2-0

[rjl]

A few of questions:

(1) Why all the turnovers for Mekel? Is it lazy passes? Is he forcing things? What is the deal? I like the kid a lot but he has up his assist to turnover ratio.

Gal makes a lot of passes that the people he's passing the ball to don't expect coming. On one, Phil was under the basket and obviously preparing to rebound a Gal layup attempt, but instead Gal "hooked" a pass to him from about 4 feet away that Phil couldn't raise his hands quick enough to catch.

Later in the game, there were some lazy passes. A combination of some slight speed taken off the passes with Gal not recognizing the defender's ability to intercept.

(3) I know that Durley hit a 3 and had a dunk – but what types of shots is he taking inside?

He missed a few where he went STRONG to the basket. Very nice to see the physical side of him. Eventually, those shots will fall when he gets his nerves about him.

(4) Is Griskenas just not getting any looks? This kid can shoot – he needs to shoot. What is his story? P.S. I love his board work – 8.5 average nice.

He looked a bit more tentative last night when taking shots.

(5) PT was 3-10? Not too hot for an inside player? Comments? 9 boards is good though.

On more than one occasion, Phil would miss a shot, rebound, miss his put-back, rebound again, and finally miss his third shot while getting fouled. I think the fouls may have been happening the whole time, but not whistled until the third put-back.

(6) Hatch got quite a bit of time. How did he look?

A bigger Matt Clark. He's roll playing right now; get the feeling he's looking for ways to contribute, but until then he'd rather pass than shoot.

(7) Thoughts on Ellis.

Stud. He in no way looks or carries himself like a true Freshman. His offense is confident, and last night showed he's a defensive presence as well. This guy is going to be special when it's all said and done.

[im4wsu]

Re: Thomason

Not an outside shooter, but had to be impressed of the 3-ball he hit, coming around a screen, moving from right to left and hitting a quick release from the top of the key. I do believe he gets hammered on most of his inside shots. He is strong enough to fight through that, but hasn't done so consistently yet.

[pinstripers]

Ellis is amazingly long. Fantastic face-up defense, but lost his man more than once on movement. So did Gal. Hatch, same way. Can't expect much from Hatch at this point, and he met those expectations. Wendel clanged a three-ball, then drained one later. My wife said that perhaps he'll shoot better this year, and me being the cynic that I am, replied that she should not get too excited as I think he made one last season, as well.

[Maggie]

Mekel's mistakes are all his fault then. While PT should be expecting a pass from Mekel – at almost anytime -- Mekel should know his teammates tendencies better by now. Lazy passes and underestimating your opponent is inexcusable. I don't mean to be too hard on the kid but my expectations for him are quite high. I keep saying this but hopefully he will get better.

I like physical Durley. That is good – better than I expected.

I still think Griskenas will come around.

If PT's shooting % is due to his offensive board effort – then I, obviously, have no problem.

These reports on Ellis really have me excited about the kid.

[rjl]

Mekel's mistakes are all his fault then. While PT should be expecting a pass from Mekel – at almost anytime -- Mekel should know his teammates tendencies better by now. Lazy passes and underestimating your opponent is inexcusable. I don't mean to be too hard on the kid but my expectations for him are quite high. I keep saying this but hopefully he will get better.

I like physical Durley. That is good – better than I expected.

I still think Griskenas will come around.

If PT's shooting % is due to his offensive board effort – then I, obviously, have no problem.

These reports on Ellis really have me excited about the kid.

I think Gal's court vision helps us more than hurts. He made similar passes to PJ and Durley that became excellent assists.

Sometimes, Gal seems to get a bit more "showy" when we've got a bigger lead. Maybe he feels more free to take risks? Not saying that's the right thing to think, but just trying to figure out the thought process. Because of this, had the game been closer, or against a bigger opponent, I think he would actually of had less turnovers.

[shockpower10]

Wendell will shoot it better this year just because the Coaches trust him more. But I see Matt as the only guy that is the true point guard on this team Gal is a finisher and takes to many risks. A point guard should facilitate the offense Matt is the guy. Preadom to me is a great defender and fit's better as a 2 just because he isn't a PG. What I am saying who is the Backup point I notice that Michael came in after Back to Back turnovers by Preadom and Mekel and ran the point he looked solid against the pressure and almost had an and one. He runs the offense as good as any one I see.
Wondering if he could possibly get time helping run the point. From all we seen of him Shocker Madness and the 2 Exhibitions has been solid. He was used with about 10 minutes left in the game usual for a walk on when the other two just sat.
:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

[shocker22]

Wendell will shoot it better this year just because the Coaches trust him more. But I see Matt as the only guy that is the true point guard on this team Gal is a finisher and takes to many risks. A point guard should facilitate the offense Matt is the guy. Preadom to me is a great defender and fit's better as a 2 just because he isn't a PG. What I am saying who is the Backup point I notice that Michael came in after Back to Back turnovers by Preadom and Mekel and ran the point he looked solid against the pressure and almost had an and one. He runs the offense as good as any one I see.
Wondering if he could possibly get time helping run the point. From all we seen of him Shocker Madness and the 2 Exhibitions has been solid. He was used with about 10 minutes left in the game usual for a walk on when the other two just sat.
:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

Wendell is killing me!! He looks just as jittery and lost as he did as a freshman.

[Maggie]

Mekel's mistakes are all his fault then. While PT should be expecting a pass from Mekel – at almost anytime -- Mekel should know his teammates tendencies better by now. Lazy passes and underestimating your opponent is inexcusable. I don't mean to be too hard on the kid but my expectations for him are quite high. I keep saying this but hopefully he will get better.

I like physical Durley. That is good – better than I expected.

I still think Griskenas will come around.

