Conner Frankamp

[DJShocker10]

My thoughts on Frankamp..

The kid is a stud. About 99% of this board shared the sentiment that he would add a lot of value offensively, yet possibly be a defensive liability (or at least a work in progress) upon his transfer. Coach Marshall wouldn’t have extended an offer if he didn’t believe Conner had what it took to defend at Wichita State. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with his defensive play since he became a Shocker. On occasion he is a half step slow. It happens, especially in one on one situations. The ball handler almost always has the advantage in those situations. He does what he needs to do defensively. And while I haven’t read the full thread and don’t think anyone has done this yet, his effort definitely cannot be questioned. He is obviously no Tekele Cotton, but nobody is. Frankly, we win more games with him than without him and I’m damn happy to have him on our squad.

[WstateU]

My thoughts on Frankamp..

The kid is a stud. About 99% of this board shared the sentiment that he would add a lot of value offensively, yet possibly be a defensive liability (or at least a work in progress) upon his transfer. Coach Marshall wouldn’t have extended an offer if he didn’t believe Conner had what it took to defend at Wichita State. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with his defensive play since he became a Shocker. On occasion he is a half step slow. It happens, especially in one on one situations. The ball handler almost always has the advantage in those situations. He does what he needs to do defensively. And while I haven’t read the full thread and don’t think anyone has done this yet, his effort definitely cannot be questioned. He is obviously no Tekele Cotton, but nobody is. Frankly, we win more games with him than without him and I’m damn happy to have him on our squad.

[bighouse]

Agree that angles and want to are most important. However saying Ron was not as athletic is wrong and Fred was just a winner and did whatever it took to win. However when Fred played against the KY and such he had real problems with staying in front of his man. Sorry but you can say ZB and LS are more athletic and I agree, but they cannot stay in front of quick guards

I didnt say Ron isnt athletic....i said he isnt super athletic, and he's not. Hell of a basketball player, and i would take him over 99% of the country. USF was full of athletic people, that suck at basketball.

[proshox]

Ron was “farm strong” which may be more important than quick.

[mjbaker84]

I didn't mean to sound as if having Conner is a bad thing. That was just quoted from an ESPN article or what unnamed coaches said they gameplan for on who to attack offensively.

I think Conner with his shooting and ball handling skills has more than earned his time here. His defense has improved for sure... is he still a lower tier defender compared to maybe Landy and Austin, yes.

Remember in highschool and KU he wasn't expected to play lock down defense like he has to here. I also agree Marshall would not have extended an offer without knowing what he was getting.

[Shock Top]

Landry is NBA caliber; tough to compare. Conner has been fantastic durning his time here.

Also, he will always be a winner in my book for leaving KU and joining the hometown team. We’ve all had to learn from our mistakes in the past ;)

[Shockm]

The 4-1 When spread out, places extreme pressure on the one on one defender, especially when the offensive player(s) hit shots out to 20-25’.

[shock]

I find it interesting that people are now feeling that CF is a defensive liability. Well ok tell me who can defend a quick guard or 2 man? Shamet cannot Austin cannot and Brown cannot. It is a weakness in our team. We do not have guys that have lateral quickness. Yes CF is probably the slowest but not the only issue. Part of the reason we have a issue with the pick and roll is because our guards are not quick enough to fight through the first screen

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22122490/which-early-season-surprises-really-contenders

Why they're not: As a team, Wichita State is very good defensively, but opposing coaches say they can be beaten one-on-one or with ball screens.

"They have a couple guys who play a lot that are defensive liabilities," one coach who played them in the nonconference said.

Because Wichita State collapses on drivers to contest shots in the lane, the Shockers can sometimes be susceptible to guards who can create off the dribble and then find shooters. Trae Young had 10 assists, and Oklahoma made 13 3-pointers against Wichita State; Tulsa kept it close recently by hitting 12 3-pointers.

"Attack [Conner] Frankamp. He's their worst defender by far," one coach said. "They struggle with top ball-screen action, especially if you drag it and throw back to a stretch 4/5 at the top. Drive-and-kick them, they swarm to the ball on every drive. The more ball-screen action you run, the less opportunities they have to deny reversals and perimeter passes. You can't deny a ball screen."

[Dan]

Yep they are right. Coach, what are you gonna do about it?

[asiseeit]

Haven't seen CF driven on that much and DON'T believe he has been a problem at all
defensively any more than anyone else. The whole team needs to collectively step up
their intensity. Look, there is a lot of parity out there and a lot of upsets. We will lose
some more games as will all other good programs. As for CF he is one of the headiest
players around, takes care of the ball, finds open team mates, and shoots it well. I have not
seen ANY team make him look bad defensively and don't think he has been a liability on D.

[Dan]

I don't mind CF on defense as much as I mind how our guys allow other teams to drag us out on the pick like the other coach mentions above.

[Topshock]

Every year more and more good coaches are at least mixing in zone defense. Even against SMU which on the surface seems like a team you wouldn't want to zone, but really how much better could they have shot than what they did against our man to man? Unfortunately GM, is so stubborn he will probably never do it. Now that stubbornness serves WSU well in other areas and is one reason he is a great coach for WSU.

[golferc]

Two things coach will not change his mind on. First the use of timeouts and second playing a zone.

[T.VuOP]

Two things coach will not change his mind on. First the use of timeouts and second playing a zone.

Imagine how good he can be if he can do those things as other good coaches do

[im4wsu]

The decline in our defensive performance is essentially lack of pressure on the ball, We allow the opponent to make the first pass to wherever they wish it to go. In past years, we didn't allow tha opponent to start their offense the way they wanted to, but rather we made them adjust. I think we might be better off to have Brown/McDuffie defend the point guard and deny, deny, deny the initial pass. Shamet/Reaves,Kelly can play deny their defensive assignment fairly well, but not when there is no pressure on the initial pass. Conner,/Shamet/Reaves/SHJ simply give to much room to the PG and allows the opponent to set their offense in motion. Then we're chasing!

[vancedave56]

Other teams running ball screen offenses with bigs. We don't dig down as much nor be "handsy" because other teams are not feeding the post. Maybe our inside strength leading other teams to run mainly outside ball screen offense?