Shocker WBB 2018-19 Offseason/Preseason

[1972Shocker]

In his Three Items to Watch This Week Roundhouse column Sully talks mostly about the Women's basketball team and the upcoming Black & Yellow Scrimmage. I suspect we will see an additional report from Sully (or perhaps Taylor) that covers the men's team yet this week.

Adams does like the flashes of defense she's seen in practices and that is a good place to start assessing the 2018-19 Shocker newcomers.

"Our athleticism is there to where I think we've got the ability to get up and defend and pressure people," she said. "Seraphine (Bastin) really likes to dig her nose in there and guard. She's got a bulldog mentality. Dawnyel (Lair) is very, very athletic. Jada (Peacock) is going to defend."

The Shockers will build around senior forward Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage. Senior guard Cesaria Ambrosio started 24 games last season, but a back injury has sidelined her the past eight weeks. She is scheduled to return within two weeks, Adams said. Other injuries, none season-ending, also inhibit practice plans.

"The month of October is really big for us," Adams said. "We've got to make gains, every day, where we're grasping and learning what it is that we're trying to do. Offensively, we need to play at a fast pace. We're going to need to move the ball; we're going to need to set a lot of screens."

The back injury to Ces is very worrisome. Hopefully, she will be fully recovered but backs are tough to deal with and recurrences are not uncommon. Ces doesn't have a lot of experience at the D-1 level but she has significantly more playing time at this level than any other Shocker other than Sabrina.

[1972Shocker]

Just as with the Shocker men there was a ton of new faces to get a first look at in today's Yellow and Black scrimmage. Senior Ces Ambrosio didn't play today as she continues to recovery from some kind of back injury. Ces did do the jump ball toss for the 5 on 5 scrimmage and gets an A+ on that effort. Better than the great majority of officials seems to be able to do. Also Freshman Seraphine Bastin from Belgium was in a walking boot on her left leg and did not play. Freshman guard Dawnyel Lair out of Los Angeles did not play either for reasons unknown to me. Finally, I am not sure if Ashley Reid, a 5-5 Jr. guard via New Mexico CC, played. In fact, not sure Ashley was even announced in the introductions but I could very easily me wrong about that.

Taylor Eldridge had these observations and highlights:

Carla Bremaud

Maya Brewer

Natalia Ryng

I agree with all of these observations by Taylor. How good this team can be is hard to say as they are extremely inexperienced. Maya Brewer, the Juco transfer from Kansas City via State Fair CC, looked quite good. Jaida Hampton also looks like she will be a key component this year. One thing HCKA has done is upgraded the size of our guard corp significantly without sacrificing athleticism and skill.

Even 6-3 RFr Asia Henderson who looked totally overwhelmed a year ago at Shocker Madness and in the Exhibition games before redshirting looked like she had made some good strides. She still has a lot of work to do but at least she looked capable of contributing against the right match ups.

I think getting a fully healthy Ces back will be important if for no other reason than any experience we can add to the mix will be helpful.

If nothing else it should be an interesting year.

[shoxlax]

Jaida Hampton is a very good player with a chance to be great

[Aargh]

It looked like there were some players on the floor, but it's not going to be pretty when UConn comes to town and CKA is likely to be at capacity. Too bad thousands of fans will only see this team in that matchup.

[1972Shocker]

It looked like there were some players on the floor, but it's not going to be pretty when UConn comes to town and CKA is likely to be at capacity. Too bad thousands of fans will only see this team in that matchup.

Obviously those thousands of fans will not be there to see the Lady Shocks. However, let's hope the Shocks can keep the game closer than the 124-43 destruction UConn laid on the Shocks last year in Hartford. Keeping it within 65 would be a nice step forward but last year was a senior laden team for the Shocks and this year is just the opposite.

Hopefully, the Athletic Department will raise the prices for this game from the normal $6.00 to $8.00 per ticket to $12.00 to $15.00 per ticket. Might as well take advantage of the one opportunity they will have every other year to generate some revenue.

[1972Shocker]

Here’s why the WSU women’s basketball team will shoot more threes this season

BY TAYLOR ELDRIDGE

Three-pointers were not a common sighting in coach Keitha Adams’ first season with the Wichita State women’s basketball team.

The Shockers barely took them (their three-point rate of 20.4 percent ranked 340th in the country) and barely made them (their 27.4 shooting percentage ranked 308th in the country).

So they didn't take 'em because they couldn't make 'em.

WSU’s reluctance last season to take threes wasn’t because of imposed restrictions by Adams. She wants her offense to be up-tempo and free-flowing and ideally produce more looks from beyond the arc.

