Linder = Less

[johnywyo]

Not sure where we go from here. If the fans remain away from AA, and this squad continues to squander in obscurity maybe we cut the so called bball guru end of season and start anew. All you basketball geeks that still proclaim we are a bball school, what’s the antidote for the misery we’re facing?

[LanderPoke]

Every time we get something going basketball wise we step on our own dicks. Just can’t get any momentum built up. The highest Linder has ever finished in conference is 4th btw… even in our GREATEST SEASON EVER a few years ago

[307bball]

A basketball genius that bleeds talent through transfers and can't replace it may be a basketball genius....but they won't win much.

[rich22]

My

1. Lack of an offense. We look just like the 2004-07 Wyo teams. 1 high ball screen to see if our point guard can score and everyone else stand at the 3 point line. A lot of turnovers due to lack of movement. In fact I think coach Linder will finish about how Steve McClain did. The similarities are pretty crazy.

2. Lack of a defense that has structure and pressure. We are all playing 1 on 1 defense and we don't have the athletes to do this. Our 1-3-1 defense last night was almost comical due to the lack of pressure and movement.

3. Lack of local talent on our roster - Look at CSU's roster right now and you will see what we should look like. I have also heard that the big Laramie kid was offered by CSU. Wyo isn't even looking at him right now from what I hear. His offer list didn't include Wyoming. Again just like the 04 Steve McClain. I'm not saying all Wyoming kids. I am saying we should have at least 1 Colorado kid that we can get every other year and 1 Wyoming kid every 4 to 5 years.

4. Lack of crowd involvement - It was asked why the Rock Springs Mormon kids are all going to USU in another thread. The student involvement with the University was evident last night. Its been that way at USU for 30 years. If you were to look at our student section at bball games it's also comical. I remember talking to Tom Burman in the mid 2000's with some Booster that I worked for. I remember Tom saying they were thinking about firing Steve because the crowds were getting down to average 5,000 to 6,000. haha we would kill for that average right now.

I don't have answers but those are the problems right now I feel.

[stymeman]

Start playing in the UniWyo lol...i don't like it either, it's just the state of college basketball nowadays

[McPeachy]

A basketball genius that bleeds talent through transfers and can't replace it may be a basketball genius....but they won't win much.

Agreed. The 1 and done group he brought in for instance - those types should be supplements to the current roster, not keys to the current roster. Kot, Griffin, Walters, are great if you are just filling holes or getting quality back ups. To put them in as starters, well, you see the results of doing that. I would say, that if the 3 were juniors, I may be able to understand bringing them in, but seniors? No.

Then again, we lost everyone on the team after 2023, so we needed warm bodies.

[WYO1016]

A basketball genius that bleeds talent through transfers and can't replace it may be a basketball genius....but they won't win much.

Agreed. The 1 and done group he brought in for instance - those types should be supplements to the current roster, not keys to the current roster. Kot, Griffin, Walters, are great if you are just filling holes or getting quality back ups. To put them in as starters, well, you see the results of doing that. I would say, that if the 3 were juniors, I may be able to understand bringing them in, but seniors? No.

Then again, we lost everyone on the team after 2023, so we needed warm bodies.

I would say that Griffin would be brought in to be a starter no matter the circumstances. I agree that Kot and Walters should be depth additions in a perfect world.

I think a lot of the makeup of this roster had recruiting in mind. Need a few guys to graduate to be able to keep classes balanced.

[Itsux2beaewe]

Sigh…..

[Itsux2beaewe]

Not sure where we go from here. If the fans remain away from AA, and this squad continues to squander in obscurity maybe we cut the so called bball guru end of season and start anew. All you basketball geeks that still proclaim we are a bball school, what’s the antidote for the misery we’re facing?

Looks like we’re a WBB school.

[TheRealUW]

In my opinion, UW basketball would be well served to start investing more into the development of Wyoming high school basketball. They could start by putting on free coaches clinics for high school basketball coaches across the state. They could also significantly expand their camp program and put on camps in multiple locations around the state every year. It's a win-win for the University and Wyoming high school athletes. UW gets access to a larger pool of more developed/mature basketball players and it opens up more options to continue athletics beyond high school for Wyoming students. It would also helps build support for the program across the state. Wyomingites love seeing their own represent the University. One of the reasons people look so fondly on the 2002 Wyoming basketball team is because it included Marcus Bailey. It changes things when you have a home grown star on the team. People want to watch people they know and grew up with...people who are part of their community.

For the past several years, UW has used the "One Wyoming" slogan. One State, One University, One Team. UW's actions need to start matching up to their own slogan.

[rich22]

Sigh…..

I should have just said this as well.

[Itsux2beaewe]

Looks like we’re a WBB school.

Cowgirls 4-0 in conf play. Looks like we’re a WBB school.

[doreno5]

In my opinion, UW basketball would be well served to start investing more into the development of Wyoming high school basketball. They could start by putting on free coaches clinics for high school basketball coaches across the state. They could also significantly expand their camp program and put on camps in multiple locations around the state every year. It's a win-win for the University and Wyoming high school athletes. UW gets access to a larger pool of more developed/mature basketball players and it opens up more options to continue athletics beyond high school for Wyoming students. It would also helps build support for the program across the state. Wyomingites love seeing their own represent the University. One of the reasons people look so fondly on the 2002 Wyoming basketball team is because it included Marcus Bailey. It changes things when you have a home grown star on the team. People want to watch people they know and grew up with...people who are part of their community.

