How to beat Wichita State, the complete guide:

[Ace Dad]

"If Airforce and VCU shot slightly better from the line, the entire narrative against the Shockers would be changed without Wichita State doing a single thing differently. "

Poor logic.

Red Herring.

Basketball is a game of couda, shouda, wouda. Evansville would have won 5 more games last year if they would have gotten the last rebound, made one more defensive stop, or hit one more shot.

Air Force and VCU DID NOT shoot better from the line and this contributed to the Shockers winning.

Give us some real analysis.

[Aargh]

Give us some real analysis.

Let me try my hand at real analysis. Mine's pretty simple.

1. Relatively inexperienced teams should expect some bumps in the road over the course of a season.
2. This won't be WSU's only loss of the season.
3. This won't be WSU's worst loss of the season.
4. Whether a team you follow wins or loses a game is not one of the more critical factors in your life.

[CBB_Fan]

"If Airforce and VCU shot slightly better from the line, the entire narrative against the Shockers would be changed without Wichita State doing a single thing differently. "

Poor logic.

Red Herring.

Basketball is a game of couda, shouda, wouda. Evansville would have won 5 more games last year if they would have gotten the last rebound, made one more defensive stop, or hit one more shot.

Air Force and VCU DID NOT shoot better from the line and this contributed to the Shockers winning.

Give us some real analysis.

How about this? This game was not uncharacteristic of Wichita State. We normally shoot 46.1% from the field, 32.1% from 3 (with lower FG% numbers against real competition). We averaged 38% from the field and 30% from the 3PT line. We normally shoot 68% from the FT line, and we shot 60%.

Basically, we are within the margin of error for our season stats. We did nothing out of the ordinary on offense. Now, you might ask about TOs. We had 2 more than normal (16 to 14), which is normal against our tougher competition). What about FGAs? Exactly on the mark (55 to 55.3).

What you saw in that game what not Wichita State's offense on a bad night. It was Wichita State's offense every night. Now, look at defense.

We blocked 4 shots; we average 5. We had 7 steals, and we average 8. So basically our normal production in those categories. However, we fouled more than usual (28 to 19), though that is characteristic of the way we have played in close games if you discount the free-throws at the end of the game to try and get the ball back.

In general, we tend to foul on 30% of our possessions. That is near the bottom of the NCAA. We have not played a close game yet near the NCAA average in fouls per game (18.1), indicating that we foul way too much.

In short, I'm not worried because we lost to a good team. I'm worried because this is exactly how we have played in every close game this year. We are consistent with our mistakes and give decent teams the chance to beat us way more than we should or need to.

[shoxrox]

Those consistent stats have garnered a 9-1 record so far, along with a Top 25 ranking.

I think you're overreacting a touch.

[C0|db|00ded]

Wichita State lost 5 seniors from a MVC Championship team. HCGM brought in even greater talent and we are a threat to win it all again. We are 9-1 and ranked in the top 25. CBB, you need to muzzle it up really quickly. Marshall knows what he's doing.


T


...

[CBB_Fan]

Those consistent stats have garnered a 9-1 record so far, along with a Top 25 ranking.

I think you're overreacting a touch.

We aren't a top 25 team, so stop saying that. We won't be again unless we win 3-5 more games, just like last season.

The point is that we don't beat good teams. And by beat, I mean do enough things to put the games outcome out of question by the end of the game. Instead, every time we face a half-decent team (and Tennessee is no better than that) it ends up being a 50/50 game.

In those 50/50 games, we lose if our opponent doesn't miss the shots they shouldn't, and shoots a decent percentage from the FT line. We lose to VCU if they do that. We lose to Airforce if they do that. Heck, we probably would have been closer to Iowa.

At this point, I am worried because we haven't shown signs of improvement in this. If we faced Creighton tomorrow, they would probably win because Dougie would shoot 20 free-throws by himself and Creighton wouldn't miss too many open shots.

We need to do two things to be considered a good (or great) team: Stop fouling, and play smarter on offense (whole different topic there; we don't have an offense yet).

[shoxrox]

Listen to Coldblooded, dude. It's time to eat some muzzle.

[glm38]

I have to say CBB - you have me intrigued with all your statistics to see if the Shox really are a top 25 caliber team or not? It will be interesting to see how the Shox season plays out with that in mind.

[DoubleJayAlum]

"If Airforce and VCU shot slightly better from the line, the entire narrative against the Shockers would be changed without Wichita State doing a single thing differently. "

Poor logic.

