10 with 18 points, he also played 21 minutes but had only 2 rebounds.

Our least effective center, Pohto, in 18 minutes, had "only" 9 points (I say that because he was 3rd in scoring), but had 6 rebounds (tied for the most).

I haven't seen yet where Ballard can play 25+ minutes a game and he may be more effective if he doesn't. But he's going to have to do better than 1 rebound every 10 minutes.

The King never misses an opportunity to dis KP

[ShockTalk]

FT didn't help .. but main reasons we lost were Turnovers, losing track of shooters and allowing too many second chance points

We had 14 TOs (yes too many) but have averaged 12.6 for the season. FAU did have 14 offensive rebounds (Ballard in 21 minutes had 1 defensive rebound).

[Stickboy46]

We had 14 TOs (yes too many) but have averaged 12.6 for the season. FAU did have 14 offensive rebounds (Ballard in 21 minutes had 1 defensive rebound).

Still too many TOs and too many of them in the critical points in the second half. That also doesn't include the "turnovers' that don't get counted where we just drive straight into 2-3 defenders and have zero chance of making the shot but still toss it up there.

[ShockRef]

Bell was Kind of a nice story at the start of the year. But his constant dumbass decisions have grown old.
Cortes is a wild card, but have a thought he is more coachable than Bell. Bell would be more comfortable @Drake or Indy State.
They played as well tonight for 25 minutes as they are capable.

Rogers can certainly shoot, but he gets lost on defense way too much. However, he needs to play 30-35 minutes/game.
They just don't have any other scoring threats.

Ballard, now we know why Miami said best of luck in your future endeavors.

That is all.

[Kung Wu]

I don't see what Cortes + Bell minutes have to do with Pohto minutes.

They don't, those were independent phrases separated by an "and". Poorly worded.

While Ballard was 8-10 with 18 points, he also played 21 minutes but had only 2 rebounds.

Our least effective center, Pohto, in 18 minutes, had "only" 9 points (I say that because he was 3rd in scoring), but had 6 rebounds (tied for the most).

I haven't seen yet where Ballard can play 25+ minutes a game and he may be more effective if he doesn't. But he's going to have to do better than 1 rebound every 10 minutes.

If you think the four additional rebounds led to, say, 8 additional points (statistically our points per possession is 1.something so 8 is being way more generous than reality), then Pohto's game was the equivalent of 9 scored plus 8 pts by rebounding and 2 rebounds ... or 17 and 2. Not bad but still always behind Ballard's output. At 1.3 ppp it would have been 14 pts and 2 rebounds.

[Kung Wu]

The King never misses an opportunity to dis KP

I've only recently jumped off the Pohto train, and it's because Ballard has stepped up his game and surpassed Pohto offensively by quite a bit. Pohto is actually slightly ahead of Ballard defensively, but the difference there is so slight that it comes down to the offense difference, and there's increasing separation in output there.