With all that said, here's what I see happening in the offseason and what we need next year.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.
Teams figured him out towards the end of the year, but I stand by that it's been a long time since we had such a good post presence.
- Ike is unstoppable. It's been a while since we've had such an impactful post presence.
And did carry us a lot of the year. Wore down as the season went on, but what a great player.
- Maldo is hands down the best player on the team. Can carry us to a win when needed.
We did win a lot of games with the 3, but couldn't hit one to save our lives towards the end of the season.
- 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.
I was WAY off here. We had a solid 8 man rotation, but still missing some big pieces.
- We have a deep bench. There are 8 guys that average double-digit minutes per game. That's without Foster in the mix.
Rebounding was a strength this year for sure. Pretty good indicator of when we won or lost.
- 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.
He did get this cleaned up in a hurry. Not a great free throw shooting team, but not bad.
- 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.
Never got fixed, unfortunately
- 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.
Can't believe that I undersold them at 20 wins. Also undersold the final finish. We were not an easy game for anyone but Arizona this year.
All of the seniors will be back. Until last night I had Maldonado leaving, but I don't think there's any chance in hell he wants that to be his last performance in the brown and gold.
We'll get news on a Linder contract no later than April 1.
We need at least one more true post player. Someone that can absorb contact, clean the glass, and protect the rim. Nelson ain't it. Thompson is a stretch 4. The paint isn't his strong suit. Barnhart has the height, but needs some bulk. I'm curious to see how Barnhart and Becker look next year.
We MUST get at least 2 point guards. Ball handling was a glaring weakness this year. Reynolds showed some good things. I'm willing to bet that Bowen has some handles, too. Hopefully Dut can get his legs under him.
We won't see an offense like this again next year. This was still a very young and inexperienced team overall. I expect to see a lot more movement and a lot less isolation next season.
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Hell of a season, Pokes! I'm excited about Wyoming basketball again, and MAN does that feel good!