AN EARLY PREVIEW OF THE WSU BASKETBALL 2012-2013 SEASON

[forevershockerfan]

As the leaves begin to turn into the majestic Autumn colors at 21st and Hillside, we the Shocker faithful prepare early for another Season of Shocker hoops.
Most of the Basketball Mags. will predict us to finish around 3rd or 4th in the Valley with Creighton and Illinois State predicted to finish 1st and 2nd. Where will we end up in the Valley fray? What do you think and why? Is it not our turn to win the Lou?

Areas to consider are as follows. Before we jump to conclusions and predict us to win the Big Dance, when was the last time a Shocker team lost this many solid veteran Seniors? Is it feasible to believe that Coach Marshall's best recruiting Class here ever can take the black and yellow baton and raise the bar in speedy fashion? Add to the recruits the 3 key players that practiced with us last Season and learned our System by the names of Armstead, Baker, and Joe Mitchell. Then add our returning cast of Hall, EO, White, D-Will, Cotton, and Wessel. U like?

One of the recruits that was just here described us as fast and athletic? Will our quality depth be better than ever? Will Carl Hall double his rebounds and points as Stutz the clutch did last Season? Will our depth allow us to become a better defensive squad that can hound our opponents from start to finish all over the court? Is it even practical to expect us to be the road warriors we have been for the last 2 Seasons? Just curious as to what you all think and look forward to the discussions. This summer, the 3 players that really caught my eye was Hall, Baker, and Wiggins. However, all of our players had solid showings and the competition for playing time will be fierce. Marshall's teams are solid rebounders with depth to spare.

One last consideration here is the quarterback (point guard) position. Mr Armstead and Mr. FVV can shoot the ball and score. Armstead and Cotton will be among our leaders in steals and FVV could lead our team in assists. I like what I see on all fronts. What about you?

[another shocker]

I'll go out on a limb and pick the Shockers 2nd in the Valley (I picked them 1st preaseason last year).

They return more experience than people want to give them credit for IMO: Hall, Williams, White and Cotton will all of them surely contribute much. Orupke, we'll see, but I do like how Marshall coaches up his veteran guys, he forces them out front- Orupke might surprise.

New talent seems very promising- Van Vleet, Baker, Armstead, Wiggins, Lufile et al

Valley should be tough this year, but I believe Wichita State has some unfinished business. The chip is still on their shoulders (I hope).. turn that chip into a boulder, D like your hair is on fire, and, hey.. Shockers might do something eye-opening this year.

[wufan]

A look at guys with at least one year in the system:

PG: Armstead, Mitchell
SG: Williams, Cotton, Baker
SF: Wessel
PF: Hall, White
C: Orupke

That line-up is probably good enough for a 5th, 4th, or even 3rd place finish. Now we're adding Wiggins, Early, Lufile, VanVleet and Green. If two of the three JUCOs can give us good minutes, not All-MVC minutes, just quality minutes, I believe we will finish 2nd or 3rd. If someone really steps up…should be a fun year!

Looking at the rest of the conference, Bradley and SIU will be better but not significantly better. Indiana State and Missouri State will join them as play in teams. Drake and Evansville have the potential to be 9-9 again, or perhaps slightly better than that. UNI and Illinois State return basically everyone, but they were 9-9 last year. I think they max out at 12 wins. Creighton will be very good. Second place is there for the taking, but first place will require some special individual efforts.

[shock]

As the leaves begin to turn into the majestic Autumn colors at 21st and Hillside, we the Shocker faithful prepare early for another Season of Shocker hoops.
Most of the Basketball Mags. will predict us to finish around 3rd or 4th in the Valley with Creighton and Illinois State predicted to finish 1st and 2nd. Where will we end up in the Valley fray? What do you think and why? Is it not our turn to win the Lou?

Areas to consider are as follows. Before we jump to conclusions and predict us to win the Big Dance, when was the last time a Shocker team lost this many solid veteran Seniors? Is it feasible to believe that Coach Marshall's best recruiting Class here ever can take the black and yellow baton and raise the bar in speedy fashion? Add to the recruits the 3 key players that practiced with us last Season and learned our System by the names of Armstead, Baker, and Joe Mitchell. Then add our returning cast of Hall, EO, White, D-Will, Cotton, and Wessel. U like?

