WSU vs. Southern Illinois Game Thread

[WuDrWu]

Can you say log jam? TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
Wichita St	11-0	17-5
Southern Illinois	7-4	18-6
Evansville	7-4	18-6
Indiana State	7-4	13-10
Illinois State	7-4	13-11
Missouri State	6-5	10-13
Northern Iowa	5-6	13-11
Loyola (CHI)	3-8	10-13
Drake	1-10	6-17
Bradley	1-10	3-21

Paul mentions in his video wrapup on kansas.com that the Shocks could clinch the Valley on Feb 18. Being the complete nerd that I am, I looked at the schedules and noticed that with the other teams playing one another, it's actually possible to clinch the #1 seed as early as next Wednesday. Not that anyone is looking for that as the end all be all.

If the Shocks win at Illinois State and Drake they'll be 13-0 and hold every tiebreaker. ISUr will have 5 losses by virtue of losing to us Saturday (in this scenario). Evansville would then have to lose to either MSU or ISUr at home, both unlikely but still, possible. Just one loss gives them 5. Indiana State plays at SIU next Wednesday. So basically, of the 4 teams currently 4 back, 2 of them will in fact have 5 losses at least because they play each other. If the 2 winners happen to drop their other game, between now and then, and WSU goes 2-0 on the road, that's it.

It's just something to talk about.....with the way our guys are playing right now the only thing that bothers me is insufficient applause. It most certainly is a great day!

[jdshock]

As good as Fred's numbers were last night (12 points, 11 assists, 4 steals), they were pedestrian compared to his impact on the game. Probably five or more times he passed the ball to someone who missed a layup or got fouled hard and shot free throws. He was getting their players called for illegal screens. Countless good passes that set someone up to make an assist. He also played really good defense last night.

If college basketball coaches were drafting their dream, I'm confident ten point guards don't get drafted ahead of him. I'm confident two point guards don't get drafted in front of him. In fact, point guards are so important in college basketball, he would be many coaches overall first pick.

[WuDrWu]

It sucks but so many rebounds were on god awful shots that went long. Our guys were in the right spots. Late in the game Fred go mismatched on a switch and I watched him get his hip into he bigger SIU player. Fred boxed him out like a pro. But the shot from the other guy was so bad it went long and Fred basically had boxed the SIU player out into the rebound.

My rough count was 15 rebounds for SIU on god awful shots.

Speaking after losing the '83 National Championship game to North Carolina State, Houston Coach Guy Lewis quipped that Akeem Olajuwon was in great position to rebound a missed shot. He wasn't in very good position to rebound an airball. We don't do a lot of drills to rebound an airball. Or something like that. I thought Bola was great for SIU and looked like he belonged in a WSU uniform with that kind of effort, but generally, due to the odd nature of many of the boards, I'm not terribly concerned. This team is continuing to improve. They are tenacious on defense and sharing the basketball like I've never seen a Shocker team share the basketball, and it is GLORIOUS to observe.

[The 'hut]

1. I thought the dogs gave good effort and came out with increased physicality.
2. The officiating was inconsistent on a number of fronts. Not saying it hurt or helped either team, just perplexing at times.
3. I agree the rebounding stats are an oddity based on the shear number of offensive rebound opportunities and the nature of the misses. You needed to move your guy 15 ft. out to catch those clangers.
4. Some loose balls the Shocks usual corral, went the other way. See #1 and if we needed to appease the stat gods, this was a good game to do that.
5. On the Locker room show, someone was displeased with Shaq's rebounding. Ave. 4 every 18 minutes. That's 8 for 36. Also, Shaq is coached to help change shots as much as possible on the defensive end, and that takes you out of defensive rebound position. It is much easier to rebound when you can line up and box out.
6. There were some frustrating turnovers. I love MM, but his youth shows when he gets sped up in the open floor. He'll get it, it is just growth time.
7. I still want to see MM, RK, EH, ZBrown and one more run the zone press. That could make for some wild action.
8. Congrats GM and EW
9. Next up ISUr. It's time to introduce this version of the Shocks to the Normalites.

