WSU vs. SIU In-Game Thread

[SB Shock]

Mantas was very good. The only complaint is that he didn't shoot it 8 more times instead of PJ.

Maybe coach need to change the focus of the offense and start trying to get the ball in his and Hatch's hands.

[1972Shocker]

Mantas was very good. The only complaint is that he didn't shoot it 8 more times instead of PJ.

Mantas is gradually stepping up, but he still seems to want to defer to the other guys too much. He has a great looking stroke and I would like to see him get 8-10 shots a game, more if we can find them.

[proshox]

Starting Mantas was a nice upgrade for the team. He can play inside-out and is coming along nicely. I think he has a chance to average 10 ppg during the remaining games.

Hatch rushed his shot a bit today, but competed well defensively.

Ellis showed up multiple times on both ends of the court for the first time in Valley play.

JT - so hard to figure to predict what his true upside is. Can we get a defense for offense sub every time WSU scores?

Gal - I have not looked at the stats, but I think Gal is proving to be a point guard instead of a two guard. He may play the position in an atypical manner, but I think HCGM is figuring out how to utilize him.

Ramon - brings it every game / I think he would have filled the Ryan Martin role very nicely on a more talented squad.

[mattdalt]

I listened to the game today and wondered: why in the world is PJ taking so many three's? A good call for the coach's show Monday might be: Is it really in the game plan for PJ to ever shoot 7 three's in a game?

I feel bad for the young man, he has played his heart out over the years at WSU, wish he could find himself, (and I am pretty sure he should look inside the arc, not outside the arc), and have a better senior season.

[forevershockerfan]

You know what? The Shocks could still make some racket this season. However, over all consistancy has to continue to improve.

To win our fair share from here----it all has to start with these 3 Seniors. PT, PJ, and GM all have to be consistant each game. If one area of their game is off, they have to be even stronger in the other areas. But GM is not a Senior? True, but he has experience, is our point guard, and he needs to play like a Senior. He is becoming more and more solid at the PG position and he is gaining in confidence.

Next. here is what we need with RC, MG, GH,AE, JT, WP, and LH. Each have their moments. However, it seems on 1 night, only a couple of them play consistant, and the others are flat. Then the next night, another 2-3 of them play solid and the ones that were solid the game before go flat. We just need them to do the things they do more consistantly from here.

Last, but far from least, I never dreamed we would have such serious foul trouble. PJ, RC, JT, PT, we need you ON the floor!!!!!!! We are playing enough zone defense that we should not be so foul-prone.

We are approaching some winnable games. Let's hope these Shocks can be more impressive than our dismal finish last year. Yikes! Go get-em Shocks!!!!!!! WE BELIEVE!!!!!!!

[pinstripers]

Ya know, that 5th foul on JT Durley was really stupid.

[1972Shocker]

JT comes into the game with that big body and makes a great offensive move that looks so smooth and natural and you just want to see more (on the offensive end).

I think what we are seeing with JT is a kid who dominated without much effort in high school and now is faced with a totally different mindset and requirement with what is needed and expected of him effort-wise and defensive-wise.

Whether or not the light bulb switches on remains to be seen, but if it does we could have a very good player on our hands.

[RoyalShock]

The problem with JT on the offensive end is that if he gets the ball anywhere inside the 3-pt arc, it's as if the only option in his mind is to shoot the ball.

His b-ball IQ needs to improve in this area.

[1972Shocker]

The problem with JT on the offensive end is that if he gets the ball anywhere inside the 3-pt arc, it's as if the only option in his mind is to shoot the ball.

His b-ball IQ needs to improve in this area.

.

No doubt he is somewhat of a black hole, but so was Kyle Wilson.

I think JT has shown some improvement, but he could learn a lot about kick-outs if he would study tapes of Pual Miller his Junior and Senior years.

[SubGod22]

Ya know, that 5th foul on JT Durley was really stupid.

So was 1-4

[Ricky Del Rio]

Ya know, that 5th foul on JT Durley was really stupid.

So was 1-4

Sub, thanks for the great laugh.

I don't get 22, where I live.

When I looked at the stats and saw Durley had 5 fouls in 8 minutes, I thought, "What in the h*ll is going on?"

Then I looked at PJ's stats and went to the medicine cabinet for my heart pills.

A few weeks ago, we could not throw the ball in the ocean and the foul and turnover stats were good. Now 3 point shooting is improving and the foul and turnover stats are going south.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Pieces of the puzzle RDR...

Keep watching...don't give up on these Shocks yet.

Mantas is starting to get comfortable, and that will help open up inside.

Gal is doing some hard OTJ Training, and is looking better, for a Soph.

