Wichita State fan here

[CBB_Fan 60]

Hope for a good match on Friday; hopefully Perea will be able to play for you guys.  I'm just here to to talk a little bit about the game, matchups to watch between both teams, and wish the winner of this game good luck going forward.  I'm sure no matter who wins, we all would love to see Kansas and Kentucky miss the Final Four.  

 

I'll go position by position to start with.  At PG we have Fred Van Vleet.  You've probably seen our guards a decent amount, but I'll give them each a blurb or two.  Fred is not as fast as Yogi.  In fact, he's actually fairly slow.  In a footrace, he's probably one of the slowest guys on our team.  To make up for that (and his size), he is insanely good at managing his speed.  His handles are top notch, and he really loves to catch players flat footed and pull up for a jump shot.  The battle at PG between him and Yogi will be intense, and the guys have played each other before in AAU play.  This is one of the better positional matchups in the first round.

 

Baker is a much better athlete than Fred, and drives a lot more.  In our loss to Illinois State he dunked three times in the first half and he leads the team in blocked shots.  Unlike Fred however, he is prone to making some pretty bad decisions.  He likes to throw caution to the wind and throw up heat check 3s and will make an occasional risky pass inside.  However, he is probably the player we will rely on the most.  Even when he isn't very efficient, he still usually finds a way to lead the team in scoring but if Indiana is hot we NEED him to be at his best.  We don't really have a lot of guys that make their own shot, and the team revolves around Fred and Ron creating opportunities for everyone else.  It will be interesting to see how Indiana decides to approach guarding him, because it isn't as natural as Yogi/Fred is.

 

Cotton is sort of our forgotten third piece.  He can have big games from time to time, but he rarely pushes his own shot.  He 3PT shot is incredibly streaky; he'll go entire months shooting 25-30% before jumping up to 50% to close the year.  However we mostly rely on his defense.  He has been the MVC DPoY twice in a row for his versatility more than his raw stats.  Cotton usually draws the toughest assignment on defense, whether that means a 5'10 PG or a 6'8 All-American PF (Doug McDermott).  He will be at a height disadvantage at 6' but he is crazy athletic and is good both on and off the ball.  He may guard Yogi, or whoever is hot for Indiana from outside.  

 

That is the upside for us.  Our guards are our strength, our lifeblood.  Our posts, not so much.  We start 6'5" Evan Wessel at PF out of position; in the past he played SF for us and PG in HS (on the same team as KU's Perry Ellis).  Wessel's entire offense is the 3.  He'll fake it and drive, but so far there hasn't been a single person that has bit on the fake this season.  Evan is extremely good at getting loose balls, collecting rebounds, and that sort of thing but simply is not big enough to guard taller posts down low.  Instead he pushes them out to the perimeter and denies the ball.  That wouldn't be problem if we had a big defensive center.

 

We don't have a big defensive center.  Our starter is 6'7 Darius Carter, who is also playing out of position.  Carter is long for his height with good hops but has terrible lateral mobility and a tendency to foul.  Good centers give him fits but he is still honestly our best option.  What he lacks in defense, he makes up for on offense however.  He shoots relatively well out to 17', and is a very adept post scorer that primarily relies on the hook shot.  His tendency is to always shoot when he gets the ball though, sometimes putting him in bad position.  And while Indiana lacks the bruiser down low to exploit the size advantage you'll be pleased to know that he struggled to guard Tuttle when Tuttle drew him out to the perimeter.  With Indiana's ability to drive and shoot, it could be an issue for us.  

 

We don't play much of a bench, though a lot of guys see occasional play we rarely go very deep.  Shaquille Morris is the biggest threat as our 6th man.  He's very similar to Carter in that he has good touch and can shoot, but is foul prone and makes mistakes on defense.  The upside for him is high, but he has had an up and down season.  There are a few guys off the bench that shoot the 3, but we aren't hiding any great post defenders or dynamics options in the backcourt.

