LanderPoke
Well-known member
What a performance!! MWC POY??
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Graham Ike
- Thread starter LanderPoke
- Start date
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
LanderPoke said:
He was great tonight but I think Maldonado will get it before Ike does. Maldonado does more overall and everything starts and is run through Maldonado. Maldonado has been more consistent.
Just my opinion.
laxwyo
Well-known member
seattlecowboy said:
I’d disagree with this. Maldo is not a good 3pt shooter nor free throw shooter. He commits lots of dumb turnovers (he looked a bit better tonight against Boise). He does hog the ball (probably coaches call and is good for us) and is good at backing down pg down to the post and has amazing moves to score from there. He gets lots of assists mostly because he is good at passing out of that post to a spot shooter or he gets assist from just finding a way to get it to Ike.
Watching the game, in my opinion, it’s clear who the player of the year is and it’s Ike. He learn to find others a little better out of those double teams and we’ll be unstoppable.
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
laxwyo said:
You are welcome to your opinion. Ike hogs the ball too when he gets it down low. He has plenty of times forced up a bunch of shots that were really bad wasting possessions, if we want to get nit picky about things. He had a great 2nd half last night but in the first half he forced way too much.
He has done that in multiple games where he takes bad shots. Maldonado gets plenty of assists for his turnovers and Ike wouldn’t get the ball if it wasn’t for Maldonado. Again my opinion. Ike has had more games where he didn’t score as much or contribute as much as well. Where as Maldonado has for the most part brought something to every game and been more consistent.
Maldonado carried Wyoming to a win without a Ike in the lineup. If Maldonado wasn’t in the lineup I don’t think Ike would be able to carry Wyoming to a win at this point. Wyomings offense would look bad probably because no one else can handle the ball.
Also there have been plenty of times this year when Ike goes out of the lineup and Wyoming goes on a big run with Maldonado In the game and when Ike comes back in the other team gets back in the game.
We will have to agree to disagree. Both great players, I just think Maldonado does more all around than Ike.
Obviously there will be some that think Ike should get it. Some may think Maldonado should get it. Can’t go wrong with either one. Hopefully one of them wins it.
LanderPoke
Well-known member
I really like the wrinkle we saw late in the game. Ike got the ball at the wing on the three point line and everyone cleared out to the other side of the court so he was one on one with his man. The man was Armus, and Ike roasted him three possessions down the stretch. This is better than Ike on the block getting charges. Can't double team him there or our flotilla of shooters will punish you. Linder is a really good coach.
laxwyo
Well-known member
seattlecowboy said:
You’re right, maldo is very important to the team. The most important! but that’s because we have no PG. he is our best pg but he’s not a great pg. he’s not a great ball handler nor a great passer but he’s our best option right now. Without him, we’re screwed. I think we’re a sweet 16 team with Williams still on the squad. Was Williams a cancer? I don’t know. Maybe we’re not as good. Your situation where Ike goes out and we go on a run isn’t a very good argument. It’d be like if I said, “well Boise came back several times when maldo was in” etc. what’s very clear is this team will go as far as Ike and Maldo can take us. Did you see the stat last night about Oden? We’re undefeated if he scores 10+. I’ve been saying from the beginning that he’s the player that can put us over the top. He’s athletic enough to rebound. If he gives us a little more of what he’s been doing with 3s, rebounding and driving when the d closes out too fast on him, we’ll be in good shape. DuSell hasn’t bounced back yet. It was really nice when we could count on either him or Jeffries to be hot. That’s when we really buried teams. Go pokes
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
laxwyo said:
Yeah, Oden if he can start being more aggressive with his ball fakes and driving to the basket will help a lot.
That one drive last night when he went baseline under the basket, flipped it up over the rim while his body was out of bounds in mid air, because he has such long arms and he got fouled, was a great move.
Looked like “Scottie Pippen Light” on that move.
If he can bring more of that and hit that little jumper from the free throw line in, that he has been using will add another dimension to the team.
