The RoundHouse | 9/27/2019 2:12:00 PM

 
Dr. Dish is a summer addition to Wichita State basketball's practice supplies. It is a black-and-gray shooting machine that sits under the hoop to catch basketballs and return them to the shooter. 
 
Dr. Dish (there are two in Koch Arena) records shots taken, shots made, location of those shots. It can change the tempo of the shooting drill by slowing or speeding the rate of return. It can pause the shooting drill for ball-handling or conditioning work. It records the data for an app available on cell phones.  
 
"These are high-tech, so I really like them," senior guard Ashley Reid said. "I'm always on them."
 
Reid and Dr. Dish became constant companions over the summer, time that she and coach Keitha Adams hope serves as a starting point for an improved scoring team. 
 
"We need to put more points on the board," Adams said. "We were pretty good defensively. As a team, we really talked about what we need to improve upon, getting in the gym, getting a lot of shots up and getting better offensively was something we addressed."
 
The Shockers start team practices on Sunday. Wichita State went 12-18 last season, 5-11 in the American Athletic Conference and returns four starters.
 
Reid, from Wichita Falls, Texas, stayed in Wichita most of the summer and used Dr. Dish almost daily. She took 10,000 shots over the summer – a contest among the team recorded shots on a chart in the locker room – by shooting around 500 a day. Dr. Dish told her she typically made around 70-percent of her two-point shots and 60-percent of her three-point shots.
 
"Coach Adams will always say, when you're shooting on the gun, try to make 20-percent more than what you would do on the court," Reid said. "I like to get a lot of things done in the morning, so I would come before class. I've always been a gym rat."
 
That work is helping. Reid also considers herself more fully recovered from a December 2017 knee injury that cost her part of her sophomore season at New Mexico Junior College. At Wichita State, she started five games and averaged 3.7 points last season. She shot 34.1 percent from the field and 20.9 percent (nine of 43) from three-point range. 
 
"Coming off of the injury, that was a big part," Adams said. "I think she will bring more leadership to us this year, because she's not going through the transition of things that she was going through last year. Those qualities we recruited her for, we're going to see more of that." 
 
Reid tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. The recovery took her longer than she expected and slowed her last season. 
 
"She recruited me as a leader, but I couldn't really fulfill that, because I didn't have the confidence," she said. "This year, I feel like I'm in much better shape. I can shoot way better."
 
Last season, the Shockers averaged 56.8 points a game and shot 38.8 percent from the field. Adams recruited to add shooting and size. She anticipates improvement from returners after the roster underwent almost a total makeover in 2017. Sophomore guard Seraphine Bastin also worked on her shooting over the summer.
 
"We've signed some kids that can shoot," Adams said. "This year's team – they've been through the conference. We've set some really clear goals. They're in a position to do that. Last year, it was even hard to do that because we were trying to learn and figure things out."

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.