Shockers vs. Alabama Game thread

[ShockerFever]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

[ShockerFever]

I will say FVV is indeed off. Baker had another rough game too. The free throws FVV missed again should tell you something is off. I'm not gonna come out and say it yet because I don't wanna get people's panties in a wad, but he's clearly not the same player right now.

Just not the same kinda ball being played compared to last year. Of course, that's a tall comparison. Still got the W. 8-1. 2 Top 35 wins. Ranked 11th in the country. Good problems to have at this point.

[ShockBand]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

Well put.

Seeing the strategy and tactics is one thing, having the horses to actually execute it is another.

[Shock Therapy]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

Hahahaha, freakin peasants!

[Play Angry]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

Yep. Alabama is just one of those teams uniquely engineered to be a giant matchup pain in the ass for us. We've had their number these last two years in the final minutes, but they are great at dragging us down while simultaneously playing over their heads for most of the game. Some teams just match up favorably with others, and that's the case for them versus the Shocks.

MVC teams expecting to bottle up our guards with similar effectiveness are gonna learn a hard lesson though. Aside from Washpun and a couple of the future Joliet inmates on ISUr, nobody has close to that level of length or athleticism on the perimeter.

[ShockTalk]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

You left out Tall and Long.

[vancedave56]

IMHO players are trying to hard to make up for Cleanthony's points - haven't quite figured it out yet. As soon as they all get back to just "playing their game," everything will be OK. One other thing not mentioned, Coach Marshall coaching without Coach Jans - Jans definitely had his ear. We are likely feeling our way around that area also. By middle of league play, everything should be OK.

[capnkirk]

Perused some Valley boards. They think WSU is unimpressive and that they have legitimate shots at knocking WSU off the pedestal. What Valley fans don't realize is that their teams are no Alabama. Not even close. Physically. Athletically. Period.

You don't wanna go there..

Reading the deadbird forum is quite comical....

[ShockerPrez]

We have 5 players with experience, unless i cant count right. The rest are freshman, at least the ones that play significant minutes.

I think this may just be the team that hits their stride in March. Im willing to accept some ugly now.

And, yes, the Valley ain't even near as athletic or physical as what we have played. That should be a cakewalk.

[ShockerPrez]

But free throws....

SMH...

[Cdizzle]

For those freaking out comparing this year's team to last year's, a couple of thoughts to consider:

1. How quickly everyone forgets the number of non-con games we trailed at the half last year. Everyone was sure it was going to cost us a couple of games.
2. We are 8-1 against the #8 SoS in the country. #8. We have played a neutral game and two true road games. The one loss is by 1 point, in overtime, to a Top 15 team. There are very few teams (like one, if you include a Kentucky team that hasn't played a road game) that have done anything similar to that.
3. Perhaps we shouldn't spend every season going forward comparing teams to a squad that literally didn't lose. It just isn't very fair. We're talking about picking out weaknesses relative to the #2 team in the country last year. You can have a weakness or two compared to that team and still be a Top 5-15 team.

There are some weaknesses on this team. There are also some newcomers on this team with the exact skills and abilities needed to address those weaknesses. What they need is time and experience.

Last night was an awful lot of fun. And we just found our next winner. There are so many winners on this team that it was bound to wear off on the new players quickly, still it is great to see.

[Slalomshocker]

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.

Its not specifically last night. Its been all season. How many times have we had a 2 on 1.....and don't pass? I can still see Cotton taking it all the way against Seton Hall, 1 on 1, with a trail man with him....easy dump off and layup, instead he chose to take it up strong and didn't convert. I very likely see a game differently than you do. We all look at different things in a game pending our varying experiences with hoops. I enjoy watching off ball activity, watching for the little things. I see some selfish play. Not an alarming amount, but an unusual amount for a Gregg Marshall WSU team of recent. I'm sure its mostly guys trying to step up and help carry the team. But beings as though I posted in the Alabama game thread, I would assume we were both watching the same game.

[SHOCKvalue]

1. How quickly everyone forgets the number of non-con games we trailed at the half last year. Everyone was sure it was going to cost us a couple of games.

This is a fantastic point to remember. We looked UGLY in many games last year during the non-con or first half of the season. We had to come from behind, or were down at half, on some straight-up trash opponents. Several of those games CE and our bigs were invisible. Maybe the whole 35-0 thing has blinded some memories as to the fashion in which some of those 35 were attained.

As for last night, at some point WELL into the 2nd half Alabama had hit something like 77% or 78% of their shots in the half up to that point. Couple that with the fact that we shot something like 45% from the line and 30% from the field, and you have a recipe for an uninspired but comfortable game to turn into a nail biter - which is exactly what happened.

While the past couple of games have not been textbook, let's not forget that within the past few weeks this same squad has taken programs like Memphis, SLU, and Tulsa out behind the woodshed, and we damn near beat a team that by years end might be top 10, in their raucous house. Let them have their mulligan @Detroit and Alabama.

[pie n eye]

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.

I had this exact thought.

[pie n eye]

-I've grown to love these kind of games over the last 8 years. Critique all you want, say the other team blew it I don't care because the good guys made enough plays to finish the game with one more point than the bad guys.
-Of course blowouts are better for my health and I would love to see flawless play every minute of every game but it isn't going to happen. Really good teams find ways to win when things aren't going well. Shots weren't falling against (from the field or the line) for us but everything seemed to go in for them at times. They played great D in that zone and really stifled our offense for a while. But through all that the shockers continued to execute the controllables like defense, rebounding, maintaining composure and finally the tide turned.
-We did catch a few lucky breaks too. A sure turnover on a bad pass by Baker somehow bounced back 15 FT right into his hands. The offensive rebound that bounced off the Alabama players head. I'll take them every day though because I've seen plenty go the other way.
-They could totally fall apart the rest of the way, I don't know, but the Alabama team on the court last night was pretty good. Like a team we would face in the NCAA tournament. I think the schedule is tougher this year, we're playing without Cle, working in 5+ newcomers and were still 8-1.
-I was a little disappointed in Cotton until I watched the tape. He did a great job of keeping the leading scorer in the SEC in check for the most part. His shots will start to fall eventually.
-their zone was tough. I'm not crazy about the way we try to screen against a zone. I feel like we have more success when getting the ball into the high post or short corner. But what do I know?
-how many times did we pass to the corner and get caught in a trap?
-all in all another great win. They have plenty to work on but made strides in the right direction and got out with a W. In my book, that was awesome baby!