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UW vs. Nevada

T

TheRealUW

Well-known member
Well folks, the rubber meets the road tomorrow when the Cowboys open conference play with a trip to Nevada. This is a great example of a "swing game" and the result will go a long ways towards determining whether the Pokes finish in the top or bottom half of the league standings. As far as conference openers go, they don't get much more important than this.

Player to Watch: Jerry Evans Jr. (G, 6'8, 210 lbs, Sr.)
Everybody knows about Deonte Burton, one of the more prolific scorers in the MWC. However, Evans Jr has quietly become a more efficient version of Burton. Just through sheer usage rate, Burton is going to get his points. He puts up a lot of shots, and some of them are not very good ones. Evan Jr does a much better job with his shot selection and uses his 6'8 frame to rebound the ball very well from his perimeter position. Evan Jr is going to present a match-up problem for our current starting line-up. He has a size advantage on Grabau, Sobey, and Adams. He has a quickness advantage on either Cooke or Nance. If I'm Shyatt, I'm considering a much higher usage rate of Hankerson and Granberry to match up better with Evans Jr.

This game is a complete toss-up in my opinion. I believe the Cowboys are the better basketball team, but I don't trust them to win games like this on the road quite yet. This is a really important game for the Pokes and could have a major effect on their mentality going forward. I really hope they can pull out in the win in Reno. Either way, I expect this to be a great game with an exciting finish!
 
This is definitely a big game for the Pokes. I am excited and a bit nervous. MWC hoops on the road is brutal, it would be nice to get any possible W's available.
 
Yup, very important game. Both fan bases feel like a loss would spell doom for the rest of MWC play.
 
J-Rod said:
Yup, very important game. Both fan bases feel like a loss would spell doom for the rest of MWC play.
Click to expand...

More so for Nevada I think. A home loss to a team outside the top 4 really puts you in a hole.

From the Pokes perspective, any road win is gravy. It would be critical to our hopes of grabbing the 5th spot in conference and the first day bye that comes with it in the MWCT. However, I think that may be hoping for a little too much based on our recent play.
 
NowherePoke said:
J-Rod said:
Yup, very important game. Both fan bases feel like a loss would spell doom for the rest of MWC play.
Click to expand...

More so for Nevada I think. A home loss to a team outside the top 4 really puts you in a hole.

From the Pokes perspective, any road win is gravy. It would be critical to our hopes of grabbing the 5th spot in conference and the first day bye that comes with it in the MWCT. However, I think that may be hoping for a little too much based on our recent play.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I think this is a very big year for Wyo in terms of where the program is at. Year 3 of Shyatt part 2 and it's time to make some progress in MWC play.
Hopefully we get better throughout MWC play, totally opposite of DC.

I think this is a big year for Shyatt, but then again I do realize it took Fischer a long time at SDSU to get to where they are.
 
In my observations, I think Shyatt is going to have to modify some things, mainly by instituting a less controlled type of offense, with more unstructured movement -- more street ball type, if you will -- to give the improvising players more freedom.
 
Adv8RU12 said:
In my observations, I think Shyatt is going to have to modify some things, mainly by instituting a less controlled type of offense, with more unstructured movement -- more street ball type, if you will -- to give the improvising players more freedom.
Click to expand...

+1

Let Adams attack some more, let Granberry shoot more, let Hankerson dribble-drive.
 
Adv8RU12 said:
In my observations, I think Shyatt is going to have to modify some things, mainly by instituting a less controlled type of offense, with more unstructured movement -- more street ball type, if you will -- to give the improvising players more freedom.
Click to expand...

I actually disagree. I was watching the CSU/SDSU game which featured quite a bit of that type of play and the first thing I thought while watching that was that the Pokes didn't have anybody who could make those types of plays. We need the controlled offense to get open looks because we don't have players on the perimeter that can beat their man off the dribble.

I would like to see Granberry shoot more, but I don't think that is Shyatt. I think Shyatt even mentioned it in one of the interviews that he would like to see Granberry shoot more.

Hankerson is one player that needs to have some more opportunities directed his way early in the game I believe.
 
BeaverPoke said:
NowherePoke said:
J-Rod said:
Yup, very important game. Both fan bases feel like a loss would spell doom for the rest of MWC play.
Click to expand...

More so for Nevada I think. A home loss to a team outside the top 4 really puts you in a hole.

From the Pokes perspective, any road win is gravy. It would be critical to our hopes of grabbing the 5th spot in conference and the first day bye that comes with it in the MWCT. However, I think that may be hoping for a little too much based on our recent play.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I think this is a very big year for Wyo in terms of where the program is at. Year 3 of Shyatt part 2 and it's time to make some progress in MWC play.
Hopefully we get better throughout MWC play, totally opposite of DC.

I think this is a big year for Shyatt, but then again I do realize it took Fischer a long time at SDSU to get to where they are.
Click to expand...

