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Lookin ahead.

BeaverPoke

Well-known member
Yes I know the season is not over but watching the young players is getting me stoked for next year.

Hopefully Sellers can get a lil bit better and can actually get playing time....but I doubt it.

Adams, Grabau, Hankerson JR, Cooke JR, Nance JR with some of the backups being Trey Washington, Nathan Sobey, McManamen, Keonta Vernon, and possibly Sellers.

We will have legit depth next year. Assuming that Sobey is gonna get back into the rotation.

I think Vernon will be able to come in right away and score. And Cooke is looking real good. Nance will hands down be the leader of the team next year putting up some big games, I think he needs to gain a few more pounds still on his frame. And Hankerson JR will be putting up some big points as well.

We have tons of potential for next year.
Yes I know we've got a lot of hoops left this year but next year shall be fun again.
 
100% agree with what you are saying. I'm still holding out hope for a turn around this second half of the season. Go Pokes!!
 
And on top of that, Bentz Haldorson and Herndon will all be there. Log jam for playing time would be awesome.
 
A few thoughts:

I don't want to sound like a complete dick, but Sellers does not belong in Division I NCAA basketball. The Pokes would benefit from finding another scholarship player to fill his spot.

The best player on the floor next year will easily be Hankerson Jr. Yes, Nance Jr. has improved this year, but Hankerson Jr. is one hell of a basketball player. We are lucky to have him, and he will alone will immediately improve our offense by leaps and bounds next season.

The guy with the highest ceiling from last years recruiting class is Haldorson. While Cooke Jr. and Adams may be more athletic, Haldorson has the potential to be the best basketball player out of the group. Don't be surprised if you see his production go way up next year.

Keonta Vernon has a chance to be a good one. He has the skills to see lots of playing time as a true freshman, but the variable with all true freshman is the mental side of the game.

Grabau is a solid player, but the fact that we are discussing him as a starter is telling about our talent level. Riley would ideally be a guy who comes off the bench in specific situations. He could definitely be a very important part of the Pokes rotation, but he doesn't have the game to be a starter in the MWC.
 
TheRealUW said:
A few thoughts:

I don't want to sound like a complete dick, but Sellers does not belong in Division I NCAA basketball. The Pokes would benefit from finding another scholarship player to fill his spot.

The best player on the floor next year will easily be Hankerson Jr. Yes, Nance Jr. has improved this year, but Hankerson Jr. is one hell of a basketball player. We are lucky to have him, and he will alone will immediately improve our offense by leaps and bounds next season.

The guy with the highest ceiling from last years recruiting class is Haldorson. While Cooke Jr. and Adams may be more athletic, Haldorson has the potential to be the best basketball player out of the group. Don't be surprised if you see his production go way up next year.

Keonta Vernon has a chance to be a good one. He has the skills to see lots of playing time as a true freshman, but the variable with all true freshman is the mental side of the game.

Grabau is a solid player, but the fact that we are discussing him as a starter is telling about our talent level. Riley would ideally be a guy who comes off the bench in specific situations. He could definitely be a very important part of the Pokes rotation, but he doesn't have the game to be a starter in the MWC.

Our overall talent level is significantly below where it needs to be to compete in this conference. I expect Hankerson to have a solid impact, but so many gaping holes next year:

1. Perimeter shooting - Hankerson has range to the arc, but that's not the heart of his game. Adams and Grabau have both really struggled to get their shot off against the length and athleticism in the MWC. McManamen and/or Trey Washington can add some perimeter shooting but are they ready to contribute overall?

2. Post presence - The perimeter shooting won't be helped by the relative lack of offensive post production. I am hopeful that Nance continues to develop and becomes more of a consistent threat on the block next year, but we will just have to wait and see. Cooke will be a key part of the rotation, but still has a very raw offensive game. Not sure who else fills that role?


I think we need to sign at least a couple of JC players. One combo guard or wing scorer to provide some additional offensive punch and one big. The guard can definitely be found in the JC ranks. A quality JC big is much harder to come by.
 
Encouraged by what we've seen out of Cooke and McNanamen the past couple games. It seems the game might be slowing down for Cooke. Double double last night with some assists and no turnovers(?). McNanamen 2 for 2 from the arc. He looked timid against CSU, but he is a true freshman that is starting to understand things. I agree with the overall lack of talent, but with Martinez this team was undefeated. It would be nice if Vernon's numbers translate to the college game.

Anyone know how many scholarships we have available?
 
Guys remember I said NEXT year. These players will not be the same player they are now.

These team next year will be top 3 in the MWC.
 
BeaverPoke said:
Guys remember I said NEXT year. These players will not be the same player they are now.

