Southern Illinois at Wichita St - 7pm

[shockem]

I dont think anyone has delusions that orupke will be a star next year, but he showed us that he can play effectively and stay out of foul trouble. Add power forward jake white to the mix, who also played an exceptional game last night, and our big man concerns are significantly lessened for next year. With jake's ability to hit 3 pointers and orupke's shot blocking, they both bring an aspect to the game that is missing from hall and stutz.

[Wufan]

Stutz brings a lot to the team and is a really good player, most of the time. That said, when stutz is on the court, the ball goes through him. We run a more methodical offense and our guards dont seem to play as agressive. When stutz is out, our players all seem to bring their game up a notch and the offensive scheme completely changes. I think last night gave the fans a chance to see what we can expect the rest of the year and into next year. The confidence in orupke just went up about 300%.

It's one thing to really bring it for 5-6 minutes a game as a reserve. It's totally different when you're playing 20-30 minutes per game....you have to pace yourself a little bit more. When you know you're only in for a few minutes at a time, you can go all out the entire time you're in there, not worry about fouls, getting tired, etc. Some guys have a hard time making that transition.

Do you think Orupke is to the point where he can bring it for 20-30 minutes per game next season?

As to Orukpe, no. He's a 15-20 minute role player next year, but one that will cause problems.