Wichita State - Miami Game Thread.

[WuShock16]

You can't blame the time. They are college kids not 60 year old men. Sleep is overrated.

For the normal college student, you are right. We all did that in our younger years. However, these are college students who were trying to perform at an elite level of physical performance. Sleep matters.

I'm not blaming the loss on this. It didn't help but Miami wasn't much behind us in rest department. I'm saying that this short turnaround wouldn't have happened to someone like Duke. There is no reason other than TV reasoning why you can justify Duke-Yale playing after WSU-Miami.

[WuShock16]

Without the First Four, we'd be playing in the NIT and probably still playing.

I certainly understand that. That was an in-general comment, taking WSU out of the equation.

[ShockerPrez]

Our time slots were both extremes though. We had THE shortest rest time of any team.

The latest time on Thursday. And the earliest time on Saturday.

It wasn't a deciding factor.

But there are hundreds of factors, and this is one. To dismiss it is ignorant. It can most definitely be overcome, but it is another item in a long list that we had to overcome. Some items of our own doing.

[CBB_Fan]

Conference tournaments are games everyday. They had a full day off before the game. WSU got outplayed plain and simple. I realize trying to justify the loss by scheduling, refs, or whatever makes people feel better, but it sounds like sour grapes.

Conference tournaments work because every team plays a similar gauntlet. We just had to play 3 games before every team not named Michigan played 2. We had to do that despite arriving at 4 am on Wednesday and getting back to the hotel at around 1 am Friday, while other teams got full days of sleep Wednesday through Saturday.

While that doesn't change the fact the at Miami simply made shots, it is simply a true fact that we had an unfair schedule, from a physical perspective.

[AZ Shocker]

Pretty sure the cold start shows how time of game "affected" the tired legs. Not the "WHOLE" reason for losing but my best guess is at least 75%. Those kids will never say that though.

[1979Shocker]

Conference tournaments work because every team plays a similar gauntlet. We just had to play 3 games before every team not named Michigan played 2. We had to do that despite arriving at 4 am on Wednesday and getting back to the hotel at around 1 am Friday, while other teams got full days of sleep Wednesday through Saturday.

While that doesn't change the fact the at Miami simply made shots, it is simply a true fact that we had an unfair schedule, from a physical perspective.

The simple solution to that is don't lose in your conference tournament.

[readyletsgo]

Congrats to your team on another successful season. It stinks not being able to take down Miami, but your program has been incredible over the past 4 years and I am sure it will continue.

[forevershockerfan]

It is hard to beat a top 10 team that has a top-notch Coach like Miami unless you play with execution for 35-40 minutes. We did gain a lead which was incredible after such a deficit but could not maintain it.

Angel Rodriguez for the Canes impressed me after the game with his complimentary comments about our Shocks but also gave praise to the the Lord. That might have been his best game ever for Miami but praising the Lord in that forum is the part I will always see as his top highlight of the day.

[WuShockFan]

RKelly ruined alot the momentum that we had going

I disagree. No one player is responsible for the loss. Kelly had a couple of offensive rebounds in the second half that gave us extra possessions, he had a steal on Rodriguez around the five minute mark, and he made two big free throws toward the end of the second half that kept the game within reach. Our poor three-point shooting down the stretch hurt us as much as anything else. We took a 43-42 lead at 10:29, right after Ron Baker made a big three. After that, we were 1-8 from three for the rest of the game. Miami was 3-4 from three during the same stretch. We missed several crucial threes that would have either tied the game or brought it within one or two points. We still had momentum until late in the game. The score was 53-55 after Baker made a layup at 2:43. Rodriguez scored on the next possession, then VanVleet missed a crucial three that would have cut their lead to one, then Rodriguez scored again with a three. That gave them a seven point lead with one minute to go. We went from potentially being down one point to being down seven with one minute to go.

I'm sad that I'll never see Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet play again in Shockers uniforms. 2013-2016 was the best four-year span in this program's history. I know we have good players coming back next year and I know there will always be new players and new teams. But this feels like the end of an era. It feels like the Final Four era for Wichita State is ending. I really thought they could make it back to another one. The 2014, 2015, and 2016 teams could have made it back. They were all good enough. We just didn't get the right breaks. It sucks. But I'm grateful that we did make it to the Final Four in 2013. Those memories and experiences will live on forever for the players and fans. Here's to next year!

[Zubcut]

What does it say about the NCAA's seeding process that the 11 seed is favored by 2 over the 3 seed? How many times do you think that has happened in the history of the NCAA tournament? I wonder how Miami would have played today if they had played Ariziona and Vanderbilt with the same schedule we had. Maybe they would have been just as fresh as they looked today.................. Maybe not.
The reason for all this is that WSU was criminally under seeded. They should never have been put into a situation where they had to play a team like Miami without equal rest. With correct seeding there is no play in game and the Shocks aren't playing teams like Arizona and Miami in their first two games.
When the bracket came out we were all so relieved that we weren't left out that we didn't really see the Shocks were given an impossible road. That they did as well as they did with it is amazing when you think about it.
On an equal playing field, I think the Shocks beat Miami 7 out of 10 times. What we saw today was not an equal playing field.

[bunck]

The simple solution to that is don't lose in your conference tournament.

You're 100% right, because the NCAA would never find a way to bend us over if we won our conference tournament (and all the 30+ other games played before it).

[jdshock]

Without the First Four, we'd be playing in the NIT and probably still playing.

I know that's true in the sense that we were in the play in game. That said, first and foremost, we don't know that we were in the bottom two. If we were in the top two, we may have been in anyway. Second, I don't believe we were really in the bottom four. I think the committee wanted a story line. I just don't see how any rationale person would've left us out in favor of teams like Vandy, Temple, or Syracuse. I think some teams got seeded ahead of us for ratings purposes. I think even without the first four, we're definitely in the tournament.

[shoxlax]

You're 100% right, because the NCAA would never find a way to bend us over if we won our conference tournament (and all the 30+ other games played before it).

LMAO. My kind of cutting sarcasm

[ShockRef]

It's their show and know everybody will do anything to be in it.
However, the screw job the committee did this year with the seeding, flight and game scheduling can not be ignored.

It was incompetent if not considered (possible) and criminal if intentional (probable).

The general feeling is "We didn't want to include you, but had to due to your reputation and season. Therefore, you're going to have the hardest, toughest route to follow."

They have ultimate control and with the money that continues to flow in like a Tsunami, will continue to wield their power like the dictatorship they are.

And their isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

That is all.

[AZ Shocker]

It's their show and know everybody will do anything to be in it.
However, the screw job the committee did this year with the seeding, flight and game scheduling can not be ignored.

It was incompetent if not considered (possible) and criminal if intentional (probable).

The general feeling is "We didn't want to include you, but had to due to your reputation and season. Therefore, you're going to have the hardest, toughest route to follow."

They have ultimate control and with the money that continues to flow in like a Tsunami, will continue to wield their power like the dictatorship they are.

And their isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

That is all.

They do make it obvious don't they.

Listen...after "them" watching Wichita St. DISMANTLE Vanderbilt and Arizona...the tv people were scared. They knew the Shockers could beat ANYBODY in the country and were going straight to Houston. How do change that course? Manipulate it and fix to "their" favor. Trivia...does anybody know how many KU alumns work for CBS???