Bob Lutz: Marshall wants Baker and VanVleet to go back to being loose, care-free youngsters

At the end of his Monday news conference, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said something interesting.

Compelling.

Expanding on a general question about the senior leadership provided by Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, Marshall harkened back to when those seniors were freshmen and got to steer the ship some during the Shockers’ unexpected voyage to the Final Four.

“They were precocious, as you will, as freshmen in that Final Four run,” Marshall said. “I remember Ron and Fred both making big plays when we beat the No. 1 seed in the whole tournament, Gonzaga. Both of them hit big shots against Ohio State for us to reach the Final Four. And both of them played great against Louisville in the (national) semifinals.”

As the Shockers look for the potion that can get them on track after a pair of lackluster performances in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, including a semifinal loss to Northern Iowa, it was interesting for Marshall to reference a time when Baker and VanVleet weren’t seniors, weren’t regarded as two of the program’s all-time best players, weren’t being referred to as college basketball icons.

They were two young guys having fun, playing ball, making history.

“It’s interesting that you ask about the seniors,” Marshall told the questioner, “because I was just joking with Ron Baker.… I said, ‘Can we get that freshman Ron Baker back?’ because you didn’t care about a thing in the world, you just balled out. And that’s what we need (Tuesday).”

Baker and VanVleet decided to pass up an opportunity to play professional basketball so that they could return to Wichita State. And it wasn’t because of the pizza served in the dorms.

They returned with one purpose, one goal, and that was to win a national championship. Then VanVleet strained a hamstring during a preseason scrimmage against Oklahoma State. The injury lingered and the Shockers lost three games in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla., without him.

When a healthy VanVleet returned in late December, the Shockers rolled off 12 straight wins before losing two of three to Illinois State and Northern Iowa.

“This season has been a testament to dealing with adversity,” Marshall said, citing VanVleet’s injury as the strongest evidence, along with a season-ending injury to freshman guard Landry Shamet. “But we won 22 of 25. Unfortunately, when you lose in the Valley now, late in the year, people say, ‘Well, what’s going on? Why are they losing in the Valley? You can’t lose in the Valley.’ Northern Iowa is a good team. We lost at Illinois State, another fairly talented team.”

The Shockers, who started the season ranked No. 10, are an impressive 24-8. But that’s not 30-5 or 35-1, their record the previous two seasons.

It has been an uneven season on many levels, regardless of the injuries. Wichita State played poorly in St. Louis during the conference tournament, needing a comeback to beat Loyola in the quarterfinals and scoring 52 points in an overtime loss to Northern Iowa in the semifinals.

WSU has averaged 73.2 points, on par with the past five glorious seasons, but have averaged 61 in their losses and been held in the 50s in their past three defeats.

Baker is having another fantastic all-around season, but his offensive numbers are down across the board, from 14.7 points last season to 14.2, from 43.3-percent shooting to 43.1, and from 38.3-percent three-point shooting to 35.8.

The same is true for VanVleet, although his injury has played a part. After averaging 13.6 points last season, he’s at 12 this season and is shooting 39.2 percent overall, although his three-point percentage (41.2) has improved.

VanVleet was the Valley Player of the Year for the second time. Baker made the all-conference team for the third consecutive year.

Just last week, they were chosen by The Eagle as the sixth- and eighth-best players in Shocker history. Everyone knows how much they’ve meant to WSU basketball.

How much they can contribute to one final NCAA Tournament run?

Like everyone, Marshall knows the Shockers will go as far as Baker and VanVleet take them. Which is probably why he made the reference back to their freshman seasons, when they weren’t the leaders of the team and could do some free wheeling.

There’s been pressure on them from the beginning of the season to legitimize their decisions to come back. Given Marshall’s comments, it makes you wonder if they’re carrying to much of a burden.

“I don’t know, you’d have to ask them that question,” Marshall said. “But it’s interesting how free and easy they played as freshmen with not a care in the world and now, who knows what’s on their mind, whether it’s what’s next?

“But I know they’ll give everything that they’ve got. They’re obviously very mature and focused and strong-willed young men. So we anticipate them playing well. But they’ve got to knock down some shots. They’ve got to let it go; stop aiming the ball and shoot it.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Marshall wants Baker and VanVleet to go back to being loose, care-free youngsters."