Monmouth (0-4) at Wichita State (3-0) Game Discussion: Nov 18 (Mon)

[molly jabali]

The game, or the fistfights between members of the SN coaching staff?

We do know who the coach of doom and gloom would be...:)

[shocktown]

After having some time to let the game sink in, some thoughts . . .

Monmouth had a very low ranked defense (338th), mainly due to it's interior defense, which had been without 6'9 Jaret Valencia. Their perimeter defense looked serviceable, if not decent. So I think the coaching staff pushed a plan to exploit the poor interior defense Monmouth had shown so far this season by repeatedly attacking the basket. Our FT shooting has been good so far, so if they want to foul us, all the better. And there's always kicking out for threes.

But we had a confluence of negatives that thwarted that plan.

- Valencia returned (only played 11 minutes their previous game), played 24 minutes, bolstering their interior D
- Ballard was a game-time scratch
- DeGray got hurt and played 15 fewer minutes than his average
- The inside shots weren't falling at the expected at-the-rim rate
- The FTs weren't getting made in the 1st half
- Poor outside shooting (only made 3 shots outside the paint)

If we hit 2 more threes and a couple more 1st half FTs (putting both stats closer to our season avg, but still below, so a reasonable expectation), I think most of us would have still been a little disappointed in the victory margin (12 instead of 4), but without the harsh criticisms of the effort and coaching staff. Although I don't think we can scapegoat the rebounding away completely, even if not having Ballard (and DeGray for a half), is the significant reason.

So, I've come back off the ledge and chalked this one up to one of those games where enough things just didn't go right. I'm thankful it didn't result in getting Alcorned.

Monmouth was KenPom 272, so not 330-ish overall like some are saying. That doesn't change the fact we should have beat these guys by 15+. Some much better teams than WSU will lay bigger eggs this season if they haven't already. I'm sure an X search of "epitome of brutality" might yield some results.

Thoughtful and well-reasoned...you have no place in this discussion!