WSU VERSUS MISSOURI STATE PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[Shock Therapy]

The difference between last years sell outs and this years return to poor attendance is that they don't have a lot of hope anymore. All of their shitty fans came out last year and were let down, so why bother.

[shockmonster]

Lots of television advertising for tomorrow's game going on in Springfield. They want to capitalize on Shocker success.

[WSUwatcher]

What the heck do you do with a trailer compound like that if a tornado is coming, or there's an earthquake? Good heavens.

[SHOXAAC]

What the heck do you do with a trailer compound like that if a tornado is coming, or there's an earthquake? Good heavens.

Gather at their fancy carp pond with a jug of moonshine and ponder the meaning of life.

[Play Angry]

At 57.5 ppg, this is the 3rd stingiest defense in Shocker history (in terms of opponents' ppg). The second lowest is 57.0 (1949-50) and we may very well eclipse that by year end.

Truly a remarkable feat given that the prior records were established before a shot clock and three point line.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

How about shirts that say "1999"

The last year SWMOST went to the NCAA Tournament?

[WSUwatcher]

(small personal rant engaged, apologies in advance)

This is just one of many reasons that I can't stand the phrase "take care of business" (no offense @WSUwatcher:). I'm completely sick of hearing it. As if our talent and coaching just allows us to show up and do work and win. As if there's no passion in athletics. Missouri State has no say in the outcome. Anyone that thinks that their team hasn't been chewing on last year's loss for 12 months is fooling themselves. Hell, they've had a countdown clock for months. Their season will be made with a win tomorrow. Don't pay any attention to Marcus Marshall being gone or them not even putting up a fight at UNI Sunday. THIS is THEIR Super Bowl, and YES, they will have a say in the outcome. It's sports, and passion matters. EVERY flipping time.

I know what you (and everyone other fan of every other team from KU to UNI to Newman) are saying and trying to connote, I'm just tired of the phrase. :)

Rant over, carry on.

Fair enough, Doc -- all that stuff matters; I agree. But when you're the better team and you're playing a game that on talent you should win, you need to be able to go in with mental toughness, feed on the energy of the opponent and its fans, and overcome the passion of their players and fans, to show them who's boss, quiet things down, and walk away with the win you ought to get (and, in many cases, this one included, really need to get to maintain your spot in the standings).

If you manage to "do your job" (to put it another way), and leave with the victory in hand, you can feel pride and satisfaction in your performance; as a competitor, you'll probably also enjoy the feeling of having won the other team's Super Bowl. But if you somehow come up short, you'll probably instead feel the regret of knowing that later on this is likely to be one you'll wish you had captured the way you should have. Plus, you'll have to move on and keep the loss from affecting you next time out.

Sorry if that sounds too clinical -- and believe me, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't have fun winning a game like this one, or that the other guys aren't going to be ready to make it as hard as they can for you to do so (in this case, I commented previously that in some ways the Mighty Marcus's absence may actually make this game harder for WSU) -- but from the standpoint of the favorite, there really is a "business" end to such games, and taking care of it makes it much easier to finish as champions. So I think the phrase is a pretty good description of the task at hand. Maybe I've seen too many of Nick Saban's postgame comments.

[Rlh04d]

At 57.5 ppg, this is the 3rd stingiest defense in Shocker history (in terms of opponents' ppg). The second lowest is 57.0 (1949-50) and we may very well eclipse that by year end.

Truly a remarkable feat given that the prior records were established before a shot clock and three point line.

This is in large part due to the pace we're playing at, though, which is the slowest tempo we've had under Marshall, and the slowest since at least pre-2002.

We have an excellent defense this year, but we're playing much more similar to UNI in terms of pace and possessions allowed this season.

[Play Angry]

To be fair, it's partly due to the pace we're playing at, which is the slowest tempo we've had under Marshall, and the slowest since at least pre-2002.

Oh, no doubt. But I think a team whose aim was to slow the tempo down pre-1985 could have done it much, much more dramatically than we're able to accomplish these days.

You are completely right that tempo is definitely the primary driver this year since we are weaker on D on a per possession basis than the last two seasons.

[WstateU]

Gather at their fancy carp pond with a jug of moonshine and ponder the meaning of life.

They be strokin'...

They stroke it to the east and stroke it to the west
and stroke it to the carp they love best, huh
they be strokin'...

[im4wsu]

This is in large part due to the pace we're playing at, though, which is the slowest tempo we've had under Marshall, and the slowest since at least pre-2002.

We have an excellent defense this year, but we're playing much more similar to UNI in terms of pace and possessions allowed this season.

That is certainly the case. Perhaps some of the slower tempo is that the opponents feel like they have to slow the game to have a legitimate chance for victory. While the KenPom adjusted tempo is down, the Adjusted Defense is improving also.

	AdjTemp	AdjD
2008	62.5	101.8
2009	63.3	100.1
2010	65.5	97.3
2011	65.6	94.9
2012	66.8	93.7
2013	65.1	91.8
2014	65.0	93.3
2015	62.2	92.0

[SHOXAAC]

They be strokin'...

They stroke it to the east and stroke it to the west
and stroke it to the carp they love best, huh
they be strokin'...

Ahhhh, the ole reach-around method. Useful when it get a little slippery I suppose. Pretty common round them parts of Missoura I'd expect.

[Play Angry]

That is certainly the case. Perhaps some of the slower tempo is that the opponents feel like they have to slow the game to have a legitimate chance for victory. While the KenPom adjusted tempo is down, the Adjusted Defense is improving also.

	AdjTemp	AdjD
2008	62.5	101.8
2009	63.3	100.1
2010	65.5	97.3
2011	65.6	94.9
2012	66.8	93.7
2013	65.1	91.8
2014	65.0	93.3
2015	62.2	92.0

One thing that really stood out to me is that this year's per possession D is actually stronger than last year's. I had (completely incorrectly) assumed in my prior post that last year's was stronger since I just remembered the rank (Our adjusted D last year was 12th, this year's is 34th despite being significantly improved).

Interesting stuff.

[Play Angry]

Shockers open -13.5.

[Rlh04d]

One thing that really stood out to me is that this year's per possession D is actually stronger than last year's. I had (completely incorrectly) assumed in my prior post that last year's was stronger since I just remembered the rank (Our adjusted D last year was 12th, this year's is 34th despite being significantly improved).

Interesting stuff.

I actually made the exact same mistake. Last time I was on KenPom, I compared our offensive ratings but the defensive rankings and assumed we were worse across the board. Definitely a better D this year overall. Crazy how much of a ranking difference there is between the two seasons.