Shockwaves

I’ve covered four previous Shocker Madness events. In each I remember the women’s scrimmage only because it felt like watching a pitcher’s duel. WSU could not score. It got downright embarrassing some years as the Shockers missed shot after shot and turned the ball over again and again.

Saturday’s women’s scrimmage looked so much better. Yellow defeated Black 29-18 – a wealth of points for a 15-minute running clock scrimmage. For that reason, it was the best Shocker Madness I’ve covered. Women’s coach Jody Adams would have liked more defense. I don’t think anybody in the crowd cared. The Shockers made threes. They drove the lane. They scored on post moves. Numerous players looked like they really knew how to score. Sure, it’s just a scrimmage. The real thing will be tougher. Based on Saturday, the Shockers are improved in a lot of areas. The player who impressed me the most is freshman forward Chynna Turner. Give her the ball in the lane and she knows what to do. No hesitation on her post moves. And she hit a three.

David Kyles dominated the night for the men. I’m pretty much jaded on dunk contests. WSU has put on some lame ones in past years. Kyles, a sophomore guard, made it worthwhile. I didn’t think he had a chance to finish off his dunk from behind the backboard. He did it after two tries. Even if you’ve seen a lot of dunks, that was impressive.

The dunk over the Chopper also got the crowd going. If you got it on video, Kyles would love to see it posted on YouTube.

“I hope somebody does, because I didn’t get it,” he said. “Maybe I’ll do that next year, run down there and dunk with a camera in my hand.”

Kyles led all scorers with 14 points.His Black team won both 15-minute scrimmages, 19-13 and 19-14. Kyles started to show this kind of potential in the final month of last season, after he realized the amount of work and focus college basketball and academics demanded. WSU coach Gregg Marshall likes the way Kyles is working on and off the court. His talent can make the Shockers a much more dangerous team.

“I’m excited for him,” Marshall said. “Now, the way he is handling his business…he’s got the potential to be able to display that on the court.”

• Clevin Hannah added 10 points for the Black. He looks much more in command of the offense. He also looks stronger and more focused on defense this season. Hannah, in my mind, was WSU’s MVP last season. I think he will be even better as a senior.
• Freshman Tyler Richardson played much better than I’ve seen in pickup games and practices. He is a good shooter and strong athlete. Marshall has yet to make redshirt decisions and he won’t until close to the start of the season (First-year players can play in the scrimmage against Kansas State on Nov. 1 and the exhibition against Newman on Nov. 7 without burning elgibility). In my mind, Richards and forward Jerome Hamilton are redshirt possibilities. In some seasons, they might be needed. This season, it’s hard for me to see Richardson playing ahead of Toure Murry, Graham Hatch, Kenny Manigault and Kyles at shooting guard/small forward. Same with Hamilton, who would need to move past veterans Garrett Stutz, J.T. Durley, Aaron Ellis and Gabe Blair to play much. Richardson and Hamilton will have several weeks to make their case for immediate playing time. It won’t be easy. I bet they see a big payoff five years from now if they redshirt.
• Manigault impressed me with his speed. He blew by some defenders on the break to get to the basket.
• Garrett Stutz had some nice moments, although he missed one or two shots he would like to have back. His offensive moves remain tantalizing, and he is gradually getting the body to make them work. You know he’s a shooter when WSU runs a play right off the bat to get him a three. Not many teams do that for their 7-footer.
• What didn’t we see? The free-throw shooting was not good. That was a problem last season. Neither Toure Murry nor Graham Hatch shot well. Both need to for WSU’s offense to improve. Murry, in practices I’ve seen, looks fantastic shooting the ball. My amateur opinion is that we saw “game slippage” on Murry’s shot. In practices, his release point is higher and he gets more arch on the ball. It didn’t look quite as good Saturday.
• Demetric Williams sat out due to illness. I was looking forward to getting another look at him. The coaches really like the way he competes in practice. He is kind of a combo guard who is doing a lot of things right.
• Derek Brown is back as a walk-on. He played with the 2006-07 team. He didn’t play basketball the past two seasons while at WSU. Marshall felt he needed another player and Brown volunteered.
• Two junior recruits checked out the festivities. Heights guard Evan Wessel has a scholarship offer. Guard Malcolm Brogdon is from Fayetteville, Ga.
• I liked the scaled-down Shocker Madness. In past years, adding in all the dancing, awards and introductions made it a bloated event that went on and on. This seemed more fan friendly.