Wichita State Shockers Q&A w/ Paul Suellentrop-Wichita Eagle

[MVCfans]

Our third MVC Q&A is for with Paul Suellentrop of the Wichita Eagle. Paul has covered Wichita State since 2005. You can read his blog at: Shockwaves and his articles at Kansas.com.

When asked for additional thoughts on the MVC, Paul added: My favorite food in an MVC city is the chicken-fried bacon appetizer at the Twisted Fork in Omaha. My favorite MVC road trip is Peoria, because I like the downtown atmosphere, eating at Hoops and playing pickup basketball at the now-departed Robertson Field House. My favorite MVC arena is JQH Arena - they hit all the right notes.


Question 1.
Wichita State enters this season as the overwhelming MVC favorite. Do
the increased expectations concern Coach Gregg Marshall or does he like
being the "hunted" rather than the "hunte? How do you think the players
have handled the added pressure thus far?

A. I don't think it's been a factor so far. When asked, Gregg Marshall said
his team is aware of the expectations, and that's about all there is to
it at this point. There might be more scrutiny and pressure as the MVC
season rolls along. The Shockers are an experienced team and they are
used to a lot of attention in Wichita. At this point, I'm going to say I
don't think this will be a big problem for WSU.


Question 2.
The Shockers graduated all-MVC point guard Clevin Hannah. Many
expected Demetric Williams or Joe Ragland to win the starting PG job, but
Toure Murry has played significant minutes at the point. As the
conference season nears, does Marshall have confidence in either Williams
or Ragland to take over the role or will Murry be the primary ball
handler?

A. That it still to be decided. Murry is starting. Ragland is more of a
pure point guard. Williams has slid to the back of the line. I think WSU
needs Ragland to take hold of the job for it to be as good as it can be.
Murry is adequate, and can be very good at times. But I don't think it's
his best position. I think Ragland will improve as the season moves
along.


Question 3.
Based on a strong end to last season, it appeared that Garrett Stutz
was ready to have a breakthrough year. However, Stutz has struggled in
the early going. How important is Stutz to this team? If he is unable to
regain his form, who will the Shockers rely on in the post?

A. Garrett is a solid backup right now, probably a very good backup for MVC
teams. He can do more than that, and that's the Garrett Stutz fans are
waiting to see. I think he will get there. If he doesn't, the Shockers
are in good shape with Durley, Blair and Ellis.


Question 4.
The Shockers will play Tulsa at Wichita's INTRUST Bank Arena later this
year. How did this game come to be scheduled at IBA and do you expect
that Coach Marshall will try to schedule additional games off campus?

A. WSU needed to play a game downtown to prepare for the NCAA women's
tournament at Intrust Bank Arena in March. There's also a prestige
factor in being the first team to play a college basketball game there.
WSU certainly didn't want to watch KU or K-State grab that opportunity.
Athletic director Eric Sexton has said he wants to play one game a year
downtown. That may or may not change based on how this one goes. I can't
see WSU playing more than one a year away from Koch Arena.


Question 5.
Wichita State had opportunities to gain important wins against UCONN
and San Diego State in the non-conference, but they were unable to win
either despite playing well. Some believe that the MVC is a one bid
league no matter what happens as the conference has few notable successes
in the non-conference. Do you agree? If not, what must the Shockers do
to merit at large consideration? How disappointing would it be to Coach
Marshall and to Shockers' fans if this year does not end with an NCAA bid.

A. WSU can still be an at-large team. It doesn't have much margin of error
to get there, but it's too early to count it out. It has no bad losses.
The Shockers might not wow people with quality of wins, but it can still
put together a good resume with quantity. Plus, there are four extra
at-large spots this season. If the Shockers show up in March with 25 or
so wins, I think they will have a good shot. The BracketBuster game is
at home and could be helpful



Thanks again to Paul for participating in our team by team MVC Q&A. Previous Q&A's can be found in the MVC links section of the forum.

Dec 13 - Drake Bulldogs - Mark Emmert
Dec 16 - Jim Benson - Illinois State
Dec 18 - Paul Suellentrop - Wichita State
Dec 21 - Steve Pivovar - Creighton

[jayball]

A. WSU can still be an at-large team. It doesn't have much margin of error
to get there, but it's too early to count it out. It has no bad losses.
The Shockers might not wow people with quality of wins, but it can still
put together a good resume with quantity. Plus, there are four extra
at-large spots this season. If the Shockers show up in March with 25 or
so wins, I think they will have a good shot. The BracketBuster game is
at home and could be helpful

I agree with Paul. Wins against Virginia, Chaminade, LSU, Tusla and hopefully a decent bracket buster could be enough if WSU can avoid bad losses in conference play.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Given the Shockers record against the Blue Birds, UNI and Aces, it is problematic that the Shockers can avoid a bad loss(es).

[valleychamp]

UNI would have been an at-large team last year if they did not win in STL, and I think we had a pretty similar preseason resume to what wsu has now. We had wins over mediocre BCS teams like Iowa, ISU, and BC. And we had good wins over Siena and ODU. I think that is pretty comparable to what wsu has done this year with wins over Virginia, LSU, and hopefully Tulsa.

I think if wsu has a really good conf season (less than 4 losses) and wins at least 1 game in STL, they will probably be in good shape for an at-large.