Austin Reaves 6-5 g Is officially a Shocker!

[im4wsu]

It was at Shocker Madness that his passes were soft and he was getting picked from behind. First game he played, I noticed his passes no longer had much arc. They were crisp and delivered in a pretty flat arc. He also got a lot harder to pick between Shocker Madness and the games.

I was a little concerned after Shocker Madness. Then I saw the adjustments he made in the first game, and I had a whole different outlook.

Right in front of us, he had Smith (I think) open on the left side of the lane and passed from the right wing, picked off for a runout. Thought was risky, but would have been okay with more zip on the pass. That will come with more strength.

[im4wsu]

Assist/turnover ratios are unreal for the guards:

Conner...11-3
Daishon.13-5
Austin......8-2
Zach......11-2
Landry... .7-1

Total.....50-13

[Cdizzle]

Assist/turnover ratios are unreal for the guards:

Conner...11-3
Daishon.13-5
Austin......8-2
Zach......11-2
Landry... .7-1

Total.....50-13

Those 5 also currently have a positive Steal/Turnover ratio.

[1972Shocker]

Assist/turnover ratios are unreal for the guards:

Conner...11-3
Daishon.13-5
Austin......8-2
Zach......11-2
Landry... .7-1

Total.....50-13

The ball movement and unselfishiness of this team makes for a very pleasurable style of basketball to watch. I hope they can keep it up.

[1979Shocker]

Why is this thread still getting so much activity? It seems like the Austin Reaves thread in the Wichita State Men's Basketball forum would be a better place to make comments.

[WstateU]

One of my favorite Austin moments thus far was during the second half of the MES game Sunday afternoon. Austin checked into the game and coach put him on #0 (Andino) and must have said, "if he's chewing gum, I want to know the flavor when you check out." Several seconds before the whistle even blew to start play, Austin was already in Andino's grill; Andino had this funny look on his face and was probably thinking, "who does this skinny kid think he is?" Several people in our section got a good chuckle. I don't recall Andino getting any open looks while Austin was guarding him, however he may have been tiring at that point.

[wufan]

I love me some AR, but he certainly looks better because his shots are falling. He's not going to shoot it that we'll all season.

[Cdizzle]

I love me some AR, but he certainly looks better because his shots are falling. He's not going to shoot it that we'll all season.

Unless...

[im4wsu]

I love me some AR, but he certainly looks better because his shots are falling. He's not going to shoot it that we'll all season.

Who doesn't look better when the shots are falling? In a/ustin's case, if you are not seeing his floor presence, his defense, his passing and BBIQ, I guess you best be watching his shots, because I expect a lot of them to fall a lot of the time.

[moshock]

Right in front of us, he had Smith (I think) open on the left side of the lane and passed from the right wing, picked off for a runout. Thought was risky, but would have been okay with more zip on the pass. That will come with more strength.

I was watching at home - I think it was Keyser. IIRC, the commentators more or less blamed in on CJ.

[1972Shocker]

I love me some AR, but he certainly looks better because his shots are falling. He's not going to shoot it that we'll all season.

That's probably a pretty good bet since Austin is 12-18 (66.7%) from the field including 7-11 (63.6%) from behind he arc. In fact, he is better from the field than from the FT line where he is 4-7 (57.1%). He will very likely regress to a more normal FG shooting percentage and a higher free throw percentage. The nice thing about Austin's game is he can make important contributions even if he isn't scoring. It won't take long for teams to realize they have to pay close attention to him when the Shockers have the ball but I think he is smart enough to adjust to that appropriately. In any case, he is fun to watch.

[moshock]

That's probably a pretty good bet since Austin is 12-18 (66.7%) from the field including 7-11 (63.6%) from behind he arc. In fact, he is better from the field than from the FT line where he is 4-7 (57.1%). He will very likely regress to a more normal FG shooting percentage and a higher free throw percentage. The nice thing about Austin's game is he can make important contributions even if he isn't scoring. It won't take long for teams to realize they have to pay close attention to him when the Shockers have the ball but I think he is smart enough to adjust to that appropriately. In any case, he is fun to watch.

There have been several 3's that when the ball left his hands - he took off running to the defensive end. He knew it was good when it left his hands.

This young man is special. So are some of the others. It's going to be fun watching them gel even more than they have over the next few years.

[im4wsu]

I was watching at home - I think it was Keyser. IIRC, the commentators more or less blamed in on CJ.

It may have been CJ. I said to my companion at the game that the receiver should have come to the ball, but it was a very weak long cross court pass so I assess fault to Austin on that one, though the idea was okay.

[wusphlash]

It may have been CJ. I said to my companion at the game that the receiver should have come to the ball, but it was a very weak long cross court pass so I assess fault to Austin on that one, though the idea was okay.

It was CJ. I figured Austin was trying to get his roomie a shot. Kinda forced the pass.

I think most of Austin's turnovers will be due to perpetually being in attack mode. I'm okay with that. I have a feeling he's going to succeed far more often than he fails.

[xazshox]

Reaves passing ability

Austin had 2 assists in the MES Game. One was the lob to Zach Brown for the jam. I discovered yesterday at midday at Cox Ch 2022 was showing the game. The menu didn't show it. All it said was "To be announced". Anyway, I discovered it just before the end of the 1st half, so I watched the 2nd half. There are always little things that are more noticeable on TV compared to being at the actual game. In this case, what noticed was Austin's 2nd assist. He was on the right side on a break. Someone passed him the ball with a defender close by. Austin caught the ball high in the air, twisted and made a perfect pass while still in the air over the shoulder of Rauno Nurger who went in to score. I forget whether that was the play where Nurger was fouled or not I was still reveling over the amazing pass that Austin just made. If Nurger was fouled, it may have been the Flagrant 2 foul where he made both shots & WSU got possession afterwards.