Shaq??

[Cdizzle]

@ pye n eye: "If it aint broke don't fix it"
Me: What happens when we play another Utah?

Note I'm not necessarily saying Shaq ought to start every game, I think Wessell played very well yesterday. The only problem is, most of the teams in the tourney will be bigger across the front line than Loyola. If we are facing a team with that kind of a front line, we might/should consider starting Shaq. Sneak Wessell in when the 6' 6" guy subs the 6' 10" guy out.

If we play Utah again it is highly unlikely that some combination, much less all of these occur:
A) It is a true home game for Utah.
B) FVV shoots 26% from the field and 33% from the line.
C) Darius Carter fouls out in 17 minutes.
D) Tekele Cotton decides to not play defense.

Crediting Utah with some of those problems is certainly fair. All of them at once? I'm not as convinced.

Throwing Wessel in there as a weakness is a particularly terrible rationale in this instance, given that he was WSU's leading rebounder, and 2nd leading for the game, with 9 rebounds against a bigger Utah.

Carter fouled out in 17 minutes against Utah. There was a pretty silly foul discrepancy. And the Shox were out-rebounded by 3 on the road, grabbing 2 more offensive rebounds than their "bigger" counterparts. WSU's starting front court out-scored Utah's starting front court by 3 in 10 less minutes. Overall, the post players were outscored by 4. Shaq had 0 points and 3 fouls.

[mattdalt]

It might be time to start Shaq.

This will do a few things for this team:
1) it will give WSU some much needed size in the post. They have looked much smoother with two bigs in at once.
2) it will move Darrius to a more comfortable and natural position; the 4.
3) it will allow Evan to become the sixth-man he was born to be; able to come in for any player at any time. Much more flexibility for him and the bench.

I proposed this idea when Evan wdn't down and Kelly moved into the starting lineup, but Shaq is the hot player at the moment and fits the 5 position better the Rashard.

What say ya'll?!

If only we had a way to communicate directly with the person who actually makes this decision, if only! :)

[shocka khan]

Cdizzle: "Throwing Wessel in there as a weakness is a particularly terrible rationale in this instance, given that he was WSU's leading rebounder, and 2nd leading for the game, with 9 rebounds against a bigger Utah."

Me: I guess I wasn't watching the same game as you were. I think I saw Wessell get shoved out of the way by a 7-footer on a Utah free throw at the end of the game. I bet Shaq in his current form would have blocked the guy out. Much bigger body and more size.

And how about that follow shot at the end of the game where Wessell couldn't stop the big that went in for a layup shortly before that.

But, hey, my rationale is 'horrible'. Thanks for letting me know that there's another dimension/alternate reality game that went on where Wessell actually defended the layup and blocked the Utah guy out so that we WON the game.

PS: This thread is supposed to be about Shaq. You want to hate on him, go to another thread. I have no kvetch against Wessell, I just think that PF or C is not his natural position.

[Bluzrover]

Three games in which his play has been a difference maker and he's been a real contributor, especially with his defense. Those blocks are a piece we have been missing from last year. Gotta love the game he's now bringing. I think the jet lag (I've traveled to Hawaii for business, I know how difficult it is to be "game ready" after flying half way around the world and then try to operate on local time.) coupled with the general "laziness" attributed to Shaq caught up to him.

I'm sure there will still be moments that will make all of us, and especially HCGM cringe, but I think we might be seeing glimpses of the future that had us so excited two years ago.

[LandStander]

@ pye n eye: "If it aint broke don't fix it"
Me: What happens when we play another Utah?

Note I'm not necessarily saying Shaq ought to start every game, I think Wessell played very well yesterday. The only problem is, most of the teams in the tourney will be bigger across the front line than Loyola. If we are facing a team with that kind of a front line, we might/should consider starting Shaq. Sneak Wessell in when the 6' 6" guy subs the 6' 10" guy out.

Wessel was by far the player of the game that game. If he made that put back we won, and he was the reason we made it interesting and got into overtime. It doesn't matter who starts for Marshall. 6 and 7 are just as important as 1-5.

[pie n eye]

@ pye n eye: "If it aint broke don't fix it"
Me: What happens when we play another Utah?

Note I'm not necessarily saying Shaq ought to start every game, I think Wessell played very well yesterday. The only problem is, most of the teams in the tourney will be bigger across the front line than Loyola. If we are facing a team with that kind of a front line, we might/should consider starting Shaq. Sneak Wessell in when the 6' 6" guy subs the 6' 10" guy out.

That's a fair statement. I mainly said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" because I think the decision to start Evan goes beyond the rebounding, toughness, IQ that he brings to the court. He is a great example of how Marshall wants his guys to play. Evan deserves to start, I think he's proven that by what he does on the court and also what happened when he was injured. It seems like maybe his style of play is infecting some other guys.

[Wuzee]

Cdizzle: "Throwing Wessel in there as a weakness is a particularly terrible rationale in this instance, given that he was WSU's leading rebounder, and 2nd leading for the game, with 9 rebounds against a bigger Utah."

