OFFICAL: WSU vs KU

[OregonShocker]

I don't think a 35 percent three-point shooter making four threes is that uncommon. 35-40 % from three seems to be pretty solid for college players. I mean I get that it was a career day... no kidding. But it didn't shock me too much.. and if you have scouted WSU... you would know he CAN knock down the three.

Agree. I was watching the game with some "casual" WSU fans (i.e., they watch the games when they come over to my house, cause that's what I've got on TV) and they were surprised to hear that Wessel was actually recruited as a pretty good outside shooter. But, if you're KU, you wouldn't realize this...until after he made his second! Why didn't they start guarding him then, huh? That's not scouting, that's just stupid basketball on their part!

[im4wsu]

I was most impressed with the depth of at least two of Wessel's makes. Looked to be a good 3-5 feet beyond the arc. Maybe he should shoot from out there more often. The good news is he wanted to get the ball to a shoot it.

Loved 3G on ESPN saying that "what you guys call 50-50 balls, I like to think of as 90/10 balls. If the ball gets below head level, it is 90% that Wessel will get it."

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

I don't think a 35 percent three-point shooter making four threes is that uncommon. 35-40 % from three seems to be pretty solid for college players. I mean I get that it was a career day... no kidding. But it didn't shock me too much.. and if you have scouted WSU... you would know he CAN knock down the three.

You can't only focus on the %. Also gotta include 3's per game.

Ron Baker is only a couple % points better than Wessel this year, but he makes over 2 per game, and takes contested 3's at times.
Wessel's volume of shots is much lower, and he has reached a mid-30s shooting % largely due to the fact that he rarely takes a 3 when he isn't fairly wide open, and he rarely shoots from 2 feet behind the line (like he did yesterday).

That is why Baker hitting 4/6 would be a good game, but not a big surprise. Wessel hitting 4/6 isn't as big of surprise as Bush W. doing it, but it still ranks up there as one of the more surprising stat lines by a Shocker this season.

My larger point was simply that it is lame to bash Oubre for a bland post game comment where he was being honest with a statement that even most Shocker fans could relate to.

[Stickboy46]

I don't think I have ever seen an apology where you have to pay to read it.

"One of the reasons I don't consider myself to be a member of the media but more a member of the entertainment community is my ability to say I was wrong. Not Fonzie on "Happy Days" "I was wrrrrrrrrr," but flat-out "how dumb can you be" wrong. I said on ESPN "be careful what you wish for" with regard to Wichita State's desire to face Kansas. Turns out America found out, and now understands why Kansas has been ducking Wichita all these years -- the Jayhawks aren't as good.
Wichita played as strong a perimeter game defensively as you will ever see vs. Kansas. Here's the key to great perimeter defense -- keep your man in front of you. If you're great defensively, you need no help ... think Revis Island. This was Shocker Island, as KU wasn't able to beat the Shockers off the dribble and couldn't get anything easy as Wichita was absolutely flawless in its transition defense. And guess what else? They did it all without the media-created notion of a "rim protector."
After the game was interesting as well. Remember, there is always a backstory. Shockers coach Gregg Marshall went on the radio Monday and accused KU of continuing to recruit star guard Fred VanVleet after VanVleet already had committed to Wichita State. In football, that's a common practice, of course. Football coaches stand at news conferences in their sport coats speaking of "honor," "commitment" and other nonsense all while stabbing their best friend in the back to swipe a player. In basketball, there is a kind of honor code some would call "honor among thieves," whereby when a kid commits to a school it's a signal to others to back off. It doesn't always happen, but that's the code in hoops. Marshall thought Kansas broke that code, and went public. Good for him. The only way to stop it is to bring it out into the open.
Anyway, I've learned my lesson -- there will be no doubting the Shockers. My apologies to Shocker Nation."

[ShockerExpress]

You can't only focus on the %. Also gotta include 3's per game.

Ron Baker is only a couple % points better than Wessel this year, but he makes over 2 per game, and takes contested 3's at times.
Wessel's volume of shots is much lower, and he has reached a mid-30s shooting % largely due to the fact that he rarely takes a 3 when he isn't fairly wide open, and he rarely shoots from 2 feet behind the line (like he did yesterday).

That is why Baker hitting 4/6 would be a good game, but not a big surprise. Wessel hitting 4/6 isn't as big of surprise as Bush W. doing it, but it still ranks up there as one of the more surprising stat lines by a Shocker this season.

My larger point was simply that it is lame to bash Oubre for a bland post game comment where he was being honest with a statement that even most Shocker fans could relate to.

My larger point was that anyone who had actually scouted Wichita State, and not simply looked at the statistics knew that this was all-too possible. Was anyone else so shocked? I wasn't. Maybe I give Evan too much credit.

[ShockerEngineer]

My larger point was that anyone who had actually scouted Wichita State, and not simply looked at the statistics knew that this was all-too possible. Was anyone else so shocked? I wasn't. Maybe I give Evan too much credit.

I love Evan's contributions to the team, but I definitely did not expect him to hit four 3's during that game.

