Newman game thread

[newshock1234]

I guess Marshall said on the radio that Texas Southern is picked their win their conference. So maybe this wont be as bad of a RPI game as we think.

[RoyalShock]

I guess Marshall said on the radio that Texas Southern is picked their win their conference. So maybe this wont be as bad of a RPI game as we think.

Last year the top 3 RPI teams from the SWAC were

183 - Ark Pine-Bluff
199 - Jackson St.
227 - Texas Southern

So yeah, maybe.

[shockar25]

I think it's important to remember that what we saw in terms of line up was nothing like we'll see regularly during the season. I'm sure in looking at tape they'll see that some of those 'experiments' worked, and some didn't.

What concerns me the most is not the pace of the game (with so many differnt line ups, that wasn't totally surprising) it's getting consistency at the PG position and as others have pointed out, finding a 'go-to' guy, but clearly that will take time.

I love the way Toure drove to the basket, even though he paid the price for it, I like his desire to do so, and hopefully after getting banged around a little he just gets more determined to keep on developing that side of his game.

[HockeyShock]

Folks, let's not take this too seriously. It was an exhibition. This is where they start to work out the bugs, and I think they did a fine job of working some out even between the first and second halves.

They tried a hundred different lineups, and that's what this game is for, and the GREAT news is that there really wasn't any lineup that was weak for us. We're so deep we're reading C.S. Lewis for leisure. We're so deep BP can't even cap us. We're so deep we make Jacques Cousteau look like a snorkeler.

A few boneheaded plays are to be expected, but the result was never in doubt. Ragland and Smith were SOLID. Durley and Hatch have nothing to prove to me, so if they deferred to the new guys a bit, that's actually a good thing.

And I LOVED the Stutz/Orukpe line. We were joking that they should try Ellis at the 3 to make it the "Legion of Doom" line. Nothing against Smith; he had a fantastic first outing. Once he gets a little seasoned, Orukpe's free throws and hooks are going to start falling and once his grip improves (soft hands) coaches are going to have nightmares trying to plan for him. As for his first-ever WSU line: 4 points, 11 boards, 3 fouls. He had fewer fouls than points, and he had double-digit boards in limited action. That's about as good as you can ask for.

:clap: :wsu_posters: :yahoo: :clap:

[ShockTalk]

This team can go as far as their chemistry will take them. The parts are in place, the replacement parts are in place. This group of young men have a great opportunity immediately in front of them. How hard will they all work for it? Will they spell it teim, team, or TEAM? Last night it was team. They will need to think as a unit, particularly on offense. On defense, they are athletic enough that each individual needs to be responsible for who he is guarding. Allowing too easy of penetration and team members cheating down will be the death of them against quality opponents.

The other big advantage this team has is the personal quality of its individuals.

:wsu_posters:

[1972Shocker]

One reason we didn't run much was that Newman decided it had no chance on the boards against our size advantage and instead of going to the offensive boards they made sure they had their guys back on defense.

I remember one shot Newman took. There were 5 Shockers going to the boards. I don't think one Newman player was inside the arc when the ball was rebounded.

Most of our running was in transition off of our defense and that is going to be the case a majority of the time. I think everyone agrees that we can (and probably will) get much better on defense as the year progresses.

[pie n eye]

Game 0 – Vs. Newman University

The Good
-Ehimen Orukpe probably would have been the story of the night regardless of his play on court but then the big guy goes out and grabs 11 rebounds and puts in 5 points. The rebounds I expect from an athletic 7 footer playing against the Friars*(not sure why I assumed this as their mascot), the points were a bonus, but the thing I enjoyed most was his disciplined defense. I can’t remember him leaving his feet for any pump fakes. He was content to make the opposition shoot over his 10 ft reach and it caused a ton of missed shots and created rebound and fast break opportunities. He also threw a nice bounce pass to Ben Smith on the baseline. All in all, this guy is much farther along than I expected. If he maintains the defense and rebounds and continues to improve on offense (notably free throws, the guy will get to the line a lot I suspect) then he’s going to be a solid addition this year.

-David Kyles was very impressive tonight. He looked like the player we’ve been waiting to see the last 2 years on BOTH ends of the court. That block he had was just ridiculous! If David finally realizes his potential this year then other teams can forget about it.

-Garrett Stutz is just about where I expected him. He was a force on both ends of the court and he’s a difference maker when he steps on the hardwood. If he’s allowed to play some minutes and get in a flow he will easily score 10-20 a night.

-Aaron Ellis was the man! He stood out to me as our best defender by far and away tonight. The additional confidence on offense was a plus. I like to see him putting making some moves and his handles appear more refined this year. I think the guy is just deadly from 15 ft in. Aaron is another player that if he has a break out season I feel sorry for opposing teams.

