Andre Walker - Vanderbilt transfer considering WSU

[Aargh]

I still have confidence in Stutz. He's less likely to have questionable calls go against him. It seems that more experienced players get the benefit of the doubt more often than less experienced players. As a Jr, Stutz was better than Egelseder when he was Jr. Paul Miller was still being called "Fifi" in his Jr, year. There are a lot of reasons to expect that Stutz can have breakout year.

If Orukpe is ever going to do anything at WSU, he's got to be at least an acceptable backup next year. There may be some bumps in the road, but he's got to get some on-court experience if there's any hope of him being the starter in '12-'13.

PF is a potential problem. WSU has to rely on players with no D1 experience. Doug McDermott proved that a Fr can succeed, but that's an exceptional situation. White seems to be an exceptional Fr.

I would be more comfortable if any of the the 4 big guys WSU seemed to be trying to sign would have committed, but that didn't happen.

The comfort level isn't what it might have been. This is good for the progress of White and Orukpe. If they can contribute at all, they're going to be getting minutes. That has to improve the team in '12-'13.

The downside I see is that I think WSU is one player short of being an NCAA team next year.

The "if's" for next year are a bit lengthy, but I don't think any of them are unlikely. There are just too many of them to expect an NCAA team.

If...
Big man camp does for Stutz, what it did for Miller.

Orukpe has a breakthrough in understanding the game and his capabilities.

Hall can play at Blair's level.

White is a decent backup at PF.

If those 4 things happen before the end of the season, LOOK OUT!. Shut the front door, the back door, the side doors, the windows, and make your reservations for the second round of the NCAA's.

If any of those don't happen, WSU might not be top 2 in the MVC.

[wufan]

Well, poop. If you are over 6'5" you will get some minutes this year. Play some zone this year?

Well poop is right! We do still have 2 seven-footers and two very highly regarded 6-8 PF recruits...and a 6-6 freshman combo-forward. I don't know that we will have to "play zone." Look around the Valley. We will still be one of the deeper teams in the paint.

Love your "glass half full", wufan, and I hope you are right! However, we have two 7'rs, one of whom averaged less than 15 minutes per game and the other who played in half the games and averaged 5 minutes per game. Both had the highest PFs per minutes played of the regular players. Yes, Hall can also eat up some minutes at the post, putting more time and pressure on the freshmen at PF, all assuming that Hall stays healthy.

These arguments about how thin the Shockers are on the front line have been going on since JT Durley was a red-shirt freshman. I just don't think I have any more I can add about depth in the post.

Remember last year at this time...Durley sucked, Blair and Stutz were disappointments, Ellis REALLY SUCKED, and EO was the savior. Two years ago...Durley sucks, Ellis sucks, Stutz and Blair were the saviors...Three years ago...same story different names.

Don't know how you can compare any of the last 3 years at the 4 & 5 with this coming year. Totally different situations. As freshmen, Durley and Ellis played 15 & 14 mpg..... Stutz, last year as a junior, played 14.7. So by 3 years ago, you had Ramon (senior) and Durley/Ellis with 29 mpg between them the year before....a much more known quanity. Two years ago, Durley and Ellis were juniors with two years DI experience, Stutz with 1 year, and Blair coming in with 2 (7 years DI total).

As for last year, most were talking about Ellis red-shirting because of our good depth so that he would have been available after the other seniors were gone. Never have I (or most here) thought that Blair was a disappointment. Nevertheless, you had 9 years of DI experience with them and Durley.

Was Stutz a disappointment last year? Overall, yes. As a junior, he played fewer minutes and had fewer points and rebounds than as a soph.
And this year, as a senior, he will be the most experienced DI player at the 4/5 positions. EO played 19 games and for 5 mpg as a sophmore (remember Durley and Ellis played a total of 29 mpg as freshmen). Hall looks like he'll be a beast and may be our best frontliner, but that's 2 years of Juco, not DI and hope he has no health problems. White will be a true freshmen. That's a total of 49 mpg over 3 1/2 years of DI experience for next year. Durley and Ellis alone had 67 mpg experience starting their junior year.

So excuse me if I think that we are coming into this year, unlike the past several, with a lack of experienced depth and feel a little uneasy about it.

I think Stutz can have a great senior year. Hall may become one of the best PF we've had in some time and I feel White will be a solid 4 year player. I can only hope tha EO "gets it". He definitely has the athleticism. It could very well be a great year for the 4/5 positions. It could also only take one or two things to not go so well and become a real struggle.

:wsu_posters:

Yes, that was well said. There is still not much of a difference between 11-12 with a returning senior, returning junior, JUCO AA, and freshman AA. vs 08-09 with a returning senior, two returning sophomores, and a freshman 7-footer. We actually have roughly the same amount of D-I experience with Stutz having 3 years and EO having a little vs. Ramon, Durley, and Ellis each having one year of experience. Now, if Stutz were to get injured, it would be bad and that's where Walker could have really helped us out. None-the-less, I'll say it again...look around the Valley and there are very few teams that are as deep as the Shockers in the paint.