Red Herring.

Basketball is a game of couda, shouda, wouda. Evansville would have won 5 more games last year if they would have gotten the last rebound, made one more defensive stop, or hit one more shot.

Air Force and VCU DID NOT shoot better from the line and this contributed to the Shockers winning.

Give us some real analysis.

How about this? This game was not uncharacteristic of Wichita State. We normally shoot 46.1% from the field, 32.1% from 3 (with lower FG% numbers against real competition). We averaged 38% from the field and 30% from the 3PT line. We normally shoot 68% from the FT line, and we shot 60%.

Basically, we are within the margin of error for our season stats. We did nothing out of the ordinary on offense. Now, you might ask about TOs. We had 2 more than normal (16 to 14), which is normal against our tougher competition). What about FGAs? Exactly on the mark (55 to 55.3).

What you saw in that game what not Wichita State's offense on a bad night. It was Wichita State's offense every night. Now, look at defense.

We blocked 4 shots; we average 5. We had 7 steals, and we average 8. So basically our normal production in those categories. However, we fouled more than usual (28 to 19), though that is characteristic of the way we have played in close games if you discount the free-throws at the end of the game to try and get the ball back.

In general, we tend to foul on 30% of our possessions. That is near the bottom of the NCAA. We have not played a close game yet near the NCAA average in fouls per game (18.1), indicating that we foul way too much.

In short, I'm not worried because we lost to a good team. I'm worried because this is exactly how we have played in every close game this year. We are consistent with our mistakes and give decent teams the chance to beat us way more than we should or need to.

I think that is very solid analysis.

I think it is what coaches do, or should do. Determine your teams weaknesses and then either find a way to improve them or find a way to mask them.

[Ricardo del Rio]

"If Airforce and VCU shot slightly better from the line, the entire narrative against the Shockers would be changed without Wichita State doing a single thing differently. "

Poor logic.

Red Herring.

Basketball is a game of couda, shouda, wouda. Evansville would have won 5 more games last year if they would have gotten the last rebound, made one more defensive stop, or hit one more shot.

Air Force and VCU DID NOT shoot better from the line and this contributed to the Shockers winning.

Give us some real analysis.

How about this? This game was not uncharacteristic of Wichita State. We normally shoot 46.1% from the field, 32.1% from 3 (with lower FG% numbers against real competition). We averaged 38% from the field and 30% from the 3PT line. We normally shoot 68% from the FT line, and we shot 60%.

Basically, we are within the margin of error for our season stats. We did nothing out of the ordinary on offense. Now, you might ask about TOs. We had 2 more than normal (16 to 14), which is normal against our tougher competition). What about FGAs? Exactly on the mark (55 to 55.3).

What you saw in that game what not Wichita State's offense on a bad night. It was Wichita State's offense every night. Now, look at defense.

We blocked 4 shots; we average 5. We had 7 steals, and we average 8. So basically our normal production in those categories. However, we fouled more than usual (28 to 19), though that is characteristic of the way we have played in close games if you discount the free-throws at the end of the game to try and get the ball back.

In general, we tend to foul on 30% of our possessions. That is near the bottom of the NCAA. We have not played a close game yet near the NCAA average in fouls per game (18.1), indicating that we foul way too much.

In short, I'm not worried because we lost to a good team. I'm worried because this is exactly how we have played in every close game this year. We are consistent with our mistakes and give decent teams the chance to beat us way more than we should or need to.

CBB,

I agree with most of your points.

I kinda put the Tennessee loss on Coach Marshall for reasons as follows:

1. Shouda played more zone. A lot more zone.
a. Force a bad 3 ball shooting team to beat us from the 3 line.
b. Reduce dribble penetration.
c. Reduce team fouls.

Note #1: It was pretty apparent in the first 10 minutes of the game that the Shockers were going to get an unfriendly whistle in the game. Also, it was pretty apparent that the Shockers could not guard without fouling, whether real or imagined.

Note #2: Tennessee only outscored the Shockers by 17 from the free throw line. The Shockers lost by 9.

2. When a specific player is playing poorly, sit him on the bench. Not play him, until his tongue hangs out.

3. One specific bench player, who I can name, could not have played defense any worse than two other starters than I can name.

Note to all: Yes, I am being deliberately vague on this point.

Everybody has a bad day at the office, even head coaches.