Concerns going Forward

[KC Shox]

This year's NCAA has no dominate team(s). There is no team in the NCAA right now that has demonstrated utter dominance and are on another level, for example, there is no 2012 Kentucky in the field. Any team in the top 20 can win the whole thing this year. That's the good news.

My concern going into March Madness would be who we are matched up against. If we get a team who is defensive minded first like Virginia, Cincy, Syracuse, Florida or has dominate, athletic big men, I think that poses problems for us. While our defense would keep us in the game against these types of teams, our weakness is our shooting and against strong defensive teams, our ability to hit shots would be taxed to the max.

We are not a very good 3 point shooting team (181st nationally). I wish our FG percentage would be better, (111th nationally). Assist per game is 114th nationally and our offensive rebounding is 100. What is even more troubling about these stats is that they are derived from playing relatively weak competition. So my concern is a combination of who we play and how well our perimeter shooting will stack up.

[The Mad Hatter]

Those assist and offensive rebounding numbers need to be adjusted for pace to be at all meaningful.

[shoxlax]

8.00 beers :(

[ShockerFever]

This year's NCAA has no dominate team(s). There is no team in the NCAA right now that has demonstrated utter dominance and are on another level, for example, there is no 2012 Kentucky in the field. Any team in the top 20 can win the whole thing this year. That's the good news.

My concern going into March Madness would be who we are matched up against. If we get a team who is defensive minded first like Virginia, Cincy, Syracuse, Florida or has dominate, athletic big men, I think that poses problems for us. While our defense would keep us in the game against these types of teams, our weakness is our shooting and against strong defensive teams, our ability to hit shots would be taxed to the max.

We are not a very good 3 point shooting team (181st nationally). I wish our FG percentage would be better, (111th nationally). Assist per game is 114th nationally and our offensive rebounding is 100. What is even more troubling about these stats is that they are derived from playing relatively weak competition. So my concern is a combination of who we play and how well our perimeter shooting will stack up.

Still here?

Ironically, you're posting more after losing your own bet than you have before.

[WillieJeffJeffries]

You can't be as successful as the Shockers have been over the past 5 years without starting to grow a coaching tree. I for one am rooting for Coach Jans to find his own gig and when he does I will be rooting for him to be a success. I think Coach Marshall is at a point now where attracting quality assistants will not be all that difficult. It is part of the circle of life in college coaching. In fact, the more assistant coaches leaving Wichita State overtime for head coaching gigs the better I like it. That would be a great indication that we are being very successful.

Don't get me wrong I want HCGM to have a deep coaching tree, WSU will probably need a branch one day. I just don't like the distraction that usually comes with it during the tourney...

[WillieJeffJeffries]

This year's NCAA has no dominate team(s). There is no team in the NCAA right now that has demonstrated utter dominance and are on another level, for example, there is no 2012 Kentucky in the field. Any team in the top 20 can win the whole thing this year. That's the good news.

My concern going into March Madness would be who we are matched up against. If we get a team who is defensive minded first like Virginia, Cincy, Syracuse, Florida or has dominate, athletic big men, I think that poses problems for us. While our defense would keep us in the game against these types of teams, our weakness is our shooting and against strong defensive teams, our ability to hit shots would be taxed to the max.

We are not a very good 3 point shooting team (181st nationally). I wish our FG percentage would be better, (111th nationally). Assist per game is 114th nationally and our offensive rebounding is 100. What is even more troubling about these stats is that they are derived from playing relatively weak competition. So my concern is a combination of who we play and how well our perimeter shooting will stack up.

This post probably had some valid points.......if it existed!!! Lol

[1972Shocker]

Don't get me wrong I want HCGM to have a deep coaching tree, WSU will probably need a branch one day. I just don't like the distraction that usually comes with it during the tourney...

I understand, but it's just a side effect of sustained success. Better than the alternative.

