AP and Coaches Poll Watch Thread (2015-16 Edition)

[1972Shocker]

I don't want to rain on the parade, but Scott had 24 points and was 4-5 from 3PT in Wichita. He's shooting 44% from 3 in 2 seasons at ISUb. The dude can straight up shoot it.

He was 4-4 from 3PT land and had 16 points at the half. At least the Shockers made some half time adjustments to get him under control.

He has been shooting the ball very well from the perimeter this year (43.9% overall on 3PT% and 50.0% in MVC play) and can occasionally take it to the rim as well. A very good player from what I have seen.

The Shocks still have a handful of games that could provide some stiff resistance including the Sycamores in Terre Haute.

[Steeleshocker]

That may be in part because of the unbalance of schedules in the Big 10.

No tears for Tom Crean from me...they could be undefeated and I'd want them slighted...Dwight Schrute squared....

Dwight Schrute deserves better...

[Shocker-maniac]

They have plenty of excuses, at least when they are at home. Evansville is actually a smaller school than either Friends or Kansas Newman, if you can believe it. They never should have been allowed to move from D2 to D1 by the NCAA. For every dollar that WSU spends on their entire athletics program, UE spends 43 cents; for every dollar that WSU spends on men's basketball, UE spends 37 cents.

The MVC is an absolute horrid conference. It is terrible. The MVC sucks. It is like a huge lead weight around our ankle. We will not truly get the respect that our coach and team deserve as long as we are a part of this sad and pathetic conference.

[shockmonster]

Odds are that we take care of business on the road. But there are no Gimmee's on the road. Both Evansville and ISUB have some talented players and Evansville has a top notch Center too. The game will probably close for the first half, and if we don't come out of the locker room after half time, with our hair on fire, this is when we could lose it by allowing them to believe and then it is "all bets are off" time. I hope that this scenario doesn't play out but it is possible.

[1972Shocker]

Odds are that we take care of business on the road. But there are no Gimmee's on the road. Both Evansville and ISUB have some talented players and Evansville has a top notch Center too. The game will probably close for the first half, and if we don't come out of the locker room after half time, with our hair on fire, this is when we could lose it by allowing them to believe and then it is "all bets are off" time. I hope that this scenario doesn't play out but it is possible.

Agreed. We've been beaten by much worse teams than those on the road and at home (Bad SIU teams have gotten us in recent years - once on the road and once at home). Just about anybody can get you if they play well and you don't show up. The Shocks have their share of potential speed bumps between now and the end of the regular season. Fortunately, one of 3G's strengths and one of the strengths of Fred, Ron and Evan as team leaders is that they are really good at focusing on the task at hand and getting the troops to follow in kind.

[proshox]

The MVC is an absolute horrid conference. It is terrible. The MVC sucks. It is like a huge lead weight around our ankle. We will not truly get the respect that our coach and team deserve as long as we are a part of this sad and pathetic conference.

The fact that we are in the top 25 with five losses might cause some to disagree. A weak MVC has been a huge factor in our national relevance.

[shockmonster]

The fact that we are in the top 25 with five losses might cause some to disagree. A weak MVC has been a huge factor in our national relevance.

It seems to me that you are discounting a very important detail that others probably see when they watch our games on television. We have been playing very good, dominating basketball during this winning streak.

[Shocker-maniac]

The fact that we are in the top 25 with five losses might cause some to disagree. A weak MVC has been a huge factor in our national relevance.

I guess you can live in la la land where the sun always shines. You are aware that half the voters did not vote for WSU. Right? Whatever national relevance we have achieved is in spite of the MVC. This conference does not help us, it is a drag.

You can paint it however you want, but the MVC is a terrible conference and it does much more harm to us than any sort of good. The MVC is BAD. Period.

Have you watched any MVC games? In 90% of the cases it is really bad basketball.

