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We've seen 3 games from the Pokes so far. Yes, 2 were against cupcakes on our home floor, and one was against a not-great Washington team on the road, but I've seen enough to have a feel for the team.

• Ike is unstoppable. It's been a while since we've had such an impactful post presence.

• Maldo is hands down the best player on the team. Can carry us to a win when needed.

• We'll win a lot of games with the 3, but can survive without them. That Washington win showed what we can do when shooting goes cold.

• We have a deep bench. There are 8 guys that average double-digit minutes per game. That's without Foster in the mix.

• Rebounding is MUCH improved. That goes hand in hand with our improved defense. Playing tough D like that will keep us in any game this year.

• Our free throw percentage is flat out bad. Only one guy making them at more than an 80% clip. Ike needs to clean that up in a hurry or he's going to get hack-a-Shaq'd all season.

• Turnovers are a problem right now. That can be fixed, but it needs to be a focus.

I'm going to say this is a 20 win team. 20 wins on the nose, in fact. They aren't great (yet), but they're going to be pretty good. We'll probably finish 5th in the conference. We'll be a tough out for any team, though.

WYO1016 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:30 am We've seen 3 games from the Pokes so far. Yes, 2 were against cupcakes on our home floor, and one was against a not-great Washington team on the road, but I've seen enough to have a feel for the team.

• Ike is unstoppable. It's been a while since we've had such an impactful post presence.

• Maldo is hands down the best player on the team. Can carry us to a win when needed.

• We'll win a lot of games with the 3, but can survive without them. That Washington win showed what we can do when shooting goes cold.

• We have a deep bench. There are 8 guys that average double-digit minutes per game. That's without Foster in the mix.

• Rebounding is MUCH improved. That goes hand in hand with our improved defense. Playing tough D like that will keep us in any game this year.

• Our free throw percentage is flat out bad. Only one guy making them at more than an 80% clip. Ike needs to clean that up in a hurry or he's going to get hack-a-Shaq'd all season.

• Turnovers are a problem right now. That can be fixed, but it needs to be a focus.

I'm going to say this is a 20 win team. 20 wins on the nose, in fact. They aren't great (yet), but they're going to be pretty good. We'll probably finish 5th in the conference. We'll be a tough out for any team, though.

Great thoughts. Especially the rebounding. So much better than recent years.

Disagree about the deep bench. IMO that is our weakness. The bench players have shown next to nothing. We have Ike, Dusell, Oden, Maldonado, Jeffires and out side of that? Thompson, Wenzel, Dut? We need Foster back badly.

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:57 am Disagree about the deep bench. IMO that is our weakness. The bench players have shown next to nothing. We have Ike, Dusell, Oden, Maldonado, Jeffires and out side of that? Thompson, Wenzel, Dut? We need Foster back badly.

I can see your point about the bench. What I've been seeing is that we have a deep enough bench for someone like Thompson to play a ton of minutes and not dig a hole. Do we have any offense on the bench? It sure doesn't appear so at the moment. We do have enough athleticism to keep a high defensive presence, though. We're not going to be making any mass subs this year. Our starters score at a high enough rate that we can have 3 starters and 2 subs on the floor and still be a dangerous team. Once Foster comes back we'll be able to have either him or Jeffries come off the bench and give a scoring spark.

I think we finish higher than 5th in the conference.

Think we finish top 3 in conference.

We played about as ugly on offense as possible and still beat a Pac 12 bottom feeder on the road.

Defense wins championships. Were miles better on defense.

I think this team is in the mix

This team is really really fun... Of course, it would be great to have Marcus Williams.

Depth is an issue, especially at the 4/5 spot. Hunter Thompson just doesn't cut it especially on D.

Ike is the real deal! Maldo just continues to get better and lead, always can find a clutch bucket. We have some great shooters and currently 2nd in nation in opp. FG%

We are just one of 5 teams out of 50 undefeateds with 2 true road games.

Best part? Every player on the roster will have the opportunity to come back to Laramie next year

gopokes1399 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:04 pm This team is really really fun... Of course, it would be great to have Marcus Williams.

