AN EARLY PREVIEW OF THE WSU BASKETBALL 2012-2013 SEASON

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

There are 18 Valley games.

Oh, sorry. I thought this was a thread were you put out some facts then make an off the wall inaccurate, bs prediction including false info.

My bad.

[shocker22]

A few observations from your evaluation. The evaluation of Creighton is spot on. Illinois State is inflated. They are not the most athletic or exciting team in the Valley. WSU is the athletic team in the Valley with the most raw talent and will be the most exciting. UNI evaluation seems to be spot on as well. Evansville...where do I begin. While they may be under valued in the betting world because they play D and are scrappy picking them 4th and ahead of WSU is a joke. And Drake next? Simmons is a nice player but they don't have much else. Rice was a big talent and they will miss him. WSU's pick as 6th is just crazy. Coach Marshall will not let his team finish that low. His will alone is worth a couple spots. While Orupke might be a question mark we can still fill carl Hall in at the 5. This team has DEPTH. It might not be as experienced as many would like but the talent is so very deep. The back portion of the Valley is pretty spot on as well.

[DoubleJayAlum]

6th place is ridiculous, that garbage belongs on mvcfans and on a Creighton site because id like to see them lose some money in Vegas

Misplaced aggression? I'm not aware of any Creighton people picking you guys sixth....

I think you guys are too hard on the outsider here though. Remember that those of us outside of Wichita haven't even seen most of your guys play yet. I think you are the biggest wildcard team this year and, by far, the hardest to rank preseason (although I'd be willing to bet serious money you finish higher than 6th).

[Kung Wu]

I think you are the biggest wildcard team this year and, by far, the hardest to rank preseason (although I'd be willing to bet serious money you finish higher than 6th).

That's exactly it. We like to think we have "reloaded", but we don't have a clue. We certainly have "reloaded" for NEXT YEAR and a couple years after that -- no question. But the variance on the outcomes THIS YEAR makes it WAY too hard to say whether we are loaded or building until we have seen some action.

[ShockerPhi]

I'm with Kung Wu on this. It's just way too difficult to guess where we will land and the end of the season. 5th or 6th is definitely not what I would pick, but I don't think it's out of the question. We all like to hope and believe that we will end up in the top 3. And that's my humble prediction. We get 3rd in the Valley.

[SpanglerFan316]

Also please leave a comment if you have any information that we have left otu. With so many JUCO players, it is very difficult to get a read on this team. Any inside information is appreciated!

Several posters here provided information or insight that you seem to be ignoring. Your reply (below) to one of my posts addresses the trivial issue of the order of your current ranking and ignore the comments about WSU, DU, UE, ISU and CU. If you want "inside information," several people have mentioned Baker; some WSU fans have seen him in "pick up" summer games for two years and he may surprise you.

Again, the order of the posts are current value at this moment. That has nothing to do with how they will finish. Currently I think Drake is better but I expect WSU to move ahead of them as the season progresses.

I will be here all season long checking in. Feel free to bump this thread and let me know. However, power rankings can be fleeting and their rankings can change. They have to change to stay ahead.

I am curious if you looked at http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2...er-basketball/ ?

[BTBJordan]

That's exactly it. We like to think we have "reloaded", but we don't have a clue. We certainly have "reloaded" for NEXT YEAR and a couple years after that -- no question. But the variance on the outcomes THIS YEAR makes it WAY too hard to say whether we are loaded or building until we have seen some action.

I agree. I am a little bit confused with unwavering confidence when you have so many newcomers. I thought some people would respond with something similar to you. "We think we are going to be, probably should be, but we have no way to know until the season begins". As a bettor that is what I look for, unknowns. Road games are going to difficult for this group, as will the speed, they will now be scouted and the cannot just jump over the people guarding them (they probably still can over some MVC teams).

I want Wichita to finish second and make the tournament, the more MVC in the tornament the better.

My eyes have also been opened by the confidence though, this is a team I will be watching intently. I know this is a bias room and I have to try and see through that, but it is also a very informed and knowledgable room and the confidence in the coach alone is something many other teams do not have. (Drake fans). I may have been too down on them, we will see.

