Where's Riley???

[Cowboy Junky]

I think Riley makes it look too easy and boring. There's a reason why he plays that way. He runs the tempo our coach wants to run: dead last in college basketball. That's not an accident. He takes care of the ball and quarterbacks a slow pace. He feeds the post better than anyone on the team and makes it look easy. No one on our team is better at getting the ball in the low blocks to Nance. He makes his passes with two hands, doesn't make anything look flashy and does ALL the little things that win games.

He's the best point on our team and it's not even close. I have to question anyones basketball knowledge that struggles to understand that.

 

[seattlecowboy]

Anyone that thinks anyone on this team besides Riley should be starting at PG doesn't know anything about basketball.

You can't have someone like Adams or Hankerson run point the whole game because they turn the ball over too much and sometimes take stupid shots and get out of control. Lieberman is too young to be starting.

Riley is the best PG we have end of conversation.

I also won't redact my thoughts on Riley better being utilized off the bench. Yesterday was the perfect example of what Grabau needs to do, which is take care of the ball, and hit free throws down the stretch. He played great down the stretch for sure, but I have to vehemently disagree that he is the best PG we have. To me, what a point guard should be is the guy who creates offense either for himself or more importantly for his teammates. I will agree that Adams is more turnover prone, but whenever we need a big play, or a play created for someone, it is ALWAYS Adams that creates said offensive opportunities. I can live with the mistakes he makes, because he creates so many opportunities and puts pressure on the defense. I appreciate what Riley has done for the program and his effort as much as anyone, but he simply does not have the skill set to be the creative force on the offensive end: a la the point guard. As I've said before, I love what Shyatt is building for poke basketball and have no problem with our lineups as they are because this team supports each other and plays together so well as it is.

Again these are all my opinions only, and I don't expect others to share them necessarily. Not ripping on Riley in any way, because I firmly believe we need him in the game at critical times especially down the stretch for free throws. I simply think we don't utilize his skill set the best that we could.

Everyone is welcome to their opinion of course

I wasn't trying to call anyone out. My main point is that the offense Shyatt runs there is no way you can have someone like Adams run point the whole game. Yeah he is good a creating and comes up with big plays but he is more of a scorer than a true pg and he turns the ball over way too much in the type of offense that Shyatt runs and with as slow as we play every possession is critical that we don't have turnovers. The less turnovers the better. Riley is a smart player also and just because he doesn't hit his three's sometimes doesn't mean he shouldn't start at the point.

Maybe if Shyatt was running a run and gun type of offense then I could see Adams playing more PG. I am not knocking Adams by any means either because we need him on the floor but he is better suited at the 2 guard. There is no one else you can have play point on the rest of the team unless you want Bentz or Lieberman to and like i said before LIeberman is too young right now and while I like Bentz and all of the members of this team Bentz is not someone you want running the point over Grabau obviously so there is no one else.

 

[kansasCowboy]

A PG in Shyatts offense is only a QB. He runs the offense. He's the coach on the floor. Rarely does/has a PG ever looked to make their own shot under Shyatt. Shy doesn't look for a Brandon Ewing or Jay Straight, one on one kind of guy. He looks for guys who will look for someone else. Adams is our closest to other teams PG persona, and he's generally our SG.

 

[FarmerPoke]

Appreciate the back and forth with you guys, very valid points on Grabau fitting the type of offense Shyatt is running. He's definitely another coach on the floor and I would argue maybe highest basketball IQ of anyone on the team. I guess as has been pointed out before its easy for me to point fingers at him when the shots aren't falling and such, but he no doubt plays his heart out and can never fault a player that gives it his everything. Glad I'm not the coach, my emotions can tend to get in the way at times! Always impressed with Shyatts calm level headed approach which really shows in this team, rarely get rattled, just go out and do their job. All opinions aside, sure love rooting for these guys!!

 

[DVDA]

This point guard talk is silly. This offense has three guards and two forwards. All three guards do the same thing which is run around the perimeter on dribble hand-offs and the forwards set screens. There are hardly any point guard responsibilities. Adams and Grabau bring the ball up the court and call plays in half court sets equally. Grabau does slow the game down when it starts to get out of hand which is him being an extension of Shyatt. He's the best "floor general" on the team, but pretending the rest of the upperclassmen don't understand Shyatt's expectations is naive to say the least.

