Hey Shockers, USU fan here...

[SubGod22]

You guys sound like a carbon copy of us only more athletic. We won't overwhelm anybody with our athleticism. Instead we execute our offense and game plan with precision and may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play. We rarely take bad shots and are very patient. Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time. We change defenses often throughout the game. Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country. We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep but lately we've narrowed down to an 8 man rotation.

Does that sound a little like UNI to anyone else?

[SuperiorBlueDiver]

I know USUALUM posted a few youtube clips, here is another for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2BzdGE-h94

[WuDrWu]

Our "athleticism" gets a lot of run this year for 2 reasons. It's a nice change for us, finally, and it is quite a bit different from most teams we compete against on a regular basis.

But sometimes I think stereotype thinking takes over....a lot of fans assume that athleticism means undisciplined or out of control or even non cerebral. I think that is unfair in WSU's case. Gregg's system is extremely complicated (much, much more so than Coach Turgeon for instance) and he expects his teams to execute with their minds as much as with their bodies.

Someone mentioned the cards to show D sets for USU. You won't see Gregg calling too many plays.....He scripts 5-10 at a time and the guys are expected to keep track and know the order as the plays progress. We are just as likely to run a series of screens to break free on a back door cut as the shot clock expires as we are to throw an alley oop to our backup 3 in the first 10 seconds.

Bottom line, if you expect WSU to run and jump and sprint down the court like a UNLV team of old, you will be suprised. The team will be prepared for whatever USU throws at them. Whichever team executes their "stuff" at a higher level will be the team that is the victor. I hope for a good clean hard fought game where both programs come out with a mutual respect for the other. Let's put on a good show.


:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

[WSUShokker]

You guys sound like a carbon copy of us only more athletic. We won't overwhelm anybody with our athleticism. Instead we execute our offense and game plan with precision and may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play. We rarely take bad shots and are very patient. Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time. We change defenses often throughout the game. Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country. We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep but lately we've narrowed down to an 8 man rotation.

Does that sound a little like UNI to anyone else?

Yes it does....except they dont have any fuglies

[MTXE]

We won't overwhelm anybody with our athleticism. Instead we execute our offense and game plan with precision and may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play. We rarely take bad shots and are very patient. Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time. We change defenses often throughout the game. Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country. We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep but lately we've narrowed down to an 8 man rotation.

It sounds like we really have no chance to win. Do you think you could contact the Bracketbuster organizers for us and let them know we would rather not waste the jet fuel in our chartered flight for a guaranteed loss?

1) "We execute our offense and game plan with precision"
2) "We may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play"
3) "We rarely take bad shots"
4) "We are very patient"
5) "Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time."
6) "Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country."
7) "We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep"

I thought we were playing a team from the WACK not Duke?

[SuperiorBlueDiver]

Het there USU fans. Ww would be the closest, reasonably priced yet good places to stay, eat, ski/snowboard for those of us making a weekend out of it?

Lodging in Logan will be reasonably priced about anywhere. Beaver Mountain Ski resort is the closest skiing and snowboarding (about 45 minute drive up Logan Canyon) it also is one of the most reasonably priced ski resorts in Utah. It isn't on a world class level like the Park City and SLC resorts but it's well above average compared to some of the ski "hills" in the midwest like those I saw in Minnesota and Ontario when I lived there.

Logan has a pretty decent variety of all your regular chain restaraunts as well as a few local ones that are very good.

[WuDrWu]

I know USUALUM posted a few youtube clips, here is another for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2BzdGE-h94

USU's home court is a perfect example of what college athletics should be all about.

I look forward to the challenge and to showing off our atmosphere on the return trip.

[SuperiorBlueDiver]

We won't overwhelm anybody with our athleticism. Instead we execute our offense and game plan with precision and may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play. We rarely take bad shots and are very patient. Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time. We change defenses often throughout the game. Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country. We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep but lately we've narrowed down to an 8 man rotation.

It sounds like we really have no chance to win. Do you think you could contact the Bracketbuster organizers for us and let them know we would rather not waste the jet fuel in our chartered flight for a guaranteed loss?

1) "We execute our offense and game plan with precision"
2) "We may be one of the most disciplined teams you'll ever play"
3) "We rarely take bad shots"
4) "We are very patient"
5) "Our team defense this season is the best it's been in a long time."
6) "Stew Morrill is one of the best x's and o's coaches in the country."
7) "We usually play about 8 guys and all of them can produce so you can't really focus on stopping one guy. Occasionally we'll go 9 or 10 deep"

I thought we were playing a team from the WACK not Duke?

