Who should the Shockers fear in Puerto Rico?

by **iSASO** » November 13th, 2011, 11:07 pm

Here's the rest of the field:
Purdue
Alabama
Colorado
Maryland
Temple
Iona
Western Michigan

It appears that Alabama is the favorite. I'm not locked in to hoops yet so I'm interested to see who the folks on this site are picking to win it.

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by **MSUDuo** » November 14th, 2011, 7:41 am

If you lose to anyone not named 'Bama or Purdue, we'll have issues :duel:

I have no clue who is on your side of the bracket but I would assume Purdue and 'Bama are on opposite sides. With that said, anything less than a 3rd place finish would be disappointing with where WSU is suppose to be

by **Kip Dynamite** » November 14th, 2011, 7:49 am

Jose Figueroa Agosto. He is the Puerto Rican equivilent to El Guapo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioKto0di3EA

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/ ... ng-machine

by **DoubleJayAlum** » November 14th, 2011, 9:21 am

MSUDuo wrote:If you lose to anyone not named 'Bama or Purdue, we'll have issues

I have no clue who is on your side of the bracket but I would assume Purdue and 'Bama are on opposite sides. With that said, anything less than a 3rd place finish would be disappointing with where WSU is suppose to be

I'd add Temple to the list, but otherwise agree.

by **SubGod22** » November 14th, 2011, 9:47 am

Our side is Colorado (who we play Thursday), Bama and Maryland.

I believe we should beat Colorado, especially if we show up and play with the intensity we had Sunday afternoon. Bama will be tough but it can be done. Would be a huge win for WSU and the Valley. I'm expecting Temple to reach the finals on the other side of the bracket.

by **Aargh** » November 14th, 2011, 10:02 am

WSU's side of the bracket looks like this:

Colorado
WSU

Alabama
Maryland

That's 3 teams from the NIT F4 last year. Colorado lost a lot off of the team that lost to Alabama by a single point in the semi's. Alabama lost very little off of the team that lost to WSU by 9 in the finals. Alabama is a top-20 team in the polls. Turgeon has a rebuilding year at Maryland.

Even with Carl Hall looking like a solid replacement at PF and Orukpe emerging as (apparently) a good backup for Stutz, Alabama has the horses and motivation to beat WSU. WSU's 5 seniors and Williams have played Alabama before and beat them, so that's in WSU's favor.

A loss to Colorado would be a bad thing. A VERY bad thing. A rematch with 'Bama would be a very good thing and should make for a really good game. With PR being a week early, a rematch between 'Bama and the Shox is likely to get a lot of national attention.

by **Snapshot9** » November 14th, 2011, 11:40 am

Certainly 'Bama, but I think the Shockers could win that game. Defensive intensity seems to be up this year over last year, our experienced guards, and the post presence of Stutz/Orukpe, and Hall. Hall is a real good player, and should do fine against more competitive teams. We seems to have a little more razz-a-matazz on Ofense this year, with plenty of guns that can fire the 3 point shot.

A 3rd place finish is probably pretty common and expected, but I think the Shockers have a shot at winning the whole thing.

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » November 14th, 2011, 1:29 pm

If I was Wichita most every team in that field would worry me. There are a heck of a lot of good coaches in that field. Turgeon, Grant, Dunphy, Boyle, and Painter in particular. I would be very surprised if the Shockers made it to the final. Wouldn't shock me if they went 1-2 but they have enough talent to go 2-1 themselves.

by **2livewu** » November 14th, 2011, 1:36 pm

CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:If I was Wichita most every team in that field would worry me. There are a heck of a lot of good coaches in that field. Turgeon, Grant, Dunphy, Boyle, and Painter in particular. I would be very surprised if the Shockers made it to the final. Wouldn't shock me if they went 1-2 but they have enough talent to go 2-1 themselves.

The field is strong enough for WSU to go 0-3 but I would like to think the Valley is strong enough to at least have us favored over Western Michigan, but we all know Gregg is way in over his head with these coaches, so you may be spot on.

Let's also call a spade a spade. The monumental whipping of Nevada aside, WSU beating Alabama, the 15th ranked team in the country, would likely be seen as the best out of conference win in the Valley this season.

Agreed?

Just curious Casey, but since you are MSU, if MSU and WSU switched places, would most every team worry you, or only, potentially, Alabama and perhaps Purdue?

by **havoc** » November 14th, 2011, 2:36 pm

2livewu wrote:
Let's also call a spade a spade. The monumental whipping of Nevada aside, WSU beating Alabama, the 15th ranked team in the country, would likely be seen as the best out of conference win in the Valley this season.

Agreed?

Disagree. UE beating the #1 team in the country on their home floor would be the OCC win in the Valley this season, hell, possibly ever. Granted, the chances of that happening are also pretty slim.