[molly jabali]

1. I thought the dogs gave good effort and came out with increased physicality.
2. The officiating was inconsistent on a number of fronts. Not saying it hurt or helped either team, just perplexing at times.
3. I agree the rebounding stats are an oddity based on the shear number of offensive rebound opportunities and the nature of the misses. You needed to move your guy 15 ft. out to catch those clangers.
4. Some loose balls the Shocks usual corral, went the other way. See #1 and if we needed to appease the stat gods, this was a good game to do that.
5. On the Locker room show, someone was displeased with Shaq's rebounding. Ave. 4 every 18 minutes. That's 8 for 36. Also, Shaq is coached to help change shots as much as possible on the defensive end, and that takes you out of defensive rebound position. It is much easier to rebound when you can line up and box out.
6. There were some frustrating turnovers. I love MM, but his youth shows when he gets sped up in the open floor. He'll get it, it is just growth time.
7. I still want to see MM, RK, EH, ZBrown and one more run the zone press. That could make for some wild action.
8. Congrats GM and EW
9. Next up ISUr. It's time to introduce this version of the Shocks to the Normalites.

Unable to watch or listen much last night...Connor's game from the stat sheet looked pedestrian...were they shadowing him more than normal?

[Bluzrover]

Can you say log jam? TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
Wichita St	11-0	17-5
Southern Illinois	7-4	18-6
Evansville	7-4	18-6
Indiana State	7-4	13-10
Illinois State	7-4	13-11
Missouri State	6-5	10-13
Northern Iowa	5-6	13-11
Loyola (CHI)	3-8	10-13
Drake	1-10	6-17
Bradley	1-10	3-21

I'm disappointed that Evansville has not kept in the lead for second place.
Would like to have seen them do better if for no other reason than to have at least one more Valley team in the post season (not that I think they're making the NCAAs. Guess that SIU game followed by the beat down w gave them just exhausted them. Not hard to do when you only have a six man rotation.

[DUShock]

Unable to watch or listen much last night...Connor's game from the stat sheet looked pedestrian...were they shadowing him more than normal?

Somewhat, it seemed that offense kept sliding from the block to the top of the key, creating a mess of players at the top of the key and around the perimeter. This situation reduced open shot opportunities from the perimeter, however we did gets some good screened threes by Fred and perhaps a couple of others but I can't recall. The Shocks dominated when we worked the inside out from the low block but the offense kept creeping up either by design or happenstance. Perhaps someone with a better BBIQ can provide a better explanation.

I was impressed with SIU's hustle and grit in the first half. Barry is a good coach. The Salukies came out flat in the second half (my seat neighbor and I even discussed how tired they appeared) and the Shocks gut punched them to start the half and it was nothing but separation for the next 20 minutes.

[shockmonster]

Unable to watch or listen much last night...Connor's game from the stat sheet looked pedestrian...were they shadowing him more than normal?

Last night was not his game.

[The 'hut]

They were in his grill at the 3 pt line, but not much more than normal. I would say it was more just a game with fewer opportunities presenting themselves. Connor handled himself well. One forced shot maybe, but really didn't get any clear looks.

[Shockthemonkey]

Gotta love Barry Hinson! http://thesouthern.com/sports/video-...cf6f02ee0.html

[Eric]

I'm with Barry on the Anthem. I love it when the crowd sings it.

[Shockers5150]

Connor doesn't look to score.
He doesn't have to right now, but I wish he would. I think his defense, ball handling and passing have been really good.

[Shockers5150]

No other valley coach voted for Fred to be on the Cousy list?

[pogo]

I thought it was equally impressive that the WHOLE siu team put their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem. First time I have seen that in a very very long time.

[Stickboy46]

Connor doesn't look to score.
He doesn't have to right now, but I wish he would. I think his defense, ball handling and passing have been really good.

People focus on Conner's scoring ... I think this stat below needs more attention.

Conner has played 264 minutes this year and has THREE turnovers. That's an average of 88 minutes of play time in between Turnovers. He has not turned the ball over since the Drake game at the start of the conference season. That puts him at ~179 minutes straight without a turnover.