UW and MWC Basketball Thoughts

[NowherePoke]

Since the Pokes have a break in the middle of this week, I thought this would be a good time to discuss how things are looking for the Pokes/MWC at this point. Random notes:

1. AJ West - This is the difference between 1st place in the MWC and 1-2 like the Pokes. If Shyatt had gone out and gotten an impact JC big man last spring, the Pokes might well be the Cinderella story. Instead, it's UNR single-handedly destroying the MWC's credibility.

2. Tempo - Pokes are now 346th out of 351 D1 teams in Adjusted Tempo. This compares to 325th and 333rd in Shyatt's first two years back (and we were extremely slow in 97-98 too, but I don't have the Tempo stats). IOW, so much for that "pushing the pace" thing. It's neither good nor bad, but I think we can officially stop talking about how Shyatt will start to up the tempo as he gets the players. 4 seasons of playing amongst the slowest teams in College Basketball is a pretty good sample size.

3. Jerron Granberry - Shoot the ball. Just shoot the ball. Best shooter on the team, IMO (I know Grabau has a higher percentage right now, but Jerron has size and a quicker release and is more likely to maintain his percentage throughout the conference season. JMO).

4. Shyatt priorities - If you ever wanted to know what Shyatt thinks is important look no further than Josh Adams. Adams is our best on ball defender and deserves a lot of credit for the work he has done against Williams (UNM) and Marks (BSU) in the early conference season as well as within the zone framework that we are playing. It's a good thing, because on offense he has been a turnover machine. 12 turnovers in the last two games at the pace we play? That's...not good. But, Shyatt wants him on the floor for his defense and it's easy to see why. Adams potential is tantalizing, but he isn't really an inexperienced player at this point and some of the decisions he makes on offense really hurt the team.

5. Underrated coaching performances - Eustachy and Pilipovich. Both lost entire starting lineups from their teams a year ago and Eustachy has managed to keep CSU competitive while AFA looks to be possibly better than last year or at least equivalent with wins over USU and UNLV.



So, where do the Pokes go from here? Hard to say. I thought they played much better against UNM than they did against BSU, although the results didn't indicate that. I think Wyoming has the discipline to stay in any game, even SDSU in Laramie (wouldn't be so confident about that in Viejas though), but I don't think we have the offensive playmakers to make that closing push on a consistent enough basis. .500 in MWC play is the goal, but not sure we are playing at that level right now.


Incidentally, for those of us that bemoan the lack of interior depth we have in the pipeline, we lost out on the best big man recruit in Colorado (Braxton) to Weber State. He is playing very well right now and might be the best overall player in Colorado this year even though he doesn't have the recruiting profile of a player like Collier, who has been a force since he was a freshman. I think this one will really sting a couple of years from now.

 

[JimmyDimes]

In Shyatt we trust. I trust what he is doing and how he is putting this program back together. Not going to cry about what he didn't do because being an armchair QB isn't my thing.

We could easily be sitting at 3-0 in conference (against two of the big 3 and a 4-0 Nevada team who we'll be in a couple weeks when they visit Laramie). And seem to be playing better each game. Going .500 in conference won't be easy, but can be done.

 

[NowherePoke]

In Shyatt we trust. I trust what he is doing and how he is putting this program back together. Not going to cry about what he didn't do because being an armchair QB isn't my thing.

We could easily be sitting at 3-0 in conference (against two of the big 3 and a 4-0 Nevada team who we'll be in a couple weeks when they visit Laramie). And seem to be playing better each game. Going .500 in conference won't be easy, but can be done.

Didn't intend for it to sound like crying. Just pointing out where we have a weak point that wasn't addressed in the offseason. One item I left off is that Boise is in the same boat we are in the respect. They are kind of a good matchup for us because they only really have one big man that they trust and while Watkins is very good they often have to play 4 guards alongside him (sounds familiar...). I think that makes Boise a better matchup for us than teams with a lot of size and depth in the frontcourt like UNM, SDSU, and UNLV.

In terms of Armchair QB, I just find the board more interesting when we discuss how things are progressing with the team, roster, etc. and how things are going within the conference.

