Future

[Aargh]

Two observations:

**A JUCO transfer is not starting for us at the beginning of the year. Cleanthony Freakin' Early, JUCO Player of the Year, came off the bench for us in his junior season.

Cleanthony Freakin' Early was behind Carl Hall. Darryln Willis is behind Rashard Kelly. Do you notice a difference there?

I think Kelly will be better next year - including his offense. He wasn't an offensive liability before he got to WSU. He's had to learn D, and that gets in the way of offensive development. Kelly was reported to be the most improved Shocker over summer. His D and boards got him on the court. Now that that is under control, give him a shot to develop his offensive game.

For those who think the Shox could be better next year than this year - can you please share some of your "meds" with me? I haven't run into any really great hallucinogens since the '70's.

In 2006-07 we lost Paul Miller and went from S16 to 6th in the league. This year we lost Cotton and Carter. We replaced them with Grady and Brown. Cotton was a lock-down defender. VanVleet and Baker had to take over some of that. Brown was a "good" defender, but he wasn't the 3rd perimeter scoring threat. How did that work out?

We are losing 2 AA-type players. We are replacing them with either unknown D1 players or with players who haven't shown a lot in D1.

In 3 years we have not developed a backup PG. There is not an experienced PG on the roster. The PG with the most minutes at the position is Simon, a walk-on. Marshall doubled down on this season by using Baker as the backup PG. If he didn't use Baker as the backup, he'd probably have someone with some experience ready for nest year, but he may not have made the NCAA tourney.

[giskard]

I've been thinking about how this year went and did some searching through old threads to find out how WSU ranked offensively before the IlSU game. I found a thread from January 22 a couple of weeks before that game. Spoiler alert, the thread title was about how balanced the team was between offense and defense. At that time, WSU was #25 on offense and #15 on defense. I wonder if the team started to have some confidence issues on offense and doubled down on defense after that.

Here is the thread I found:
http://shockernet.net/forum/showthread.php?21161-WSU-is-a-very-balanced-team&highlight=kenpom

[another shocker]

I've been thinking about how this year went and did some searching through old threads to find out how WSU ranked offensively before the IlSU game. I found a thread from January 22 a couple of weeks before that game. Spoiler alert, the thread title was about how balanced the team was between offense and defense. At that time, WSU was #25 on offense and #15 on defense. I wonder if the team started to have some confidence issues on offense and doubled down on defense after that.

Here is the thread I found:
http://shockernet.net/forum/showthread.php?21161-WSU-is-a-very-balanced-team&highlight=kenpom

it was when wichita state offense went into high gear (around january) that bilas said the shockers looked like a final four (or more) team. they moved the ball beautifully. i can't for the life of me figure out where that went wrong.. second half at ilsu?

the good thing is, that was the kind of offense wichita state displayed in 2012, before van vleet and baker. that is gregg marshall type offense (a 'la gregg popovich/spurs type offense). it will be back again.

[WSUwatcher]

I wonder if people who are thinking next year will be better are forgetting just how consistent this year's team was. They never had nights (when Fred was healthy) where they were really off. Sometimes the offense would be off, but the defense always kept them in the games.

Well, the defense may have kept them in, but if you look back at the last six games -- the time it mattered most -- and check the 2-24 shooting from three against UNI in St. Louis, the loss that however inappropriately put them in the First Four; or at the 1-9 from three, 24% overall FGs, and 10 turnovers that buried them so far in the first half against Miami that they ran out of gas as they made their epic near-comeback, I'd say they were REALLY off. So far off, in fact that even the defense wasn't able to save them. And not by any means to pick on living legend FVV (and I'm not being sarcastic in saying that; I mean it, and he deserves it), but he was 4-21 from three his last five games as a Shocker, at exactly the wrong time for his shot to go south.

That's a LOT of off from the off-ense, even with FVV as healthy as he was going to be this season, and there's plenty of reason to hope that next year will be better and not as inconsistent when WSU has the ball.

