WSU vs. Charleston Southern game thread

[Steeleshocker]

Hey guys, just wanted to mention two things.

1. We are now 10-1!
2. It's almost Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

It's always a great day to be a Shocker!

[KSUUWSU]

COACH WANTED THE PEOPLE TO RAISE THE ROOF TONITE ,BUT PROBABLY NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF BEING OBNOXIOUS.

That's odd. I just listen to 3G on the post game report pleading for Shocker fans to be "Loud and raucous" saturday night at the IBA. He went on to explain that the team needs that support. He also said, " We don't need people to just sit there and fill a seat, we need people to come and get loud". Some would call being "Loud and raucous" obnoxious. Especially for those that love to sit there with their arms folded in silence (1/2 of section 119) or talk all game about his girlfriend like the idiot next to me tonight. We need to be passionately loud. I understand fully not to the extent of yelling rude, demeaning or hateful comments. However, if someone looks at me as being obnoxious because I'm cheering as loud as I can for as long as I can then you can go home and complain to someone who cares. Because I don't. Count me in to support the team as 3G keeps pleading for us to do. Oh yah, I'll keep calling out section 119 as long as I see them sitting in silence.

[ShockerFever]

A big thank you to the last caller setting Elementary School Barry straight.

[shockmonster]

What I was expecting was complete domination. This team has only two D1 wins all year, and those were against two teams who have a combined 2 wins. Three starters down or not, we have better talent plain and simple. At home to bit. Pretty much any decent team, we are down by 20 in the first half the way that was played. Good halftime adjustments, glad they won. But they play like they did in the first half against Southern Miss, we are going to get boat raced in our own backyard.

I haven't seen their schedule but Kennedy said that Alabama only beat them by 13 and that they've beend in every game so far. They play all of their non-con games on the road, so it's difficult to know how good they are. We weren't good the first half but we were pretty good the second half.

[ShockerFever]

COACH WANTED THE PEOPLE TO RAISE THE ROOF TONITE ,BUT PROBABLY NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF BEING OBNOXIOUS.

Were you at the game tonight? Didn't think you were talented enough to be at the game and post at the same time, unless maybe you left early or something..

Maybe you shouldn't have been wearing KU gear to the game. That why you mad?

[RoyalShock]

All caps was for a reason. It was an attempt to emphasize a point young man. Namely, with disruptive,obnoxious fans. I could have chosen to use an exclamation point but i didn't. The Shockers won, so why nit pick the point. Get over it . Just saying.

The "wink" emoticon was meant to suggest it was just a friendly, light-hearted reminder that posting in all caps, whether to make a point or not, is obnoxious. I have nothing to get over, but while it's great to have new posters - especially students - on ShockerNet, I hope your skin is not usually this thin. You may find the going here to be unpleasant, if so.

[forevershockerfan]

Chadrack seemed to be working on a Major in glass cleaning in the 2nd half. Early was none too late in giving us a needed boost tonight. He is a playaa. The Bucs are not bad, not bad at all, and I bet they do indeed win their Conference. Give Wiggins some quality minutes, and he will get you double figure scoring at a clip of up to a point per minute. 10-1 now and we will take that. Now let's go take win # 11 Sat. night which is all I want for Christmas mo than my 7 front teeth. Muuuuhahahaha.

[shocktown]

A big thank you to the last caller setting Elementary School Barry straight.

Give Barry a break, he probably was told by his wife to make that call and exactly what to say.

[Cdizzle]

That second half was inspiring. The effort and selflessness started to remind me of Marshall's first year, when we were very short on talent and very long on heart. It was enough to begin stirring a crowd that has been in an early season slumber.

Kudos to the guys for every floor-burn, hustle play, and hard-fought rebound(25-5 in the second half). I know I yelled more tonight than any other game this season as a result.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I am sticking with Nick as my favorite player and closely followed by Fred. Fred is getting better and better. He played 24 minutes tonight. One more than Malcomb. Forget Fred's ugly turnover and two fouls.

This is my prediction. Coach Marshall will grit his teeth and slowly increase Nick's minutes. Nick played 16 minutes tonight. Nick is a scoring machine.

[Shock Trauma]

I think we might have to get a call screener for the post-game shows ....

[ShockerFever]

As for the game:

The first half was an abomination. Standing around. Chucking up 3's. It was the most unsatisfying display of basketball I've ever seen by a Marshall-coached team. Considering the circumstances, I'm not all completely shocked that we looked lost for a bit, but the redundancy of it was the killer. Absolutely no will to change.

