The RoundHouse | 12/6/2020 4:24:00 PM

Basketball teams will often use "We weren't ready to play" as an easy explanation for things that aren't really easy to explain.
 
In this season's early stage, it rings true for Wichita State to the degree that the Shockers are short-handed, can't practice in the manner they need to and are trying to work in a whole lot of new faces.
 
It shouldn't be surprising that this team, in very real ways, isn't ready to play the way it needs to play. That showed up in Sunday's 72-62 loss to Missouri at Koch Arena. The Shockers fell behind 15-4 and spent the rest of the game struggling to catch up. 
 
"They came in and punched us in the mouth," Wichita State guard Alterique Gilbert said. "You could obviously see in that first media timeout, we weren't ready to play."
 
"Learning experience" was the phrase of the game from the Shockers (1-1). Some of that can be explained by the circumstances – nine scholarship players available after weeks of inconsistent preparation. Of those nine scholarship players, four are in their first season at Wichita State.
 
The Shockers, however, compounded their problems by either failing to get back on defense or not getting organized quickly enough when they did. Either way, Missouri feasted on layups and dunks, leading to a 15-6 advantage in fast-break points. 
 
"That was the game right there," Wichita State's Dexter Dennis said.
 
Missouri (3-0) answered every serious Shocker run, many times by simply winning the race to the basket for demoralizing layups. The Tigers finished with 11 layups and six dunks, signs of defensive breakdowns that the Shockers will study hard in video.
 
"We knew they liked to push," Gilbert said. "That tells the story."
 
The Shockers wanted to go from their press into their half-court defense to slow Missouri. That was the scouting report, the Shockers said, and the Tigers made it come to life. Too often, the Tigers cruised past the Shockers. An experienced team took advantage of a team in the early stages of figuring things out.
 
"We didn't do great getting back in transition," Wichita State coach Isaac Brown said. "That was one of our keys going into the game, transition defense."
 
The Shockers led 2-0 and then trailed 4-2 and never led again. Their offense isn't ready to combat an experienced and physical opponent at this point. A lack of off-ball movement and too much dribbling led to a stumbling offense. The Shockers finished with eight assists on 22 baskets and shot 33.3 percent from the field.
 
"We were definitely stagnant," Gilbert said. "We could have made them a work a lot harder on the defensive end. It's all a learning experience."
 
Last season, the Shockers were 1-4 in games with eight or fewer assists. Those losses came against physical defensive teams such as West Virginia, Houston and Memphis and indicate an offense that isn't working smoothly to create good shots.
 
It is hard to get up to speed playing 4-on-4 – both strategically and physically. Timing, trust and execution are critical to an efficient offense and the Shockers are at a disadvantage trying to develop those attributes.
 
The Shockers weren't able to work out issues in an exhibition game or closed scrimmage and that problem is magnified by the lack of quality practice time. While COVID-19 problems aren't only plaguing the Shockers, their off-season of upheaval means they needed time to build depth, chemistry and standards.
 
"Guys are learning to play together," Brown said. "The biggest thing is us being organized. They're not playing the positions they normally play in practice."
 
The Shockers have all week to prepare for Oklahoma State, Saturday's opponent. The practices should improve as teammates return. If the Shockers, as they say, learned from Missouri then the next six days are time to show it.

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