[Slalomshocker]

The idea that WSU will be better next year is simple, at least for me. The ball will move on offense. There will be no FVV or Ron Baker standing at the top of the key dribbling away 25secs before taking a contested shot. That is what I see as being an improvement. This year was all about 2 guys. Yes those the guys are 2 of the best to ever play here. But basketball is a game played 5-on-5. Next year may not see the overall individual talent that this year's team had, but the sum of the whole being greater than the individual pieces is the inspiration for predicting better things to come.

[Slalomshocker]

To address the potential turning point for the offense this year. Does everyone remember Fred's statement after ISUr: "we know what we have to do, at least us seniors do"? It's like Fred quit trusting his teammates other than Ron. I have no clue if that is in fact what happened, but that seems to have been the turning point in the season, and there just happens to have been a concerning comment made.

[shockmonster]

You've said that many times. I don't agree. Ron and Fred are great all around players. They do everything well. Passing and handles are just a small part of what they do well. We will miss them. Just because you or I say somthing many times, doesn't make it more true.

[CBB_Fan]

I believe that after ILSU, Ron and Fred decided to step their effort and intensity and try to will their way to victory. This worked exceeding well on defense; we simply outworked people. But in the context of an offense, harder is not necessarily better. Isolation was a lot harder than passing, more exhausting, more personally skillful. I think the mentality that led to our redoubled defense also led to a weakened offense. Not necessarily because Ron and Fred distrusted the rest of the team, but because their natural instincts led them to bad habits even when they tried to increase effort. I think the rest of the team also started to defer, which didn't help.

In other words, I do not think for a minute that Fred and Ron were anything but leaders on and off the court. I think they gave every ounce of effort they had from ILSU onwards. However, I do believe that the added effort actually hurt them on offense, trying to beat people with a machete instead of a scalpel. I can guarantee our changed offense didn't make things any easier on them, but they went to it because they felt they needed to personally do more, work harder.

[BOBB]

Did I miss somewhere that Reaves was injured?

[Aargh]

Did I miss somewhere that Reaves was injured?

Maybe you heard something about Tewes, the baseball player? The name is pronounced Taves, so in spoken media, the names are similar.

[AndShock]

Did I miss somewhere that Reaves was injured?

He has had shoulder issues and either already had surgery or will have surgery but either way it isn't supposed to effect him next year.

[wusphlash]

Did I miss somewhere that Reaves was injured?

He had one shoulder worked on previously. He's having the same surgery on his other shoulder next week. He played this season with the bad shoulder knowing it would be fixed after he was done. Some question on time of recovery. It's been mentioned in his recruiting thread. Not a surprise.

[another shocker]

I believe that after ILSU, Ron and Fred decided to step their effort and intensity and try to will their way to victory. This worked exceeding well on defense; we simply outworked people. But in the context of an offense, harder is not necessarily better. Isolation was a lot harder than passing, more exhausting, more personally skillful. I think the mentality that led to our redoubled defense also led to a weakened offense. Not necessarily because Ron and Fred distrusted the rest of the team, but because their natural instincts led them to bad habits even when they tried to increase effort. I think the rest of the team also started to defer, which didn't help.

In other words, I do not think for a minute that Fred and Ron were anything but leaders on and off the court. I think they gave every ounce of effort they had from ILSU onwards. However, I do believe that the added effort actually hurt them on offense, trying to beat people with a machete instead of a scalpel. I can guarantee our changed offense didn't make things any easier on them, but they went to it because they felt they needed to personally do more, work harder.

that extra effort on defense was something else, though.. a rarity. they damn sure got that part right. has wichita state ever finished ranked #1 on defense? i just wish fred and ron, icon-all-timers that they are, and that means something at wichita state, had gone more earvin johnson and less allen iverson.. involve your teammates on offense- make it so- no other option.

but i might be splitting hairs, because 2-1 in the ncaa tournament is pretty friggin good. ask michigan state about what happpened to them in the ncaa tournament, great seniors and all.. see how they answer.

[pie n eye]

If we can channel the incredible effort and teamwork on defense into the offensive end, we'll be aight.

[lmor1971]

Remember MM is just 18 still a few inches to go