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Most improved player

Wyo2dal

Wyo2dal

Well-known member
So after just a few games into the 2013 season from one year ago at this time who is the most improved player on the team and in what aspects?

I think it's Cooke he looked like a scared player last year this time, No inside game just rebounds and no ability to shoot at all. This year he looks like a completely different player he has an inside game and he can make free throws as well he doesn't look scared or confused anymore.

Second most Riley Grabau he looks like he did nothing all off season but shoot the ball and it has helped his game a lot.

What do you guys think?
 
Derek Cooke no doubt. But grabaus 3's have been impressive, Josh Adams' slashing to the basket has been impressive, and sobeys whole game has stepped up. I see a lot of players who dedicated their offseason to getting better.
 
1. Grabau- without a doubt a completely different player this year.
2. Adams- more prominent with the ball. Better decision making.
3. Cooke- has made strides in every part of his game.
4. Nance- gained more power, but he just seems too timid to me.
5. Sobey- have seen changes for the better, his passing game is great, needs to find his shot.
 
Riley Grabau.

Field goal percentage up 21%. He is shooting 56% from the floor this season.
Three point field goal percentage up 33%. He is shooting an unbelievable 65% from behind the arc this season.
Free throw percentage up 12%. He is shooting 86% from the line this season.

He's doing all this while keeping close to a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. For a PG who plays nearly 35 minutes a game to be averaging 1.4 turnovers per game is a very impressive stat.

Cooke has improved, but his strength remains the same...rebounding. He has had a couple of nice offensive games, but you have to remember that these are coming against mostly undersized, less talented teams. Unfortunately, Cooke has a propensity to get into fould trouble when facing more talented teams. I have a bad feeling that is going to lead to less minutes on the floor, and as a result, less production as we get into conference play. He has refined his game, but he's really a 12-18 minutes/game guy in the MWC. Our lack of depth in the front-court requires him to see a lot more floor time than his game dictates.
 
TheRealUW said:
Riley Grabau.

Field goal percentage up 21%. He is shooting 56% from the floor this season.
Three point field goal percentage up 33%. He is shooting an unbelievable 65% from behind the arc this season.
Free throw percentage up 12%. He is shooting 86% from the line this season.

He's doing all this while keeping close to a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. For a PG who plays nearly 35 minutes a game to be averaging 1.4 turnovers per game is a very impressive stat.

Cooke has improved, but his strength remains the same...rebounding. He has had a couple of nice offensive games, but you have to remember that these are coming against mostly undersized, less talented teams. Unfortunately, Cooke has a propensity to get into fould trouble when facing more talented teams. I have a bad feeling that is going to lead to less minutes on the floor, and as a result, less production as we get into conference play. He has refined his game, but he's really a 12-18 minutes/game guy in the MWC. Our lack of depth in the front-court requires him to see a lot more floor time than his game dictates.
Click to expand...

This is why need Sellers back.
Sellers needs to come in and take up some time so Nance and Cooke don't get into foul trouble.
 
BeaverPoke said:
TheRealUW said:
Riley Grabau.

Field goal percentage up 21%. He is shooting 56% from the floor this season.
Three point field goal percentage up 33%. He is shooting an unbelievable 65% from behind the arc this season.
Free throw percentage up 12%. He is shooting 86% from the line this season.

He's doing all this while keeping close to a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. For a PG who plays nearly 35 minutes a game to be averaging 1.4 turnovers per game is a very impressive stat.

Cooke has improved, but his strength remains the same...rebounding. He has had a couple of nice offensive games, but you have to remember that these are coming against mostly undersized, less talented teams. Unfortunately, Cooke has a propensity to get into fould trouble when facing more talented teams. I have a bad feeling that is going to lead to less minutes on the floor, and as a result, less production as we get into conference play. He has refined his game, but he's really a 12-18 minutes/game guy in the MWC. Our lack of depth in the front-court requires him to see a lot more floor time than his game dictates.
Click to expand...

This is why need Sellers back.
Sellers needs to come in and take up some time so Nance and Cooke don't get into foul trouble.
Click to expand...

Has Sellers's game improved to the point that he will be helpful apart from occupying minutes? Our continually shrinking front line is what concerns me most over the past two seasons.
 
I have a hard time wondering how Sellers is D1 material??????? Maybe only because of height can't be his "athletic" ability...lol
 
WyoExpat said:
BeaverPoke said:
TheRealUW said:
Riley Grabau.

