#12 WSU @ #18 UNI - Game Thread

[shockchic]

Shaq has the ability to be twice as good as JT..he is the one with the most potential and cannot wait to see him in his Senior year...

[vancedave56]

I agree more penetration was needed, especially after getting double digits down in the second half. FVV seemed to get it. Penetrate, get fouled, stop the clock, shoot free throws. The 3's were definitely not falling. As far as our bigs: we have some really nice bigs, and I do mean "really nice." Don't believe we are angry at all. We do miss the size of last season's bigs and the season before. No anger problems at all this season.

[pogo]

In the cold harsh light of reality, along with a bitter north wind to boot, its time to look at what happened. I am a 3/4 glass full kind of guy, my take on this game was that uni made the offensive plays and played tougher defense than our Shox. This is a anomaly in the course of our recent runs in the 3 G era. Our Shox showed up but didn't play like we are used to. Could be multiple reasons why and I'm not overly concerned but it did highlight a weakness we all can agree upon...we are shallow in the front court. DC and SM need to play smarter and more physical and not commit the really stupid fouls. Don't compound the error of getting beat on a play by committing a foul but if you do make sure he knows exactly what a hard foul is so he thinks about it the next time. This thinking may not be correct in one sense but its not a game for the faint of heart down low. Need our young forwards to escalate their games to take the pressure off of our bigs. The thing that concerns me the most about yesterday was the seeming ease at which uni was able to penetrate. Our defense has always been something we could depend upon but yesterday it looked like EVERYONE was slow. Anyway, its still a great era to be a Shocker fan. Go Shox

[ShockTalk]

It smarted to not sign Hurt, I am afraid.

Hurt is averaging 4.8 pointds and 3.2 rebounds at KSU.

6-11 / 265 / 13.5 mpg

Not a world beater, but better than others we have. Permits Darius to play the 4.

S Hurt : Games 19, Mpg 13.5, Ppg 4.8, Rpg 3.2, Apg 0.4, Spg 0.2, Bpg 0.2, TOpg 1.2, FG .478, FT .697, 3pt .300

Morris: Games 20, Mpg 12.3, Ppg 4.3, Rpg 2.5, Apg 0.5, Spg 0.3, Bpg 0.8, TOpg 0.9, FG .542, FT .611, 3pt .000

Junior Hurt has 4 blocks total. Freshman Morris has 15.

K St plays "short" just like us. Their main 5 go 6'7"/6'7"/6'5"/6'2"/6'1". The rest in order of minutes go 6'4"/6'1"/6'7"/6'11". Yes, that is Hurt at #9 in minutes and over the last 5 games he has only played between 7-10 minutes or a 9.4 mpg average. I'm sure there is a reason. No doubt we could have used both, but between these two, I'll take our freshman and I'm glad he's getting his minutes and not less.

[kcshocker11]

Well that was a game where nothing went right

[Play Angry]

If both teams win out in February, I think there is a really excellent chance we get Gameday with the title on the line.

[Brian]

The good thing......revenge is sweet....and the Shox will get their chance in the Chuck on Feb28!

[ShockRef]

6-11 / 265 / 13.5 mpg

Not a world beater, but better than others we have. Permits Darius to play the 4.

Agreed, not exactly stud status, but the guy they wanted and focused high octane attention on him. Have to think he would faring better under the tutelage of HCGM and knowing he was a integral part of the machine vs a part timer.

Don't know how much, if any, involvement that Jans had in his recruitment.

That is all.

[shocka khan]

I know there are people who hate for me to keep pointing this out, but I've been pointing it out since the Utah game. Evan Wessel is not a good solution at PF against a big, talented front line.

Yet people still say he can play PF. How many games do we have to lose for the skeptics to understand this. I like Evan's hustle, I think he is a valuable player and I think he ought to be out on the floor.

I just don't think he's a 4 or a 5 and playing him significant minutes during the tournament at those positions will probably get us sent home after the first round. He's just too small to block out a big PF or C on rebounding and defense. Plus, he's not really an offensive threat. At least Shaq has some post moves and keeps the defense honest (b/c if they don't cover him he WILL score).

Count me as one of those who thinks Shaq needs to be starting. He's fouling a lot, but again, I remember Levingston and Carr had problems with fouls their freshmen year. He needs to be out on the court to learn to manage and work through those situations when he is in foul trouble.

I also hope that Wessel stays around for next year. He would get Cotton's minutes.

[Kel Varnsen]

It's clear to me who the people on this board are who have very little understanding of how athletic contests are decided. Saying our guys just didn't "want it enough" or "weren't good enough leaders" yesterday is malarkey that sports journalists use to fuel their narratives and sell their writing. Sometimes you just get beat. Sometimes you just can't make enough plays, no matter how much you try. It's called variance. I love our guys, but they're not perfect. They have off nights, just like we have bad days at work and school.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[kcshocker11]

I would have liked to see Shaq at the 5 and DC at the 4 against this team.

[shockmonster]

I think that this answer is fairly simple. UNI was at the top of their game yesterday playing in a home arena with a crowd behind them at the top of their game.

The only way we win is if we hit shots at a high level(at least 40% from 3). Baker, FVV, and Cotton have to hit shots to open up the inside so we can score there too. UNI plays a sagging M/M defense and if you don't hit the shots you don't win.

Now there were other things that we didn't do well. Our defense wasn't what it needs to be but UNI has the athletes, quickness, and size this year to match us. We had to hit shot like we did in the first 8 or so minutes to continue to keep pace.

[forevershockerfan]

I would have liked to see Shaq at the 5 and DC at the 4 against this team.

My guess is Coach Marshall would love to use your idea more right now too. Shaq even stuffed Tuttle on a play even though Tuttle had his career best game ever. IMO, Shaq did the best of all those guarding Tuttle. Even so, when both Shaq and Carter keep getting in such early foul trouble too often, that means both get way less than 20 minutes apiece and that hurts us. We need their offense and better defense without being plagued so often with foul trouble. Once that happens, then we also have Wessel, Nurger, Kelly, Bush, and Brown to fill in the needed gaps. I still think Nurger has a bright future for us. Just think if he could have had a redshirt this very Season as did Shaq last Season. Then he can learn to play defense and rebound better as Kerry helps him with his overall strength in the weight room. Now that would be so kewl!!!!!!!

[shockmonster]

I would have liked to see Shaq at the 5 and DC at the 4 against this team.

I thought that when Shaq was in the game, he was the best defender against Tuttle. He got at least one bad call against him yesterday, when the ref called a reach around. But, no doubt we had our best chance to defend Tuttle with Shaq in the game.

[shocka khan]

It's clear to me who the people on this board are who have very little understanding of how athletic contests are decided. Saying our guys just didn't "want it enough" or "weren't good enough leaders" yesterday is malarkey that sports journalists use to fuel their narratives and sell their writing. Sometimes you just get beat. Sometimes you just can't make enough plays, no matter how much you try. It's called variance. I love our guys, but they're not perfect. They have off nights, just like we have bad days at work and school.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

I agree. We got thumped by the better team yesterday, I doubt if anything would have made a difference. I just think that Shaquille starting is us putting our best team on the court. I'm not sure that our team with Wessel at PF or C is the best team we can put on the floor against the UNI's and Utah's of the world.