If PT's shooting % is due to his offensive board effort – then I, obviously, have no problem.

These reports on Ellis really have me excited about the kid.

I think Gal's court vision helps us more than hurts. He made similar passes to PJ and Durley that became excellent assists.

Sometimes, Gal seems to get a bit more "showy" when we've got a bigger lead. Maybe he feels more free to take risks? Not saying that's the right thing to think, but just trying to figure out the thought process. Because of this, had the game been closer, or against a bigger opponent, I think he would actually of had less turnovers.

I agree that Mekel's court vision is more of a positive than a negative. Nevertheless, getting sloppy with the ball is how you lose big leads – and I do not think anyone needs to tell Mekel that fact. I still think Mekel needs to recognize who is passing the ball to, i.e. PJ and Durley might be able handle certain types of passes that PT generally can't. PJ and Durley have better hands than PT.

Mekel is always going to be "showy" – that is just how he is and I don't want to take that away from him at all. However, he needs to do the little things more consistently first.

[Ricky Del Rio]

Just some stuff as follows:

1. When the players come off the court, I like the way the coaches give attaboys - hand slaps and praise.

2. I have been watching Shocker basketball, since 1962. I swear I do not remember as much backcourt pressure in any game like I saw last night.

If fact, I probably saw more backcourt pressure last night than I have seen in the last 7 years. (Maybe an exaggeration, but you get the drift.)

And I really like it. The pressure last night was much more aggressive than the play of CU and Drake.

3. I have seen J.T. play in quite a few pick-up games. Based upon what I have seen, he is a pretty good 3 ball shooter. Also, he has a nice touch. I think he will just getter better and by his junior year, he will be a very tough dude.

4. Clemente is a very high energy player. He probably plays with more energy than any player in the last X years, exluding Jamar. When he was backing down in the post on one particular play, it was a thing of beauty to me because I have not seen it in quite awhile. On the third bump of the back-down, he was called for a foul. The beauty part was pushing Abercrombie around so easily. Abercrombie is a pretty big man.

5. Clemente made 2 or 3 glass shots, which looked like he has done it before.

6. Griskenas jumped center.

7. I really like Hatch's free throw form. He has a nice soft, forgiving shot. He might end up on the floor at the end of games. Sorta like Matt Clark.

8. Bret Michael was tense as one might expect, but I thought he was fine.

9. I think I saw more dribble penetration last night than I have in any game for several years.

10. I am not as benevolent as another poster about Gal's unfortunate drive into the trees and his attempted hook shot pass to Thomasson. Gal was surrounded and Phil was surrounded. I am pretty sure that after his @ss chewing, he will not do that again. As I watched the action, for some strange reason, Randy Burns came to mind.

11. P.J. fouls too much. Not only this year, but the last two years as well.

12. The combination of fouls and turnovers was 34. In tight ball games, it will get you beat.

13. When an opponent picks up his dribble and Ellis surrounds him with vigorous arm and leg flapping, the opponent becomes rattled in trying to make a pass. It is fun to see.

14. I was disappointed that virtually no pressure was put on Magana, when he was shooting the 3 ball. I thought Coach Marshall might put P.J. on him, but he did not.

15. I am not sure there was any zone possessions last night.

16. The refs called a lot of hand checks against PSU. It made me wonder, if the refs were Valley officials. I hope so because maybe a new emphasis might be placed on making the call.

17. Someone please tell me that we have not morphed into a Doggie team, not by choice, but by necessity.

[Maggie]

CGM's teams have always played very solid defense and they do pressure the ball – so in that way they will be similar to SIU. However, I don't think WSU is going to morph into SIU. Give the offense time it will come around slower than the defense.

[wu_shizzle]

CGM's teams have always played very solid defense and they do pressure the ball – so in that way they will be similar to SIU. However, I don't think WSU is going to morph into SIU. Give the offense time it will come around slower than the defense.

Marshall has commented that the guys still haven't bought into playing defense as physical as he would like.

He may not say it publicly, but I would guess SIU is exactly what he wants us to look like on D. And why not, they make it a living hell to try and score on them. Look for "in your face" pressure beyond the perimeter. You can see a little of it in Ellis, he's not bashful getting in his defender's face.

[WuShockFan]

For you out-of-towners, you can see highlights of last nights game in the embedded video player on http://www.goshockers.com/. Double-click on the video to make it full-screen. Almost 4 minutes of highlights. Watch Pitt State get T'd-up and try to catch passes with their foreheads.

[Maggie]

CGM's teams have always played very solid defense and they do pressure the ball – so in that way they will be similar to SIU. However, I don't think WSU is going to morph into SIU. Give the offense time it will come around slower than the defense.

Marshall has commented that the guys still haven't bought into playing defense as physical as he would like.

He may not say it publicly, but I would guess SIU is exactly what he wants us to look like on D. And why not, they make it a living hell to try and score on them. Look for "in your face" pressure beyond the perimeter. You can see a little of it in Ellis, he's not bashful getting in his defender's face.

Oh, I agree they will pressure the ball on the perimeter. I have not seen them play but I imagine it is much different then what Turgeon's teams executed.

If WSU plays defense similar to SIU with similar results I will be very happy; however, I don't think that CGM's team is going to have the same methodical pace as Lowery's which is really the part of SIU's overall philosophy that makes them hard to watch.

[SpanglerFan316]

Hmmmm what team do we know in the Valley who seems to do well by concentrating on D? :posterwsu: :posterwu: :goshocks: :(

Drake?

[im4wsu]

[quote="Ricky Del Rio"]Just some stuff as follows:

16. The refs called a lot of hand checks against PSU. It made me wonder, if the refs were Valley officials. I hope so because maybe a new emphasis might be placed on making the call.

None of the officials were MVC.