The difference between us and Duke is that Duke does this with great athletes and highly recruited basketball players. We HAVE to play like this in order to just give ourselves a chance to win vs. athletic teams like Wichita State.

[ShockBand]

Don't let MTXE get your goat, though goat-gettin' is his speciality.

Keep in mind the biggest hill in Wichita is a landfill, so any Shockers venturing out there will enjoy the scenery. Wish I could make the trip - I've never been to Utah, but my brother went out when Butler Comm. College played Snow for the juco national championship a couple years ago and enjoyed the trip.

I'd ask if you have ever skiied Mt. Sunflower, but to do so, you would have to cross-country ski fast enough to avoid the cattle.

[SpanglerFan316]

I've been skiing around SLC but it has been a long time. I've driven through Logan (once) but didn't stop. How does USU compare with The University of Utah (which I have visited)?

[USUALUM]

Our "athleticism" gets a lot of run this year for 2 reasons. It's a nice change for us, finally, and it is quite a bit different from most teams we compete against on a regular basis.

But sometimes I think stereotype thinking takes over....a lot of fans assume that athleticism means undisciplined or out of control or even non cerebral. I think that is unfair in WSU's case. Gregg's system is extremely complicated (much, much more so than Coach Turgeon for instance) and he expects his teams to execute with their minds as much as with their bodies.

Someone mentioned the cards to show D sets for USU. You won't see Gregg calling too many plays.....He scripts 5-10 at a time and the guys are expected to keep track and know the order as the plays progress. We are just as likely to run a series of screens to break free on a back door cut as the shot clock expires as we are to throw an alley oop to our backup 3 in the first 10 seconds.

Bottom line, if you expect WSU to run and jump and sprint down the court like a UNLV team of old, you will be suprised. The team will be prepared for whatever USU throws at them. Whichever team executes their "stuff" at a higher level will be the team that is the victor. I hope for a good clean hard fought game where both programs come out with a mutual respect for the other. Let's put on a good show.


:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

Great write up. I love this match up more and more. I'm so happy about the return game as well. Your arena appears to have a great atmosphere for college hoops ... something that is sorely lacking with some of our WAC brethren. Perfect example is Boise State; sure they have a great following in football, but they are lucky to draw 1,200 fans to a hoops game. Makes watching our road games there miserable.

A few of the teams in the WAC are "athletic" but lack a structured offense. New Mexico State comes to mind. Great athletes that can whip on people but there really is no substance other that isolation plays every time down the court. If the shots aren't falling they're in trouble.

How deep do you regularly go on the bench?

[tgcshock]

Our "athleticism" gets a lot of run this year for 2 reasons. It's a nice change for us, finally, and it is quite a bit different from most teams we compete against on a regular basis.

But sometimes I think stereotype thinking takes over....a lot of fans assume that athleticism means undisciplined or out of control or even non cerebral. I think that is unfair in WSU's case. Gregg's system is extremely complicated (much, much more so than Coach Turgeon for instance) and he expects his teams to execute with their minds as much as with their bodies.

Someone mentioned the cards to show D sets for USU. You won't see Gregg calling too many plays.....He scripts 5-10 at a time and the guys are expected to keep track and know the order as the plays progress. We are just as likely to run a series of screens to break free on a back door cut as the shot clock expires as we are to throw an alley oop to our backup 3 in the first 10 seconds.

Bottom line, if you expect WSU to run and jump and sprint down the court like a UNLV team of old, you will be suprised. The team will be prepared for whatever USU throws at them. Whichever team executes their "stuff" at a higher level will be the team that is the victor. I hope for a good clean hard fought game where both programs come out with a mutual respect for the other. Let's put on a good show.


:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

Great write up. I love this match up more and more. I'm so happy about the return game as well. Your arena appears to have a great atmosphere for college hoops ... something that is sorely lacking with some of our WAC brethren. Perfect example is Boise State; sure they have a great following in football, but they are lucky to draw 1,200 fans to a hoops game. Makes watching our road games there miserable.

A few of the teams in the WAC are "athletic" but lack a structured offense. New Mexico State comes to mind. Great athletes that can whip on people but there really is no substance other that isolation plays every time down the court. If the shots aren't falling they're in trouble.

How deep do you regularly go on the bench?

The normal rotation is 9 with Gabe Blair, David Kyles, Garrett Stutz and Demetric Williams coming in off the bench.

[USUALUM]

I've been skiing around SLC but it has been a long time. I've driven through Logan (once) but didn't stop. How does USU compare with The University of Utah (which I have visited)?

