2024-25 Expectations for Shocker Basketball – “Way-To-Early Springtime Edition”

[Atxshoxfan]

He averaged 3 assists per game and was third on team in free throws. He finished the season strong. Expect he will be a big contributor next season

It was actually 2.4 a/g and 2.5 ft/g. Assists ranked him around 21st in the AAC. Those are not good numbers for a point guard and definitely show where his weaknesses lie. Both of those numbers are about half or less of what the leaders in the conference had.
I'm not badmouthing him. I merely stated that he was worth keeping but needed work in those areas. A playmaker he is not. But he could be with his ability to get in the lane if he could draw fouls and/or defenders then get the ball to an open teammate.
I attribute teams poor 3 point shooting, to the fact that we aren't getting the ball to shooters with space to get their normal shot off. They generally have to either rush their shots or make a move. Yes that improved the last few games but ironically it improved when Cortez began to run the point better.
I don't generally look at stats to judge a players contribution. I use my eyeballs and in this case the numbers confirm what my eyeballs see.

[Dan]

I thought XB was terrible all around as a sophomore. As a junior I thought he improved a lot as the year went along, mainly in his ball security, As a senior I expect a better version, although still not a PG, he can make do in a pinch.

[vtshocker]

It was actually 2.4 a/g and 2.5 ft/g. Assists ranked him around 21st in the AAC. Those are not good numbers for a point guard and definitely show where his weaknesses lie. Both of those numbers are about half or less of what the leaders in the conference had.
I'm not badmouthing him. I merely stated that he was worth keeping but needed work in those areas. A playmaker he is not. But he could be with his ability to get in the lane if he could draw fouls and/or defenders then get the ball to an open teammate.
I attribute teams poor 3 point shooting, to the fact that we aren't getting the ball to shooters with space to get their normal shot off. They generally have to either rush their shots or make a move. Yes that improved the last few games but ironically it improved when Cortez began to run the point better.
I don't generally look at stats to judge a players contribution. I use my eyeballs and in this case the numbers confirm what my eyeballs see.

Beverly isn’t a point guard. He plays the 3. He’s a secondary playmaker. He averaged 3.1 assists per game

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4431701/harlond-beverly

[Atxshoxfan]

Beverly isn’t a point guard. He plays the 3. He’s a secondary playmaker. He averaged 3.1 assists per game
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...arlond-beverly

And your point? I made a statement about XB. Nothing on Beverly.

[pinstripers]

Bev is not a traditional 3. He can't shoot. Bell is not a traditional 2 for the same reason.

[shockerfan]

And your point? I made a statement about XB. Nothing on Beverly.

I think the confusion is the posts you were responding to were people talking about Beverly. So it appeared you were talking about him as well.

[Shockm]

Bev is not a traditional 3. He can't shoot. Bell is not a traditional 2 for the same reason.

We all know that 3 point shooting (mid range shooting too) is our biggest weakness. Our second weakness is our ball handling. Too many turnovers and poor shooting guards are a losing recipe. Both are true of both Beverly and Bell.

Beverly can drive to the rim and finish, but he is an awful shooter from 3 for sure, and his mid range game shooting isn't good either. If he could shoot it, he'd be an All Conference type of player, because it would force the defender to guard him closely from the perimeter and enhance his ability to get to the rim. This happens to be XB's biggest weakness too. He isn't a good shooter, unless he is close to the basket. Then secondly, both are bad ball handlers.

By the way, while we are at it, put Cortes in the same category. Poor shooter and at best, an average ball handler. I'm not saying that all three are equal, but all three are sub par in these categories. Maybe one or two of these three will improve in these categories, but if not, we need new guards.

We lost our best shooter to Memphis, but that player wasn't any better than an average ball handler either. This is the story of our guards last year.

Sum it up..................We need better outside shooters and ball handlers, and hopefully we get some. This isn't rocket science.

[Atxshoxfan]

I think the confusion is the posts you were responding to were people talking about Beverly. So it appeared you were talking about him as well.

Well, I'm old, so maybe I'm the one confused. But I was talking XB, just not sure how I changed the subject from HB to XB.

[Stickboy46]

Both XB and HB have parts of their game that are REALLY good. HB is a really good slasher and can get into the lane and finishes pretty darn well. XB when given a 1 on 1 opportunity can bully most 1s and 2s into the lane and get up a pretty good shot, which he got much better at finishing this year. Neither are great distributors. HB is better than Bell at that. Both of them have enough skills to have a spot on the team, but its much more of a 15-20 min type guy with specific plays drawn up periodically to take advantage of their strengths. Neither are good enough all around to be the focal points of the offense, which is what happened a lot this year. Since much of our offense was just drive XB into the lane and see what happens, other teams knew as soon as XB started dribbling, they just needed to collapse on him.

So yea, not upset they are still part of the team, both are high character kids with strong skillsets even if those skillsets aren't very broad. I'll be more upset if the offense is being designed to run through them next year because we aren't able to recruit someone more well rounded for their positions.

[FadedCrown]

https://barttorvik.com/trankpre.php

89th in preseason torvik with a 20-11 record, not bad

[ShockHat]

https://barttorvik.com/trankpre.php

89th in preseason torvik with a 20-11 record, not bad

Call me what you want but I’d like to see us do slightly better than that. I know it’s a lot to ask but I want to make the tourney next year, especially as we’ll have to expect significant roster changes every single year.

[asiseeit]

The cards (players) are still being shuffled and have not been fully dealt out yet so pretty worthless info IMO and then the games have to actually be played

[Atxshoxfan]

Call me what you want but I’d like to see us do slightly better than that. I know it’s a lot to ask but I want to make the tourney next year, especially as we’ll have to expect significant roster changes every single year.

No problem, I'm putting WSU at #7 nationally in my preseason ranking.
While my preseason rankings may seem worthless, they are no more worthless than others who rank teams before trams are even formed.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

No problem, I'm putting WSU at #7 nationally in my preseason ranking.

Didn't realize some people were so low on WSU's chances next year jeez

[Atxshoxfan]

Didn't realize some people were so low on WSU's chances next year jeez

I'll move them up after they get a full roster.