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WICHITA STATE (13-17, 5-12) at TULANE (13-16, 4-13)
Friday, March 8 | 8:00 p.m. CT
New Orleans, La. | Avron B. Fogelman Arena
TV: ESPN2 with John Schriffen & Perry Clark
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Shockers’ 3-point outburst is unsustainable, but there is a ‘significant’ takeaway
https://www.yahoo.com/news/shockers-...hssrp_catchall
Wichita State’s 14-of-22 barrage from deep against Rice isn’t sustainable and Beverly isn’t likely to repeat a 3-for-3 showing — he had three 3s in total since Dec. 16 before the outburst.
But if the confidence gained from the performance leads to Beverly making defenses pay for leaving him unattended more consistently, Mills believes it would be a “significant” development for the Shockers.
But because Beverly has struggled converting 3s this season, defenses have routinely sagged off of him or left him entirely when he is on the perimeter without the ball. He is far from the only WSU player who receives this treatment, as defenses commonly leave fellow guards Xavier Bell (31% 3-point shooter) and Bijan Cortes (23% 3-point shooter).
The Shockers have struggled offensively this season largely because they play with very little spacing on the court. Because teams aren’t afraid to give up kick-out 3s to WSU guards not named Colby Rogers, the help defense swarms to the ball, which makes paint shots difficult and leads to turnovers driving into well-manned gaps.
As the season has progressed, Beverly has found other ways than shooting 3s to capitalize on the space afforded to him by defenses who chose to leave him.
If he’s in the weak-side corner and his man leaves to stand underneath the basket, Beverly has had success timing a baseline cut to the basket. If he’s one pass away on the wing, Beverly has begun to implement a “Stampede” catch — a running start toward the basket before he catches it, which allows him to beat the recovering defender to the paint.
This season didn’t began with many expectations for WSU in its first year under Mills, but the team certainly didn’t expect to be fighting until the final weekend of the season to avoid the cellar of the
conference.
WSU has its abysmal record in close games to point to, as the eight of the 12 AAC losses have come in two-possession games in the final five minutes of regulation.
“Talent determines your floor and character determines your ceiling,” Mills said. “There’s a certain level of talent you have to have to achieve something, but character determines your ceiling and for the most part we understood we were on par. But winning is in the details. Everybody is going to play basketball, but not everybody is going to play winning basketball. I think these guys have embraced and understood the things that need to get done in order to allow that to happen.”
The Shockers need a win on Friday to clinch the No. 9 or No. 10 seed (depending on other results) in the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth. It’s crucial to avoid a bottom-four finish in the standings, which would require two play-in wins just to reach the quarterfinals and all but eliminates a chance of a deep run.
Friday, March 8 | 8:00 p.m. CT
New Orleans, La. | Avron B. Fogelman Arena
TV: ESPN2 with John Schriffen & Perry Clark
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Shockers’ 3-point outburst is unsustainable, but there is a ‘significant’ takeaway
https://www.yahoo.com/news/shockers-...hssrp_catchall
Wichita State’s 14-of-22 barrage from deep against Rice isn’t sustainable and Beverly isn’t likely to repeat a 3-for-3 showing — he had three 3s in total since Dec. 16 before the outburst.
But if the confidence gained from the performance leads to Beverly making defenses pay for leaving him unattended more consistently, Mills believes it would be a “significant” development for the Shockers.
But because Beverly has struggled converting 3s this season, defenses have routinely sagged off of him or left him entirely when he is on the perimeter without the ball. He is far from the only WSU player who receives this treatment, as defenses commonly leave fellow guards Xavier Bell (31% 3-point shooter) and Bijan Cortes (23% 3-point shooter).
The Shockers have struggled offensively this season largely because they play with very little spacing on the court. Because teams aren’t afraid to give up kick-out 3s to WSU guards not named Colby Rogers, the help defense swarms to the ball, which makes paint shots difficult and leads to turnovers driving into well-manned gaps.
As the season has progressed, Beverly has found other ways than shooting 3s to capitalize on the space afforded to him by defenses who chose to leave him.
If he’s in the weak-side corner and his man leaves to stand underneath the basket, Beverly has had success timing a baseline cut to the basket. If he’s one pass away on the wing, Beverly has begun to implement a “Stampede” catch — a running start toward the basket before he catches it, which allows him to beat the recovering defender to the paint.
This season didn’t began with many expectations for WSU in its first year under Mills, but the team certainly didn’t expect to be fighting until the final weekend of the season to avoid the cellar of the
conference.
WSU has its abysmal record in close games to point to, as the eight of the 12 AAC losses have come in two-possession games in the final five minutes of regulation.
“Talent determines your floor and character determines your ceiling,” Mills said. “There’s a certain level of talent you have to have to achieve something, but character determines your ceiling and for the most part we understood we were on par. But winning is in the details. Everybody is going to play basketball, but not everybody is going to play winning basketball. I think these guys have embraced and understood the things that need to get done in order to allow that to happen.”
The Shockers need a win on Friday to clinch the No. 9 or No. 10 seed (depending on other results) in the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth. It’s crucial to avoid a bottom-four finish in the standings, which would require two play-in wins just to reach the quarterfinals and all but eliminates a chance of a deep run.
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