Redbirds @ Shockers game thread

[1979Shocker]

On the fouls, 3G said we'd go down and shoot and get it blocked. Then Illinois State would come down and shoot it and we'd block it and get a foul called on us. He said maybe eventually we'll get a 50/50 call.

[pogo]

I think this was a good game to get the rest of the crap out of our system. Carl started slow and as pointed out seemed tentative but he really wound up looking more like his old self. Cleanthony got frustrated with all of the contact but he regained his composure late. The redbird guards were constantly slapping and grabbing our guards and the refs let them get away with it for most of the night. Have I mentioned I was not a fan of several calls tonite. Nick looked great on shooting the 3 and did not hurt us real bad on his defense and rebounding. He did have a couple of dribble drives that did not exactly make 3G happy. We had several extended periods of ineptitude as far as keeping possession of the ball. If we do that this saturday it won't be pretty. We had more periods of great scoring. Jake finally had another good game, this is his type of game. TC was his usual good self and helped whenever he was in the game. This game could have gone a couple of ways and it wound up being a blue collar effort. Here's hoping we come out focused and sharp on saturday. Go Shocks beat cretin.

[Trueshock]

Shockers play up and down to their competition

After that game I'm just thankful we didn't have a letdown and come out with a loss because Saturday may get UGLY

. I don't think that the Shockers were too excited with this game ,and that could have reflected in their play. Nobody gets too excited playing a 0-5 team. On the flip side of the coin , i think that they will go nuts against Creighton because it's a big game with big ramifications. If the Shockers could learn not to play out of control consistently,and play up to their abilities regardless of who they play,we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[wusphlash]

Saturday will be all about focus and execution. Sometimes the gravity of a game brings out the best in kids. I think our decision making will be better against Creighton than it was tonight. Afterall, didn't we beat them by something like, hmmmmmmmmmm, 21 in Omaha?

[lemuel777]

Also, did Chadrack log a single minute? Must be injured because in the pre-game show Marshall said he was gonna guard Carmichael some.

Coach had read THAT thread on here and decided to bench him instead.

[wsushox1]

Coach had read THAT thread on here and decided to bench him instead.

I see he finally bought into the "Benching Candians so they don't get too arrogant over American Players" conspiracy.

[Steeleshocker]

Is it just me or is Cotton the only one who really plays like a senior. He makes timely baskets, takes care of the ball, defends like a madman, and always seems to find the open guy. I'm certainly glad he will be a senior for 3 years.

[1972Shocker]

Just got home from the game. Haven't read the board yet but look forward to doing that. Kind of an odd game. An uneven game perhaps.

The Shocks played very well at times and at other times left you scratching your head with some of their decision making. Too many unforced turnovers, 5 consecutive possessions at one point I believe and some very questionable shot selection especially coming down the stretch.

Nick was a key contributor in the 1st half -- Jake in the second half.

Cleanthony with not a very good 1st half, but finishes with one of his "didn't seem like he played very well but still lead team in scoring games".

The officials as well seemed to be having a difficult time of finding any consistency.

All-in-all though a good win. I was very pleased with what Carl was able to give us both in terms of effort and minutes.

Tekele and Fred also had very good floor games. I think 13 assists and only 1 turnover between them.

Will need to play better than they did tonight to beat Creighton I think. Especially need to play smarter. Cut down on the low-BBIQ turnovers and definitely play smarter down the stretch if we are fortunate enought to have a lead.

I think the guys will be ready Saturday.

Go Shocks!

[ABC]

Is the Creighton program over-rated?

Blue horsehoe loves Anacot Steel.

[CBB_Fan]

Is it just me or is Cotton the only one who really plays like a senior. He makes timely baskets, takes care of the ball, defends like a madman, and always seems to find the open guy. I'm certainly glad he will be a senior for 3 years.

I love Cotton, and "mature" is the only word to describe him. Maybe "solid" comes close.

Other thoughts:

1. We played 35 minutes of decent to good basketball and 5 minutes of absolutely horrendous turn-the-ball-over-every-possession basketball
2. Lot of people made a good impact on the game (Cotton, Van Vleet, Hall, and White were all very important to the team's success)
3. The game was probably not as close as the final score, ISUr got a lot of garbage shots near the end
4. I think Carmichael is my favorite player in the MVC that doesn't play for us
5. I hate inconsistent reffing like we had tonight, mainly because they call different levels of contact on different sides of the court instead of sticking to one paradigm
6. Reffing was bad enough to deserve two spots, though it seemed to get better after the great boo-storm
7. We make way too many mistakes right now

[forevershockerfan]

If only Mr. White had a saddle on his shoulders, maybe when he had perfect position and their player crawled up over his back, maybe for once the foul would be on an opposing player? Naa, what was I thinking? However, we overcame the obstacles tonight with balanced scoring, solid rebounding, and we made shots.

[shox1989]

I thought the team played fine tonight. The reffing was awful. It had to be hard for the players to figure out how the game was being called, it was so uneven. I was also disappointed in the crowd. The Shocks lead was down to 7 and people were leaving in droves. I hope the crowd does better on Saturday. The only time it was really good tonight was when Carl Hall first came into the game.

[lemuel777]

I see he finally bought into the "Benching Candians so they don't get too arrogant over American Players" conspiracy.

Yes Yes. It's sad when the "conspiracy" makes more sense than the original post of THAT thread.

[1972Shocker]

Quick Change was as good as ever. Great act.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I had typed a very curt and derogatory post on my observations of this game. I will always take a win. That said, the Shocks have some major deficiencies. They are clearly tough, athletic, hard nosed basketball players. Quick shots, turnovers, lobs to row 31, everyone taking a "heat check", have made me come to the realization that I have been overly optimistic about this team. I still love them, will wear my gear with pride, but realize now they are very doable, but not the hottest chick in the bar. Good Luck Saturday men, you need to grasp the value of each possession to pull the upset. I do not doubt your desire, but you cannot be your own worst enemy.

The game management in the last four minutes was just plain awful. I have no idea what the players were thinking. Well, maybe it is because they were not thinking.