‘It’s on my shoulders’: Paul Mills on turnover problem plaguing Wichita State basketball

It’s common to hear basketball coaches implore their players to value the basketball because every possession matters.

During the program’s longest losing streak in more than two decades, the Wichita State men’s basketball team is blowing through possessions like a cheap pack of cigarettes.

Wednesday’s game against East Carolina began with four straight turnovers, which set the tone for how the Shockers valued the basketball in their eighth straight loss, a 54-52 setback to the Pirates at Koch Arena to clinch an 0-6 start in American Athletic Conference play.

“You’re talking to somebody the last three years has coached a team that has been number one in the country in not turning it over,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said, referring to his time at Oral Roberts. “So I can’t tell you how much it bothers me. It’s on my shoulders. We’ve got to better prepare these guys.”

As turnovers have become a problem for WSU during its losing streak, the team has vowed to learn from their mistakes through studying film and eradicating bad habits in practice.

Not only have the turnovers persisted, the problem has actually grown. WSU committed turnovers on its first four possessions of Wednesday’s game, finished with 13 first-half turnovers and matched its season-high of 19 turnovers for the game, which translated to a season-worst 29.8% turnover rate.

“There were times tonight where I felt like we set basketball back about 50 years,” Mills said in his opening statement following the game.

After a presidential term of coaching Utopian, turnover-free basketball, Mills has found himself in command of one of the most out-of-control teams in the country.

During its eight-game losing streak, WSU is averaging 15.5 turnovers per game and its 22.3% turnover rate ranks 347th out of 362 Division I teams during that time-frame.

“It’s just a lack of discipline, a lack of toughness and a lack of valuing the basketball,” WSU leading scorer Colby Rogers said. “We’ve just got to be better as a team with the turnovers. We’ve got to put more of an emphasis on it and value the basketball way more, be tougher with the ball and just make smarter passes.”

Mills was a bit flummoxed on why WSU’s offense struggled so mightily with turnovers against ECU.

The coach said he felt great about the team’s preparation with intense work in the film room on Monday followed by an an encouraging Tuesday practice. The coaching staff showed WSU players the inner workings of ECU’s “no-middle” defense, including what to look for and where to attack.

Then the game began and Mills watched in horror as the players attacked like they had no scouting report, as out-of-control drives led to turnovers and errant skip passes sailed out of bounds.

“I thought we would be able to handle it, but it’s different when you’re going against it and seeing it live,” Mills said.

Mills’ mantra this season for the team is to “dominate the simple” and ball-handling is an area where WSU most glaringly comes up short in that regard.

The majority of WSU’s turnovers on Wednesday stemmed from poor accuracy and poor timing on passes. Too often WSU bypassed the simple play for something more dangerous against ECU’s defense. For a team that ranks 346th nationally in assist percentage, it’s clear the limited drops of juice aren’t worth the squeeze for WSU.

“We have a lot of guards who are very capable of breaking our guy down and creating easy shots for themselves or a teammate,” WSU guard Harlond Beverly said. “I feel like we just have to be willing to make the simple play sometimes. Speaking for myself, I know I can be better at making the simple play.”

“In practice, we’re still going hard and we’re still getting after it with optimism,” Rogers added. “The worst thing you can do is give in.”

The types of turnovers WSU is committing seem to vary from game to game, as the team has struggled with ball-handling errors, careless mistakes, errant passing and offensive fouls. The one constant during WSU’s losing streak? A consistent stream of turnovers, which has severely limited WSU’s offensive ceiling.

Mills said it’s been a busy time of year for the treadmill in WSU’s gym during practices.

“We’ve got a running treadmill that stays on the entire time and guys are over there every time they throw it away,” Mills said.

But with WSU’s turnover problem growing, not receding, this far into the season, Mills didn’t rule out major changes to the way the team practices.

“I think you discuss all of that,” Mills said in regards to big-picture changes following Wednesday’s loss. “There will be some long conversations with the staff tonight.”