DUBulldog wrote:rlh04d wrote:34 point drubbing for Drake, with tons of playing time for WSU's deep bench. Marshall played 15, and only Nurger and walkon JRS went scoreless.
I have a feeling Ray will probably keep his foot away from his mouth in press conferences moving forward, but I appreciate the motivation he gave to our 6-13 guys.
What's weird is that despite the extra motivation that Giacoletti apparently gave the Shox, ISU still beat Drake worse than WSU did....and ISU was missing 3 starters when they played Drake. Please don't assume that to mean I'm saying ISU is better than WSU, but ISU was really good the night Giacoletti made those comments.
Sorry to interrupt the ISU-UNI pissing contest.
Meh. I think the point was made. If more margin were needed to make it, it could have been. I do not think Ray intentionally slighted WSU, but perhaps he and others will choose words more carefully in the future. I do think there were a couple of things at work.
1. Marshall has built a monster out of being disrespected. He now has Top 25 talent that he can use the fuel to motivate. Comparing Marshall's team unfavorably to a team he does not like only serves to make it worse.
2. WSU faced a weakening of perception, both nationally, and around the league, thru late December and into early January. Coaches talked of weaknesses and things they could exploit. That perception and mystique has probably been worth a few points against lesser teams over the past couple of years. The past 2-3 weeks WSU has been dismantling teams and rebuilding that perception. This week brings the big test.
This from the WSU beat writer, pretty well sums up how I feel about it.
You can read the stories that contain the quotes from Drake coach Ray Giacoletti here from the Jan. 7 game against Illinois State and here from the Jan. 21 game against Illinois State.
The Shockers eagerly seized on those words, understandably, as an insult to their MVC dominance.
Thats standard motivational ploy in athletics. WSU didnt need that jolt to beat Drake. Coaches and players took the gift and ran. In every setting Ive been around Giacoletti, he is enthusiastic and sincere in his praise for WSU, so I dont think he is guilty of much more than bad timing and (monumentally) poorly chosen words.
To put the Jan. 7 game in context, his Drake team lost to WSU 66-58 and then lost to Illinois State, which was without two starters, 81-45, a week later. It is easy to see why the Redbirds made an impression.
From WSUs perspective, he was too impressed.
Read more here:
http://www.kansas.com/sports/college...#storylink=cpy