Evan is tough thread

[Veritas]

Evan deserves his own thread describing how tough he is. Floor burns, elbows to the head, etc...

Against Alabama he severely rolled his ankle. He came back in the second half. What was impressive was the lack of any pain showing on his face. None! I've severely rolled my ankle numerous times playing basketball and have broken my foot. A severe sprain dropped me flat on the court.

This kid is tough as nails.

[HockeyShock]

Evan Wessel is Wolverine.

We have proof.

[ShockerFever]

Evan deserves some love. That's for sure.

[swiltar71]

He is tough and seems to be a good guy, but every team we play tries to isolate him in the post on D. He gives up a lot down there and on the perimeter. HCGM knows best I guess, but I'd love to see Kelley start against 6'8" athletes.

[wu_shizzle]

Chuck Norris tips his hat to Evan.

[choida]

Any idea if he has to miss time? Dudes a warrior

[Dave Stalwart]

I will say it. This game needed more Evan. We were struggling, but leading during most of the first half. His toughness was one of the things we were lacking in the second half. Evan is a big part of a really good team even though he is playing a position he has no business playing. That is saying something.

When he went down was literally the turning point in the game.

[ShockerEngineer]

I heard someone several rows behind me hating on Evan, saying that he sucked and should sit on the bench.. This was, of course before the injury.

[Shock Top]

I hate to see Evan, or anyone for that matter go down with injury. However, this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Shox.

Kelly, is "this close" to breaking out. I think some more minutes and he could earn a spot in the starting lineup going forward.

Also, I think it would be better to have Evan coming off the bench. That way, they could bring him in either in the front or back court; depending on the situation.

Heal Angry Evan!!!!!! You are a warrior!!!!!!!

[WuDrWu]

What was impressive was the lack of any pain showing on his face. None!

This was a big piece in my completely wrong diagnosis of the injury last night. The way he eschewed help initially, the left the floor holding his foot back, bearing no weight, yet showing no real discomfort (usually if you pop your AT there isn't much lasting pain) led me to think that's what happened. When someone pointed out he was out warming up at halftime (after his father was allowed into the lockerroom at halftime by the way), count me in the stunned group.

[molly jabali]

Every team NEEDS players like Evan...but NEEDS and 'relies on' can be a thin line.

A guy who once coached me said, in connection to starting ,said"see who coaches have in at the end, when it matters most"

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

He is tough and seems to be a good guy, but every team we play tries to isolate him in the post on D. He gives up a lot down there and on the perimeter. HCGM knows best I guess, but I'd love to see Kelley start against 6'8" athletes.

I think you missed the point of this thread.

[swiltar71]

I think you missed the point of this thread.

Fair enough. He's tough. So is Fred, so is Ron. That's the kind of guys Marshall recruits.

[im4wsu]

He is tough and seems to be a good guy, but every team we play tries to isolate him in the post on D. He gives up a lot down there and on the perimeter. HCGM knows best I guess, but I'd love to see Kelley start against 6'8" athletes.

Agree that he gives up several buckets due to mismatch. What is difficult to measure is how much the opposing team "loses" when they try to hard to take advantage of a mismatch (intercepted or deflected passes, forced shots, missed inside-out pass to open man opportunities, etc.). Think of how many unforced turnovers the Shockers had last year (or with Durley in prior years) trying to feed the post that was really not open or rewarding. I'm not suggesting that giving a very apparent height advantage is a "good" thing, but some of it can be compensated for with digging doubleteams and Evan's straight up hard-nosed defense, forcing the fade-away tour-around jumper instead of wide-open face-on jumper by another opposing player.

[Ol skool]

He is tough and seems to be a good guy, but every team we play tries to isolate him in the post on D. He gives up a lot down there and on the perimeter. HCGM knows best I guess, but I'd love to see Kelley start against 6'8" athletes.

I agree. I hope Evan is ok and can return soon. We need him. Especially if Kelley can continue to gain minutes at the 4 position. He can provide some experienced help at the 2-3 position. Shockers depth is inexperienced and developing. But right now we need some consistent help in the back court right now as far as consistent bench help goes al we got is Hollands and right now only a few minutes at a time.