Shocker Madness?

[Dave Stalwart]

I particularly enjoyed the time when Rashard and Evan went head to head after a loose ball close to half court. Rashard had a step on Evan and reached the ball a tad sooner. They banged pretty hard and were clearly both very invested in getting that ball.

Evan got the ball.

[shocksrbest]

I particularly enjoyed the time when Rashard and Evan went head to head after a loose ball close to half court. Rashard had a step on Evan and reached the ball a tad sooner. They banged pretty hard and were clearly both very invested in getting that ball.

Evan got the ball.

He was also olding his ribs too. Had me a little worried for a bit...but Evan is one tough hombre.

[Aargh]

Here's my take:

Did not see the floor: FVV, Grady, Wamukota, Morris, Brown, Barney. That left Hamilton on Nurger in the post.

Did see a lot of court time: Zach Bush, J.R. Simon, Peyton Allen. Oh, great. I get to watch the walk-ons and ineligible players.

Baker was a man among boys. It was easy to pick out the AA on the court.

Nurger looked like a post player, but the Fr guarding him was playing out of position. In comparison to the other players on the court, he still needs some quickness. The athleticism of the other players on the court has been described, so it's a tough comparison to live up to.

Shamet is going to be special. He's smooth on smooth, has a long striding gait that moves down the court in a hurry. Moves smooth, has quickness, sees passing lanes, handles the rock.

I expect Hamilton will be similar to what we saw from Kelly last year. I think it's safe to say he's a 6'8" athletic freak. Probably more athletic than Early.

Taylor. I didn't see any problems. Looked fine playing PG. Looked super quick and super fast. Didn't see anything awesome, but I think it's more important that he didn't do anything stupid either. Definitely not a knucklehead.

Frankamp's shot was off, but that's not surprising considering he hasn't stepped on a court in front of people since the 2014 NCAA tourney. He was nails in the 3-point contest, but couldn't hit squat in the scrimmage. The one drive to the hoop he made was an uncontested drive through a 6' wide opening to the hoop. Two secondary post defenders saw him coming, but they both looked, then stopped to give him a clear layup. He's going to have to fight for PT because Taylor and Shamet will be serious competition for minutes where Conner can play.

Pencil Kelly in as a starter. I thought he showed some Carl Hall-like beast mode. IIRC he was 4/4 on his throws.

McDuffie could be the best player ever at WSU to be considered for a RS year. He'd be a starter or significant role player on Shocker teams from just a few years ago,

[SHOXAAC]

Hamilton will be picking splinters out of his butt next to the manager at the end of the bench if he fires up shots like that when games matter. He does appear to have beast qualities though.

[_kai_]

Sorry guys. My phone died on me. Periscope drained my battery really quick. Shockerhoops.net will have some good coverage in the next couple days. Hopefully tomorrow.

[wusphlash]

How did Markis look in the scrimmage?

Haven't heard anything about Taylor either.

My opinion.

McDuffie has really good handles for a 6'8" eighteen year old. He lost a couple driving to the basket. I think he will finish those later in the year.

Taylor really did nothing that stood out. He is very, very quick and obviously can get up as shown in the dunk competition. He has a lot of studs ahead of him.

[shockerfan]

Gotta remember they had already practiced. A LOT of the jump shots were on line but just short, even CF's. Tired legs it appeared to me. I am not worried about the shooting.

Overall it was just nice to see a little basketball and see the newbies up close. Other than that you can't take anything away from it.

Kelly was bigger and definately stronger at the hoop offensively. He can definately take some contact this year!

[wusphlash]

One thing stood out to me. Ron was telling the newbies that, while they were all welcome, this is still his and Fred's team. He looked like a guy who worked out with pros this summer and could make a play whenever he chose. Senior leadership.

[Shocker-maniac]

From an off the court perspective this was the best production for Shocker Madness that I can recall. They could do more, but definitely a huge improvement over the prior years. In past years, it appeared that they started planning for Madness the afternoon of the event. This time it actually appears that they started planning this a couple of weeks ago. The emcee dude was pretty good and the dance contests were semi-entertaining. I personally would do away with the ring presentations and add more pizazz, bells, whistles, sirens, fog machines, flame throwers, indoor fireworks, etc.

[I_Vector_Wu]

Hamilton's Dunk

[Aargh]

I thought the emcee guy sucked. Especially the efforts to get everybody singing along with some tune they were about to put on the PA. that's probably on the production and scripting rather than on the guy himself.

the old guy doing the worm was entertaining.

[Ta Town Shocker]

Here are my thoughts on the night.

Shocker Nation came out in masses. I wasn't able to attend the previous 2 years so not sure how it compared to those but there were probably twice as many there tonight as there was 3 years ago.

The 20 minute scrimmage had a running clock which continued to run during free throws and time outs. I wanted to see 20 minutes of full action. A running clock, seriously???

Rashard Kelly has put on some serious muscle. He looked sharp during the scrimmage.

Shamet was beyond impressive for a freshman guard. All the hype we've been reading over the summer is 100% legitimate. Not only is he uber athletic, he also has a nose for the ball. He had several offensive rebounds and snagged a couple of loose balls. He makes driving to the hoop look effortless and while he didn't finish at the rim a couple of times, I have no doubt he is capable of doing so. He is silky smooth with the ball.

Taylor is lightning quick and looks comfortable running the point.

Frankamp looked comfortable but wasn't hitting jumpers. He was 1 of 2 on wide open layup attempts but the one he did make was impressive. He will have some chances to drive based on his shooting ability.

McDuffie will be a great player down the road. He is tall, lean, and athletic and showed he can play at this level.

Hamilton is a beast but needs to work on the little parts of his game and become more polished. He's a freak athlete but would often get boxed out easily by Nurger. The 2 three pointers were ill advised. I'd rather see him take it to the hoop.

Nurger has put on some serious muscle as well and played fundamentally sound basketball. I don't see any reason why he can't contribute solid minutes at the 5.

I feel like we know what to expect from Evan and he didn't disappoint. He played solid and hit the only 3 of the night it seemed.

[forevershockerfan]

How did Markis look in the scrimmage?

MM likes to take it to the rack and the scrimmage this summer he displayed a very good corner shot. He is a definite keeper, and thin right now. I wouldn't mind if he did redshirt because I want him to get lots of minutes and this Season, that might be tough. Shamet will indeed play this Season. Taylor is very quick and plays D. Redshirt? Also in the scrimmage this summer, Kelly and Grady went head to head and I felt like they were quite even in production that day. We have sooooooo much quality depth and impressive athletes. Hamilton has a nice shot but he might be a year away from much playing time? Redshirt? Dunno.

1. FVV 2.Baker 3.Wessel 4.Grady/Kelly 5.Shaq/BW
Rotating with:-1.Frankamp 2.Shamet 3.Brown 4.Kelly/Grady 5. Nurger/BW

[Shocker-maniac]

Click on the link for a video of the "Off Wu's Head slamma jamma"

@wichita:State: This just happened. #ShockerMadness #WATCHUS https://t.co/59YAPCpKN7

[wusphlash]

I'm betting Gregg wishes he had more than 200 minutes to hand out.