These team next year will be top 3 in the MWC.
Uh, well.....UNM/UNLV/SDSU are annually the Top 3. CSU loses a lot of talent, as does AFA. But BSU returns ever single player except Buckner. I think the highest anyone could put UW objectively next season is 5th. No Washington will be HUGE. Could you imagine this team playing here on out without him?

So, IMO....

1. UNM
2. SDSU
3. UNLV
4. BSU
5-10. Combination of AFA, CSU, UW, FSU, UNR, USU
12. SJSU
 
If we beat Boise saturday, you have to switch us and them J-Rod.
If we don't, then well you still should change us and Boise. And Utah State will be top 3 in the next few years.
They have been great for 20 years, and now recruiting just got a lot easier for them as they are selling the MWC to those kids, not the WAC, or Big West, or the WCC.

Remember, brown and gold goggles, not smurf vision.
 
BeaverPoke said:
If we beat Boise saturday, you have to switch us and them J-Rod.
If we don't, then well you still should change us and Boise. And Utah State will be top 3 in the next few years.
They have been great for 20 years, and now recruiting just got a lot easier for them as they are selling the MWC to those kids, not the WAC, or Big West, or the WCC.

Remember, brown and gold goggles, not smurf vision.
Like I said......BSU returns practically everyone....They lose Buckner, that's it. Not sure how anyone could think UW > BSU for 2013 when the Pokes loses its best player in Washington, and the Broncos lose nothing. I'm sure I'm not the only who thinks this. BSU is better than UW right now......how will UW be better next season when the Broncos return their entire core of players, but UW loses the heart and soul of its team?
noidea.gif
JMO of course, but I'm just not seeing how that works.

And Utah State is 4th in the WAC right now......they haven't been the same since Ty Wesley graduated.
 
J-Rod,

I agree that Washington will be a major loss for the Pokes. While he certainly has high level basketball skills, what will be missed most is his toughness and ability to bang down low. Nance is more of a finesse player and Cooke lacks the strength and basketball skills that Washington has.

However, I'm really high on Hankerson. He may play on the perimeter, but Hankerson is every bit as strong and tough as Washington. He is known as an extremely competitive player, and when you combine that with his natural skill level, I think some big things are in the making for Hankerson. He will not be the quickest or most explosive wing player in the MWC, but he will be one of the strongest. He has an uncanny ability to finish through contact at the rim because of his superior strength and toughness. I'd be shocked if Hankerson wasn't averaging at least 10 free throw attempts per game next year.

The knock on Hankerson has always been his defense. Of course, poor defense isn't gonig to fly with Shyatt so that will be a bit of a wildcard. I suspect Hankerson has improved his defense and will be a major factor for the Pokes next year though. Hankerson is gonig to surprise a lot of the casual MWC fans next season. Thoughts?
 
This statement will rattle a few cages, but the way that Washington's been playing during the conference season, I almost feel like he's costing us the ability to win games. He hasn't shown up in the 1st half of a single conference game this season. He keeps throwing away possessions by jacking threes early in the shot clock. He's having a tough time finishing at the rim in many cases. Teams have really figured out how to neutralize him, but he's really neutralizing himself by playing at the perimeter the whole game. He has incredible post moves, but doesn't shoot or handle the ball very well. Over the past month, it's as if he's been trying to prove that he has the shot and ball-handling skills be be an NBA All-Star.

I love Leonard Washington. He's a great Cowboy player, but ever since conference play started, he's only played well in flashes, and he's played very poorly for large portions of the games. I don't know if he and Gilmore feel pressure to make up for Martinez by themselves, but they've both been absolute shells of what they were in the non-conference.

Having said that, I'm hoping the coaches are building enough faith in Cooke's abilities to be able to bench Washington's ass if he keeps pissing away possessions by jacking 30-foot threes. I would also LOVE to see Cooke, Washington, and Nance on the floor at the same time. I can understand why that doesn't happen, but with all that athleticism down low, it would be interesting to see how they operate. Leonard isn't really a remote threat from 3, but Nance is. I think that trio could work out if nobody is in foul trouble. We could go small if anyone needs a breather. Bring in Adams or McMannamen or Sobey or something.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.
 
wyopig said:
This statement will rattle a few cages, but the way that Washington's been playing during the conference season, I almost feel like he's costing us the ability to win games. He hasn't shown up in the 1st half of a single conference game this season. He keeps throwing away possessions by jacking threes early in the shot clock. He's having a tough time finishing at the rim in many cases. Teams have really figured out how to neutralize him, but he's really neutralizing himself by playing at the perimeter the whole game. He has incredible post moves, but doesn't shoot or handle the ball very well. Over the past month, it's as if he's been trying to prove that he has the shot and ball-handling skills be be an NBA All-Star.

