Expectations Exceeded

[jocoshock]

The team has great progress this year and definitely exceeded expectations. The last 10 games have had some frustration, but the deck is stacked for next year for sure.

:goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks:

[ShockTalk]

I waited to post on this until I had a chance to read what others had to say. I didn't actually go through the schedule pre-season and mark what I thought were Ws and Ls. Nevertheless, the team has NOT exceeded my expectations. That doesn't mean they haven't met it.

Regardless of the polls, most on here thought we would finish 3rd, myself included. As it stands right now, you can thank Cox's missed FT and a poorer than expected season from Illinois St for our 2nd place standing. I thought we would lose a game at home, so that's better, but I didn't expect to lose to Drake and Evansville on the road. I challenge anyone to tell me where we exceeded expectations by winning a game that most would have thought to be a pretty sure loss.

Player development: Who has had a breakout or really surprising year like Murry and Durley last year. I would expect some improvement in any player that was here last year. Hatch has stats that exceeded what I expected, but because of his effort and grit, not totally surprising. Stutz, not unexpectedly, has been up and down. Frankly, Murry, Kyles, and Ellis have been slight disappointments for various reasons. Murry's great freshman year put a lot of big hopes in Shocker fandom for this year and maybe that's not fair to him. Hannah has been solid, but had to be the senior leader for this team to have had success this year.

Team and Coaching progression: Most here, and myself, thought that the NIT was most likely the minimum post season goal. That's probably what's going to happen, short of winning out and at least getting to the Valley finals against UNI. By the way, if they do that, they will have exceeded my expectations. I really don't judge a team so much by how high they finish in the standings. That can be tainted by other teams playing much better or much worse than expected for the season. What I like to look at is a team's progression. Compared to the end of last year and early in this season, are they getting tougher on D, have they developed more offensive weapons, is their offensive scheme working more effectively and smoothly. I'll let you be your own judge, just consider the play over the last 10 games.

Many teams have dips in their season. I hope we've had ours. It's been longer than expected and we need to be ready for the late season push.

:goshocks: :clap: :posterwu: :yahoo: :posterwsu:

[kstarheel]

I think the Shox are about were they should be. My expectations were pretty high for them. I had them at 24-4 at this point.

[wufan]

I had the Shox at 23-10 and 11-7 in the Valley. I believe they will exceed my expectations, but just barely. I believe I predicted a sweep of Drake, Mo St, and Evansville, but being swept by UNI. I also predicted we would win two of three between Texas Tech, TCU, and the Bracket Buster, so we are good there. All in all we're pretty damn close!

[newshock1234]

http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?t=15449

heres the thread with a couple people prediction, most people most 21-25 wins and 11-14 wins in the valley, so we are right where we should be.

[Dan]

If they finish in 2nd and make it to the championship game in St. Louis, they will have exceeded my expectations. Also, the wins at MSU and SIU were big wins this year despite those teams being down. Now we just have to figure out how to be more consistent on the road and beat the teams we're supposed to beat.

[fuball7]

I thought NIT going into the year would have been a successful year. When we started winning so much yea my expectations rose but we are still the same team that I thought NIT was a reasonable goal. I think the players are pressing a little bit with the NCAA on the line but even while doing that we have a great shot of finishing 2nd in the valley and maybe this is the year WSU finally wins the MVC tourney. If not its still been a heck of a year.