Drake vs. WSU game thread

[wu_shizzle]

Let's hope we never see this ref crew in a close game.

They were horribly inconsistent, and they had Phelps going nuts most of the game.

[SHOXAAC]

Is it just me or did we appear to be playing up hill all game long...and we still won by 19. Playing 25 good minutes a game vs. the lower division will get it done, but this team needs to up the ante a bit for the MSU's & CU's.

[another shocker]

New starting lineup:

1. Ragland (no turnovers.. good half court game.. 'd' improving)
2. Kyles
3. Murry (point forward, like Pressey at Tulsa- 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 asts)
4. Durley
5. Stutz (above average passing from high post his strength)

These slow, weak, lethargic starts like tonight (and last year at Drake and home vs Nevada) are unnecessary. 'Gonna bite 'em in NCAA tourney, just like CBI and NIT. Three guard lineup, which is advantageous, if you can pull it off.. I think the Shockers can. Still an above average bench- Hatch, Blair, Ellis, Williams, Smith.

[Dan]

New starting lineup:

1. Ragland (no turnovers.. good half court game.. 'd' improving)
2. Kyles
3. Murry (point forward, like Pressey at Tulsa- 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 asts)
4. Durley
5. Stutz (above average passing from high post his strength)

These slow, weak, lethargic starts like tonight (and last year at Drake and home vs Nevada) are unnecessary. 'Gonna bite 'em in NCAA tourney, just like CBI and NIT. Three guard lineup, which is advantageous, if you can pull it off.. I think the Shockers can. Still an above average bench- Hatch, Blair, Ellis, Williams, Smith.

We have a 3 guard lineup now with Hatch at the 3. Murry is better than Hatch but needs to improve his outside shot - not sure what's happened there. I don't care if Durely or Stutz starts at the 5 but I like having Ellis start at the 4.

[SHOXAAC]

I would rather start Smith for Hatch. Toure is our starting guard. Let's not muck with the tra-la-la.

[shoxlax]

New starting lineup:

1. Ragland (no turnovers.. good half court game.. 'd' improving)
2. Kyles
3. Murry (point forward, like Pressey at Tulsa- 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 asts)
4. Durley
5. Stutz (above average passing from high post his strength)

These slow, weak, lethargic starts like tonight (and last year at Drake and home vs Nevada) are unnecessary. 'Gonna bite 'em in NCAA tourney, just like CBI and NIT. Three guard lineup, which is advantageous, if you can pull it off.. I think the Shockers can. Still an above average bench- Hatch, Blair, Ellis, Williams, Smith.

Give Drake some credit-they are nowhere near the same team I saw in Alaska earlier this year. As their young talent matures, they will surprise some teams later in the year and they have a little depth too.

[ShockerFever]

That was an incredibly ugly first half of basketball. It carried a little bit into the second half before the Shocks imposed their well. We have a well-balanced attack. I just love the sweet assists. It's my favorite part of the game. I also loved our defensive intensity at times in the game. We forced a 10 second call, forced a couple DU TO's in the backcourt, and forced them with a few timeouts. Very nice in that respect.

I have been a pro-Hatch guy for a while now, but Ben Smith has officially surpassed him IMO. I think we're seeing Marshall seeing the same thing. Hatch may still start but Ben will likely get more minutes if his play continues. A lot of good efforts by a lot of guys tonight. Again, just a well-balanced team. No superstars. I love it.

I thought we played decently well overall, minus the shots not falling. Sometimes that happens. We had a 4 point halftime lead while shooting 20% from the field. That is crazy. We route em by 30 if our shots fall from the get-go.

Good crowd effort tonight. Another sellout. Can't look to Sunday yet. We must focus on Illinois State on the road. We better bring it.

:posterwu:

[ShockerFever]

Let's hope we never see this ref crew in a close game.

They were horribly inconsistent, and they had Phelps going nuts most of the game.

Agreed. Very bad. They were a circus. They had no clue what was going on out there. That block call on Durley in the second half was one of the worst calls I've ever witnessed. Absolutely garbage.

I now know why Phelps is a bad coach. When he calls timeouts, he doesn't say a word to his players during them. He just spends them crying and bsing with the officiating crew. Freaking whiner.

[forevershockerfan]

Whadda bout them Shocks? Where there is a DWill, there is way. He sparked us late in the 1st half when we needed it. I have sit through root canals that were less painful than much of the 1st half. We were allowing Drake's style and slow pace game to prevail during that duration of time.

Stutz sure can pass. Actually, I like all of our bigs tonight. Hatch had an off night but Ben Smith came in and gave us a nice boost. Toure' is still adapting to his new position of point guard this Season and had some nice moments tonight. Kyles and Rags both have had better nights but were still
scraping and playing hard as always.

3-0 works for me. Now we need another road win against a team that is in dire need of a Valley win. We must wear the Red Birds down and win at a place that gives us trouble. That is what experienced and deep teams do is find ways to win and keep improving as they gain confidence and momentum.

[BOBB]

New starting lineup:

1. Ragland (no turnovers.. good half court game.. 'd' improving)
2. Kyles
3. Murry (point forward, like Pressey at Tulsa- 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 asts)
4. Durley
5. Stutz (above average passing from high post his strength)

These slow, weak, lethargic starts like tonight (and last year at Drake and home vs Nevada) are unnecessary. 'Gonna bite 'em in NCAA tourney, just like CBI and NIT. Three guard lineup, which is advantageous, if you can pull it off.. I think the Shockers can. Still an above average bench- Hatch, Blair, Ellis, Williams, Smith.

"How 'bout 'No,' Scott."

[jocoshock]

I would rather start Smith for Hatch. Toure is our starting guard. Let's not muck with the tra-la-la.

Agreed. Murry, Kyles and Smith at the 1,2, and 3.

What coach does with the 4 and 5 is up to him.

I like Ragland and DWill coming off the bench. DWill is back to being the spark plug that he was at the end of last season.

8)

[SHOXAAC]

I also loved our defensive intensity at times in the game. We forced a 10 second call, forced a couple DU TO's in the backcourt, and forced them with a few timeouts. Very nice in that respect.:

I thought Drake hit some tough shots when it looked like our defense was being effective. Give the Dawgs some credit there.

[KC Shox]

Got back from my first game of the season. It was only Drake, and the start showed. But proud of the guys dominating the second half and putting the game away.

[forevershockerfan]

At one juncture about mid-way through the 1st half, we were shooting about 20% from the field. That is why Drake hung so close so long. This is and will be rare. Even so, in the end, we had 7 players make at least 1 three. That was nice to see.

[SHOXAAC]

At one juncture about mid-way through the 1st half, we were shooting about 20% from the field. That is why Drake hung so close so long. This is and will be rare. Even so, in the end, we had 7 players make at least 1 three. That was nice to see.

My recollection is that was the time in the game where D-Will contributed a nice run of 5 points in a row to help right the ship. Good to see him back in the rotation. Hopefully a sign of growing up.