What's with our strategy re Linskens?

[bladerunnr]

Why did he have Linskens standing around the 3 point line where no one would guard him? It essentially made the offense a 5 on 4 affair with Linskens man (Nevill) standing in the paint. Shouldn't we have put Linskens on the low box where at least someone would guard him?

I know he made a couple of 3 pointers but was that really the objective? It seems that Schroyer should have reallized that he needed to put Linskens down low, not above the 3 point line where no one would guard him.

Someone please tell me where I am wrong. I can't believe that Schroyer didn't know if he put Linskens out on the perimeter, no one would guard him and Linskens would be forced to shoot. Is this poor coaching or is it my imagination?

[TheRealUW]

I think Schroyer was trying to pull Nevill out of the paint by moving Linskens out onto the perimeter. Remember, Linskens actually has an OK long range shot for being a seven footer. Either Utah didn't know that or they just didn't care and told Nevill to stay in the paint. Linskens made them pay a few times by knocking down some three's, but Nevill didn't budge. Had the plan worked and Nevill was pulled out to the perimeter, it would have opened up some lanes to the basket both for dribble penetration and cuts. I actually liked the idea considering neither Linkens or Waddell were going to do much offensively against Nevill anyways. That being said, Utah made the better decision by leaving Nevill in the paint. They knew Linsken's 3 point shooting wasn't going to be enough to beat them.

[bladerunnr]

Thanks! That makes sense. In my mind, nothing was going to pull Nevill out of the paint. But I guess it was worth a try. Linskens seemed very reluctant to shoot. I remember he made a few last year, but missed a lot more. I would be surprised it that strategy worked against many teams this year. I hope we don't try it against byu.

[WYCowboy]

This is just my opinion, but I don't believe coaching is the problem. Schroyer has as much basketball coaching knowledge and skills as any other coach in this conference. Maybe there is something going on behind the scenes that cause the players not to buy into his system, but I think it is more of an attitude problem with some of the players on this team who maybe think they know more about basketball than Schroyer. We don't have a big enough bench to sit them down or send them packing, but that is what is needed in my estimation. I have seen for myself that Schroyer is one of the best defensive coaches in the country, but some the players on this team just don't get it or care. Some of these players have no fire or desire to win. One of these seniors need to take charge and be a leader, but I don't think there are any on this team capable of doing that. I really don't care if anybody disagrees with this opinion, because I know in my mind this is what is going on.

[Wyolie Coyote]

I would say it is an attitude problem also. Only I think the crappy attitude is with Schroyer. The way he treats the players is not going to maximize their effort and their buy-in to what he wants done. The constant screaming leads to tone deafness in many of the players. They quit listening to the constant yelling at some point. Don't think that Schroyer is much of a communicator or motivator. You see the blank stares on the players' faces as they approach him during a timeout or they are taken out.

[WYCowboy]

I would say it is an attitude problem also. Only I think the crappy attitude is with Schroyer. The way he treats the players is not going to maximize their effort and their buy-in to what he wants done. The constant screaming leads to tone deafness in many of the players. They quit listening to the constant yelling at some point. Don't think that Schroyer is much of a communicator or motivator. You see the blank stares on the players' faces as they approach him during a timeout or they are taken out.

It's a good thing these players didn't play for Bobby Knight. I would also recommend they stay away from the military.

[bladerunnr]

All I know is this: we are tied for 8th and facing the real possibility of being in the play in game again. Not only that, we have 3 starting seniors who are all big contributors. I don't have any faith that the midget point guard and the big stiff from Auburn (2 pt avg) will have any major impact. That means we could have 3 straight years in the play in game. That's totally unacceptable in this weak league.

If the player's attitude is bad, it's Schroyer's fault. With the exception of Ewing, these are his players! CSU put up with Dale layer for 7 years. I hope we don't make that mistake with this guy.

[WYCowboy]

All I know is this: we are tied for 8th and facing the real possibility of being in the play in game again. Not only that, we have 3 starting seniors who are all big contributors. I don't have any faith that the midget point guard and the big stiff from Auburn (2 pt avg) will have any major impact. That means we could have 3 straight years in the play in game. That's totally unacceptable in this weak league.

If the player's attitude is bad, it's Schroyer's fault. With the exception of Ewing, these are his players! CSU put up with Dale layer for 7 years. I hope we don't make that mistake with this guy.