 

As a group, we have struggled against big athletic teams that play zone.  We aren't as good at shooting the 3 as you guys are, and depend a lot that shot to open up driving lanes and free up the paint for Carter.  Our worst problem is that we go dead cold and flounder for 5 minutes or so a game when our shot is off, and even started out the year without a 3PT make for our first 60 minutes of play.  The zone forces us to shoot 3s, which can backfire when we are hot or go perfect when we aren't.  

 

Our main offense is 4 out with a lot of ballscreens for Baker and Van Vleet at the top of the key, and we use variants against all forms of defenses.  We are one of the better teams in the nation in ballscreen situations, but worse in isolation.  Sometimes the roleplayers get caught looking for Fred or Ron to make a play, especially towards the end of games.  Everyone knows that Fred is going to get the ball and probably shoot a pull-up jumper, which has made it sometimes difficult for us to win close games (along with poor FT shooting).

 

The main strength of our team is probably our perimeter defense though.  Our starting backcourt is exceptionally good at turning up the defensive pressure at key points in the game and forcing 3-4 bad possessions in a row.  All three like to strip their man of the ball, and while Baker and Cotton aggressively jump passing lanes Van Vleet likes to dig out posts.  

 

The keys for Indiana are relatively simple.  #1, avoid TOs.  #2, make 3s.  #3, find a way to attack Carter.  Wichita State needs to have a plan if Indiana gets hot (and you guys can get scary hot), and needs to involve guys not named Baker or Van Vleet.  I don't know if Indiana runs zone very often, but I expect them to try it if it is in their arsenal.  Indiana is probably best off avoiding unnecessary complexities on offense though to avoid the TO battle.  

 

I expect this will be a close game between two very similar teams.  Best of luck to you guys, and if you win you absolutely owe it to us to beat Kansas.  

[CR3AMnCR1MS0N 1,867]

Hope for a good match on Friday; hopefully Perea will be able to play for you guys. I'm just here to to talk a little bit about the game, matchups to watch between both teams, and wish the winner of this game good luck going forward. I'm sure no matter who wins, we all would love to see Kansas and Kentucky miss the Final Four.

I'll go position by position to start with. At PG we have Fred Van Vleet. You've probably seen our guards a decent amount, but I'll give them each a blurb or two. Fred is not as fast as Yogi. In fact, he's actually fairly slow. In a footrace, he's probably one of the slowest guys on our team. To make up for that (and his size), he is insanely good at managing his speed. His handles are top notch, and he really loves to catch players flat footed and pull up for a jump shot. The battle at PG between him and Yogi will be intense, and the guys have played each other before in AAU play. This is one of the better positional matchups in the first round.

Baker is a much better athlete than Fred, and drives a lot more. In our loss to Illinois State he dunked three times in the first half and he leads the team in blocked shots. Unlike Fred however, he is prone to making some pretty bad decisions. He likes to throw caution to the wind and throw up heat check 3s and will make an occasional risky pass inside. However, he is probably the player we will rely on the most. Even when he isn't very efficient, he still usually finds a way to lead the team in scoring but if Indiana is hot we NEED him to be. We don't really have a lot of guys that make their own shot, and the team revolves around Fred and Ron creating opportunities for everyone else. It will be interesting to see how Indiana decides to approach guarding him, because it isn't as natural as Yogi/Fred is.

Cotton is sort of our forgotten third piece. He can have big games from time to time, but he rarely pushes his own shot. He 3PT shot is incredibly streaky; he'll go entire months shooting 25-30% before jumping up to 50% to close the year. However we mostly rely on his defense. He has been the MVC DPoY twice in a row for his versatility more than his raw stats. Cotton usually draws the toughest assignment on defense, whether that means a 5'10 PG or a 6'8 All-American PF (Doug McDermott). He will be at a height disadvantage at 6' but he is crazy athletic and is good both on and off the ball. He may guard Yogi, or whoever is hot for Indiana from outside.