Spanglerfan316, I am not ignoring anyone but you.

[shock]

I want Wichita to finish second and make the tournament, the more MVC in the tornament the better.

Your first mistake

[Kung Wu]

I agree. I am a little bit confused with unwavering confidence when you have so many newcomers. I thought some people would respond with something similar to you. "We think we are going to be, probably should be, but we have no way to know until the season begins". As a bettor that is what I look for, unknowns. Road games are going to difficult for this group, as will the speed, they will now be scouted and the cannot just jump over the people guarding them (they probably still can over some MVC teams).

Right, while we can't be sure one way or the other if we have reloaded, we do know that even if a rebuilding year we are probably better than the Aces even in Ryan's senior year -- especially since all indications point to us being dang good defensively.

Also, 2 years ago we did better on the road than we did at home, believe it or not. That's rare, but it's the pattern Marshall established which is contrary to your statement about struggling on the road. Maybe that was just a crazy year followed by another solid year on the road, and with new players the road will be difficult again? But even saying with confidence that they will struggle on the road is speculative based on the past two seasons.

This truly is the most difficult year to predict in recent memory. Too many variables.

[moshock]

I think that the Shox's will be a top 3 program in the MVC. I will not be suprised if we repeat as MVC Champs. I base it on two things

1. HCGM is a winner. He has called this his best recruiting class ever and the cupboard was not bare before he brought in this years class.
2. I understand that we lost 5 very good seniors last season. There were many times when they brought in DWill, Hall, White, EO, and others - and we still pulled away from the Bradley's and others in the league. Just because some of those guys were not starters didn't mean they weren't very good players.

Too many people like BTB and others are focused on what we lost. They were saying the same thing last season when we lost Durley, Ellis, Blair, and Hatch and look what happened.

We had a ton of talent on the bench and are bringing in what 3G calls his best recruiting class ever.

Word to BTBJordan - Never bet against Gregg Marshall....ever

[shocker22]

We have our confidence because we know the caliber of players Marshall has brought in and what Marshall can do as a coach. What I know is that we eill be capable of playing 10 deep and we will play the best D in the Valley.

[BTBJordan]

I think that the Shox's will be a top 3 program in the MVC. I will not be suprised if we repeat as MVC Champs. I base it on two things

1. HCGM is a winner. He has called this his best recruiting class ever and the cupboard was not bare before he brought in this years class.
2. I understand that we lost 5 very good seniors last season. There were many times when they brought in DWill, Hall, White, EO, and others - and we still pulled away from the Bradley's and others in the league. Just because some of those guys were not starters didn't mean they weren't very good players.

Too many people like BTB and others are focused on what we lost. They were saying the same thing last season when we lost Durley, Ellis, Blair, and Hatch and look what happened.

We had a ton of talent on the bench and are bringing in what 3G calls his best recruiting class ever.

Word to BTBJordan - Never bet against Gregg Marshall....ever

He is only 70-70 ATS in his time at WSU. Remember good coaches win, great coaches cover

[im4wsu]

He is only 70-70 ATS in his time at WSU. Remember good coaches win, great coaches cover

Winning bet has nothing to do with quality of coaching, except in the eyes of the guy betting.

Since you put it out there, can you provide the ATS records for the MVC and Big 12 coaches for comparison purposes?

[WuShock Reaper]

He is only 70-70 ATS in his time at WSU. Remember good coaches win, great coaches cover

Actually, Coach Marshall is 109 wins and 60 losses in the last five years. So the ATS includes only 64 percent of his wins, but includes 86 percent of his losses in the ATS calculation. I would like to see the ATS calculation for the following to make a real comparison: Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, Bill Self, and John Calipari.

[Kung Wu]

He is only 70-70 ATS in his time at WSU. Remember good coaches win, great coaches cover

And since maybe all of two people on here cares more about Marshall covering than winning, there's really nothing else for you here. You either are buying what we have to sell or ya aren't, but nobody cares about spreads. You want to know if we can BEAT the Aces? Yes. Can we cover some spread? Who on this board cares?