Bring on the Shockers

[acesfool]

79-50 with 4:35 to play. I see Colt (score when its all but over) Ryan is doing what he does best.

[acesfool]

91-57 final.

[acesfool]

I'll take Evansville straight up. That Butler win was impressive and WSU is no Butler.

May I suggest that you need to think twice before betting.

[Ace Dad]

Shockers, my younger son was at the game in the stands and texted me several times. Are you guys that good all the time or did you play above yourself and we played the worst game of the season for us?

He said you were bigger, stronger, and quicker.

[unipanther99]

The Shockers scored 91 tonight, everyone else in the Valley averaged 62. I don't care who they are playing, that's a bit scary!

[jayball]

People, I think the Shockers are good.

They will have to prove consistency over the season, but they are good.

[Haha]

Shox have a bunch of shooters, but yes they shot above average tonight, obviously.

My take after watching the game......outside of cox evansville really didn't have any athletes to speak of. Not meant as an insult just saying what I saw tonight.

[Ricardo del Rio]

If Coach Marshall had not called off the dogs with 3.5 minutes to go, it might have been a 40 point beat down.

This was one of those games, where one team was smokin' and the other team was having an off night.

The aspect of the Aces' game, which surprised me, was its defense. Last year, the Aces were far tougher on defense than in tonight's game. Last year, it seemed like our games were a down and dirty dog fight.

Another aspect was the lack of aggression by the Aces other than Ryan. At times, when Ryan was covered, it seemed like nobody wanted to take the shot.

My Daddy told me once that one data point is not a trend.

[WuDrWu]

Shockers, my younger son was at the game in the stands and texted me several times. Are you guys that good all the time or did you play above yourself and we played the worst game of the season for us?

He said you were bigger, stronger, and quicker.

Evansville got a little taste of everything that is dangerous about this WSU team. First and foremost, there is a huge gap in athleticism. I think most people assumed Hatch would get Ryan. Well it was 6'9 Ellis, one of the best defenders in the league and when he got tired, Blair came in. Colt is just overwhelmed by that size and athleticism.

Toure Murry was nails tonight. With his defense he created 3 layups or dunks and then on offense he created 2 more layups and a 3 by Durley. It was over 5 possessions in.

Evansville doubled the post, defending inside out, which worked to an extent in the first half as WSU was 2-10 from 3. Two problems with that......First the Shockers still led by double digits and secondly, WSU is a LOT better than a 20% shooting team from 3, and especially when given open looks which is what Evansville chose to give up. They picked their poison.

Speed kills and the number of times WSU beat Evansville down the court was staggering. BUT, for all the shooting (WSU was around 63% but they shot a TON of layups and dunks) and flashy plays, this game was about DEFENSE. In your face, sticky, defend and attack and do it without fouling.

THAT kind of defense wins championships. The question becomes if they can play at that level consistently.

Lastly, WSU's depth was murderous to a thin Evansville team. You could tell when they packed it in because it was wave after wave of fresh legs from the Shocks and the Aces had no answer.

Shooting a high % is not all that surprising. WSU had a ton of layups and dunks. The 3s were a little high I'll grant you, but Ragland and Smith are REALLY good shooters and if left open they are going to hit 45-55%.

Of course you could more closely guard them, and then our posts are left 1-1 on the inside. Like I said, pick your poison.

One more thing....the fake flopping has GOT to go. I understand with as little athleticism as the Aces have you have to do the little things, but they are borderline cheap. The game got a little chippy late...and every time is was due to an Aces elbow.

Nothing wrong with playing hard, but that isn't going to end well at some point.

Coach Simmons looks fantastic. Good for him.

[WSUbballer]

I was unfortunately stuck in Chicago with delays and missed this one. Sucks that I did as this appeared to be an absolute beatdown.

In theory, this one went down as it should have though.