The second half was a different story. The team's defense came alive. Marshall wisely went to a press and it fudged up the Bucs. Offense actually went INSIDE and GOOD things happened. 3's were being shot with rhythm. It was refreshing to see. Early brought us back and I was really impressed with Lufile. He stepped up and was socking up rebounds. If he could improve his free throw touch and touch around the basket, he'll be a HUGE asset in Carl's absence.

The bad:

Free throw shooting is still worrisome. Some of the guys at the line, granted, were not our best FT'ers, but still. 60% is not going to cut it this year, injured or not. The turnover machine rained in at the end. An otherwise decent second half got ugly in the last 2 minutes. That slop needs to get cleaned up. It's a good thing we had a double-digit lead. Cotton may be injured. But even so, that even gives him more of a red light on outside perimeter shots. He's not even CLOSE. Please, for the love of everything holy, Cotton stop shooting the perimeter shot. It's an automatic turnover. Drive or penetrate to the hoop. The fans/atmosphere were beyond horrible. The play on the court wasn't helping matters, but overall, a real sucky crowd. This comes as Marshall was practically begging fans in the newspaper, on the coaches' show, and apparently during the game (see prior posts in this thread) to get the hell up and help will the team to victory. The crowd did respond in the second half nicely and thus WSU's play picked up as well. We're gonna need that every night during this rough stretch. If you haven't got your Southern Miss tickets, I'd suggest getting them. We're especially gonna need that extra help there, with already a subpar purchase effort by America's Greatest Fanbase.

[1972Shocker]

Certainly an uneven effort by the Shocks tonight. At times looked pretty lost and at other times looked very good. 3G mentioned in the pre-game show that he had several guys learning positions that they had not really practiced previously and that probably contributed to the uneven play and the occasional bout of confusion. Perhaps a little nervousness also.

As already mentioned the Shocks acted like they were allergic to getting the ball inside the zone in the 1st half either by dumping a pass in or by penetrating the perimeter of the zone.

The second half was much better and they picked up as many fouls on CSU in the 1st 3 minutes of the half as they did the entire 1st half as they were much more aggressive and determined in getting the ball inside the zone. In fact, CSU finally switched back to a man defense later in the game.

The second half had to be a huge confidence builder for Chadrack. Man he brought some energy to the floor during that final 20 minutes. In fact, I thought all the Shocks really got after in the 2nd half.

All-in-all, IMHO, it was very good 1st step in dealing with our injury situation. The next step on Saturday will be quite a bit tougher and will still have so much we can and will improve on. Unfortunately, this next step will be on the fly as the guys only get one day of practice to prepare for USM.

Good job tonight Shocks.

[CBB_Fan]

Positives from the game:

• Despite roleplayers being thrown out on the court without a lot of time to prepare, we responded well in the second half.
• Our defense is still solid with Hall or Wessel, though EO still hasn't regained his full athleticism yet
• Cleathony Early can be absolutely amazing (and should touch the ball even more)
• Chadrack Lufile found his niche in the second half (still likes to get fancy at times but I love the rebounding)
• FVV is adjusting well, and brings a different look to the offense when he is in
• Nick Wiggins can score, though he is still coach's chew toy
• Crowd was into the game in the second half, probably loudest I've heard them this season
• CSU had a single offensive rebound in the second half (we won the rebounding battle 42-25)

Other thoughts:

• The caller that wanted to complain about the coach and his wife was silly. I thought they handled him well, because I wouldn't have.
• I think that we seem to stall on offense when DWill and Armstead are on the court together, so maybe we should start Wiggins instead (MA, Cotton, Wiggins, Early, EO)
• The problem with our 3s isn't how many we take, but who takes them (and in what circumstances). I think Wiggins, FVV, and DWill should get the green light, and Early the yellow light, and everyone else needs to look to contribute in other ways.
• I'd like to see more penetration by our PGs, though a zone isn't conductive to penetration
• Early and Wiggins need to get the ball more, because they are our natural scorers

[proshox]

The lack of tolerance for any mistakes by Wiggins is getting old. I hope he gets a longer leasch on Saturday. For the second time this season the sideline confrontation was an absolute train wreck.

Overall, the second half was a sign of things to come with this new group. I am optimistic e about Saturday.