Wichita State basketball mailbag: Answers on Tre King, transition woes and lineups
You asked and it’s my turn to answer any and all questions readers have about the Wichita State men’s basketball team.
Here are some of the top questions received on Twitter this week:
Griffin Bryant (@GoodFriendGriff): If we do win the race on him, how much would Tre King change this team?
This is the question I’ve been receiving the most this week, so let’s start in recruiting with potential transfer candidate Tre King, a 6-foot-9 big man who averaged 14.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks last season as an all-Ohio Valley player for Eastern Kentucky.
King was “left speechless” by his official visit to Wichita State on Nov. 15 and had glowing things to say about the Shockers. He has since taken official visits to Missouri and Iowa State and should decide his next destination soon.
The key word: soon. There’s no rush for King, who plans to enroll at his next school during Christmas break and join the team for the second semester. It’s likely he’ll announce his commitment soon, but so far there’s no word of when that might be.
It’s also important to temper expectations for WSU fans. If the Shockers land King, and that’s an if right now, it’s still not likely that he would be able to play in January this season.
Because King transferred to Georgetown and enrolled in summer classes there before being kicked off the team for an unspecified violation of the code of conduct for the school, he will need to apply for an NCAA waiver to play this season. As WSU fans have grown to learn after the Teddy Allen saga from the 2018-19 season, no matter how solid of a case WSU thinks it has, nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the NCAA.
With that being said, if WSU lands King and if he is granted a waiver, he could be a true game-changer for the Shockers. He has long arms and plus athleticism for a big, the ideal fit in the American Athletic Conference as WSU’s likely best defensive big man. King could give WSU a scoring option on the blocks, which would help create balance, but he’s more dangerous as a pick-and-pop big in ball screens if he can continue last season’s development as a three-point shooter.
Under Gregg Marshall, WSU thrived with a three-man rotation at center. If King is added to the mix, the Shockers could have a tantalizing trio with King, Morris Udeze and Kenny Pohto.
The obvious challenges would be finding minutes for everyone and adding a newcomer this late in the season, which is always a risk to a team’s chemistry. But if WSU’s coaching staff feels confident King would fit in, then it’s a no-brainer because he certainly has the talent to make a difference for the Shockers this season.
Windell Snow (@WgsSnow): I think WSU is most suited to play the game like VCU’s Shaka Smart teams and the way they played at the end of the Arizona game: pressure defense, shoot-rebound-shoot and stay out of half-court offense at both ends.
I don’t think Wichita State is ever going to commit to the Havoc-style defense that made VCU so good, but I agree there is real potential for the Shockers to do serious damage in the open floor.
But here are the facts: for as good as WSU’s press defense has been this season, the transition offense has negated a lot of that by being horrendous.
Let’s start with the defense and keep in mind the small sample size (five games of a 30-plus-game season): WSU is applying full-court pressure on 15.4% of its defensive possessions, the most it has pressed since the 2014-15 season when Fred VanVleet, Tekele Cotton and Ron Baker were wreaking havoc. And the Shockers are having real success with it — ranking No. 33 nationally with 0.68 points per possession in their press defense — mainly because they are forcing turnovers on more than a quarter (27.9%) of the time, per Synergy.
Forcing lots of turnovers in the open court is almost always a great recipe for easy offense. Again, it’s early and there’s time to turn things around, but WSU’s transition offense has been one bungled fast break after another.
The Shockers rank No. 340 out of 358 Division I teams, per Synergy, in transition offense. You name it and WSU has been below-average at it on fast breaks.
Turning the ball over? They’ve done that on 10 of 62 possessions, squandering 16.1% of their looks without a shot.
Finish at the rim? WSU is somehow making the same rate of shots at the rim in transition (47.8%) as it does in the halfcourt, both marks being well below the AAC average of 54.1%, per Synergy.
Make three-pointers? With defense back-pedaling, open threes are usually easily available on fast breaks. No matter, WSU is shooting an abysmal 13.3% (2 of 15) beyond the arc in transition.
There’s no doubt this team has potential in transition. It’s not hard to imagine Qua Grant or Craig Porter leading the break, Ricky Council, Dexter Dennis or Monzy Jackson flying in for dunks, and Tyson Etienne spotting up for wide-open threes on the break.
But so far, that has been far from the reality for WSU. As mentioned above, there’s plenty of time for that to change, however.
WuCast (@WU_Cast): Can you foresee a change in the starting lineup due to the bad starts?
It appears the lineup that WSU coach Isaac Brown has settled on early in the season is Craig Porter, Tyson Etienne, Dexter Dennis, Joe Pleasant and Morris Udeze.
It’s interesting to point out that while that is usually the group that starts the game, it almost never plays together again after the opening stretch. That exact five have only played 33 offensive possessions total this season, or 9.5% total. So while it’s fun to talk about who starts, it’s clear that Brown is willing to adapt to who’s playing well and who isn’t as the game progresses.
