WSU VERSUS PITTSBURG PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[jocoshock]

I don't remember if this was on the selection show or on ESPN later. What they showed on the screen was Pittsburgh with an actual seed of 4, but was given an 8 seed because of not putting teams from the same conference in the same regions. On that same screen, they had Wichita State with a 9 seed, but an actual seed of 6.

I saw that. The 4 seed for them and 6 seed for us was based on our BPI rankings. They also said that Pitt landed in an 8 seed because Louisville won the Midwest regional and the next 3 teams in the Big East had to go to other regionals When Pitt landed in the West, they basically fell into the 8 seed. So yes, they are significantly under seeded, but so are we to a certain degree.

[pie n eye]

This is not my favorite matchup and frankly I don't think we matchup at well. We play much better in faster paced games, this game is going to be slow as hell and will allow us to foul them to no end. That and frankly Pitt is a damn good team.

They have 8 losses, 6 of them were to teams ranked at the time, one was to Marquette who is now in the tourny, and their only even semi bad loss was to Rutgers at an RPI of 110.

The average RPI of their opponents in losses other than Rutgers is 21. That is pretty hella strong, hell even with the 110 RPI loss to Rutgers the average is still better than 33.


I hope we win, I don't have as much hope as most of you. However I think if we lose it won't be by much, the game will be whoever gets to 60 first.

All valid points but I'm not too mad at the draw. We play in the valley where if you're not grinding, you're probably grabbing.

It doesn't sound like Pitt is a prolific scoring team which benefits us because neither are we. I'd rather try to out defend another defensive minded team than outscore Creighton part 2.

[jocoshock]

pitt plays tough defense plus they are well coached. every time wichita state made a run at pitt in '09, dixon would push this button, pull that string, stomp that foot, and off they went again.

gimmicks or not, this game is every bit as tough as the vcu game from last ncaa. we must take care of the ball (like we did not do last time we played pitt).. shockers outrebounded them, i believe, but their guards toyed with wichita state. take care of the ball is priority #1 (heads up, smart passes, patience -d.will-, but be assertive when catching and shooting).

c'mon shocks! those big east guys wanna try and push little ol mvc team around. keep your heads, and push back!

If you look at the box score from that game that is posted somewhere in the thread, we had 25 turnovers, largely due to Clevin not being eligible. Toure Murray was playing the point, and while he was the leading scorer with twenty points, he had six turnovers and no assists, and the rest of the guards (young sophomores) didn't fare much better. They built an 11 point lead in the first half and only expanded that by two points in the second half. Our game with them this week could turn out that way, but I seriously doubt it.

[jocoshock]

No prediction, but the keys to a WSU win are:

1. Demetric Williams saaid when he came to WSU that he was as good as Elijah Johnson at KU.
Demetric, it's time to show me!
2. Early needs to be the 1st Team MVC player people think he is.
3. The hardest one, EO must find a way to be an offensive presence, playing good D won't be enough.

Those are my keys to a WSU win on Thursday.

1. is possible but not necessary. We really need Malcolm Armstud to show up and for Marcus Armdud to stay home. And I personally think we got far more out of DWill in his 4 years than KU has out of Elijah...
2. is critical
3. not happening, but if he can be a factor of defense that will help immensely.

[Shockeriffic]

I don't remember if this was on the selection show or on ESPN later. What they showed on the screen was Pittsburgh with an actual seed of 4, but was given an 8 seed because of not putting teams from the same conference in the same regions. On that same screen, they had Wichita State with a 9 seed, but an actual seed of 6.

Then my question for the selection committee would be why they weren't given Notre Dame's 7 seed and Notre Dame the 8 seed. Also they could have given them K-State's 4 seed in the same region.

