When Wichita State head coach Darryl Smiths explains why his favorite Illinois State player is
Kellie Johnson, it provides an insight into his team and how the Shockers play.
Kellie Johnson could play for me, said Smith, whose Shockers oppose the Redbirds at 7 p.m. Thursday in Redbird Arena. She is a tough kid who wont back away. She gives Illinois State an element of toughness on the court and their other players key on that.
Smith, who like Johnson is a native of Montana, added kids who come out of Montana have to be tough.
So do the Shockers, who play with a never-back-off, always-in-your-face style. WSU leads the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding ... and fouls ... and free throws by opponents. While WSU has a 6-11 overall record, 4-5 in the Valley, Smith thinks his team might be better than that record.
We dont have the ability to press this year because we dont have the depth, said Smith. I thought we had a good defensive team last year (his first at WSU). We like to play hard and put pressure on our opponent. I think our team is better than our record, but our league is much better than it appears.
According to Smith, Illinois States improvement relates to depth and the ability it gives the Redbirds to play hard all the time.
Theyre definitely better, particularly because they have three or four big post players who they can rotate and can guard people and battle inside, said Smith. On the perimeter, they have people like Kellie Johnson and
Steph Reichle with experience and lots of younger players coming up who have some talent. They can be more aggressive and they can play that way. We will have to play hard because we will be challenged.
All post players get a challenge when playing the Shockers, who feature junior Jennifer Kaczka and freshman Angela Buckner, who combine for 30.7 points and 21.8 rebounds per game. Buckners 12.9 rebounds per game are among the nations top 10. Shocker fans havent seen rebounding totals like hers since all-American Xavier McDaniel was patrolling the boards for the Shocker mens teams in the mid-1980s.
Redbird coach
Jenny Yopp respects WSUs inside duo and the Shockers toughness on the court.
Kaczka and Buckner are so tough, you have to get your posts to try to force them to concentrate on stopping you, said Yopp. Then, when the shot goes up, you have to focus on boxing out and reboxing out and reboxing out because they will always go hard to the boards. Wichita plays the game as physically as it can be played. They are physical even before the ball comes in bounds.
Yopp expects her team to continue to show improvement in the second half of the Valley season.
Were looking forward to the second round of Valley games, said Yopp. Weve seen how strong these teams are week-in and week-out and our team is looking forward to the challenge of meeting them all again.
Another one of those teams the Birds will meet again is No. 12 Southwest Missouri State, starring all-American Jackie Stiles as the Bears and Birds play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Redbird Arena.
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