Relax

[Ashockalypse]

Yeah very typical Shockernet post loss meltdown.

[SB Shock]

Yeah very typical Shockernet post loss meltdown.

shockernet meltdown = mental therapy = less dogs kicked

[ShockerFever]

Yeah very typical Shockernet post loss meltdown.

It sure would be nice to get a big win once in a while. Seems like forever since we've had one of those.

[SHOXAAC]

Yeah very typical Shockernet post loss meltdown.

It sure would be nice to get a big win once in a while. Seems like forever since we've had one of those.

Fev - keep in mind there are 347 Div. I teams. My guess is that WSU isn't the only team with reasonably high expectations coming into the season by their fans. I, as much as anybody on this board, was wishing for a big win early in noncon. Maybe I could have wished harder, but I'm not entitled to any such wish. My B-plan wish is to not have a "bad" loss just in case we don't win on March 6. It won't be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but a wish all the same. The only thing I can control is how hard a root for my team. If we don't win the ones we should, I will be disappointed, but I will try very hard to have perspective in the moment and continue to hope for the best outcome possible in the end. Unfortunately, there may come a time this season to voice the all-to-much-quoted cliche..."There's always next year."

:wsu_posters:

[Shox21]

Win out in the non conference schedule including bracket busters and hope like hell the teams we beat and lost to kick some arse. Then win the Valley regular season and we are still in good shape.

UConn is still going strong and we won against Virginia and they are surprising most with their wins over a ranked Minnesota and over Virginia Tech in their ACC opener.

[shoxlax]

Yeah very typical Shockernet post loss meltdown.

It sure would be nice to get a big win once in a while. Seems like forever since we've had one of those.

Last year we thought our win against TTech was a good one, then they ended up laying an egg. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised with Virginia this year; so far,so good.

[KC Shox]

Win out in the non conference schedule including bracket busters and hope like hell the teams we beat and lost to kick some arse. Then win the Valley regular season and we are still in good shape.

UConn is still going strong and we won against Virginia and they are surprising most with their wins over a ranked Minnesota and over Virginia Tech in their ACC opener.

Great! Now we have relegated ourselves to be impressed over moral victories. Oh, and Virginia's win over Minn is nice and all, but Minn was missing two starters that game so I'm certain Newman University would have won that match=up.

[Kung Wu]

Win out in the non conference schedule including bracket busters and hope like hell the teams we beat and lost to kick some arse. Then win the Valley regular season and we are still in good shape.

UConn is still going strong and we won against Virginia and they are surprising most with their wins over a ranked Minnesota and over Virginia Tech in their ACC opener.

Great! Now we have relegated ourselves to be impressed over moral victories. Oh, and Virginia's win over Minn is nice and all, but Minn was missing two starters that game so I'm certain Newman University would have won that match=up.

So at the end of the year the selection committee is gonna know/remember/agree that Virginia's win over Minnesota was due to missing players and subtract a couple tenths off of our RPI when making their decision?

We got lucky breaks in 2006 and will need lucky breaks now to get a decent spot in the tournament.

If Virginia beating Minnesota was luck, so be it. If UConn winning the Maui tournament outright was luck, so be it. If Virginia beating V.Tech was lucky, then so be it. If SDSU is lucky to be a top-ten team in the near future, then so be it.

Go ahead and get a good look in the mouth of your gift horses though, if that's even what they are.

[Snapshot9]

Truth of the matter, is this team is not as good as most fans on here want to believe they are. They, as a team, have some defiencies that show up, especially against what I would call good teams.

1) They are not as tough as the 06 SS team. Particularly, our defense lapses at times during a game, which provides runs by our opponents.
We got beat by 14 points in San Diego folks, not 2 or 4 points, 14 points.
(Matt Braeuer was a better PG than he really gets credit for being, and PJ brought his game to every game, he was a tough player).

2) We still have problems playing on the road. Until we can win at least 50% to 70% of our road games, we won't make the Dance.

3) We still have a tendency to get lazy with our passing sometimes.