But last season WSU’s advantage was inside, where Rangie Bessard (6-foot-1) and Angiee Tompkins (6-2) were best. WSU shot the ninth-most two-point shots in the country and made nearly 48 percent of them, which helped the Shockers pump out middle-of-the-pack offensive efficiency despite little production from three-pointers.

Rangie wasn't particularly athletic but she new how to use her wide body and she had good offesnive skills. Angiee was very athlietic but a little wild. Never did totally git red of her Juco habits. No doubt thought that they were the strength of las year's team. Rangie would occassionally wander outside to shoot the 3 but only hit 20.4% (11-54). Angiee was 2nd on the team in 3-point % at 34.5% (10-29) but averaged less than 1 attempt per game.

Sr. forward Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (6-2) will anchor the front-court for the Shocks. She showed she can knock down the 3-ball last especially later in the year. She was just behind Angiee at 33.5% (20-59) on roughly twice as many attempts. Sabrina looked confident in knocking down her only 3 attempt in the Black and Yellow scrimmage.

Sr. guard Ces Ambrosio (6-0) lead the Shocks last year at 40.0% (14-35) but was, IMHO, very reluctant to shoot the ball although she did get a little more offensive minded late in the year. She has a nice looking shot although she wasn't very good from that line at 53.8%. Perhaps one reason she had the best 3-point percentage is that she was very selective with her shots. All other Shocker guards shot 24.7% (46-186).

Those numbers should drastically change this season, as Adams has shifted WSU’s identity by bringing in 10 new players to the roster. And judging by Saturday’s scrimmage, WSU has several that can stroke it from outside.

Carla Bremaud:

After playing her high school senior season in Wichita, where she averaged 23.1 points at Life Prep, Carla Bremaud should make an instant impact for the Shockers. The 5-11 guard from France has already become the team’s top sharpshooter and plays with poise beyond a freshman.

“Carla is just a really good competitor and we’re going to need for her to look to score for us,” Adams said. “She’s a good shooter and she’s got good basketball IQ. She sets a high bar for herself and if she doesn’t do something perfectly, she’s going to be upset with herself. We’re really excited about having her great work ethic in our program.”

I am very intrigued wioth Carla. She was one of the scrappier players on the floor on Saturday and she is physically stronger than I was expecting,. A big guard at 5-11 I think she has the potential to be the female version of Ron Baker although Angers, France is just a bit different than Scott City:



Maya Brewer:

“We can bring it out on the arc,” said WSU junior Maya Brewer, who hit three jump shots on Saturday.

Jr. guard Maya Brewer is another big guard at 5-11 and she was probably the most impressive player on the floor for the Lady Shocks Saturday. I think 2 of her 3 makes were 3 pointers. I don't recall if she had any misses.

Natalia Ryng:

Along with Brewer, freshman Natalia Ryng had a strong showing at Saturday’s scrimmage by drilling a three-pointer from straight on.

Yes, 5-11 Fr. forward Natalia Ryng did knock down a 3 but for me the jury is still out on how much Natalia will play. She was a late addition to the roster after Juco All-American Maria McCully was a no show.

Other Players Mentioned:

Three more freshmen could play minutes immediately for the Shockers at guard. Jada Peacock and Jaida Hampton have both drawn praise from Adams so far in practices and Dawnyel Lair was a highly-recruited player from Las Angeles.

Jada Peacock is a 5-8 Fr. guard, Jaida Hampton is a 5-10 Fr. G and was the 2018 Michigan Miss Basetball, and Dawnyel Lair is 5-8 Fr. guard out of Las Angeles who is reportedly very quick and very fast. In addition, to Ces (bad back) and 5-8 Fr. G Seraphine Bastin (walking boot on left leg) Dawnyel did not play Satruday. Not sure what her isssue was.

HCKA has previously priased Jada and Dawnyel for how they get after it on the defensive end.

One thing that stands out with this new guard corp is that is the upgrade in size at that position from last year. I think it was pretty obvious that the Shockers needed more size at guard but espeically after UConn eviscerated them 124-43 in Hartford last year. I believe that HCKA stated that would be one of her keys in her recruiting efforts. I would say mission accompished but perhaps just as importantly she has not only upgraded the size but it appears she has also upgraded the skill level..

Heights of last year's guards: 6-0, 5-9, 5-8, 5-8, 5-7, 5-5, 5-5, 5-2
Hieighs of this year's guards: 6-0, 5-11, 5-11, 5-10, 5-8, 5-8, 5-8, 5-5

HCKA's Take:

Adams was pleased with the outside shooting shown in Saturday’s scrimmage, but that wasn’t her biggest takeaway.

