Woes Continue

It took less time to get over, but it still hurts. The Shox are 0-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. O-4, 6-9 overall.

SIU always finds a way to beat the Shockers and the 0-3 Salukis Wednesday evening were no different. With Mullens leading the way, they started strong and finished strong. The Shox on the other hand, started weak and finished weak. Our starting five looked confused and again, Stutz was a beat or two behind the rest of the players on the floor. It didn't take long for SIU to figure out they could rule the paint, flying right past or right behind Stutz.

Luckily, Durley came through. He finished with 19 points and finally the guards were feeding him the ball. He was tough. He and the bench. Our bench out-scored the Saluki bench, 33-2. When Kyles, Griskenas, Hatch, Chamberlain, and Durley were on the floor they narrowed the gap to one point. They also hustled, rebounded, and brought the crowd back into the game.

So, why would Marshall filter in his starters again when the team on the floor was performing? I'm not a coach by any means, but seriously, if a player or players are performing well why take them off the floor? Wouldn't you want to leave them out there until they either started to make mistakes or were tired? Why would you bring in your starters who couldn't buy a basket or a rebound?

Like I said, I'm no coach and I'm sure Marshall has his reasons and justifications. But, I do wish he'd stop grabbing his players by their jerseys as they come off the court after making a mistake. If he wants to get in their face in the huddle, that's one thing, but grabbing them in front of 10,000+ bothers me. Hey, I was one of the first to try and purchase a t-shirt depicting just an empty folding chair in the middle of a court under a spotlight when Bobby Knight went to Texas Tech., but I don't like seeing a Coach grab his players in front of the home crowd. Enough said.

The word I've heard a lot today is "patience." We will have to be patient. I just don't want to flash back to the Scott Thompson years when you could buy a ticket the day of the game and sit anywhere in the arena. Dad and I would eat our popcorn and just pray for a decent game during those trying years, but we still enjoyed going. Looking back, we were clothed comfortably in patience. I guess we've been spoiled as of late.

So, I'll try patience on for size. It's been a while since I've worn it in black and gold, but I am used to the patience that comes in blue and orange (Da Bears), so it's not like I'm unaccustomed to the feel. I just hope the other Shocker fans will dust off some patience of their own. Looks like we'll need it for the season.