Honest Question for Shocker Fans

[ciaomichael]

Being a newbie on this board, I apologize in advance if my questions are too elementary or naïve. I was an active Shocker fan going back to when I was a kid in Wichita back in the 1960s and then a WSU student during the Smithson glory years. But, moved to the east coast many years ago and gradually lost touch with WSU basketball. Even now, it is only very rarely than I am able to catch them on TV. Obviously, their NCAA tournament run last year caught my attention. Which brings me to my question.

Who would you say is the real "go to" player for the Shockers on this year's team? The only game I've actually seen was the Tennessee game. Cotton played like a man possessed in the second half. From last year's performance, seems like Ron Baker is quite a talented youngster. But then, I see that Cleanthony Early's name shows up big in the box score every so often. So, although this team seems very balanced from afar, is there one player you would most trust down the stretch in crunch time?

[Talk_Angry]

Shocker Beat Writer for the Wichita Eagle, Paul Suellentrop, answers that question in this week's episode of Talk Angry.

I know... That's a shameless plug.

[moshock]

Baker, Early, Cotton, FVV are all elite level studs. The others are coming on strong. If I were 3G and needed a last second shot to win the game - I would go Cle - Baker - FVV - Cotton in that order.

The real "go to" guy IMHO is Gregg Marshall. That dude has out coached every opponent - including making several so called "elite coaches" look like clowns now for 7 years. Our games look more like chess matches. His game planning and counter moves are brilliant IMO.

[pie n eye]

I think that's the beauty of WSU teams under Coach Marshall - there is no single go to guy. Instead there are a team of players who are all capable and confident enough to make a big play when needed. Ron, Fred, Tekele, and Cle all have track records of making clutch plays down the stretch.

[im4wsu]

I think that's the beauty of WSU teams under Coach Marshall - there is no single go to guy. Instead there are a team of players who are all capable and confident enough to make a big play when needed. Ron, Fred, Tekele, and Cle all have track records of making clutch plays down the stretch.

And when you "go to"one of them in crunch time, they seem to find the other one(s) to complete the task!

[Bluzrover]

I think that's the beauty of WSU teams under Coach Marshall - there is no single go to guy. Instead there are a team of players who are all capable and confident enough to make a big play when needed. Ron, Fred, Tekele, and Cle all have track records of making clutch plays down the stretch.

^This +1

[Cdizzle]

including making several so called "elite coaches" look like clowns now for 7 years..

matta_clown.jpg

[ShockerPrez]

If you need a three, its Baker. If you are down 2, Cle gets the rock.

[MadaboutWu]

Even now, it is only very rarely than I am able to catch them on TV.

As a fellow transplant who relies on digital media for watching the Shockers I wanted to point you in the direction of several sources in case you were unaware of them.

For $7-8 a month you can stream the home games at goshockers.com; the quality is pretty good after a long-needed upgrade this year. You can listen to the radio broadcast on shockerradio.com or knss.com. ESPN picks up regional broadcasts sometimes (though less often this year) and streams them at espn3.com.

[Aargh]

One of the crtiticisms from media types who only casually observed the Shox up until the NCAA Tourney was that they didn't haave a "go to" guy. That criticism dsied down a lot as those media types watched a 9 seed go to the F4.

Perhaps having a "go to guy" is more of a cliche than a necessary aspect of a winning team. Many teams have a go to guy because they have one player who is clearly better offensively than the rest of the team. That's not been the case with Marshall's teams lately.

I'm starting to think you could add Carter to the list of guys you'd like to see get the ball at crunch time. The theory that it's harder to prevent 5 guys from scoring than it is to prevent one guy from scoring is pretty logical.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

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[Steeleshocker]

I think that's the beauty of WSU teams under Coach Marshall - there is no single go to guy. Instead there are a team of players who are all capable and confident enough to make a big play when needed. Ron, Fred, Tekele, and Cle all have track records of making clutch plays down the stretch.

This is what makes me feel good about WSU. Numerous guys have the ability to make the clutch plays, and none of them are afraid to do so when the moment arrives.

Watching Davidson take on North Carolina, with the big man fouled out Davidson had to force the last shot of regulation to one guy. UNC knew this so they double teamed him. The Davidson guy made a great pass out of the double team to a guy on the elbow who was open. At this moment they had the advantage. He could have shot, driven to the basket, looked for a cutter, etc. Instead, they backed it out to give it back to the same guy who took a deep contested 3 that he missed. I think that is a great example of coaches forcing a play for the "go-to" player.

In our case we are lucky that coach has supreme trust in his guys to make the right play to get the best shot and none of our players are afraid to be the one taking the shot.

[WSUwatcher]

If you need a three, its Baker. If you are down 2, Cle gets the rock.

+1, but it probably starts with FVV to make sure the right person ends up with it.

[SHOXAAC]

I agree with most of the comments that there are about 4 that we feel confident in. With that said I am a big fan of FVV in crunch time. He showed the ability, even last year, that he can make a critical 3 ball down the stretch. He also has this uncanny ability to get to the rim and make some unconventional looking shots with either hand. I love this kid. He will go down in Shocker history as THE best point guard ever.

[Cdizzle]

I agree with most of the comments that there are about 4 that we feel confident in. With that said I am a big fan of FVV in crunch time. He showed the ability, even last year, that he can make a critical 3 ball down the stretch. He also has this uncanny ability to get to the rim and make some unconventional looking shots with either hand. I love this kid. He will go down in Shocker history as THE best point guard ever.

Speaking of which, I'm a big fan of FVV at not-crunchtime. He is shooting 50% from 3-ball-land. He has 4 fewer 3-ball makes than Cle, on 33 fewer 3-ball attempts. I would not mind him putting up 1 more 3-ball attempt each game.