Evansville @ Wichita State

[sixth ace]

And please, Aces fans, do not blame the refs for this loss! Sure there could have been a few charging calls made against the Shockers, but not 12 points worth. Plus, I am sure they could have called a few more fouls against the Aces while trying to guard in the paint .

A few charging calls that the ref called blocking against UE didn't cost the Aces the game but it is the complete reversal of what a charge does It doesn't give your team a boost, you give up the ball, It doesn't cover a missed assignment, it gets you in foul trouble and closer to giving up the bonus.

As McCutchan told the Aces during his lifetime " taking a charge as the greatest play in the game,
because it got you closer to the bonus, maybe helped a teammate who got beat, put an opponent closer to foul trouble, got you the ball and gave a boost to your team."

It may have not change the outcome but it seemed onesided last night.

[Ace Dad]

I liked Coach Marshall when he coached at Winthrop University and recruited my son.

I like Coach Marshall as the WSU coach and hopes he hangs around a couple of more years:

http://www.goshockers.com//ViewArticle. ... =205368528

[acesfool]

2LiveWu: 90% of your comments I understand. We will disagree on your perception that there was no way the Aces would have come back when we were 9 down. Couda, wouda, shouda: There was a sequence of plays where if the 3 goes in, the game is now a two posssession game. If WSU turns it over....

I watched your fans in the stand and they were nervous, very nervous. You had a 25 point lead and it gradually whittled down to within striking distance, on your home court. This did not happen with Bradley or SIU.

I also do not buy it is easier playing 25 down on the road in a hostile arena. These boys could have folded. The "easy" thing to do is go through the motions.

The better team won last night. If we played you ten times this year you would win 7-8 of the games.

There is no comparison between playing when down 25 with 10 minutes to go than playing in a tightly contested game. WSU had the game wrapped up and lost concentration and relaxed defensively. UE was shootingly freely because of the relaxed defense and there was no downside if they missed shots. The only real difference between the WSU and the UNC games is how UNC never let up. I'm not one that buys it makes UNC a much better team than WSU, but it does make them a much better team to bet on when the spread is fairly large.

[2livewu]

I disagree the WSU fans were nervous. They were annoyed. Shocker basketball fans are intelligent enough to know that keeping guys fresh for a successful finish to the season is important. When you have a team beat, it's nice to get the bench some experience for the future and keep the first 5-7 fresh. Allowing an insurmountable lead to dwindle to iffy range to clear the bench annoyed those in attendance.

One out of 10 is the most this UE team is going to get from this WSU team unless you start mixing in injuries, and if you do, don't forget Colt going down because then it's going to be a 50 point game most of the time.

All that being said, I look forward to seeing the Aces fight for 2nd place in the Valley next season.

[Ace Dad]

I disagree the WSU fans were nervous. They were annoyed. Shocker basketball fans are intelligent enough to know that keeping guys fresh for a successful finish to the season is important. When you have a team beat, it's nice to get the bench some experience for the future and keep the first 5-7 fresh. Allowing an insurmountable lead to dwindle to iffy range to clear the bench annoyed those in attendance.

One out of 10 is the most this UE team is going to get from this WSU team unless you start mixing in injuries, and if you do, don't forget Colt going down because then it's going to be a 50 point game most of the time.

All that being said, I look forward to seeing the Aces fight for 2nd place in the Valley next season.

The Aces will be good enough to compete for place 3 and place 4 next year. Not sure our post game will be good enough to compete for the top 2 spots. Bench depth will be an issue, too.

Also, you did not "allow" the spread to go from 25 to 9 points. The Aces put you on your heels for several minutes with the adjustments at halftime. Always give your opponent some credit for playing the game

Some of you are starting to remind me of the SIU fans from back in the day. Be careful.

[Aces1982]

I disagree the WSU fans were nervous. They were annoyed. Shocker basketball fans are intelligent enough to know that keeping guys fresh for a successful finish to the season is important. When you have a team beat, it's nice to get the bench some experience for the future and keep the first 5-7 fresh. Allowing an insurmountable lead to dwindle to iffy range to clear the bench annoyed those in attendance.

One out of 10 is the most this UE team is going to get from this WSU team unless you start mixing in injuries, and if you do, don't forget Colt going down because then it's going to be a 50 point game most of the time.

All that being said, I look forward to seeing the Aces fight for 2nd place in the Valley next season.

The Aces will be good enough to compete for place 3 and place 4 next year. Not sure our post game will be good enough to compete for the top 2 spots. Bench depth will be an issue, too.

Also, you did not "allow" the spread to go from 25-9. The Aces put you on your heels for several minutes with the adjustments at halftime. Always give your opponent some credit for playing the game

His top 2 remark was referring to my comment earlier in the thread. I think they can compete for the top 2 next year. For some reason he thought it was funny.

[Bball Junkie]

Wichita did not allow the Aces to come back...in fact, they were full court pressing with a 20+ point lead in the 2nd half. The fact is, the Aces made the adjustments that should have been made in the first half.....crowded the paint and sagged off the perimeter shooters.

[Ace Dad]

Wichita did not allow the Aces to come back...in fact, they were full court pressing with a 20+ point lead in the 2nd half. The fact is, the Aces made the adjustments that should have been made in the first half.....crowded the paint and sagged off the perimeter shooters.

Thank you.

Fans who are fanatical see what they want to see. A basketball observer who watched the second half whittle from 25 points to 9 points knew that anything was possible. Only the fan sits in the stand and says:

"we are conserving our players and allowing them back in the game."

Marshall was coaching his axx off until the last 15 seconds because he, too, knows that two quick threes will change the complexion of an earlier blowout. Ask Missouri State what two quick threes will do.

Thanks Bball Junkie for the "balanced view."

[2livewu]

All of this tremendous effort and execution and dominance by the Aces in the last 11 minutes of the game begs the question from this observer; why didn't they make those adjustments to start the game?

They saw the exact same thing in Evansville, and even when WSU expanded the lead from 17 at half to 25 at the 11 minute mark, these "adjustments" didn't seem to be paying a huge dividend.

Again, just from an uninformed and stupid observer......looking for some enlightenment.

[Ace Dad]

All of this tremendous effort and execution and dominance by the Aces in the last 11 minutes of the game begs the question from this observer; why didn't they make those adjustments to start the game?

They saw the exact same thing in Evansville, and even when WSU expanded the lead from 17 at half to 25 at the 11 minute mark, these "adjustments" didn't seem to be paying a huge dividend.

Again, just from an uninformed and stupid observer......looking for some enlightenment.

You are not uniformed or stupid, but you are a biased fan.

Coaching is similiar to planning for the next battle. You know what the enemy did during the first battle, and you anticipate what he will do during the second. So, you know he will go with his strengths and you tweak your plan to respond to his strengths. If the tweaks do not work, than one must make major adjustments. So, our tweak did not work and we made major adjustments. War planning, chess, and coaching is all about guessing what the other guy will do. Again, when playing on the road, against a very good team, in a hostile envrionment, and their early shots are falling (including NBA threes) there is only so much the opponent can do.