WSU vs North Carolina Central

[bunck]

My question is: does Marshall sit Baker this game? Is he confident in his bench enough to allow Ron to get healthy for conference play?

If his ankle is still not getting better, I would rather he sits out in the first MVC game. Hell, we might be seeing Barry Hinson's wife out on the court in that first conference game.

[Bluzrover]

I am not seeing anything about this game that leads me to believe this is going to be easy.

I don't disagree and I'm hoping the few days of rest between Alabama and NCC will be sufficient for Ron. Again, I believe this game will be tougher than some of us might expect but I won't be surprised if Ron's minutes aren't as high as his average for the season, particularly if the game is in hand (as much as any game can be) and his teammates are picking it up a bit.

[MadaboutWu]

I need a game where we cruise beginning to end. Trailing in the second half is getting too stressful.

[Shocker85]

That is probably because NCCU is a better team than Tennessee and Alabama.

Or maybe their #289 SoS has something to do with it.

[another shocker]

I need a game where we cruise beginning to end. Trailing in the second half is getting too stressful.

i wouldn't bet on that happening against a team like uncc. just treat 'em like ohio state. scratch it out even would be just fine.

[shoxilla]

I will be home for XMAS and have tix to this game. Is this a Black Out or Gold Out game? Either way....Can't WAIT!!!!

[1972Shocker]

I will be home for XMAS and have tix to this game. Is this a Black Out or Gold Out game? Either way....Can't WAIT!!!!

You can wear any color you want. Either Black or Gold/Yellow.

Warning: Wearing Crimson/Blue or Purple invalidates your ticket and places you directly at the top of Santa's Naughty list. You may have to spend the night in a pen with the reindeer-in-training which I understand have been shot-up with viagara.

[Cdizzle]

Or maybe their #289 SoS has something to do with it.

Possibly. Of course they also have 3 more road wins than Alabama and Tennessee combined, and a win over an NCState team that just handled Tennessee at home.

I'm not saying they are a top 50 team. But then, neither are Alabama or Tennessee.

[Shox21]

My theory --- any team, any night can give you trouble so be prepared at all times and never, ever take the other guy for granted. Have we so soon forgotten EU last year (twice) and I even hesitate to mention SIU.

[jocoshock]

No reason to at this point unless the tweaking of his ankle in the 2nd half at Alabama was more than just a tweak. He will get some decent rest for the ankle this week and then we have a full week between the NCC and Davidson games. I expect and hope Ron will be in the starting lineup.

I think this will be a tougher game than many Shocker fans are expecting. Hopefully, the Shocks will be energized with the return to Koch Arena for a game.

We had Carl, Ron and Evan in the lineup last year when we played these guys and road a big 1st half to a 71-57 win. However, NCC did outscore the Shocks in the 2nd half 39-35. So I don't expect their guys to be in awe of the Koch Arena atmosphere.

Right now NCC is a Top 100 RPI team although they are projected to finish the year around 150 in the RPI.

NCC only lost on the road to Cincy by 7 and they knocked of NC State on the road but they did lose a 6-point game at Ooey-Pooey.

They should do very well in the MEAC. Unfortunately, the MEAC as a conference is ranked 31st (dead last among conference RPI ratings).

NCC has good size and a lot of experience in their Top 8 guys. They shoot a very good 74.2% from the line as a team and having been getting about 25 attempts per game on average. 3 of their 7 wins have been in OT. 2 wins have been Non-D1 opponents.

Probably Starters:

Jeremy Ingram, 6-3 175 Sr, 23.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Alfonso Houston, 6-3 190 Sr, 12.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG
Emanuel Chapman, 6-1 160 Sr., 5.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG
Jay Copeland, 6-7 255 R-Jr, 8.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG
Karamo Jawara, 6-8 220 Jr, 7.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG

Top Reserves:
Jordan Parks, 6-7 200 Jr, 10.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG
Reggie Groves, 6-2 190 R-Sr, 7.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Ebuka Anyaorah, 6-4 194, R-Sr, 6.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG

I am not seeing anything about this game that leads me to believe this is going to be easy.

That is impressive production from their top 8 players.

[MadaboutWu]

I always like our chances when a team leans heavily on one dominant guard. Gives us a shot of going for the TKO.

[another shocker]

That is impressive production from their top 8 players.

they beat nc state who beat tennessee, so..

shox need to turn up the intensity

[1972Shocker]

I always like our chances when a team leans heavily on one dominant guard. Gives us a shot of going for the TKO.

You mean like Tennessee leaned on McRae and Alabama leaned on Releford. Those both were very tough games and if those kinds of guards are on, which they always seem to be against the Shockers they can make things uncomfortable for the good guys.

In any case, NCC looks like they have pretty decent production from their top 8 guys, although it remains to be seen how much they would be able to pick up the slack if we were to hold Ingram down. Sometimes it's actually easier to let the stud get his average and shut the rest of the team down.

Looking forward to this game and I don't believe that the Shocks can just show up and win this game. We will need to play a solid game.

[bunck]

Pomeroy has them at #141. #116 on D and #188 on O, they play at a very slow tempo.

[1972Shocker]

Pomeroy has them at #141. #116 on D and #188 on O, they play at a very slow tempo.

In their 7 D-1 games they are averaging 70.6 PPG. Not necessarily super slow mo.