Shockers vs. Alabama Game thread

[1972Shocker]

I certainly hope Alabama is smart enough to hang on to Coach Grant. I think he is a 1st class gentlemen and a pretty darn good basketball coach. Looks to me like he has Alabama heading in the right direction.

[kochHead]

Wow.. I've never understood how basketball players can do that and be back out playing later the same game. Near the start of the year, I rolled my ankle walking down the stairs, missing the last step, and could barely walk!

A good tape job by a trainer goes along way, but I don't get it either. Maybe they give 'em "the shot"

[shocka khan]

I'm still going to say that as long as we play Evan the number of minutes he's getting against big, athletic front lines, we will have problems. He is not tall enough nor big enough to measure up in the PF position. I think he'd make a great SG or SF, he hustles and plays with intensity, but he'll never be 6' 8" and 240.

On the plus side last night I saw a number of things from Kelly:
* Two big baskets in the clutch. One on a very pretty twisting jump shot inside the FT line.
* Diving on the floor for a loose ball and did so in such a way that he could call a TO before getting tied up.

Those things have made me a believer and I think he's at the front of our young bigs right now.

I'm sorry that Evan got hurt, but since our tourney doesn't appear to have quite the level of teams playing (Nebraska and to a degree, Colorado have been disappointing), perhaps it would be a good time to see if Kelly is ready to start (especially in the first round game, which should be a walkover). It seemed to me that he really lifted the team at the last (after Taylor(?) from Alabama fouled out). He's hustling, playing D, hitting his shots (which Wessel doesn't always do), especially in the clutch, plus he's bigger and probably a little stronger than Evan.

I don't think that Shaq or Nurger are as ready to play as Kelly yet. Shaq has shown signs of being capable, but probably needs a little more time to 'get it'. He has a great shooting touch and he feels the double team extremely well, but I don't think he's there mentally yet. Nurger looks like he needs a little time with Kerry. He plays well, and I think he'll be a great center, but I don't think he's quite ready to start yet. I think he'll be more than ready by next year and if he can come off the bench and help now (like he has been), and we can get Shaq to do likewise, we'll be fine.

[kcshocker11]

Good Lord still recovering, nice gritty win though

[wusphlash]

Forty years haven't made me forget how aggravating ankle sprains can be. Pretty sure Evan is experiencing a sore Wednesday morning. It will heal in time. Of course, out of adversity comes opportunity. Rashard, Shaq, Rauno...... carpe diem.

[Perezident]

I don't think that Shaq or Nurger are as ready to play as Kelly yet. Shaq has shown signs of being capable, but probably needs a little more time to 'get it'. He has a great shooting touch and he feels the double team extremely well, but I don't think he's there mentally yet. Nurger looks like he needs a little time with Kerry. He plays well, and I think he'll be a great center, but I don't think he's quite ready to start yet. I think he'll be more than ready by next year and if he can come off the bench and help now (like he has been), and we can get Shaq to do likewise, we'll be fine.

I really like the way Shaq is coming along. He looks like he's ready to explode at the offensive end, just waiting for coach to unleash him. Defensively still has some work to do, slow to rotate sometimes.

[Fozzy]

Wow, what a comeback! The comebacks can be tough on fans but I bet it gives the coaches and players even more confidence to feel they can win any game. However, it'd be nice to just have the lead through the whole game and not worry about big comebacks :) Game kind of reminded me of March Madness games between a 5 and 12 seed where it seems like upsets or comebacks always seem to happen.

Alabama shot lights out for the first 15 minutes or so of the 2nd half - seemed like they always had an answer for any little run we made, especially if we missed on our end and didn't have a chance to set up the press. Once we started hitting shots and could press then it seemed like things started to change. We need to start getting better on free throws though and shore up other weaknesses - still early in the season though and time to work things out.

[1979Shocker]

he needs it off and maybe that will help with his shooting slump right now.

He seemed to do better when the finger was hurt.