 

[BeaverPoke]

This team is young-ish and just needs to learn how to close games out. We don't need a big man juco guy to win. We just missed a couple key shots. 5 of our 6 losses were intense games in the final minute. We are a couple made shots away from being 15-1. Getting some juco guy isn't going to solve that.

I don't get why so many people are constantly looking for the quick fix or think we don't have the guys to win.
Everyone talked about how Boises guards were so good and so much better than us, yet we held their starting 3 to 26 points.

This team is going to win a lot more MWC games this season, and grow a lot throughout the year.
People like to think what we see in game 1 is the same as game 30.
That is not true for this team. This team will grow more and more throughout the season.

 

[NowherePoke]

This team is young-ish and just needs to learn how to close games out. We don't need a big man juco guy to win. We just missed a couple key shots. 5 of our 6 losses were intense games in the final minute. We are a couple made shots away from being 15-1. Getting some juco guy isn't going to solve that.

I don't get why so many people are constantly looking for the quick fix or think we don't have the guys to win.
Everyone talked about how Boises guards were so good and so much better than us, yet we held their starting 3 to 26 points.

This team is going to win a lot more MWC games this season, and grow a lot throughout the year.
People like to think what we see in game 1 is the same as game 30.
That is not true for this team. This team will grow more and more throughout the season.

You don't think we need another big man? It doesn't have to be a JC of course, that just came to mind because we typically have a difficult time signing HS big men that can contribute immediately. We have struggled YTD for a number of reasons, but only having two frontcourt players is one of the main reasons. The TO rate has also been too high, which is uncharacteristic of a Shyatt team.

When I look at our rotation I think we have 6 perimeter player that belong in the rotation and bring something to the table (Grabau, Adams, Granberry, Hankerson, Sobey, and Washington). It might not be a lineup that scares teams in the MWC but there are a lot of skill sets in that group that can be utilized. The frontcourt only has two players (DC and Nance) and DC has really struggled with his confidence lately. I am higher on DC than most and if there is one player that I could see being completely different a month from now it would be him. Still, that means we have to ask Nance to play the whole game (averaging over 39 mpg in conference play) and I am concerned that could take a toll later in the season. A little foul trouble and we could be in a tough position in any game. That's a thin line to walk.

Of course the team grows, but so do other teams. We don't have exclusive rights to practice and effort. Some teams will improve more than others and hopefully the Pokes are on the "more" side of the equation this year.

 

[BeaverPoke]

I think having another big that could play would be helpful yes, but I don't think that is the difference between being 15-1 and 10-6.
They are just figuring out how to close games.
I wish Austin Haldorson would have put on some weight in the offseason and could be playing this season.

 

[Wyolie Coyote]

I think having another big that could play would be helpful yes, but I don't think that is the difference between being 15-1 and 10-6.
They are just figuring out how to close games.
I wish Austin Haldorson would have put on some weight in the offseason and could be playing this season.

Better think again, we would be much closer to 15-1 with another quality big man. It is not about figuring out how to close games if you already have bigger leads which could have happened with more interior play.

 

[Wyo2dal]

2. Tempo - Pokes are now 346th out of 351 D1 teams in Adjusted Tempo. This compares to 325th and 333rd in Shyatt's first two years back (and we were extremely slow in 97-98 too, but I don't have the Tempo stats). IOW, so much for that "pushing the pace" thing. It's neither good nor bad, but I think we can officially stop talking about how Shyatt will start to up the tempo as he gets the players. 4 seasons of playing amongst the slowest teams in College Basketball is a pretty good sample size.

Tempo is fine, It's how the coach believes in defensive play and it's up from last year. We don't need to put up 100 PPG to win just as BSU that. If we we're an up tempo team we would lose more games.

 

[Bryoming]

We have a few bigs on the roster that aren't quite ready, plus two incoming. Halderson, Vernon, and Herndon are getting game ready this year (Halderson hopefully sooner than later). As far as incoming recruits, Johnathon Barnes (6'10" 250) looks to be the true center type we're missing, and Diontae Jones (6'6" 185) will help in the post, but will most likely need a redshirt year to add some size.

