DePaul Pre-Game Thread

[kcshocker11]

Wu 78
Blue 63

[ShockerFever]

None of the Blue Demon boards are all that busy. The scout board appears the most active and the thoughts range from wanting to be close late to expecting to win because they, and I quote from most of their posters, "have more talent".

Someone is going to have to define "more talent" for me because 3 of the best 5 players on the court will be Baker, FVV, and Cle and that's being GENEROUS to Young and Melvin. And there's a reason we were 30-9 last season while they were 11-21 (and lost to us by 13) and it's not because they're more talented than WSU. We need to be focused and prepared and we'll be fine. I think last night was really good for our team.

I believe they also threw around "more athletic" too, lol. Clearly, they haven't learned their lesson from last year.

[another shocker]

our second half defense at tulsa was tremendous.. in february/march form. thank you gregg marshall and team.

i'd like to see that kind of defense against depaul, but in the first half. i think it would behoove us.

[ShockerPrez]

We need to truly play angry and rebound the ball like we did at Tulsa.

If we do that, I think we are just speculating on how well we shoot, which will be determining how big we win.

[WuDrWu]

hey, dr. you said that last night's win at tulsa was really good for the team. care to elaborate?

Nothing cryptic. All of the games at home so far, this team needed to get out and get back to it's roots. As @tropicalshox: said, roadwarriors. That being said, there were some good things to take away from last night:

We continue to take care of the ball AND more importantly, we continue to take it from the other guy. 10 turnovers and we get 8 steals. Those are super numbers, more so on the road.

Not concerned with Coleby's foul trouble last night (especially since 4 and 5 were poor). Very happy with Evan finding his sweet spot though. Only wish he could find his shot which is completely broken for now.

We compete and win with Early, Coleby and in the first half, Baker, in foul trouble. On the road.

Lufile breaks out and plays through the pain.

I said before, we'll go on the road and learn something...it might mean a loss, but we'll still learn. Winning and learning is preferable. Well, we learned and won, and learned some great lessons and won big.

The only thing not good is Carter's ankle. We will need him Monday and Tuesday and that is not at all confirmed.

Assuming Carter stays healthy, I believe he'll be our go to big at the end of the year. Others may think I'm crazy, but that's what I believe.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

You crazy @WuDrWu:. Ill believe Carter will be "go to" when you predict a Final Four run.

***DISCLAIMER -- Turn on sarcasm detectors. Dude is a stud. Will be the guy inside. You're welcome ***

[jocoshock]

I believe they also threw around "more athletic" too, lol. Clearly, they haven't learned their lesson from last year.

The lesson from last year is that last year was last year.

Nothing more. I believe our team understands that and that is why I expect them to win. If I am wrong about that then our team might learn a different lesson on Monday.

[ShockerPrez]

I am waiting with anticipation for the first Carter hook shot to connect.

Once that goes down, the flood gates will open.

[Veritas]

da Pawl and the Big Least. 52
KC Shocker Nation. 78

[ShockerPhi]

I'd like to see another 20+ point win on Monday night.

Final Four - 83
"More Talent" - 60

[MadaboutWu]

Anyone have a sense if Depaul is improved from their ~ 11-22 ~ 200 rpi team of last year?

[Play Angry]

Anyone have a sense if Depaul is improved from their ~ 11-22 ~ 200 rpi team of last year?

I think it's one of those "The good news is, everyone's back. The bad news is, everyone's back" scenarios. Melvin and Young are hands down their best players and they return for their senior seasons. They also have a very talented freshman center/pf who was a top 100 recruit and is performing well. Purnell's job is on the line this year and they need to make the NIT (at least) to save it, so there's also that. That can be either a positive or negative depending on how much the team is willing to fight for their coach.

They've split a pair at home against likely top 75 teams (loss vs. Southern Miss, win vs. Wright State) and destroyed a terrible Grambling State team. It's unclear how good the road win @ Wisconsin-Milwaukee is since UWM was picked 9th in the Horizon but has come out of the gate pretty well (wins @ Davidson and on neutral courts against San Jose State and James Madison, but also a loss @ Loyola to open the year).

Overall I expect them to be improved from last year, but that could mean they are a 150 RPI squad or sub-100 RPI squad (best case scenario probably). Hard to tell so far.

[RoyalShock]

WSU - 8
DePaul - 6

Expect DePaul to jump on our starter quickly, stringing together enough base hits to get and keep a 1-2 run lead through the first 4-5 innings. WSU will keep it close with a 2-run bomb from Baker in the 2nd, then tie it up in the bottom of the 4th with another 2-run bomb from Early. That will chase DePaul's starter from the game.

DePaul's bullpen is weak and will get exploited by the entire WSU line-up. Purnell will try to create favorable L-L and R-R matchups but it won't do any good with the Shocker hitters showing great patience, getting walks and hits seemingly at will. The WSU bullpen might give up a run or two but by then the outcome will all but have been decided.

W-Early
L-Martin
S-VanVleet

If you want to translate the final score to basketball, multiply by 10.

[ShockerPrez]

Shockers of Wheat 79
Citizens of hell 64

[Kung Wu]

WSU - 8
DePaul - 6

Expect DePaul to jump on our starter quickly, stringing together enough base hits to get and keep a 1-2 run lead through the first 4-5 innings. WSU will keep it close with a 2-run bomb from Baker in the 2nd, then tie it up in the bottom of the 4th with another 2-run bomb from Early. That will chase DePaul's starter from the game.

DePaul's bullpen is weak and will get exploited by the entire WSU line-up. Purnell will try to create favorable L-L and R-R matchups but it won't do any good with the Shocker hitters showing great patience, getting walks and hits seemingly at will. The WSU bullpen might give up a run or two but by then the outcome will all but have been decided.

W-Early
L-Martin
S-VanVleet

If you want to translate the final score to basketball, multiply by 10.

They are going to be winning by 10 to 20 points in the first 40 to 50 halves? Ugggh.