Great discussion...I wonder if we get the Maldo we are seeing if Williams stays. Maldo is very ball dominant and if we have the system dialed in correctly (and Linder seems to have done that), it works really well. If Williams were on the team I don't think Maldo gets the green light to do what he's doing. Maybe that is a better overall team but I'm not sure. How many college teams have good to great slashers/shooters....seems like a lot of them. Wyoming has two elite post scorers. Not many teams even have one. At the BSU game last night it just seemed like in nut crunch time we could go to those guys and get better looks than anything BSU was getting. I'm just really impressed with Linder mostly.
At the beginning of the season I wondered how people were going to try and defend him. I was right about most of the ways. After the season has developed it's clear people are using the same techniques.
The Graham Ike "Rules"
1. Flop hard, flop often.
2. Front the post, deny the entry pass.
3. Rotate all your bigs on him, be physical.
4. Foul hard, foul often.
5. Try to bait Ike into committing stupid fouls with a combination of 3 and 4.
6. Immediately double team him.
7. Have the coach start on the refs before the game even tips off how it's not fair that he's so much stronger than everyone else, complain all game long about offensive fouls, and hopefully draw some ticky tack bullshit calls on Ike. (This is called the Dave Rice Special).
What's becoming clear is that this combination of techniques is being used by every team that plays him and sometimes it works a little bit. Last night, Boise used all of the Graham Ike Rules and still got torched for 33.
If I had to vote for Player of the Year, my vote is for Graham Ike. There's not another player in this league that alters another teams game plan as much as Ike. Every team is trying the same things and they're still not working.
Maldonado is a phenomenal player, but he's not the focus of every coaches game plan(although he probably should be).
Ike changes the way teams play because they have to sacrifice their own styles to adapt to Ike.
The Graham Ike "Rules"
1. Flop hard, flop often.
2. Front the post, deny the entry pass.
3. Rotate all your bigs on him, be physical.
4. Foul hard, foul often.
5. Try to bait Ike into committing stupid fouls with a combination of 3 and 4.
6. Immediately double team him.
7. Have the coach start on the refs before the game even tips off how it's not fair that he's so much stronger than everyone else, complain all game long about offensive fouls, and hopefully draw some ticky tack bullshit calls on Ike. (This is called the Dave Rice Special).
What's becoming clear is that this combination of techniques is being used by every team that plays him and sometimes it works a little bit. Last night, Boise used all of the Graham Ike Rules and still got torched for 33.
If I had to vote for Player of the Year, my vote is for Graham Ike. There's not another player in this league that alters another teams game plan as much as Ike. Every team is trying the same things and they're still not working.
Maldonado is a phenomenal player, but he's not the focus of every coaches game plan(although he probably should be).
Ike changes the way teams play because they have to sacrifice their own styles to adapt to Ike.
seattlecowboy said:
His game reminds me so much of Scottie Pippen's. As he continues to get stronger and grow in confidence, I think he's got the same kind of potential as Pippen.
Defensively, he could be the best player in the league. It's rare that you find a 6'8" guy with that quickness, athleticism, length, and jumping ability. He'll be the best defensive player in the league his junior and senior years. Book it.
His ability to get backdoor cuts has elite potential. It's already very good. Once he starts faking to go to the ball to move the defender and open a lane to the rim, he's going to be getting a lot of Sportscenter Top 10 ally oops. We need a point that looks to throw that pass, but that's coming down the pipeline.
When he gets in the lane, that turn around fall away is almost impossible to defend with his hops. I haven't seen a defender get a hand in his face on that shot all year and I can't remember him missing many. He needs to do that more often.
I really love J.O. With his work ethic and the fact that he's a late bloomer, the sky is the limit for him.
flyfishwyo
Well-known member
Old-Bull said:
Deciding on one over the other is tough for me. They're both guys that win one-on-one matchups on offense. Most other teams have one player like that.
At the beginning of the season, I would have leaned toward Ike. As we moved in to conference play, I'm seeing Maldo being a bigger factor on the defensive end of the floor. He guarded Roddy for long stretches of the last CSU game. Also, he plays a lot more minutes than Ike right now. Like 7 more per game. It'll be interesting to see them both finish the season. Losing either one would be tough.
Maldo and Ike get a lot of those post opportunities because of our outside shooters. Teams can't sag off anyone on the perimeter. And Oden keeps the center from double-teaming by sneaking into the middle a few times a game. It's a brilliant game plan.