Shockers vs Braves GAME Thread

[Fozzy]

Did Bradley lose that on purpose?

Doubt they lost it on purpose, but they sure did some head scratching stuff toward the end. Seemed like fouling Evan with time on the clock was an afterthought, no challenge to see if there was more time available - I think they would have added some time, and then not even a final heave after the 2nd missed FT. With their luck though, someone probably would have gotten injured on the foul or full court toss after the FT miss.

[SHOXAAC]

Well, I don't think the bottles scored and he did it without fouling. Good for him.

You beat me to it...and yours was better...shocker!!!

[Dan]

I think our strategy is to confuse the rest of the Valley with our play so no one knows what to expect. Keep the games close with the teams in the bottom half to give them confidence when they play other teams in the top half because they played well against WSU. And work on the psyche of UNI to where they think they're not really that good because WSU is in a slump. Next up - Missouri State and I predict we win by one in double OT to further our plan. After that the Valley won't know what hit them :)

I half heartedly thought this before myself. At least anyone that watches this tape will have no clue about what kind of team we really are.

[KBShocker]

Something is wrong with our team.

You bet there is, and its the coaching. Tired of hearing the players get all the crap blame. They are not being set up to win like they should. Its time to admit that this team is not a good man to man defensive team (too much dribble drive on us all game long). What does that mean? PLAY ZONE! What does that do? It protects people from getting in foul trouble, it throws the opponent off, it clogs the lane. Coach needs to get off the ego trip that playing zone is an insult to his reputation.

[1972Shocker]

Just for perspective sakes

4 Duke edges GT 72-66, GT is 1-9 in ACC
10 ND edges BC 71-63, BC is 1-8 in ACC
17 Maryland edges Penn St 64-58, Penn St is 2-8 in B10

Was GT, BC and PSU missed two starting guards including their leading scorer? Maybe the Shocks would have taken Bradley more seriously if they had not been short-sighted. I am not sure what the opposite of playing angry is called (playing happy?) but I know what it looks like and I saw more than I ever care to tonight.

[jocoshock]

Tevin's per 40 tonight: 21.8 pts, 7.2 rebounds, 7.2 TOs...

Shaq per 40: 11.1 pts, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 blocks, 4.44 fouls..

Wessel: 0 pts, 0 assists, 3.8 rebs, 5.7 steals, 0 turnovers

Zach Brown: 10 pts, 3.33 rebs, 3.33 TOs, 3.33 steals

[Dan]

If I were playing the Shox, I would dribble drive into the lane all night long and let Darius and Shaq send me to the line. It's so obvious yet they didn't do it enough tonight.

[pie n eye]

The second half was ugly but a win is a win.

I really like what Shaq is doing right now. He needs to work on staying out of foul trouble but his defense has been a difference maker.

We're missing a ton of threes but that isn't going to last. Shooting comes and goes.

Tevin continues to improve and gave some nice minutes. He's not quite there as far as defending and boxing out 100% of the time yet but he's closer.

Bush had his moments in short reserve.

Darius could use a hug with some of the calls going against him. Unless his back is bothering him he'll bounce back. We certainly miss his leadership and post play when he's on the bench.

Tekele can disappear at times offensively. We need him to stay in attack mode.

Brown, Kelly, and Henderson didn't stand out a whole lot. Brown had some nice D and offensive rebounds, Henderson had a nice assist, ...can't really come up with something Kelly did. I know Henderson can shoot but would love to see it in game sometime this year.

I know people are going to scoff but you really have to give credit to Bradley. They knew they were down half their team but they competed and didn't fold when some teams might.

[1972Shocker]

Tevin's per 40 tonight: 21.8 pts, 7.2 rebounds, 7.2 TOs.....

Of course. sometimes the timing of what you do is important. His turnovers do not include the late mixed box out on a free throw that certainly did not help the Shocks' cause. OTOH, none of his more experienced teammates where really doing much either the last 12 minutes of the game. Bradley ripped the Shocks a new one on the offensive boards.

[1972Shocker]

I usually like to watch replays on ESPN3 on game nights (when available). However, I just could not put myself through the agony after the last two games.

[Shock Top]

The radio guys trying to point out positives to coach tonight was humorous. I know they get paid to be homers, but this team doesn't need to hear how good it is right now. They are not a bad team by any means, but they defiantly aren't playing like a great one at this time.

Hopefully this bad stretch will end, just like the three game one did during the Final Four season. As people have noted, these three game stretches are strikingly similar. If they both end up producing the same results, I think we would all be happy!

[CBB_Fan]

Bradley isn't very good. We weren't very good tonight. I think we'll play better. I still think we go shockingly cold some times and haven't really figured out how we are supposed to play through those moments.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

We just can't put this game away

shoxlax, I'd like to introduce you to shoxlax

Yeah we know Capt Obvious

[jocoshock]

You bet there is, and its the coaching. Tired of hearing the players get all the crap blame. They are not being set up to win like they should. Its time to admit that this team is not a good man to man defensive team (too much dribble drive on us all game long). What does that mean? PLAY ZONE! What does that do? It protects people from getting in foul trouble, it throws the opponent off, it clogs the lane. Coach needs to get off the ego trip that playing zone is an insult to his reputation.

Playing the news guys is a necessary evil. It was messy but necessary. We survived an advanced tonight. Just two - three years ago, we lost games like this with far more experienced teams, sometimes at home!

No such thing as a bad road win..

[Fozzy]

Just a couple misc observations:

We've been shaky ever since Zach Bush had surgery. His goofiness can actually help a team stay loose, especially on the road. Not saying the slump is because of him, but I think we need to consider all ankles, I mean angles :)

It's weird what a difference a year makes. In February last year, us and Syracuse were in the limelight regarding who would stay undefeated. Tonight we notch win 20 and Syracuse bans themselves from post season play to try to lessen any future penalties by the NCAA. It's still a great day to be a Shocker.