I agree about the importance of this year, but we are what we are and that is a small team that lacks athleticism, playmaking, and depth. Shyatt has a recruiting problem and I don't know how we fix it in the short term.

In terms of Fisher, he went 7-7, 21-12 and won the MWCT to get to the dance in his 3rd season (he did have 3 more losing conference seasons after that though before he had his first winning conference record in his 7th season at SDSU).

ETA: We are still in pretty decent position with Shyatt in the long term I believe. Not sure how this season will finish out, but as we sit here today we have an RPI in the 80's. If we finish in the Top 100 it will be 4 out of 4 for Shyatt at UW. That's pretty good as it is a level we have reached approximately 50% of the time over the last 35 years (that's as far back as I can find data). Shyatt has just had the misfortune of competing during some very strong years in the WAC/MWC. His 97-98 team competed in the WAC in a year in which the conference had 4 bids, the only time the WAC ever did that (granted it was within the 16 team framework, but still a lot of quality teams including the national runner-up). His first two MWC teams competed in the MWC in years in which the league sent 4/8 and 5/9 teams to the dance. Those are significant outliers for a conference that has averaged about 25% of the league going to the tourney over 15 years.
 
NowherePoke said:
J-Rod said:
Yup, very important game. Both fan bases feel like a loss would spell doom for the rest of MWC play.
Click to expand...

More so for Nevada I think. A home loss to a team outside the top 4 really puts you in a hole.

From the Pokes perspective, any road win is gravy. It would be critical to our hopes of grabbing the 5th spot in conference and the first day bye that comes with it in the MWCT. However, I think that may be hoping for a little too much based on our recent play.
Click to expand...

I think starting league play at 5-8 puts you in a big enough hole to start conference play. Hopefully we do well on the road. We played well their last year, so we'll see.
 
I don't care how tough road games are. Nevada is terrible, and Wyoming needs to win tomorrow. Losing would feel like when we lost to Fresno last year.
 
The betting line is pick em. My concern is the same as everyone else's. We don't rebound well and we can't score in the paint. Hard to win on the road when you can't do either of those well. Looking back, it seems Shyatt's first team might have been his best so far. Waddell was a big strong defender and rebounder that we sorely need now. I was hoping Cooke might be that player but he doesn't seem to be the enforcer type.
 
bladerunnr said:
The betting line is pick em. My concern is the same as everyone else's. We don't rebound well and we can't score in the paint. Hard to win on the road when you can't do either of those well. Looking back, it seems Shyatt's first team might have been his best so far. Waddell was a big strong defender and rebounder that we sorely need now. I was hoping Cooke might be that player but he doesn't seem to be the enforcer type.
Click to expand...

Disagree on Waddell and what made Shyatt's team his best (I do agree that they were though, although last year when everyone was healthy and eligible might have been close). Adam was one of my favorites, but the lower extremity injuries he had dealt with really limited him and he wasn't a quick leaper to start with. As a result he was one of the poorest rebounding big men you will ever see. He averaged 3.4 rpg in over 28 minutes of playing time. His backup, a true freshman (Nance, of course) actually out-rebounded him (4.0 rpg) in limited playing time.

Adam was very adept at drawing charges, but I am not sure with the new rules regarding block/charge calls that he would be as effective this year as he was then.

I think there primary difference was:

- Perimeter defense at the point of attack - There is a reason that Jaydee Luster won MWC Defensive Player of the Year that season. His on-ball pressure really set the tone. He never let the opposing PG dictate the direction of offense. In addition, Luke was a far more disruptive defender with his length and tenacity than what we have now on the wing. Luke averaged nearly 2 steals per game in his career. Sobey/Adams/Grabau combined only average 1.2 spg right now. That weakness at the point of attack has led to Shyatt using a lot of zone. I think the Pokes have played pretty well in the zone to be honest, which speaks well to Shyatt's coaching ability, but there are downsides including open perimeter looks and the issues it creates in locating opposing players to block out for rebounds.


Neither team could score worth a damn against good defenses, but the 11-12 team was so solid defensively. Leonard was the enforcer, Adam was the crafty veteran, and the guards were disruptive. This year's team lacks that defensive prowess. JMO.
 
bladerunnr said:
The betting line is pick em. My concern is the same as everyone else's. We don't rebound well and we can't score in the paint. Hard to win on the road when you can't do either of those well. Looking back, it seems Shyatt's first team might have been his best so far. Waddell was a big strong defender and rebounder that we sorely need now. I was hoping Cooke might be that player but he doesn't seem to be the enforcer type.
Click to expand...


Nance is pretty damn good defensively, especially with rebounds. Way better rebounder than Wadell.
 
Pokes kinda struggling in Reno. Welcome to the MWC on the road.
Plenty of time left though.
16-20 as I am typing this.
 
Wow Josh Adams. You are the shit.
I don't see how so many of you still don't think we don't have a guard that can attack and score.
 
What the hell was that???
Derek Cooke made a nice screen then scored on the pick and roll! With a nice finish! What?? Cooke with some skills!
 
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