Depth is an issue, especially at the 4/5 spot. Hunter Thompson just doesn't cut it especially on D.

Ike is the real deal! Maldo just continues to get better and lead, always can find a clutch bucket. We have some great shooters and currently 2nd in nation in opp. FG%

We are just one of 5 teams out of 50 undefeateds with 2 true road games.

Best part? Every player on the roster will have the opportunity to come back to Laramie next year

I’ve been paying attention to Marcus down at Texas AM and he starts for them. He is playing okay. Not anything great. His shooting percentage has been pretty bad this year so far.

Like the A&M fans have said on their message board…. Sometimes he will make a great play and other times he will do something that will make you want to throw your shoe threw the TV.

We will be fine without him. He is a good player though if he could stop making some boneheaded mistakes.

My biggest concern when Linder took over was the ability to win road games with an offense heavily dependent on three point shooting. Three point percentages drop dramatically on the road.

I overlooked the defense Linder teams were playing.

We beat Washington with terrible 3 point shooting, a pile of turnovers, poor free throw shooting, and Ike on the bench.

We beat GCU getting out rebounded by about 20 boards and not shooting the ball well.

The moral of the story: when you hold teams to 30 percent shooting, you win games on the road.

Defense wins road games and winning road games results in cutting down nets.

What’s up with Nevada? Man, they stink

laxwyo wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:21 pm What’s up with Nevada? Man, they stink

They are winning tonight which would be a real good win for them actually. See if they can close it out or not.

Opponent Field goal Percentage defense nationally.

1 Indiana 30.3%
2 Wyoming 30.8%
3 Arizona 31.8%
4 VCU 32.7%
5 Connecticut 33.0%
6 LSU 33.2% 32.7%
7 Memphis 33.6%

Opponent Effective field goal percentage nationally

1 Indiana 34.9%
2 Wyoming 35.4%
3 Arizona 36.2%
4 VCU 36.6%
5 Connecticut 37.4%


Opponent True shooting percentage defense

1 Wyoming 78.1%
2 Arizona 78.9%
3 VA Tech 81.2%
4 Indiana 81.2%
5 Connecticut 81.9%


Our defense has been elite so far this year.

2nd nationally in 2 categories and 1st in another category.

seattlecowboy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:27 pm

laxwyo wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:21 pm What’s up with Nevada? Man, they stink

They are winning tonight which would be a real good win for them actually. See if they can close it out or not.

It would be nice if Nevada could pull their heads out of their asses and win some ooc games so they're not dragging down the conference RPI. I'm not worried about Alford in conference, our staff can coach circles around those chumps.

Washington leading South Dakota St at a tournament in South Dakota by 10 points at halftime which is surprising. SDSU has been good so far this year.

Washington hit 7 or 8 threes in the first half. Not missing much.

seattlecowboy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:27 pm Washington leading South Dakota St at a tournament in South Dakota by 10 points at halftime which is surprising. SDSU has been good so far this year.

Washington hit 7 or 8 threes in the first half. Not missing much.

Washington beat South Dakota St. by 11. 87-76. Should be a good RPI boost for us.

That Washington win might turn out better than it looked a week ago. They're 4-2 with the next game against Nevada.

SDSU destroyed Nevada as well

I just noticed our schedule. One game at a time and all, but the next four games we're going to be favored.

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 11:20 am I just noticed our schedule. One game at a time and all, but the next four games we're going to be favored.

The game at Fullerton will be tough. Looks like Fullerton inconsistent, but they beat San Diego on the road, who is not bad, and they kept it close at Santa Clara, who is a good team.

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 11:40 am

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 11:20 am I just noticed our schedule. One game at a time and all, but the next four games we're going to be favored.

The game at Fullerton will be tough. Looks like Fullerton inconsistent, but they beat San Diego on the road, who is not bad, and they kept it close at Santa Clara, who is a good team.

Yeah, they look like the toughest game between now and Arizona.