Easiest distinction is U of U is a commuter school while USU is a residential campus. In terms of athletics, U of U has a bigger budget and is quite further down the road when it comes to football. In hoops, the series is a great rivalry (how we lost to them this year is maddening) dating back to the Majerus years and beyond. Old Fat Rick hated getting beat by USU. As you may imagine, there is not a lot of love lost between us and them .. or for byu for that matter.

There is a very long-winded explanation about the dislike between USU and the other Utah schools (utah & byu). I won't go into it but it does explain why a few Aggies demonstrate the "little man disease" from time to time. It doesn't help that the SLC media seems enjoy talking down to USU on a regular basis.

[RoyalShock]

Our rotation is really more like 8.5. Demetric William's primary role is to give Clevin Hannah a short breather. We will sometimes rotate Toure Murry to PG if Hannah is in foul trouble.

Williams is also on a short leash. If he tries to do to much and doesn't succeed, he's outta there. His minutes could range from 2 to 10.

[Snapshot9]

Re: Hey Shockers, USU fan here...

I did a quick read through the BB thread and noticed not all are real thrilled to be headed to Logan. I can certainly understand the late game time and lack of "eastern" exposure.

Speaking for myself I'm very happy with the match-up. We struggle every year to get solid non-conf. games and WSU should fit the bill nicely! As I think a few of you know, USU has a pretty crazy arena but it's not like we have never been beat there. In fact St, Mary's beat us in Logan this year so it is possible! For those interested, a little window into the madness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh6s4...eature=related or for a less hyped version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfQn-AaUT4I

A few notes on the team...

Starters

Tai Wesley: An undersized big who can bang. Uses his body well and typically gets some pretty high-percentage shots. He has has some streaky games this year where he kind of disappears, but then takes over a game.

Nate Bendall: Missionary kid that was initially recruited as a freshman ans spend a red short year with the program. When he got back went to Salt Lake CC and re-joined the Aggies this year a Jr. Big body with a shooters touch and can knock down outside J's (10-12 ft range). Had heart surgery earlier this year and seems to be getting his legs back.

Jared Quayle: The only senior on the team. PG with deceptive athleticism and a nose for rebounding as well. Started the year not shooting well but has found his groove. Can be absolutely crazy from behind the arc.

Tyler Newbold: Coach Morrill calls him "the glue" because he keeps the team together with smart play and solid D. A G that can catch fire from 3 but can also be streaky. Just an all around solid player.

Ernest "Pooh" Williams: (G-F) Our lock-down defender. He'll be up against your best offensive threat on the outside. Has a slasher game but has recently been hitting from deep as well.

Bench

Brady Jardine: (F) Just a soph but has made incredible strides this year. He's easily the best leaper on the team with long arms. Plays awesome defense at times but is prone to lapses. His offense has exploded this year and his increasing minutes are reflective of that.

Brian Green: (G) Was brought in for his shooting and early on that was non-existent. He has adjusted and has been knocking down 3's with regularity. A real energy guy off the bench and the most vocal guy on the team it seems.

Jaxon Myaer: (PG) A soph that is still learning the ropes somewhat. Has a good game but tends to play too fast and can get out of control at times.

Matt Formisano (F): Solid player who has really seen his minutes suffer with the improved play of Jardine. Probably won't see the floor.

Modou Niang: (F) Our "Senegalese Samurai". After a VERY slow start he's playing much better this year. Getting more minutes but may not see the court vs. WSU.

I would love to read about your guys if you have the inclination ... and as always, you're more than welcome over to the Aggie Board: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=208&f=2745

Good luck until we meet!!

Actually, when you were describing your players it sounded a lot like our players. Wesley's description could describe JT Durley on our team. Quayle is similiar to Hannah, our PG. Toure Murry is our lock-down defender, and usually good for 10-16 points.

Hatch is our glue, all around player and good 3 shooter. Jardine sounds similiar to David Kyles, Kyles can leap out of the gym and is very good in transition baskets. Ellis is 6'9" with long arms and a good defender and screener, can hit shots inside the arc. Gabe Blair, 6'8", is the best 6th man in our conference, a transfer from Eastern Carolina. Gabe cleans up a lot of baskets, and has some moves.

Garrett Stutz is our 7 footer, and comes off the bench to relieve Durley.
A sophmore this season, usually gives solid play, and is a little more offensive than defensive. Had 12 points and 7 boards our last game.
Demetric Williams is a PG that usually relieves Hannah, a freshman, and still learning, but does okay.

I think our teams will matchup pretty well height wise. It sounds like we might play a little faster game than you do though.