Here’s what the score and time have been when Brown has made his first substitution each game:
Jacksonville State: Trailing 6-2 with 15:28 left.
South Alabama: Leading 5-2 with 16:02 left.
Tarleton State: Leading 7-3 with 14:43 left.
Arizona: Trailing 7-5 with 15:53 left.
UNLV: Trailing 2-0 with 18:17 left.
WSU has been trailing after five minutes in three of its five games, which isn’t great, but it hasn’t trailed by more than four points, so it’s not like the Shockers are burying themselves in an early hole as much as it might feel like to fans.
With that being said, I do think Brown will continue to tinker with his starting lineup as the season goes along. Could we see WSU start with a four-guard lineup that includes Ricky Council IV and Dexter Dennis? Could we see true freshman Kenny Pohto and his pick-and-pop ability take over as the starting center? There’s cases to be made.
WSU’s four-guard lineups with Dennis at the four are shredding opponents by a 0.33 points per possession differential with the offense peaking at 1.16 points per possession on 97 total possessions this season. Brown has gone to this lineup mostly to close games or when WSU has needed to rally in the second half — with a lot of success. Is it better to keep that small-ball weapon for later in games or could we see Brown start games with it? That’s an interesting question to ponder.
Another difficult dilemma for Brown is whether to continue to trust his fourth-year veteran Morris Udeze, who is struggling to start this season, or to promote Pohto to the starting lineup.
Udeze’s offensive struggles are reflected in WSU’s points per possession (a meager 0.87) when he’s on the floor, while Pohto’s outside shooting ability and spacing seem to open up the offense more. The Shockers’ offense jumps from 0.90 points per possession with Pohto on the bench to 1.08 points per possession with him on the floor.
So far, Brown has basically split playing time between Udeze (49% of possessions played) and Pohto (45%). But with the veteran in foul trouble for much of the two games in Las Vegas, Pohto fared well with a large load (57% of possessions played).
I would be surprised if Brown benches Udeze, only because he’s a four-year player who has earned the coach’s trust over the years. But if Pohto continues to play this well and starts hitting threes, like he did against UNLV, don’t be surprised if the freshman ends up seeing more of the court.
Braxton Jones (@KWCHBraxton): If Harry Potter himself were a Shocker, where do you think he would fit into the rotation?
Although no height is ever listed for Harry in the books, I’m guessing he’s no taller than 6 foot even. He spent his entire childhood running away from Dudley, so he’s probably got some good quickness. We know from his seeker abilities that he could see the floor well. After living in a cupboard under the stairs for almost all of his developmental years, you know he can work well in tight spaces.
Here’s where I get caught up: could Harry shoot? In today’s game, my point guard has to be able to space the floor and knock down the three-point shot. Then again, if Harry could procure some Felix Felicis for the entire season, sorry Tyson Etienne, but Harry is playing the full 40 minutes every game.
This question also got me wondering what my Quidditch lineup would be with Shocker players. Here’s what I ended up with:
Seeker: Tyson Etienne. Easy choice. He’s the WSU version of The Chosen One. He was destined for stardom but worked hard to get there, so I’m trusting him to snatch the snitch every time.
Chasers: Craig Porter, Ricky Council and Chaunce Jenkins. I need offensive-minded individuals who are going to be able to rack up the points while Tyson chases the snitch. Craig is a smooth operator and he can lead my attack with Ricky and Chaunce running the wings, doing nothing but scoring goals and finishing dimes from Craig.
Beaters: Dexter Dennis and Monzy Jackson. Who’s crazy enough to take on bludgers? Monzy. Who loves playing defense? Dexter. My seeker is never getting touched with these two and they’re inflicting some serious pain on the other team.
Keeper: Joe Pleasant. Who is getting past Joe? No one. He’s 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds and looks more like a defensive end in the NFL than a college basketball forward. That’s because his father, Anthony, is a two-time Super Bowl champion who played defensive line in his day. Anyway, Joe brings the intimidation factor needed to be a great keeper and the length to swat shots away. Put him on a Firebolt and Joe is getting to everything.
Chris Whalen (@BostonWu): Why is Mo off to such a poor start after having a strong finish to last season?
That’s a great question and one that perplexes Udeze and the WSU coaching staff.
He averaged 10.3 points and made 61% of his two-pointers last season, but through five games this season, Udeze has seen his numbers plummet to 7.0 points on 50% shooting on two-pointers with his turnovers (a team-high 17 total for 3.4 per game) skyrocketing.
The biggest difference in the numbers from last season to this one has been his efficiency in post-ups. He scored more than 35% of his points in post-up attempts last season at a good 0.90 points per possession. But this season, Udeze has just six points on post-ups through five games at 0.46 points per possession.
