WSU vs. BU - pre-game predictions

[ShoxFan45]

Need to beat Bradley at home, good news is we've lost our two games to two of the three undefeated teams so far...if that means anything.

One promising thing however, top two scores tonight...freshman. Look to the future.

[SubGod22]

I'm still not sure why they didn't call the foul at the end. Some say you don't want the game decided by a foul call but they're ok with the game being decided by a no call that should be a foul. Especially when it's blatantly obvious. Hannah got steamrolled on that screen by Collins. That would be a foul the other 39 minutes and should have been there.

That's a non issue if the Shox didn't disappear for 10-15 minutes in the first half.

As far as the first half rotation, Marshall has said before he doesn't know who's going to give him what on any given night. That's why we normally have a much shorter bench in the 2nd half. There's not enough consistency on the bench to have a set rotation. Durley has his issues but is probably the most reliable bench player at the moment.

Chamberlain irritates me most the time. I couldn't figure out his thought process tonight at all. And he dribbles too damn much.

Hatch I think did a little better, but I think he's lost a little confidence. Nice to see him score a few times though.

Kyles didn't really do anything bad, but didn't really add much of anything either. Don't recall him getting beat on D...

Ellis is more aggressive which is nice but he didn't really play well tonight. But he had to play due to foul trouble.

Mantas just wasn't there tonight.

When few have stepped up all you can do is plug them in and hope for the best. If it doesn't work you plug someone else in there.

[SpanglerFan316]

I'm not too worried about this loss. This season is a rebuilding season and losses will happen. Let's look at some good and bad issues.

Good
1. Garrett Stutz, Toure' Murry and Clevin Hannah are improving and give us hope for 2009-10. Also A.J. Hawkins should be good next year.
2. Recruiting looks good with Gabe Blair on the bench and Kenny Manigault and Jerome Hamilton coming in next year.

Bad
1. http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticl...ATCLID=3619848? He needs to increase his basketball IQ.
2. Ramon Clemente graduates.
3. Aaron Ellis, Graham Hatch, David Kyles and J.T. Durley need to improve a lot.

[pinstripers]

Baaaad officiating. Mighta cost us the game, maybe not. Bad regardless.

Agree with Sub. If it's a foul, it's a foul no matter what the clock.

It took us over 20 minutes to decide we had to play as physically as Bradley was playing.

Bradley is a damn good team. Man for man, they are quicker AND stronger than we are. Plus, they execute much better on the offensive end. I guess they played with confidence, and we don't. This is the first time I've been impressed with Jim Les.

Our defense is not relentless. It should be. We have guys trying to save themselves for the other end.

Reggie has heavy feet. That's not his fault, just a fact.

Whoever runs the jumbotron needs to get the crowd into the game. You don't hatfta wait on the coach, for God's sake.

[shocks02]

Enough said.

[ShockerPrez]

At some point, the Shocker players are going to have to recognize that to win at this level, with where they are at as a team, they need to expend 100% effort all the time. Period.

Go Shox, Go Marshall! We have played 2 games and are 0-2. Just need to keep working hard. I believe Marshall will figure things out. It is just difficult with youth.

[shockerfan]

I guess I see this a little differently. Bradley plays a great game of ball, nearly 100% from the line, throwing up hail marys with the clock running out on about eight or so occassions and getting all the help they needed from the refs and barely win it. This is the same team that just smoked SIU.

Us on the other hand, shoot horrible in one half, get out rebounded, shoot 50% from the line and play with a ton of players that don't have a half a division one season under their belts and nearly pull it out.

We can improve the above things and will. Don't write this team off they are starting to get angry. And other teams won't like them when they're angry.

I'm as optimistic as anyone, but what I saw was us playing VERY poorly while Bradley was just average. Yeah, our defense late in the game (aside from the last play) gave us a chance...but really I wasn't THAT impressed with Bradley. They have a nice player in Wilson, but that was about it. I don't think they played a "great game".

[ShockerGorilla]

Enough said.

This picture must have been taken early in his fight to get people to stand up & cheer. At the end, his face was purple. He was really animated last night.

It was great how the crowd responded, though. It was the loudest it has been all year, and it lasted the rest of the game.

