0-3 basketball teams carry on much like 3-0 basketball teams. Sometimes I think fans (and the media) get more worked up over losses than coaches and players, who need to quickly move on. Plus, they have a job to do. The Shockers continue to practice and continue working to get better. As Gregg Marshall pointed out after the Northern Iowa loss, nobody’s going to cancel the season.
“Right now, we’re grinding it out,” he said. “We’re practicing as hard as we can. Winning is something that will help breed confidence. It’s obviously something we need to do.”
- Marshall pointed out a mistake in a previous entry, when I criticized WSU’s defense on inbound plays. WSU gave up a basket to Bradley’s Theron Wilson while in a zone defense, not man-to-man as I thought. My apologies.
- Marshall isn’t sure playing SIU, also 0-3, is good timing. “They could be angry, disappointed,” he said. “They have been pretty doggone good this decade.”
- WSU has a problem getting to the line enough, which as anybody who has followed Duke basketball on ESPN knows is the key to winning. SIU has a huge problem. Opponents have made 30 more free throws than WSU. SIU is outscored by 84 at the line.
- Both teams play well for a time. WSU played well for most of the first half against Creighton. The Shockers played well for a longer stretch against Bradley and closed fast. They played well for 18 minutes against Northern Iowa. SIU is in the same boat. Marshall is compiling a list of possessions that turn games away from WSU, and it is growing. “We’ve got to figure out a way to play more quality minutes,” he said. “We’re playing 18, 20, 22, 24.”
- Details of the first MVC-Mountain West challenge should be out in a week or so. Games will be spread out next season, the result of existing schedules. Three MVC-MWC games were already scheduled, including TCU at WSU. After 2009, the plan is to play the games over a week to 10 days in order to give it “challenge” feel. Evansville will sit out the first round, a result of its last-place finish in 2008.