[Slalomshocker]

At the 1:07 mark in the 2nd half, it indeed got FSU loud for a short span. Still can't believe it was sustained for a full game +2 OTs.

R.Kelly is good, and will be very good in his time in Wichita. VERY GOOD.

Something seems off with this team right now. To me it seems they are missing that swagger. Fred seems to be playing timid, and the whole team (except Kelly and Morris who had A+ passes) seems to be playing a little selfish? Too much 1-on-1 and not enough of the 'extra pass' for the even better shot. I understand the guards might not believe in the bigs yet, but get the ball in the post, they are more than capable of passing it back out. Just my opinion.

Unless something changes, this team is going to see a lot of zone. And Illinois St is athletic enough to cause problems with theirs. Size wont be a big issue in MVC play, but UNI and EU will be tough.

Its always good to get a win, and that was a nice comeback, but I would love to see this team come out focused and crisp at the tip. Right now we are living the Florida St. football model....

[Ashockalypse]

I don't know what game your talkin about because there was no selfishness last night. The announcer even remarked how so many of our baskets were from assists. We ran into a big team that played great D. Had we played selfish we would have lost by 20.

[kcshocker11]

These tough gut it out games pay dividends later on

[1972Shocker]

I am a little surprised @forevershockerfan: has not pointed at that last night Alabama, an SEC team, came to Koch Arena and the #11 Wichita State Shockers had to rally from an 11 point deficit for a heart-stopping win.

Furthermore, a couple of hours earlier the Lady Shocks went on the road to face the #11 ranked Tennessee Volunteers, another SEC team, and nearly pulled off the upset of the year (probably would have been the biggest win in Lady Shocker basketball history) as the Shocks fell to the Lady Vols 54-51. Had the Lady Shocks won that game then we probably would have to have a ceremony to hang a #11 banner in Koch Arena.

[1972Shocker]

These tough gut it out games pay dividends later on

Yep. Rashard Kelly in particular is growing up before our eyes. Two huge baskets to pull the Shockers even at 51-all. The 2nd basket was a very aggressive, confident move and was anything but an easy play. But Rashard also made a very Evan Wessel-like play diving on the loose ball and calling timeout late, plus on Alabama's final possession I think Rashard got a hand on the ball that disrupted the move made by Levi Randolph into the lane and cause the scrum that ran some key seconds off the clock and reduced Alabama's chances to a final Hail Mary.

[Perezident]

Something seems off with this team right now. To me it seems they are missing that swagger. Fred seems to be playing timid, and the whole team (except Kelly and Morris who had A+ passes) seems to be playing a little selfish? Too much 1-on-1 and not enough of the 'extra pass' for the even better shot. I understand the guards might not believe in the bigs yet, but get the ball in the post, they are more than capable of passing it back out. Just my opinion.

I don't know what game your talkin about because there was no selfishness last night. The announcer even remarked how so many of our baskets were from assists. We ran into a big team that played great D. Had we played selfish we would have lost by 20.

I agree to some extent, Slalom. Something does seem just a bit off. To me, it's mostly been VanVleet and Baker that have seemed off. In particular, I noticed early in this game with Baker's body language and on a few plays. He just seemed a bit lackadaisical to me. I've been chalking it up to their roles being quite different from last year, and taking some time to adjust. Baker needs to shoulder a lot more of the load and he's still figuring out how/when to get his points...and mostly doing a great job! Maybe something similar with Fred, he clearly hasn't quite found his comfort zone during the game. At the end he locks in to what he knows, take over and win! But earlier in the game he's struggling a bit, imo.

That announcer's comment came very early in the game, after only seven FGs. Although I don't necessarily agree that they were playing selfish, there is something just a bit off, or at least there was last night. Thanfully we pulled out the Win!!

[Spaulding]

My thoughts quickly on the game. I think Wichita State did to Bama what Louisville did to the Shox a couple years ago. Looked very similar to that game. Bama was in control, then the Shox turned up the pressure and roared back to take the game.