Me: I guess I wasn't watching the same game as you were. I think I saw Wessell get shoved out of the way by a 7-footer on a Utah free throw at the end of the game. I bet Shaq in his current form would have blocked the guy out. Much bigger body and more size.

And how about that follow shot at the end of the game where Wessell couldn't stop the big that went in for a layup shortly before that.

But, hey, my rationale is 'horrible'. Thanks for letting me know that there's another dimension/alternate reality game that went on where Wessell actually defended the layup and blocked the Utah guy out so that we WON the game.

PS: This thread is supposed to be about Shaq. You want to hate on him, go to another thread. I have no kvetch against Wessell, I just think that PF or C is not his natural position.

Sorry, shocka -- You aren't remembering that play correctly. Wessel had his guy sealed. It was Shaq that didn't do his job, losing his balance and allowing the 7-footer to cross the lane and get the board. Video proof below.

http://youtu.be/n_5_FMkf2FM?t=4m10s

[Cdizzle]

Sorry, shocka -- You aren't remembering that play correctly. Wessel had his guy sealed. It was Shaq that didn't do his job, losing his balance and allowing the 7-footer to cross the lane and get the board. Video proof below.

http://youtu.be/n_5_FMkf2FM?t=4m10s

That's a shame.

[shocka khan]

Well.....must have been past my bedtime, didn't have my contacts in, what I saw was Wessel not blocking the guy out, but what Wuzee shows is that Shaq clearly lost his bqlance at the line and that allowed the Utah guy to get the rebound.

That being said, I still believe that Shaq is better at the forward position and Wessel (I misspelled his name, too) would be better at the SG or SF. I know Wessel's extended family and I like the way he plays, I just don't think he's a PF or a C.

And I think that Shaq is playing much better now.

[Rlh04d]

Cdizzle: "Throwing Wessel in there as a weakness is a particularly terrible rationale in this instance, given that he was WSU's leading rebounder, and 2nd leading for the game, with 9 rebounds against a bigger Utah."

Me: I guess I wasn't watching the same game as you were. I think I saw Wessell get shoved out of the way by a 7-footer on a Utah free throw at the end of the game. I bet Shaq in his current form would have blocked the guy out. Much bigger body and more size.

And how about that follow shot at the end of the game where Wessell couldn't stop the big that went in for a layup shortly before that.

But, hey, my rationale is 'horrible'. Thanks for letting me know that there's another dimension/alternate reality game that went on where Wessell actually defended the layup and blocked the Utah guy out so that we WON the game.

PS: This thread is supposed to be about Shaq. You want to hate on him, go to another thread. I have no kvetch against Wessell, I just think that PF or C is not his natural position.

Wessel was dominating the OT period, having probably the best five minute stretch I've ever seen him play, and nine times out of ten he would have made that putback to win the game.

Wessel was NOT our problem against Utah. He had a very good game. Probably one of the best games of his career. He nearly out-rebounded a 7' NBA prospect in six fewer minutes ... at 6'4"!

Wessel still nearly got the rebound past the 7' even with Shaq nearly falling on his face. Shaq also got stuffed repeatedly, and generally just had a pretty miserably poor game against Utah. He had zero points in 15 minutes, made several bad mistakes, missed several seals ... although he did generally have one of the better rebounding games of his career.

He's definitely better right now than he was then, but using the Utah game to show Shaq > Wessel is insane.

[shockmonster]

Well.....must have been past my bedtime, didn't have my contacts in, what I saw was Wessel not blocking the guy out, but what Wuzee shows is that Shaq clearly lost his bqlance at the line and that allowed the Utah guy to get the rebound.

That being said, I still believe that Shaq is better at the forward position and Wessel (I misspelled his name, too) would be better at the SG or SF. I know Wessel's extended family and I like the way he plays, I just don't think he's a PF or a C.

And I think that Shaq is playing much better now.

Just a small clarification. Shaq doesn't play the same position as Wessel. Carter moves over to the 4 when Shaq comes into the game.

[Cdizzle]

https://vine.co/v/ODm0KQQEluF

[WSUwatcher]

https://vine.co/v/ODm0KQQEluF

Nice job of keeping his cool by Shaq.

[shockerfanmas]

Nice job of keeping his cool by Shaq.

Way to go young man. Now that is how all players, coaches, and fans should react to a bad call. Shake it off, move on to the next play. Unfortunately we know that doesn't happen. That would make things too easy. lol. Only thing I would have done differently if I were Shaq and make the official tell me why it was called a foul, that way I would know not to do it again.

[Cdizzle]

Nice job of keeping his cool by Shaq.

Fred saved us a couple of points on the T there. Still, Shaq did respond positively almost immediately when Fred got to him.

I felt that Shaq had kindof an unlucky game at LUC. There were only 23 total fouls called, several of those in the closing minutes as LUC fouled intentionally, and 3 50/50 calls, including a bogus double-foul were called on Shaq. He was upset, but I liked that he kept his intensity up and kept playing through it.