WSU vs. VCU game thread

[SpanglerFan316]

If you we're a trial atty you would be quickly unemployed. In 16 minutes there were more than enough opps for him to get more than one rebound when the opponent shoots 34%. We only shot 35%, so there were plenty of offensive rebound opps as well. You're giving Shaka way to much credit, plus you are reaching. Reddic wasn't the only one shooting while EO was on the floor. So you're telling me Shaka spent considerable time convincing his assistants that totally changing their offensive scheme & rhythm to get EO way from the basket was a good idea. Then rolling that idea out to the players so they could practice this brilliant idea. So you are also saying all coaches moving forward will see this brilliant idea on tape and say "hey, let's do what Shaka did & totally take EO away from the basket at all times resulting in 1 rebound for the big fella." You must be smoking the same stuff Cold is. I'll go back to my corner now and see how this plays out on Thusday.

Did you have an unhappy childhood? ;) (It's a joke.)

[ShockerFever]

3. Shaka Smart whines the MOST out of any coach I've seen lately. Yes, I respect him as a coach and the way he gets his guys going on the Defensive end ... but sh!t, cry a little more after every play and have the refs review a few more plays why dont you? ... he single handedly slowed that game to a crawl in the 2nd half.

I totally agree. He came across as the biggest whiner I've seen in a while. You can tell he has animosity built up when he begged the officials for a review for elbow throwing. They replayed several times and didn't find a thing. Not even close. Even the announcers were baffled why this was being reviewed. Shaka just came off as being more of a little Smurf baby.

And in the end, when Marshall could have flew by for the handshake after the big win on Shaka's home court, he didn't. He was gracious in victory unlike how Shaka was in March of last year.

I rooted for VCU big time over KU in 2011. I like to root for underdog programs. But I kind have lost a bit of love for the VCU program over the last 48 hours. I hope that loss stung em hard.

[Aargh]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...p-off-marathon

Hall was mentioned under the "honorable mentions". Our game was listed as the biggest upset.

Score I found in the linked article

Gonzaga - 84
West Virginia - 50

WVU was 15/55 from the field and committed 18 TO's. Yikes! Take that! Huggie.

[CBB_Fan]

If you we're a trial atty you would be quickly unemployed. In 16 minutes there were more than enough opps for him to get more than one rebound when the opponent shoots 34%. We only shot 35%, so there were plenty of offensive rebound opps as well. You're giving Shaka way to much credit, plus you are reaching. Reddic wasn't the only one shooting while EO was on the floor. So you're telling me Shaka spent considerable time convincing his assistants that totally changing their offensive scheme & rhythm to get EO way from the basket was a good idea. Then rolling that idea out to the players so they could practice this brilliant idea. So you are also saying all coaches moving forward will see this brilliant idea on tape and say "hey, let's do what Shaka did & totally take EO away from the basket at all times resulting in 1 rebound for the big fella." You must be smoking the same stuff Cold is. I'll go back to my corner now and see how this plays out on Thusday.

I never meant to imply that Shaka Smart totally reformulated his offense to get EO away from the boards. But I do think that their halfcourt offense is based around taking perimeter shots and around perimeter ball movement, forcing any center away from the basket. But he might have made adjustments designed to reduce the amount of shots taken in the paint (given how many we blocked), and long shots tend to reward rebounders with more innate rebounding sense than EO (who has gotten better at technical rebounding, but still isn't a natural rebounder).

On offense, I don't have a lot of excuses for him. It could be that our other players were taking the offensive rebounds that he normally would get, or that when he was in most of the missed shots were from the perimeter. When we were missing bunnies, it was Hall and Early getting the rebounds (along with our guards). I have faith though, that he'll get more rebounds in a more normal game, and the fact that he still played 16 minutes shows that Marshall has some amount of trust in him.

[SHOXAAC]

Did you have an unhappy childhood? ;) (It's a joke.)

Thanks Dr. Phil. No go back to your kool aid.

[SHOXAAC]

I never meant to imply that Shaka Smart totally reformulated his offense to get EO away from the boards. But I do think that their halfcourt offense is based around taking perimeter shots and around perimeter ball movement, forcing any center away from the basket. But he might have made adjustments designed to reduce the amount of shots taken in the paint (given how many we blocked), and long shots tend to reward rebounders with more innate rebounding sense than EO (who has gotten better at technical rebounding, but still isn't a natural rebounder).

On offense, I don't have a lot of excuses for him. It could be that our other players were taking the offensive rebounds that he normally would get, or that when he was in most of the missed shots were from the perimeter. When we were missing bunnies, it was Hall and Early getting the rebounds (along with our guards). I have faith though, that he'll get more rebounds in a more normal game, and the fact that he still played 16 minutes shows that Marshall has some amount of trust in him.

Thanks for the clarification.

[forevershockerfan]

Thank goodness that MA kept his cool at the end when the VCU player ran into him. A reaction is what is usually noticed. Mr. Stutz learned that last year versus Ill. State after being mugged several times and yelled "What!!!!!!!" Now that little bit of nothing reaction after getting the T put him on the bench with foul problems. Hall also was a class act last night after all the fuss and quietly left with the V for VICTORY. Now that is in their pipe and they can puff on it for a spell. I doubt VCU will want a series with us. The game last night bothered our Shocks being on the road about as much as a nuetral site would have which means "not at all."

