6-0! Some thoughts:
1. Momentum - You can feel some momentum building a little bit. I expect better (not good, but better) crowds for the upcoming games. There seems to be more discussion on Social Media, and even here on GWG about the Pokes. Lots of interesting threads and discussion during the game which has not often been the case for early season matchups against Cal-State Fullerton types. This program is really easy to cheer for right now. Not just the results, but the personalities. You don't know what you have till it's gone and I hope Wyoming fans take the opportunity to enjoy this group while we have them.
2. MVP - Maldo - Sometimes the simple answer is the right answer and Maldo controlled this game. Ike was the hammer, but Maldo was the craftsman. We are going to have to talk about his perimeter shooting as it finally reached full-on Ben Simmons stage after a couple of early misses. We have seen other teams lay off of him, but after he missed a couple early, CSF abandoned any pretense of guarding him and left him about as open as you can leave a player within the confines of a half-court with 10 players on it. Maldo didn't take the bait, instead he used it as an opportunity to generate a head of steam heading into the post. Probably the right decision in the moment, but long-term that is going to make life harder for Ike and the offense in general if teams are going to defend him that way. Still, how about a guard that can dominate a game without being able to hit a perimeter shot or really attack the glass off the bounce? He just gets into the post and sprays passes out LeBron James-style and if they leave him one on one he schools guys in the post (there was one last night that I almost felt bad for the defender).
3. Old School - Speaking of which, when people talk about an old-school game (like Ike), they are thinking like 1990's vintage. Maldo's hook shot in the lane is more like 1960's vintage (I guess, before my time, but that shot would fit in well in the black and white videos I have seen).
4. The Opponent - Not impressed with CSF. I thought they would be better. First of all, I felt the intensity and physicality was notably less than the road games at Washington and GCU. Secondly, I wasn't impressed with their game awareness. Ike picked up a cheap foul very early (I thought it was a ticky-tack call, but whatever) and yet they rarely went at him or tried to get him in position to pick up the second. They didn't go to Anosike that much early and then when they did start going to him more he settled for some mid-range jumpers and turnarounds (which he hit, to his credit). I don't think we can count on that type of kindness from other opponents. Graham needs to be careful about picking up cheap fouls because a better team is going to go right after him if there is an opportunity to get him off the court for any period of time.
5. Shooter! - We have (2) bonafide capital "S" Shooters on this team in DuSell and Jeffries. The only other combo that I think can compare from past teams is Adams/JMac in Adams final season. Obviously Adams was so, so much more than a perimeter shooter but he was deadly from the arc on high volume (including difficult shots) that year and JMac hit around 45% on high volume. Right now, Jeffries and DuSell are on fire. DuSell had a little bit of a slow start but has been excellent the last few games. Jeffries has hit 54% even if you don't include the Hastings game. Obviously that will probably moderate a little bit, but defenses have to treat both of these guys as deadly weapons and especially Jeffries has range quite a bit beyond the arc.
6. Depth - Cup covered this in another thread, but Linder's rotation is pretty tight right now. I did think Dut played pretty well in that stretch over the last few minutes of the first half when he was in there in place of Maldo and Wenzel is improving. Hopefully Foster can continue to recover and be able to help this team moving forward.
What's next: Denver. On paper, they don't look very good, but they have been improving as the season goes on under a new coach with a lot of new players. They had a rough start including a loss to a D2 school, but in their last two games they took a much improved AFA team to the wire in a 1-point loss and then took a good UVU team to OT before losing. They aren't the pushover we thought they might be earlier in the season. They have some transfers that are starting to really play well for them, including a 6th year senior big man (transfer who has played previously at UCD, Cal Baptist, and Portland) who is an excellent perimeter shooter. Pokes will need to be cognizant of him popping out for 3's. On the flip side, I really don't think they have anyone that can bother Ike, so they will have to either let him eat or more likely double hard and get the ball out of his hands which will create opportunities for us.