 

[seattlecowboy]

This point guard talk is silly. This offense has three guards and two forwards. All three guards do the same thing which is run around the perimeter on dribble hand-offs and the forwards set screens. There are hardly any point guard responsibilities. Adams and Grabau bring the ball up the court and call plays in half court sets equally. Grabau does slow the game down when it starts to get out of hand which is him being an extension of Shyatt. He's the best "floor general" on the team, but pretending the rest of the upperclassmen don't understand Shyatt's expectations is naive to say the least.

Agree for the most part but I don't think anyone is saying the other upperclassmen don't understand Shyatt's expectations. The debate is whether or not Riley should be starting. I think he should and I have stated why. Adams and Hankerson both should be starting at their positions and both understand Shyatt's expectations but to say both of them aren't out of control and force things sometimes when there is no need is naive. Grabau is the one person on the team who doesn't usually force something that isn't there and he doesn't usually take bad shots either. Usually only shoots open looks.

Anyways we all want the same thing , Cowboy wins. I've said all I will say on the issue. I respect everyone else's opinions.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Appreciate the back and forth with you guys, very valid points on Grabau fitting the type of offense Shyatt is running. He's definitely another coach on the floor and I would argue maybe highest basketball IQ of anyone on the team. I guess as has been pointed out before its easy for me to point fingers at him when the shots aren't falling and such, but he no doubt plays his heart out and can never fault a player that gives it his everything. Glad I'm not the coach, my emotions can tend to get in the way at times! Always impressed with Shyatts calm level headed approach which really shows in this team, rarely get rattled, just go out and do their job. All opinions aside, sure love rooting for these guys!!

This at the college level for me is the most critical and the biggest requirement. Guys that are proud to put on the shirt and battle. How many years did we have guys that didn't do this or barely give a fuck about Wyoming? It means a lot to me when our Wyoming guys just go balls to the wall. I'd go to bat for all of our starters this year, we're 15-2 and should be absolutely PUMPED about this team. It's college ball too, these guys will make mistakes and have off games.

 

[stymeman]

he looked better on Saturday and was moving better without the ball and made some things happen, again I'm not calling for his head, I just want his head to be our games a bit more than have been lately. We need the "silent assasin" to shoot lights out against a pesky SDSU team

 

[castlerocker]

This is an interesting read.

Riley is a bit of an enigma. No I'm not going to bring up the fact that he chews that dam gum whilst being on camera, ya just like Shyatt was doing but for some (good) reason hasn't during the last game (chewing gum has never made the person look better) but what I want to bring up is that in spite of some of his irritating play, I have never seen anyone on a UW team come in and win the game like he has this season.

Most of the games this year have been decided in the last minute and it is such a luxury to see him get fouled and step up there and just win the game with no emotion, no bravado, no drama, just solid professionalism.

Without him we probably loose 3-4 more games this year.

 

[BeaverPoke]

This is an interesting read.

Riley is a bit of an enigma. No I'm not going to bring up the fact that he chews that dam gum whilst being on camera, ya just like Shyatt was doing but for some (good) reason hasn't during the last game (chewing gum has never made the person look better) but what I want to bring up is that in spite of some of his irritating play, I have never seen anyone on a UW team come in and win the game like he has this season.

Most of the games this year have been decided in the last minute and it is such a luxury to see him get fouled and step up there and just win the game with no emotion, no bravado, no drama, just solid professionalism.

Without him we probably loose 3-4 more games this year.

Nance also chews gum during the game.

 

[WyoExpat]

PS I'm not saying to "pull" him I just want experience and leadership and production that's all or maybe coming off the bench might be an answer, that's all......been a Brown and Golder, longer than most of you have been alive I'm sure, don't get so butt hurt when I state my opinion here

I think that an issue here is that we all need to listen more closely to how Coach Shyatt defines "production." He is clearly a defense-minded coach who has low tolerance for unforced turnovers. Based on that, I would expect Coach Shyatt to pull a player faster for being in the wrong place on a defensive rotation than for missing shots (except free throws). Riley hits his free throws and, as a result, he will be in there in crunch time if he is available.

Also, Coach Shyatt seems to place more emphasis on decision-making and attitude than on raw athleticism. Of course he will look for the complete package, but I think it is clear that Coach trusts Riley to do what he wants and to not do what Coach does not want. There is something about Riley that Coach has really liked from Day 1--even though many fans called for his scholarship to be given to someone else. I believe that Riley fits Coach Shyatt's system and that Riley knows and plays within the role that Coach has designated for him.

 

[laxwyo]

I'd say based on our season so far, Riley is filling his role just fine. Sure, it'd be nice to see a better 3-pt percentage but team playing great