EAST CAROLINA (9-10, 2-4) at WICHITA STATE (8-10, 0-5) Game Thread

[shoxlax]

More to ponder in light of Doc’s question:

IB stays on another year and we are paying only two coaches and attendance would probably be no worse than it is now.

[rjl]

Isaac Brown was a much better coach than Paul Mills. There, I said it.

When Mills was hired, I immediately thought that Brown would probably end up at a school that's a rung above ORU, and that he may have success there. And in another 3 to 5 years a school that was in WSU's position may look at hiring him.

And it's going to take an AD who can discern a good coach from a coach who benefited from a homerun player.

[rjl]

More to ponder in light of Doc’s question:

IB stays on another year and we are paying only two coaches and attendance would probably be no worse than it is now.

And if IB showed no improvement this season, it would have been a lot cheaper to fire him this May than than it was to fire him after last season.

Firing him last season he was owed the full amount of the remainder of his contract, or around $4mm total.

Had we waited until May 1, 2024, he would have only been owed another $1.375mm.

[BostonWu]

Shocker faithful mad about attendance

They haven't seen nothing yet. Wait til Sunday.

[rjl]

By the way, tonight was ECU's 16th road win in the last decade. So happy we could provide that for them.

[Stickboy46]

And if IB showed no improvement this season, it would have been a lot cheaper to fire him this May than than it was to fire him after last season.

Firing him last season he was owed the full amount of the remainder of his contract, or around $4mm total.

Had we waited until May 1, 2024, he would have only been owed another $1.375mm.

Still blows my mind that we pulled the trigger without a home run candidate lined up. I remember when the news broke about HCIB , thinking ADKS must have an ace up his sleeve to fire HCIB this year instead of next

[rjl]

Still blows my mind that we pulled the trigger without a home run candidate lined up. I remember when the news broke about HCIB , thinking ADKS must have an ace up his sleeve to fire HCIB this year instead of next

Agree 100%. Almost everyone wanted IB gone, but I think most were shocked he was let go last season. I think ADKS seriously jumped the gun.

Then there were all the rumors that we had interviewed some coaches and those coaches turned us down because we weren't offering enough money. I specifically remember one of those being DeVries.

I think ADKS' first thought was bringing Turgeon back. Once Turgeon said no, ADKS was scrambling. But because he let IB go so soon, we didn't have enough money to attract anyone good.

[shox1989]

Absolutley pathetic performance tonight. This is worse than the 90s. Mills obviously is not the answer. Need to cut our loses now. I am beginning to think we need to totally clean house- The WSU President, Athletic Director and the basketball coach.

[ShockerFever]

Less than 4400 through the gates tonight.

Sunday will be less than that. Quite possibly a lot less.

You answered my losing streak question earlier (thank you), so next I’ll ask what was the lowest attended game in Koch Areha history (minus the obvious weather)?

I mean, we never dipped below 4400 in the 90s.

[BOBB]

You answered my losing streak question earlier (thank you), so next I’ll ask what was the lowest attended game in Koch Areha history (minus the obvious weather)?

I mean, we never dipped below 4400 in the 90s.

Tickets were cheap and home entertainment options were Matlock, Blockbuster, or reading an actual book.

[jdmee]

Smart basketball. Use up 20 seconds to set us up for a 3-point shot to tie the game when we're such a great 3-point shooting team.

But our only other plays are to use Bell to drive straight into the tallest guys and go straight up and get stuffed or have him throw a bullet to the feet of a guy cutting to the basket.

[Mr. Pickle]

This team plays like a team whose coach knows he can't be fired for a other 2-3 seasons. If there is any real accountability on this team, there doesn't appear to be much in the way that's obvious - the same stupid lazy one handed cross court passes keep being intercepted, the same drive right into three defenders and get stuffed keeps happening, and the same consistent blow bys and poor defensive rotations and transition defense continues to occur. His interviews about doing the same things more or less confirms this.

Mills is probably smart enough to know his philosophy isn't going to work with this group of players, and I would expect a mostly different roster next year. This year was a massive failure with recruiting, and a large chunk of that falls on Mills and his staff (sorry, but spending multiple years recruiting high schoolers isn't happening much anymore). He clearly doesn't have the ability to change his coaching philosophy and get the most out of the current roster. They aren't very skilled or athletic, but a great coach could have 3-4 more wins with the talent we do have.

The fact that we are lackadaisical in our warm ups and consistently look like we are just out there having fun playing pickup at the Y in my opinion translates to the game, and to me has a carry over to all the stupid turnovers. There is a consistent lack of focus that a good coach needs to be able to direct and control to some degree.

This program in general is a giant mess, and one I am slowly losing the desire to care much about. Don't see much care from our athletic department, our basketball staff, or our players, and that has trickled down to me. Just one man's opinions...

[Topshock]

It was about eight games ago that I commented something to the effect - " I'll be the first to say it........Mills' is not the answer" Even I didn't know how right I was back then. Now, in defense of KP again. He played only 12 minutes tonight and was 2-3 from the field yet everyone is still all over him. QB was great but you can't pin the loss on KP. I keep telling all of you that together they are the strength of the team. Keep them both and recruit over the rest. Wish Acy could take over for Mills'.

Classic example of: if you throw enough crap on the wall something will stick.

[Kung Wu]

Cortes' Box +/- was terrible at -14.2. But Bell's was -18.5. Yikes!

However on the other hand, Ballard's BPM was 12.2. He's gonna look real sharp in a Top-25 Nike uniform next season. You know, the kind that doesn't have mirrored 2s for 5s.

[Dan]

1. Mills is gonna get 3years, just have to buckle up. Maybe we lose the entire fanbase like happened in baseball, but it is what it is.
2. People forget he also had Kevin Obanor at ORU. He transferred to TX Tech the year before Mills left.
3. A roster overhaul is needed. Only a Fab 5 type class will bring excitement back.
4. If Mills brings back any of the returners outside of Ballard he must tell them they are minor players. Set the expectations as soon as the season ends.
5. Recruit Recruit and Recruit some more.