Blueprint to Beat the Shockers

[jocoshock]

Perry Ellis is undersized for a five. They have admitted that. The little advantage KU would have is a more bigs capable of helping out. Perry is best suited at a four.

KU's issues are very similar on the front line, with the added issue of an inconsistent back court.

[shockmonster]

People make the mistake of comparing this team to last years team. We were a top 5 team last year with a chance of going all the way. This years team maybe a Top 10-15 and can make a run to Sweet 16 but little chance of Championship (NCAA). But losing 4 games with an MVC Championship should not be disappointing. A lot of teams have holes. This team beat zones too (not as good as against M/M)but unlike last year the margin of error is less. We were really good using pressure but we aren't as deep as next year or last year. Gregg admits this too.

[shockmonster]

We could another big man next year so we can go 3 deep there too.

[pie n eye]

Your observations about Carl vs. DC are true, but Carl also had more support when he got into foul trouble and that support was also not under sized and playing out of position, and that compounded the problem.

To a certain extent I agree. Even though he was 7', I don't think anybody would have confused Stutz as a dominant defensive presence. He was definitely improved that year but in my recollection acceptable defensively. Then you had Carl, an undersized Ben Smith at the 4 (pretty sure Evan is bigger but Ben wasn't as hesitant to shoot the 3 as Evan), and a still raw EO (Bush Wamukota is better than that version of EO).

Then in 2013 we we had Carl, Cle, and Orukpe. I don't remember Lufile contributing much the year. Carl was undersized, Cle was just about right and Orukpe was a defense only guy.

Obviously Lufile and Coleby were good defensively last year but didn't contribute much on offense but we didn't need them to with Cle out there.

I expected more of a defensive leap from Darius this year. Or at least I didn't expect him to be in foul trouble as much as he has been. And that's been a problem against all different kinds of teams, not just big ones.

[CBB_Fan]

We are usually good until Darius gets in foul trouble. The problem is that Darius has to use his arms to guard taller players, which makes it really easy to to draw fouls from him. And frankly, we knew back in November that Evan Wessel wasn't a perfect solution at the 4 and that we needed a freshman to step up and take the position from him. Only one of the freshmen has done enough to get consistent minutes, and Shaq can't start with Darius because we can't afford them both going into foul trouble.

Our perimeter defense is beyond good, it is excellent. I'd take our three against any other in the country. How many of times we have turned a tie or small lead into a comfortable margin just by getting 2-3 steals in a row? All three guard their position well, rebound exceptionally, and Baker even blocks about a shot a game. They are the reason we have a strong defense against most teams, and they sort of hide the fact that our best option in the the frontcourt is two out-of-position players. Against Bradley or New Mexico State that hole is basically nonexistent, but good teams have exploited it all year round.

Offensively, the frontcourt is again the issue. Darius and Shaq are inconsistently great, but often teams pack the paint and prevent them from getting looks. Darius is again foul prone, and it is forced to score against taller and stronger players. Wessel is simply nonexistent on offense, his only contribution an occasional three. Shaq has a nasty habit of turning away from the basket, and the others aren't good enough on defense to get much playing time on offense. We don't have a consistent post threat, almost completely relying on Darius to stay out of foul trouble and make difficult shots (though we have gotten good games from Shaq).

Without a post threat, teams pack the paint and dare us to shoot 3s. Fine when we are making them, game over if we aren't. It is scary how much we rely on jump shooting to open up the paint, as we need to force defenders out of the pack to get the ball to Darius or open lanes to drive. If we were consistent on our 3PT shots it wouldn't be as big a problem, but the 3 is notoriously inconsistent and we are even less consistent than normal for reasons I don't know. There are teams that have made a 3PT sot in every game since the 3PT line was created, and we started the season without making one for 3 halves.

Gregg has done an amazing job all season long considering the hand he was dealt. We have a ton of talent, but the team's composition just doesn't let us use it effectively on offense or defense. We have to play almost all our frontcourt players out of position and work our offensive and defensive schemes with that in mind, because we didn't hit the JUCO All-American homerun and the freshmen aren't ready. I don't blame the players or Marshall for this mess, just the circumstances. Adding even Orukpe to this team would make it a 2 or 3 seed, without any doubt. Ultimately we just have to hope that two weeks of gameplanning will let us hide our weaknesses and that our 3s fall.

Next year should be substantially better, not because the talent level will be higher but because we'll have a much more experienced frontline and will hopefully be able to play people at their natural positions.

[Ricardo del Rio]

The blueprint is simple:

1) Play the Shox in STL.
2) Hope the curse is still in effect.

All hyperbole aside, there is no "blueprint" to be the Shox. Especially now that the team has two weeks to rest, prepare, and let this loss keep them angry.

And hope that Darius grows 4" and puts on 30# in the next two weeks.

Maybe A-Rod has some tips for Darius.

(Am I the only one, who hates the keyboard interface with ShockerNet software. If I do not type reeeeaaaalllll slow, then letters are skipped or the cursor wll move down a line.)

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

I too have had the problem you describe Ricky. The keyboard was never a problem before, but the past several months, it has become rather annoying at times.

