1. Maybe Edwards has finally learned that your best players need to start the game and play 30 plus minutes a game. We were down 14-2 when James/Dalton came into the game. James played the remaining 36 minutes, in that time we outscored CSU by 10 points. Gaining the early momentum in college basketball is vital, especially when your on the road in a hostile environment. But our coaching staff acts like its no big deal. I could understand if we were winning using this philosophy, but since were not I would at least like to try starting our best five players and see what happens. Having said that, I was thoroughly pleased that our rotation has tightened up some and our best players are seeing the most playing time.
2. James may be ahead of where Nance and Adams were as sophomores! James played a masterful two way game against CSU. Not only was he a force on the offensive end, but he almost completely shut down Clavell in the second half. And the kid might just have "IT". Hitting that monster three after missing those two all-important free throws showed a lot of moxie. I'm thrilled to see what kind of player he becomes over the next two years!
3. Lieberman is becoming a stalwart for this squad. Nixon killed us in the first half, but up until the last CSU possession of the game Lieberman had completely shut him down. Lieberman had a exceedingly good floor game. He had 4 assists and 0 turnovers/hit 66% of his shots/chipped in 3 rebounds/played pesky defense. Since conference play has begun Lieberman without a shadow of a doubt has been one of our best five players. I used to not believe in him but now I'm a "belieber!"
4. Some times you just got to tip your cap to the other team. I don't feel like we lost the game, I feel like they won the game. Wyoming did a lot of the things they needed to do to win this game. Shot 40% from the arc/kept it close on the boards 28-31/had 19 assists to only 11 turnovers/played good defense. Sure there was a stretch in the second half where we were giving up some easy layups, but other than that I just felt like CSU was hitting incredible shots. They only had 6 assists on their 30 made baskets. They were straight up playing ISO ball, letting their players go one on one Lebron James/Michael Jordan style. And I'll be damned if Clavell and Nixon weren't making Lebron/Jordan type shots with defenders in their grill. In basketball good offense will almost always beat good defense, so give CSU credit where credit is due.
5. I'm not exactly sure what Adams did specifically in this game to get in Edwards doghouse, but he most have done something because at least twice I saw Edwards visibly upset with him. Hopefully Edwards and Adams can get on the same page, because Adams truly can be a difference maker. He just gives us a level of athleticism on the wing that Mcmanamen and Gorski just simply can't match.
6. In the second half whomever Mcmanamen or Gorski were covering was the player causing us the most damage. Not only was Mcmanamen already a liability on defense, but inexplicably he started trying to guard the ball the entire length of the basketball court. Almost every time Paige or Nixon would simply dribble around him, and several times it lead to an easy CSU basket.
7. Gorski had a particularly bad night. O rebounds/0 assists/0 blocks/0 steals/3 turnovers/4 fouls. He was 1/2 from the arc, but lately it seems like he is hunting his shot and not waiting for open looks. Gorski can be a solid rotational player but my biggest fear moving forward is that Edwards plays him 30 minutes a night next year. I either hope I'm wrong, or hope Gorski proves me wrong like Lieberman has.
8. Free throws were killer. This needs little explanation, but if we would have just shot mediocre from the line we win the game.
9. Dalton looks like he is back! I know it's easy to claim he only had a good game because his three point shot was falling. But it appeared to me that he was playing with the same tenacity that we saw him playing with in the non conference season. Dalton's state line on the night was 17 points/10 rebounds/4 assists. That resembles the guy we saw earlier in the season that was arguably our best player!
10. Barnes guy scored the first 4 points of the game. I think it's safe to say that the Barnes experiment in the starting lineup needs to come to an end. Barnes should have got more playing time in the non conference season if Edwards thought he could help the team. This late in the season is no time for experimenting. If Edwards truly believed playing Barnes was best for the team, why didn't he play him more against New Mexico when he was playing great? It's just some sort of gimmick than needs to end.
11. We finally broke our 4 game streak of having our opponent attempt 10 or more free throws than us! CSU only attempted 4 more than we did. Having said that I still think the officiating in this conference is trash. Is it a coincidence that since CSU has been down to only 7 players, they lead the league in fewest fouls committed per game at 13.8? Must be nice to play in your face defense for 40 minutes and not get called for many fouls. Having said that I do believe CSU is a good team, but I believe refs are subconsciously giving them the benefit of the doubt on some 50/50 calls because they know they have limited players.
12. Omogbo reminds me of Ryan Watkins who played for Boise State a few years ago. Must not be a coincidence that Omogbo is about to tie Watkins record for the most double doubles in MTN West games. When your allowed to push, pull, and whack people all over the court it's surprising how much you can accomplish on the court. Omogbo could have been easily called for at least 5 fouls, yet he was only called for 1.
12. I can understand having both the men's/women's game on the same night if it was on Saturday. But I see no sense in not playing one game on Tuesday and one game on Wednesday. Does the conference not want more attendance at these games?
13. The Mountain West tournament is wide open. I don't think we will win it but I know that we can. We just played one of the top teams in the conference in their house and very nearly won. This team can beat anyone but can also be beaten by anyone.
2. James may be ahead of where Nance and Adams were as sophomores! James played a masterful two way game against CSU. Not only was he a force on the offensive end, but he almost completely shut down Clavell in the second half. And the kid might just have "IT". Hitting that monster three after missing those two all-important free throws showed a lot of moxie. I'm thrilled to see what kind of player he becomes over the next two years!
3. Lieberman is becoming a stalwart for this squad. Nixon killed us in the first half, but up until the last CSU possession of the game Lieberman had completely shut him down. Lieberman had a exceedingly good floor game. He had 4 assists and 0 turnovers/hit 66% of his shots/chipped in 3 rebounds/played pesky defense. Since conference play has begun Lieberman without a shadow of a doubt has been one of our best five players. I used to not believe in him but now I'm a "belieber!"
4. Some times you just got to tip your cap to the other team. I don't feel like we lost the game, I feel like they won the game. Wyoming did a lot of the things they needed to do to win this game. Shot 40% from the arc/kept it close on the boards 28-31/had 19 assists to only 11 turnovers/played good defense. Sure there was a stretch in the second half where we were giving up some easy layups, but other than that I just felt like CSU was hitting incredible shots. They only had 6 assists on their 30 made baskets. They were straight up playing ISO ball, letting their players go one on one Lebron James/Michael Jordan style. And I'll be damned if Clavell and Nixon weren't making Lebron/Jordan type shots with defenders in their grill. In basketball good offense will almost always beat good defense, so give CSU credit where credit is due.
5. I'm not exactly sure what Adams did specifically in this game to get in Edwards doghouse, but he most have done something because at least twice I saw Edwards visibly upset with him. Hopefully Edwards and Adams can get on the same page, because Adams truly can be a difference maker. He just gives us a level of athleticism on the wing that Mcmanamen and Gorski just simply can't match.
6. In the second half whomever Mcmanamen or Gorski were covering was the player causing us the most damage. Not only was Mcmanamen already a liability on defense, but inexplicably he started trying to guard the ball the entire length of the basketball court. Almost every time Paige or Nixon would simply dribble around him, and several times it lead to an easy CSU basket.
7. Gorski had a particularly bad night. O rebounds/0 assists/0 blocks/0 steals/3 turnovers/4 fouls. He was 1/2 from the arc, but lately it seems like he is hunting his shot and not waiting for open looks. Gorski can be a solid rotational player but my biggest fear moving forward is that Edwards plays him 30 minutes a night next year. I either hope I'm wrong, or hope Gorski proves me wrong like Lieberman has.
8. Free throws were killer. This needs little explanation, but if we would have just shot mediocre from the line we win the game.
9. Dalton looks like he is back! I know it's easy to claim he only had a good game because his three point shot was falling. But it appeared to me that he was playing with the same tenacity that we saw him playing with in the non conference season. Dalton's state line on the night was 17 points/10 rebounds/4 assists. That resembles the guy we saw earlier in the season that was arguably our best player!
10. Barnes guy scored the first 4 points of the game. I think it's safe to say that the Barnes experiment in the starting lineup needs to come to an end. Barnes should have got more playing time in the non conference season if Edwards thought he could help the team. This late in the season is no time for experimenting. If Edwards truly believed playing Barnes was best for the team, why didn't he play him more against New Mexico when he was playing great? It's just some sort of gimmick than needs to end.
11. We finally broke our 4 game streak of having our opponent attempt 10 or more free throws than us! CSU only attempted 4 more than we did. Having said that I still think the officiating in this conference is trash. Is it a coincidence that since CSU has been down to only 7 players, they lead the league in fewest fouls committed per game at 13.8? Must be nice to play in your face defense for 40 minutes and not get called for many fouls. Having said that I do believe CSU is a good team, but I believe refs are subconsciously giving them the benefit of the doubt on some 50/50 calls because they know they have limited players.
12. Omogbo reminds me of Ryan Watkins who played for Boise State a few years ago. Must not be a coincidence that Omogbo is about to tie Watkins record for the most double doubles in MTN West games. When your allowed to push, pull, and whack people all over the court it's surprising how much you can accomplish on the court. Omogbo could have been easily called for at least 5 fouls, yet he was only called for 1.
12. I can understand having both the men's/women's game on the same night if it was on Saturday. But I see no sense in not playing one game on Tuesday and one game on Wednesday. Does the conference not want more attendance at these games?
13. The Mountain West tournament is wide open. I don't think we will win it but I know that we can. We just played one of the top teams in the conference in their house and very nearly won. This team can beat anyone but can also be beaten by anyone.
