Foster defends Edwards

[SDPokeFan]

An interesting story from Foster at the Trib regarding those calling for Edwards' job. He also addresses Wyoming not starting James and Dalton, a sore spot all season long on this board.

http://trib.com/sports/college/wyoming/mbb/foster-knee-jerk-calls-for-edwards-job-are-ridiculous/article_3853ee5e-2773-5434-97b1-71300f13b0e7.html

 

[nirv117]

I was one that said he should be fired. I'm still not sold on him as a head coach, but I have little say in those sorts of things.

 

[wyoair]

His defense of the uptempo offense being a good idea to take advantage of the altitude doesn't hold much water at this point. When our team looked like, in more than a handful of occasions, like the team coming into Laramie rather than the team training in Laramie is just making an additional argument to try and seem like he has sufficient evidence for his cause.

 

[LanderPoke]

His defense of playing your two best players second and third most minutes is weak, too. Why shouldn't they get the first and second most minutes? That's crappy coaching. And yes, we painfully learned that who starts makes a huge difference this year. Weak defense

 

[bladerunnr]

I'll just address his defense of the coach. First, the argument we were picked to finish 10th and finished 7th doesn't hold water. First, if the talent level is that bad, why keep anyone from the Shyatt regime? The assistants have a major role in recruiting and it's pretty clear they failed. Secondly, we saw the complete collapse of UNLV and a much weaker than normal SDS. The conference had only 1 bid and it was a 12 seed in the tournament. This had to be the weakest MWC in the history of the league.

One thing I think Shyatt did was develop talent. Nance, Cooke, and Adams all improved dramatically. I'm not sure you can say that about this current crop. Has anyone told Dalton that the school has a weight room? It just seems that the good players continue to make the same mistakes and everyone else either regressed or stayed at the same level.

Last, I hate the "it was only one game" argument. Getting behind 25-0 to a truly borderline D1 team is Heath Shroyeresqe. I didn't see one game this year where I thought we outcoached the other team. I'll leave it at that.

 

[Poker Hollow]

Luke Kennard averaged 38.5 minutes in Duke's 4 tournament games. That is four games in four days. Justin James is clearly Wyoming's best player, he should be averaging about 38 minutes a game. I don't care if he plays the first two minutes but play him the final 38 minutes, and a few extra turnovers doesn't negate everything else he brings to the table.

 

[Vt poke]

Luke Kennard averaged 38.5 minutes in Duke's 4 tournament games. That is four games in four days. Justin James is clearly Wyoming's best player, he should be averaging about 38 minutes a game. I don't care if he plays the first two minutes but play him the final 38 minutes, and a few extra turnovers doesn't negate everything else he brings to the table.

Couldn't agree more! Must say that Dalton got much better from last year tho. If he makes the same improvement next year, he will be pretty darn good

 

[LanderPoke]

Luke Kennard averaged 38.5 minutes in Duke's 4 tournament games. That is four games in four days. Justin James is clearly Wyoming's best player, he should be averaging about 38 minutes a game. I don't care if he plays the first two minutes but play him the final 38 minutes, and a few extra turnovers doesn't negate everything else he brings to the table.

Couldn't agree more! Must say that Dalton got much better from last year tho. If he makes the same improvement next year, he will be pretty darn good

James got much better, too. Went from like 5 ppg to 16 ppg. If he improves at all from here on out we've got a first team all mwc player.

 

[CowboyNV]

While a lot of things Edwards did were head scratchers, the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning. I know I beat this horse to death, but man, if you are going to tout the High Altitude Training Center as the do all, end all for training at altitude, one would believe our athletes would be a shining example of this. I don't remember ever seeing this many players (as I witnessed this season) waving their hands to be subbed out of a game after only being in 5 minutes of action. I am not sure this is a fault of the strength and conditioning coach, the coaching staff, the players, or a combination of all of them. I do know, if Edwards wants to run an uptempo offense he needs to make his practices 40 minutes of hell (remember Nolan RIchardson's teams - http://www.swishappeal.com/2011/3/11/2044606/nolan-richardson-40-minutes-of-hell-arkansas-razorbacks ), so the games feel like a day off. Too many teams came into the AA this year and looked in way better shape than our guys did. :deadhorse1:

 

[Adv8RU12]

.... the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning.

The only solution to this is "roadwork". Mostly in the preseason. At least 5 miles a day every day.
And not just light jogging, but getting heart rate up significantly.

