Why the freshmen class will be successful

[asiseeit]

1) GM
2) FVV and RB on the court coaches
3) Plenty of games with comfortable leads to get them PT
4) Better class as a group than last years
5) Plenty of scrimmage time with players they will compete against for PT
6) After watching this years departures they should have added incentive to work

[Cdizzle]

Proper pregame hydration.

[WheatShock]

Proper pregame hydration.

Since when did Yordano Ventura start playing for WSU?

[choida]

Shamet is a winner... Taylor has the clutch gene...mcduffies resume speaks for itself... Hamilton has been to a prep that is designed for wichita state... Did I leave anything out?

[wufan]

Shamet is a winner... Taylor has the clutch gene...mcduffies resume speaks for itself... Hamilton has been to a prep that is designed for wichita state... Did I leave anything out?

Yes. They can all shoot and handle the ball well for their position (assuming Taylor-PG, Shamet-SG, McDuffie-SF, Hamilton-PF). They're all long for their position. Shamet is a good passer. Not sure on the others.

[molly jabali]

The ONE thing that has happened MAYBE is that if our freshmen(ANY of them, any year) HAD to play, they would the ON THE JOB anecessity to get better....Marshall has bult the luxury of the quick out for non performance, but it might slow the process of freshman contributors a little.

[DJShocker10]

Proper pregame hydration.

Now that's some high quality H2O!

[Ol skool]

Last season Fred and Ron sometimes played 30+ minutes in some blowouts. Let's hope the incoming guards develope quicker.

[shockmonster]

Last season Fred and Ron sometimes played 30+ minutes in some blowouts. Let's hope the incoming guards develope quicker.

Thankfully Conner isn't a Freshman. He should be ahead in the game to give them rest (albeit not until December).

[Ol skool]

Thankfully Conner isn't a Freshman. He should be ahead in the game to give them rest (albeit not until December).

Guess they will have to suck it up for those first nine games.

[WSUwatcher]

Guess they will have to suck it up for those first nine games.

That's where dizzle's pregame hydration comes in.

Seriously, though, when you play as part of a program that has quality players ahead of you, and you don't HAVE to get a lot of minutes, your on-the-job training is slowed. At most schools, even those who were 10-12 seeds in the tournament or high seeds in the NIT, someone like Kelly would have played a lot more last year and necessarily contributed more. Probably the same with Nurger if he hadn't caught the superflu. At WSU, not so much, and we saw the same thing 30+ years ago even with a talent like Xavier McDaniel. With future NBA players in front of him, he didn't play that much as a freshman (13.5 minutes/game).

Now, that's not to say that McDuffie (for example) is a tall, skinny, second coming of X -- or, for that matter, that Rashard Kelly, who didn't exactly have Carr and Levingston in front of him last year -- will suddenly lead the nation in rebounding this coming season. But McDuffie is undeniably talented and comes from a high-level program whose nationally renowned coach has a reputation for preaching and teaching defense; Hamilton and Taylor have both played a post-grad year at quality prep programs, an experience that may help them come on as the season progresses just as Zach Brown did this past season; and Shamet was widely regarded as a top 100 player and the best college prospect in the KC area.

So the hydration isn't the only reason to be optimistic.