[wusphlash]

We went 17-17 in Gregg's second year including a 58-50 to Georgetown. We lost to Pittsburgh the next year in a game that was much closer than the 68-55 final score. That was without Clevin as we all know. We did everthing but beat eventual National Champion Connecticut in the 83-79 Maui debacle. I don't think the WSU Shockers are going to be intimidated by any Big East school. Including those that are abandoning Creighton's new league. I'm looking forward to playing Gonzaga.

[SB Shock]

This is a tough match-up - drawing a team known for it defense when this team struggles with offense. It just seems like Pittsburgh has the players in place to nullify WSU areas of strength. wThis really feels like a 12 seed vs 5 seed match-up.

[Kung Wu]

We're gonna necrophiliatize the Big Deceased! We eat Big Feast for breakfast! They don't call their girlfriends the Big Yeast for nuttin'! Gonna punch the Big Fleeced right in the chops, I tell ya! Bring the Anal Lube and stick it to the Big Greased! Lost half their teams to the Big Priest? Maybe they can buy a few programs to hold together the Big Subleased? The refs screwed us against UConn?? Big Sheesh!

[kcshocker11]

We're gonna necrophiliatize the Big Deceased! We eat Big Feast for breakfast! They don't call their girlfriends the Big Yeast for nuttin'! Gonna punch the Big Fleeced right in the chops, I tell ya! Bring the Anal Lube and stick it to the Big Greased! Lost half their teams to the Big Priest? Maybe they can buy a few programs to hold together the Big Subleased? The refs screwed us against UConn?? Big Sheesh!

fodder 4 da Beast?

[wsushox1]

Most people on here are alot more optimistic about this game than me.

Carl will have a tough time against Steven Adams.

[mchin35]

I keep reading on this thread a lot about how Pitt is a one man team with Tray Woodall. That's actually the opposite of what this Pitt team is. I live in the Pittsburgh area so I've seen a lot of their games, and they pride themselves this year on not having any superstar players, but being one of the deepest teams in the country. They have 10 good players that play good minutes. Lamar Patterson may be their most talented player, but he tends to shy away from being "the man". Stopping Tray Woodall is not the key to beating Pitt's offense. They're a very balanced scoring attack, and many of their players are capable of getting hot.

[The 'hut]

Okay, I have had enough of this seriousness. You are delusional if you think the most likely thing to happen is the Shocks roll in this game. I am in the group of fans that goes, "Damn, only men better show up..for both teams". This will be hard fought and whoever finds some offense from a previously inconsistent source will likely prevail. I have made arrangements to watch the game by taking a couple of hours of vacation time and returning to work afterwards to tie up paperwork. The Shocks have an opportunity. Will they seize that moment? Until then, with both coaches being natty dressers and frequenting the hair product isle, I want to know,
are they Dapper Dan or Fop guys? Go Shocks!

[another shocker]

I keep reading on this thread a lot about how Pitt is a one man team with Tray Woodall. That's actually the opposite of what this Pitt team is. I live in the Pittsburgh area so I've seen a lot of their games, and they pride themselves this year on not having any superstar players, but being one of the deepest teams in the country. They have 10 good players that play good minutes. Lamar Patterson may be their most talented player, but he tends to shy away from being "the man". Stopping Tray Woodall is not the key to beating Pitt's offense. They're a very balanced scoring attack, and many of their players are capable of getting hot.

nobody said pitt is a one man team with tray woodall. i said we owe him one. lets wipe that skin and grin off his face this time. like wichita state is a joke? does he still think that? oh.hell.no.

[The Mad Hatter]

This is a game where we really need Cle to be on. When he is feeling it, he is one of those guys that can score at will no matter who is guarding him. If he isn't hot, I'm not sure that we can muster enough offense to win this one. I'm glad to have Ron back since it gives us another guy that can put up big offense any given night. It seems that we have had only 1-2 guys shooting well from the outside any given night for a while. We will need 2-3 guys doing so in this game to win.

[1972Shocker]

I think they are both Dapper Dan guys. I think Ben Jacobsen at UNI is partial to Flop.