-I really have to give Newman credit for being a solid team. They hustle, defend, and shoot the ball fairly well. That being said, I hesitate to rely too much on what I see in exhibition games. Like Marshall said you can’t get too excited about the good stuff or too down about the bad. Overall though I think the Shockers look like a much improved team from last year. The new guys, once they settled in, made positive contributions in the second half. I especially liked Ben Smith. The guy has a great looking shot, can take the ball to the rim, and defends well. One play in particular stood out to me when he missed a three on the wing then hustled all the way down the court to stop a potential fast break by Newman.

The Not so good
-WAY too many turnovers against a team like Newman. I’m going to chalk a lot of it up to nerves since they took much better care of the ball in the second half.

-WAY too many fouls. There is no way Newman should’ve seen the line 40 times against us. They drove around us with too much ease and we did not defend the pick and roll well at all.

-Our half court offense did not look that great. A lot of times I couldn’t sense any definite purpose on that end of the court.

-Clevin was noticeably missing. We are going to miss his steady hand for a while but I think once it clicks for Ragland or Williams (just like it clicked at one point for Clevin) that we will be in even better hands.

Overall there were a lot of things I liked about this team. Once they figure out that solid defense will create the best and easiest opportunities on offense they will be a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt that Coach Marshall, as he has done with all of his teams, will get the point across regarding the type of defense he expects. It always seems like his teams progress defensively throughout the year. Couple that with what looks like an all around better shooting team and there are a lot of reasons to be excited right now. Can't wait for the next game!

[Shox21]

One obersvation, then a question--

Clevin ran the team last year - absolutely no question about that.

So to whom will it fall this year? Both point guard candidates have a lot to learn and need much more seasoning. If this falls to Stutz and/or Durley, then hopefully that will show more as the season progresses because I sure didn't see what I wanted last night.

[SHOXAAC]

Let's be honest, since the last recruit (Smith) was signed last spring all of us have been intently waiting for last nights moment. All of us would have liked to see a well oiled machine right out of the tunnel. We all feel strongly this could be a special year. The year is long. Do any of us realistically expect our Shocks to step on the court for the first time and be in mid-season form? Did we really expect to win 90-50 last night? We lost a great on-court leader in Clevin. I may be wrong, but Clevin didn't exactly jump off the court immediately at the start of his junior year. I also don't suspect Rags set the world on fire his first game or two at JUCO. I, too, have to be talked off the edge at times. We should expect an incremental improvement on Tuesday. One step at a time. I feel we will be ready for UConn on Nov. 22. :goshocks:

[pie n eye]

One obersvation, then a question--

Clevin ran the team last year - absolutely no question about that.

So to whom will it fall this year? Both point guard candidates have a lot to learn and need much more seasoning. If this falls to Stutz and/or Durley, then hopefully that will show more as the season progresses because I sure didn't see what I wanted last night.

It can't fall to a forward or center to run the team. It has to be a point guard. They have the ball in their hands more than anybody as the quarterback of the team. I think we have two guys with a lot of potential in that area, but we will need to see them play more games with regular rotations against better opponents to truly assess the situation.

[1972Shocker]

Did we really expect to win 90-50 last night?

I can answer that question. The answer is no.

One poster did predict a 90-50 win and another predicted a 62-67 loss. The average point spread of all other score predictions was a 21.5 point win for the Shocks. So the final score, at least, was only slightly below average expectations.

I was hoping for a much better defensive effort although the rebounding was top notch (and should have been with our size advantage).

I thought the guys played unselfishly for the most part and moved the ball pretty well. Nevertheless we had too many turnovers, although the second half was better than the first.

We did not shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter or from the line, but I still think that we will be a pretty good shooting team.

Getting Gabe back in the mix will help a lot. Hopefully, he will be able to give us 15-20 minutes a game in Maui.

I think Joe (in the first half) and D-Will during the first part of the second half were simply trying too hard to impress the coaches. Plus I think Joe may have underestimated the opponent a little.

Typical exhibition game. A lot of plusses but also plenty of things that need work and improvement.

The pieces we need to be successful are definitely in place. I think HCGM will be able to put the pieces together in a way that will be successful.

[Snapshot9]

I hit it directly on the head. I predicted an 18 point win with my family before the game.

[WstateU]

I hit it directly on the head. I predicted an 18 point win with my family before the game.

Here Snap... have a cookie. :D

[Snapshot9]

I hit it directly on the head. I predicted an 18 point win with my family before the game.

Here Snap... have a cookie. :D

Smart-alec .... LOL

[Snapshot9]

One thing I also noticed at the game --- Half of the dance team needs to lose 15-20 pounds. They looked like they were imported in from Nebraska.