“We hit some shots, but we took some bad shots too,” Adams said. “We’ve got to get in game shape. We’ve been breaking down and teaching so much.

(Saturday) tells me we’ve got to get up and down and playing more and get in game shape. We’ll get that taken care of.”

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

Shockers Picked to Finish 10th by League Coaches

This is not surprising at all. In fact, I'm a little surprised the Shocks weren't picked 12th considering we graduated 8 seniors. Of the 2 seniors returning 1, Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage, is a 4-year player but the other, Cesaria Ambrosio, is a Juco transfer who has been dealing with back issues in the last couple of months. Only one other returning player, Soph Alyssia Faye, has seen the floor in a D-1 game. Alyssia played about 9 minutes a game as a freshman contributing 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. The bottom line the Shockers are all but building from scratch. I think the 2018 recruiting class is a pretty good one but we'll have to see how well they will be able to make the transition to the next level.

The Shocks were also picked to finish 10th last year and ended up in a 5th place tie with Houston. If they can duplicate that finish this year then the arrow is definitely pointing in the right direxction for Shocker women's basketball. But it is really difficult to project how such and inexperienced team will fare.

UConn, of course, is the unanimous choice to win another AAC Championship and will no doubt be in the mix for another Natty.

UConn's Kaite Lou Samuelson is the preseason pick for AAC POY.

UConn visits Koch Arena for the 1st time on Tuesday, February 26th.

[1979Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

If your looking for any discussion of Wichita State's WBB team you can skip this video. I didn't listen to the whole thing but in skipping through it the only mention I heard of Wichita State is that hey were picked to finish 10th. However, they did have a fairly lenthy segment on mental health awareness.

The bottom line is the Shocks are not on anyone's radar screen at this point.

[1972Shocker]

The future is bright for WSU women’s basketball, but Keitha Adams wants to win now

BY TAYLOR ELDRIDGE

https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...220659475.html

I like the positive thinking. Not sure I can come up with anything I dislike about what HCKA has done so far. I suppose the pig in the python roster is a concerned but HCKA pretty much inherited that and it may take a few years to get better class balance. I would expect we will see a couple of the 9 freshman will redshirt.

Pleasantly suprised with the positive comments regarding the potential of 6-3 redshirt freshman Asia Henderson. What little I saw of her during her redshirt year last year had me thinking major project. That doesn't necessarily mean she will be a prime time player this year but it does indicate positive progess is being made. That was also eveident in the Yellow and Black Scrimmage as was the improved 3-point shooting.

Hopefully, Ces is fully recovered from her back injury.

Perhaps the key point in the article was:

After barely taking and making any threes last year, expect WSU’s outside shooting to drastically improve. The Shockers are more athletic too, so Adams wants to pick up the pace, press more and turn more defense into offense.

Looking forward to watching the young ladies in action in their exhibition game Thursday against Missouri Southern State. MSSU is picked to finish 10th this year in the 14-team D-II MIAA. Neverthe less when a team is this young ups and downs are some head scratching plays are to be expected.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers Set for Exhibition vs. Missouri Southern

The Shocks, picked 10th in the 12-team AAC, take on Missouri Southern, picked to finish 10th in the 14-team D-II MiAA, in Koch Arena on Thursday, November 1st at 6:30 pm.

First of all let me say that I have been very positvely impressed by the effort HCKA and AHCEL have made trying to invigorate the women's program at Wichita State. They are really hustling and I would suggest they deserve some support. Season tickets are only $45 to $60.

I though HCKA did a good job with the senior laden team she inherited last year but now faces a rebuilding task every bit as daunting as 3G is facing on the men's team. According to the goShockers.com article the Shockers are the 3rd youngest team in the country at an average 19.2 years of age behind SMU and UMBC at 19.0 of age on average. However, I'm not sure age is necessarily the best measure of youth. When you look at experience the Shockers have only 5 years of experience spread among 3 players and one of those was the limited role that Alicia Faye played as a freshman last year. OTOH, SMU has 8 years of D-1 experience spread among 6 players including Australian Alicia Froling, a 6-3 forward, who missed last year with an injury and who was the only AAC player to average a double-double 2 years ago at 14.3 PPG and 10.0 RPG.

The bottom line is that this is a very young and a very inexperienced Shocker team. We saw how challenging that lack of experience can be in the Shocker men's performance in their exhibtion game against Catawba.