 

[LanderPoke]

While a lot of things Edwards did were head scratchers, the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning. I know I beat this horse to death, but man, if you are going to tout the High Altitude Training Center as the do all, end all for training at altitude, one would believe our athletes would be a shining example of this. I don't remember ever seeing this many players (as I witnessed this season) waving their hands to be subbed out of a game after only being in 5 minutes of action. I am not sure this is a fault of the strength and conditioning coach, the coaching staff, the players, or a combination of all of them. I do know, if Edwards wants to run an uptempo offense he needs to make his practices 40 minutes of hell (remember Nolan RIchardson's teams - http://www.swishappeal.com/2011/3/11/2044606/nolan-richardson-40-minutes-of-hell-arkansas-razorbacks ), so the games feel like a day off. Too many teams came into the AA this year and looked in way better shape than our guys did. :deadhorse1:

I agree. How can Dalton, Herndon, James and Moemeka be so skinny? Even Naughton. We need a new strength coach who can actually put some muscle on these guys. S & C coach sucks at his job

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

While a lot of things Edwards did were head scratchers, the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning. I know I beat this horse to death, but man, if you are going to tout the High Altitude Training Center as the do all, end all for training at altitude, one would believe our athletes would be a shining example of this. I don't remember ever seeing this many players (as I witnessed this season) waving their hands to be subbed out of a game after only being in 5 minutes of action. I am not sure this is a fault of the strength and conditioning coach, the coaching staff, the players, or a combination of all of them. I do know, if Edwards wants to run an uptempo offense he needs to make his practices 40 minutes of hell (remember Nolan RIchardson's teams - http://www.swishappeal.com/2011/3/11/2044606/nolan-richardson-40-minutes-of-hell-arkansas-razorbacks ), so the games feel like a day off. Too many teams came into the AA this year and looked in way better shape than our guys did. :deadhorse1:

I agree. How can Dalton, Herndon, James and Moemeka be so skinny? Even Naughton. We need a new strength coach who can actually put some muscle on these guys. S & C coach sucks at his job

They need to start working with Dennison (sp?) and their physique will change real fast

 

[stymeman]

WE actually have a beat writer that likes what's happening at UW and doesn't want to drop to FCS level, what gives there? LOL Next year all fronts our mens teams should be stellar

 

[WestWYOPoke]

.... the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning.

The only solution to this is "roadwork". Mostly in the preseason. At least 5 miles a day every day.
And not just light jogging, but getting heart rate up significantly.

Negative...you take a bunch of guys that are 6'6" and taller and make them run 5 miles a day, you are asking for a rash of injuries, stress fractures being the top one. I agree they need to be getting in conditioning, but it needs to be a lot of cross training, cycling, basketball, elliptical, running, even swimming.

 

[Adv8RU12]

.... the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning.

The only solution to this is "roadwork". Mostly in the preseason. At least 5 miles a day every day.
And not just light jogging, but getting heart rate up significantly.

Negative...you take a bunch of guys that are 6'6" and taller and make them run 5 miles a day, you are asking for a rash of injuries, stress fractures being the top one. I agree they need to be getting in conditioning, but it needs to be a lot of cross training, cycling, basketball, elliptical, running, even swimming.

It has to be aerobic. I disagree that injuries are an inevitable result of running for those that are not natural runners. With the proper shoes, orthotics, stretching, and schedules - as supervised by an experienced and highly skilled trainer - injuries would be minimal - not any different than any other program. Running requires the minimal of facilities, can be done with partners, and at any time.

 

[bladerunnr]

.... the biggest problem I saw with this team was conditioning.

The only solution to this is "roadwork". Mostly in the preseason. At least 5 miles a day every day.
And not just light jogging, but getting heart rate up significantly.

Negative...you take a bunch of guys that are 6'6" and taller and make them run 5 miles a day, you are asking for a rash of injuries, stress fractures being the top one. I agree they need to be getting in conditioning, but it needs to be a lot of cross training, cycling, basketball, elliptical, running, even swimming.

It has to be aerobic. I disagree that injuries are an inevitable result of running for those that are not natural runners. With the proper shoes, orthotics, stretching, and schedules - as supervised by an experienced and highly skilled trainer - injuries would be minimal - not any different than any other program. Running requires the minimal of facilities, can be done with partners, and at any time.

So as a runner myself, there are a number of ways that the team could increase their aerobic capacity without running around on city streets. They can run stairs, run on a incline on a treadmill, or better yet, do hill repeats on a treadmill for strength and power. Some easy jogging 3 to 4 days a week in the off season could give them the kind of base conditioning that will help them once the season starts. There are runners on the cross country team running 70-80 miles a week in preparation for the season. I would think 20-30 miles a week or equivalent would be highly beneficial to the basketball team.

 

[Adv8RU12]

I would think 20-30 miles a week or equivalent would be highly beneficial to the basketball team

30 a week would work. It did for me when I was a tennis player (before I took up 70/week as a runner). My skills as a tennis player were not better, but at least I never lost a match because I ran out of gas.

 

[WestWYOPoke]

I'm not against running, I'm just telling you guys that athletes that are 6'7"+ are not generally built to do lots of long distance running, ever see any truly world-class tall cross country runners that tall?

I agree with bladerunnr that they can do a lot of modified workouts instead of just running all week.

As someone that has worked closely with high level D1 basketball athletes, I've seen first-hand the kind of wear-and-tear that lots of distance running does to their bodies, it isn't ideal. Personally, I would rather have them do a lot of sprint intervals than distance running as that is a much more sport-specific type of exercise.

Again, some distance running a few days a week is fine, but 30 miles a week is about 2-3 times too much for an athlete that big.

 

[laxwyo]

I think maybe hiking up mountains would be a good idea. Increased altitude 10-11k ft during the offseason, but they probably play video games and drink beer. I'd personally play games and drink during my summer break


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk