UMKC game thread

[The Mad Hatter]

It would be nice to see them win one of these games going away, but it never seems to happen. If I had one major gripe about the Marshall era, it is the inability to bury an opponent.

It's not an inability as much as it is that Marshall doesn't seem to care much about running up the score.

Fair enough, but I doubt Marshall intended on letting a 24 point lead dwindle to 9, twice, to avoid the appearance of running up the score. There is a difference between running up a score and putting someone away. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but from what I have seen the last couple years, this team keeps inferior opponents in the game far too long at points.

The lineup that allowed the gap to narrow was JT, 3 newcomers, and Demetric. It isn't surprising that they struggled to have much cohesiveness. We put our experienced players back in and pushed the lead right back out. If we had played that lineup all along, we could have created a massive lead, but it was probably better to save our legs and get the new guys some experience, even if it was ugly.

[T.VuOP]

The lineup that allowed the gap to narrow was JT, 3 newcomers, and Demetric. It isn't surprising that they struggled to have much cohesiveness. We put our experienced players back in and pushed the lead right back out. If we had played that lineup all along, we could have created a massive lead, but it was probably better to save our legs and get the new guys some experience, even if it was ugly.

:yes:
For some reason, TM played 25 min and DK 26. I'd like the new guys to get more playing time for the reasons you just mentioned.

[Kung Wu]

Just got back from the game a while ago. If there was a video of a fan drooling on himself while napping at half time, that was me.

[shockall]

Enough of this stuff. Put the bid dogs in and shut this down...

Some of our big dogs didn't hunt!

[The Mad Hatter]

The lineup that allowed the gap to narrow was JT, 3 newcomers, and Demetric. It isn't surprising that they struggled to have much cohesiveness. We put our experienced players back in and pushed the lead right back out. If we had played that lineup all along, we could have created a massive lead, but it was probably better to save our legs and get the new guys some experience, even if it was ugly.

:yes:
For some reason, TM played 25 min and DK 26. I'd like the new guys to get more playing time for the reasons you just mentioned.

Except we really couldn't afford to because the lead would shrink every time those two were out of the game for an extended period. I think Marshall would have liked to play Toure and David less, but you can't put the win at risk.

[Aargh]

In Orupke's first appearance in the game he was a liability on both ends of the court. UMKC pulled him out past the free throw line and then attacked the basket. Orukpe can get beat to the hoop from there. He hasn't learned to defend that far out yet.

In his second appearance (end of the game) he got 3 boards in a minute and a half.

It was obvious Marshall was calling off the dogs when he subbed out after the monster run. UMKC was probably due for a run of their own, but even the group that was in then shouldn't have gotten outscored that badly that quickly. Marshall says they will watch some film tomorrow and they will understand what they did wrong. I think that's coachspeak for something else.

At the start of the second half, Durley and Ellis got pulled after a bit over a minute because they weren't getting a single rebound on either end. You would think that by now Durley would know how to avoid Marshall's dog house, but that doesn't seem to be true.

The stats lines are way better than the game looked. The game looked pretty sloppy, but the stats lines look like a work of art. 21 points out of the post. Murry driving and Kyles lurking at the three line are a dangerous guard combination. Now that Ragland is coming on, WSU may have the best group of guards in the Valley - and I have a lot of respect for soe of the guard groups in the Valley.

[forevershockerfan]

Nice win with plenty of assists, a shooting touch, and what bench production tonight. Reggie was on fire but we did stymie Cooz. These slow starts by our Shocks are far from an anomaly thus far. We also still are plagued in our efforts to stop our opponents dribble penetration. Hey, Virginia beat Minnesota who used to be ranked at their house. Uconn and Virginia--have a great Season!!!!!!! We fouled less but thought we would rebound better and we need to make our throws now that we got our fair share. Sometimes, the ball just bounces wrong. We will be fine and shored up a few areas and it is still very early.

[Kung Wu]

The stats lines are way better than the game looked. The game looked pretty sloppy, but the stats lines look like a work of art. 21 points out of the post.

This is so true. After the first quarter of the match there was never any real threat from UMKC, and that made the game even sloppier. Yet, the outcome was never in doubt.

Maybe I am still turkey lagging, but that was one of the more boring games in recent history. And I _love_ that we get to finally have a boring game instead of having to wonder if we are going to lose a "should win".