1. Momentum - You can feel some momentum building a little bit. I expect better (not good, but better) crowds for the upcoming games. There seems to be more discussion on Social Media, and even here on GWG about the Pokes. Lots of interesting threads and discussion during the game which has not often been the case for early season matchups against Cal-State Fullerton types. This program is really easy to cheer for right now. Not just the results, but the personalities. You don't know what you have till it's gone and I hope Wyoming fans take the opportunity to enjoy this group while we have them.
2. MVP - Maldo - Sometimes the simple answer is the right answer and Maldo controlled this game. Ike was the hammer, but Maldo was the craftsman. We are going to have to talk about his perimeter shooting as it finally reached full-on Ben Simmons stage after a couple of early misses. We have seen other teams lay off of him, but after he missed a couple early, CSF abandoned any pretense of guarding him and left him about as open as you can leave a player within the confines of a half-court with 10 players on it. Maldo didn't take the bait, instead he used it as an opportunity to generate a head of steam heading into the post. Probably the right decision in the moment, but long-term that is going to make life harder for Ike and the offense in general if teams are going to defend him that way. Still, how about a guard that can dominate a game without being able to hit a perimeter shot or really attack the glass off the bounce? He just gets into the post and sprays passes out LeBron James-style and if they leave him one on one he schools guys in the post (there was one last night that I almost felt bad for the defender).
3. Old School - Speaking of which, when people talk about an old-school game (like Ike), they are thinking like 1990's vintage. Maldo's hook shot in the lane is more like 1960's vintage (I guess, before my time, but that shot would fit in well in the black and white videos I have seen).
4. The Opponent - Not impressed with CSF. I thought they would be better. First of all, I felt the intensity and physicality was notably less than the road games at Washington and GCU. Secondly, I wasn't impressed with their game awareness. Ike picked up a cheap foul very early (I thought it was a ticky-tack call, but whatever) and yet they rarely went at him or tried to get him in position to pick up the second. They didn't go to Anosike that much early and then when they did start going to him more he settled for some mid-range jumpers and turnarounds (which he hit, to his credit). I don't think we can count on that type of kindness from other opponents. Graham needs to be careful about picking up cheap fouls because a better team is going to go right after him if there is an opportunity to get him off the court for any period of time.
5. Shooter! - We have (2) bonafide capital "S" Shooters on this team in DuSell and Jeffries. The only other combo that I think can compare from past teams is Adams/JMac in Adams final season. Obviously Adams was so, so much more than a perimeter shooter but he was deadly from the arc on high volume (including difficult shots) that year and JMac hit around 45% on high volume. Right now, Jeffries and DuSell are on fire. DuSell had a little bit of a slow start but has been excellent the last few games. Jeffries has hit 54% even if you don't include the Hastings game. Obviously that will probably moderate a little bit, but defenses have to treat both of these guys as deadly weapons and especially Jeffries has range quite a bit beyond the arc.
6. Depth - Cup covered this in another thread, but Linder's rotation is pretty tight right now. I did think Dut played pretty well in that stretch over the last few minutes of the first half when he was in there in place of Maldo and Wenzel is improving. Hopefully Foster can continue to recover and be able to help this team moving forward.
What's next: Denver. On paper, they don't look very good, but they have been improving as the season goes on under a new coach with a lot of new players. They had a rough start including a loss to a D2 school, but in their last two games they took a much improved AFA team to the wire in a 1-point loss and then took a good UVU team to OT before losing. They aren't the pushover we thought they might be earlier in the season. They have some transfers that are starting to really play well for them, including a 6th year senior big man (transfer who has played previously at UCD, Cal Baptist, and Portland) who is an excellent perimeter shooter. Pokes will need to be cognizant of him popping out for 3's. On the flip side, I really don't think they have anyone that can bother Ike, so they will have to either let him eat or more likely double hard and get the ball out of his hands which will create opportunities for us.
