2015-16 Media love thread

[ShockerPrez]

Bobby Reagan = sheep

Move along.

[RoyalShock]

Not the best written, but a pretty good and fairly in-depth preview of WSU from FanSided.

[another shocker]

Not the best written, but a pretty good and fairly in-depth preview of WSU from FanSided.

most excellent report.

sidenote: i think uni will be good this year. three seniors in jesperson, bohannan and washpun is a good foundation. solid 2nd place pick in the mvc imo.

[shocka khan]

most excellent report.

sidenote: i think uni will be good this year. three seniors in jesperson, bohannan and washpun is a good foundation. solid 2nd place pick in the mvc imo.

I'm going with Evansville. They have an aircraft carrier and a couple of good guards. But I can see why you like UNI. They had a really good season last year and those three will be better. The biggest question mark would be whether the 3's improvement will compensate for the loss of the valley POY.

[Stickboy46]

I'm going with Evansville. They have an aircraft carrier and a couple of good guards. But I can see why you like UNI. They had a really good season last year and those three will be better. The biggest question mark would be whether the 3's improvement will compensate for the loss of the valley POY.

Tuttle opened up looks for those 3 all year long. Will those 3 even be AS GOOD as last year without him? I'm not sure.

[Art Bunch]

Not the best written, but a pretty good and fairly in-depth preview of WSU from FanSided.

Agreed, he would benefit from editing and a thesaurus, but give the kid credit for doing his homework. I like that preview overall, he really can't understate that this is all right there for the team, they just have to take advantage.

My favorite part was this:

"Last season, after the loss to Utah, a team that was ranked in the top 25 playing at home, the Shockers’ naysayers grew louder. “I knew they weren’t that good!” “Overrated!” “That’s what happens when you play an actual team!”
Of course, all of these came from the narrow-minded, the uninformed and the Kansas diehards (due to their unwillingness to share spotlight with an in-state program they feel are far beneath them).
All of these things are superficial ways to try to tear a successful team down, but the Shockers don’t care. Their biggest concern is winning games. They’d happily play Kansas and Arizona every season, but those programs aren’t willing to play them for RPI concerns, on top of other things.
Respect is something the Shockers have earned, but not something they have received. Taking down Kansas should’ve been enough. It is enough, really, but it’s not, which is the sad reality of fandom of college basketball these days.
The Shockers are legitimate, they are formidable, but they may never actually be treated as such. Hopefully, by the end of March, we’ll be able to stop using their moniker in headlines to describe big wins but avoid it because nobody is actually shocked by it anymore."

[WSUwatcher]

No love here:

http://www.todaysu.com/around-the-u/...nt-in-2015-16/

Silly stuff, and I hope the players see it.

[WSUwatcher]

Not the best written, but a pretty good and fairly in-depth preview of WSU from FanSided.

Decent writeup, but I think he overestimates the downside of having a 6-8 center -- Orukpe was valuable, but he wasn't exactly the key to the Final Four run, and I still wish Baker had fired that three himself against Louisville instead of dropping it inside to EO -- and underestimates the potential impact of Zach Brown.

[WSUwatcher]

Continuing to monopolize the thread...

A headline for the Shocks from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...ember-revealed

Also, a nice reminder about other Valley teams playing in quality exempt tournaments, as Bradley, UNI, and Evansville also appear in the story.

[Gary Gorilla]

Decent writeup, but I think he overestimates the downside of having a 6-8 center -- Orukpe was valuable, but he wasn't exactly the key to the Final Four run, and I still wish Baker had fired that three himself against Louisville instead of dropping it inside to EO -- and underestimates the potential impact of Zach Brown.

Carl Hall was 6'8" IIRC

[WSUwatcher]

Exactly, Gary -- that was my point, in case I didn't make it clear: the true #1 big for the Final Four Shocks who could just as easily have then gone on to play for all the marbles was a "mid-major"ish 6-8.

Whatever else can be said of this coming season's team vs. the 2012-13 group, this team will NOT be smaller. Their backup center may be a bit smaller, but the team as a whole certainly will not be.

[Stickboy46]

Carl Hall was 6'8" IIRC

He may have physically been 6'8" but he definitely played like he was 7'8" and intimidated players the same way.

[Kel Varnsen]

Carl Hall was 6'8" IIRC

Think he was more like 6'6". Cle measured 6'7"+ at the combine, and here's the best pic I could find. CH utilized what height he did have well though.

[tropicalshox]

Carl Hall was 6'8" IIRC

Before the haircut.

[Heinro]

Continuing to monopolize the thread...

A headline for the Shocks from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...ember-revealed

Also, a nice reminder about other Valley teams playing in quality exempt tournaments, as Bradley, UNI, and Evansville also appear in the story.

I forgot UNI and Evansville both have good tournaments. If either can exceed expectations at those tournaments, it could set them up for a potential at-large bid.