Shocks vs. Redbirds - Pregame thread

[ShockerGorilla]

Does anyone know who wsufan is? He/she is posting on the ISU site giving a position by position breakdown of the matchups. By the way it looks, he is just reading off a WSU roster with no real knowledge of the team except for size. He even mentions Mason Felter and wasn't sure if he is redshirting or not. If I were an ISU fan who hadn't seen WSU play yet this year, I would think he was a genius.

Is this poster a regular on SN, because I don't remember seeing that name.

[ShockerFever]

Thanks for stopping by, as always, Phantom and GORL. I really think your team's losses were aberrations - at Bradley (rivalry game), at Indiana State (freak sellout in a rowdy atmosphere because of freebies). I still expect you guys to take the crown in the end when it's all said and done...

..which leads me to prediction time. WSU, while got a big win, simply cannot compete with a Valley favorite. I do feel we caught CU on an off-night, which helped our win (I'm not saying that was the only reason we won sunshiners, just part of it). As Doc pointed out, Thompson-era turnover numbers and 7th grade-ability free-throw shooting will do us in even before we take the court. Couple that OE and ISU's all-around balanced attack, and I think we're looking at a loss, potentially double-digit.

I hope I'm off, but..
ISU 72
WSU 60

Good luck after this one, of course, Redbirds.

[shockerfan]

I felt decent about the CU game because we have typically played decent at home and we actually match up well with CU...they aren't extremely fast.

We have a VERY hard time guarding very good and quick guards...something ISU seems to have. I can't predict a win until they can show me they can guard those kinds of guards.

ISU - 73
WSU - 64

[WuDrWu]

As Doc pointed out, Thompson-era turnover numbers and 7th grade-ability free-throw shooting will do us in even before we take the court.

It's not so much the % but the number of FTs taken. In Valley play (goshockers.com is not showing the entire season for some reason) our opponents are shooting more FTs than we are MAKING. Good teams reverse that trend. It is an indicator of a variety of problems.



GORL, Phantom, Danny Cooksey, Cpamel etc are the good guys of the good guys.

I don't mind (as much) losing to ISU because of fans like these.

That being said, ISU's win here 2 seasons ago will stick in my mind for a long time. One (probably more) of their kids celebrated on our court in way disrespectful to WSU....and I didn't care for it. And payback needs to take place. Nothing personal against their fans because they are great but the team needs to be punished for that transgression...at least once.

[pinstripers]

...................uh............ya wanna edit that, Doc?

[Ashockalypse]

Us X 5

[forevershockerfan]

Here's the deal. FSF must concur with the same concerns listed above in the areas of excessive turnovers, not getting to the free-throw line enough, and then not making our fair share of FREE throws. Illinois State will be a handful even if we do bring our A game. They have solid coaching, play good defense, and will win plenty of road games. If we can sustain our hustle and execution on both sides of the floor as the Creighton game, then we could barely pull this out. Look for Clevin Hannah to have a big game and Ramon to get plenty of rebounds.


Can you imagine the shot of confidence we could gain with a win versus the Redbirds? We are approaching the 2nd half of our Valley games soon. Let's hope our young team can piece together some wins and come together and then actually peak with a strong finish including the Valley Tourney. I predict a barn burner and we might not be able to put a win in the ole-deep freeze until the final buzzer. See you all there and greetings to Ghost of Rick Lamb and Phantom.

WSU-----64

Illinois State--63

[60Shock]

Now's the time to start a winning streak. Enjoy the momentum.

Shocks make it two-in-a-row - 74-69

[shock10]

ISU 84

WSU 67

Worked last time

[kcshocker11]

This is easy 66 to 65 Shox

:posterwu: 8)

[1979Shocker]

It's another shocker as we win going away.

71-63

[shockar25]

Honestly I have no idea what will happen Wednesday night. I would love to think that the guys have learned the value of hard work--collectively. I hope that they know now that if they play as hard as they can--hustling without hesitation, asserting themselves and using their skills and athleticism to their fullest will likely lead to victory against many opponents.

But have they? Only time will tell. Even if they have, there will still be lapses and moments of poor shooting (I'm talking from the field here, not FT's--that's another story), but as we all know--that effort will make up for many of those things.

If they just step on the court on Wednesday and 'claim' the game in much the same way they did against Creighton, then victory won't be far behind.

I'll be watching with nervous anticipation.

:wsu_posters: :clap:

[ShockerKhan]

I really think that Aaron Ellis and Graham Hatch are the keys to the game Wednesday and the rest of the season.
When they come off the bench and provide the scoring, rebounding and defense like they did Sunday we can play with anyone in the Valley.

No playing time for David Kyles on Sunday really concerns me.

Shox 68
Birds 66

The glass is half full...

[Shox21]

I was listening to 1410 this morning on the way into work. They had a sound clip of Ramon saying (and I am paraphrasing) that when he was on the bench in the first half and saw how hard Hatch was playing and his constant hustle and diving for the ball, there was no way when he got back in that he wasn't going to play as hard himself.

I had mixed feelings about that statement. On the one hand the statement itself is fine, but -- I thought it was a foregone conclusion that if you are getting a free education for playing basketball, you should be playing hard EVERY game. I don't understand the mindset of these young players. What is so damn difficult about remembering to PLAY HARD EVERY TIME YOU STEP ON THE FLOOR.

The hustle paid off this last game.

Wednesday's game -- we HAVE to get a lead early and keep it. That was a big plus in the CU game. We, for once, weren't playing from behind. And we have to play hard every, let me repeat EVERY possession. I loved the intensity last game -- let's keep it going. All I ask is what Coach asks -- let's compete. If we win, so much better. I can stomach the losses, if the effort is there up and down the court.

[SubGod22]

I don't think it was the playing hard that was actually being mentioned. It was the extra effort and diving all over the floor that many times isn't the natural thought of a player. For the most part they all play hard. But it's the extra effort like Hatch was giving by diving all over the place and going beyond that is a learned behavior.