Mark my words

[Wildcat_Fan]

If we do not rebound and make FOUL SHOTS we will NOT make it to the NCAA tournament. We were out rebounded, 42-34, and shot a poorer percentage from the foul line, 70-57, against an inferior San Jose team. Even if the team gels during conference, which most expect us to, we will lose games were not supposed to lose. Hands down.

 

[wsucatfan]

Yes, the team needs to get that mark (free throws) above 70% to be a contender, and legitimately have a shot at advancing in the NCAA tourney.

 

[hawkssb04]

If we do not rebound and make FOUL SHOTS we will NOT make it to the NCAA tournament. We were out rebounded, 42-34, and shot a poorer percentage from the foul line, 70-57, against an inferior San Jose team. Even if the team gels during conference, which most expect us to, we will lose games were not supposed to lose. Hands down.

I wouldn't get too worked up about the rebounding. Saturday's game was bizarre, as the Spartans grabbed a ton of offensive boards on seemingly lucky bounces.

However, you are absolutely right about the free-throw shooting. Although I am surprised to learn WSU isn't dead last in the Big Sky (8th of 11) in team free-throw percentage, the team obviously has a serious issue that has carried over from last season. How Randy plans to fix it, though, is beyond me. Free-throw shooting is such a mysterious thing, as you'll see all of those guys shoot 80-90 percent in practice, but there's obviously a mental element attached to in-game scenarios that continues to bog them down. On Saturday, as the misses continued to pile up and the boos started coming in from the crowd, you could visibly see the negative effect it had on the players, almost like a massive weight was on EVERY free throw.

 

[Webergrad02]

I look to our seniors to lead the way. During the stretch where we missed 9 of 11 foul shots, Tres missed 3 and Berry missed 3 as well. The comment I keep hearing is "how do you go from one of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation to this bad". I hope it is something that can be corrected. There will be nights when free throws will be the difference between a win and a loss. I want Carl to ask coach the hard questions sometimes, like what's going on with the foul shooting coach? Instead they talk about the four minutes that Byron Fulton played at the end of the first half. It was nice to see Fulton play some tough D, but there were some far more important issues in the game.

It was very interesting that the team on the floor that put the game away was Senglin, Berry, Gittens, Hill & Bolomboy. The youngsters missed as many if not more foul shots than the seniors, but I found it very interesting that the young line up played down the stretch and sealed the game.

 

[oldrunner]

Our free throw shooting is going to get better. These kids are simply putting too much pressure on themselves right now. They just need to relax and take their time while at the stripe. We have really good shooters on this team. I think that it will work itself out.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

I wouldn't get too worked up about the rebounding. Saturday's game was bizarre, as the Spartans grabbed a ton of offensive boards on seemingly lucky bounces.

Weber has been out-rebounded in every game and by -5 rpg average. Maybe my expectations were too high for this season but I was expecting Weber to be a very good rebounding team. Hill has it in him and I'm just waiting for some monster games from him. I would love to see Joel in double-digits every game. Tres doesn't seem to have hit par yet. I really think this should be a focus for them getting better-- working aggressively as a team to "clean glass."

However, you are absolutely right about the free-throw shooting. Although I am surprised to learn WSU isn't dead last in the Big Sky (8th of 11) in team free-throw percentage, the team obviously has a serious issue that has carried over from last season. How Randy plans to fix it, though, is beyond me. Free-throw shooting is such a mysterious thing, as you'll see all of those guys shoot 80-90 percent in practice, but there's obviously a mental element attached to in-game scenarios that continues to bog them down. On Saturday, as the misses continued to pile up and the boos started coming in from the crowd, you could visibly see the negative effect it had on the players, almost like a massive weight was on EVERY free throw.

A bunch of their misses Saturday, had little arch and were hitting the back of the rim. I'm waiting for a player (i.e. a Dev) to take a step back from the free-throw line and make it a jump-shot :lol: . Seriously, some players who seem to jump-shoot so well from 12' out sometimes struggle a little standing 10' away. I've also found it quite curious that the opposing teams in the DEC shoot FTs in the second half on the end with no Weber fans behind the basket, and visiting family, etc. just to the left. Kinda squashes a little bit of home court advantage, doesn't it?

 

[Webergrad02]

I think we get exposed on the boards when we have two bigs going for the blocked shot. It makes the offensive board ripe for the picking.

 

[Wildcat_Fan]

I agree, we had quite a few blocks against USU but got out rebounded. The block is fun and a crowd pleaser but dont take yourself out of the play. Like against SJSU, huge block, got there own rebound and hit a 3. We have guys who can clearly jump and bang so we should not be getting out rebounded this much.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

I think we get exposed on the boards when we have two bigs going for the blocked shot. It makes the offensive board ripe for the picking.

That's an interesting thought but if my thinking (and math) is correct, it looks like the opposite might be true. If Joel/Tres are giving up defensive rebounding position while attempting to block, then we'd be comparing Weber's defensive rebounding to the opponents offensive rebounding, true? It looks like Weber is doing worse on the offensive glass, unless I'm not looking at it right.

 

[hawkssb04]

I wouldn't get too worked up about the rebounding. Saturday's game was bizarre, as the Spartans grabbed a ton of offensive boards on seemingly lucky bounces.

Weber has been out-rebounded in every game and by -5 rpg average. Maybe my expectations were too high for this season but I was expecting Weber to be a very good rebounding team. Hill has it in him and I'm just waiting for some monster games from him. I would love to see Joel in double-digits every game. Tres doesn't seem to have hit par yet. I really think this should be a focus for them getting better-- working aggressively as a team to "clean glass."

However, you are absolutely right about the free-throw shooting. Although I am surprised to learn WSU isn't dead last in the Big Sky (8th of 11) in team free-throw percentage, the team obviously has a serious issue that has carried over from last season. How Randy plans to fix it, though, is beyond me. Free-throw shooting is such a mysterious thing, as you'll see all of those guys shoot 80-90 percent in practice, but there's obviously a mental element attached to in-game scenarios that continues to bog them down. On Saturday, as the misses continued to pile up and the boos started coming in from the crowd, you could visibly see the negative effect it had on the players, almost like a massive weight was on EVERY free throw.

A bunch of their misses Saturday, had little arch and were hitting the back of the rim. I'm waiting for a player (i.e. a Dev) to take a step back from the free-throw line and make it a jump-shot :lol: . Seriously, some players who seem to jump-shoot so well from 12' out sometimes struggle a little standing 10' away. I've also found it quite curious that the opposing teams in the DEC shoot FTs in the second half on the end with no Weber fans behind the basket, and visiting family, etc. just to the left. Kinda squashes a little bit of home court advantage, doesn't it?

This totally reminds me of something. Did anybody else laugh out loud when Davion attempted that flat-footed trey from the corner? :rofl: :rofl:

 

[WSUProf]

I think we get exposed on the boards when we have two bigs going for the blocked shot. It makes the offensive board ripe for the picking.

That's an interesting thought but if my thinking (and math) is correct, it looks like the opposite might be true. If Joel/Tres are giving up defensive rebounding position while attempting to block, then we'd be comparing Weber's defensive rebounding to the opponents offensive rebounding, true? It looks like Weber is doing worse on the offensive glass, unless I'm not looking at it right.

What needs to be examined is the percentage of offensive rebounds per missed shot. A team with a good shooting percentage is bound to have fewer o-boards. Plus, you need to factor in missed foul shots somehow (tough to do since not every miss is a rebound opportunity -- i.e. the first of a 2 shot foul) which are not likely to end up as offensive rebounds. But the key issue is what percentage of missed shots are turning into offensive rebounds.