Just go read Cup's post. Far more eloquent that anything I can say.
A couple of additional comments:
1. Have I mentioned how much I hate USU? Their fans are the worst and most of their players aren't much better. Having said that, Justin Bean is really good and I have a ton of respect for the way he plays and the way he has developed. Wish he played somewhere else so I wouldn't have to hate his guts.
2. Hunter Maldonado Memorial MVP Award - Screw it, I am violating my own guidelines and giving this to Maldo anyway. That was legendary. Clearly hobbled, gutting it out for his team. He was already rapidly moving up the list of all-time UW greats, but that just moved it up a notch. More on his importance in a minute.
3. LVP - I think having so many close games in the the high profile contests in the league this year is really shining a light on officiating and I hate complaining about the officials, but for the love of God, just let the players play. The 2 fouls on Ike were BS, but so were several later fouls on USU (notably on Bean). The stars of the game hampered by foul trouble because of some small touch fouls that would never in a million years be called in a NCAAT game. Embarrassing really. As bad as it was to have LInder tossed and Ike sit for the first half, IMO we got the benefit of the whistle overall after that sequence. My problem is instead of making up for the BS with more BS, let's just not call the BS in the first place.
4. Noah Reynolds - He is close, really close, to being able to really help this team. When he came in for Maldo he was able to get by his man and get to the rim. For some reason he kept pulling up and made a couple of bad turnovers. He will get better at reading the floor and knowing when to be aggressive. His minutes will be critical over the next week, which brings me to our most important player for the next week...
5. Xavier DuSell - If the Pokes are going to avoid a very damaging loss over these next 2 road games we are going to need huge games from DuSell. I don't know if Maldo can play or not, but even if he plays he will be less than 100%. We need the X we saw before the hamstring injury. Dealing with Moore/Amey at SJSU and especially House/Mashburn at UNM will require huge defensive efforts from DuSell and Jeffries with Maldo hobbled.
6. What's Next - Danger Zone. The two MWC leaders (BSU and WYO) have basically the same Achilles heel which is limited depth. Wyoming is especially vulnerable to one scenario...no Maldo. Ike is a monster and awesome in every way, but Maldo is our most important player. He basically runs the show at all times. SJSU also has limited depth, but they have two guards (Amey and Moore) that can really get to the rim and they will play small with a 3-point shooter at the 5 to pull Ike out of the paint. If we can't stay in front of Moore and Amey it could be very difficult. On the other side of the floor, if we don't have Maldo, expect a lot of junk to be thrown our way. Full court press for sure, possibly some zone, certainly hard doubles on Ike every time (they have nobody that can handle him even slightly). Every game is huge, but our Margin for error is slim.
A couple of additional comments:
1. Have I mentioned how much I hate USU? Their fans are the worst and most of their players aren't much better. Having said that, Justin Bean is really good and I have a ton of respect for the way he plays and the way he has developed. Wish he played somewhere else so I wouldn't have to hate his guts.
2. Hunter Maldonado Memorial MVP Award - Screw it, I am violating my own guidelines and giving this to Maldo anyway. That was legendary. Clearly hobbled, gutting it out for his team. He was already rapidly moving up the list of all-time UW greats, but that just moved it up a notch. More on his importance in a minute.
3. LVP - I think having so many close games in the the high profile contests in the league this year is really shining a light on officiating and I hate complaining about the officials, but for the love of God, just let the players play. The 2 fouls on Ike were BS, but so were several later fouls on USU (notably on Bean). The stars of the game hampered by foul trouble because of some small touch fouls that would never in a million years be called in a NCAAT game. Embarrassing really. As bad as it was to have LInder tossed and Ike sit for the first half, IMO we got the benefit of the whistle overall after that sequence. My problem is instead of making up for the BS with more BS, let's just not call the BS in the first place.
4. Noah Reynolds - He is close, really close, to being able to really help this team. When he came in for Maldo he was able to get by his man and get to the rim. For some reason he kept pulling up and made a couple of bad turnovers. He will get better at reading the floor and knowing when to be aggressive. His minutes will be critical over the next week, which brings me to our most important player for the next week...
5. Xavier DuSell - If the Pokes are going to avoid a very damaging loss over these next 2 road games we are going to need huge games from DuSell. I don't know if Maldo can play or not, but even if he plays he will be less than 100%. We need the X we saw before the hamstring injury. Dealing with Moore/Amey at SJSU and especially House/Mashburn at UNM will require huge defensive efforts from DuSell and Jeffries with Maldo hobbled.
6. What's Next - Danger Zone. The two MWC leaders (BSU and WYO) have basically the same Achilles heel which is limited depth. Wyoming is especially vulnerable to one scenario...no Maldo. Ike is a monster and awesome in every way, but Maldo is our most important player. He basically runs the show at all times. SJSU also has limited depth, but they have two guards (Amey and Moore) that can really get to the rim and they will play small with a 3-point shooter at the 5 to pull Ike out of the paint. If we can't stay in front of Moore and Amey it could be very difficult. On the other side of the floor, if we don't have Maldo, expect a lot of junk to be thrown our way. Full court press for sure, possibly some zone, certainly hard doubles on Ike every time (they have nobody that can handle him even slightly). Every game is huge, but our Margin for error is slim.
