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here's to a great seaon and better things on the horizon

S

stymeman

Well-known member
I can honestly say over the past few years I kinda tuned out from the Wyoming basketball program, I always checked box scores but didn't see results and was truly sad about where it was going. I moved back from Arizona (thank God) watched that awesome football team and with Shyatt being back i was stoked to see that the BBall team had.

I went to 11 games this year starting with Northern Colorado and from that showing I knew this team was going to be special. I then went to the CU game in Boulder and wow!!!! this team showed even more metal and fortitude. then conference and went to many of those games, the UNLV upset, hooray, and the road game at CSU...always saw a hard working fun to watch team. Went to the final game against NDSU and we got shafted by not getting a NIT bid but hey we made a fun showing in CBI, we shoulda got home games!!!

Gonna miss these seniors, Paco with his 3 ability and slashing abiliity, Adam (when he's on) his prescence in the middle, Jaydee with his floor general ability and improvement, Arthur and Rob off the bench. Just think if Afam was healthy and Ndjaye and Desmar stayed, wow we would have had something even more special!!!

Love what Shyatt is doing we'll need to schedule a bit better/harder, but the skys the limit and looking forward to many happy years down the road. So what if Marshall's leaving, it's his loss!!!
Can't wait to see us in a few years being a force in conference and making a few NCAA tourneys!!!
Keep it up Pokes and fatigue finally caught up to us last night!!!!! Way to go!!!
 
stymeman said:
... but the skys the limit and looking forward to many happy years down the road.
Click to expand...

But not next year. Look at what you've got: Washington, most probably Nance, and Gilmore. Martinez can't hit 3's anymore and that's the only shot he's got and he tries it way too much. So Grabau might be the 3 shooter but he needs a lot more work. No big man on the inside. So unless Shyatt picks up a fantastic Freshman or goes the JC route, you've probably got Washington, Nance, Gilmore, Martinez(ugh!) , ??? starting. And with a weak bench, thats not enough.
 
Adv8RU12 said:
stymeman said:
... but the skys the limit and looking forward to many happy years down the road.
Click to expand...

But not next year. Look at what you've got: Washington, most probably Nance, and Gilmore. Martinez can't hit 3's anymore and that's the only shot he's got and he tries it way too much. So Grabau might be the 3 shooter but he needs a lot more work. No big man on the inside. So unless Shyatt picks up a fantastic Freshman or goes the JC route, you've probably got Washington, Nance, Gilmore, Martinez(ugh!) , ??? starting. And with a weak bench, thats not enough.
Click to expand...
Gilmore.
 
Adv8RU12 said:
stymeman said:
... but the skys the limit and looking forward to many happy years down the road.
Click to expand...

But not next year. Look at what you've got: Washington, most probably Nance, and Gilmore. Martinez can't hit 3's anymore and that's the only shot he's got and he tries it way too much. So Grabau might be the 3 shooter but he needs a lot more work. No big man on the inside. So unless Shyatt picks up a fantastic Freshman or goes the JC route, you've probably got Washington, Nance, Gilmore, Martinez(ugh!) , ??? starting. And with a weak bench, thats not enough.
Click to expand...

I think Martinez will be fine. He now has a year under his belt and should have more confidence in his shooting next year. The guy hustles and plays good D.

We have JC transfer Matt Sellers practicing with the team. I've heard he is a good player with big upside. Practicing with the team this early and this summer will help.

That fantastic freshman might be Austin Haldorson. He is long and fills up the stat page. He also has good range. Josh Adams could be another.

Depth will still be an issue as I don' t think some of the guys on the bench now will be big contributors down the line. Hope I'm wrong. We have a scholarship or two left. I trust Shyatt will put them to good use.
 
I think there is a slight chance this years team could be better than next years team, simply through the odd cycle of players we have currently in the program with so many upperclassmen.

Next year we have maybe 2.5 really proven guys, Washington, Martinez and some combination of Nance/Gilmore although I wouldn't call either of them proven at this point in their careers yet on their own. Next year's team will be counting on big minutes from a lot of guys who have not proven themselves at this level of play yet....I'm not trying to be a downer and I fully believe In Coach Shyatt in the longer 3-4 year time frame, but man, we don't have many known commodities going into next year.
 
