Shocker Madness 2012

     Walking into Charles Koch , the memories of the past year have flooded my mind. The tremble of the ground as the fans, student section in particular, the sound of yelling fans, and the emotions of great wins and devastating loses. I walk in for the Dunk competition and see some fresh meat of Cleanthony Early and Nick Wiggins. Cleanthony had some excellent dunks and won the competition, but of the night this was of little importance. Looking at the scoreboard, I love the update of the live tweets getting shown, the new music being played by the "Shocker Sound", and the #watchusreturn video ignites the gas inside of me that has been anticipating WSU men's basketball since the saddening loss to VCU.
      Watching the scrimmage, two new players really stand out. Cleanthony is hungry for the ball on defense, but has a difficult time really attacking it like he should. His vision of the ball was impressive and I am excited to see him play. The most impressive part of him was his versatility. His 2 pointers are reminiscant of Toure, but his threes are smooth and remind me of Hannah. This player has a lot of skill and I hope he shows it in every game this year.
       My other standout player is Derail Green. He did a decent job on defense, but his offense was incredible. He moves the ball well and hits his shots. He is an excellent forward and will be more likely to be replacing Toure. Right now, the team has numerous injuries and so some of the new talent is still unknown. I am hoping that Demetric Williams has improved and will be a valuable leader this year. I was excited to see Fred Van Vleet play, but he was out with an injury as well. Baker and White looked strong and seems as though Baker will be a strong forward as he gets great penetration into the lane and can handle the ball with hands all over it. Orukpe looked strong, but needs to realize that he can continuously go up and block balls, really only showing this strength once or twice during the scrimmage.
      Over all, I am excited for this year and hope that our two games against VCU are matches that we dominate to repay them for the past two years. More importantly, I am loving the seniors we have and hope that Hall can stay out foul trouble and rebounds a ton this year. This year is going to be a good year and we are a fast, fast learning, and young team. I will #watchyoureturn and as always Go Shox!