I love Leonard Washington. He's a great Cowboy player, but ever since conference play started, he's only played well in flashes, and he's played very poorly for large portions of the games. I don't know if he and Gilmore feel pressure to make up for Martinez by themselves, but they've both been absolute shells of what they were in the non-conference.

Having said that, I'm hoping the coaches are building enough faith in Cooke's abilities to be able to bench Washington's ass if he keeps pissing away possessions by jacking 30-foot threes. I would also LOVE to see Cooke, Washington, and Nance on the floor at the same time. I can understand why that doesn't happen, but with all that athleticism down low, it would be interesting to see how they operate. Leonard isn't really a remote threat from 3, but Nance is. I think that trio could work out if nobody is in foul trouble. We could go small if anyone needs a breather. Bring in Adams or McMannamen or Sobey or something.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.


I agree with what you're saying, but the reason he is jacking up 3's is because Shyatt wants him too, but yes it is a liability. On top of that, he is our best player so yeah the other teams are trying to neutralizing him.
I would love a lineup of Nance, Cooke, and Leonard all playing. The guards wouldn't really matter at that point. Obviously it would only be in spurts, but that lineup could do some work to people there.
 
wyopig said:
This statement will rattle a few cages, but the way that Washington's been playing during the conference season, I almost feel like he's costing us the ability to win games. He hasn't shown up in the 1st half of a single conference game this season. He keeps throwing away possessions by jacking threes early in the shot clock. He's having a tough time finishing at the rim in many cases. Teams have really figured out how to neutralize him, but he's really neutralizing himself by playing at the perimeter the whole game. He has incredible post moves, but doesn't shoot or handle the ball very well. Over the past month, it's as if he's been trying to prove that he has the shot and ball-handling skills be be an NBA All-Star.

I love Leonard Washington. He's a great Cowboy player, but ever since conference play started, he's only played well in flashes, and he's played very poorly for large portions of the games. I don't know if he and Gilmore feel pressure to make up for Martinez by themselves, but they've both been absolute shells of what they were in the non-conference.

Having said that, I'm hoping the coaches are building enough faith in Cooke's abilities to be able to bench Washington's ass if he keeps pissing away possessions by jacking 30-foot threes. I would also LOVE to see Cooke, Washington, and Nance on the floor at the same time. I can understand why that doesn't happen, but with all that athleticism down low, it would be interesting to see how they operate. Leonard isn't really a remote threat from 3, but Nance is. I think that trio could work out if nobody is in foul trouble. We could go small if anyone needs a breather. Bring in Adams or McMannamen or Sobey or something.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.

I've been saying this for the last month. Who in this conference could guard all three of our bigs each and every possession? Nance and Cooke downlow and leonard more of a slashing forward? It would cause so many mismatches. Imagine a 6-2 shooting guard having to man up Leonard...He'd go bananas. I really love the way cooke has been playing the last 4-5 games. He is not longer a liability but a threat under the hoop. Dude has shown he can be a rebounding machine and I'll take ten points a night from him on top of leonard doing his thing. Then if nance decides to show up too? DAMN! A scenario like this, with all the attention being inside would open up shots for Derrious and Josh. Granted the one down side would be that we would have no bigs off the bench but lets look at it realistically, Leonard and nance average 35+ minutes a game anyways....
 
Problem is, those are our only bigs wiorth anything right now. With pretty much no one behind them who could give them a break.
 
Nance needs to realize he's an almost Junior, time to start playing like a leader, and scoring more points, that's just me
 
fromolwyoming said:
Problem is, those are our only bigs wiorth anything right now. With pretty much no one behind them who could give them a break.

I think you use Halderson to spell each of those guys. He has been used to give each of them a break in different games this year before so you use him now for that purpose. I wanted to see Washington, Nance and Cooke all starting at the beginning of the year but obviously Cooke wasn't ready yet at that point but I think he is more than ready now.

We would match up just fine on the defensive end of things and Washington at the 3 spot slashing and posting up would be a bad match up for any of our opponents. I think Shyatt should give this a shot but of course he probably won't. Be interested to see what would happen though if we did do this.
 
Nance must assume more aggressiveness and start hitting close range jumpers. If he would amp up, we'd be decent right now.
Feel for Washington, and Gilmore- losing senior leadership with Martinez and his scoring and D skills that were at the most adapted in his tenure left us sorely lacking hitting conference play. That ship has sailed, it will take until Adams senior year and we're bad-ass. We never know how young bucks will converge on the college game, ask Josh and Riley, hell ask anyone whom was a champion and they will tell you- it's a quicker more athletic game.

Development is a must, a big body that can score would be huge. Keonta can score, Adams can penetrate and Cooke with Nance can slam. Riley is a shooter, he needs open looks. Hankerson and Haldorson are undefined. This is going to be fun, patience my colleagues Shyatt has two National Championship rings on his posession.
 

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