That is the upside for us. Our guards are our strength, our lifeblood. Our posts, not so much. We start 6'5" Evan Wessel at PF out of position; in the past he played SF for us and PG in HS (on the same team as KU's Perry Ellis). Wessel's entire offense is the 3. He'll fake it and drive, but so far there hasn't been a single person that has bit on the fake this season. Evan is extremely good at getting loose balls, collecting rebounds, and that sort of thing but simply is not big enough to guard taller posts down low. Instead he pushes them out to the perimeter and denies the ball. That wouldn't be problem if we had a big defensive center.

We don't have a big defensive center. Our starter is 6'7 Darius Carter, who is also playing out of position. Carter is long for his height with good hops but has terrible lateral mobility and a tendency to foul. Good centers give him fits but he is still honestly our best option. What he lacks in defense, he makes up for on offense however. He shoots relatively well out to 17', and is a very adept post scorer that primarily relies on the hook shot. His tendency is to always shoot when he gets the ball though, sometimes putting him in bad position. And while Indiana lacks the bruiser down low to exploit the size advantage you'll be pleased to know that he struggled to guard Tuttle when Tuttle drew him out to the perimeter. With Indiana's ability to drive and shoot, it could be an issue for us.

As a group,

Thanks for all this info! Have loved watching you all play when able to. Sounds like these teams will match up pretty well, especially in terms of size.

We get to see two of the most dynamic guard duos in the country, which to me makes this likely to be a great game, plus the fact that each team has another wing who can be a huge X-factor.

Obviously want my Hoosiers to win, but I hate to see either of these teams go one-and-done.

[CBB_Fan 60]

For anyone wondering, I accidentally pressed enter and left off a bit off an already long post.  Oh, and please leave our coach alone win or lose :).  Not that you guys don't deserve a great coach, but we saw him first.  I'll be honest, I was really hoping Brad Stevens would go to Indiana before he got the Celtics job both because I believe he would be the coach Indiana deserved and because it would make me a lot more optimistic about keeping Marshall.  

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

Other than getting the names wrong and saying we don't utilize our bench much, this was an incredibly accurate description of Indiana's team. Good job!

Joking, but based on your analysis there are plenty of similarities between the two teams.

[drock161 586]

Well we all know that every team has their best shooting performance ever when they play Indiana, so we may want to steer clear of playing a zone. That and the fact that we're horrible at it...

[Alford Bailey 12,373]

For anyone wondering, I accidentally pressed enter and left off a bit off an already long post.  Oh, and please leave our coach alone win or lose :).  Not that you guys don't deserve a great coach, but we saw him first.  I'll be honest, I was really hoping Brad Stevens would go to Indiana before he got the Celtics job both because I believe he would be the coach Indiana deserved and because it would make me a lot more optimistic about keeping Marshall.  

Thanks for the analysis. I hope we land Stevens as well so you can keep Marshall around.

[Five Prime 1,087]

I see you mention defense in your analysis. Can you explain what this elusive term means for those of us who have been watching IU for the last 7 years?

I kid, but really, the fact that you mentioned it in your analysis makes me cringe. We Indiana fans have been conditioned to not even mention d______ when analyzing our team.

[HoosierAloha 30,058]

It will be interesting to see how Indiana decides to approach guarding him, because it isn't as natural as Yogi/Fred is.

 

 

It will be interesting to see how IU guards anybody on the court for WSU.  I'm sure there will be a handful of possessions that IU has no idea who they're guarding and another handful of possessions where they don't think it's necessary to guard anyone.  Thanks for the breakdown, I'm feeling a little more optimistic knowing WSU doesn't have a big that will own us in the paint.
 

[DawgBawls 712]

Hope for a good match on Friday; hopefully Perea will be able to play for you guys.  I'm just here to to talk a little bit about the game, matchups to watch between both teams, and wish the winner of this game good luck going forward.  I'm sure no matter who wins, we all would love to see Kansas and Kentucky miss the Final Four.  

 

I'll go position by position to start with.  At PG we have Fred Van Vleet.  You've probably seen our guards a decent amount, but I'll give them each a blurb or two.  Fred is not as fast as Yogi.  In fact, he's actually fairly slow.  In a footrace, he's probably one of the slowest guys on our team.  To make up for that (and his size), he is insanely good at managing his speed.  His handles are top notch, and he really loves to catch players flat footed and pull up for a jump shot.  The battle at PG between him and Yogi will be intense, and the guys have played each other before in AAU play.  This is one of the better positional matchups in the first round.

