kansasCowboy said:
They still have Marks playing. And even though they are 10-5 and dropped their last three, those last three were a 3 point loss to 12-3 Loyola Ill., a six point loss at 14-2 CSU, and a one point loss to 9-6 USU, who has been coming into their own as of late.
They are still a good/ dangerous team. Their 0-2 record shouldn't fool anyone right now.
If we play like we do game in and game out, we should be okay, if we lapse anywhere we could be in serious trouble.
That being said. I think Shyatt will have these guys prepared and ready to go to work Saturday. Cowboys win it 73-65!
Also, keep in mind that Marks was hurt and didn't play in that Loyola game.
The USU loss was a little fluky. They came out flat, but eventually took over only to blow it in the last minute. Very similar to our game against SJSU except that we closed it out.
Boise will be a top half team when it is all said and done. This would be a quality win for the Pokes.
Not to sound like a broken record, but it is really all about Nance's health. Boise is vulnerable in the front court. Rice likes to play Nick Duncan alongside an undersized guy like James Webb III or even a big guard (Trent, Igor, Heyer, etc.) which makes them very tough to defend with 5 shooters. However, Duncan is terrible on defense and Nance would destroy him or any of the undersized players they want to play there (I think Webb is a very good player, but not strong enough to handle Nance). If Nance is healthy, I think Rice is going to have to play Kevin Allen more. Hopefully that limits what they can do on offense.
Thompson is the difference maker from my point of view. Marks will get his and he will keep Adams busy the whole game, but that leaves Grabau trying to stay in front of Thompson. That's a tough task.
Wyoming did a pretty good job of not letting Gillon torch them in Moby, but you could see that we didn't have anyone that could really stay in front of him. Thompson isn't that quick, but he is bigger and will be a handful.
Should be a good game. Huge opportunity for the Pokes with BSU and SDSU coming to Laramie over the next week.