Wichita State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to defeating Houston on the road
By John Vaccaro
Stop Wasting Possessions
The number one thing that has been incredibly frustrating to watch during Wichita State’s recent struggles has been how little they value their possessions. They consistently make senseless passes that have no chance of ending anywhere other than out of bounds or in the hands of the defense. They regularly force up contested 3s or attack the basket while the lane is crowded. When you compound these errors with their poor free throw shooting, it’s tough to see how they were playing so well just a month ago.
The level of defenses they have been playing against recently has only served to highlight these issues with the Shocker offense. Teams like Cincy, Tulsa, Houston, and Temple have defenses designed to force you to make mistakes or take tough shots. Willingly taking those tough shots
early in the shot clock or trying to force entry passes into Echenique while he’s well-guarded are just ways to make it easier for the defense to achieve their goals.
The Shockers need to take care of the ball against Houston. They need to make every single possession they get count because Houston’s defense, which holds opponents to the 13th lowest shooting percentage in the country isn’t going to give them anything easy. Every time Erik Stevenson or Dexter Dennis hoists a contested 3 early in the shot clock is going to be a wasted possession regardless of how well they’re shooting.
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The Shockers need to work the ball around and do whatever they can to get themselves the best looks possible. The only way to beat a defense like this is to constantly attack it and make them work on every possession. If the Shockers let the Cougar defense off easy, then this game could look a lot like the first matchup between these teams.