I think you can write-in Sabrina and Ces into the starting lineup if healthy similar to the Shocker's situation with Markis and Samajae. After that who knows for sure not that who starts is very important. Juco tansfer Maya Brewer looked very good in the Yellow and Black Scrimmage. Fr. Carla Bremaud from France is also a player that has been touted as a talented player. Fr. Jaida Hampton is the reigning Michigan Girls' High School Player of the Year. I would expect all 15 scholarship players will see action although I expect a couple of freshman may very well redshirt this season.

After watching the Shocker men struggle in their exhibition game it is hard to have very high expectations for what we might see Thursday but I am still nevertheless looking forward to seeing what the Ladies have to offer, not only for this year but for the tuture.

Shocker Game Notes and Links

[flyingMoose]

Shockers 62-49 Missouri Southern

A solid if unspectacular win. The Lions were not bad, but they probably only had one player that could get on the floor for the Shocks. Not bad, just weak.

Starters were Seraphine, Carla and Jaida at the guard spots with Sabrina and Shyla as the forwards. Seraphine was the point.

Seraphine (11 pts) and Sabrina(8) impressed, but I was most impressed with Carla (13). She scored, played nice defense, seemed to have very good court IQ. Others made nice plays at times (and some not so nice), but did not play at the level as the other three.

Shockers played man in the first half, switching out top, and played a 2-3 zone in the second half. Neither team could shoot - 25.9% for the Shocks (20% on 3s), while the Lions shot 29.4 and 11.5. Turnovers were 24 and 18. The Shocks missed a bunch of two-footers.

I think everyone played except Ces who did not dress. With a bunch playing together for the first time and learning a new system, the low level of play is to be expected. But you could see the potential too.

[1972Shocker]

It was a win. Not sure I would describe it as solid. This team has a lot of work to do. I agree the Carla looks like she will be a player. Took her a little while to settle in and find the range but once she did she looked good. Carla played 35 minutes which is quite a bit especially in an exhibition game. Jaida Hampton played the 2nd most minutes at 25. I also agree that Seraphine looked good at the point and after a bit of a shaky start Ashley Reid did a decent job backing her up at the point. Sabrina was solid although not the focus of the offense against a team that had some very good size.

In addition to Ces not playing (I guess her back must still be bothering her) Dawnyel Lair did not play. In fact, I am not even sure she was in attendance. Not sure, if that was really the case, what the story is with that. While everyone did play Raven Prince did not get in until late in the 3rd quarter, Asia Henderson only played a few minutes at the end of the game and Natalia Ryng only made a token appearance in the final 45 seconds of the game. Maya Brewer who looked good in the Yellow and Black scrimmage only played 10 minutes off the bench. She was very aggressive to the point of forcing things a bit and hunting her shot. Perhaps still a bit too much juco in her game.

An 18-5 second quarter provided the Shocks with the winning margin with the other 3 quarters being a wash. A lot of fouls (51) called in the game with the Shocks perhaps winning the game at the free throw line hitting a solid 28-37 (75.7%) vs 16-22 (72.7%) for MSSU.

22 turnovers against a team that really did not apply a lot of pressure is too many. The Shocks only had 7 assists on 15 baskets. Of course, hard to have a lot of assists when you don't put the ball in the basket very efficiently. Had hoped this team would show more proficiency on the perimeter. Did not happen tonight. The defense and rebounding kind of came and went during the game.

As flyingMoose reported the Shocks not only struggled from the perimeter but they had trouble with the bunnies as well.

A long way to go for this team. Looks like this is going to take some time (like a couple of seasons). Hopefully, HCKA can also work on getting her classes better balanced along the way.

[atlwsu]

Any chance this is on COX?

[1972Shocker]

As far as I know there was no TV/Video of this game.

[1972Shocker]

I don't know if you should read too much into the +/- stat but they are giving us that this year.

Carla was +15, Sabrina was +13, Alyssia was +13, and Jada was +11. Alyssia and Jada are interesting because they only played 13 minutes and 11 minutes, respectively. One thing Alyssia perhaps did the best job of was getting the ball to Sabrina on the post. Alyssia also made a nice steal, immediately got the ball to a guard, then hustled down court and was rewarded with a pass that she cashed in with a driving layup on the tail end of the ensuing fast break. One of the better moments of the game for the Shocks. Jada was too noticeable in her 11 minutes. She did hit a trey but missed 4 other shots.

Maya had the worst +/- with a -6 in her 10 minutes. Maya has some skill and athleticism that should be a value to this Shocker team but she needs to develop more of a team-centered approach.