To say Wichita State aren’t having a good season would just be a plain lie. At 10-2, the Shockers have compiled a respectable record, but it has come at the expense of some close wins. Those close wins have come against the likes of Seton Hall, Detroit, Alabama, and Hawaii. Those are all teams that Shocker teams of a couple years ago would have blown out. Gregg Marshall’s team is not lacking talent, and is still a fundamentally sound team. So, what’s the difference?
First off, the Shockers lost Cleanthony Early, who would eventually be picked in the 2nd round of the NBA draft after averaging 16.4 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game. Having Early last season helped ease any offensive pressure off of Ron Baker or Fred VanVleet. Not having him has proved to be a burden on the Shockers. Other than Baker and VanVleet, only Darius Carter and Tekele Cotton have managed to score consistently. This has left a lot of depth issues for the Shockers, especially if one or two of those four get into foul trouble.
Some of Wichita State’s wins this year haven’t been impressive. They beat Seton Hall by nine points, Detroit by nine, Alabama by one, and Hawaii by one. Now, Seton Hall is a pretty good team, but the Shockers should have beat all the others by more. Letting teams hang around can be a dangerous juggle, and that proved true when they lost to a hard-working George Washington team on December 25th.
This has been true ever since the Shockers put a huge target on their back last season after going undefeated until losing in the Third Round of the NCAA tournament to Kentucky. The year before that, they were the tournament cinderella’s after getting to the Final Four as a 9 seed before losing to Louisville, so last year’s run was not too big of a surprise. That said, not many people thought they were going to go undefeated. Even though they didn’t make the Final Four – Kentucky was the tournament runner-up – it was still a great year for the Shockers.
That is why Wichita State has had an even bigger target on their back this season. I don’t even really think they had a target on their back last season until the hysteria of an undefeated season continued into conference play. This year, they are getting everyone’s best effort night in and night out. We shouldn’t expect the Shockers to go undefeated again, that would just be unfair. We should give them credit for winning these close games, though. It shows the experience of the players like Baker, VanVleet, Carter, and Cotton, and that could very well be a big factor come March.
I’m not saying this team is going to crash and burn, and not make the tournament. In fact, it would be a bit surprising if this team entered the tournament with more than five losses.
I’m just saying this: Wichita State is not playing “cinderella” this season, and they know that. When they figure out how to beat teams with a target on their back, then they will become a dangerous team. That could happen very soon, so watch out for the Shockers. These close calls might be the best thing that could happen to this team.
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