Wicks Press Conferences

[Bryoming]

I'll be posting notes from Sunny's press conferences here.

 

[Bryoming]

10/29/2025

• Wicks and Will Martin have too much of an emotional connection to Northern State to do the scout, so Chris McMillan is in charge of the scout for this game.
  
  
• Players need to learn that there's nothing fun about winning except for the win. The offseason is hard. Practice is hard. Preparation is hard. The only fun part is when you win a game and get to enjoy it for a few hours afterwards.
  
  
• The offensive strategy is going to be based on the opponent. Don't expect 111 points a game, or 60 points per game. They're shooting for somewhere in the middle; around the 80s. He does want to see a definitive identity that has everything to do with high effort and high energy.
  
  
• He's looking for more that 20 threes per game. Northern Colorado and College of Idaho defend the 3 well, so they pounded the paint. Percentage needs to be 35%+. Contested 3s percentagewise are a better look than a wide open mid-range shot.
  
  
• Player rotation will be 9-10 early in the season. Those who don't play can earn it in practice throughout the season. He needs to see players step up and separate themselves as the go-tos.
  
  
• Defensively he wants the other team to want the game to be over and keep them guessing. Use their speed and athleticism to throw different looks and confuse their opponent. He compared it do going to a dentist that has shaky hands and just keeps nicking and poking you. You hate it and want it to be over.
  
  
• This team is tight and gets over themselves quickly, but they haven't been tested yet. We need to see how they get through adversity in a game.

 

[TheRealUW]

10/29/2025

• Wicks and Will Martin have too much of an emotional connection to Northern State to do the scout, so Chris McMillan is in charge of the scout for this game.
  
  
• Players need to learn that there's nothing fun about winning except for the win. The offseason is hard. Practice is hard. Preparation is hard. The only fun part is when you win a game and get to enjoy it for a few hours afterwards.
  
  
• The offensive strategy is going to be based on the opponent. Don't expect 111 points a game, or 60 points per game. They're shooting for somewhere in the middle; around the 80s. He does want to see a definitive identity that has everything to do with high effort and high energy.
  
  
• He's looking for more that 20 threes per game. Northern Colorado and College of Idaho defend the 3 well, so they pounded the paint. Percentage needs to be 35%+. Contested 3s percentagewise are a better look than a wide open mid-range shot.
  
  
• Player rotation will be 9-10 early in the season. Those who don't play can earn it in practice throughout the season. He needs to see players step up and separate themselves as the go-tos.
  
  
• Defensively he wants the other team to want the game to be over and keep them guessing. Use their speed and athleticism to throw different looks and confuse their opponent. He compared it do going to a dentist that has shaky hands and just keeps nicking and poking you. You hate it and want it to be over.
  
  
• This team is tight and gets over themselves quickly, but they haven't been tested yet. We need to see how they get through adversity in a game.

I'm not sure what he is getting at with the numbers for three point attempts and shooting percentage. Both of those values are very average. The average three point attempts amongst all men's college teams last season was 24. The average three point % is typically between 34-36%. We need to perform significantly better than that if we want to even have a chance at ending up in the upper half of the conference.

Scoring 80 points a game and playing a "RP40" defensive style are going to be very difficult to accomplish at the same time. That kind of defensive effort is great, but it is definitely going to reduce our offensive efficiency as the game/season wears on. The one thing that would offset this some would be having a legitimate 10 deep rotation with very little drop off from 1-5 to 6-10. We have better depth this year, but I don't think we have that kind of depth yet.

 

[Bryoming]

I'm not sure what he is getting at with the numbers for three point attempts and shooting percentage. Both of those values are very average. The average three point attempts amongst all men's college teams last season was 24. The average three point % is typically between 34-36%. We need to perform significantly better than that if we want to even have a chance at ending up in the upper half of the conference.

Scoring 80 points a game and playing a "RP40" defensive style are going to be very difficult to accomplish at the same time. That kind of defensive effort is great, but it is definitely going to reduce our offensive efficiency as the game/season wears on. The one thing that would offset this some would be having a legitimate 10 deep rotation with very little drop off from 1-5 to 6-10. We have better depth this year, but I don't think we have that kind of depth yet.

I think what he's getting at with the 3 point percentage is that we're a small team and we need to be able to make 3s to keep us in games.

We saw very different offensive styles in the exhibition games. They slowed it down and held the ball against Northern Colorado and ran the floor against College of Idaho. I think he meant that the AVERAGE score we'll see is in the 80s.

 

[TheRealUW]

I think what he's getting at with the 3 point percentage is that we're a small team and we need to be able to make 3s to keep us in games.

We saw very different offensive styles in the exhibition games. They slowed it down and held the ball against Northern Colorado and ran the floor against College of Idaho. I think he meant that the AVERAGE score we'll see is in the 80s.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm very curious to see what Sunny can do with this team. We are still lacking top end talent but should have improved depth. I'm still very concerned about our front-court. I'm not convinced we are going to be able to defend teams with legitimate big men.

If Sunny can get this team to finish in the top half of the conference, that would be one hell of a coaching job. Maybe people would take note and start giving the program some money so that we an actually attract the talent to compete for the top of the conference moving forward.

 

[Bryoming]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm very curious to see what Sunny can do with this team. We are still lacking top end talent but should have improved depth. I'm still very concerned about our front-court. I'm not convinced we are going to be able to defend teams with legitimate big men.

If Sunny can get this team to finish in the top half of the conference, that would be one hell of a coaching job. Maybe people would take note and start giving the program some money so that we an actually attract the talent to compete for the top of the conference moving forward.

I can tell you that after watching this team play they are WAY better than last year's team. More athletic, better skills, better court awareness, better across the board. This team right now could play the team from last year at their peak and beat them by 40 points.

I do think we have a shot to finish in the top half. It won't be easy, but they've got a MUCH better chance than last year's team.