[ShockerGorilla]

With this win, we should start to get some national attention. When do you think the votes for us in the polls will start rolling in? 1 week, 2 weeks, or more? I would think winning the Cancun Challenge would definitely help.

[tropicalshox]

We will get a few votes if we win through Cancun.

[Hurley]

With this win, we should start to get some national attention. When do you think the votes for us in the polls will start rolling in? 1 week, 2 weeks, or more? I would think winning the Cancun Challenge would definitely help.

Not to pi$$ in everyone's Cheerios, but while last night was HUGE win and a positive sign of things to come, bear in mind the ups and downs that come with talen but inexperience. Don't be surprised if we lose a few games to teams that leave us scratching our heads.

[pinstripers]

Not to pi$$ in everyone's Cheerios, but while last night was HUGE win and a positive sign of things to come, bear in mind the ups and downs that come with talen but inexperience. Don't be surprised if we lose a few games to teams that leave us scratching our heads.

now is not the time for sensible...........

[jrschh]

OK…I’m a bit of a Johnny come lately, but it was a long drive back from Richmond last night and I’ve actually been busy at work. (I hate it when that happens!)

Anyways, here’s my assessment of the game last night (Note: it was the first time I’ve seen them play this season.)

Overall Impression:
While this is only the second game in the session, I think this is one of the TOUGHEST teams we’ve had here, ever. They wouldn’t back down to any challenge that came there way last night. While I loved the sweet 16 team and the teams from the past two years (Heck, I always love the shocker teams) I don’t think any of them displayed anywhere close to the toughness that was on exhibition last night.

Defense:
OMG! It was the most intensive effort I think I’ve seen ANY Shocker team give for 40 minutes. (My memories date back to the early 80s)

I think we hit VCU in the mouth with a taste of their own medicine and they didn’t know how to swallow it. There were times when they truly looked shell shocked (including their fans) w/ what was happening to them on the defensive end.

If we weren’t blocking their shots (I can’t believe only 7 official blocks were counted) we were stripping the ball from them, led by MA. A lot of good defensive teams do one thing great (rebound, block shots or get steals). There wasn’t one facet of the defensive game that we didn’t excel at last night.

Not only were we doing the “stat” things on defense, but the help defense was just about the best I’ve seen in a long time. Whether it was in the half court offense or on the fast break, there was a Shocker always stepping in to cover for their teammate until they could recover. A true fan of fundamental basketball has to marvel at that.

If the Shockers can keep that defensive intensity up the entire season, then there will be a bunch of MVC teams crapping their pants.

Offense:
During the game I kept on thinking how horrible our offense was last night. However, on my long drive back, I realized that our offense was actually pretty damn good. I saw this morning that we only committed 13 TOs to arguable one of the better defensive teams around. In turn, (while we did have some forced shots) the offense got our players several open looks on the perimeter and Carl and company had opportunities w/ in 2 feet to make baskets.

What was horrible was how bad our shooting the ball IS. (This is referencing our perimeter shooting, specifically beyond the 3 pt arc) I think this will be a challenge all season. Again, this was the first time I’ve actually seen this year’s Shockers and my impression of our shooting the ball leaves something to be desired.

There are teams that are good shooting teams that have bad shooting nights. I hate to say it, but I think we are going to be a bad shooting team (except for Baker). Several of our players have some serious mechanical flaws in their delivery that they need to work on correcting.

Coaching:
I know this goes w/out saying, but HCGM had a perfect game plan. I like the little things he did w/ this squad to get ready.

The first (and one of the most important on offense) was he made sure his guys didn’t end bound the ball until everyone was ready. That little extra break appeared to calm the team down before they had to execute against VCUs full court press. A lot of teams try to get the ball inbound before the other team gets their press set up. The flaw in that is it speeds up the offense which is exactly what the press wants to happen.

He was creative in his player substitutions. I think he kept VCU on their toes w/ the players he brought into the game and the different looks. One minute he has a big line-up w/ Carl and EO and the next he’s moved Carl to center and Wessel moved to the 4 for quickness. I thought he did an incredible job.

Of course, ultimately, getting these guys ready on the defensive end sealed the deal. That flat out won the game for us!

Sorry about the novel.

[SubGod22]

Sub, or ShockRef, thoughts on the Early charge? I thought they missed the call, and even Elmore on the broadcast said he thought the defender was late/not set.*

Personally, I thought it was a bad call. However, block charges can be difficult calls and I'd have to go back and see the play again, and where the calling official was located to see how pissed one should be.

[SpanglerFan316]

Thanks Dr. Phil. No go back to your kool aid.

"No go to (my) kool aid?" My kool aid isn't motorized; I agree that it has "no go." ;)

[ripemupshocks]

Just for fun, Realtime RPI has us 11, projecting out at 27-2 (@ UT and @ CU). We are up 104 spots from yesterday.

And for more fun, MVC is #1

https://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html