[LandStander]

"One of the reasons I don't consider myself to be a member of the media but more a member of the entertainment community is my ability to say I was wrong. Not Fonzie on "Happy Days" "I was wrrrrrrrrr," but flat-out "how dumb can you be" wrong. I said on ESPN "be careful what you wish for" with regard to Wichita State's desire to face Kansas. Turns out America found out, and now understands why Kansas has been ducking Wichita all these years -- the Jayhawks aren't as good.
Wichita played as strong a perimeter game defensively as you will ever see vs. Kansas. Here's the key to great perimeter defense -- keep your man in front of you. If you're great defensively, you need no help ... think Revis Island. This was Shocker Island, as KU wasn't able to beat the Shockers off the dribble and couldn't get anything easy as Wichita was absolutely flawless in its transition defense. And guess what else? They did it all without the media-created notion of a "rim protector."
After the game was interesting as well. Remember, there is always a backstory. Shockers coach Gregg Marshall went on the radio Monday and accused KU of continuing to recruit star guard Fred VanVleet after VanVleet already had committed to Wichita State. In football, that's a common practice, of course. Football coaches stand at news conferences in their sport coats speaking of "honor," "commitment" and other nonsense all while stabbing their best friend in the back to swipe a player. In basketball, there is a kind of honor code some would call "honor among thieves," whereby when a kid commits to a school it's a signal to others to back off. It doesn't always happen, but that's the code in hoops. Marshall thought Kansas broke that code, and went public. Good for him. The only way to stop it is to bring it out into the open.
Anyway, I've learned my lesson -- there will be no doubting the Shockers. My apologies to Shocker Nation."

For those who can't read it on mobile like myself

Edit: crap, still white. Anyone on a PC care to help?

[CBB_Fan]

What I noticed is that Wessel's shots seemed to get off his hand quicker than normal. My guess is that Wessel's block is less physical, more mental. Usually he's more hesitant and thinks a little too much before he shoots, like a pitcher trying to "aim" the ball. Against KU he wasn't aiming or looking for other people, he was taking the shot up the instant the pass hit his hands. I might be reading too much into it, but I do think Wessel's performance and body language were a little surprising. KU did not go into the game expecting to play against alpha dog Wessel, they were expecting someone else entirely.

[OregonShocker]

You can't only focus on the %. Also gotta include 3's per game.

Ron Baker is only a couple % points better than Wessel this year, but he makes over 2 per game, and takes contested 3's at times.
Wessel's volume of shots is much lower, and he has reached a mid-30s shooting % largely due to the fact that he rarely takes a 3 when he isn't fairly wide open, and he rarely shoots from 2 feet behind the line (like he did yesterday).

That is why Baker hitting 4/6 would be a good game, but not a big surprise. Wessel hitting 4/6 isn't as big of surprise as Bush W. doing it, but it still ranks up there as one of the more surprising stat lines by a Shocker this season.

My larger point was simply that it is lame to bash Oubre for a bland post game comment where he was being honest with a statement that even most Shocker fans could relate to.

My point was that regardless, after a guy makes a couple, you start playing him a little tighter, regardless of the name/number on his jersey.

[ShockerFever]

My point was that regardless, after a guy makes a couple, you start playing him a little tighter, regardless of the name/number on his jersey.

+1 for owning the stat geek

[im4wsu]

My larger point was that anyone who had actually scouted Wichita State, and not simply looked at the statistics knew that this was all-too possible. Was anyone else so shocked? I wasn't. Maybe I give Evan too much credit.

You just gotta believe Perry would have warned his teammates and coaches.

[ShockerEngineer]

My point was that regardless, after a guy makes a couple, you start playing him a little tighter, regardless of the name/number on his jersey.

Very good point, as well.

[WuShock16]

For those who can't read it on mobile like myself

Edit: crap, still white. Anyone on a PC care to help?

This better?

"One of the reasons I don't consider myself to be a member of the media but more a member of the entertainment community is my ability to say I was wrong. Not Fonzie on "Happy Days" "I was wrrrrrrrrr," but flat-out "how dumb can you be" wrong. I said on ESPN "be careful what you wish for" with regard to Wichita State's desire to face Kansas. Turns out America found out, and now understands why Kansas has been ducking Wichita all these years -- the Jayhawks aren't as good.

Wichita played as strong a perimeter game defensively as you will ever see vs. Kansas. Here's the key to great perimeter defense -- keep your man in front of you. If you're great defensively, you need no help ... think Revis Island. This was Shocker Island, as KU wasn't able to beat the Shockers off the dribble and couldn't get anything easy as Wichita was absolutely flawless in its transition defense. And guess what else? They did it all without the media-created notion of a "rim protector."

After the game was interesting as well. Remember, there is always a backstory. Shockers coach Gregg Marshall went on the radio Monday and accused KU of continuing to recruit star guard Fred VanVleet after VanVleet already had committed to Wichita State. In football, that's a common practice, of course. Football coaches stand at news conferences in their sport coats speaking of "honor," "commitment" and other nonsense all while stabbing their best friend in the back to swipe a player. In basketball, there is a kind of honor code some would call "honor among thieves," whereby when a kid commits to a school it's a signal to others to back off. It doesn't always happen, but that's the code in hoops. Marshall thought Kansas broke that code, and went public. Good for him. The only way to stop it is to bring it out into the open.

Anyway, I've learned my lesson -- there will be no doubting the Shockers. My apologies to Shocker Nation."

[pie n eye]

What I noticed is that Wessel's shots seemed to get off his hand quicker than normal. My guess is that Wessel's block is less physical, more mental. Usually he's more hesitant and thinks a little too much before he shoots, like a pitcher trying to "aim" the ball. Against KU he wasn't aiming or looking for other people, he was taking the shot up the instant the pass hit his hands. I might be reading too much into it, but I do think Wessel's performance and body language were a little surprising. KU did not go into the game expecting to play against alpha dog Wessel, they were expecting someone else entirely.

Agreed. The difference to me was that he stepped up and shot with confidence.

[Dan]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but going into the game, I was comforted in the fact that Wessel would probably be guarding Perry Ellis. While Ellis was much more highly acclaimed and still is, Wessel has that "big brother" connection with him. Wessel probably knows Perry as a basketball player better than about anyone out there. Not only that, he's a year older and probably has been the leader on every team he played with Perry. It's like when your kid brother grows up and gets bigger than you, he knows deep down he still can't take his big brother.