I could be wrong, but the trend I'm seeing is the same as DC and football. A good first year, followed by a struggle and then backed up by a better than good year (just not quite great).
I think we have the potential to hit 20 wins next year. But, I also think they will be making the SOS better and that does not bode well when you have a younger more inexperienced team. Depending on the schedule and how the team will come together under Shyatt,next year HAS potential, but shows the "football DC trend".
So with that said, I have a list of who I predict the starters to be next year.
G Derrius Gillmore, 5-9 (SR) -Proved himself as a solid backup behind Luster this year
G Luke Martinez , 6-4 (SR) - Struggled with his shot down the stretch, but overall a talented player
F Leonard Washington, 6-7 (SR)- Will be team leader, again.
F Larry Nance JR., 6-7 (SO) - I think will see a little more than steady improvement from. Prob. 10 ppg, 5 rpg.
C Matt Sellers, 6-10 (SO)- I think he could be a 9 ppg 5 rpg type guy this year.

Now the only problem with this is we are guard heavy on the roster and having this many bigs on the court is gonna hurt, because our only back up would be Austin Haldorson.

So more than likely we'll see a three guard line up next year, unless Shyatt and CO. Pull in another Big.
Line up:
G Derrius Gillmore
G Luke Martinez
G Shakir Smith/ Riley Grabau (Cannot really pull for either or. Their both about as talented)
F Leonard Washington
C Matt Sellers

That gives us a bench with Nance and Haldorson, and for the guards either Smith or Grabau and Adams and McManamen.
 
Adv8RU12 said:
stymeman said:
... but the skys the limit and looking forward to many happy years down the road.
Click to expand...

But not next year. Look at what you've got: Washington, most probably Nance, and Gilmore. Martinez can't hit 3's anymore and that's the only shot he's got and he tries it way too much. So Grabau might be the 3 shooter but he needs a lot more work. No big man on the inside. So unless Shyatt picks up a fantastic Freshman or goes the JC route, you've probably got Washington, Nance, Gilmore, Martinez(ugh!) , ??? starting. And with a weak bench, thats not enough.
Click to expand...

Martinez isn't the problem. He did struggle with his shot late in the season (fatigue?), but he is very active on both ends of the court (significantly outrebounded our center, for example, and was the only one consistently moving on offense at times). He shouldn't have to be a primary scorer. He should be able to spot up and hit 3's off of penetration and dish. The problem is that we didn't have anyone that could really attack the rim off the bounce and draw in the defense. Not sure we have that next year either, but...
 
kansasCowboy said:
I could be wrong, but the trend I'm seeing is the same as DC and football. A good first year, followed by a struggle and then backed up by a better than good year (just not quite great).
I think we have the potential to hit 20 wins next year. But, I also think they will be making the SOS better and that does not bode well when you have a younger more inexperienced team. Depending on the schedule and how the team will come together under Shyatt,next year HAS potential, but shows the "football DC trend".
So with that said, I have a list of who I predict the starters to be next year.
G Derrius Gillmore, 5-9 (SR) -Proved himself as a solid backup behind Luster this year
G Luke Martinez , 6-4 (SR) - Struggled with his shot down the stretch, but overall a talented player
F Leonard Washington, 6-7 (SR)- Will be team leader, again.
F Larry Nance JR., 6-7 (SO) - I think will see a little more than steady improvement from. Prob. 10 ppg, 5 rpg.
C Matt Sellers, 6-10 (SO)- I think he could be a 9 ppg 5 rpg type guy this year.

Now the only problem with this is we are guard heavy on the roster and having this many bigs on the court is gonna hurt, because our only back up would be Austin Haldorson.

So more than likely we'll see a three guard line up next year, unless Shyatt and CO. Pull in another Big.
Line up:
G Derrius Gillmore
G Luke Martinez
G Shakir Smith/ Riley Grabau (Cannot really pull for either or. Their both about as talented)
F Leonard Washington
C Matt Sellers

That gives us a bench with Nance and Haldorson, and for the guards either Smith or Grabau and Adams and McManamen.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the first line-up wouldn't work, not enough quickness on the court. I see it this way:

PG - Gilmore - Had less of an impact than I thought he would when he came back,but he had such an odd season with the eligilibility issues. Playing in his 2nd year of D1 ball next year, I expect him to be solid, but not spectacular in this role.

SG - Martinez - This was his first year of D1 and at times he was our 2nd best player. He always brings effort and activity and the shooting stroke will return. Should be a solid starter next year.

G/F - JC Transfer - I don't think there is anybody on the roster right now that can fill this role. Shyatt and co. have to land an impact JC transfer in the spring period to start on the wing. That's a tough position to be in, but it's where we find ourselves.

PF - Washington - Easily our best player. Just needs to remember that he is toughest to defend when he is taking the ball inside. Leave the fade-away 20 footers to those that lack the ability to finish inside the way he does.

F/C - Nance - Not really a center of course, but that isn't unusual in college hoops now. Currently 6'8", maybe he grows a touch more, who knows, but with a strong off-season training program, he should have sufficient size. He was a true freshman, but yet stepped in and played a lot of minutes. His rebound rate was very solid and he showed some nice fundamentals. Needs to get stronger and learn how to finish in the post. Still, a jump in production from FR. to SO. is very common and I expect the same from Nance.

