Scouting The Shockers

Wichita State Shockers
Wichita, KS
27-8, 9th Seed
Coach Gregg Marshall
1-0 alltime versus Gonzaga

The Shockers are the 2nd seed out of the Missouri Valley Conference. They spent a good portion of the year gelling together and starting to become a better team. Their 8 losses are a little misleading, but they did struggle versus Evansville and Creighton this year.

Led by upperclassmen forwards Cleanthony Early and Carl Hall with talented guards Fred Van Vleet and Malcolm Armstead. This is a well balanced team that can play inside and outside. Keep an eye out for Center Ehimen Orukpe who patrols the paint and can block shots at a high level. They play very good defense and can shoot the ball at a high level when given the opportunity.

Against Pittsburgh on Thursday the shockers shot 52.4% from the field and were able to convert 24 of 29 opportunities at the line. It will be imperative to not allow the shockers to slow the pace of this game and keep them off the line.


Wichita State Video Highlights 

Here are the Shockers back in January vs Bradley, note the ball movement and ability to make the extra pass to find the open shooter:



We cannot allow them to run set plays like this. We have to be able to disrupt the passing lanes and create fast break opportunities to stifle the halfcourt sets Coach Marshall runs.

Freshman guard, Fred Van Vleet, going off vs Detroit during Bracket Busters:



If you watch the video above, wichita shows that if you play off them around the perimeter and allow space they can knock down good looks. We need to be vigilant and keep pressure on their shooters, without allowing too much space down low, like Butler they can sneak up on the D and get those mid range floaters.



Yet another example of Van Vleet playing an all around game. This time vs Drake. Drake did a better job of defending than Detroit, but Van Vleet and Co were still able to get their looks and find space to hit the open jumpers. Also note the hero versus pittsburgh, Malcolm Armstead finding his shot. We cannot allow him to get hot.

I see good reason to have Hart and Bell roaming the perimeter and playing tight Defense early to keep the shockers from getting too much space and force them to find looks inside. This is where the heart of our defense in the post can use its size advantage to make some stops.

The keys to the game for the Zags are to stick with the gameplan and look early and often inside to Harris, Olynyk, Dower, and Karnowski. We need to exert our will on the interior paint and find high percentage shots. If we can play tight perimeter defense and keep the shockers from finding their shot, this game could be over fairly quickly. We all know what the Zags are capable of even if the rest of the country is skeptical following our poor outing versus Southern. Hopefully the staff has had time to settle the guys down and get them ready for another tough matchup. If the Zags can get through the Shockers they will have made their first sweet 16 since 2009. I have a feeling its gonna be a Gonzaga-LaSalle matchup.

Final Score: Gonzaga 74 Wichita State 60