Chicago State could be very, very, very ugly.

[T.VuOP]

Let's hope that the new players learn from watching the film so that the regular players can rest for the big game on Saturday. ;-)

[Shocker85]

The main problems tonight were at least two, per my observation.

1) Ragland and Williams were not sharp - at all. Both dribbled into double teams and they were getting the shooters the ball a half step too late. Demetric needs to learn to be a passer first and a scorer second. Toure' was BY FAR the best PG in white tonight. When the offense clicked, Toure' was at the point.

2) The substitution combinations went from really good to really bad. HCGM did a lot of wholesale substituting tonight, rather than rotate key pieces in with combinations that had been playing well. We saw situations where Kyles and Murry left the game and Ragland and Williams entered. The new groups had to generate their own flow and had trouble getting it done.

I think there was a lot of experimentation going on and when the game got tight, Murry, Kyles, Hatch and Blair were inserted to restore order. Even Ellis helped settle things with his defense, rebounding, and short little jumper.

Just what I think I saw.

IMO, the "Toure' off the bench" experiment should end NOW. He contributes to every phase of the Shockers game and when he and Kyles kick into high gear with Durley and/or Blair anchoring the inside the Shocks are damn good.

--'85.

[shockerfan]

They aren't all gonna be pretty. I'll take a 19 point win when our guys don't play completely up to par any day of the week.

[Ricardo del Rio]

If Chamberlin takes you off the dribble you deserve to sit for the season.

I heard that.

[1972Shocker]

The stats lines are way better than the game looked. The game looked pretty sloppy, but the stats lines look like a work of art. 21 points out of the post.

This is so true. After the first quarter of the match there was never any real threat from UMKC, and that made the game even sloppier. Yet, the outcome was never in doubt.

Maybe I am still turkey lagging, but that was one of the more boring games in recent history. And I _love_ that we get to finally have a boring game instead of having to wonder if we are going to lose a "should win".

Chicago State could be very, very, very ugly.

Most of our good stats were built in the 13 minute stretch where we went on a 33-4 run from trailing 12-20 to leading 45-24. We were near perfect in that stretch. Otherwise a pretty uneven and at times sloppy performance. Our rebounding fundamentals left a lot to be desired and obviously our free throw shooting was not pretty. Had EO made his second free throw I was ready to make him my Player of the Game.

Just don't know what to think about D-Will. He continues to struggle mightily. Rags and Ben continue to adjust to the D-1 game but at least show occassional flashes that lead you to believe the will be solid contributors.

DK playing the best and most consistent ball for the Shocks.

We should get a lot better as the year progresses.

[ShockTalk]

Both times that UMKC made runs were after wholesale substitutions. In the first half, it was tied 8-8 and then we were down 12-18 I believe before new blood came in. The second was when we starting losing the big lead, however, when subs were made again, the lead continued down until that group finally kicked it in gear.

We do seem to do better, as Shocker85 mentioned, when only one or two players are subbed at a time.

FREE THROWS!! The only good part of this was that most of our FTs were after shooting fouls or after the 10 foul bonus, as we missed most of the front ends. This can't happen against better competition or we'll get blown out.

Against better teams, I see us going to a mostly 8/9 man rotation, at least for the first half + of the season.

[ShockerFever]

Why do we have to show off our depth so much so that 20-point leads become single digit ones in seconds? I think it was a bit too early to call off the dogs and I think Coach kept them in a little too long. Very disappointing with that group. Should have run that thing up to 30.

Toure played somewhat selfish during his first few minutes of action. When he settled down and passed the ball, he made the offense click. He had a couple Toure-esque shots and that was fine, but him passing the ball made everything run pretty good.

It sure was sloppy at times. Our interior defense is still amazingly bad at times. It's also amazing how we get beat off the dribble so easily. Is zone ever a possibility for things such as these?

The free throw shooting was very stressing. Hatch and Blair have to step up. Especially Hatch. He's a senior and normally good shooter. That was just ugly and could have solidified a blowout if we hit a decent percentage.

All n' all, an ok win. Can't really complain too much about a 19-point victory. We still need to improve vastly to have a chance in San Diego.

It bears repeating. Do we really need an advertisement slogan read after every 3-pointer? Seriously? Is it that bad that we have to have a sponsor for every 3-point basket? Extremely annoying and low-majorish. :roll: