Northern Iowa (2-1) at Wichita State (2-0) Game Discussion: Nov 14 (Thu)

[Stickboy46]

I picked win by 5-10 because its guaranteed that someone will hit more 3s vs us than they will the rest of the year combined. Plus they will get 72 charge calls from flopping and we will be playing the deep bench.

[JVShocker]

Northern Iowa is always a tough game to prepare for. They used to have a saying..."make every free throw." UNI has a balanced roster of Senior thru frosh. Probably led by Tytan Anderson, J. Huton and C. Schmitt. B Schweiger is a very capable shooter as well. There's not a Shocker fan alive that doesn't understand how well bad guys can shoot in Koch Arena, while the Shockers have tendencies to shoot like Stormtroopers (historically, anyway). UNI shoots almost 42% from 3 as a team, so they will play on the perimeter and possibly work in and kick out. Shocks will have to be quick defensively and not entirely sag off on the outside guys.

Not entirely sure of their individual defense, but I would guess their team D will be OK. So WSU will need some makers. Don't know if UNI plays any zone, but I would think our quickness will be a problem for them on dribble penetration. They just lost at home to UC Irvine by 20 where they were favored by 1-2 points. A game where they shot 41% from 3 but they only made 7 of them. Don't know why the hesitancy to shoot, but it sounds like they got gun shy towards the middle/end of the game and UCIrvine was backing off on guys who maybe weren't as proficient at the 3ball. Also to be fair, UC Irvine may not be totally crap, they currently lead the Big West and have won their 3 games with an average margin of more than 20 pts.

So they have decent size (again, quickness I'm not entirely sure about). T. Anderson is a 5th year player (Covid?) and leads them (3 ball % of over 60% currently), so I expect he will be a focal point. If our quickness is problematic for them, watch for them to try and draw charges (or flops as they have been known to do). LOL

I think UNI bounces back from their bad loss at home in a better showing, but the Shocks get the win. Control the boards well and convert easy baskets and WSU wins by 20, but I'd say 15 because I could see UNI making some shots late to keep the difference closer.

And Go Shocks!

[Kel Varnsen]

Love this. Glad he'll be back in the building.

[WuDrWu]

Love this. Glad he'll be back in the building.

I'm guessing there will be some prominent alumni from that era that join him, or at least I hope there are.

Literally no one here understands the depth of distaste I have for Ku and their offspring. I don't expect anyone to....but Mark was about 100 times better than I dreamed he would be and he treated everyone in Wichita like his own family and represented our school and program and city with passion, class, love and professionalism....all of which we DESPERATELY needed at that time.

He doesn't get enough credit for what he did here, regardless of when and how anyone thinks he left (and let's face facts, we were ALL better because of it), and I hope this Thursday the WSU fan base shows up and let's Mark and his family know how much he is appreciated here.

[SubGod22]

He will always be haunted by his "at this level" comments.

[shockerfan]

I'm guessing there will be some prominent alumni from that era that join him, or at least I hope there are.

Literally no one here understands the depth of distaste I have for Ku and their offspring. I don't expect anyone to....but Mark was about 100 times better than I dreamed he would be and he treated everyone in Wichita like his own family and represented our school and program and city with passion, class, love and professionalism....all of which we DESPERATELY needed at that time.

He doesn't get enough credit for what he did here, regardless of when and how anyone thinks he left (and let's face facts, we were ALL better because of it), and I hope this Thursday the WSU fan base shows up and let's Mark and his family know how much he is appreciated here.

My respect for Mark grew even more (and it was already high) when he took the time to respond to an email I sent him during our Final 4 run. It was very heartfelt and he took time to reminisce about his time in Wichita and his regret for leaving. He was in the NIT at that time and didn't need to take the time. He was always gracious during my interactions with him while at Wichita State as well.

If I was in Wichita you wouldn't be able to keep me away Thursday

[WuShock16]

Haunted is a strong word. As a young man in his late 30s/early 40s Mark had the piss and vinegar to think he could make it to the top of college basketball. At that point, he wasn’t quite sure that he could make that happen at WSU. He still loved his team, breaking down at his A&M press conference when asked about what he said to his players.

As an older man in his late 50s, Mark realizes that the grass wasn’t necessarily greener and that he really had a special time at WSU. At his KSHOF induction, he told me that he could have talked for his allotted 15-20 minutes just on his time at WSU because it was that special to him.

That’s not a man who thinks that that WSU was beneath him.

[WuShock16]

I'm guessing there will be some prominent alumni from that era that join him, or at least I hope there are.

Literally no one here understands the depth of distaste I have for Ku and their offspring. I don't expect anyone to....but Mark was about 100 times better than I dreamed he would be and he treated everyone in Wichita like his own family and represented our school and program and city with passion, class, love and professionalism....all of which we DESPERATELY needed at that time.

He doesn't get enough credit for what he did here, regardless of when and how anyone thinks he left (and let's face facts, we were ALL better because of it), and I hope this Thursday the WSU fan base shows up and let's Mark and his family know how much he is appreciated here.

Not quite the Final Four prediction, but pretty close.

[moshock]

My favorite FHCMT moment was when he melted down on the sideline on his team - they weren't giving the effort and he let them know about it. IIRC - it turned the game completely around. One of my ATF moments at Koch.

I think we need to forget the "at this level" remarks - I know he gave his all here - it all worked out better for us.

[JVShocker]

My favorite FHCMT moment was when he melted down on the sideline on his team - they weren't giving the effort and he let them know about it. IIRC - it turned the game completely around. One of my ATF moments at Koch.

I think we need to forget the "at this level" remarks - I know he gave his all here - it all worked out better for us.

MT did some great things here. He genuinely seemed to care. But being honest, he left WSU in a bad way. I was one of the mods back then. They were not good times on shockernet. The player cupboards were less than bare when he left. And if I just completely ignore that, then I too am one of those who didn't have the foresight to see what could be achieved at this level. I'm thankful for MT, both for what he did while he was here, but also because he did leave in the way he did. Without the abrupt departure, we have no coach Marshall.

[forevershockerfan]

Most foes have no answers for Quincy Ballard if we utilize him inside. Floppers will flop. Shockers will win.

Panthers 68

Shockers 77

[Dan]

MT pulled us out of the lowest of lows when it didn’t look possible. He really did us a huge favor when he turned this program around regardless of the feelings about his exit.

[shockrah]

Because I liked Saturday so much, I'll order more of the same:
Shocktops: 89
Unicorns: 69

[WuDrWu]

My favorite FHCMT moment was when he melted down on the sideline on his team - they weren't giving the effort and he let them know about it. IIRC - it turned the game completely around. One of my ATF moments at Koch.

I think we need to forget the "at this level" remarks - I know he gave his all here - it all worked out better for us.

I've said it ad nauseum, absolutely one of my favorite CKA memories of all time.

[shock]

Has Mark ever said a negative thing about WSU after he left?