I'm not faulting our seniors for their offense, although it wasn't anything to really brag about either. These three seniors played 28, 35, & 36 minutes. Between the three of them, they got 5 rebounds, had 5 assists, and turned the ball over 6 times out of the total of 9 turnovers. We aren't going to win many games with that kind of effort. I'm beginning to think we have a bunch of prima-donnas on this team. They better get their a** in gear, or they will wind up flipping burgers for the rest of their life.

[TheRealUW]

bladerunnr:

I have disagree with you about Jaydee Luster (aka "the midget point guard") and Boubacar Sylla (aka "the big stiff from Auburn). Both of these players will be solid players for UW. Granted, I don't think either of them are going to be stars in this conference, but we have a few stars in the making coming in with this year's recruiting class. Luster is pretty fun to watch (you should drop in on a practice from time to time). He might be small, but he has a great understanding of the game and how to be a true point guard. Some of the passes he makes are ones that 95% of the point guards in the nation wouldn't see. Both San Diego State and New Mexico thought he was good enough to offer him a schoalrship out of high school, and those are teams that have owned us in recent years. He also had an offer from Washington State. Sylla might not be a tremendous scorer at this point in time, but he's still an upgrade from Waddell. I expect to see a lot of him (and a lot less of Waddell) by the time conference play roles around next season. I also think Amath M'Baye will have a significant impact as a true freshman. In my opinion, he is one of the most underrated recruits in the entire nation. Also, Manzano will give us a bonified scoring threat, although it usually takes JC guys a while to adjust to D1 basketball. I've said this before: I expect us to be 2-3 games better next year with the 2010-11 season being the breakout year for the Pokes. I guess only time will tell.

[nirv117]

I've though that Orgirri for 1 year as a senior is really a complete waste. We would be as bad without him, but could at least be giving davis more time, I see a lot of upside with him - he hustles, and have another freshman to be developing. Having dermody back is helping because he seems to hustle on defense. Ogirri is very lazy on defense, My brother pointed out to me that not only was coach yelling at him for his Ole defense against Utah, but brandon was getting on him too during a time out.

Johnson, a senior, is to small for the post up position he plays, but we have no one else who can post. I don't think he adds all that much. Hopefully we'll get a big post player for next year, or change our style to not have a post up player.

Eweing is the only senior of real value on this team, and he seems to be slightly off this year, maybe because of a new role, maybe those around him, maybe something else.

Despite losing the 3 seniors I think next year will be much better because as I see it Eweing is the only valuable one we have.

[bladerunnr]

I hope you are both right. It just seems to me that we always have these "great" players coming. I remember the other board pumping up Thiam and Diakite. Oh, and how great Waddell would be with a year of weight training behind him. Well, Thiam and Waddell are so so and Diakite never plays. It's frustration on my part, I guess. I think this team looks a lot better than last years. However, the results are basically the same. We can't win on the road and lose to the good teams at home (SDS exception).

Oh well, Football is just 6 months away.

[sharpshooter]

In regards the Utah rant....Ogirri gave up the middle and Link helped and Nevill jammed it.....
disappointing yes that the play happened like that. That's why they went nuts. Great go nuts when were up 2 or down 2 or when your filling up the stat sheet down 20 so you can go for 20 with 6 mins left vs New Mexico...

Garbage time points don't mean much...
If we really want to talk about balls or when players quit we can pull the video out.....
I don't care if we got smoked by UCLA but to see Ewing go for 9 turnovers and Afam with 7......

Everyone has their ups and downs....
Ogirri in this offense should shine more but I've never seen a shooter that takes good shots who gives the ball up so that his teammates can take bad shots... and he never gets it back..... neither does Brandon at times these 2 should get 25 shots a game....

If we made our shots like earlier in the year then the other team would be just as bad defensively as us......
Letting a post player go 12-12 when is that going to be discussed?????

Who's assignment was that I forgot the 2 guys who are supposedly ranked ahead of the worst defenders on the team.... A guy goes 12-12...I don't think I've seen a guard go 12-12 this year or drop 30 points or 26 points on this team. Utah State, UTah and Roll for UCLA....

Call out everyone on this team...

For someone to pull the Tebow Response ....Ewing hasn't played his best ball yet of the year.....
So Pokes step up and make the extra pass like you did in the first 6 minutes vs SDSU....

Gut Check time tonight