One of the recruits that was just here described us as fast and athletic? Will our quality depth be better than ever? Will Carl Hall double his rebounds and points as Stutz the clutch did last Season? Will our depth allow us to become a better defensive squad that can hound our opponents from start to finish all over the court? Is it even practical to expect us to be the road warriors we have been for the last 2 Seasons? Just curious as to what you all think and look forward to the discussions. This summer, the 3 players that really caught my eye was Hall, Baker, and Wiggins. However, all of our players had solid showings and the competition for playing time will be fierce. Marshall's teams are solid rebounders with depth to spare.

One last consideration here is the quarterback (point guard) position. Mr Armstead and Mr. FVV can shoot the ball and score. Armstead and Cotton will be among our leaders in steals and FVV could lead our team in assists. I like what I see on all fronts. What about you?

Sorry, I got distracted at "Stutz the Clutch". What did you say?

[Aargh]

C - Everything depends on Orukpe. Lufile wasn't a great JuCo post player. If it takes Lufile the typical 1/2 season to adjust to D1 ball, there's no true post player option other than Orukpe. If Hall has to move to this spot, WSU will probsably be the only team in the nation that goes 7', 6'9", 6'8" and has a 6'7" post player. Okay, maybe Hall is really 6'8". but if we have to give up 2" - 5" in the post, that's not going to be a good thing.

PF - This is one of the strong positions if Hall doesn't have to cover the post. Hall is an inside banger. White seems to be a 6'8" version of Hatch. If Hall has to cover the post, then White is the main guy at PF and Early is his backup.

Early - Early deserves his own comments. He's probably the most likely of the JuCo guys we've had in a while to need some time to get the "JuCo" out of his system. NBA prospect? Could be. I don't think we should have real great expectations early in the season, but I think he will be contributing by January or February. HUGE prospect for a true breakout season at SF in his SR year, but if he has to learn PF and SF this year, that could slow down his learning curve.

Wiggins - I think Wiggins is likely to be a natural SF in Marshall's system and I think he'll have less trouble adjustng to D1 ball than Early.

With that said...

SF - Wiggins and Early. I think Wiggins will start practice as the front-runner. This spot still goes back to Orukpe. If Orukpe and Lufile can keep Hall at PF, then WSU has Early and Wiggins at SF. I think Early will be the backup during OOC, but the spot will be a two-headed monster by the time Valley play rolls around. If Wiggins and Early can handle D against the 6'4" guys that Valley teams will throw against them, they could be the nastiest SF combo the Valley has seen in decades.

SG - Williams/Baker/Cotton - Williams obviously gets the nod here, but then what? I think it's going to be situational. If the Shox need a scoring threat, they go with Baker. If a defender is needed, they go with Cotton. Cotton has shown he can play D1 and he's a tough player. Good things happen when he's on the court. Baker approaches Goudelak range and is a definite "maker".

PG - Armstead then FVV. I don't see Williams or Cotton getting minutes at PG. Armstead is the experienced guy that Marshall will go with. FVV seems to be the future PG for 3 years, so he will get the minutes behind Armstead to get experience. FVV also seems to have enough talent to deserve to be the first option behind Armstead.

If Orukpe can be a 20-minute player and Lufile can be a 10 - 15 minute player, the Shox can challenge CU for the league title.

[mumdaddy316]

funny that there is never any mention of mitchell and wessel. they have a season under their belt,they know the system and will be way better than what a lot of ppl are giving credit for imo

[Shox1979]

I have nothing against Joe Mitchell, and many years I'd have been extremely pleased to have him on the floor. But with Malcolm Armstead, Demetric Williams, Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet and Tekele Cotton all positioned ahead of him at the 1-2 guard spot, I just dont see Joe hitting the floor. Unless HCGM goes with a small lineup and slides Cotton or Baker to a 3 guard anyway. Maybe Evan Wessel see's a little time if Nick Wiggins and Cleanthony Early have trouble adapting to the D-1 game. I love Evan's work ethic and size, but Wiggins and Cle are all-americans. During the Scott Thompson or Randy Smithson years, Evan would have been a great signing. His problem is that Marshall just keeps recruiting better players. Same with Joe. He's playing behind one of the Pac-10's best guards, Mr. Illinois basketball FVV, and 2 guys with huge potential in Cotton and Baker. Both good players and great kids, I just dont see them figuring into plans too much this year.