Field goal percentage up 21%. He is shooting 56% from the floor this season.
Three point field goal percentage up 33%. He is shooting an unbelievable 65% from behind the arc this season.
Free throw percentage up 12%. He is shooting 86% from the line this season.

He's doing all this while keeping close to a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. For a PG who plays nearly 35 minutes a game to be averaging 1.4 turnovers per game is a very impressive stat.

Cooke has improved, but his strength remains the same...rebounding. He has had a couple of nice offensive games, but you have to remember that these are coming against mostly undersized, less talented teams. Unfortunately, Cooke has a propensity to get into fould trouble when facing more talented teams. I have a bad feeling that is going to lead to less minutes on the floor, and as a result, less production as we get into conference play. He has refined his game, but he's really a 12-18 minutes/game guy in the MWC. Our lack of depth in the front-court requires him to see a lot more floor time than his game dictates.
Click to expand...

This is why need Sellers back.
Sellers needs to come in and take up some time so Nance and Cooke don't get into foul trouble.
Click to expand...

Has Sellers's game improved to the point that he will be helpful apart from occupying minutes? Our continually shrinking front line is what concerns me most over the past two seasons.
Click to expand...

If we are so impressed with Grabau's and Cooke's improvement, I don't think it is a stretch to beleive that Sellers has improved too. We don't need him to be all conference. Just give us 7-10 minutes a game. An inside defensive presence. Some fouls. Who knows if he will but I don't think it is crazy to beleive he has.
 
would like to see his improvement on the floor a Center of that size is the difference between struggling and dominating the interior.
 
It's an interesting question. I saw Sellers play in the exhibition. Sellers is not the answer to the question.

To me it has to be Riley Grabau. I honestly wasn't sure if he should even be a starter this year as he was such a non-factor on offense last year that we were often playing 4 on 5 when he was on the floor, plus he struggled to contain quick opposing guards although his positioning and communication were good on defense.

This year he has continued the solid ball-handling and low-mistake play that got him the the minutes last year, but he has also really improved his perimeter shot and his first step off the bounce. Even his FT% is improved. He won't keep up the 3FG% all year, because that isn't reasonable and the length and quickness of MWC competition will challenge those looks, but he has clearly brought his game up a level.

When I watch the Pokes now, I see what Larry Shyatt saw a year ago...I feel more comfortable about the Pokes play when Grabau is on the floor. Everything works smoother when he is out there. I know that isn't a very quantitative measure, but you can just see it.


The other note on improvement is that I don't think people give Larry Nance enough credit. He does need to be more aggressive and the team needs to look for ways to get him the ball, but the advancement in his skill set has been impressive. I am pleased with Cooke's improvement as well, but Nance showed off more interior moves in the span of 5 possessions the other night than I have seen from Cooke all year. Those don't just come out of nowhere, many hours in the gym to get to that point. He just needs to take a more prominent role in the offense.
 
I certainly agree with Nance improving it's clear and you can see it on the floor and he also brings a lot of leadership to the floor which is great to see. I just think from a skill to skill stand point Cooke sticks out more because he always looked lost and confused last year but this year he actually appears to understand the game more.

All I know is for now this is the sport we have to cheer on and I'm really happy it's Basketball season and I can't wait to get into conference play and really hope we see solid turn around in conference play. It's nice to be excited about a game and actually feeling like we have chance to win and don't have to rely on one person to do it all.
 
I think that everyone on the team for the most part has improved quite a bit in different areas. Riley, Josh, Larry, Derek, Sobey... pretty much everyone.

So what that tells me is not only are the players working in the off season to prepare themselves to become better but our coaching staff is really good at developing players from year to year which is complete opposite of say the football team or UNLV basketball.

I think we are going to be a team to contend with when conference season rolls around. Not saying we will win it or anything but I think teams are going to have a really tough time beating us in Laramie this year. We seem to be pretty poised when we need to be.

Next year we are going to be very good with most everyone coming back and the way Shyatt develops players.
 
I hope we do something special this year for Jerron Granberry & Charles Hankerson sake, It's a pretty cool story how it all worked out for those two would really like to see a solid conference performance so Granberry can go out on a good note for his final year Basketball considering everything he had to go through.

Pretty pumped about this season and I agree that it's obvious Shyatt knows how to develop players just look at how Joakim Noah grew from his first season as a player and while it wasn't all Shyatt he gives a lot of credit to him.

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