What We Had Last Year That We Don't Have This Year

[Aargh]

Last year Baker aand VanVleet were unknowns. Neither had been scouted.

In addition, neither had been through the rigors of a D1 season. They were both "fresh legs" in the NCAA's. They were both fantastic talents who had not been seen during the regular season.

For all practical purposes, Marshall was able to add to Fr to his lineup in the NCAA run last year. Both those players are now getting some national run for post-season awards. They were unknown to opponents. Baker because of injury, and VanVleet because of learning and playing behind a very good PG.

To duplicate anything resembling the surprise Marshall was able to unleash on the basketball world last year, the Shox need Wiggins and Wessel to show up in the NCAA's. I think either or both of them could do that.

Baker and VanVleet seem to be showing the effectrs of the rigors of a full D1 season. Neither appears to be as effective now as they were earlier, and both have some nagging injuries they're playing through.

With the Valley's early post-season tourney, the Shox get a full week to recover between St. Louis and the NCAA's. That week is going to be huge to getting the Shox past nagging injuries and in general being pretty beat up after a season of Playing Angry.

[molly jabali]

Last year Baker aand VanVleet were unknowns. Neither had been scouted.

In addition, neither had been through the rigors of a D1 season. They were both "fresh legs" in the NCAA's. They were both fantastic talents who had not been seen during the regular season.

For all practical purposes, Marshall was able to add to Fr to his lineup in the NCAA run last year. Both those players are now getting some national run for post-season awards. They were unknown to opponents. Baker because of injury, and VanVleet because of learning and playing behind a very good PG.

To duplicate anything resembling the surprise Marshall was able to unleash on the basketball world last year, the Shox need Wiggins and Wessel to show up in the NCAA's. I think either or both of them could do that.

Baker and VanVleet seem to be showing the effectrs of the rigors of a full D1 season. Neither appears to be as effective now as they were earlier, and both have some nagging injuries they're playing through.

With the Valley's early post-season tourney, the Shox get a full week to recover between St. Louis and the NCAA's. That week is going to be huge to getting the Shox past nagging injuries and in general being pretty beat up after a season of Playing Angry.

I really like the week off thing for this team, with the amount of minutes the big 4 are logging

[WuShock Reaper]

If I recall correctly (IIRC), we had about 5 losses at this time last year. I don't think we have had any this year, have we?

[im4wsu]

Last year Baker aand VanVleet were unknowns. Neither had been scouted.

In addition, neither had been through the rigors of a D1 season. They were both "fresh legs" in the NCAA's. They were both fantastic talents who had not been seen during the regular season.

For all practical purposes, Marshall was able to add to Fr to his lineup in the NCAA run last year. Both those players are now getting some national run for post-season awards. They were unknown to opponents. Baker because of injury, and VanVleet because of learning and playing behind a very good PG.

To duplicate anything resembling the surprise Marshall was able to unleash on the basketball world last year, the Shox need Wiggins and Wessel to show up in the NCAA's. I think either or both of them could do that.

Baker and VanVleet seem to be showing the effectrs of the rigors of a full D1 season. Neither appears to be as effective now as they were earlier, and both have some nagging injuries they're playing through.

With the Valley's early post-season tourney, the Shox get a full week to recover between St. Louis and the NCAA's. That week is going to be huge to getting the Shox past nagging injuries and in general being pretty beat up after a season of Playing Angry.

Some good points. I looked at the OOC vs Conference performance stats on a per 40 minute basis for Fred and Ron. Fred's do not show as much an effect as Ron's. Of course,Ron is battling the ankle, too.

FRED	OOC	Conf
FG%	47.1%	46.0%
3-FG%	46.4%	38.2%
FT%	84.4%	81.0%
Reb/40	4.2	5.9
PF/40	2.5	2.1
PTS/40	13.9	15.6
AST/40	6.3	6.5
TO/40	1.7	1.6
BLK/40	0.2	0.2
STL/40	2.5	2.2
RON	OOC	Conf
FG%	49.1%	37.4%
3-FG%	39.3%	31.1%
FT%	83.9%	86.8%
Reb/40	5.6	4.7
PF/40	2.6	2.1
PTS/40	19.3	14.6
AST/40	4.8	3.4
TO/40	2.1	1.7
BLK/40	1.2	0.7
STL/40	2.4	1.8

[Play Angry]

Some good points. I looked at the OOC vs Conference performance stats on a per 40 minute basis for Fred and Ron. Fred's do not show as much an effect as Ron's. Of course,Ron is battling the ankle, too.

FRED	OOC	Conf
FG%	47.1%	46.0%
3-FG%	46.4%	38.2%
FT%	84.4%	81.0%
Reb/40	4.2	5.9
PF/40	2.5	2.1
PTS/40	13.9	15.6
AST/40	6.3	6.5
TO/40	1.7	1.6
BLK/40	0.2	0.2
STL/40	2.5	2.2
RON	OOC	Conf
FG%	49.1%	37.4%
3-FG%	39.3%	31.1%
FT%	83.9%	86.8%
Reb/40	5.6	4.7
PF/40	2.6	2.1
PTS/40	19.3	14.6
AST/40	4.8	3.4
TO/40	2.1	1.7
BLK/40	1.2	0.7
STL/40	2.4	1.8

Thank you for this. I noticed yesterday that Ron's 3FG% is now below Cle's, which was a little startling (although Cle has seen a massive, massive improvement in his perimeter shooting since the new year). Interesting to see the numbers broken down.

[Jeffrey Korchek]

Some of this has to be a product of being scouted so hard for in-conference games... our team (almost) always seems to bog down in conference and then frees up a lot once post-season games start. The exception might be 2011-12 team that went 16-2 in conference and then lost in the first round of the NCAAs.

[ShockTalk]

Let's also remember that during the OOC schedule, we were looked at a little differently than now. Yes, we had just come off a F4, however, the believers were still far and few between. We had also lost several key players from that team. Teams knew we were going to be good, very good, and we were ranked, but whether we were going to hold on to that ranking was not clear.

Then the Valley schedule started. These teams, and their coaches, had played us before and the they were familiar with many of our players. We were undefeated and expected to be the top dog in the league. These games, for our Valley opponents, were taking on a bigger meaning. This meaning has continued to increase each game as we continue to be undefeated, the #2 team in the country in one poll, and our Valley opponents' season less meaningful. We have become the only possible crown jewel to the rest of the leagues' season.