Bob Lutz: Wichita State losses are shock to the system

Nothing is going to make a Wichita State basketball fan feel good after the Shockers’ 0-3 performance in the AdvoCare Invitational over the weekend, three losses in which the Shockers shot 34 percent.

Senior Ron Baker, pushed to the limit because of a wafer-thin backcourt ravaged by injuries, was on fumes Sunday during an 84-61 loss to Iowa in the seventh-place game. And if not for a pretty good second half, WSU would have been blistered like it hasn’t been blistered during nine seasons of the Gregg Marshall era.

As is, it’s the most lopsided WSU loss since Jan. 3, 2009, when the Shockers were beaten 78-54 by Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls in Marshall’s second season.

Reminders of the fragile nature of successful college basketball teams are a rude awakening for the Shockers. And although there’s reason to believe the return of Fred VanVleet, Anton Grady and Landry Shamet to go with the coming eligibility of Kansas transfer Conner Frankamp can go a long way toward curing these ills, these losses are a shock to the system because there have been so few losses in recent seasons.

Now they’re piling up.

WSU is 2-4 and its wins are against Charleston Southern and Emporia State. The Shockers have managed to get through November without doing anything of note and will have to wait until December, now, for something good to happen.

Which is why Marshall, the most driven-to-succeed coach in a sea of them, did not spend the moments after Sunday’s loss storming to the dressing room so he could light into his team. Instead, he waited for them at the edge of the court to slap their hands, pat their rears and offer the best words of encouragement he could muster.

“It’s my job to keep everyone’s heads up,” Marshall said.

It’s not a job he necessarily signed up for, nor one he’s had to perform much over his highly-successful career. Heads normally are up all around him.

This, though, is a dejected team. The Shockers can rationalize all they want but it still doesn’t account for how poorly they played here, especially offensively.

“They want to do so well and I don’t question anyone’s desire,” Marshall said. “But right now we’re probably asking some of them to do a little more than they’re capable of doing, especially against this type of competition.”

Iowa is the best team the Shockers have played. The Hawkeyes are loaded with veteran players and they toyed with Wichita State in the first half, then built their lead to as many 31 points in the second half.

The Shockers cut that lead to 15 on two occasions. Give them credit for that.

Some positives? It’s a short list, but here goes:

▪ Freshman forward Markis McDuffie had two good games and an OK game against Iowa. He looks like a big piece moving forward and that’s a revelation given his limited playing time previously.

▪ Sophomores Zach Brown and Shaq Morris finally came through with something Sunday. Brown had 10 points and Morris, who didn’t get off the bench Friday in a semifinal loss to Alabama, had 11 points.

▪ Another energetic freshman, Eric Hamilton, led WSU with 14 points against Iowa in just 17 minutes. He added a team-high five rebounds.

But how much can Marshall trust that these performances are part of a maturation process that will lead to more consistency from these young players?

“It’s sproradic right now,” Marshall said. “Two weeks ago (people) were writing about the problem with our depth and how would I juggle playing time. Now we’re worried about trusting enough guys to stay in a game. I’m dealing with about as much as I’ve ever dealt with as a coach. Lots of injuries, lots of guys banged up.”

Baker, who returned to WSU for his senior season because he wanted to pursue a national championship, is instead pursuing the nearest whirlpool.

He played as hard as he could against Iowa on Sunday until he could barely keep going. His 36 minutes against the Hawkeyes were three fewer than he played against USC and Alabama and all three teams hounded and pounded him relentlessly.

If Baker somehow came upon a genie’s lamp, his first wish would be for the speedy return of VanVleet, his running mate. And if he was fortunate enough to get a second, it would be for Frankamp to soon start draining three-pointers so that Baker can have room to roam.

The Shockers are 2-4 for the first time since the 1998-99 season, Randy Smithson’s third of four seasons as coach. But there’s still time to fix this. Getting an automatic bid isn’t WSU’s only path to the NCAA tournament. Not yet, anyway.

There are six non-conference games to play, including potentially big RPI-boosting matchups against UNLV and Utah. The six, which also include Saint Louis, Seton Hall, Nevada and New Mexico State, have a combined record of 28-8.

A non-conference resume can be built, but the Shockers need to strap on their tool belts and get to work.

Sunny Florida turned out to be a depressing place. But the season continues to revolve and Wichita State isn’t jumping off.

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Wichita State losses are shock to the system."