WSU VERSUS NOTRE DAME PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[ND2010]

A lot of our offense runs off of high ball screens, followed by a roll to the basket along with the guard and then looking to the perimeter if the drive and roller both are covered. The high hedge would be a good defense for this I would think, so it should be fun to see strength against strength. I'm excited and nervous for this game. It's the type of game I'd almost rather be the neutral observer for because I think it's going to be a barn-burner.

My next question is whether you think a lot of Shocker fans will make the trip to Cleveland? Our alumni tickets sold out within a minute of going on sale online, so I'm expecting a strong showing on our part, but you would have to think UK fans will eat up a majority of the general public tickets. We are still hoping to scalp a pair to 4, but it appears the Thursday game will be a much tougher ticket than the Saturday one

[The Mad Hatter]

A lot of our offense runs off of high ball screens, followed by a roll to the basket along with the guard and then looking to the perimeter if the drive and roller both are covered. The high hedge would be a good defense for this I would think, so it should be fun to see strength against strength. I'm excited and nervous for this game. It's the type of game I'd almost rather be the neutral observer for because I think it's going to be a barn-burner.

My next question is whether you think a lot of Shocker fans will make the trip to Cleveland? Our alumni tickets sold out within a minute of going on sale online, so I'm expecting a strong showing on our part, but you would have to think UK fans will eat up a majority of the general public tickets. We are still hoping to scalp a pair to 4, but it appears the Thursday game will be a much tougher ticket than the Saturday one

For the most part we our bigs recover well off the hedge to stop pick and roll action, but the one game we really played poor defense this year was at UNI and it was our pick and roll defense that broke down for us. I wouldn't expect us to break down too much, but you never know. We also run a fair amount of pick and roll and pick and pop on offense, so that is a style of game both teams should be used to.

[shoxilla]

not a trap game but yet still a little wary of a letdown....
Shox 77 - 66
you do the math

[another shocker]

Marshall had no problem running with IU, do we think he does the same thing in this one? Another exciting up and down game?

wichita state had problems running with iu (until the end). hoosiers were on fire! 'hit nearly everything they shot. this shocker fan, for one, hopes that notre dame isn't that hot, like indiana was last friday. i'd hate to see that again.

[Kung Wu]

Makes sense. They don't need to push the pace when they have a platoon of 3 point shooters shooting over 40% from behind the arc.

[The Mad Hatter]

Makes sense. They don't need to push the pace when they have a platoon of 3 point shooters shooting over 40% from behind the arc.

Notre Dame's general approach is to limit the number of possessions by playing slow tempo and not turning the ball over. They figure that if both teams have limited possessions, they will be more efficient in scoring on those possessions, and often are. Where is has the potential to break down for them is that they play poor enough defense that they are not always more efficient because no matter how well they play on offense they allow their opponent to play even better and they are poor rebounders which allows opponents to overcome offensive efficiency deficits by gains more possessions on the offensive glass.

[LandStander]

wichita state had problems running with iu (until the end). hoosiers were on fire! 'hit nearly everything they shot. this shocker fan, for one, hopes that notre dame isn't that hot, like indiana was last friday. i'd hate to see that again.

I agree, wsu was beat tired after 10 minutes worth of sprinting down the court. If ND is as good at 3 pointers that I keep hearing about, the last thing I want to see our d play is zone.

[Kung Wu]

Notre Dame's general approach is to limit the number of possessions by playing slow tempo and not turning the ball over. They figure that if both teams have limited possessions, they will be more efficient in scoring on those possessions, and often are. Where is has the potential to break down for them is that they play poor enough defense that they are not always more efficient because no matter how well they play on offense they allow their opponent to play even better and they are poor rebounders which allows opponents to overcome offensive efficiency deficits by gains more possessions on the offensive glass.

Yup, it makes complete sense. I hope our defense bothers them enough to take them off their shooting game. Virginia's D apparently did.

[ND2010]

Notre Dame's general approach is to limit the number of possessions by playing slow tempo and not turning the ball over. They figure that if both teams have limited possessions, they will be more efficient in scoring on those possessions, and often are. Where is has the potential to break down for them is that they play poor enough defense that they are not always more efficient because no matter how well they play on offense they allow their opponent to play even better and they are poor rebounders which allows opponents to overcome offensive efficiency deficits by gains more possessions on the offensive glass.

This is mostly true, but we also look to turn any defense we get into transitions. For example, we outscored NE 22-2 in transition points (that's the only game I could find that stat for, but there are quotes on our players saying it's what they try to do). If the transition isn't there, we will be patient until we find a good look. This is for two reasons- one good, one bad (as you mentioned). We have very good ball movement and think that we can find a good look every possession, but with our defense sometimes being subpar we cannot afford not to get good looks.

We used to run what we called a burn offense- or the modern day 4 corners- when our teams weren't as good. We still sometimes go to this with a lead in the second half, but it isn't intentionally employed as much anymore. It sounds like the offenses resemble each other a lot in their patience.

[another shocker]

The zone worked earlier in the season against us in some games (@Duke loss, home Syracuse loss, 2nd half of Miami in ACC tourney win, and we were more successful against Duke in the semis the next time they tried it). Maybe that's something you'll see Marshall employ for short bits. What is your normal defensive set?

you won't see more than one minute of zone from wichita state.. if even that.

[The Mad Hatter]

I wanted to do a comparison of WSU and Notre Dame in regards to turnovers, steals, and rebounding. Here is a breakdown of turnovers and steals:

	Turnover % (low rank good)	Assist:TO Ratio	Steal %
Notre Dame	14.5% (#349)	1.6:1 (#4)	10.6% (#80)
Wichita State	15.1% (#346)	1.46:1 (#8)	11.5% (#35)

Both teams are among the best in the nation in taking care of the ball, with Notre Dame being slightly better on offense, but WSU being better on creating turnovers. If things go to form, not much should be decided here as both teams are unlikely to give up many possessions via turnover.

Here is the breakdown of rebounding. I've included Indiana as a comparison point:

	Defensive Rebounding %	Offensive Rebounding %
Notre Dame	68.1% (#233)	27.7% (#294)
Indiana	68.5% (#208)	35.3% (#51)
Wichita State	73.1% (#34)	34.9% (#60)

This is a place where WSU can really help themselves this game

While Indiana is not as disciplined an offense as Notre Dame, they are very good offensive rebounders and that hurt us in our game with them, but even with what they got on the offensive glass, we won that category 15-12. If we were able to get a +3 on the offensive glass and +2 overall against Indiana, we should be able to do even better against Notre Dame. This isn't just numbers. Watching Notre Dame, they are simply not very good at finding their box outs. We will need to exploit this on both ends of the floor if we expect to win.

[ShoxRoxMySox]

Dear ND; If we win, can we borrow your starting five to use as a Green platoon off the bench vs UK?

[ND2010]

Dear ND; If we win, can we borrow your starting five to use as a Green platoon off the bench vs UK?

Likewise and you've got yourself a deal. I still think our squads may fall short though-- like the McDonald's All-American squad playing the best of the rest

[wsushox1]

shocks need their best game of the year for this one. no exceptions. quick rotations.. help side UNDER THE BASKET.. quick trigger- let the 3 fly freely

why would we want help side under the basket when that is a block.

[Stickboy46]

Dear ND; If we win, can we borrow your starting five to use as a Green platoon off the bench vs UK?

Auguste looks enough like Rauno to just wear his jersey right? :)