What Marshall-era Player Would You Add To This Team?

[GottliebHater]

I go back and forth; it's such a difficult choice. It feels almost morally wrong not to pick Fred or Ron. I love Fred, but I like the current tempo and free-flowing offense. I'm not sure if having Ron would have the same effect or not.

Cleanthony seems like the easy answer because he so clearly belonged with biggest and fastest athletes in the Louisville and Kentucky games.

However, I really wish we had one more ball-handler on this team. Tekele could of course give us fantastic defense and the ability to handle the ball.

That said, can I take Final Four Ron? I want the kid who just played all out, hit huge shots, and had no idea who he would become at the program. I think he would fit in nicely with this team and let Landry take the lead. He really had his best year during his sophomore campaign so maybe around that time.

[WheatShock]

I picked Tekele but it was a toss up between him and Cle. Either play Cotton instead of ZB or put Early at the 4 and slide McDuffie to the 3.

[wsushox1]

For this team specifically? Carl Hall.

[wu_shizzle]

As others have said, I first thought of Cle. But then I thought, Markis brings almost everything Cle did on offense, while being a better defender.

Then how can you leave off Fred or Ron? But as we have seen this year, Landry and Conner do it in different ways, but the results haven't been much different. And from an offensive efficiency standpoint, they're better.

So I'm going with Garrett. Rauno brings a lot, but there's no replacement for displacement. Having a 7 footer who can shoot and pass and defend the rim is a rarity.

My second choice is EO, which speaks volumes about how good this team already is.

[ShockAzs]

I chose Cotton. He'd seamlessly insert himself into this team without disrupting the current chemistry. And his toughness was second to none. His ability to turn games around by himself was phenomenal.

Most of this team already had Baker and VanVleet. Honestly, the ball movement went stagnant after the undefeated season.

this year, the shockers are playing as a solid unit, moving the ball like 2014 Shockers.

Let's get past Dayton and give Kentucky the sweetest payback ever, in the exact reversed scenario.

We are a 1, they were a 9. Now they're a 2 and we're a 10. And then let's march all the way to April, and take home a Natty.

[DCShockerFan05]

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I voted for Cle for the reasons described well above, but having Ron in the mix would either mean:

1. A terrifying, sharpshooting, shot-creating, zone-busting three-guard lineup with Connor and Landry, so the lift is the difference between Zach and Ron (which is huge offensively, and we don't lose that much on the defensive side), OR

2. Keep Ron as a 1/2 combo and either Connor or Landry come off the bench, meaning lift=(Ron-current starter)*(starter minutes) + (current starter-Daishon)*(bench minutes), which isn't shabby either--gas pedal to the floor all game if you're rotating those three guards through two spots.

You could make the same argument for Fred but you'd probably want him out there the whole game so you would lose more of CF/LS's value in scenario 2. And we'd be too small in scenario 1 with CF/FVV/LS together.

I miss Tekele but I don't think he necessarily wins us a game we would currently lose. For that I'd go with Cle because as we saw in Kentucky Part 1, he could be the best player on the floor against ANY team on the right day. I love our guys now but nobody is at that stage yet in my opinion.

None of these guys are that old now--what would it take to organize an off-season Best of the Marshall Era tourney with 4 teams of 5? I would pay to see that.

[ShockdaWorld]

I went with FVV. Landry is a star at the point guard spot, but he can't play all the minutes. Also, being able to move him over to the 3 with FVV and Conner would be killer against small ball lineups. Mostly though, just because FVV is tough as nails and hates to lose more than anybody, and would make sure that everyone else on the team hates it just as much.

[im4wsu]

I certainly have no problem whatsoever with Cleanthony Early, but I chose Carl Hall simply because we have Markis. In my eye, not a whole lot of difference between Cle and Markis. From SportsRef advanced stats:

	Cleanthony Early			Markis McDuffie
Season	2012-13	2013-14		2015-16	2016-17
G	39	36		34	34
MP	979	986		630	852
PER	25.5	26.5		17	23
TS%	0.565	0.627		0.524	0.597
eFG%	0.514	0.57		0.483	0.535
3PAr	0.366	0.459		0.358	0.31
FTr	0.403	0.464		0.377	0.509
PProd	486	507		235	392
ORB%	10.5	5.9		6.3	7.8
DRB%	14.6	18.6		14.2	17
TRB%	12.6	12.5		10.1	12.6
AST%	5.5	6.4		8.3	12.5
STL%	1.8	1.8		2.6	2.8
BLK%	4.4	3.3		1.5	1.1
TOV%	11.2	12.9		12.1	12.7
USG%	28.5	28.8		22.4	22.2
OWS	3.6	3.6		1	2.8
DWS	1.8	2.5		1.6	2.3
WS	5.3	6.1		2.6	5.1
WS/40	0.218	0.246		0.166	0.239
OBPM	5	5.3		1.5	5.1
DBPM	1.6	1.9		3.7	4.8
BPM	6.6	7.1		5.2	9.9

[WUpigsooie]

Early in the year, I would have picked Carl Hall because this team was missing that mean factor Carl had. It's not a question of effort but just an I DGAF I'm going to beat you senseless attitude. Since I now feel Rashard is filling that roll beautifully I'm going with Cle, purely because he is the best NCAA tournament performer in shocker history.

Edit: and Cle had a knack for bringing it in the biggest games.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

Take Daishon and Austin's 20-ish total minutes a game and give them to Fred. Can you imagine the dominance WSU would have at the 1/2 spots with Conner/Landry/Fred splitting those 80 minutes amongst themselves? Daishon and Austin have been mostly good, but this is a no brainer type of improvement where it is easy to see who's minutes get replaced.

Cle taking a random assortment of minutes from a handful of players would be my choice #2.

[CBB_Fan]

While we've had a lot of great players, I think if I added someone it would be to fill a hole or to bring someone we mostly lack. Ron and Fred were great guards with stellar IQs, but we have great guards. Cleanthony was a hard to guard springboard with a nice shot, but Markis is so similar it's scary.

So I'll have to say either Carl Hall, or strangely enough Ehimen Orupke. The resurgence of Kelly has taken away some of the issues we've had, but I think everyone has noticed that this team hasn't always come away with the loose balls or rebounds like they have in the past (which isn't to say they are bad it, just not as great). Hall was a true warrior that would take away any doubts on our toughness, and he would immediately make a difference on the defensive end.

Which is where EO comes in. Sure, EO was flat out not as good as many of the players we've discussed. But you were to name a weakness of this team, something it just doesn't have, the lack of a true giant would probably be one of the top issues. Garrett Stutz is a better footer than EO, but since we are already a fantastic offensive team I don't adding him would add more. His main weakness is his footspeed, and while he'd probably love playing with so many outside threats I think we need a roleplayer more than another star. I think EO played a bigger role on our last Final Four run than many people think. We wouldn't need him all the time or even most of the time, but just having a premier shot-blocker as a tool in the toolbox could make a big difference.

[Speed]

I'd like to see Cle slay KY, but went with Tekele. Defense, effort, Sports Center Top 10's. Cotton wasn't the winningest Shocker for no reason.