Redbirds @ Shockers game thread

[I_Vector_Wu]

The best part of the game for me was during the timeout when they play Where's WU. The blindfolded contestant was moving around quickly and ran smack dab (I like that term) into the grey haired ref. He appeared to be pretty PO'd about it. Of course when play resumes he proceeds to call back to back fouls on EO ( I knew that was coming ). But still, that alone was worth the price of admission.

Hitting the 3's tonight definitely helped keep us a few steps ahead of ISUr. Can't wait til Saturday. I'm very interested to see how our D matches up with CU.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Offense was bound to be ugly tonight as we figure out how to work Hall back into the system. I thought things looked much smoother in the second half, minus that awful three minute turnoverfest.

If you are referring to the opening of the second half, the turnover fest included 5 or 6 turnovers in the first 6.5 minutes of the second half.

It was a nightmare. Five turnovers in five consecutive possessions.

[shockmonster]

The best part of the game for me was during the timeout when they play Where's WU. The blindfolded contestant was moving around quickly and ran smack dab (I like that term) into the grey haired ref. He appeared to be pretty PO'd about it. Of course when play resumes he proceeds to call back to back fouls on EO ( I knew that was coming ). But still, that alone was worth the price of admission.

This game is a boring game to me (year after year after year). Maybe someone can communicate like a flash mob and tell the crowd which ref is the target. The crowd can clap and boo sending the blindfolded contestant crashing into that referee. That might be fun for a change.

[ShockerFever]

The turnovers were atrocious. The start of the 2nd half may have been the worst basketball I've seen since the Scott Thompson days. There's no excuse. Especially when SENIORS are doing it. That MUST improve.

The officiating was beyond horrid. Very poor. Those 3 don't deserve to ref at Pleasant Valley Middle School. Definitely would like a ShockRef analysis of that one.

What can Jake White to do get a whistle? Especially on the defensive end? When he got whistled in the 2nd half with hands STRAIGHT UP and in PERFECT legal guarding position, I about lost it. HOW THE HELL CAN YOU PLAY BETTER DEFENSE THAN THAT? I mean seriously. That was the worst call of the night IMO. Absolutely garbage. You CANNOT DEFEND any better than holding your arms at a 90 degree angle to the floor and not initiating contact. Absolutely mind-boggling.

Wilkins is a dirt turd. I still remember that punk from St. Louis. His team is now 0-6. Guess who's getting the last laugh now?

It's amazing how floppy Valley teams can be. I mean, it's apparent we teach toughness and real basketball. Flopping is not taught by our coaching staff. When's the last time you've seen a Marshall-coached team have a post player flail their arms out and drop to the ground before contact was made? If ever? Yet, that kinda BS gets rewarded in the league and we're ALWAYS at the wrong end of it. It happened again tonight. There needs to be emphasis made on that BS in this conference. It's cheap, pussyish, and an insult to the game.

Despite a lackluster finish and an IQ mindblow, the team still shot well, shot well from deep, decently from the FT line, and won by 12. There's so many things to improve on and yet, we're still winning basketball games, 15 of the last 17 in fact.

Time to go balls out for Saturday.

[Rixtoy1]

Quick Change was as good as ever. Great act.

Man, I was hoping they would pull a monkey out at some point . . .

[WuDrWu]

........................have made me come to the realization that I have been overly optimistic about this team...............

What exactly were your expectations? These guys are 16-2, 5-1.....Did you expect 18-0?

I'm not going to sit here and say our Shocks are the best team in the country, and yes we have plenty of things to work on, but come on.....overly optimistic?

The end of game management was as bad as I can ever remember...EVER. I've never seen a 3G coached team go that brain dead. Mal's Curly Neal impressions must be closeted. The unforced turnovers have to be curtailed. Foul less, make more FTs. Lots to improve upon, yet still 16-2. I thought ISU played really hard and actually got after it defensively, but man are they lost on offense. Coach Muller is in over his head a little right now, and he's getting no help from his experienced players. They should be so much better.

Overly optimistic? Boy, I don't know....I am really enjoying 16-2.

Did I miss the @KC Shox: postings?

[WuDrWu]

No Craig Steven on TV.

Dumb Bruce is still there. "SHOCKER"

There's at least 1 reason to respect BH.

[WuDrWu]

The officiating was beyond horrid. Very poor. Those 3 don't deserve to ref at Pleasant Valley Middle School. Definitely would like a ShockRef analysis of that one.