That’s because of a combination of things: he’s been matched up against bigger players to start the season and teams have identified his weakness of passing out of double teams. So whenever Udeze catches in the post, teams are usually running a second defender at him and he’s struggled this season keeping hold of the ball and making the defense pay.
He also has been hardly effective as a roller in ball screens, something he excelled at last season with pick-and-roller partner Alterique Gilbert. Is it adjusting to new point guards feeding him the ball? It’s possible that’s part of it, but the biggest thing to me is that Udeze needs to regain his confidence and swagger he carried with him at the end of last season.
Friday’s game at Missouri offers up a great chance for Udeze to restore his confidence inside. If WSU can strike an inside-out balance, then the offense opens up more for the guards to drive and either finish or kick to open shooters.
Establishing Udeze as a threat will not only get Udeze going again, but also improve the quality of looks for everyone in the offense.
Talkin Shox (@ShoxTalkin): Any chance we see Monzy’s minutes go up soon?
No doubt about it. Through five games, Jackson is playing just 12.4 minutes per game — a tick below what he was playing last season. He’s maximizing his impact on games, however, grabbing a team-high nine offensive rebounds, draining 4 of 7 triples and dishing out seven assists to just three turnovers. Tally it all up and Jackson has posted an absurd 139.8 offensive rating and 69.2 true shooting percentage.
So what does a guy have to do to get more playing time? I asked coach Brown that exact question on Tuesday and here was his response.
“His minutes will definitely go up,” Brown assured. “He’s shooting the basketball well. He’s giving us great energy off the bench. When he comes in the game, even when we’re struggling, he seems to get all the 50-50 balls and all the offensive rebounds. We’ve got to do a better job of trying to create wide-open shots for him. He just has to do a better job of guarding without fouling and he’ll be on the floor.”
It’s obvious Jackson’s energy can swing games for the Shockers, but he also must earn the coaching staff’s trust to remain on the floor for long stretches through attention to detail. Although he’s improved, Jackson still battles bouts of ball-watching that plague him on defense and boxing out. In his minutes at power forward, WSU’s defense falls from 0.88 points per possession without him on the court to 1.00 points per possession when he’s on the court.
To be fair, Jackson’s offensive punch takes WSU from 0.96 points per possession without him to 1.03 points per possession with him. Whatever his defensive shortcomings have been this season, Jackson’s instant playmaking on offense have made up for or at least canceled them out.
There’s also a log jam at power forward, the only position on WSU that has three players consistently playing minutes in starter Joe Pleasant (44% of possessions played), Jackson (28%) and Dexter Dennis (28%). The four-guard lineup with Dennis at power forward has WSU’s best lineup this season, which makes it hard for Jackson to find time when Brown often goes small-ball to close halves or when WSU needs to make a run.
But it’s hard to imagine Jackson not seeing an increase in minutes as the non-conference slate progresses, especially if his outside shooting and playmaking persist.
Jake Enz (@Jake_Enz): Where did former Shocker Alterique Gilbert go? Did he go pro?
This is another question I’ve been asked a lot since the summer, as it’s been a bit of a mystery as to what Alterique Gilbert is up to right now.
I was told after last season that there was no chance Gilbert would be playing college basketball again after playing his final season with the Shockers. As far as I can tell, Gilbert has not signed with a professional basketball team anywhere yet. Not to say that he won’t eventually end up playing professionally, as he certainly has the talent.
If I receive news that Gilbert has signed to play anywhere, I’ll be sure to tweet it out. I know many fans enjoyed watching him play his lone season with the Shockers.
Joe Walsh (@joewals30396899): Exactly how bad is the financial situation in the WSU athletic department? What is the plan to solve it?
I asked this question this summer to a few people in the athletic department and the general consensus seemed to be that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly hurt WSU, but it was far from a fatal blow.
WSU just released its ICAA financial statements, which range from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and those show that the athletic department operated at a $8.3 million deficit during the fiscal year.
Compared to the five previous years before the pandemic, where WSU was operating slightly in the black, that was a significant hit. With hardly any fans able to buy tickets and come to Koch Arena and spend money, WSU was left with about $9 million short of its usual revenue.
The good news, on top of fans being back at Koch Arena this season, is that WSU also starts receiving NCAA Tournament shares from the American Athletic Conference — not a dramatic boost, but not nothing, either.
But WSU is facing the same problem that every top-notch college basketball atmosphere is facing in 2021: attracting fans to come out to games. Every game being available to watch from the comfort of your home has made going out to games, especially against non-marquee opponents, a choice many are passing up.
And there are segments of the WSU fan base not attending because of how they feel about COVID-19, whether they don’t feel safe yet in crowds or they don’t like the mask mandate, even though it has been a superficial rule so far.