[shockmonster]

I will stick with evaluating WSU. Largely, we compete against ourselves. That is what I love about Gregg. He expects great play from his starters and from his bench. We have been playing very good basketball during the MVC portion of our schedule. I'm proud of our team and we deserve to be ranked in the Top 25. Good for Ron, Fred, and Company.

[1972Shocker]

Return to Rankings as reported on GoShocker.com

I really like the photo accompanying the article:

[proshox]

I guess you can live in la la land where the sun always shines. You are aware that half the voters did not vote for WSU. Right? Whatever national relevance we have achieved is in spite of the MVC. This conference does not help us, it is a drag.

You can paint it however you want, but the MVC is a terrible conference and it does much more harm to us than any sort of good. The MVC is BAD. Period.

Have you watched any MVC games? In 90% of the cases it is really bad basketball.

Exactly. Having a dominant win total every year goes a long way in creating our brand. Life got a lot easier for us win CU left, SIU started to suck and everyone else held to form. A tougher conference this year and we would have had our work cut out for us.

One could argue the mid 2000s was the worst case scenario. A bunch of teams that knew how to scout & hold home court, but not good enough to count as "quality wins."

I think we have at least two more NCAA appearances in the last fifteen years if the MVC had always been this bad.

[SHOCKvalue]

Exactly. Having a dominant win total every year goes a long way in creating our brand. Life got a lot easier for us win CU left, SIU started to suck and everyone else held to form. A tougher conference this year and we would have had our work cut out for us.

One could argue the mid 2000s was the worst case scenario. A bunch of teams that knew how to scout & hold home court, but not good enough to count as "quality wins."

I think we have at least two more NCAA appearances in the last fifteen years if the MVC had always been this bad.

I tip my hat to you! Fair game. Ten years and a thousand posts is a long, long time to stay incognito.

You better batten down the hatches because Fever will eventually stroll through this thread, and there's a chance he might have an opinion to render. BOHICA.

[Dave Stalwart]

I'm so confused

[1972Shocker]

Hard to make a case that that the Valley will be better next year. WSU loses the most in terms of number and quality followed by Evansville (Balentine, Mockevicius & Wing), UNI (Washpun, Bohannon & Jesperson) and Loyola (Peterson, Turk, James and White). The difference though is that WSU has some decent depth and another very solid recruiting class to fall back on although losing Fred and Ron will leave a huge hole to fill. Not sure that can be said for Evansville, UNI or Loyola although the Ramblers will presumably have Milton Doyle back for one more year.

SIU, INS, ILS and MSU all lose a key player or two but they may have enough to at least continue at their current levels. SIU loses Anthony Beane. ILS loses Devaughn Akoon-Purcell, INS loses Devonte Brown and Khristian Smith and MSU loses Camryn Boone and Dorian Williams. Whether their is anything in the cupboard or coming in that can replace these players is not readily apparent. But they will have most of their players back a year older and presumably wiser.

Drake and Bradley about have to get better by default I think although that doesn't mean they will be very good. The good news is that they have just about everyone coming back. The bad news is that they have just about everyone coming back. Again they will be a year older and presumably stronger and wiser.

I guess you never know how much players will improve from one year to the next and perhaps their are some newcomers that could be difference makers. I have to admit I don't know much about the recruiting classes of the other Valley teams. Nevertheless, at this point I it doesn't appear like the Valley will be taking a step forward next year.

Beyond next year -- who knows. At this point, the only Seniors the Shocks will have next year are the two walkons, JR Simon and Zach Bush. So the Shocks are looking good two years out for sure.

[Shocker-maniac]

Exactly. Having a dominant win total every year goes a long way in creating our brand. Life got a lot easier for us win CU left, SIU started to suck and everyone else held to form. A tougher conference this year and we would have had our work cut out for us.

One could argue the mid 2000s was the worst case scenario. A bunch of teams that knew how to scout & hold home court, but not good enough to count as "quality wins."

I think we have at least two more NCAA appearances in the last fifteen years if the MVC had always been this bad.

Using this logic, Duke should join the Horizon, North Carolina the Summit, Louisville should join the Patriot and on and on.