JT will start to get it, PJ will turn back into PJ, and Phil will realize he has only so many games left and elevate his game.

Will it happen? Who knows. Can it happen? Heck yeah!

[Snapshot9]

Something was glaringly obvious yesterday, after we tied SIU at 32 all, SIU shifted from 4th to 5th gear speed wise, and we could not keep up. On top of that, they were hitting shots even when off balance, as our shots clanked off the rim.

We didn't look too bad the first half though. Gris was encouraging, and to see Ellis actually hit a 3 was a positive. Clemente is a fighter under the basket, which runs true to form for a New Yorker. PJ is just around the edges, and not in the mainstream, it seems.

The fact that we are holding up on rebounding is due to the fact that we have some guys that can jump, Phil, PJ, Gris, Clemente. I thought Gal did pretty good, and had more of a PG look to him, he dribbles the ball pretty good, and is better with ball control and backup.

They looked better, just not enough to do the job though, especially late in the 2nd half.

[ShockerFever]

I just watched the second half on dvr..

Is it just me or does it seem like we're starting to build up the notorious reputation of the Randy Smithson teams of the late 90's in which we committed 30 fouls a game. Am I sensing a return of that?

Or it could just be that the refs are so gay in Carbonslum. They let SIU touch and grab and push and pull and slap and swallow their whistles. On the reverse side, we nudge em anytime they shoot and it's an automatic and 1. Some serious bs calls were made in that game. Typical in Carbonslum.

PJ has issues. He can't shoot. He can't shoot FT's. He forces up stuff too much. Very frustrating. Let Hatch and Mankatas shoot the ball more. And Ramon as well. There the only ones that are making shots with any sort of consistency now.

3 home games.. yippieeee. If we have any chance of getting out of a play-in game (highly unlikely), we must sweep these next 3 at home. Period.

BTW, SIU is not a good team. They'll be lucky to crack the Top 6 when it's all said and done.. which makes the L even more ugly.

It's gonna be an interesting day on Monday.. :roll:

[WuDrWu]

I just watched the second half on dvr..

Is it just me or does it seem like we're starting to build up the notorious reputation of the Randy Smithson teams of the late 90's in which we committed 30 fouls a game. Am I sensing a return of that?

Or it could just be that the refs are so gay in Carbonslum. They let SIU touch and grab and push and pull and slap and swallow their whistles. On the reverse side, we nudge em anytime they shoot and it's an automatic and 1. Some serious bs calls were made in that game. Typical in Carbonslum.

PJ has issues. He can't shoot. He can't shoot FT's. He forces up stuff too much. Very frustrating. Let Hatch and Mankatas shoot the ball more. And Ramon as well. There the only ones that are making shots with any sort of consistency now.

3 home games.. yippieeee. If we have any chance of getting out of a play-in game (highly unlikely), we must sweep these next 3 at home. Period.

BTW, SIU is not a good team. They'll be lucky to crack the Top 6 when it's all said and done.. which makes the L even more ugly.

It's gonna be an interesting day on Monday.. :roll:

No need to worry about a repeat of Randy's "foul a minute" defense, however, the foot speed, or lack thereof, of this current group does force them into poor postioning which in turns puts them in a spot to foul more often than anyone would like.

The officiating was terribly inconsistent, imho. I know others will say "you're just whining because you lost...blah blah blah" but they were awful. All year SIU fouls more than their opponent and we foul less. We make more free throws than our opponents SHOOT and SIU isn't close in that department. Our kids played hard, not lazy. If all the fouls we were called for were indeed fouls, then SIU should have fouled out their entire team. It certainly contributed to the loss.

It would seem PJ is now having health issues as well. Just what we needed. Obviously a bad wing is going to add to his shooting struggles.

You're right, we have to sweep the next 3 to even entertain a thought of not being in the playin. I feel we need to get to 8-10 which would mean finishing 7-4, certainly a possibilty with the schedule but not with the way things are going for us.

Again, you are spot on with your assessment of SIU. They are tough, but not very good. And, bad news for SIUC fans, they are going to get worse next year. They'd better hope (as we are) that their recruiting class is all that and a bag of chips. (I heard that somewhere before). However they are not going to finish out of the top 6.

The problem with getting out of the play in at this point is that it means we would have to pass MSU or SIU or INDST most likely. I can't see the 1st 2 so that makes it ISU. That's not much room for error, in a season and with a team that has no room for error.

Monday isn't going to provide much relief for anyone, imo. It will come and go pretty much like every other day. The coaches show could be extraordinarily painful to listen to, however. THAT, I am not looking forward to.