Throw in the uncertainty about the future of the AAC beyond 2023 and there are some questions looming for WSU. It’s an uphill battle, for sure, but I was told that the athletic department is confident WSU will recover in time from the past 18 months.
ChiefShocker (@BluzRover): Who’s the one player who is playing really well right now but under the radar?
It’s tough to identify someone under the radar because WSU has a pretty defined nine-man rotation and they all play a decent amount.
I’ve thought Craig Porter has played better than his on-off numbers and box-score numbers indicate. True freshman Kenny Pohto grew up quick in Las Vegas, but I think fans are pretty tuned into his potential. Chaunce Jenkins really impressed me when he finally got run with Tyson Etienne absent against Tarleton State.
But honestly, I think the answer to the question has to be Monzy Jackson, for many of the reasons I detailed above. Again, I’m not sure he qualifies as under-the-radar because everything Jackson does is the exact opposite of under-the-radar. He lets everyone know when he’s cooking when he shakes his head and his dreadlocks go crazy.
As I said above, I expect Jackson to be a bigger part of the rotation as the season goes along.
Chris Lilly (@ChrisLillyKAKE): Mount Rushmore of pizza places (in Wichita)?
I can always count on KAKE News’ Chris Lilly to come through with the best question. As a pizza connoisseur who travels the country in search of the best slice, this was right up my alley.
With no apologies, I am going, in order: Il Vicino, Knolla’s, Wichita Brewing Company and Ziggy’s. If any of those fine establishments are interested in a Name, Image and Likeness deal with me, I am more than happy to accommodate. My email is teldridge@wichitaeagle.com.
But because I had to know how my list stacked up with the Foodie Queen herself, Denise Neil, I made sure to get her top four picks in Wichita. Here’s what Dining with Denise went with, in order: Piatto, Picasso’s, Ziggy’s, Angelo’s.
Don’t sleep on the wood-oven pies from Il Vicino being served in College Hill and Bradley Fair!
Jake Enz (@Jake_Enz): What is the scouting report on Jalen Ricks, Isaac Abidde and Steele Gaston-Chapman?
All three are almost certainly going to end up redshirting, barring unforeseen circumstances. Ricks has already decided to redshirt, as he no longer dresses in uniform for games, while Abidde and Gaston-Chapman still do — just in case.
Ricks is an intriguing prospect as a 6-foot-7 wing who was billed as a sharpshooter and plus-rebounder coming out of prestigious Oak Hill Academy. Ricks lived up to his reputation this summer, as many people told me he quickly became one of the best shooters on the team. He’ll likely spend this year in the weight room with Kerry Rosenboom, adding muscle and explosion, as he could be a prominent player for the Shockers next season depending on who leaves.
Abidde was a late addition to the roster, a player who was going to play this season at a prep school until Brown offered a scholarship for this season in August. The coaches love his upside as a freak athlete in a 6-foot-9 frame who has jaw-dropping dunks in practice, but can also step outside and surprise people with his three-point stroke. I’ve been told he prefers to play on the wing, but his best position in college could end up being as a stretch four. If he sticks around, WSU is confident he can develop into a contributor.
Gaston-Chapman is a local walk-on with plenty of heart and hops, but it’s hard to see a pathway to serious minutes at this level. He was a successful player at Southwestern College at the NAIA level as a true freshman and he could be an impact player at that level again if he someday wishes to return. But for now, Gaston-Chapman serves as the team’s hype man on the bench, pushing the starting guards with his dogged defense and trying to help make everyone around him better.
Sully Engels (@sullyengels): Which Shocker do you think is the best cook and why?
I gave this some serious thought and my first instinct was to go with Dexter Dennis or Morris Udeze. They’ve been in college for four years now and there’s no doubt they’ve had to get creative a time or two in the kitchen. But the more I thought about it, the clearer it became: Tyson Etienne.
Etienne’s healthy lifestyle is well-documented and there’s no doubt in my mind that Etienne knows how to prepare a meal. Would it be anything that I would eat? No. I’ll stick with my Freddy’s and Knolla’s, thank you very much.
Perhaps that’s why Etienne is on the Naismith Award watch list and I’m waiting to play next at the Y.
BA27 (@aircapital27): When schools go to these tournaments with multiple teams, do they try to schedule the other schools for future games?
It’s an interesting question, but one that I’m sure varies with every program. I’m sure it’s great for networking, as WSU’s director of operations Dominic Okon was in contact with the DOBO’s at Arizona and UNLV this past weekend.
But I would say these November tournaments rarely spawn future series down the road. WSU has made playing regional opponents a priority recently, which is why you’ve seen the Shockers play an array of Big 12 schools like Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor in recent seasons.
I would love to see the Shockers play someone from out West, like Arizona, on an annual basis, but I would say that’s pretty unlikely to happen.
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 6:47 AM.
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