[shocksrbest]

I really believe that this team is geared to do well in the ncaa. WSU plays very good D and even Mr Robert Knight has taken note of this fact on at least a couple of occasions and passed it on to the staff and players. They don't reach and grab, and during the ncaa I think you will see the ncaa mandate of closer enforcement of the "new' rules". The other ncaa teams will not have the opportunity to scout WSU to the degree the other valley schools do each year. I am nervous about long athletic teams but then again WSU probably makes a whole lot of other coaches nervous.

Totally agree.
I look forward to the NCAA's and away from the Valley. We are way more of a match-up problem for other teams than they are for us...IMO. Really looking forward to how this will play out.

[pie n eye]

This year's NCAA has no dominate team(s). There is no team in the NCAA right now that has demonstrated utter dominance and are on another level, for example, there is no 2012 Kentucky in the field. Any team in the top 20 can win the whole thing this year. That's the good news.

My concern going into March Madness would be who we are matched up against. If we get a team who is defensive minded first like Virginia, Cincy, Syracuse, Florida or has dominate, athletic big men, I think that poses problems for us. While our defense would keep us in the game against these types of teams, our weakness is our shooting and against strong defensive teams, our ability to hit shots would be taxed to the max.

We are not a very good 3 point shooting team (181st nationally). I wish our FG percentage would be better, (111th nationally). Assist per game is 114th nationally and our offensive rebounding is 100. What is even more troubling about these stats is that they are derived from playing relatively weak competition. So my concern is a combination of who we play and how well our perimeter shooting will stack up.

No dominate teams this year? Huh. I swear I heard something about a team that went 31-0 in the reg season.

[chicagoshocker]

ESPN Insider had an article about early-exit potential for the top 10 using a statistical analysis (aka Giant Killers/Slain Giants): Giant Killers IDs the most likely NCAA tournament upsets (upset of someone seeded at least five spots higher) using a metrics-based forecast. Our vaunted statistical model is able to assign a rating to each Giant, based on the likelihood that it would lose to a generic Giant Killer. In evaluating the top 10 teams in the current AP poll, it finds a pretty large disparity in how safe each squad should feel during the tourney’s first weekend. Here’s a closer look, in decreasing order of vulnerability.

Most Vulnerable to Least Vulnerable to being "slayed"
SLU - 71.3 rating
WSU - 72.7
Creighton - 72.9
Villanova - 84.2
Syracuse - 86.7
Florida - 89.8
KU - 90.6
Arizona - 94.2
Duke - 95.0
Louisville - 97.7

#9 WSU: Speaking of teams our model pegs as overrated, the sage-like spreadsheet has some issues with the Shockers. Sure, they’re undefeated, but our model accounts for the nation’s 130th-ranked schedule, and as a result is unwilling to bet heavily on Gregg Marshall’s crew. Wichita State takes a further knock from the model’s “Secret Sauce,” which accounts for similarities to historically safe Giants. The Shockers carry some warning labels, particularly their lack of emphasis on forcing turnovers (18.7 percent of opponents’ possessions).

Look, it’s hard to argue against a 30-0 team, regardless of its schedule. After all, the Shockers can beat only the teams they play. And it’s also difficult to argue that they aren’t cut out for tourney play when the likes of Cleanthony Early, Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet all played key roles on a Final Four squad. But by our measures, Wichita State has a disturbing number of traits in common with previously slain Giants, meaning a potential 1 vs. 8/9 matchup could be a real challenge to a crew that pulled off that kind of an upset last year.

[wsushox1]

I actually believe this is one of many strengths of this team. Marshall is able to limit the number of touches for the other team and our defense seems to be taking care of that end of the court.

It can be a strength and a weakness for sure.

[Rlh04d]

Those assist and offensive rebounding numbers need to be adjusted for pace to be at all meaningful.

This.

Our adjusted tempo on KenPom.com is 235th. Using raw numbers when 234 teams in the country play at a faster pace than us is simply ridiculous.