For the past several years, UW has used the "One Wyoming" slogan. One State, One University, One Team. UW's actions need to start matching up to their own slogan.

It would be nice to have home grown talent but the reality is there just are not that many high level players in Wyoming high school basketball. Fertig is an exceptional player who chose to stay. Most who have the ability will play elsewhere. James Johnson played at Wake Forest, the guard from Evanston, at Utah State. Bailey stayed because his dad played at UW, he was not that highly regarded as prospect but became a great scorer. Even if all the best players in Wyoming stayed , Uw would be middling at best.

[TheRealUW]

In my opinion, UW basketball would be well served to start investing more into the development of Wyoming high school basketball. They could start by putting on free coaches clinics for high school basketball coaches across the state. They could also significantly expand their camp program and put on camps in multiple locations around the state every year. It's a win-win for the University and Wyoming high school athletes. UW gets access to a larger pool of more developed/mature basketball players and it opens up more options to continue athletics beyond high school for Wyoming students. It would also helps build support for the program across the state. Wyomingites love seeing their own represent the University. One of the reasons people look so fondly on the 2002 Wyoming basketball team is because it included Marcus Bailey. It changes things when you have a home grown star on the team. People want to watch people they know and grew up with...people who are part of their community.

For the past several years, UW has used the "One Wyoming" slogan. One State, One University, One Team. UW's actions need to start matching up to their own slogan.

It would be nice to have home grown talent but the reality is there just are not that many high level players in Wyoming high school basketball. Fertig is an exceptional player who chose to stay. Most who have the ability will play elsewhere. James Johnson played at Wake Forest, the guard from Evanston, at Utah State. Bailey stayed because his dad played at UW, he was not that highly regarded as prospect but became a great scorer. Even if all the best players in Wyoming stayed , Uw would be middling at best.

From a numbers perspective, there is no doubt that there are less high school kids in Wyoming than most other states. That reality is not going to change anytime in the near future. However, Wyoming also does a very poor job developing athletes at the high school level. There is a lot of room for improvement there. You already mentioned how Marcus Bailey was not a highly sought after prospect coming out of high school, but developed into an all-MWC performer within just a couple years. Why do you think that is? In my opinion, it is because his potential was never fully developed at the high school level. For basketball specifically, one of the major issues is the lack of access to AAU ball in Wyoming. AAU has a ton of problems, but it still serves as the primary developing grounds for most basketball prospects in the United States. If Wyoming athletes don't have access to that, then the development needs to come from the high school program. UW could do better at leading that charge.

We will never be able to fill an entire roster with a majority of Wyoming high school players and expect to be competitive. But, if we could bring in 1 or 2 players a year that stick around for 4 years, it would be a nice base to build on.

[OrediggerPoke]

It would be nice to have home grown talent but the reality is there just are not that many high level players in Wyoming high school basketball. Fertig is an exceptional player who chose to stay. Most who have the ability will play elsewhere. James Johnson played at Wake Forest, the guard from Evanston, at Utah State. Bailey stayed because his dad played at UW, he was not that highly regarded as prospect but became a great scorer. Even if all the best players in Wyoming stayed , Uw would be middling at best.

From a numbers perspective, there is no doubt that there are less high school kids in Wyoming than most other states. That reality is not going to change anytime in the near future. However, Wyoming also does a very poor job developing athletes at the high school level. There is a lot of room for improvement there. You already mentioned how Marcus Bailey was not a highly sought after prospect coming out of high school, but developed into an all-MWC performer within just a couple years. Why do you think that is? In my opinion, it is because his potential was never fully developed at the high school level. For basketball specifically, one of the major issues is the lack of access to AAU ball in Wyoming. AAU has a ton of problems, but it still serves as the primary developing grounds for most basketball prospects in the United States. If Wyoming athletes don't have access to that, then the development needs to come from the high school program. UW could do better at leading that charge.

We will never be able to fill an entire roster with a majority of Wyoming high school players and expect to be competitive. But, if we could bring in 1 or 2 players a year that stick around for 4 years, it would be a nice base to build on.

1 to 2 Wyoming players a year, would equate to an average of 6 Wyoming players on the roster at any given time. We would likely be an NAIA level team at that point.

[Fez]

As much as I want Wyoming kids on the roster, we don’t have many of those players in the state It takes a hell of a player to be even role player for any d1 school

[TheRealUW]

Fair points. 1-2 players a year is too much to expect. But, I still firmly believe Wyoming high school athletic talent is severely underdeveloped at the high school level.

With the shifting landscape of college athletics, we need to start thinking outside the box or we will not remain relevant. Investing heavily in development of in-state athletes is just one idea about how UW might approach this issue.

[doreno5]

As much as I want Wyoming kids on the roster, we don’t have many of those players in the state It takes a hell of a player to be even role player for any d1 school

The most recent on the men side was Hunter Thompson. He was largely developed playing AAU ball as there simply was not not enough competition in Wyoming schools to hone his talent.

[WYO1016]

This thread aged like milk in the sun in Death Valley

[flyfishwyo]

This thread aged like milk in the sun in Death Valley

No kidding. Linder didn't forget how to coach. Last year was a disaster and it'll take a few years to recover from that, but the guy still knows how to draw up plays.

Don't get me wrong, we're not where we need to be talent-wise and that's all on Linder. But I'm tired of hearing that he's a crappy coach.