Official Meltdown Thread

[1972Shocker]

It's obvious that something happened to this team after the blowout at home against Bradley.

Now what exactly happened, no one knows(except the players).

I am in shock to say the least...

I think maybe we went supernova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgfbjHz_UTo

[CBB_Fan]

This will be my last post for probably two week or more. I am revising my expectations for this season. After the VCU game, and especially after winning against Creighton at home I bought into the hype, but that was a mistake. The reason these losses were so disappointing is because my expectations were too high.

This is not last year's team; we are not road warriors.
This is not the team that beat VCU @ VCU, or Creighton at home.
Heck, this is not the same team that beat SIU and UNI at our place.

This loss is not an end, but a beginning. This is a start of a new season, and a new team. The expectations and goals have changed. Instead of hoping for a protected seed and winning the Valley, we are fighting for a spot in the tournament and hoping to finish second in the MVC. We have no good losses, and 2.5 good wins.

In our next games, we have 4 games that we probably won't be favored to win. @Creighton, @Illinois State, @Indiana State, and vs Detroit are going to determine our season. We need to go 50% in those games and win the rest of our games. These are hopes, not expectations. This team has shown that any team in the MVC can beat them and right now any team in the MVC WILL beat them.

How much can we improve in this new season of 7 games? How will our team adapt, and how will Marshall guide them? These are questions no one can answer. We can put up marks to get into the tournament. We need 24 wins. We have 7 games to win 5. If we are 23-7, we will need to win the tournament to dance.

I don't know if I think that will happen or not, but I not going to keep the high expectations I had just a couple of weeks ago. At this point, whatever happens, happens.

[Aargh]

This is on Marshall.

The guy making $1.5 mill with a virtually unrestricted recruiting budget just lost to a first-year coach with an absolutely depleted and patched together team. Marshall lost because he doesn't have the players or the ability to teach how to beat a zone defense.

I know that 2 possible "makers" are sidelined, but when you've got 2 senior guards who have played a lot of D1 ball, a sophomore you really like to get on the court, a top-100 Fr, and a Juco AA to play the perimeter, you might expect to be able to play against a zone defense.

Indy State showed the world how to beat the Shox. Play zone, sag off the perimeter guys, deny entry passes to the front court guys, and let the perimeter guys shoot. Packing the D in also puts more bodies ner the basket for rebounds, which shuts down the Shox offensive rebounding game.

[ShockRef]

There are any words to describe...

what is happening to this team. I just can't think of them right now.

I thought the NIT talk after the Indy State loss was nutty. It was one loss and that happens to every team, every season.

Then the UNI loss against a team with absolutely no interior presence.

Then losing to SIU? A team literally held together with baling twine and duct tape.


Based on the current standings, the even crazier thought is this team will HAVE to beat Drake - to ensure they avoid Thursday night in STL!

That is just plain nuts.


However, based on their level of play as of today, does anyone envision this team beating CU, InSU or ISU at their place?

Nope. Nada Zippo.

That leaves Drake, Mo State & UE at home to win at least one to STAY OUT OF THURSDAY NIGHT!


This really has the makings of 2006 all over again.

[Dan]

we could realistically lose 5 more games unless Marshall pulls his head out and makes some drastic roster moves. If he continues to think we will win games because we're better, we will continue to lose and finish bottom half of the conference.

[shoxlax]

This is on Marshall.

The guy making $1.5 mill with a virtually unrestricted recruiting budget just lost to a first-year coach with an absolutely depleted and patched together team. Marshall lost because he doesn't have the players or the ability to teach how to beat a zone defense.

I know that 2 possible "makers" are sidelined, but when you've got 2 senior guards who have played a lot of D1 ball, a sophomore you really like to get on the court, a top-100 Fr, and a Juco AA to play the perimeter, you might expect to be able to play against a zone defense.

Indy State showed the world how to beat the Shox. Play zone, sag off the perimeter guys, deny entry passes to the front court guys, and let the perimeter guys shoot. Packing the D in also puts more bodies ner the basket for rebounds, which shuts down the Shox offensive rebounding game.

Partially true. We shredded zones last year with the same offense. Of course we had some deadeye shooters and a nice passing big man.

Simple fact is we need to score points off our defense to win. The problem now is our offense has affected our defense.

[NCAABound]

We definitely need to get FVV more playing time. DWill has shown NOTHING in 4 years that would lead me to believe he can lead this team. Sure he has a decent game every now and then, but a senior leader his is not. And I don't get me started on MA. Let's see more FVV and Wiggins...and hope to hell that Cle can learn a little basketball IQ.

[SubGod22]

After all that's gone on, my starting lineup, and the group I'd want getting a lot of minutes would be as follows.

PG - FVV
SG - Cotton
SF - Wiggins
PF - Hall/Early
C - Ehimen

Hall hasn't been the same since returning. Early hasn't been the same either.... But I want guys in that are going to work hard and play smart. Which is also why I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of White.

DWill has the talent, but he doesn't play smart enough and if his poor shot selection counted as TOs, we'd be a lot more displeased. Armstead COULD be a very good PG if he didn't have a hero complex or whatever it is that turns him into one of the most selfish guys I've seen at WSU. Someone used some "hat" descriptions the other day to describe him and that pretty much summed him up.

We really miss Wessel and Baker. Both are smart, hard working players that can shoot.

I would say that next year we'd feel the loss of Ehimen as much as anyone. But apparently we're feeling that loss at the end of the season as he continues to ride the pine. Look, we obviously can't score, so lets play our best interior defender at least twice as much as he's been playing the past couple of weeks. I still think it's telling that our poor play started when his PT went down...

[60Shock]

Shoxlax, you hit the nail on the head with your statement:

"Simple fact is we need to score points off our defense to win. The problem now is our offense has affected our defense."

Not only have the teams of late figured out how to stop our offense, they definitely have our defense figured out as well. We seem to totally lack the skill, experience, and know how to stop the penetrating dribble. And when we try to adjust, 30-35% three point shooting teams start shooting the lights out.

And as we all know, unlike football, our offensive guys and defensive guys are one in the same as they have to play both ends of the court. How many more times of late have we seen a player who made a defensive error try desperately to make up for it on the offense end and blow that too.

Perhaps, like some Shocker teams have done in the past, the players simply need to get together alone, and talk things out.

[SubGod22]

And once again this team didn't share the ball. Another reason we've sucked lately. I think when we had things rolling we had 7 assists in the first 10-12 mintues of the game. After that, 3.

[rrshock]

Selfishness gets a person nowhere. The old adage of "there is no I in team" needs to reiterated to this group.

[GOSHOX1]

Dwill will not pass the ball to wiggins, I don't know why but I have watched this happen the last two games! He needs to sit as does mal and I don't care if they play again.

[SubGod22]

I will give Mal some credit for his 6 assists last night.

I hadn't noticed DWill not passing to Wiggins, but if that's the case, we can add him to Early, Hall and Ehimen as guys that won't catch a pass from DWill.

[ShockerPrez]

At this point. All we can do is watch. No expectations. What will be, will be.

Maybe we'll be surprised. I wont write them off yet, but..... The charges are set, and hooked up. Only thing left is for the last guy to blow the bridge.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Since the season began, I have never had the feeling that this was a dominant team. I was always uneasy. While I was delighted with the winning streak, I was still uneasy. Call me crazy.

We have a collection of players, who on balance, are a little above average in talent, B.I.Q. and effort.

At this stage of the season, opposing coaches have a lot of video to watch on this team and it is easier to identify and plan for strength and weaknesses. According opponents are far more difficult to defeat.

In order for the team to win, it has to play well in all phases. Last night I gave the stats a quick glance. I noticed right away the P+TO for the Shockers was 34 and P+TO for SIU was 20. The Shockers are not good enough to give up this kind of edge in the stats, even against teams like Evansville and SIU.

The starting point guard had 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. These kind of stats are difficult to overcome with just above average players.