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Wicks Press Conferences
- Thread starter Bryoming
- Start date
Bryoming
Well-known member
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
Well-known member
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
Well-known member
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.
Bryoming
Well-known member
11/6/2025
- Fullerton always puts up a good fight. They're a physical team. This game will be a track meet. Both teams are going to want to play fast. Sunny is still getting used to the fast pace, and it still makes him a bit squeamish.
- Each game the team has had more elite execution on both offense and defense. Losing effort has steadily decreased across the first 3 games. It's getting better, but they still have a ways to go.
- RP40 breakdown: There are 4 different meanings to the RP in RP40:
- Relentless ball Pressure
- Relentless Pace. Against Northern State they had 11 possessions where they got to the basket in 5 seconds or less, and 15 in 7 seconds or less. If they don't get the transition bucket they have to get into their flow quicker and move the ball.
- Relentless Paint. If they're not shooting 3's they should be hammering the paint. Don't take mid-range jumpers. If they're going to get 2 points out of a possession they need to be high percentage shots. They are still missing way too many layups, and they're emphasizing those this week.
- Relentless Poise. Eliminate bad shots. We shouldn't be shooting in the "twilight zone" of the shot clock (13-17 seconds). Bad shots equal turnovers because the rest of the team isn't ready for the rebound.
- There needs to be a race to maturity for the younger players. The players are more worried about their perception and potential outcomes than they should be. They've got to think more about what they're doing as a team and worry less about possible individual outcomes.
- Mental toughness is something they're focusing on. The players have to believe that they are tougher, that they are in better shape and a better team.
- Leland Walker is standing out as a vocal leader on the team. Wicks wants more vocal leadership out of Khaden Bennett and Matija Belic. He needs at least 2 guys that communicate at a high level. Player led teams win championships.
- We're going to see Kiani Saxon in the rotation more. He's still fighting some imposter syndrome after coming from D2. He needs to have the confidence that he belongs.
- The staff is constantly emphasizing that these guys cannot relax. They have to stay dialed in and keep that sense of urgency. The standard for energy on the team is very high.
- Wicks believes in Matija Belic. He needs Matija to believe in himself more. They sat down in his office and had a face-to-face yesterday. Belic is one of the best shooters on the team, but he needs to be more selfish and shoot more.
- Every time you transfer you lose 3-4 months of training. Being on the same team in the same sports performance program brings big returns. It's going to show up big time come conference season. Wicks praised the gains that Abou Magassa and Matija Belic have made by sticking around for more than one season.
rocket city poke
Well-known member
Fullerton is really bad. 1-19 last year in the Big West. Taylor should have been let go a LONG time ago and definitely prior to this season. Tomato can game for UW to get an easy win.
Agreed. A loss to this Fullerton team would be a very bad loss. They are not a good team.
If UW is even a middle of the pack MWC team, they win this game fairly easily. If this is a close contest, we are in trouble folks.
laxwyo
Well-known member
With the portal, it’ll be increasing harder to use a previous season as much as a metric. Are we terrible this year because we were terrible last year?
LanderPoke
Well-known member
Fullerton didn’t look like a terrible team to me, but who knows
Bryoming
Well-known member
11/13/2025
- Portland is also undefeated. Someone is coming away from this game with their first loss.
- Their pace is slower than ours. Our raw tempo is 16th in the country.
- We have to speed them up. Playing a half court style won't be good for us.
- Lots of assists coming from both teams. We're tied for 20th in the country with 20 assists per game. Portland has 16.5, which is good for a tie for 76th (out of 363).
- Depth is quality. Different guys are stepping up in different moments. The seniors still haven't found their groove, so when they get there we'll be even better.
- Damarion Dennis is a "fight club" guy. He plays the game the way Sunny likes it to be played. Sunny really likes how he's playing. He's efficient and not trying to do too much.
- Portland is holding teams to 26% from 3 and playing a tough line defense. We'll need to hit threes and hit shots in transition to win.
- Need to be better at capitalizing in transition. Too many turnovers and not enough efficiency.
- Leland's game against Austin Peay will stick with him, even though he wants to forget it. He needs to slow down and play within himself. Right now he's too out of control.
- The seniors will get there. If you push them too hard they'll push themselves too hard and play outside themselves.
- Sunny doesn't expect Portland to press.
- We'll need to be better in the half court as the season goes on. Portland will try to force that.
- Rim and paint decisions have to be better. Right now the players are just running downhill and hoping they get something. They need to be more deliberate.
- Leland and Matija are going to have breakout games soon. Jared Harris does things in practice that look good, but he has to handle hard better. Kiani Saxon is going to be an important piece in this game. We'll need our bigs to step up.
- Wants to see constant daily improvement from the freshman. The ideal situation always moves. He wants to point out the gains. Where did you start and where are you now? Gavin hit the freshman wall in the middle of an early practice, but he bounced back and got some huge gains in the summer. The scout is out on Naz. He's got to adjust to the scout.
- Neil Summers is redshirting.
