OFFICIAL FINAL 4 GAME THREAD-WSU VERSUS LOUISVILLE

[Ricardo del Rio]

Somewhat subtle, I thought the dagger was the three personal fouls on three jump shots- 2 three balls and 1 two ball. All of the shots missed and the fouls did not cause the miss. Number 11 just out-dekked us on two of the shots - up fake, get defender off his feet, jump into him.

It cost, I believe, 7 points.

[forevershockerfan]

It is still amazing to see us play so good in a Final 4 game that the experts all proclaimed was an easy 10+ win for Louisville. We held their bigs and Siva in check and only most gave them shots we wanted them to take most of the time. It was their subs that carried them to the final win with big shots. Smith usually eventually gets his and had 21 points.

Armstud had 7 assists, 2 steals, and 4 rebounds and handled the ball well even with his bad shooting night. It seemed like some thought the media skipped over Hall, a key Senior, after the game? Dunno. If so, why? Hall had 13 points, 5-rb's and Louisville's bigs were held in check.

[jocoshock]

I agree...I thought that pass from Baker to EO was a huge turning point. But as most have said on this board , wow what a season! So proud of how far they made it in spite of all odds. What a fun ride, thanks Shox for an awesome season!

it was a tough call on what was right. Yes Baker passed up a wide open three, but it also got Dieng his 4th foul. Frankly, I was shocked that EO even caught the pass though...

[forevershockerfan]

There is a pal of mine from KU-Country. Last time he was he was here on a visit he shared he is not a big basketball fan but does watch KU from time to time. I bent his ears about our Shocks and told him why I did not think KU or K-State wanted to play us much. I told him that 3G had said something like "If I was them, I would not want to play them much either."

This 'buddy ole pal' goes back home and another KU fan and him was laughing hard at what I said, poking fun of my home-town observations. Then he came back for a visit just this week and said "Man, we were laughing at you and wondering why you were so high on these Shockers. Now we understand quite vividly what you believed as being true."

Sometimes it is hard to be humble but that made me feel good inside. Our Shockers have now earned respect with their game that even defied Vegas and the experts that do follow College basketball closely, unlike my pal. We talked until we were red in the face on SN that somehow, someday, this might or could happen. Well this Season, we even had Digger calling us "The wicked witch of the West?" We have captured the attention of the masses along with the experts and that is not a laughing matter.

[mjbaker84]

did anybody get the impression that obviously the team performed poorly when hall and armstead were out. I know it is a given after watching the game yesterday, but why didn't lufile get more minutes than orupke? Lufile had a couple nice rebounds, a put back, and seemed to play pretty good defense. I know he isn't the greatest player, but he played much better in his minor minutes compared with orupke.

[jocoshock]

did anybody get the impression that obviously the team performed poorly when hall and armstead were out. I know it is a given after watching the game yesterday, but why didn't lufile get more minutes than orupke? Lufile had a couple nice rebounds, a put back, and seemed to play pretty good defense. I know he isn't the greatest player, but he played much better in his minor minutes compared with orupke.

Orupke pulled down some key boards and drew several fouls on the Louisville players. Haven't looked at the box score to compare the two, but I don't' think Orupke played badly. But we did miss Hall and Armstead when they weren't in the game.

[deep3card]

As I said in some of the other threads, this was going to be a great game, and I agree fully with the poster who said that the 2 best teams in the Final Four played in the 1st game of the night. I have no doubt, and would have been cheering my ass off for you had you pulled the game out, that you would have won the title. I told the family of WSU fans sitting behind me in the GA dome that you guys ABSOLUTELY belonged there. As you guys said in your analysis of our team, MVC teams just give us trouble because they're mostly well coached and play very intelligently. It took a controversial call at the end of the game for us to beat Illinois State at home as well. We tried to give the game away by letting you get into the bonus with more than 11 minutes left in the game. No Cards fan would have ever said that Tim Henderson would have had an impact in a final four game, so I can't imagine he was on a scouting report either. Fantastic job on Siva, taking away anything he wanted to do other than jump shots as well. I came away super impressed with Marshall.

I think refereeing in general has become incredibly inconsistent and they cannot keep up with the way the game has gotten so physical over the last 20 years and making accurate calls has become tougher and tougher. I'm really not sure (other than some rule changes) how they can actually improve. Some of these guys are too old. There's no way Jim Burr belongs anywhere outside of high school ball. Karl Hess gave Rick Pitino a technical last year because he yelled at Kyle Kuric, "KYLE!" and he thought he yelled "Karl". That was it. This is the guy who also threw Chris Corciani and Tom Gugliotta out of the NC State home game a while back too. It's a joke that he's one of the best 10 refs in college ball.

Thank you for being such good hosts on your message board, and best wishes for next season.

[mjbaker84]

Orupke pulled down some key boards and drew several fouls on the Louisville players. Haven't looked at the box score to compare the two, but I don't' think Orupke played badly. But we did miss Hall and Armstead when they weren't in the game.

true but I remember reading an interview with Lufile and he said his parents would be in attendance. When they watch him he said he is like a madman playing and it fires him up even more. I saw that fire when got the first few rebounds and the put back. Orupke, I loved him as a player and thought he did some great things, but i think he def trailed off in the postseason playing wise.

[mjbaker84]

one more comment on the team. I noticed on the pep rally when the team came back home, Jake White had a walking boot on. when did he hurt himself and how? I think it was his right leg.

[The Mad Hatter]

one more comment on the team. I noticed on the pep rally when the team came back home, Jake White had a walking boot on. when did he hurt himself and how? I think it was his right leg.

He has had the walking boot for a while. I forget the exact nature of the injury, but he played through it the entire NCAA tourney (and maybe before). The boot is just there to help keep stress off as much as possible.

[mjbaker84]

He has had the walking boot for a while. I forget the exact nature of the injury, but he played through it the entire NCAA tourney (and maybe before). The boot is just there to help keep stress off as much as possible.

ahhhh

[1972Shocker]

He has had the walking boot for a while. I forget the exact nature of the injury, but he played through it the entire NCAA tourney (and maybe before). The boot is just there to help keep stress off as much as possible.

I think HCGM called it a strain of some sort. No mention of a stress fracture. But, yes Jake was in the walking boot when they returned to Wichita after beating Gonzaga. How long he has been wearing the walking boot before that I do not know.

[ABC]

There are many, many plays that could have turned the game.

When WSU is up nine points and Baker passes it to a post player two feet from the basket, I have a hard time thinking that is the turning point. It certainly had an impact.

-Hancock's three to put UL up 65-60 - he misses that and who knows
-The steal from Armstead under the UL basket late in the game
-Cotton's TO as he was falling back over the end line
-Early's missed three late in the game (it was a good look)
-VanVleet's shot that got blocked (He was trying to do too much, imo)

The biggest thing to me is Henderson. He scored 16 points all freaking year long and he score six in 60 seconds? That is just pure good fortune for UL. He was 6-20 for the year from three.

[forevershockerfan]

I must ask those here on SN about the inbounds pass from FVV to Hall with 4:52 left to play. When Hall went up to catch it, #44 jumped into Hall, knocked him back and down from the pass, and they get a uncontested lay-up rather than Hall shooting 2 throws. To me, that potential 4 point swing and no-call by the refs was gargantuan in a 4 point game? Did I not see that play correctly? Thoughts?

[WuShockFan]

I'm still pretty bummed out about the loss to Louisville. We led at halftime. We were up by twelve points in the second half. I feel like we should have won the game. A Final Four appearance is good for the program, but we could have had so much more. We were so close.