Individuals:

1) Stutz is okay, but not dominant, like Cole Aldrich was. He needs to beef up his defense. He needs to learn how to get off the floor, and jump.
He doesn't have the versitility or coordination that Aldrich possesses, and as fans, we are still waiting for him to develop into that type of player.

2) Durley does good one game, and then seems to disappear the next.
He needs to be more consistent from game to game, especially on defense.

3) Blair isn't showing up as much as last year, especially on scoring.

4) Ellis is about the same as last year, a little better in fact.

5) Kyles is better and more consistent, the most improved player from last year. He is making our team better.

6) Murry is more involved, but has good games and some not so good.
He is scoring less (which I don't know is good or not), and his shooting percentage could be better. I noticed his shot is somewhat flat like it was when he was a freshman. He moves the team better as a PG than Ragland or Williams is doing.

7) Ragland needs to have more imagination. He brings the ball upcourt, and then stalls around the perimeter. He also could score more, more like Hannah did when we get stalled on offense. He has the shot, and he can drive to basket good, but his drives to the basket do not have the give and go motions that Hannah's did.

8) Williams has the enthusiasm for 5 players, but gets ahead of himself a lot, and therefore commits turnovers by not taking care of the ball. Williams has a good shot too, and some plays he makes are real good, but we need him to be consistent in games. He stalls a little around the perimeter also, but seems to try to get it worked in some.

9) After following Orukpe for 3 years, he is our 'Great Black Hope', and is cheered for anything he does on the court. He is Athletic, more of a defensive presence than Stutz is, and if he develops the offensive moves, he will become a dominate player.

10) Ben Smith has some talent, can shoot pretty well, is in on defense some, and with more playing time will be just fine, I think.

11) Hatch is playing like Hatch, but he isn't scoring as much as last year, and his shot seems to be 'off' more than last year. I would like him to show up more on Offense.

[1979Shocker]

RealTimeRPI has us going 24-4 (16-2) up to the MVC Tournament. Also not including the Bracket Buster.

That's only 2 more losses, but we'll have to see.

[shoxlax]

Truth of the matter, is this team is not as good as most fans on here want to believe they are. They, as a team, have some defiencies that show up, especially against what I would call good teams.

1) They are not as tough as the 06 SS team. Particularly, our defense lapses at times during a game, which provides runs by our opponents.
We got beat by 14 points in San Diego folks, not 2 or 4 points, 14 points.
(Matt Braeuer was a better PG than he really gets credit for being, and PJ brought his game to every game, he was a tough player).

2) We still have problems playing on the road. Until we can win at least 50% to 70% of our road games, we won't make the Dance.

3) We still have a tendency to get lazy with our passing sometimes.

Individuals:

1) Stutz is okay, but not dominant, like Cole Aldrich was. He needs to beef up his defense. He needs to learn how to get off the floor, and jump.
He doesn't have the versitility or coordination that Aldrich possesses, and as fans, we are still waiting for him to develop into that type of player.

2) Durley does good one game, and then seems to disappear the next.
He needs to be more consistent from game to game, especially on defense.

3) Blair isn't showing up as much as last year, especially on scoring.

4) Ellis is about the same as last year, a little better in fact.

5) Kyles is better and more consistent, the most improved player from last year. He is making our team better.

6) Murry is more involved, but has good games and some not so good.
He is scoring less (which I don't know is good or not), and his shooting percentage could be better. I noticed his shot is somewhat flat like it was when he was a freshman. He moves the team better as a PG than Ragland or Williams is doing.

7) Ragland needs to have more imagination. He brings the ball upcourt, and then stalls around the perimeter. He also could score more, more like Hannah did when we get stalled on offense. He has the shot, and he can drive to basket good, but his drives to the basket do not have the give and go motions that Hannah's did.

8) Williams has the enthusiasm for 5 players, but gets ahead of himself a lot, and therefore commits turnovers by not taking care of the ball. Williams has a good shot too, and some plays he makes are real good, but we need him to be consistent in games. He stalls a little around the perimeter also, but seems to try to get it worked in some.

9) After following Orukpe for 3 years, he is our 'Great Black Hope', and is cheered for anything he does on the court. He is Athletic, more of a defensive presence than Stutz is, and if he develops the offensive moves, he will become a dominate player.

