Annual Fan Clinic - Sunday Oct 21st at 1:00pm

[1972Shocker]

This is the practice open to the public on Sunday that @WuDrWu: had mentioned earlier.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205018430&DB_OEM_ID=7500

I did call the basketball office and confirmed that you can register and pay at the door. You don't have to register in advance.

Hope that's right because that is probably what I will do.

[Ta Town Shocker]

Here are my key takeaways from this event.

Ron Baker is the real deal. Not only was he hitting shot after shot, he also excelled in the other areas of the game. He made a couple of nice defensive plays and looked comfortable against the press. You can tell he spends a ton of time conditioning and lifting weights as he is all muscle at 6'3 210 lbs. Put that in comparison with Jake White at 6'8 218 lbs. I had read lots of good reviews about him on SN but he still wowed me. He will be a huge fan favorite this season.

EO was the typical EO. He showed signs of progress but he also played terrible at times. Defensively he will be ok but on offense it will be like playing 4 vs 5. On a positive note he was able to catch the ball, however, he wasn't able to score the ball as easily.

Nick Wiggins is still learning the system but is quick and shoots the ball well from long distance. I would put him behind Baker as our second best 3 point shooter. Coach Marshall also got on to him a couple of times for being too loose with the ball. He will be a big part of our offense.

Early is gifted and athletic which led to a couple of great plays. His game reminds me a lot of Jamar Howard. I heard Coach Marshall talking afterward that he needs to teach him to play the 4 as we may need him there also.

Jake White looks doesn't look as strong as some of the other players but he played well during the game time situations. He hit a couple of nice shots and was able to get some key rebounds. He is smart and will be a key part of our front court.

Chadrick Lufile was extremely limited. I'm not sure what type of injury he is battling but we will need him badly.

Demetric Williams was on the court and looked good. Nothing really stood out that we haven't seen the last 3 years from him.

I think Armstead is a seasoned veteran that we will need on the court in key situations. He has the ability to hit from distance and is comfortable in the offense.

Carl Hall is ready to go. He was a fan favorite last year and I don't expect anything less this year. We will need him to stay out of foul trouble.

FVV looks physically ready to give us productive minutes. He has a nice stroke and isn't afraid to make the extra pass to find an open teammate. I expect that he will be a strong contributor this season.

Tekele looks like he has improved from last season and will also be a strong contributor.

It will be interesting to see how many minutes Wessel gets.

Word is that Joe Mitchell quit the team.

Thanks to Coach Marshall and everyone else involved in making this happen. It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[WuDrWu]

Chadrick had a shoulder problem a few days ago. He hopes to be cleared to go full speed within a few days then it's a matter of strengthening the muscle. I was impressed with his skill set.

[wufan]

Thanks for the info and I hope others will add their observations.

Mitchell made an intriguing tweet Friday night..."I lost the love for the game."

[tropicalshox]

Thanks Doc. Maybe being lose with the ball was what Marshall was referring to by needing to take the juco out of Wiggins. I think Early and Wiggins are getting underated by some. From a picture of the event on Twitter it didn't appear many fans attended.

[wufan]

I might be perceived as under-rating the JUCO wings. I know they are talented. I'm just not expecting tons of minutes before Christmas.

[ShockerFever]

EO was the typical EO. He showed signs of progress but he also played terrible at times. Defensively he will be ok but on offense it will be like playing 4 vs 5. On a positive note he was able to catch the ball, however, he wasn't able to score the ball as easily.

But at least he's ripped and looks good with his shirt off...

But seriously, thanks for the report.

[KraRam]

Ta Town thanks for the post. Wanted to make the event but could not. EO was the one I was hoping would have improved greatly over the summer. My guess is he will have limited minutes again and this is not a positive. Productive minutes with him at center I think is a must if we are going to compete for the top two spots in the Valley.

[Ta Town Shocker]

Thanks Doc. Maybe being lose with the ball was what Marshall was referring to by needing to take the juco out of Wiggins. I think Early and Wiggins are getting underated by some. From a picture of the event on Twitter it didn't appear many fans attended.

Wiggins and Early are both extremely talented and athletically gifted. It will take them time to adjust to Marshall's system though. I counted 50 people and that was towards the end. There were probably 75 at the start.

[tropicalshox]

Doc, did the session give any indication of a current startng five or who to expect in the rotation? Sounds like we have 11 ready to contribute.

[wufan]

Ta Town thanks for the post. Wanted to make the event but could not. EO was the one I was hoping would have improved greatly over the summer. My guess is he will have limited minutes again and this is not a positive. Productive minutes with him at center I think is a must if we are going to compete for the top two spots in the Valley.

