"Outwork" - Wichita State WBB Prepare for the 2014/15 Season

[Shocker-maniac]

I have no problem with the women working as hard if not harder than the men. I just wonder sometimes how putting on boxing gloves and punching heavy bags, doing bear crawls through the grass, etc. helps your game. Sometimes I think it is just for show. I do know the team gets in shape, however.

I think Coach Adams is saying that if they do well in their tough NonCon sked that they have a legitimate shot at an at large berth. Because of this they have to come out of the chute in better condition than their opponents.

[Shox1979]

I have no problem with the women working as hard if not harder than the men. I just wonder sometimes how putting on boxing gloves and punching heavy bags, doing bear crawls through the grass, etc. helps your game. Sometimes I think it is just for show. I do know the team gets in shape, however.

I have no problem with hard work as well. I know last off season we had one player who got injured during a bag punching session. Fortunately the injury didn't require surgery, although for awhile it looked like it might.
I love team building activities, especially those that get our players in better shape. Just don't want to see anyone getting hurt in the process.

[WuShock16]

I don't see an issue with the boot camp training. I am certainly not as familiar with the women's game but I know that in the men's game, if you compared our basketball skill ability with others in the Valley or around the nation for that matter, there probably isn't a whole lot of difference. Now, before I get flogged, I'm solely talking about shooting ability, passing, etc. What ultimately separates us though is our athleticism, strength, and toughness that helps us beat people on the boards, block shots, dive for (and come up with) loose balls, etc. When the game hits overtime, it's not the team with the best basketball skill that wins but usually the one who is in the best shape.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

[QUOTE=WuShock16;502245]I don't see an issue with the boot camp training. I am certainly not as familiar with the women's game but I know that in the men's game, if you compared our basketball skill ability with others in the Valley or around the nation for that matter, there probably isn't a whole lot of difference. Now, before I get flogged, I'm solely talking about shooting ability, passing, etc. What ultimately separates us though is our athleticism, strength, and toughness that helps us beat people on the boards, block shots, dive for (and come up with) loose balls, etc. When the game hits overtime, it's not the team with the best basketball skill that wins but usually the one who is in the best shape.[/QUOTE

Agreed that we want to be in great shape. With 10 players on the roster we want to be healthy through the season and post season. No biggie, just an observation and opinion. Go Shox!

[The Mad Hatter]

The main thing for me is that I believe that a team needs to take on the character of their coach if they are going to be successful. There isn't only one coaching type that can lead to success, but teams will rarely succeed if they aren't geared towards their coach's strengths. Jody's identity has always been about being hard nosed and hard working. Not every team would necessarily benefit from a boot camp, but it fits precisely into crafting the kind of expectations and character that a Jody Adams team should be expected to exhibit.

[1972Shocker]

My guess is that the boot camp is primarily designed to develop toughness and the mentality to be able to continue playing hard even when you may feel like your tank is empty.

You are going to do a lot of conditioning stuff at this time of the year anyway, so as long as whatever Adam Ringler has designed develops the kind of strength and conditioning needed on the basketball court then it I have no problem with it.

Jody has consistently said that part of her style is to push the young ladies beyond and outside of their comfort zones and this probably fits in with that philosophy.

But @oldtimewomen's hoopcoach: is correct that at some point during the season you need manage a team's energy levels to insure that you don't actually hit a wall. The Shocks have had late season some late season struggles, especially the last two seasons. Whether or not that was due to fatigue or not is debatable. Perhaps it was due more to mental fatigue than physical fatigue. Maybe a boot camp now we help with that later.

[The Mad Hatter]

The complication with attributing the second half of our conference schedule let down the past two years to fatigue is the fact that we won the conference tournament each of those years, and it seems difficult to conceive of a physically worn down team outperforming others in at the end of the year in a format with less rest between games.

The mental fatigue suggestion seems like a better explanation, in that the end of the regular season could serve as a mental reset in a way that would be far less possible as a physical reset. Alternatively, it could be a matter of a back and forth adjustment game, with our intitial strategy winning us first meet ups with most teams, those teams adjusting for the second meeting, and our adjusting back for the third meeting at the conference tournament. Hard to say for sure.

[Shocker-maniac]

For the purpose of educating me, is the fatigue (whether physical or mental) that you speak of come at the end of regular season or post-season tournament play?

[The Mad Hatter]

For the purpose of educating me, is the fatigue (whether physical or mental) that you speak of come at the end of regular season or post-season tournament play?

Regular season. Each of the last two years we have dominated the first half of the Valley schedule and slumped the second half, allowing another team to catch us in the standings, resulting in a co-championship rather than an outright one. And yet, each of those years we have subsequently won the MVC tournament title.

[1972Shocker]

Those post-season tournaments are hard to gage. Everyone is starting over at 0-0 plus in the MVC that has generally been your only avenue to the NCAA Tournament. So it's kind of like being back at the beginning of the season. The teams with the physical advantage are those that are deep and can spread the minutes around. Still the mental state of your team is probably the most important thing outside of outright injuries to key players.

The regular season on the other hand can really wear on you and it's definitely a challenge to stay sharp throughout. A testament to what our Men's team was able to do last year. One thing the Shocker men and women shared last year was the had a big target on their backs and generally received max efforts from Valley teams.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Those post-season tournaments are hard to gage. Everyone is starting over at 0-0 plus in the MVC that has generally been your only avenue to the NCAA Tournament. So it's kind of like being back at the beginning of the season. The teams with the physical advantage are those that are deep and can spread the minutes around. Still the mental state of your team is probably the most important thing outside of outright injuries to key players.

The regular season on the other hand can really wear on you and it's definitely a challenge to stay sharp throughout. A testament to what our Men's team was able to do last year. One thing the Shocker men and women shared last year was the had a big target on their backs and generally received max efforts from Valley teams.

I see the women's roster is up with last year's stats and no information for the new players. I see Diamond is listed, but, my understanding is she is a D-I transfer and has to sit out this season, so we have two new players. Stay healthy and we'll compete.

[1972Shocker]

Speed. Agility. Quickness. Nike SPARQ performance trainer and friend to Coach Adams, Jackie Ansley, working Shocker Women's Basketball. #WATCHUS
goshockers's photo on Instagram

[1972Shocker]

I see they have finally added the newcomers (Martin, Stovall and Lockhart) to the roster at goShockers.com. Martin is listed at 6-2 after having mostly been portrayed as 6-4. I kind of wondered about that based on some of the comments on this board.

Stovall at 5-1 and Lockhart at 5-5 obviously will not fill our need for some quality size in the post. Of course, Lockhart is sitting out this season so we have an active roster of 10 players.

http://www.goshockers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&SPID=2852&SPSID=61201&DB_OEM_ID=7500