How far will WSU go?

[mathewson10]

[
2013-14 Shocker margin of victory was 15.6 in wins (15.5 overall).
2014-15 Shocker margin of victory was 13.7 in wins (12.8 overall).

Beat me to it.

The NCAA tournament is a weird animal, and unless you're in the 1-16 game, no victory is guaranteed.

WSU can lose to Indiana if Indiana gets hot enough. It's entirely possibly. They have one of the ten best offenses in college basketball and are entirely capable of beating us.

They also have one of the worst defenses in college basketball, and in both defensive efficiency and KenPom's defensive efficiency, only one team D1 team WSU has played all year has been worse. In the first, Detroit is ranked two spots below them. In the second, Drake is by far WSU's worst opponent. So if both teams play their normal games, WSU is easily the better team. Meanwhile WSU would have the best defense in the Big 10 and the fourth best offense.

Kansas is underachieving but still one of the ten best teams in college basketball. They're entirely capable of beating us. We're also entirely capable of beating them.

Notre Dame is just a better version of Indiana. Great offense, mediocre defense.

If we beat Kentucky, like Wufan said, they're making a movie about us. I can't imagine how we can win that game given our struggles against big men and how many incredibly tall and long players they can roll out, one after another. But anything's possible.

I've got them going to the Elite 8 in my bracket, but who knows. I also have UNI in the Elite 8, and I think they have a far better shot at the Final Four, but they could also just as easily lose the first game.

I gave up on having any ability to predict these games after WSU lost to VCU in the first game with a tremendous team and then went to the Final Four with a worse team the very next year. Lot of unpredictability and randomness in the tourney. That's why all of our brackets will be crap by Sunday night.

Your stat proves my point. Last year's team would go into halftime already having won the game. This year's team went into halftime with only a single digit lead or actually losing at half then in the 2nd half they would turn it up to get the victory.

[mathewson10]

Also, last year's team would not to have lost to this year's ISUr in STL.

[Championz]

Last year's team trailed at the half plenty of times and also had a lot of single-digit halftime leads.

I'm certainly not saying this year's team is better than last year's team but check yourself with the facts first.

[NeutralObserver]

Surely to God the Shockers will beat Indiana..................won't they? It will set the Valley back another two or three years if they don't get the job done.

[glm38]

WSU is a bit down from where they were in the last 3 years or so; not so impressive away from home.

Really? Yes, we're 28-4. Last year we were 34-0 at this time and finished 35-1. We did not replicate that. Two years ago we were 26-8 going into the tourney and finished 30-9. Three years ago we were 27-4 and finished 27-5. It's easy to look back fondly, but regardless of where this team ends the year, they are every bit as good as the last three.

I disagree. I think last year's Shockers would destroy this year's Shockers. Last year they were blowing people out left & right. This year they let teams hang around too much. I felt like they lacked the intensity from the previous season.

I liked last year's Shockers team better going into the tournament too. To me the difference is post play. Last year WSU had 2 additional big physical players to go with Carter. Nothing like that this year. Bush, Nurger, and Shaq are just too inexperienced.

But that being said if WSU is shooting a good or even a decent percentage they can beat anyone (this year).

[uniftw]

This is what worries me about WSU...and it's showing today.

As of the under 4 media Wichita State is 21-of-37 shooting in the paint, and 3-of-22 shooting outside and 2-13 from 3

[rlh04d]

Your stat proves my point. Last year's team would go into halftime already having won the game. This year's team went into halftime with only a single digit lead or actually losing at half then in the 2nd half they would turn it up to get the victory.

Your memory is faulty, as most people's are regarding last year.

In this year's nonconference season, WSU trailed at half time once: vs Alabama. We were tied against George Washington, and had one to four point leads against Utah, Detroit, and Hawaii. That's five games in the entire nonconference schedule that were close at halftime. The other seven games were all 7+ point leads at halftime.

Last year? Look at this list:

30-28 W. Kentucky
38-39 William & Mary
27-29 Tenn St.
31-31 Tulsa
34-36 BYU
28-29 SLU
22-30 Oral Roberts
25-26 Tennessee
33-32 Alabama
36-32 Davidson

That perfect team trailed at half time in six games, tied once, and had three 1-4 point leads, for 10 close games. Double this year. Only three games in the entire nonconference schedule last year were "safe" halftime leads, and one of those was vs Emporia State.

Going undefeated cures all ills, but this:

Last year's team would go into halftime already having won the game.

... is entirely false. Last year's team was a second half team -- they came out in the second half game after game and starting throwing haymakers, building huge runs right out of halftime to blow games that had been close open. This year's team has been FAR better in the first half.

[rlh04d]

Also, last year's team would not to have lost to this year's ISUr in STL.

Last year it took a Kentucky team that has lost one game, in the national title game, since playing WSU, to beat us. By a single basket.

It's tough to say last year's WSU team would have lost to anyone that wasn't capable of playing for a national championship.

I definitely think WSU is weaker this year. I don't think there's any doubt about that. But when you're comparing a team to a team that went undefeated, almost any team is going to lose that comparison. UNI isn't last year's WSU team but that doesn't mean they don't have a tremendous shot at having a great tournament. And the fact of going undefeated makes everything about WSU's team look better in retrospect, even if it's not entirely true, like your belief that last year's team was blowing out everyone in the first half because they were just that talented, when that wasn't the case.

[Championz]

Surely to God the Shockers will beat Indiana..................won't they? It will set the Valley back another two or three years if they don't get the job done.

I guess the Valley survives.

When do the Sycamores play next?

[Snaggletooth]

Looks like 15% of the valley fanbase was disappointed today.