WSU VERSUS NOTRE DAME PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[CBB_Fan]

I don't know why, but whenever I see

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From another team's board, especially a team like ND I get sad. It isn't 1997 any more, and a lot of these websites apparently missed the memo. Even the MVC has mostly done away with that sort of thing. It simply is a worse way of interacting than a board like this one, looking more like a large and unkempt group email than a message board. That said, I have nothing against ND. I respect what they've done in their conference and the way they play. We will have to play our A game, like we did against KU, to advance against a team that will be playing close to home with a lot experience against quality competition.

[Anthroshock]

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The absolute worst set up.

It's nice to see a Jays fan over there talking smack.

[TheDover1018]

How have big men fared against ND? I was just thinking that Darius has another double double in him before his Shocker career ends.

[KC Shox]

How have big men fared against ND? I was just thinking that Darius has another double double in him before his Shocker career ends.

Notre Dame is not deep, they play a 4 guard lineup (they have a guard/forward hybrid) and their big man is 6'10" Zach Auguste who averages 12.6 PPG and shoots 60 percent from the field. I believe his primary backup is VJ Beachem, a 6'8" forward. Auguste averages 24 minutes a game while Beachem averages 15.

Due to their lack of depth, I say the Shocker's defense should primarily be concerned with guarding the perimeter to take away their bread-and-butter, the three ball. This team has four guys who shoot 40 percent or higher from the three. I say it's better for Auguste to get his rather than allowing the ND guards to get hot from the outside and kill us with the three.

The Auguste kid, while tall, is not Rico Gathers big and due to their lack of depth in the big man department, foul trouble is a concern for him as he leads the team with 88 personal fouls (more than Darius if you can believe it!).

As a side note, some ND fans believe they will win due to the Shox coming off their 'Super Bowl' versus KU and will be flat for the game against them. Not unheard of, but if we come with the same intensity as we did against KU, they're in trouble.

[Shocktoberfest]

Notre Dame is not deep, they play a 4 guard lineup (they have a guard/forward hybrid) and their big man is 6'10" Zach Auguste who averages 12.6 PPG and shoots 60 percent from the field. I believe his primary backup is VJ Beachem, a 6'8" forward. Auguste averages 24 minutes a game while Beachem averages 15.

Due to their lack of depth, I say the Shocker's defense should primarily be concerned with guarding the perimeter to take away their bread-and-butter, the three ball. This team has four guys who shoot 40 percent or higher from the three. I say it's better for Auguste to get his rather than allowing the ND guards to get hot from the outside and kill us with the three.

The Auguste kid, while tall, is not Rico Gathers big and due to their lack of depth in the big man department, foul trouble is a concern for him as he leads the team with 88 personal fouls (more than Darius if you can believe it!).

As a side note, some ND fans believe they will win due to the Shox coming off their 'Super Bowl' versus KU and will be flat for the game against them. Not unheard of, but if we come with the same intensity as we did against KU, they're in trouble.

I get the super bowl stuff. But this is the NCAA tournament. Not worried about our resolve. Plus, we want Kentucky!

[Play Angry]

I am guessing we will see a concerted effort to get Mr. Auguste a couple fouls in the first 8 minutes.

They will likely do the same with Darius. Our most recent game, however, will confuse the scout significantly should they succeed. As some of our esteemed posters on here have been fond of noting following our very few losses this season, getting Darius in foul trouble + playing zone defense = recipe for defeating Wichita State if you have length and athleticism. Right? Wait, Kansas, an exceptionally long and athletic team, tried the above and failed miserably?

HCGM is alright at this coaching thing, and he knows how to compensate for weaknesses on the roster. Should be a fun game.

[wsushox1]

Notre Dame is not as big as Indiana is as far as their front line goes.

[ND2010]

ND Fan here. Beachem is more of a 3 or 4 forward (ideally playing the 3) and Colson is more of Auguste's "backup" even at 6'5. We have played both Auguste and Colson at the same time before briefly, and our coach mentioned attempting to iron that out for the tourney. ND fans expect a very tough toss up game from Wichita State that may just come down to who is having a slightly better shooting day. I think fans here expecting a double digit win over ND will be in for a surprise, as would any ND fans expecting any easy win Thursday. I think there was some statistic that ND has had at least a 6 point lead in every game this season, and I think that streak was only broken by a weird game against Syracuse. We are also Duke's only two losses in 11 weeks.

