Report From Shocker Madness

by **Aargh** » October 18th, 2013, 11:20 pm

After the loss of Holmes to a heart condition, there was a question about a backup for VanVleet at PG. Baker ran point for one of the teams and was outstanding. May not be the guy for end of the shot clock situations, but he's a solid PG.

Early was unstoppable. Not sure if that's because Early is that good or if Darius Carter is that weak on D.

There wasn't much scoring around the basket, except for Early who was scoring from wherever and whenever he chose to score. The post players can defend the basket, but I didn't see much offense. I came away with less confidence in the Shox post play than I had going in.

Shaq Morris - the 6'7, 270 lb. Fr (had some great HS credentials) looked like he still belonged in HS.

VanVleet can throw a sweet lob and Coleby can catch it and finish. Coleby has incredible ups for a 6'9" guy.

In the NCAA's I watched VanVleet get to the hoop and score against some of the top guards in the nation. VanVleet was completely shut off at the hoop by Baker. Don't know if that's because VanVleet was making bad decisions or if Baker has figured out how to D VanVleet.

VanVleet got a lot of points. I thought he took too many shots to get the points he got. I thought it was the Baker/Early show.

A scrimmage doesn't count for that much and doesn't always indicate how players are going to perform in games. With that disclaimer, I believe Early and Baker are easily the best 2 Shox I've ever seen at Shocker Madness. Some other observers think VanVleet had a vetter game than Baker.

Post play appears it could be weaker than I was expecting. The bigger SF's didn't have great games.

I expect the starting lineup to be:
C - Coleby
PF - Early
SF - Cotton/Baker
SG - Baker/Cotton
PG - VanVleet

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by **Wufan** » October 19th, 2013, 7:07 am

Aargh has a very fair assessment of the festivities. The guards will be basically the same this year so here's a take on our bigs:

Most on here saw 6-9, 250 lb Lufile last year. He played about 6 minutes a game and often got a rebound. He's about 15 lbs heavier and it's still all muscle. Lufile is strong and athletic and runs the court well. He did end of up the ball on a fast break deflection and dribbled the length of the court for the slam at full speed. It looked easy to him. I don't expect him to look as good in an organized game as he does in a combine and skills setting.

Darius carter won the dunk contest. He is very strong and athletic and runs the court well. He did not score when Cle was guarding him. He did not stop Cle from scoring. Hopefully that is because Cle is very good.

Kadeem Coleby is very strong and athletic and runs the court well. He needs to work on his positioning and footwork. I'm not sure if he can score with his back to the basket, but he is an explosive leaper. At 6-9, 250 he will be the most fun to watch post in the Valley. If he can score with his back to the basket and defend, he might be the best post in the Valley.

I'm curious how the other teams looked in their events.

by **agrinut** » October 19th, 2013, 8:30 am

Wufan wrote:Aargh has a very fair assessment of the festivities. The guards will be basically the same this year so here's a take on our bigs:

Most on here saw 6-9, 250 lb Lufile last year. He played about 6 minutes a game and often got a rebound. He's about 15 lbs heavier and it's still all muscle. Lufile is strong and athletic and runs the court well. He did end of up the ball on a fast break deflection and dribbled the length of the court for the slam at full speed. It looked easy to him. I don't expect him to look as good in an organized game as he does in a combine and skills setting.

Darius carter won the dunk contest. He is very strong and athletic and runs the court well. He did not score when Cle was guarding him. He did not stop Cle from scoring. Hopefully that is because Cle is very good.

Kadeem Coleby is very strong and athletic and runs the court well. He needs to work on his positioning and footwork. I'm not sure if he can score with his back to the basket, but he is an explosive leaper. At 6-9, 250 he will be the most fun to watch post in the Valley. If he can score with his back to the basket and defend, he might be the best post in the Valley.

I'm curious how the other teams looked in their events.

Recorded midnight madness and was very upset at the coverage. A great honor for the shocks, just another reason to hate ESPN.

by **Bradleyfan1** » October 19th, 2013, 10:53 am

Ya, they should've covered the embreading more closely.

by **GoRamblers** » October 19th, 2013, 10:55 am

Bradleyfan1 wrote:Ya, they should've covered the embreading more closely.

I'm not sure what hair braiding has to do with WSU. Do they have a lot of players with braided hair?

by **shoxrox** » October 19th, 2013, 11:25 am

Bradleyfan1 wrote:Ya, they should've covered the embreading more closely.

Nice fail, moran.

by **Bradleyfan1** » October 19th, 2013, 5:25 pm

smacks self in face .......but still u know what I meant lol But I dunno how great the hair reference was .

by **GoRamblers** » October 19th, 2013, 7:28 pm

Bradleyfan1 wrote:...But I dunno how great the hair reference was .

(since it won't let me embed the image): http://i.imgur.com/Um2NwZ3.gif

by **iSASO** » October 23rd, 2013, 5:42 am

In my 20+ years of watching these events, I've never a higher level of play and more athleticism.