 

Baker is a much better athlete than Fred, and drives a lot more.  In our loss to Illinois State he dunked three times in the first half and he leads the team in blocked shots.  Unlike Fred however, he is prone to making some pretty bad decisions.  He likes to throw caution to the wind and throw up heat check 3s and will make an occasional risky pass inside.  However, he is probably the player we will rely on the most.  Even when he isn't very efficient, he still usually finds a way to lead the team in scoring but if Indiana is hot we NEED him to be at his best.  We don't really have a lot of guys that make their own shot, and the team revolves around Fred and Ron creating opportunities for everyone else.  It will be interesting to see how Indiana decides to approach guarding him, because it isn't as natural as Yogi/Fred is.

 

Cotton is sort of our forgotten third piece.  He can have big games from time to time, but he rarely pushes his own shot.  He 3PT shot is incredibly streaky; he'll go entire months shooting 25-30% before jumping up to 50% to close the year.  However we mostly rely on his defense.  He has been the MVC DPoY twice in a row for his versatility more than his raw stats.  Cotton usually draws the toughest assignment on defense, whether that means a 5'10 PG or a 6'8 All-American PF (Doug McDermott).  He will be at a height disadvantage at 6' but he is crazy athletic and is good both on and off the ball.  He may guard Yogi, or whoever is hot for Indiana from outside.  

 

That is the upside for us.  Our guards are our strength, our lifeblood.  Our posts, not so much.  We start 6'5" Evan Wessel at PF out of position; in the past he played SF for us and PG in HS (on the same team as KU's Perry Ellis).  Wessel's entire offense is the 3.  He'll fake it and drive, but so far there hasn't been a single person that has bit on the fake this season.  Evan is extremely good at getting loose balls, collecting rebounds, and that sort of thing but simply is not big enough to guard taller posts down low.  Instead he pushes them out to the perimeter and denies the ball.  That wouldn't be problem if we had a big defensive center.

 

We don't have a big defensive center.  Our starter is 6'7 Darius Carter, who is also playing out of position.  Carter is long for his height with good hops but has terrible lateral mobility and a tendency to foul.  Good centers give him fits but he is still honestly our best option.  What he lacks in defense, he makes up for on offense however.  He shoots relatively well out to 17', and is a very adept post scorer that primarily relies on the hook shot.  His tendency is to always shoot when he gets the ball though, sometimes putting him in bad position.  And while Indiana lacks the bruiser down low to exploit the size advantage you'll be pleased to know that he struggled to guard Tuttle when Tuttle drew him out to the perimeter.  With Indiana's ability to drive and shoot, it could be an issue for us.  

 

We don't play much of a bench, though a lot of guys see occasional play we rarely go very deep.  Shaquille Morris is the biggest threat as our 6th man.  He's very similar to Carter in that he has good touch and can shoot, but is foul prone and makes mistakes on defense.  The upside for him is high, but he has had an up and down season.  There are a few guys off the bench that shoot the 3, but we aren't hiding any great post defenders or dynamics options in the backcourt.

 

As a group, we have struggled against big athletic teams that play zone.  We aren't as good at shooting the 3 as you guys are, and depend a lot that shot to open up driving lanes and free up the paint for Carter.  Our worst problem is that we go dead cold and flounder for 5 minutes or so a game when our shot is off, and even started out the year without a 3PT make for our first 60 minutes of play.  The zone forces us to shoot 3s, which can backfire when we are hot or go perfect when we aren't.  

 

Our main offense is 4 out with a lot of ballscreens for Baker and Van Vleet at the top of the key, and we use variants against all forms of defenses.  We are one of the better teams in the nation in ballscreen situations, but worse in isolation.  Sometimes the roleplayers get caught looking for Fred or Ron to make a play, especially towards the end of games.  Everyone knows that Fred is going to get the ball and probably shoot a pull-up jumper, which has made it sometimes difficult for us to win close games (along with poor FT shooting).