Add in the fact that we are 7-1 against other Sweet 16 teams, and I think this will be a blockbuster matchup between two of the best 5 or 6 remaining teams. Good luck to you guys- I look forward to finding out more about your team on here that I may have missed in your tourney successes and in following them this season.

[LandStander]

As a side note, some ND fans believe they will win due to the Shox coming off their 'Super Bowl' versus KU and will be flat for the game against them. Not unheard of, but if we come with the same intensity as we did against KU, they're in trouble.

Kentucky is our Super Bowl, Norte dame stands in front of our rematch. Those kids will come out fired up

[ND2010]

Kentucky is our Super Bowl, Norte dame stands in front of our rematch. Those kids will come out fired up

Some of the thought process was that we may be a "trap" game if there is one in the NCAA tournament. I think we mean that with all respect, as hoping to be a trap game in someone's schedule shows a lot of what you think that opponent is capable.

[LandStander]

Some of the thought process was that we may be a "trap" game if there is one in the NCAA tournament. I think we mean that with all respect, as hoping to be a trap game in someone's schedule shows a lot of what you think that opponent is capable.

Our team is humble and respects every opponent. You don't go 17-1 in the mvc (35-1 over two years) by looking past teams. The game before the big UNI show down for 1st place, we played Indiana state on the road. That could have been a trap game but our boys came out hungry knowing that the UNI game was meaningless without a victory against ISUb.

[calfan]

The computer has this game as a toss up.

Either team could win. These are both good teams and
neither team or fan base should take the other for granted, ask KU.

[Kung Wu]

It is unfair to say that ND hasn't faced a defense like ours, so let's break down how Notre Dame has fared on the year against top defensive opponents.

Hatter,

I hate to ask you to any work but would it be easy to compare this with how the Shockers have performed against offenses as potent as ND's?

[boltforge]

The computer has this game as a toss up.

Computer had KU/WSU as a toss up as well. But, what (to me) set WSU apart was poise. Down 8 or up 8 they did the grinding and dirty work of playing solid basketball. Watching the KU players behaviour with fouls and general play, they definitely didn't. Is ND closer to WSU or KU in that non-stat?

[The Mad Hatter]

Hatter,

I hate to ask you to any work but would it be easy to compare this with how the Shockers have performed against offenses as potent as ND's?

No problem. We have only faced 3 teams with top 25 offenses (4 games). Here is the breakdown:

	Opp Adjusted O	Opp Adjusted D	W/L	Home/Road/Neutral	Score	Opp FG%	Opp 3FG%
Utah	#18	#7	L OT	Road	68-69	47.1%	42.9%
UNI 1	#14	#27	L	Road	54-70	60.0%	71.4%
UNI 2	#14	#27	W	Home	74-60	47.8%	40.0%
Indiana	#9	#219	W	Neutral	81-76	40.7%	50.0%
Notre Dame	#3	#102	?	?	?	?	?

The first UNI game is obviously glaringly bad (although the 3 point shooting is somewhat deceptive since UNI only attempted 7).

The good news is that in 3 out of the 4 games we held our opponents to under their season FG percentage (Utah is 48.7%, UNI is 48.0%, and Indiana is 46.4%). The bad news is that in every game we let them shoot above their average from 3 (Utah is 40.8%, UNI is 39.8%, IU is 40.6%). The interesting thing is that giving up those 3s didn't seem to hurt us too much. In the games we took away the 2, we are 2-1 with the 1 loss being in overtime on the road. The only game we were soundly beaten was the game that a team shot well from 2 point range and didn't even attempt very many 3s.

This should be a very good matchup with potential advantages for both teams. I'll look at the rebounding and turnover numbers in more detail later, but I get the feeling that extra possessions is where this game will be won or lost (WSU should have that edge with better rebounding and both teams protecting the ball well).