Wichita State (10-5) at UT San Antonio (4-8) Game Discussion: Jan 11 (Sat)

[forevershockerfan]

Now That made me laugh Kung Wu. Thanks because surely surly has been my current mode on my favorite team of all sports, WSU.

[Dan]

I may be in a minority here, but I think Degray is a legit D1 player. May not get many minutes at the blue blood level, but I’d still take him on my team.

He is a legit D1 player, but that shouldn't be anything special since he's on a D1 team. It's sad that we have to qualify guys on our team as to whether they should even be playing D1.

[1972Shocker]

D-1 covers a whole lot of territory these days 364 teams spread across 31 conferences from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and the Big East at the top of the heap down to the Patriot, Ohio Valley, MEAC, Northeast and SWAC at the bottom of the heap.

I think we have 9 or 10 guys that are legit average to above average AAC level players. This coaching staff doesn't seem to have clue as how to get the best out of what they have to work with. In order for talent like the Shocks have to be successful it is imperative that they operate in a way that makes the team better than the sum of its parts. Not saying that is easy to achieve but I think it is doable for the right coach. I feel like this Shocker team is operating well below the sum of their parts. We all know where the buck stops.

[BostonWu]

Here's one for you just for fun. The 98-99 roster had Mo Evans, Jason Perez, Darrin Williams and Terrel Benton. Are you taking 24-25 or 98-99?

Evans, Perez and Benton would camp out on the 3 point line and pick current team apart.

[Kung Wu]

The bad news is we have a glaring hole in our perimeter defense. The good news is that's a pretty specific aspect of the game, so you'd hope it wouldn't be THAT difficult to show quick improvement on.

[SubGod22]

The bad news is we have a glaring hole in our perimeter defense. The good news is that's a pretty specific aspect of the game, so you'd hope it wouldn't be THAT difficult to show quick improvement on.

We also have a glaring hole in our perimeter offense.

[pinstripers]

The bad news is we have a glaring hole in our perimeter defense. The good news is that's a pretty specific aspect of the game, so you'd hope it wouldn't be THAT difficult to show quick improvement on.

it's already January

[Kung Wu]

We also have a glaring hole in our perimeter offense.

It's a hole, but not AS glaring.

[Kung Wu]

it's already January

* sigh * I know.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Here's one for you just for fun. The 98-99 roster had Mo Evans, Jason Perez, Darrin Williams and Terrel Benton. Are you taking 24-25 or 98-99?

Mo Evans was a fine player, but he was also playing on a team filled with D3 stock including, but not limited to, a local fast food franchise owner's kid and the inimitable Reggie Smithson!

And don't get me started on Jason Perez. Great dude, excellent set shooter (aka horse player), but he dribbled the ball with two hands.

Our current team has a much higher average talent. Great ball handling, speed, penetration ability, and a center that knows what to do when he's within 3 feet of the basket.

PG is a ? and shooting is spotty/streaky. Effort is inconsistent.

MTXE will make up for a world of inadequacies.

When your team appears soft, and your coach stands and picks his nose on the sidelines... it's going to be tough for the fans to swallow.

I've barely watched any Shocker basketball since our HOF coach was retired. But whenever I have this year (2.5x?), I've seen a LOT of potential. Silo Tech is garbage, but they have players, and our players gave them everything they could handle.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Evans, Perez and Benton would camp out on the 3 point line and pick current team apart.

They would lose to this current team by 20. Evans would get 24 and Perez 13. This year's team would have 400 pts in the paint.

[BostonWu]

They would lose to this current team by 20. Evans would get 24 and Perez 13. This year's team would have 400 pts in the paint.

How they going to lose by 20 when they can play horse all game long?

[C0|dB|00ded]

How they going to lose by 20 when they can play horse all game long?

I'm just sayin' the brand of average athlete on our team is much different now. I don't know if it's an athletic evolutionary thing or program baseline or what... but back in the Smithson (Jr.) Shocker era, white men still couldn't jump. Manure U has some nice players and we melted them.

If we came out hungry every game we'd be fine. But it's hard to be consistently hungry when you're like 12, and have $100k sitting in your checking account.

Coaches have zero leverage over their players anymore. Bench 'em, run 'em hard, and they'll just leave. Probably even get paid to leave.

Perverse incentives.

[BostonWu]

I'm just sayin' the brand of average athlete on our team is much different now. I don't know if it's an athletic evolutionary thing or program baseline or what... but back in the Smithson (Jr.) Shocker era, white men still couldn't jump. Manure U has some nice players and we melted them.

If we came out hungry every game we'd be fine. But it's hard to be consistently hungry when you're like 12, and have $100k sitting in your checking account.

Coaches have zero leverage over their players anymore. Bench 'em, run 'em hard, and they'll just leave. Probably even get paid to leave.

Perverse incentives.

Yeah we have athletes with low bb skills. You're putting way too much stock in just having athletes. Evans and Perez would be far be the two best players in this hypothetical matchup.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Yeah we have athletes with low bb skills. You're putting way too much stock in just having athletes. Evans and Perez would be far be the two best players in this hypothetical matchup.

You don't need brains to be good at basketball with sufficient athleticism. You do need some brains to be great. Ballard is one of the few centers we've had that has been "smart" enough to know what to do when he's within 3 feet of the basket. He also knows how to use his 11 foot arms to anticipate missed shots, putting them where they were intended.

Again, I've only seen like 2.5 games this year, but what I've seen... we have ball players. All we need to do is get 'em playing like their lives depended on it. Now how do you do that in 2025?