[fuball7]

great to see marshal try and get the crowd going. i couldnt believe it took him doing that though. Thats how the crowd should respond when a team is making a run. I think that might be the loudest i have heard koch arena since the double overtime game against SIU in 2006.

reggie really disappointed me tonight with his decision making, heck for tha matter the whole team did during that stretch in the first half. Defense played there tails off when we made that run but the two reasons we lost that game: i dont know if the numbers show it but we got outrebounded. they had way way too many second chances and third chances opportunities and points. and we could still not make a basket when we had chances to cut the lead until murray took over.

The scoring wont be great all year but could be better at times i forsee, but the rebounding should be better. Thats how we competed with those teams down in orlando. we still wanted the ball more than teams with alot better athletes. If we get outrebounded in the valley, it will be an ugly ugly rest of the season.

[forevershockerfan]

The rowdy Shocker crowd indeed tried to WILL the Shockers to a needed win. The pick play "no call" was shades of the Battle of New Orleans victory over KU. KU ran a similar tricky play and Jay Jackson for the Shocks flattened their player like a Micky D's pancake. The Jayhawkers yelled "fowl" to no avail.

This was a loss that was hard to accept. It is a good thing that we did NOT redshirt Garrett Stutz. He was a bright spot. I kept wishing that Gabe Blair was eligible last night. We sure could have used him. Right before I reached the game, a caller said he witnessed Hatch make 23-25 three-pointers before the game. Hatch shot 2-2 from the field last night and had 5 points. AJ had 9 points and is becoming more consistent.

Murry made 3 threes in a row but still missed 9 shots. The intentional foul by Ellis was uncalled for. He hustles but rarely scores. Ramon keeps getting in foul trouble. We need him on the court. Rarely will we see both of our point guards off in the same game as we witnessed last night.

Two things that David Dahl points out about the Shocks game in and game out were instrumental in our loss last night. The Shocks get to the line less than any other Valley team. Last night, we were a dismal 5-10 and the Braves were a torrid 13-14. Yikes. However, Dave also speaks of how we are an elite rebounding team in the Valley. This was not evident in this gut-wrenching loss, as the Braves out rebounded us 31-26. Yikes!!!!!!!

[Sundevil Shox]

bradley

why so much energy around a ref call or no call. this team was outrebounded by 5, shot 50% from the line. The Shox aren't good enough to win games without solid fundamentals. We are staring down the barrel of an 0-8 start in the Valley unless we shoot 75% from the line and win the board battle.

[forevershockerfan]

The energy that Coach Marshall may focus on while reviewing this game with our players could include us missing boxing out assignments towards the end which gave them 4 easy points including the basket that sealed our fate.

Speaking of the next several games in order, here is how it shakes out.

1. N. Iowa--away 2. S. Ill.-- home 3. Drake---away 4. Mo. St. away 5. Creighton--home 6. Ill. St. home 7. Evansville--home

[Snapshot9]

I didn't think Bradley was that good. Just a little above average for a Valley team. We had lapses on defense, Clemente sat for quite awhile because of having 2 fouls in the first half.

We had Bradley 11-4, and then had our normal 1st half lapse, and gave away the lead. Our Offense is perking up a little.

I think when you have players not producing as expected, it goes back to recruiting, and you have to review your recruiting techniques used. Ellis, Griskenas, and Kyles are not producing, and I was big on Kyles to start with.
It comes down to what the players do in a game, everything else is secondary.

[SpanglerFan316]

Enough said.

Mad Scientist?

[SubGod22]

We knew Kyles would take a little more time as a FR to come around. He's not scoring, but I don't think he's really hurting us too much with poor decisions or horrid D. He does look a little more comfortable.

We do need others to step up though. I did like the fact that Stutz was practically demanding the ball in the 2nd half while posting up. Too bad the guards couldn't get him the damn ball. I think he only had about 3 touches inside the entire 2nd half. And one wasn't a great pass that put him on the baseline behind the goal.

AJ has been more consistent and more aggressive offensively. He's starting to play like the player we all want. Not getting quite the point total but it's a start and progress. He had some nice dishes while slashing as well last night.

Murry needs to find a way to be a little more productive in the first half. He's definitely been a 2nd half player lately.

Durley has been playing much better coming off the bench. There's still hope but it's frustrating while we wait.

I know Clemente isn't an offensive threat but I wish he'd be a little more aggressive on that end.

Hannah has played pretty well. Last night wasn't bad, but we needed him to score more.

Can Chamberlain make an entry pass? I'm not sure I've seen one yet...

If the Shox would just stop going to sleep for 10 minutes or so each game things look much better. In that sense things aren't quite as bad as they appear. We have the players to be better if we could stop losing our intensity for such a long stretch all at once.