Official WSU vs. Bradley Game Thread

[wsushox1]

LOL Gabe Blair is the man:

Blair said he warned the Braves as they lined up for the free throw.

“(Bradley’s Jake) Eastman was on my right, and I told him I was going to get the rebound,” Blair said. “He said ‘You probably are.’ So he told a teammate to (help). I said ‘It’s going to take more than two

of you all to box me out.’”

Bradley shot 14 free throws in the first half, so Blair had plenty of time to plan his attack.

“I knew I was going to get it,” he said. “I would beat my man every time. I was there every time.”

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/01/165...#ixzz19r3uDZBk

I know I saw that and was like dang, thats awesome.

[wu_shizzle]

LOL Gabe Blair is the man:

Blair said he warned the Braves as they lined up for the free throw.

“(Bradley’s Jake) Eastman was on my right, and I told him I was going to get the rebound,” Blair said. “He said ‘You probably are.’ So he told a teammate to (help). I said ‘It’s going to take more than two

of you all to box me out.’”

Bradley shot 14 free throws in the first half, so Blair had plenty of time to plan his attack.

“I knew I was going to get it,” he said. “I would beat my man every time. I was there every time.”

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/01/165...#ixzz19r3uDZBk

I know I saw that and was like dang, thats awesome.

X would be proud.

[ShockerFever]

Just finished watching the game on the DVR. Color me surprised. A slow first half but an unforgiving second half that punished Bradley on the road. Very nice. Ben Smith keeps impressing me more and more. Gabe had a helluva game. Nice flow on offense. Great passing and assists. Lots of unselfish play. If this team keeps this up, I'm gonna have to up my expectations.

Need to take care of Drake, which would then set up a potentially large game in about a week.

:posterwu:

[BOBB]

Agree about Smith. I love his instincts. Reminds me a lot of PJ.

He is just like PJ if PJ were a better shooter, slower, weaker, worse defender and more likely to lose in a street fight. He is our best option at the three right now and I mean that as a compliment, not just by default. When he is in the game withe the other starters there are too many scoring threats for the other team.

[WuDrWu]

A few things that I believe show this team continues to have a very high ceiling that they haven't begun to approach yet.


Make more FTs than your opponent shoots: Fail

In fact, reverse that: Bradley made 20, WSU attempted 12.


Keep turnovers and fouls combined to a number less than 30: Fail

WSU 23 fouls, 10 turnovers


Not have opponents shoot a crazy % from 3: Partial fail

50% but only 5-10


If you would have told me, even with Bradley's injuries that we would allow Andrew Warren to torch us for 26, that the Braves would go 20-28 from the line versus 10-12 for the Shocks, that the Braves would shoot 50% from 3 and 71% from the line and they would only turnover the ball 13 times, there is no way I would have predicted a double digit win.

The quality depth is going to continue to give problems to a lot of Valley teams later in the games.

[WuDrWu]

By the way, go back and notice how many teams were out of timeouts, or unusually low on timeouts against the Shocks this year.

A combination of getting beat and trying to get your players rested against a deeper and fresher team is the cause, and the result will be fewer chances to set up plays late in games that happen to be close.

This quality depth thing is all right.

[WuDrWu]

Missouri State and Creighton are both VERY dangerous clubs, especially with their starting 5.

However, neither team has much depth, and while nobody wants to see any injuries, those could be crippling for either team. Wragge for the Jays looks to be sidelined for awhile, maybe the rest of the year.

Playing Little Mac, Lawson and Young 30+ minutes every game will render them ineffective as the season wears on, especially late in games, and especially against WSU who should remain fresh. The same thing with MSU where Mallet, Weems and Leonard are all playing most of the game.

[Capitol Shock]

Great game last night. We have a ton of weapons, you can't cheat on anyone of our players.

I hope we're not taking to far a step backwards next year.

Although I'm really liking our Juniors and Demetric. They are really coming on.

[BOBB]

A few things that I believe show this team continues to have a very high ceiling that they haven't begun to approach yet.


Make more FTs than your opponent shoots: Fail

In fact, reverse that: Bradley made 20, WSU attempted 12.


Keep turnovers and fouls combined to a number less than 30: Fail

WSU 23 fouls, 10 turnovers


Not have opponents shoot a crazy % from 3: Partial fail

50% but only 5-10


If you would have told me, even with Bradley's injuries that we would allow Andrew Warren to torch us for 26, that the Braves would go 20-28 from the line versus 10-12 for the Shocks, that the Braves would shoot 50% from 3 and 71% from the line and they would only turnover the ball 13 times, there is no way I would have predicted a double digit win.

