Wichita St Game Thread

[texcane1982]

Overall, Haith has recruited in a very subpar manner. Look at the talent difference between McDuffie, Morris, Nurger, etc... and our guys. It's embarrassing.

Not a fair comparison at all. Those (3) WSU players you referenced came into tonight's game with a combined 162 games of DI experience, all (9) of Haith's "subpar" recruits came into the game with a combined 189 games of DI experience. When you take out Etou and Birt, the only Haith recruits with more than 30 games of DI experience, the other (7) came into tonight's game with a mere 66 games of DI experience. Both Birt and Etou separately almost have more DI experience than the other (7) combined. Birt 63 games, Etou 60 games.

These newcomers are going to struggle early as they adjust to the speed of the DI game, way too early to write them off subpar by comparison. Give the kids a chance to prove themselves. IMO, It could take as many as 10 games before Haith truly figures out which (5) player have the best on court chemistry and need the most minutes. Having (8) newcomers on the floor is rather unprecedented. Time to check expectations at the door, 2016-17 is a rebuilding season and we may not see this team really come together until after Jan. 1.

I firmly believe the struggles we've seen is all about experience at the DI level, experience playing together, and confidence. I'm seeing some really athletic on the floor, IMO most athletic roster since the Self era. Obviously being athletic alone does not make a good basketball player, however you can't teach athleticism.

Simply put, the most experienced players (Birt and Etou) can only do so much, they will only be as good as their supporting cast. I believe the success of that supporting cast starts with Henderson and Taplin.

..... just sayin'.


TX

 

[cmullinsTU]

Incorrect, Friend...The TU team during Woodard and Harrison's freshman year were over .500 the entire season...including non-conference wins over ORU and TCU.

They did get blown out at WSU, but they looked "D1 ready" most of the season.

The non-conference schedule was a little softer, but they definitely didn't get pounded by Jacksonville St.

Regardless, I'm praying for improvement.

You're right. I was thinking of their sophomore season when they started 1-6.

 

[PhoggyBottom]

I thought everyone knew this was going to be a very difficult year. It was going to be impossible to replace basically the entire team from last year and immediately be good. As I stated when he was hired, I have my doubts about Haith's ability to sustain a program. However, no one can tell how this is going to turn out at this time. As an example, in 2005-2006, KU started out 10-6 and 1-2 in conference playing only freshmen and sophomores. That team figured it out and finished 15-2 the rest of the way and won a national championship two years later with the same group of guys (plus a couple of additions). At least give them half the season before you give up on them.

 

[hotterthanyourhusbandTU]

Totally agree...good post.

However, I think most would agree there are some definite areas of concern...especially at the guard position.

 

[astonmartin708]

Not a fair comparison at all. Those (3) WSU players you referenced came into tonight's game with a combined 162 games of DI experience, all (9) of Haith's "subpar" recruits came into the game with a combined 189 games of DI experience. When you take out Etou and Birt, the only Haith recruits with more than 30 games of DI experience, the other (7) came into tonight's game with a mere 66 games of DI experience. Both Birt and Etou separately almost have more DI experience than the other (7) combined. Birt 63 games, Etou 60 games.

These newcomers are going to struggle early as they adjust to the speed of the DI game, way too early to write them off subpar by comparison. Give the kids a chance to prove themselves. IMO, It could take as many as 10 games before Haith truly figures out which (5) player have the best on court chemistry and need the most minutes. Having (8) newcomers on the floor is rather unprecedented. Time to check expectations at the door, 2016-17 is a rebuilding season and we may not see this team really come together until after Jan. 1.

I firmly believe the struggles we've seen is all about experience at the DI level, experience playing together, and confidence. I'm seeing some really athletic on the floor, IMO most athletic roster since the Self era. Obviously being athletic alone does not make a good basketball player, however you can't teach athleticism.

Simply put, the most experienced players (Birt and Etou) can only do so much, they will only be as good as their supporting cast. I believe the success of that supporting cast starts with Henderson and Taplin.

..... just sayin'.


TX

To compare, in their first game against WSU, 5 of our 6 freshman that season had 7 or more points, and that was against a tremendous WSU team that went on to the final four and beat a 1 and a 2 seed in the tournament. James Woodard had 15.

This year, against a WSU team that's no where near the level of the 2012 team, we had two players total score more than 6 points and neither of them were Freshman. Additionally, the only reason Henderson scored his *astounding* 9 pts was because he was jacking up bad shots left and right. The Freshman only accounted for 8 points in 53 minutes of play. Then, to top it all off, the upperclassmen who have at least a bit of college experience were terrible as well (outside of Birt).

The biggest problem we have is that Manning was performing better in his first season with a load of injuries and a players left in limbo after Woj left than Haith is in his third season with the team having had multiple opportunities to build a better program for the future. Instead he brought in guys like Brown or Dew who couldn't help the team.

 

[aTUfan]

Are we bad or just young?

 

[TU65alum]

Are we bad or just young?

Yes