Ouer non conference schedule is now complete ... Porter has a week to reflect on what has worked and what has not. I believe he will make the necessary adjustments with X's and O's and players heads! I believe we have the talent to this year finish in the middle of the conference ... time will tell ....

I sure hope you are right. I feel he has the tools to be a good coach and hope he can turn this thing around!!!!


But as my pappy used to say, "It's always darkest just before it turns completely black!"


Keep the faith!!!!

I like the optimism, but I do have to say that your schedule is definitely about to get harder than what you just finished. I used to think you guys could finish 5th or 6th but at this point I'm not sure you finish any better than 8th.

I want you guys to succeed. I just think you guys are farther away though than I expected. Hopefully, no matter how the conference season goes, Moser and the guys learn from the rest of the season and come in next year ready to make a move up the conference rankings.

_________________
The Roundhouse

SG22 You are always encouraging. Now that you have seen your Shockers how far do you think they can go in the NCAAs this year? How do you compare them to last years team?

It's difficult to say. I will say that I believe that we can play and beat any team in the country. So when it comes to March and how far we can go, I believe we're capable of winning the whole thing. But the tournament isn't about the best team all the time as much as it is who gets hot or cold on a certain night. A little luck helps. Our Final Four run last year wasn't expected, but at the same time, it wasn't a great stretch to believe we could be there. You may or may not believe me, but I told most of the people I came across last year that as long as we got by Pitt, who I thought we could have matchup issues with, I thought we could get to the Final Four. No guarantees, but I liked the way our side of the bracket looked for our team.

Last years team was just as deep as this years team, but I think there were more offensive threats coming off of the bench last year. With that said, I think the offensive fire power of our starters is greater this year than last. Early is a year older and better. Baker is healthy (missed most of last season) and VanVleet is probably a better all around PG than last years 5th year starter in Armstead. We don't have Carl Hall, but it appears that Darius Carter is on his way to filling that role nicely. Tekele Cotton is one of the hardest working players in all of college basketball and can do any and everything needed to win. And he's only gotten better from last season.

IF either or both of Wiggins or Wessel start knocking down shots off of the bench, we become a lot more dangerous. IF one of Lufile or Coleby gain some consistency down low, we become a lot more dangerous. All of the above named will defend and rebound but none have been much of a threat on the offensive end at this point. A couple of them stepping up and being a little more productive on the offensive end can be the difference in us only making it to say the Sweet 16 and us making another run for April. But the great thing about the tournament is that there are no guarantees.

While there's been talk of an undefeated season, I doubt that happens. I do think we'll slip up once or twice in conference as winning on the road in the Valley is not an easy task. Bradley still has athletes that can match up with us even though they haven't been consistent. Illinois State hates us so they'll be up for that game. Missouri State kind of considers us a rival as we're the only two in our neck of the woods geographically speaking. UNI is never an easy place to go and ISUb may be inconsistent but they're still a pretty good team. Losing one or two in those arenas won't surprise me. I never expect a loss in The Roundhouse. To be honest, I never expect a loss anywhere, but we represent pretty well at home and it's a hostile environment with 10,508 fans right there and the acoustics make it one of the louder arenas in college. I've been to games at KU, and some good games, and never heard it get as loud as what I've experienced at The Roundhouse. I've left a handful of games in Wichita with my ears ringing for a couple of hours afterward.

Basically, I think that this years team as a whole is better than last years. Last year was considered a rebuilding year. I think we've gotten to the point where it's not so much of rebuilding as it is reloading. I doubt we'll win every game. I doubt we'll win the national title. But I wouldn't bet against either as I know we can beat anyone. No team in the country will work harder than us. 3G won't allow it and a number of the players have his mentality. They'll fight for everything. It helps that we don't rely on just one or two players as we've had I think 5 or 6 different leading scorers already in our 12 games.

And next years team may be even better than this one. The potential is there anyway as we have a very good recruiting class coming in and should return VanVleet, Baker, Cotton and Carter. That'll be four starters. And we have at least two freshmen that are capable of coming in and starting or at least playing good minutes. Not to mention our two redshirts this year in CG R'ian Holland, a little guy that's insanely quick and fast and can hit from anywhere on the court, and C/PF Shaq Morris who is 6'8" 270 and could have probably averaged 10-15 minutes a game this season. Just for the record, we'll be bringing in a 6'7" SG/SF that is playing PG at his prep school here in Wichita, and 6'8" SF/PF and another 6'8" PF and a JUCO 7' from Africa currently playing in Texas. But that's all for another discussion. Sorry to get side tracked but I love recruiting and am really excited about our future.

_________________
The Roundhouse

It sounds like you think you will dominate the Valley for a while. Do you see any of the other Valley teams recruiting well enough to compete in the near future? I am an old Valley guy having grown up in Peoria and being a Bradley fan until I went to Loyola. So I remember the Shockers from way back. I remember watching Oscar Robertson playing when Cincinnati was in the Valley. I remember seeing Dave Stallworth play.
What are the odds if the Valley does not provide you much competition in the years to come that WSU will look for greener pastures?