 

The main strength of our team is probably our perimeter defense though.  Our starting backcourt is exceptionally good at turning up the defensive pressure at key points in the game and forcing 3-4 bad possessions in a row.  All three like to strip their man of the ball, and while Baker and Cotton aggressively jump passing lanes Van Vleet likes to dig out posts.  

 

The keys for Indiana are relatively simple.  #1, avoid TOs.  #2, make 3s.  #3, find a way to attack Carter.  Wichita State needs to have a plan if Indiana gets hot (and you guys can get scary hot), and needs to involve guys not named Baker or Van Vleet.  I don't know if Indiana runs zone very often, but I expect them to try it if it is in their arsenal.  Indiana is probably best off avoiding unnecessary complexities on offense though to avoid the TO battle.  

 

I expect this will be a close game between two very similar teams.  Best of luck to you guys, and if you win you absolutely owe it to us to beat Kansas.  

Get outta here you bum!!!!   LOLOLOL..JK. :biggrin:  Welcome to IU #1 fansite! :biggrin:

[Hovadipo 55,498]

So basically......we're playing with ourselves..

I mean AGAINST ourselves!

[GloryDays 5,918]

So basically......we're playing with ourselves..

I mean AGAINST ourselves!

So does the game really happen if both of ourselves fail to show up?

[Hovadipo 55,498]

So does the game really happen if both of ourselves fail to show up?

Hmm...that's interesting. It makes me ponder on the parallel universe theory (which I want to believe in).

[jmsgws 2,181]

Other than getting the names wrong and saying we don't utilize our bench much, this was an incredibly accurate description of Indiana's team. Good job!

Joking, but based on your analysis there are plenty of similarities between the two teams.

Except the Shockers actually play defense.. 

[Me So Hornsby 2,747]

Would have been rooting for the Shockers in the tourny if we werent matched up! Looking forward to a good game!

 

 

Also doesnt Baker remind anyone of Johnny from the movie Radio??

[Scooter D 928]

I have loved watching WSU play the last couple of years. Great team play, great play on both ends of the court, and solid, fundamental basketball. What is not to love?

[swatford 1,235]

Thanks for coming on board to give us the synopsis, this should be a really fun game to watch.

 

On a side note, anyone else think scheduling the shockers as a part of our non-conference slate would be a good idea? Seems like we compliment each other well and it'd be an exciting match up to see from time to time.

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,170]

Yeah, I planned on rooting for Wichita State too.  I guess I will be rooting for the winner of this game either way.  Interesting that this WST fan knows we are on a Coach search.   National media latched onto this story.  I just hope we actually play some D.  If we do, I could see us winning this one.  Wichita State has not seen a point guard like Yogi this year. 

 

But as all of us IU fans know, it depends on if we are dropping 3 bombs for makes or not.

[TrueHoosier62 1,592]

I expect this will be a close game between two very similar teams.  Best of luck to you guys, and if you win you absolutely owe it to us to beat Kansas.  

Absolutely wonderful post, and classy introduction. Like many here, I've watched with great admiration, your WSU baskeball team over the past several years. Your program, under coach Marshall, exemplifies so many of the traits that our Hoosiers used to display in vast abundance, most notably, defense, intelligent play, and mental toughness. Nowadays, our main focus, (indeed our only focus), is hoping that the three point Gods shine favorably upon us for 40 minutes. If your team's play demands that we also be attentive, defensive minded, physical, mentally tough, patient, and tactically clever, you're asking too damned much! 

Had you not been paired to play us, I'd have had no problem whatsoever rooting for the Shockers to take out Kansas and Kentucky.

Best of luck to you, and may the team who makes the least number of errors, win.

[IU Hoosier41 14,465]

Thanks for stopping by. Should be an interesting game. I'm optimistic, but then again I always am.

[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,259]

GO SHOCKERS! Just not on Friday. Don't worry, we'll take out Kansas for you.