WSU VERSUS MO-STATE PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSION

[shockerfan]

The problem I fear is whenever we do fire out to big leads early, we tend to sit on them, go disinterested, get sloppy, and slowly choke away our big lead.

I would actually prefer a solidly competitive game through about a half, with the Shocks turning it on in the second half for a solid 8-12 point win. I imagine this may be closer though. MSU has already proven to be a tough road team surprisingly.

A few MSU fans on MVCfans.com don't think this will be close and think MSU is clearly the better team. I wish our team could get a look at that stuff... let them know people think MSU is the better team and will roll all over them..

then see what happens..

Official prediction:

WSU - 81
MSU - 76

The place WILL be rockin.

I don't know. I think this team has held onto big leads better this year when they get them.

Are we talking about Texas Southern caliber or Missouri State caliber?

All I can talk about are the teams we have gotten big leads against. We haven't played many Missouri St calibre teams and even then we are better now than we were earlier. So that is yet to be seen. Can only go off of what we KNOW and have SEEN.

[ShockerFever]

..against less than stellar competition. It's hard to choke away leads against SWAC teams.

You can prefer the big jump out leads and I can prefer the late game surges. As long as it ends with a W, who cares?

[ShockTalk]

Mo St needs to be played hard from beginning to end with no time off for rest. They do only play 7 and most log a lot of minutes.

Over the last seven games, Mallett, Weems, and Leonard have played over 30 minutes in 17 of 21 player games (3 players x 7 games). Mallett over 33 mpg, Weems 31 mpg, and Leonard almost 34 mpg and they log more minutes in games with no foul trouble. All 4 games where one of them played less than 30 were all probably due to foul trouble (4 or 5 fouls for the game). Even Ricks averages over 28 minutes per game.

This 7 man rotation leads to another problem. Even though Mo St, as a team, does not foul a lot, the fouls they do get are not spread over a lot of players. Again, looking at the last 7 games for all 7 players (7x7=49 player games), in 22 of 49 player games, a player has had 3 or more fouls. Only 2 have fouled out, but 10 times a player has gotten 4 fouls. That's almost 2 of the 7 players in foul trouble each game.

[wsushox1]

ESPNU TV

No ESPN3 :(

[forevershockerfan]

Mallett and Weems were the 2 Bears that really impressed me last Season in our meetings with the Bears in that order. Leonard is far from chopped liver and these three may rarely exit this game. It would be nice to get one or more of them in foul trouble.

Our Inside "Black and Gold Iron Curtain" of AE, JT, Stutz, and Gabe have been solid. You can mix or match these 4 players any which way but lose and it just don't matter. Between the 4, if we can contain either Mallett or Weems to a mild roar, we will be finer than a frog hair. The Bears may be one of the few teams that can score in the 60's versus our ungenerous D. Even so, it will be rare to find a team that will hold our formidable offense under 70.

It would be nice to establish our inside game in this game first before chucking up so many 3's. Our inside game will offer better percentage shots, open up the outside for wide open shots, and hopefully draw oodles of fouls in which we sink the throws like clock-work.

In the Drake game, it took until around 4 minutes left to play in the first half before the Shockers rallied in a way that got the crowd loud and sassy. In this game, I am wishing and hoping for as close to 40 minutes of solid play as possible so the crowd will go wild. This buswax of having to jump start our Offense halfway through the 1st half is getting old. We are a resilient home team, hard to beat here, and this is a golden opportunity to seize 1st place in the Valley and to be the only undefeated team. So let's get ready to rumble and bag some bear. This game is of essence to win and ours for the taking.

[1972Shocker]

Hopefully, the Shocks have not be lulled into a sense of entitlement and complacency after going 4-0 against teams with a combined MVC record of 3-13.

Fortunately, they haven't been playing perfectly and have provided 3G with more than enough dry powder (game tape) that he can use to light a fire under the guys.

Time for David Kyles to get back into the flow offensively.

Shocks - 72
Bears - 67

[shockar25]

We tend to play up or down for the competition. We're at home (and haven't lost a conference home game in a long while), Mo State is a decent opponent and we'll play to their level--and slightly better.

SHOX -- 80
Bears -- 63

[shockar25]

I would also say that the lesson to be learned from the SDSU game, is that you simply can't have stretches of large concentration lapses against quality teams. Mo State is NO SDSU, but they are well coached and talented and we better come ready to duke it out for a full 40 minutes.

[shocker22]

Shox 77
Bears 63

[hizzshock]

Shox are a much deeper team. They need to be pushing the ball up the floor all game long. The Bears will wear down in the 2nd half. Close game in the 1st half, and like in prior Valley games, Shox push the lead to double digits in 2nd half. Don't be surprised if Gregg Marshall and Co. win by 20. But I will go with.....

Shox 75
Bears 60

[pie n eye]

With each game our team continues to prove that all our pre season hype was no bragging, just fact. I have a lot of respect for MSU. The win @ Creighton stands as their biggest achievement, one I hope we can duplicate. But MSU is no WSU. We've played no close games at home (the charles) and I don't expect to be sweating this one in the end. Until someone in the Valley steps up and shows they can hang, I'm predicting double digit wins against everyone @ home and maybe on the road. MSU is the best of the rest in the Valley this year so they're definitely capable of making me reassess my outlook for the remainder of Valley play. This should be a really fun game to be a part of.

WSU 75
MSU 59

[Snapshot9]

I think everyone is just being a little too cavelier and taking the Bears too lightly. They are a tougher team than what most have indicated, and I think we will win, but not by a big margin.

Shockers - 72
Bears - 64

[Rosewood]

Shox break 100 and score 999
Mo State has trouble scoring and scores 1

[DUShock]

Buzzer beater, I don't know by which team...

[RussDaBus]

Shockers 73
Bears 68