 

[TSpoke]

I don't think Jones is a post player. He is a big wing which I think is great.

 

[NowherePoke]

2. Tempo - Pokes are now 346th out of 351 D1 teams in Adjusted Tempo. This compares to 325th and 333rd in Shyatt's first two years back (and we were extremely slow in 97-98 too, but I don't have the Tempo stats). IOW, so much for that "pushing the pace" thing. It's neither good nor bad, but I think we can officially stop talking about how Shyatt will start to up the tempo as he gets the players. 4 seasons of playing amongst the slowest teams in College Basketball is a pretty good sample size.

Tempo is fine, It's how the coach believes in defensive play and it's up from last year. We don't need to put up 100 PPG to win just as BSU that. If we we're an up tempo team we would lose more games.

Oh, I agree. Nothing wrong with a slow tempo. A lot of quality teams play at a slow tempo (Syracuse, Wisconsin, and Florida to name three and they do so every year). I would rather watch a disciplined, slow team, than an out of control mid to up tempo team (Schroyer years).

I just note it as a reference to those that every year talk about how we are going to play faster. Shyatt's style is clear at this point and this is who we are. I say we embrace it.

Also agree that if we were an up-tempo team we would lose more games. This came up in another thread a while back and I think the slow down style fits our roster as well. We don't really have guys that excel in transition (and we look awful when we try, happened a couple of times against BSU).

 

[NowherePoke]

I don't think Jones is a post player. He is a big wing which I think is great.

An interesting prospect. One of our more highly regarded high school prospects in Shyatt's tenure. He plays in the frontcourt in high school and has an offensive skill set that reflects it (not really a perimeter shooter), but sounds like he has the quickness and athleticism to defend on the perimeter. Might be kind of a 3/4 guy depending on roster and matchups where he could play either spot.

One thing that is interesting is that Vernon is kind of in the same boat in terms of position. I don't see us being able to play both of them at the same time unless one of the develops into a perimeter shooter (which is certainly possible, Jones hasn't even stepped foot on campus yet).

I still kind of think we are two pieces away from being really good next year. I think we need one more big that can rotate in with Nance/Cooke and then a wing scorer/shooter to replace Granberry/Sobey. Add those pieces to the Nance/Grabau/Adams/Cooke/Hankerson core and we could be in pretty good shape.

The reason I am so preoccupied with the roster configuration going into next year is that it seems like next year is a pivotal year as we will have a lot of experience and Nance will be a senior. Would be a shame to not capitalize on his talent and at least make a run at a NIT/NCAA bid.

 

[Wyo2dal]

2. Tempo - Pokes are now 346th out of 351 D1 teams in Adjusted Tempo. This compares to 325th and 333rd in Shyatt's first two years back (and we were extremely slow in 97-98 too, but I don't have the Tempo stats). IOW, so much for that "pushing the pace" thing. It's neither good nor bad, but I think we can officially stop talking about how Shyatt will start to up the tempo as he gets the players. 4 seasons of playing amongst the slowest teams in College Basketball is a pretty good sample size.

Tempo is fine, It's how the coach believes in defensive play and it's up from last year. We don't need to put up 100 PPG to win just as BSU that. If we we're an up tempo team we would lose more games.

Oh, I agree. Nothing wrong with a slow tempo. A lot of quality teams play at a slow tempo (Syracuse, Wisconsin, and Florida to name three and they do so every year). I would rather watch a disciplined, slow team, than an out of control mid to up tempo team (Schroyer years).

I just note it as a reference to those that every year talk about how we are going to play faster. Shyatt's style is clear at this point and this is who we are. I say we embrace it.

Also agree that if we were an up-tempo team we would lose more games. This came up in another thread a while back and I think the slow down style fits our roster as well. We don't really have guys that excel in transition (and we look awful when we try, happened a couple of times against BSU).

I think Adams is a great player and provides all the tempo we need but he really needs to slow down sometimes he gets out of control fast and has no fall back because no one else is moving as fast as him as seen by all the TO's against Boise.