[asiseeit]

Hold RB to 1-7 from the arc. That doesn't happen very often.

[AZ Shocker]

Totally sucks we weren't able to recruit a really good 5 man the past 2 years. What a team we have though!!! I still can't believe a good big man didn't want to sign with the Shockers seeing all the young guard talent we had in the Final Four year. Fred, Ron and Cotton would've made a skilled big-man who would've came here a freakin' STAR. Guess it just shows how hard it is to recruit a monster 5-man. Looks to be the same for next season. Oh well...we'll still be really good....but damn-it AZ Shocker wanted another Final Four type team with a chance to win the National Championship before losing all our guard talent. It just feels like this has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for Wichita St. Now they only have one more year before graduating. :(

Wasted opportunity???? Ahhhh....I can't allow myself to look at it that way. This run has brought a lot of pride for us fans and if it ends next year without another deep run in the tourney...I'll still be very pleased and proud of Wichita St. By the way....believe it or not...I've managed to turn a lot of people on to Shocker basketball out here in the Valley of the Sun!!! GO SHOCKS!!!!

[wu_shizzle]

Totally sucks we weren't able to recruit a really good 5 man the past 2 years.

Given the rarity of very large men with athletic ability and high character, I get it.

But how many true centers have we really recruited?

Even the JuCos we knew about last year were mostly 4s.

I still wish we would have landed Stephen Hurt, but isn't it a little ironic that his comments about our pace of play (fast paced, full-court) haven't really born out given our relatively low possession, half court numbers?

[pie n eye]

What came first, the chicken or the egg? 1. The guards seem very hesitant to pass the ball into Darius "Black Hole" Carter for fear he'll force up a bad shot regardless of position. 2. Carter forces up bad shots because he simply never gets the ball in the low post from his guards.
We need to at least fake an inside game. Get the ball inside every trip down (or let's even start with 1 out of 3 trips down). Darius and Shaq need to realize we are not passing it inside every trip down just so they can get FG attempts. They need to see if they have a GOOD shot and then kick it out to create space. Teams still double Carter, even with his struggles and forced shots. Take the double and kick it out.

As for the zone, Ron in the middle of the free throw line is how you beat the zone. We just don't throw him the ball there. As much as I love Fred, the zone seems to puzzle him. Pass it Ron at the free throw line. He doesn't need to shoot it there, but it collapses the zone and opens space for kick out threes or dribble penetration. I remember 1 time Ron got the ball in the middle of the zone against the Redturds and we scored that possession.

I agree with this take, especially the part about passing in and out of the post and the elbow of the zone. UNI beat ILSt because they're really good shooters and they patiently worked the ball inside the zone with Tuttle who is an excellent decision maker/passer. We tried to do that with Baker but either weren't willing to hit him with a pass most of the time or they defended it too well.

I already see a lot of people discounting the Shockers based on this loss. I think that's a big mistake.

[CBB_Fan]

Do you know what they call a true center with athleticism that can defend well and score at the collegiate level? An NBA draft pick. It much harder to find centers that are diamonds in the rough, because they are much higher profile and there aren't a lot of them. There aren't a lot of true centers with potential at the JUCO level, most of the big men at that level are really 4s. High school centers with any potential are highly coveted.

Gregg Marshall's recruiting style seems to focus on finding guys with a certain character, instead of following recruiting rankings or even positional needs. One of the reasons he is so good at finding diamonds is his ability to see a player's personality as well as their athleticism; most of our guys have been the type of blue-collar fighters that mesh well with Marshall's style of coaching. However, it is hard to find those guys high in the rankings where the influence of AAU ball and pampering has created a culture where guys like Van Vleet are a rare exception. This is one reason it has been hard to find a quality center; they are rare and the good ones want to have their cake and eat it too.

Hopefully Shaq (who is really more of a 4) can develop into a good enough interior defender to play center for us, and either McDuffie, Hamilton, or one of this year's newcomers can play PF. And we still have a chance of picking up a JUCO recruit, with the way scholarships tend to play out.

[AZ Shocker]

I already see a lot of people discounting the Shockers based on this loss. I think that's a big mistake.

I still think this team has real potential to win a game in March Madness and maybe (MAYBE) get in to the Sweet-16. We need to get in a bracket where our first game is against a Stephen F. Austin and a second round game against a team who can "upset" the 1 seed. Too bad we'll be getting 5 seed though. I don't anticipate us beating a 1 seed to get to the Sweet-16 though. Damn-it.

[wusphlash]

I still think this team has real potential to win a game in March Madness and maybe (MAYBE) get in to the Sweet-16. We need to get in a bracket where our first game is against a Stephen F. Austin and a second round game against a team who can "upset" the 1 seed. Too bad we'll be getting 5 seed though. I don't anticipate us beating a 1 seed to get to the Sweet-16 though. Damn-it.

We shouldn't have to go through a #1 to get to the Sweet 16.

[AZ Shocker]

We shouldn't have to go through a #1 to get to the Sweet 16.

Whoops...meant getting past the Sweet-16. I shouldn't post while on Nyquil. Lol