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Wyoming gets Northern Iowa in Seattle
- Thread starter Wyokie
- Start date
I like Wyoming in this one for one big reason - nobody but Wyoming fans expected, or wanted them in the dance. Hell, people still don't think they belong even after getting the automatic berth. Because of this lack of respect, I think the Pokes will come in loose, relaxed, and with a little bit of a chip on their shoulders. UNI is the 5 seed, the pressure is on them to hold serve. The Cowboys aren't even supposed to be there, so there is absolutely no pressure on them at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pokes win by 10 or more. I know, I wear the brown and gold glasses and drink the Koolaid, but I seriously think the Pokes are poised for a run to the Sweet 16.
LanderPoke
Well-known member
My thoughts exactly. We can come out and play loose and just have FUN. All the pressure is on them, we're gunning for them, we are the hunter they are the hunted. We literally have nothing to lose because any results in the tourney is icing on the cake.CowboyNV said:
I think we have the maturity to keep focus despite being the higher seed.
Halftime of the MVC conference final, we were down 36-22. Came out in 2nd half and took care of business: 69-60.
Tuttle's opponents call him an unstoppable beast not just because he has great moves (he does), but his head is so good. When the double team comes, he knows where it came from and he passes quick and smart for the open shot.
For us, this game depends on 1) our shots falling 2) Us keeping our hustle on D.
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Regarding tempo, we slow down tempo when we play defense, not necessarily when we're on offense. I don't know if anyone keeps tempo stats like that. When we played Iowa, they scored 3 buckets in the second half (plus a few free throws).
Halftime of the MVC conference final, we were down 36-22. Came out in 2nd half and took care of business: 69-60.
Tuttle's opponents call him an unstoppable beast not just because he has great moves (he does), but his head is so good. When the double team comes, he knows where it came from and he passes quick and smart for the open shot.
For us, this game depends on 1) our shots falling 2) Us keeping our hustle on D.
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Regarding tempo, we slow down tempo when we play defense, not necessarily when we're on offense. I don't know if anyone keeps tempo stats like that. When we played Iowa, they scored 3 buckets in the second half (plus a few free throws).
fromolwyoming
Well-known member
We slow it down on both ends. And will switch between man to man, to match-up zone defense. And will grind the clock on offense until a shot opens up, either inside or out. And Nance is great, but you seem to either not know, or simply overlooking, Josh Adams. He's 6'1, but one of the most athletic guards there is. And is a playmaker. He also has a penchant for coming up from out of nowhere and dunking, often times better than many bigs can.
NowherePoke
Well-known member
Sivert said:
Clearly, UNI won 30 games for a reason. They will be prepared and motivated as will the Pokes.
In terms of tempo, KenPom keeps those stats and both teams are similar:
UW:
Overall Tempo: 59.2 poss/gm (344th)
Avg. Poss Length (Offense): 21.6 sec (348th)
Avg. Poss Length (Defense): 19.3 sec (303rd)
UNI:
Overall Tempo: 58.5 poss/game (348th)
Avg. Poss Length (Offense): 21.2 (344th)
Avg. Poss Length (Defense): 20.1 (347th)
UNI does dictate tempo a little bit more defensively than WYO and both teams are similar on offense.
Conclusion: First one to 50 wins!
Thanks. It will be good to play a team that actually understands what DEFENSE IS. When we played Iowa, their fans were just frustrated and could not understand why their team wasn't taking better shots and scoring. Afterwords one of them said that Jeremy Morgan "disappeared" during the game. Ha! He was busy shutting down their guard play. They just have no idea what is happening on the defensive side of the game.NowherePoke said:
After reading your post, you might be right - a key to the game might be which team finds the gap in the other defense and has the guard quickness to get through that gap. Getting excited for this game!
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
Sivert said:
Hey Sivert,
You seem like a very good fan and are knowledgeable about the game.
Please let your fans know when I was talking about N. Iowa's defense as a poor mans San DIego St. it was actually meant as a compliment and not as a put down. I guess some of them are upset about it.
Here is what I posted in another thread about it.
"I am the one that said that about them being a poor mans SDSU on Defense not on offense. I am not sure what their board said as I have not read it but if they would read what I wrote and not take it out of context they would understand it is a compliment.
Defensive wise man for man individually and team defense the only teams in the country as good as San Diego St. are Kentucky and Virginia. That is it. When San Diego St. wants to clamp down they are as good as anyone in the country.
I say N. Iowa is a poor mans San Diego St. on defense because they are a notch below that which still puts them in good company. Not sure why you would get pissed about that?
If San Diego St. had any shooters or a go to guy this year they would be a legit final four contender and a top 5 to 7 team nationally. Their problem is they can't score. SDSU held Utah to 49 points and Arizona to 59. If SDSU could score this year they would have won both of those games by quite a bit.
N. Iowa on the other hand can score and is very efficient and does have shooters and a go to guy in Tuttle. So not sure why they would be getting so upset over that . They should be taking it as a compliment but I guess if they want to get upset then they can. :lol:"
You can clearly see I mean no disrespect. I think offensive wise you guys are a lot better than SDSU is and your defense is still really good.
I don't know much about San Diego State. You're sure our guy didn't think you meant South Dakota (also SDSU) ?seattlecowboy said:
But no one's going to take kindly to being "a poor man's [anything]." Right?