What can Jake White to do get a whistle? Especially on the defensive end? When he got whistled in the 2nd half with hands STRAIGHT UP and in PERFECT legal guarding position, I about lost it. HOW THE HELL CAN YOU PLAY BETTER DEFENSE THAN THAT? I mean seriously.

I am not speaking for @ShockRef: (he'll do a much better job and he's forgotten more about officiating than I'll ever know) but several of the calls everyone was going nuts about were the right calls. They are never as bad as "we" think. I do think they were inconsistent, especially Zelton (whom I admittedly have a bias against because I think he "big times" it way too much) and the crew didn't seem to be on the same page, often times fishing in the other guy's pond and calling a ticky tack one time and then letting TC get almost spun around on a break the next.

@ShockerFever:, your other points are spot on. Hard to understand the mental collapse at times last night. Jake's baseline jumper didn't negate his fantastic game, but it sure but a damper on his best game this year and Cle's quick 3 would have been a horrible shot in Juco last year....it was off the charts bad last night.

Lots to work on but still winning...Gregg's been amazing and the coaching mismatch was hard to measure last night.

[The 'hut]

What exactly were your expectations? These guys are 16-2, 5-1.....Did you expect 18-0?

I'm not going to sit here and say our Shocks are the best team in the country, and yes we have plenty of things to work on, but come on.....overly optimistic?

The end of game management was as bad as I can ever remember...EVER. I've never seen a 3G coached team go that brain dead. Mal's Curly Neal impressions must be closeted. The unforced turnovers have to be curtailed. Foul less, make more FTs. Lots to improve upon, yet still 16-2. I thought ISU played really hard and actually got after it defensively, but man are they lost on offense. Coach Muller is in over his head a little right now, and he's getting no help from his experienced players. They should be so much better.

Overly optimistic? Boy, I don't know....I am really enjoying 16-2.

Did I miss the @KC Shox postings?

Doc,
I to am enjoying the Shocks...I was just frustrated that the non physical issues create...well...exciting games for us to watch.

[WuDrWu]

There was a thread recently that referred to fans being spoiled, or something like that...now I'm not calling you out @The 'hut: but your post just reminded me how easy it is to forget to enjoy the special times. Before you know it, the season will be over and we'll be lamenting the fact there are no games for 8 months. Enjoy the ride.

Go Shocks, beat Creighton!

[The 'hut]

There was a thread recently that referred to fans being spoiled, or something like that...now I'm not calling you out @The 'hut but your post just reminded me how easy it is to forget to enjoy the special times. Before you know it, the season will be over and we'll be lamenting the fact there are no games for 8 months. Enjoy the ride.

Go Shocks, beat Creighton!

Totally Agree....

[WuDrWu]

Quick:

Who leads the team in defensive rebounds, and which 2 players are tied for 4th, 4 behind the leader?

(Don't look it up, just guess).

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Hall.

Armstead and Williams?

[WuDrWu]

Hall.

Armstead and Williams?

Good try but incorrect. Carl is tied for second though, even missing 7 games.

[Shocker85]

The refs ... the team ... the game

It was unfortunate that I left CKA last night with most of my thoughts and conversations with friends was about the poor officiating. Mind-blowing missed calles, fouls of 50/50 balls that were fabricated, etc. I counted 3 traveling non-calls where players took 4 steps to the hoop on drives. The foul on the alley-oop play was dumbfounding. Ignorance of block/charge rules, etc. I rarely complain about refs - their job is hard - but that performance was inexcusable, IMO.

WSU got good contribution from everyone who played. Good defense, good rebounding, clutch shooting, etc. came from everyone. Deep with balance is good. The offense seems very stagnant right now. Some of the guards pound the ball too much out front trying to figure out how to attack and they wait too deep in the shot clock to run their sets. The number of turnovers that occur in the offense is staggering. The saving grace Wed. night was that the shooters were "on". This team is much more productive pushing the ball HARD up-court and with the high rate of turnovers that are coming in the offense, they wouldn't do any worse just running all the time. I also think some of the shooters need to earlier in possessions to keep the defense off balance. All-in-all, good production last night on offense when the ball wasn't flying out of bounds or some other un-forced error happened.

The game lacked much flow. Right from the get-go, the refs stopped play twice (admittedly the 2nd time was after Orupke almost took out the north basket). It is obvious why IllSt is last. Their defense is very simple/predictable and full of holes. Their guys don't get rebounding position, and they have guys forcing their shots badly. Carmichael and Brown are good players who can almost take over the game, but the other guys don't let them. I thought it was a perfect game for Carl to get back on the court before a tough test vs sCUm.

I wonder every time I watch - How in the world do the Quick Change people do that?????

--'85.