Bench:

Adams - Obviously has the athleticism to play at this level. Will be interesting to see how his role develops.

Grabau/Smith

JC Transfer #2 - We will have 3 schollies open in the spring, I expect two of them to go to JC perimeter players in an effort to solve our scoring woes.

Haldorson - I watched some of the replays (CHSAA.tv) of the CO state tournament and Haldorson actually was the most impressive 5A player I saw (4A in CO had the real studs this year with Scott and Gordon). Could score in a variety of ways and looked very fluid for his height. Will need to add strength, but I think he could be an impact player for us down the road.

Sellers - Not sure what he will be able to bring next year. Definitely has great size, but has very limited experience (at any level), so I would expect him to be slowly worked into the rotation.
 
NowherePoke said:
JC Transfer #2 - We will have 3 schollies open in the spring, I expect two of them to go to JC perimeter players in an effort to solve our scoring woes.
Click to expand...
I disagree with this. We have absolutely no depth in the front court. If we get any juco transfers they will be 6'9" or taller.
 
WYO1016 said:
NowherePoke said:
JC Transfer #2 - We will have 3 schollies open in the spring, I expect two of them to go to JC perimeter players in an effort to solve our scoring woes.
Click to expand...
I disagree with this. We have absolutely no depth in the front court. If we get any juco transfers they will be 6'9" or taller.
Click to expand...

With Marshall's departure I agree that a scholly will certainly go to a big man. The problem with signing JC big men in the spring is that everybody else wants to sign a JC big man in the spring too. They are notoriously over-recruited. It's a tough slog. We were fairly lucky to land both Daaron Brown and Joseph Taylor late, but they were other circumstances at play in both cases.

As it currently stands we have 4 players at the 4/5 position (Nance, Sellers, Washington, Haldorson) and I would expect us to sign a 5th.

However, at the wing we currently have.....nobody. We have a lot of guys that could be 1's or 2's depending on where they fit (Gilmore, Adams, Grabau, Smith) and Martinez is set for the 2 next year, but where is a wing with decent size? Not a single one on the roster right now. I suppose McManamen fits that role, but I think it is unrealistic to expect him to have an impact next year.

I think we sign two G/F types (at least one will be a JC) and one big man.

Prior to Marshall's departure a lot of the targets that the staff were working on (Brendyn Taylor, Raul Delgado, Nathan Sobey, Jacoby Davis, BillyDee Williams) were wing scorers (I guess Davis was actually more of a PG).

Some of those we lost out on (Delgado to BYU, Taylor to USC), but I think we are still in the mix for Nathan Sobey. Jerrold Brooks (PG) is listed in the Rivals Database, but I don't think we would actually be after him.

Not really sure of any 2012 bigs that we are on right now, although I am sure the staff is looking.
 
Looking at pure numbers and not taking into account the coaching staff's philosophical preference for HS kids, I could see signing 3 JuCos just because we will not have any players in next year's junior class. That would give us 3 Sr., 3 Jr., 4? Soph, and the 3 Freshmen we signed earlier.

Statistically, Martinez was one of our steals leaders. When we talk about how players fit into future roles on the team, that is important. The game is, after all, played at two ends of the court.

Also, we saw this year that Coach Shyatt builds a system around the personnel that he has. I expect to see Martinez, Washington and Nance in the starting 5 based on the level of confidence that Coach showed that he had in them this year. I also expect that they will all be better players in November than they are now.

I would not be surprised to see another 6'9"+, 220#+ body. I doubt that we see anyone else under 6'5" unless there is another departure.
 
i think we'll be ok, it's good to think about this at this time this year, compared to what we had last year. Coach Shyatt will motivate and i see good things next year as well....
 
I think with the departure of Adam and Paco, we're likely to see a more open court style of basketball. We played our style this year because of Adam's feet. Next year we'll have the depth and length to get up and down the court if we chose to do so.

All of our small forwards we're signing keep growing into power forwards. Nance and Haldorson both put on a lot of length.

We need a true center.
We need a small forward.

I think you take the best available for your third scholarship, if not another big man.
 
Starters...

PG- Gilmore/Adams
SG- Martinez
SF- Washington
PF- Nance
C- Sellers

That's what I want anyways.
Adams can slash shoot, score.
Luke will be dangerous next year.
If they can put Leonard at SF I could see him going to the NBA at that position.
Nance can play PF or C (weather they have Washington at SF or PF) and he will be scary
Sellers can hopefully just get 6-8 PPG and 5 boards.

That team wins 25, MWC champs and Sweet16. :D
 
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