Someone said that your fan base is bipolar. That's just being a FAN! Love your team and root away.
We have a sense of what our defense can do to teams when they are focused and everyone doing their job. Tough defense always ends up being a weakest-link type of deal. So if one player is taking one possession off it will be, probe-probe-probe-score. When we fans all know it should be probe-probe-probe-probe-probe-probe-probe-[get-frustrated-and-try-to-heave-up-a-35-ft-3]. But of course know that there are a couple players who do take plays off on defense. But that shouldn't happen. That's not the game plan. It's not what we're capable of. And that notion of what-we're-capable-of become the identity we put up against every matchup on our minds when we look forward to a game.
If we do what-we're-capable-of, you'll score 15 points per half plus some free throws. (I really think that's true, btw.) But we won't do what-we're-capable-of. No one ever does. That's what makes it fun to watch.
NowherePoke
Well-known member
seattlecowboy said:
Yep, SDSU is Top 5 defensively in the country no matter how you slice it (4th in KenPom). Being mentioned in the same sentence with SDSU defensively should be taken as nothing but a compliment.
Obviously UNI is a better team than SDSU (it's really amazing how much SDSU struggles to score with their athleticism), but defensively SDSU is incredible.
Their interior defense could be a serious problem. One reason is that when Nance gets it down low it seems he thinks he is obligated to take a shot no matter what. He hangs on to it way too long, IMO, and diddles around with it. If he could kick it out quickly if he's doubled, we could get some nice shots.wyokoke said:
In one instance with SDSU, Grabau fed it to him from the corner then immediately went to center court after his defender collapsed on Nance. Nance had no one to feed to even if he wanted to.
POKE FAN
Well-known member
Sivert said:
Looking forward to seeing what Jacobson learned from Shyatt on the defensive end. :thumb:
The Pokes have gone up against some pretty stingy defenses this season -- none better than Steve Fisher and his Aztecs at SDSU. Their team defense against Wyoming in the MWC Championship game was outstanding. Hard for me to believe that UNI will be able to quickly double the post or play help-defense any more effectively than the athletic/physical SDSU squad WYO faced. The Pokes will be ready.
Good luck. It should be a great game. (If Josh Adams gets going, look out.)
laxwyo
Well-known member
Let's not forget Wyoming just beat two tournament teams to win out conference tournament. Either way, Wyoming keeps most games close. I expect no difference in this game. Wyoming does leave 3's open from time to time but we also have shut down some excellent 3 point shooting teams.
Cowduck
Well-known member
Adv8RU12 said:
To be fair, that's not what Nance was doing in the last two games of the MWC tournament against a double. More often than not he was dribbling out of the post to the perimeter to reset the O. Honestly that's not how I'd prefer him to deal with it (I agree with you that I want him to recognize the double coming and pass out early to get ball rotation going) but Nance has not been trying to fight through double teams for shots as of late.
Part of what makes SDSU so great defensively is their length. UNI doesn't have that same length. They're no doubt a great defensive team, but it's tougher for Nance to take advantage of double teams when the passing lanes are so greatly reduced due to the length and athleticism of the other team. Our whole Dunk Town moniker is born from the double team, dribble penetration bringing help defense, and the fact that we only played one team all year with the length that SDSU enjoys. It's no wonder we didn't have 8 dunks/game against them like everyone else.
Also, like I said before, we were a pretty damn good offensive team coming out of our non-conference schedule. Then we started playing tougher teams and our numbers dipped. I'd say that UNI's conference schedule is a little more comparable to our non-conference schedule than our MWC schedule.
It's gonna be a great match-up. Can't wait!
Also, like I said before, we were a pretty damn good offensive team coming out of our non-conference schedule. Then we started playing tougher teams and our numbers dipped. I'd say that UNI's conference schedule is a little more comparable to our non-conference schedule than our MWC schedule.
It's gonna be a great match-up. Can't wait!
BeaverPoke
Well-known member
This talk of Nance not being 100% makes me wonder what comes next.
Can Wyoming win a couple games? Break onto the national scene? Does Nance dominate en route to doing that? If he does lead us on a magical run, does he start preparing for the NBA draft? He will still be in classes (unless he just drops out to go work out with some people), so what does he do? He gets healthy from mono, gains weight, and starts training at a new level I guess.
Just wishful thinking here.
Can Wyoming win a couple games? Break onto the national scene? Does Nance dominate en route to doing that? If he does lead us on a magical run, does he start preparing for the NBA draft? He will still be in classes (unless he just drops out to go work out with some people), so what does he do? He gets healthy from mono, gains weight, and starts training at a new level I guess.
Just wishful thinking here.
kdwrightuwyo
Well-known member
Nance and the UNI forward have very similar numbers...but Nance did play tentative to begin the season (coming back from a massive injury early) and missed two games and played while still feeling fatigued from mono in at least two games. And their numbers are almost identical. I think some people are underestimating Nance because of the numbers.
You can't really play the "what if" game in college sports...but. If Nance hadn't gotten sick or started the season with more confidence in his knee, his numbers would have potentially been much better.
You can't really play the "what if" game in college sports...but. If Nance hadn't gotten sick or started the season with more confidence in his knee, his numbers would have potentially been much better.