10) Ben Smith has some talent, can shoot pretty well, is in on defense some, and with more playing time will be just fine, I think.

11) Hatch is playing like Hatch, but he isn't scoring as much as last year, and his shot seems to be 'off' more than last year. I would like him to show up more on Offense.

What is your basis for #2? One game against a damn good team in a crazy environment? Talk about hasty generalizations.

[KC Shox]

Win out in the non conference schedule including bracket busters and hope like hell the teams we beat and lost to kick some arse. Then win the Valley regular season and we are still in good shape.

UConn is still going strong and we won against Virginia and they are surprising most with their wins over a ranked Minnesota and over Virginia Tech in their ACC opener.

Great! Now we have relegated ourselves to be impressed over moral victories. Oh, and Virginia's win over Minn is nice and all, but Minn was missing two starters that game so I'm certain Newman University would have won that match=up.

So at the end of the year the selection committee is gonna know/remember/agree that Virginia's win over Minnesota was due to missing players and subtract a couple tenths off of our RPI when making their decision?

We got lucky breaks in 2006 and will need lucky breaks now to get a decent spot in the tournament.

If Virginia beating Minnesota was luck, so be it. If UConn winning the Maui tournament outright was luck, so be it. If Virginia beating V.Tech was lucky, then so be it. If SDSU is lucky to be a top-ten team in the near future, then so be it.

Go ahead and get a good look in the mouth of your gift horses though, if that's even what they are.

Gift horses was an afterthought to my post if you didn't catch it. The point is simple, it is far better to make your own destiny than to put your destiny in the hands of other teams and the so-called experts. Again this year, the Shox have relegated themselves on the outside looking in and hoping the dominoes fall the right way.

We are already handicapped by being affiliated in a one-bid, piss poor conference again this year. We had the chance to take care of business and laid goose eggs. Tough opponents yes, away games yes, but NCAA caliber teams win away from home.

When the Shox have 1 tourney appearance in the last 20 plus years, the trend is clear that they are not handling their business in terms of coaching,
recruiting and winning the games that could get them over the proverbial 'hump'. Post season NIT appearances suck and if you settle for that then you have issues.

Once again this year, and not even a month into the season, us fans are now having to watch what other teams are doing, calculating future what-ifs and praying something right goes our way. That's pathetic! The numbers don't lie, either we've done it or we haven't. There is no argument and the sad part and most head-scratching thing of all is that we have great fans, great facilities and great support and I'm betting we are in the top 75 of all D1 programs in attendance and what kind of dividends are being paid? Are the Shox parlaying these benefits into becoming a consistent 20 game winning and NCAA tourney appearance program?

I realize a part of the equation is being a mid-major, when we finally do find a great coach, they move onto BCS programs and the cycle starts all over. I also realize that scheduling higher profile teams is difficult as well. However, Butler and Gonzaga don't have an issue with it because they have earned their way to scheduling higher profile programs by winning the hard games in which we have yet to do.

So if you have a retort to explain why we can't take care of business away from home and against high profile teams when everyone knows that season essentially rests upon it I'd love to read it.

[cjp27]

KC, I agree with a lot of what you said, but had last year's team not lost at Drake and Evansville, it would have gotten an at large bid. Probably not a great seed, but an at large bid nonetheless.

Win out non-conference, win 14-15 games in the Valley with no bad losses, and this team goes to the tournament.

Not that this erases the disappointment of not being able to get over the hump and win some marquee non conference games, but it'd still get us to the dance.

[Snapshot9]

We had the record last year to make the Dance, but didn't. And then, we lost in the first round of the NIT to a Luke Babbit, so the committees oversight was not really an oversight at all, was it?

Every team has opportunities every year, it is what you do with those opportunities that count. I agree with KC shox on what he said.

[Overtime]

I totally agree with cjp27. It is the bad losses rather than soft scheduale or respectable losses that will keep us out. If we win the Valley without an embarrassing loss and win a game or two in St Louis, I think we will be in the NCAA Tourney.....We were two losses away from it last year. And yes, laying down in the NIT at home was a bad loss.