How a team meeting helped Wichita State basketball move forward for final home stretch
A lengthy team meeting was called on Monday after Wichita State returned home following a road trip that featured two double-digit losses.
The team has won just three times since a 7-1 start to the season, which has not unfolded the way anyone envisioned: WSU is tied for last place in the American Athletic Conference standings with a 2-11 record.
Players were given the opportunity to air their feelings to the coaching staff during the meeting in an attempt to ensure everyone is on the same page going forward. First-year head coach Paul Mills said on his Monday radio show the outcome was a good one.
“The truth is, let’s say we’re in a tug-of-war, if one guy isn’t pulling in the direction that we need to go, everybody is suffering,” Mills said. “So we have to make sure from an energy standpoint that is being done.”
Mills said he was disappointed in how WSU responded, particularly with its energy, following an overtime loss to nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic at home on Feb. 11.
The Shockers weren’t sharp in their practices leading up to the North Carolina road swing, then lost 68-55 to East Carolina in a game where it trailed by double-digits the entire second half.
“I thought we would have a lot of juice and be ready and motivated like, ‘We’re close,’” Mills said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We didn’t have great energy (against ECU), the kind of energy that’s required to win on the road. And we didn’t have it leading up to it in practice. Those practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, we just weren’t where we should have been and it reflected that on Thursday.”
One player who spoke in front of the team on Monday was senior Jacob Germany, who has only played 48 minutes this season for the Shockers but is the ninth all-time leading scorer in program history at UTSA.
In Germany’s final two years in San Antonio, the team finished with a 7-31 record in conference play. He told his WSU teammates he knows what a disjointed team looks and feels like and he doesn’t feel like WSU, a team that has been competitive down the stretch of the majority of its losses, is in the same category.
“We have a group of guys who are staying together,” Mills said. “I still think we have good buy-in. We’ve been in all of these games.
“I know what good teams look like and I know what struggling teams where guys quit and don’t have it look like, I don’t believe this is that.”
Mills said the players gave feedback to the coaches on how the staff could more effectively communicate certain things, which made for a productive meeting ahead of WSU’s rematch against Tulsa at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Koch Arena.
After Tulsa erased a 15-point deficit to win 79-68 on Jan. 31, WSU will try to avoid its first season sweep in the rivalry series since 1996.
“We just need to think 1-0,” Mills said. “All we’re trying to do is start a 1-game winning streak. In order to go 1-0 on Wednesday night, we needed to go 1-0 in the film session (Monday).”
The schedule presents an opportunity to finish the season strong, as WSU hosts three of the bottom-five teams in the conference: Tulsa on Wednesday, Temple on Sunday and Rice on March 2.
Mills believes the answer is for WSU to focus on itself to start winning games.
“What happens a lot of times when you’re dealing with teams that aren’t doing well is you have the tendency to point at other people,” Mills said. “If the officials would have done this or that. But the only thing I can control is me. We need to make sure we’re controlling what we can control. In 26 years of marriage, I can tell you what doesn’t work and that’s trying to change your wife. You better learn how to change you first.
“We need to adapt to the situation and whatever the play is that day, that’s the play we have to make. Do we need to make our free throws and make open shots? Yes. We’re not missing them on purpose. But can we get better spacing to give that guy three more feet of space, so he doesn’t feel rushed? That’s the thing we can improve on.”
After being on the wrong end of a 24-3 free-throw disparity in Tulsa, Mills is stressing the importance of not fouling to his players in the rematch in the Roundhouse.
“You can’t use your hands. You’ve got to be able to defend with your chest and chest the ball,” Mills said. “I know your first instinct is to use your hands, but we’ve got to throw our hands out and be wide. It’s easier said than done. It’s going to be similar to the Charlotte game. We’re going to have to defend without fouling.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2024 at 12:56 PM.
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