Southern Illinois at Wichita St - 7pm

[pafan]

If the Valley decided to adopt a rule that "WSU's starter's points don't count tonight", this game would have gone to Overtime. That's how good the Shocker bench was.

[WuShockNation]

are there any SIU fans left on this board?

[Wufan]

Yes! xsaluki came to acknowledge the whoopin.

For those of you that missed it, Orukpe (the other 7 footer) exerted his will against the Salukis garnering 5 points, including a monster dunk, 9 boards and 4 blocked shots. The 6-8 Parade AA, Jake White, made his second appearance in three games following up an 8 point 2 rebound effort with 12 and 8 against the salukis. Marshall ran out of scrubs to put in the game with about 10 minutes left so he had to sub the starters back in to give the third team a rest.

[Ricardo del Rio]

It was a shocking game to me.

I can remember all those years, where the Salukis just kicked our butts home and away every year.

I swear that I have seen some better YMCA teams than what the Salukis showed tonight. It was just damn shocking.

It is hard to imagine that the great SIU program has fallen so far.

Here are some SIU half-time stats:

Points - 16
Made FG - 7 ea
FG% - 31.8%
3 FG% - 20%
TO - 13 ea

In fairness, I should mention that the Salukis had 20 rebounds with a margin of 3 over the Shockers. I should also mention that the Salukis had at least 4 charging calls in the first half.

In my view, the Salukis packed it in at half-time.

There was one improvement. Coach Lowery's trouser legs were not dragging on the floor as they usually do. He must have changed tailors.

[Ace Dad]

Take the Shox. With Stutz out, I think the rest of the team will step up their game. In an interview with the local paper, Carl Hall said

“We’re more focused on the road than we are at home. We get relaxed when we play here.”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/20/218389 ... rylink=cpy

That story also says Stutz got hurt when an InSU defender grabbed his arm while he was trying to jump. Stutz has been grabbed when going up his entire career, but the officials seem to think that's OK. Now he got hurt, so it isn't OK. My concern about how the officials let defenders hang on to Stutz is more about the health of a player than about the outcome of a game.

Referees have to protect players. Star players and big guys get mauled.

[Aargh]

Take the Shox. With Stutz out, I think the rest of the team will step up their game. In an interview with the local paper, Carl Hall said

“We’re more focused on the road than we are at home. We get relaxed when we play here.”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/20/218389 ... rylink=cpy

That story also says Stutz got hurt when an InSU defender grabbed his arm while he was trying to jump. Stutz has been grabbed when going up his entire career, but the officials seem to think that's OK. Now he got hurt, so it isn't OK. My concern about how the officials let defenders hang on to Stutz is more about the health of a player than about the outcome of a game.

My predictions are usually pretty weak but I've been doing a bit better this year.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I think WSU will do better with Stutz on the bench in this one. Seck is way too athletic for Stutz to handle and he would have been in foul trouble early.

My prediction was pretty good too.

I know its blasphemy to many Shocker fans, but I actually think WSU is a better team with Stutz on the bench.

[Shockerfan13]

I think WSU will do better with Stutz on the bench in this one. Seck is way too athletic for Stutz to handle and he would have been in foul trouble early.

My prediction was pretty good too.

I know its blasphemy to many Shocker fans, but I actually think WSU is a better team with Stutz on the bench.

In CERTAIN situations I agree with you. Stutz has his limitations (speed, agility...etc). So he does have his matchup problems against real athletic and tough players. With Stutz on the bench the team can play a little faster and take more chances on defense because Orupke is there to clean up with a block or an altered shot should they get by our guards. The press is also more effective with Orupke back protecting the basket should the opponent break our press.

However, if the guards are struggling to shoot...then Stutz is no doubt our most valuable player. He demands alot of double and triple teams which really takes alot of pressure off of the guards. And he is pretty darn good at passing out of those double/triples to find an open shooter.

Overall, Stutz has been pretty darn good this year and we wouldn't have as many wins that we have now without him.

[shockem]

Stutz brings a lot to the team and is a really good player, most of the time. That said, when stutz is on the court, the ball goes through him. We run a more methodical offense and our guards dont seem to play as agressive. When stutz is out, our players all seem to bring their game up a notch and the offensive scheme completely changes. I think last night gave the fans a chance to see what we can expect the rest of the year and into next year. The confidence in orupke just went up about 300%.

[DUBulldog]

Stutz brings a lot to the team and is a really good player, most of the time. That said, when stutz is on the court, the ball goes through him. We run a more methodical offense and our guards dont seem to play as agressive. When stutz is out, our players all seem to bring their game up a notch and the offensive scheme completely changes. I think last night gave the fans a chance to see what we can expect the rest of the year and into next year. The confidence in orupke just went up about 300%.

It's one thing to really bring it for 5-6 minutes a game as a reserve. It's totally different when you're playing 20-30 minutes per game....you have to pace yourself a little bit more. When you know you're only in for a few minutes at a time, you can go all out the entire time you're in there, not worry about fouls, getting tired, etc. Some guys have a hard time making that transition.

Do you think Orupke is to the point where he can bring it for 20-30 minutes per game next season?