MVC Tourney - WSU vs UNI Game Thread

[mjbaker84]

how were post game comments?

[WSUwatcher]

Talk about a nemesis: if the UNIs hadn't had that goofball loss at Loyola right after winning here -- if they hadn't been SWEPT by Loyola, for heaven's sake -- they'd have been part of a three-way tie with the Jailbirds and evansville at 12-6, and they'd have been either the #2 or #3 seed (they split with IllSt, swept UE). S

So they'd have been in the other bracket, the Shocks wouldn't have faced them until Sunday, and would have had a Saturday game against presumably the winner of SIU vs. Evansville (I'm assuming the 1-3 round robin record against the other 12-6 teams would have landed the Aces as the #4 seed), which would have been darn near a free pass to the championship. Instead, the UNIs messed up the Shocks by losing, then messed them up by winning. Pain in the butt.

Of course, the Shocks weren't exactly innocent bystanders in the game Saturday, and if WSU had done its job at Koch Arena three weeks ago then UNI would have been seeded fourth no matter what, so there's a limit on how much sympathy they deserve. Sometimes you just have to do your job and win, and then these weird quirks of fate don't get in the way. But what a strange quirk it was.

Meanwhile, mjb, here's what appeared post-game on goshockers: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.co...WSU.pdf?id=910

[CBB_Fan]

This game sucked, but we should be in the NCAA. But losing like this is the worst way to come into the tournament. We didn't lose to an opponent at the top of their game. We didn't lose giving our best effort, our best game.

We lost to a team that struggled to score a single point in the first 10 minutes. We lost to a team did literally the same play possession after possession. It is the worst game I've ever seen Marshall coach. We made no visible adjustments to combat the absolute simplest game plan we've ever played against.

If UNI plays like that against Evansville they'd lose by 15, and the aces are far from world beaters.


We lost because we played like garbage on offense. It is not possible to beat an NIT level team with that offense. That was Bradley on their worst game of the season bad. We did the same thing over and over again and expected different results. Fred driving, getting double teamed and passing to Ron. Our underclassmen have been ignored this tournament.

We played just a little better and barely won against a terrible Loyola team yesterday. It was a miserable tournament.

Overall, I expect a 10 seed. I have a hard time being optimistic about winning a single game against literally any NCAA team though, let alone a run. Just too bad at offense. We'll beat ourselves, no need for an unfavorable match up. Not a good team this year compared the past four, not a good season. Not good in close games. Too selfish when games get tight. No team in D1 hurt by 3s like us.

I won't waste another word on it. We'll go to the tournament and we'll lose at some point. I'm not sure why this season turned out like this. The juxtaposition of expectation and result is hard to bear. Should not have gone down like this.

[pinstripers]

I don't see us getting a 10 seed

[Shock Top]

I'm not sure why this season turned out like this. The juxtaposition of expectation and result is hard to bear. Should not have gone down like this.

This is the saddest thing of all. Ever since the beginning of the season, something was off.

First, it was Fred getting injured. Then, Landry went down. Then Grady.

I thought everything was going to be fine once everyone came back. For the most part, it was. Though, you could still see warts show up in games (@Seton Hall, @ISUr, home vs UNI, all weekend in STL).

It very perplexing how this team can go from seeming world beaters one day, to struggling to beat almost anyone the next week. How they can go from getting everyone involved and rolling to having to go strictly to Ron and Fred.

I hope they get in and I hope they have a chance to go down swinging. It would be almost impossible to imagine this chapter of Shox basketball (Fred and Ron) ending in the NIT. I believe the committee just might actually share that sentiment; every year they have been in it has been memorable.

[ISASO]

This is the saddest thing of all. Ever since the beginning of the season, something was off.

First, it was Fred getting injured. Then, Landry went down. Then Grady.

I thought everything was going to be fine once everyone came back. For the most part, it was. Though, you could still see warts show up in games (@Seton Hall, @ISUr, home vs UNI, all weekend in STL).

It very perplexing how this team can go from seeming world beaters one day, to struggling to beat almost anyone the next week. How they can go from getting everyone involved and rolling to having to go strictly to Ron and Fred.

I hope they get in and I hope they have a chance to go down swinging. It would be almost impossible to imagine this chapter of Shox basketball (Fred and Ron) ending in the NIT. I believe the committee just might actually share that sentiment; every year they have been in it has been memorable.

Not having a single big man who demanded the ball and deserved touches inside handicapped the offense. We knew this would be the single most critical problem to solve a year ago. Did we get that done? Not so much.

[proshox]

Not having a single big man who demanded the ball and deserved touches inside handicapped the offense. We knew this would be the single most critical problem to solve a year ago. Did we get that done? Not so much.

Over dribbling is the biggest weakness. It stalls the offense and allows the defenses to take away passing angles to our bigs.

[pinstripers]

Mike Kennedy "...this game is distressingly similar to the UNI game in Wichita..."

Perhaps we did not watch the film............

[pie n eye]

I think UNI and Ben Jacobsen deserve a bunch of credit but aren't getting much on this board. Our defense was good enough to win but we have to hit some open shots. Sure, we could've gone zone to stop the dribble penetration but who knows how effective it would've been? Holding a team to 47 in regulation should be enough.

[DUShock]

2 of 24 from the three for a season low 8.3% for the 222nd best 3 point shooting team in D-1. After this performance the Shocks drop to 258th (of 351) best 3 point shooting team.

[pie n eye]

2 of 24 from the three for a season low 8.3% for the 222nd best 3 point shooting team in D-1. After this performance the Shocks drop to 258th (of 351) best 3 point shooting team.

That's really what it boils down to. We are one the best defensive teams in the country so even a poor three point shooting night (by other teams standards like 30%) should be enough for us to win most games. Definitely yesterday.

[proshox]

We don't shoot well from three because we generate few quality looks from three. It isn't about the shooters.

[DUShock]

@proshox: This is often the case and was on many possessions yesterday, credit to UNI defense, anecdotally however, we did get a number of quality open looks and failed to convert. HCGM recruits good shooters but this season has they have been Jekyll & Hyde.

[ShockerFever]

2 of 24 from the three for a season low 8.3% for the 222nd best 3 point shooting team in D-1. After this performance the Shocks drop to 258th (of 351) best 3 point shooting team.

And yet we keep on chucking. We panic too easily, which is strange given our senior point guard's pedigree. It's just so funny how all of our losses point to the three-point thing. Does Marshall not see the similarities? Is he scared to tell Fred to pass the ball and feed it inside?

It's just unbelievable how predictable it is.

[im4wsu]

That's really what it boils down to. We are one the best defensive teams in the country so even a poor three point shooting night (by other teams standards like 30%) should be enough for us to win most games. Definitely yesterday.

Or the any one of the 5-10 point blank shots we missed. Grady, Fred had one hit every millimeter of the rim and decide not to fall in. Baker hit the bottom of the rim with a layup try. There were others as well

I thought Ben Jacobsen's great adjustment was taking Koch out in the early to mid part of the second half to unclog the lane for washspun. Koch was totally ineffective

We had at least 15 good looks from three by five different guys and couldn't make a single one. We played quite well enough to win but came up one layup, one three pointer or defensive my one banked three pointer from winning