[ShockerPrez]

Talent is there to win big. Only question is whether they are going to go out, game after game and demand excellence. If they take games off as GM teams have been known to do, than 3rd or 4th. If they play on a mission, than who knows. Maybe having so many new guys and a new attitude will be a good thing. Following the newcomers on social media seems to show that they have a goal and a drive to achieve them.

Our size at the wing position could be very, very interesting against the valley.

[shocker22]

This years team should finish 2nd in the valley. We have the best defense in the valley by far. There is one thing that is consitent in basketball and that is effort on D. We won't shoot the lights out this year but we will turnover our opponent and score in transition.

[wufan]

This years team should finish 2nd in the valley. We have the best defense in the valley by far. There is one thing that is consitent in basketball and that is effort on D. We won't shoot the lights out this year but we will turnover our opponent and score in transition.

Rags shot 50% from 3 and nearly 60% from inside the arc. That has to be the rarest PG stat in D-I hoops. We won't have that, but we do return two guys that shot 35% from 3 last year in Cotton and DWill. Mitchell, Wiggins, Armstead (49%) and Early have all shown the ability to shoot 35%+ from 3 at JUCO. Armstead was in the low to mid 30s at OU. VanVleet, Green, Wessel, White and Baker all proved they could hit the deep ball in HS. As long as our shot selection is good, we will be just fine from deep and we should be able to abuse most teams in the post and off the dribble.

[shockerfan]

Because of the fact we have several guys who have seen very little, if any, true time playing D1 basketball I have greatly tempered my expectations for this year. Just too many unknowns at this point. My mind says we will finish 4th or 5th so that is what I am expecting. However, the POTENTIAL is there to finish 2nd or 3rd. Potential doesn't always translate to wins though. On paper we look to be 4th or 5th. We lost sooooo many points I don't know where the scoring will come from. Yes, guys have POTENTIAL to score more this year. But until I see it and who it will be I just don't know. I do think our defense should be very good though. Which could make for some low scoring games. With this team and the loss of last year's scorers that may be enough to do some damage in the Valley.

I'm not trying to be negative. Just trying to keep myself from a let down if some of the new guys don't produce as we hope. Should have a better feel after the first 10 games or so as how this season might unfold. It sure is exciting knowing there is alot of potential on this team though. Even if we fall back to 4th or so this year. Next year we should be right back in the mix for a championship IMHO as long as no major issues come up with personnel...etc.

[Dan]

It will be interesting to see how Marshall handles the guard minutes. On paper, I would say Joe Mitchell has more potential to play than Baker. He was a very good high school player and a JUCO all-american. Don't write hiim off just becuase he's paying his own way.

[tropicalshox]

Indeed we have an abundance of shooting guards. I buy in to much of what @Aargh: wrote but, Wiggins is also listed as a guard. I expect to see Wiggins and Early together on the wings a lot during their two years as Shockers.

[shockmonster]

Talent is there to win big. Only question is whether they are going to go out, game after game and demand excellence. If they take games off as GM teams have been known to do, than 3rd or 4th. If they play on a mission, than who knows.

This is an interesting backhand at Coach Marshall. There are very few teams (if any) who don't have seasonal ups and downs. It happens everywhere to every team at some time during the season. Do you really think that GM has a reputation for this?

[shockmonster]

Talent is there to win big. Only question is whether they are going to go out, game after game and demand excellence. If they take games off as GM teams have been known to do, than 3rd or 4th.

This is an interesting backhand at Coach Marshall. There are very few teams (if any) who don't have seasonal ups and downs. It happens everywhere to every team at some time during the season. Do you really think that GM has a reputation for this?

ShockerPrez, Just what did you mean with this quote? I'd like to hear from you.