I will first say that WSU is always looking for greener pastures. However, without football it is highly unlikely that anything comes along.

I'm hopeful that we continue recruiting better caliber players and playing to compete nationally and that the bar will continue to be raised. I'm also hoping that like Gonzaga in the WCC, that there will be a team or two at least that rise with that bar. I do think that Bradley has the best chance going forward as they have the support and basketball focus to do it. I believe financially they have the ability to pay and maintain a higher level and I still beleive Ford can do that for them.

Outside of that I'm not 100% sure who will make the commitment. I think ISU could, but I'm not sure they will as I think they're more focused on football. Missouri State has potential but they have a history of playing it cheap. I'm not sure if Drake has the ability to maintain a high level and keep a successful coach. I think UNI can remain solid, but I'm not sure how much higher their ceiling really is. And if Jacobson ever leaves, I think they fall hard. I have little faith in the Indiana schools. SIU will suffer for some time as they'll be hesitant to ever try and pay a coach as much as they did Lowery as it came back to bite them pretty good. Loyola is a wild card. Small gym limits some of the financial potential but I believe that if success is achieved that you guys can pay to keep a successful coach from jumping at the first opportunity for a paycheck. Is Loyola willing to do that? I don't know for sure but I believe that's one reason that they were added.

I don't see us dropping much at WSU as long as 3G is around and I don't see any jobs coming open anytime soon that he would be a candidate for that he'd consider leaving. Few in the coaching community work as hard as he does and he surrounds himself with a staff that works insanely hard to discover talent and develop relationships early. We've landed a few guys with "BcS" offers that we still got because of spotting their talent and potential early and developing a relationship. I think that'll continue plus with our current success, new doors will open. I hope one or two rise up to push us at the top. I'm not trying to say we'll dominate the conference going forward, but we should this year as it's down as a whole. I do think there is some good young talent that if a few programs can continue recruiting and building a more solid foundation and network of talent that we may be pushed for the top spot in a few years.

_________________
The Roundhouse

Everybody's always looking for greener pastures. Last year more than 50 Division I teams out of 347 changed conferences-- almost 15% of all teams in DI, and a lot more would have changed if they'd had the chance. Butler's in their third league in three years. You gotta believe that Detroit, UIC, and probably Valpo and Milwaukee would have loved to get out of the Horizon last year if the conditions and options on either end had been right.

In basketball, Wichita State would fit right in to the Big 12 as a superior replacement for Nebraska or Colorado. But without football, it ain't gonna happen. They're too far and too public for the Big East, too far from the edge of the A-10, and too good and too far to make a basically lateral move to any other conference. So a lot of their frustration at the mediocrity of other teams in the conference (like us-- maybe especially us) is understandable.

To a very large extent, we didn't come in to the conference to replace Creighton, we came into the conference to replace the spot from which whatever longtime member of the conference steps up to replace Creighton. It could be Bradley, could be ISU, could be UNI, could be Missouri State, etc. We certainly didn't get into the conference on our basketball resume. We got in because we have an upside for the league in terms of market, financial stability, potential, and commitment. We were superior to other practical options. In a lot of ways it's easier to find a good basketball school to take up two spots on the schedule every year than to find a school with the assets we bring. So that's why we're here. Hopefully, we'll grow into a really positive member of the conference, and hopefully sooner than later.

I completely agree with your last paragraph. From a purely basketball standpoint, there were at least two other options that would have made more immediate sense in ORU and Belmont. Neither is far from the current footprint and both would bring an immediate boost to basketball. But in the long term, it's hard to say. ORU has had some financial issues that may be in the past. Belmont is a small school and not sure where they're at financially but they've relied on Coach Byrd for 20+ years and who knows what happens when he retires.

Loyola definitely brings potential and financial stability. Something lacking in much of the current membership. I'm really hopeful to see some decent progress from you guys over the next few years and pray that you don't turn into an anchor.

And please forgive my Shocker family when they get frustrated with the lack of "help" from the conference in terms of commitment and/or results. We passionately love our basketball here and always have. Most of us know that the best thing for WSU basketball is a strong conference and that's all we want to see.

_________________
The Roundhouse

Sub, as usual you have put forward a good post. Things aren't the same without you but stop in once in awhile. I would echo everything Sub has written. I felt that Loyola was the best option to fill in the vacancy left by that other school that shall remain nameless. I'm old enough to remember the games with "The Ramblers" although I was pretty young. Looking forward to improvement and continued financial commitment to your program. As Sub mentioned football really drains the resources of several other Valley schools and they try to squeeze the basketball dollars to compensate. It has only been recently that WSU stepped up to recruit and retain a coach that what we consider one of the finest at this point in time. The other thing is the commitment to the program as a whole, travel, recruitment and asst coaches salaries. If you think Porter is your guy then try to support him anyway you can because that speaks volumes to more than a few coaches. Good luck in the conference and as I have said I may try to make the game when WSU plays in Chcago.