Shox Implode Again

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

The list goes on. Poor Defense, should try the zone, silly fouls. Not fun. :cry:

[1972Shocker]

I was unable to listen to the game so all I have to go by is the box score.

We apparently played pretty well the first half as we took a 31-24 lead into the locker room.

We lead 44-43 with 7:29 remaining in the 2nd half. 6 minutes later INS finished off a 20-4 run to take a 15 point lead and command of the game.

Giving up these kind of runs are all too typical for this Shocker team.

Not sure it was a matter of the Shocks running out of gas. Indiana State played an even shorter bench then the Shocks did. INS top 5 played a combined 179 minutes compared to 150 minutes for the Shocks top 5 in minutes played.

We are a little on the young side, but our youth has a lot of actual game experience under their belts. Not sure we can continue to use that as an excuse.

The Sycamores outscored us by 11 from the line and dominated the boards 41-28 (including a 12-7 advantage on the offensive boards).

Perhaps, as a team, the Shocks are not as athletic and not as talented (especially in basketball terms) as they have been promoted to be. Our athleticism is OK, but not obviously superior to most other MVC teams. Our basketball skills, basketball IQ and mental toughness certainly don't stand out vs our MVC peers.

I still have hope we will take a big step up next year, but I am less and less sure about this as this season progresses. Time will tell I guess.

I was glad to see Heather with a reasonably productive day in 21 minutes of play. Perhaps her best performance in an MVC game as a Shocker.

Morgan has shown a signfiicant improvement in her game in her Senior season. Hopefully, that will also be the case for Heather and Alicia next year. Hopefully, we get Morgan back soon.

Jessica had a horrible start to the season but has made some nice strides lately, although I don't think she has come close to her full potential yet.

Haleigh is our most consistent player but just can't seem to stay out of foul trouble. She just takes too many high risk chances on defense.

I like Jazimen's game but at 6'2", 140 lbs she is often overmatched by less athletic but bulkier post players.

This year has definitely been below my expectations. Part of that is because I think I over-rated the talent level on the team and part because the team has not played up to their capabilities.

I will say that our chances of winning a game in the MVC Tournament may actually have improved as we may very well get Southern Illinois in the play-in round.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I watched on the Web cast. We allowed easy drives to the hoop and got killed on the boards. We zoned a bit and did fine then went back to man and got beat constantly. If everyone returns next year and all are healthy we could be decent.

[1972Shocker]

Previously I posted:

I will say that our chances of winning a game in the MVC Tournament may actually have improved as we may very well get Southern Illinois in the play-in round.

After looking over the remaining schedule we still should have a decent shot at avoiding the play-in round:

We have Missouri State, Creighton and Drake coming up at home with a final road swing to the bottom dwellers of the league Evansville and SIU (although I will point out we lost to Evansville at home).

If we go 3-2 in these games I think we will finish in the Top 6. Might even back into a tie for 5th at 8-10. The most likely wins would be Drake, Evansville and SIU, although MSU is not palying well lately and we did take CU to overtime in Omaha although both teams played poorly in that one.

If we go 2-3 there is a good chance that we will fall into a 6th place tie with Bradley and/or Drake in which case the tie-breaker rules will be in play.