WSU vs. William and Mary game thread

[Dave Stalwart]

Forget alley oops and dunks.

I want to see rebounds now, and good decision making about shots. No highlights. I'm ready to jump to my feet and cheer for box outs, rebounds and passing out of the post when no shot is there

[jocoshock]

I share everyone's concern about the bigs. lots of room for improvement. Having said that, the three Amigos did combine for 19 points and 9 rebounds....

[CBB_Fan]

One thing to think about:

We didn't look like we were playing anything close to our best in either game and have won by 17 two times in a row. What happens when it clicks for our new guys and we start actually playing to our potential?

[pie n eye]

I love the game Wiggins turned in tonight. He did a little bit of everything and showed the toughness he often lacked last year. Well done.

Overall the game wasn't pretty. They looked like a team who played a game at midnight two days ago. I have to say that William and Mary was a well coached and fairly talented team. They played hard and did not back down from the Shockers. So far the "cupcakes" have provided a nice reminder that you can't take any team for granted.

Again, lots of room for improvement which is a good thing this early in the year.

[Shoxfan11]

I have to say that William and Mary was a well coached and fairly talented team. They played hard and did not back down from the Shockers. So far the "cupcakes" have provided a nice reminder that you can't take any team for granted..

I'm kinda hoping these "cupcakes" are more similar to a 2006 Northwestern State type of cupcake. Only time will tell.

[shockerfan]

1) Princeton style offense is probably the perfect offense to play with the new rules. Lots of cutting...etc. very hard to defend with the current rules

2) Marshall's teams seem to struggle defending the Princeton offense (aka Air Force if I remember right was a little rough at times last year)

3) I am glad no one in the Valley runs that offense.

4) It's early and all teams will struggle at times (KU vs Louisiana Monroe...etc) I hate KU but it was first example to pop in my head

5) we are fine.

[Play Angry]

One thing to think about:

We didn't look like we were playing anything close to our best in either game and have won by 17 two times in a row. What happens when it clicks for our new guys and we start actually playing to our potential?

Agree with this- it reflects just how great this team is. We have played like absolute crap in at least 50% of our minutes against D1 opponents this year, but we've still got a couple 17 point wins under our belts.

This team is going to be scary, scary good.

[wsushox1]

CJ had a hell of a post move in the second half. Good to see.

[ShockerFever]

Crowd was great for a game that had boring initially written all over it. First half was atrocious. I think we panicked a little bit because it has been a while since we've trailed by double-digits at any point in a game, much less the first 5 minutes. We settled down a bit but the interior defense sucked. The Tribe had to have had about 15 layups/dunks. Just stupid. Second half was much better obviously. Cotton is a STUD. FVV is a STUD. Baker is a STUD. Wiggy got into it. Loved seeing his breakaway slam! I think Early is reading his press clippings too much. He has not been very effective, despite pounding out another quite 14 point game. His shot looks a lot flatter this year. Just seems off. It was nice to see Chadrack throw it down. Coleby had some nice plays too. Darius Carter rushes WAY too much. Somebody needs to tell the kid to calm the eff down. I'm sure he has potential but he just rushes too much and it usually results in point-blank clangs and misses.

We still have yet to play like a Top 20 team. Still early, but these teams ARE the cupcakes on our schedule. Not a lot of "gimmes" left. It sure would be nice to pound one of these teams for 40 minutes. Maybe it starts Saturday?

Still, we're all scratching our heads after a 17-point win. It shows where are expectations are and have grown and it also shows how much potential this team has once it "finds it".

[shoxlax]

I don't think practice will be fun tomorrow. Especially if you are a post player.

[ShockerPhi]

In regards to Darius Carter looking like poop so far, remember Cleanthony last year? He would run onto the court without checking in, and then run off the court without a whistle. And his first game he was like 0-10 from the field... Jucos always need some time getting used to D1, and Carter will find his groove. Soon he'll be sinking those baby hooks and all will be groovy.

[Shockeriffic]

In regards to Darius Carter looking like poop so far, remember Cleanthony last year? He would run onto the court without checking in, and then run off the court without a whistle. And his first game he was like 0-10 from the field... Jucos always need some time getting used to D1, and Carter will find his groove. Soon he'll be sinking those baby hooks and all will be groovy.

We remember the start of last season differently. I remember Cle' showing flashes of talent in between the dumb moments. He had double digit points in each of the first 3 games and had 21 and 8 against Western Carolina. Also he was 5-9 from the field after the first game.

[Dave Stalwart]

I have a theory about Darius rushing too much and taking ill advised shots whenever he gets the ball.

His previous situation was being the go to guy more or less on a juco. How many plays were made to result in him getting the ball back then? For him to pass out of the post was basically a broken play. He is trained to catch the ball and make something happen. Part of his learning curve to D1 will be figuring out that literally everyone on his team is a better option than him, even when he has the ball... Unless its a gimme basket.

It won't be long before he starts having the right instincts. Coach is high on him and that means we are in for a treat soon.

I remember when coach used to say how odd it was when Joe Ragland was cold because he was such a great shooter in practice. Pretty soon Darius is going to start making good decisions and on top of that, burying a ton of jump hooks. It looks like he loves that shot.

[Bluzrover]

Forget alley oops and dunks.

I want to see rebounds now, and good decision making about shots. No highlights. I'm ready to jump to my feet and cheer for box outs, rebounds and passing out of the post when no shot is there

Yep, this is what we lost when Carl graduated. He was king at making space under the rim. KC has a finer offensive touch but doesn't use his size the way CH did when he was under the basket. Hope he gets that corrected sooner rather than later.

[Capitol Shock II]

I took a friend last night who supports KU and he commented in amazement twice about how loud it gets in CKA. I laughed because last night was pretty quiet.