I think EO will provide productive situational minutes but will be the 5th big after Hall, White, Lufile and Early.

What are the chances Williams comes off the bench?

[im4wsu]

My take on the practice is this:

Cotton just is always around the ball making plays.

White was criticized for some defensive lapses but made numerous three-balls. He's a player.

Baker. Agree with earlier comment. He can shoot the rock and looks comfortable in most drills. Cannot remember him bing singled out by coach for any "teaching moments."

Armstead can shoot when open and runs the team pretty well. Will play tough D.

Williams was Williams, made some plays -- shooting is about the same, probably a streaky shooter.

EO is well...needs some patience...gets in a hurrry and fouls up after making a good catch.

Wessel makes some hustle plays and throws up a brick. Then in the final scrimmage, he strokes a nice three and looks like he can do it all day long.

Van Vleet has a consistent very high arching three-ball shot which was just off a tad this day. He seemed to play good D vs Armstead.

Early had some good moments, but still needs to settle into the D-1 game. He runs so effortlessly.

Wiggins was "criticized" for being weak with the ball (and missing some weight room vokunteer activity), He can shoot, however.

Hall will not disappoint, although I did not see his "lengthened" shot.

Derail can shoot the rock. I did not notice him in game-type scenarios, and cannot tell you whether he was involved in those ot not.

Lufile was in some ball handling drills and FT shooting, but nothing else that I saw.

Coleby and Bush were not bad, but unremarkable.

Don't recall seeing Mitchell.

We've got a lot of work to do, but this was a two-and-a-half hour practice with much instruction. The "75" pressing defense was installed to blend into the Fresno zone defense installed yesterday.

The newbies beat the returners in the five minute scrimmage. In the early shooting, nobody could make anything; near the end of practice, everybody was making evwerything. It amazes me that the new guys can even understand what Marshall is trying to tell them to do. It is "red series - middle - 75 - Fresno - quick 5 and hedge on screens." Man pressure on the ball nad move to gap when your man doesn't posses the rock. We're talking a matter of a foot one direction or another. This attention to detail will pay off, but must be overwhelming at the moment.

[Dave Stalwart]

It's too bad about Mitchell. No one really knew what to do with him as far as predictions though, so I guess this answers that.

[Capitol Shock II]

For the first time this off season I am a bit worried. We have loads of talent but I can't at all see how the pieces will fit together. Additionally, next year I see Fred, Ron, Jake, Cleanthony, Tekele and Nick forming a pretty formidable group but I don't see any strong inside game. I am nervous about that.

[WuDrWu]

It's hard to be brief, and harder still not to put a season of expectations on 2:45 of practice.

Chadrick had a shoulder issue. Doesn't appear long term, but he'll avoid contact for awhile.

DWill is still nursing his ankle. He does most things however and is still lightning fast. He's a lot further on the road to recovery than I expected. This is good news.

Zach Bush went down with a lower leg issue late in practice. It did not seem to be a tweak.

I cannot confirm, but it would appear Joe's career is over before it started. Can only wish the young man the very best.


Today was 2:45 of hell. Those kids worked their tails for 165 minutes with very little down time. They are in very good shape now, and one has to think will be in fantastic shape as the season wears on.

Now that the team is down to 15 players, here's what we can assume. We know Bush will redshirt. I don't know if he'll ever be a contributor, but you can tell he loves the game, is a student of the game, works hard and wants to improve and contribute. When involved in 4-4 drills, he wasn't abused. This is not to mean I expect him to average 8-5 next season.

Kadeem Coleby will fit in nicely next season. He'd play, a lot, if eligible this season.

Derail Green can really shoot it. I mean REALLY shoot it. It is fluid, quick, smooth and easy as pie from 21+. He'll redshirt this year, but expect him to contribute next season. With his size and length, he could be a real handful for a lot of teams.

So that leaves 12 players, and to be honest, I have no idea what you do from here.

There's are reasons to play everyone, and reasons to sit everyone.

In general, what I took from the practice was this; there is some talent out there. Just when you thought there are too many new kids and they just won't get it (especially early) they run up and down the court and pass the ball 20 times without dribbling, looking like cannonshots, and make every jumper they look at.

You know, they are probably going to be up and down, especially early, looking great at times and totally confused at other times.

But if and when they "get it", and there is NO reason to expect a 3G coached team not to get "it", they will be exceeding tough for any Valley team to handle.