College basketball fans often boil everything down to one simple question: who won? But sometimes, the answer isn't so straightforward. Take the recent Wichita State versus Drake scrimmage, for example. Both the Shockers and the Bulldogs clashed on the court at Koch Arena, and fans are clamoring to know who emerged victorious. But here's the catch: declaring a definitive winner is more complicated than you might think.
Why? Because the coaches weren't focused on winning at all costs. While fans were laser-focused on the final score, the coaches were using the nearly three-hour scrimmage as a valuable opportunity to experiment with different lineups, test out new strategies, and evaluate individual player performances. So, did anyone actually win? Well, technically, Drake could claim the bragging rights, edging out WSU with a combined score of 69-62 across the two 20-minute scrimmages. Drake won the first scrimmage 39-24, while WSU took the second 38-30. But here's where it gets controversial... Both teams strategically used different lineups in each scrimmage. WSU played mostly reserves in the first scrimmage, while Drake did the same in the second, giving their younger players valuable experience.
And this is the part most people miss... There was also a "controlled" portion of the scrimmage, focusing on offense-defense-offense transitions. In this segment, WSU prevailed with a 31-20 score, thanks in part to Mike Gray Jr.'s impressive six 3-pointers. But once again, both sides mixed and matched their lineups, making it difficult to draw any firm conclusions. "I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Drake coach Eric Henderson wisely stated. "Both teams had moments where they were pretty good and we both learned a lot about our teams.”
For WSU head coach Paul Mills, the scrimmage served to reinforce what he already suspected: his top eight players are a solid core. While Mills didn't explicitly name those eight players, it's a reasonable assumption that he's referring to Kenyon Giles, Dre Kindell, Gray, Brian Amuneke, Karon Boyd, Jaret Valencia, Will Berg, and Emmanuel Okorafor. These players saw the lion's share of minutes during the second 20-minute scrimmage, which WSU won, while Drake continued to rotate their lineups more frequently. "The eight that you think that you have, I thought those eight showed up,” Mills said, highlighting the importance of confirming his initial assessments.
Mills revealed that he managed to stick to his pre-planned lineup rotations about 90% of the time. But this structured approach did lead to one potential regret. He decided to use the first 20-minute scrimmage to evaluate inexperienced players, resulting in lineups featuring younger players like Joy Ighovodja, T.J. Williams, Dillon Battie, and Noah Hill facing off against Drake's starters. This proved challenging for the Shockers, as Drake quickly built a significant 20-point lead. But Mills, true to his plan, didn't panic. He resisted the urge to substitute in his starters, instead choosing to observe how his team would respond to adversity. While Drake ultimately secured the win, Mills was pleased with the bench's resilience and engagement. "I wanted to let them go through that,” Mills explained. "You’re really not trying to give them solutions right now, simply because you want to see how they fight through it and how they handle it... I thought they stayed engaged during that time. We have to maintain positivity and I did see that.”
On the bright side, Kenyon Giles shone during the second scrimmage, scoring 16 points and showcasing the talent that earned him a preseason first-team all-conference selection by the American Conference. The strong shooting performances from guards like Gray and Giles were definitely highlights for WSU. "I love that, because we have the same logo on,” Giles said, emphasizing the team's shared goal. "It’s always lovely. I know late clock, we’ve got a guy (in Gray). That’s a separator in games, that late shot clock. The play isn’t always going to work, so I love that we’ve got two guys.”
Looking ahead, WSU will have another opportunity to fine-tune their game when they travel to Denver next Saturday to face Santa Clara in another scrimmage. But here's a question for you: Is focusing solely on wins and losses in scrimmages missing the bigger picture? Should fans be more concerned with player development and strategic experimentation during these preseason matchups? What do you think – does the "final score" of a scrimmage even matter? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