The quality depth is going to continue to give problems to a lot of Valley teams later in the games.

Agree on everything but Warren. He scored a lot of meaningless point. He is a good player and he takes about a third of his team's shots. I wouldn't say he torched us. He's going to have to score a ton every game just to keep it respectable most nights. Dyricus Simms-Edwards is a nice player, but they are terribly shorthanded right now.

Completely unrelated, but did anyone notice EO calling for the ball on the block every possession? I think coach would have called a time out and pulled any guard that threw to it to him:) Is there a basketball version of one of those football throwers? He needs to sit in front of one of those about an hour a night. If after that he has any fingers left by the next year he will be a force on offense. He is a monster out there though! :D

[Ricardo del Rio]

Missouri State and Creighton are both VERY dangerous clubs, especially with their starting 5.

However, neither team has much depth, and while nobody wants to see any injuries, those could be crippling for either team. Wragge for the Jays looks to be sidelined for awhile, maybe the rest of the year.

Playing Little Mac, Lawson and Young 30+ minutes every game will render them ineffective as the season wears on, especially late in games, and especially against WSU who should remain fresh. The same thing with MSU where Mallet, Weems and Leonard are all playing most of the game.

Not only deep with a strong bench, the Shockers are inducing fatigue in the opponent by running them in the floor.

I have watched the recording two times. The Braves had their tongues hanging out in the last ten minutes of the game.

[forevershockerfan]

The good Doc had some astute observations. The 1st half seems to reflect on weaknesses that our beloved Shocks must shore up. How do you lose road games? Foul way too much as key players are forced to the pine and gives our opponents myraids of throws which eventually begets 2 throws with our 10 team-fouls. Next, settle for jacking up 3's rather than establishing the inside game first which will open up the outside game.

The 2nd half pointed to our strengths. First of all, whom can our foes focus on? Lat night, Kyles and Gabe stepped up. However, our bench has outscored our starters the last 2 games. Thus I repeat. Who can our foes focus on without negative consequences and paying the piper? Next, we had 10 turnovers which was less than Bradley's 13. 10 turnovers on the road is not bad and we always need less of them than our opponents which can be difficult on the cold and lonely Valley road. Next, we outrebounded them by 10 which gives us even more possesions. Our effective passing and teamwork was much more manifest the 2nd half. 20 assists versus their 13 was a factor.

What does it all mean? Well, Bradley was missing 2 solid players and we wore them down in due time. Even so, as we examine our history at Peoria, this win was welcomed with open arms. The wheels are in motion for the Shockers improving as we march forward. There will be plenty of hazards along the way, packed in funky zones, and plenty of folks that want to administer purple rain on our black and yellow parade. Thus, are we up for the challanges to follow? Stay tuned because this could very well be a Season to remember!!!!!!!

[tropicalshox]

I hope we're not taking to far a step backwards next year.

We hang a lot of hope on Hall. I thought he was the 2nd best available player in the nation for what we needed. After seeing the stats this year, I believe he is probably the best. Be even so, front court depth is a potential issue. The other possible problem is an SF backup. Now Hamilton and Richardson could be the solutions, but who knows.

[SHOXAAC]

A previous poster looked at our potential starting lineup for next year (Murry, Kyles, Smith, Hall, Stutz). The comment was made it could be a better starting lineup than this year's squad. The challenge is where the quality depth will come from.

Although My eye isn't an expert eye, but Richardson just doesn't look like the quality player we were hoping for. When Kyles was a freshman you could at least see the potential. Except for a 28-foot 3 pointer the other night I havne't seen it yet from Richardson.

I wish we could see more of Hamilton. I don't have an opinion one way or the other. I hope he gets healthy.

D-Will...the question is can he get beyond what is distracting him from becoming an outstanding talent?

EO...I, along with the rest of Shocker Nation, am rooting for him, but will he become more than just an eraser and a rebounder?

The incoming freshmen are a big question mark. Some freshmen catch on quicker than others. Who knows?

There shouldn't be much contention that we will sign another player in the spring. That player has to be able to play at an expected quality immediately.

[pinstripers]

TRich can shoot it, no doubt.

Yeah, worried Hamilton may never play.

DWill ...........exactly.

Just an eraser and rebounder is fine if he can stay on the floor. Right now, he and Stutz will both foul out sharing 40 minutes.

Yep, thinking we MUST go get another big.

[kcshocker11]

Nice second half and a nice win. Again I say get used to a zone