Dickie V Surprising Teams

[RussDaBus]

http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/8710266/seven-surprising-teams-early-college-basketball-season

[shocker22]

Love the Pub

[1972Shocker]

The most surprising thing to me about the Shockers is that we have an All-American Juco transfer who is finding playing time difficult to come buy. And that's on a team that was allegedly in major rebuild mode.

[Speed]

How did that guy communicate in any media without mentioning Duke, KU or NC. That's incredible! Will WSU be overshadowed by Creighton when league play starts?... Don't think so.

[Aargh]

The most surprising thing to me about the Shockers is that we have an All-American Juco transfer who is finding playing time difficult to come buy. And that's on a team that was allegedly in major rebuild mode.

Your post is just a bit ambiguous. We have the JuCo PoY who isn't getting more than 20-ish minutes, and he's not complaining. Then we have another JuCo AA who's learning to play D and learning the system.

I hope our JuCo players share my opinion that it takes half a season for a JuCo to adjust to D1. Early has been true to his name in adjusting to D1. I hope Wiggins is giving himself some time to adjust to D1. Wiggins is one of the scariest players I've ever seen who is temporarily losing his fight for minutes on the court. Wessel is looking great as a So, but he'd better watch out next year.

[tropicalshox]

Next year as in next month?

[Aargh]

Next year as in next month?

Hehehe

Love it!

That's got to be one of the toughest fights for PT in practrice in years. Wessel is solid, 100% hustle, a solid defender, and a great shooter. That's a tough player to fight for PT, but Wiggins looks to have the athleticism and talent to do it, but not this month. Maybe next year.

[ShockerKhan]

As long as Evan is knocking down 3's he will be in the lineup. The game is coming where someone gets in foul trouble and Wiggins goes off for 10-12 points.
That is what I am waiting for.

[Dan]

Don't forget that Toure Murry was our starting point guard at this point in time 2 years ago. Joe Ragland took half a season to become a contributor and a full season to become a reliable leader.

[1972Shocker]

My point was we are a surprisingtly deep team considering what walked out the door after last season.

[KC Shox]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/five-teams-most-exceeded-expecations-far-season-175943081--ncaab.html

[forevershockerfan]

Wiggins seems to be adapting into his role when he does get to play in the confines of team play. Wessel has improved his shot and hustles to the max and understands our System by now. He also d's it up. Then, it also appears that Mr. Cotton is first off the bench for Wessel and he is not only a solid defender, but good things happen when he enters a game as another improved Shocker. Thus, while Wiggins has not had oodles of minutes, he also has some serious competition for minutes by players that have a Season under their belt and have improved.

By Valley time, based on what I witnessed from Wiggins this summer, I look for him to be prepared to step in and help us more and more as the Season progressess. The 12 solid players on our roster is paying dividends and we can adapt to so many matchups as we continue to develop as a Squad. It is like pulling hens teeth trying to remember a Shocker team that went 12 strong, as this one does.

Let me try to offer another perspective. All 12 of our players could individually start for several Valley teams IMO. Therefore, if collectively we look at the big picture as a team, and each player buy into making us successfull collectively, our unique depth could make this a very, very special Season. By Valley time, everybody we play will want to beat us bad and will know much of what has made us successful. Even so, as Billy Jack exclaimed something like "I will take this foot, and kick you on this side of yourn face, and there shant be NOTHING you can do about it baby!!! BOOOM, lights out, party over!!!"

In conclusion to this FSF manifesto, we will not be the most experienced team in the Valley, but if we keep improving as a team with this talented quality depth, watch out Valley!!!!!!!

[Aargh]

Here's something about having 12 guys capable of putting in quality minutes. How do you scout and game plan for 12 guys? It seems the quality of those areas would be a bit diluted compared to scouting and game planning for 7 or 8 guys.

[SubGod22]

You pick the 8 or 9 that play and contribute the most and don't worry as much about the end of the bench. Even though they're capable, odds are they're not going to be playing a lot so you don't waste your time.

[forevershockerfan]

Here's something about having 12 guys capable of putting in quality minutes. How do you scout and game plan for 12 guys? It seems the quality of those areas would be a bit diluted compared to scouting and game planning for 7 or 8 guys.

As I recall, Tennessee did not notice in time that the Cooz could light them up like a Christmas tree at the Dance years ago. He got hot from the outside in that game and they seemed clueless until it was much too late. One of these future games forthcoming, I anticipate Baker to be a foes heartbreaker and for Wiggins to slash and dash and score to help us when our opponents least expect it. Actually, any of our 12 can give us a nice boost on a given night. We also are developing some very fine defensive stoppers that can slow down some tough players we are sure to face with reinforcements fresh in to do the same.