We have a winner. Jason Perez is the Shocker who won team MVP honors four times. Thanks to everyone who guessed. Remember, email your answer, don’t post it on his forum. Read More »
Many good things came out of Satuday’s 74-61 win over Creighton. I don’t think anyone has a read on whether it will continue. One win isn’t going to fix everything, just as one loss didn’t mean disaster. Optimistically, WSU played a good game on the road at Drake, followed by a stinker at Missouri State, followed by its best effort of the season against Creighton. Perhaps that is the start of an upward trend. Read More »
Final: WSU 74, CU 61. Big win for WSU. Gregg Marshall graciously declines to run a lob play in the final seconds. WSU’s best effort of the season. Shocker fans deserve an assist for an impressive vocal performance. Is there another place in the nation where 10,500 fans show for an 0-6 team? The Shockers made it possible by playing well from the start. Nothing jacks up the fans like players diving on the floor. WSU, for the first time in awhile, combined a good shooting effort with good defense. The Shockers held Creighton to 33.3 percent from the field, its worst of the season. WSU shot 49.1 percent from the field, its fourth straight game of 46 percent or better. Read More »
Final: MSU 68, WSU 55. I think everybody was prepared for tough times this season. I don’t think anybody was prepared for an 0-6 MVC start and a bad performance against another winless team. The Shockers have a lot of soul-searching to do if they want to avoid last place. Read More »
I think everyone who followed WSU prepared for a wacky year of ups and downs because of this team’s lack of experience. I don’t think anybody was prepared for the way things have gone in WSU’s 0-5 MVC start. Sunday’s loss to Drake provided some bright spots, as well as an equal number of negatives. I think the most important thing is that more of the Shockers played hard consistently. What does it mean? We find out more Wednesday at Missouri State. Was Sunday a fluke shooting performance or is WSU really ready to play more consistently? Read More »
Final: DU 74, WSU 69. Nice effort. I think that may be WSU’s best signs of progress since the MVC season started. Tough not to get rewarded with a win. Drake, as it was last year, does a lot of smart things, shoots well and makes few mistakes. Read More »
As expected, WSU coach Gregg Marshall said he is likely to make big changes in the staring lineup. He will likley insert Graham Hatch, Mantas Griskenas and J.T. Durley in place of A.J. Hawkins, Ramon Clemente and Garrett Stutz for Sunday’s game at Drake.
Those three were part of the second unit that played well in Wednesday’s loss to Southern Illinois. With the starters in, WSU fell behind 18-7 and Marshall couldn’t think of a worse defensive effort in the early minutes in his coaching career. The second unit closed the gap and did much the same in the second half.
“That second group competed at a much higher level,” Marshall said. “There was more passion in their game. What I saw was two different levels of intensity against Southern Illinois.”
I used to work with a sports copy editor who defended former Royals second baseman Chuck Knoblauch by saying “He hits a lot of balls hard but they go right at fielders.” At some point, if you’re not hitting, you’re not hitting enough balls hard enough.
The past two games, WSU opponents seem to make a lot of guarded shots. At some point, if the other team is making guarded jumpers, the guarding isn’t good enough. Perhaps that is one of the things the Shockers need to learn. At this level of basketball, getting a hand up in a shooter’s face isn’t enough. The defender needs to be there “on the catch” as WSU coach Gregg Marshall says, to make the shooter uncomfortable by bothering his vision and form. If a defender is waving at a shooter who is already in the air and looking at the target, the defender is too late against good shooters.
- The past three games really exposed WSU’s lack of quickness in the backcourt. Bradley and SIU, in particular, drove the ball on the Shockers too easily.
- I thought WSU played harder for longer than in the UNI game. Playing at home probably makes that easier. WSU fans deserve every pat on the back they get. But, eight bad minutes to start and seven shaky minutes at the end gets you beat.
- Marshall’s main frustration is trying to figure who is going to play well on one night. How frustrating must that be for a coach?
- Graham Hatch seems to be one of the players who understands the “sense of urgency” Marshall often talks about. I would not be surprised to see him start Sunday at Drake as a reward for playing hard. Will he solve his shooting problems (34.5 percent this season)? I think he will. He shot 41.9 percent (13 of 33) in 14 games last season. That is not a huge sample size. However, Hatch shot well last season when he was a freshman coming off a two idle years. He is a better athlete this season, and I think that will translate into better shooting.
- Mantas Griskenas scored seven points in 20 minutes. He can help what ails this team on offense. He did not get a rebound, which is a problem. As Marshall said, if you could combine Griskenas and Ramon Clemente, you’ve got a superstar. Playing them offense-defense is one option, as Marshall pointed out. With Ramon playing only 20 minutes, SIU out-rebounded WSU 31-21.
- SIU coach Chris Lowery is just as direct in his comments as Marshall often is. He got after Tony Boyle for missing layups. He made it a point to talk about the two players who quit last week (and left him voicemails) and say the team is happy and moving on with players who want to be at SIU. Addition by subtraction.
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