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PokesBlog: Live chat with Mike Vorel
Join Wyoming beat reporter Mike Vorel for a discussion of all things Wyoming athletics. The Wyoming men and women's basketball teams both play San Jose State on Saturday.
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My UW Athletics live chat starts in five minutes. Click the link and join the discussion! #gowyo live.trib.com/Event/PokesBlo…by Mike Vorel via twitter 1/15/2014 9:56:13 PM -
My Wyoming athletics live chat starts now! Head to Live.Trib.com and join us! #gowyoby Mike Vorel via twitter 1/15/2014 10:00:09 PM
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How's everybody doing today? I realize my live chat return has been long overdue. Anyway, lots to talk about. -
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Hey, Mike! Glad to see you're chatting again! How big do you think that win was for Wyoming hoops last weekend? -
Glad to be back! And in a word, huge. I think the confidence of the team was dwindling, knowing they could hang in literally every game but not pull one out. That'll be big for Nance's confidence, as well as the rest of the team.
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Shyatt even said he's never seen that many one-possession games in a short span. He's been coaching 40 years.
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Hey Mike! What are your thoughts on our chances with SJSU this weekend? They haven't played well, but they've been a tough team to put away. -
It's a game Wyoming can win, but it'll be scary. Reminds me of football against Hawaii. SJSU hasn't won in conference, but lost last two games by combined six points. They chuck a ton of threes.
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If Wyoming can play the defense they showed against Boise, they'll be fine. And SJSU doesn't have much interior. Look for Nance to have a big game.
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What is our aversion towards offensive rebounding? It's maddening watching our entire lineup run back to play defense the second one of our players jacks up a shot.
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I feel you, Bryan. Lots of people have talked about that. Shyatt has straight-up said that he refuses to give up fast breaks, and for this team that means not trying to go to the boards. I'm not sure I always agree with that strategy, but that's the way Shyatt reasons it.
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And yes, I think maddening would be a good word to use at times. With their struggles to score, I think they could take a few more risks and try to grab an offensive board. But that's me.
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Our ball control has been nothing short of terrible lately, too. Has Shyatt said anything about what they're doing to remedy the sudden explosion of turnovers?
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He's said in the past that they're a team that likes to run, but I think they've been out of control at times lately. Look at how many TOs they had on fast breaks against Boise. That cannot happen. Plain and simple. Shyatt has talked to the team about being smart, not just running for the sake of running.
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Mostly, I think Shyatt is a guy who has a lot of loyalty towards his older players. That's why you saw him stick with Sobey even when he was struggling. But Washington has also been quiet in big games so far. He also had a few bad turnovers against New Mexico.
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Washington fell over four times in the same possession last Wednesday. Never saw the court again that game.
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True, Bryan. I like Trey a lot, think he'll be a good player. But I'm not sure he should get clutch minutes right now. He can earn that spot, though.
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That's a good point. What happened with Vernon? You tweeted that he wasn't at the game Saturday.
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I did, and the coaches aren't saying much. After the game, Shyatt said it was a coach's decision, but "he wasn't in trouble." I don't think it'll end up being a big deal. Keonta is redshirting this season anyway.
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What's the story with Halderson? He was supposed to be, in Shyatt's words, "Our best NBA prospect," but he hasn't seen playing time all season. Looks like he hasn't gained any weight at all since last season, which is a major problem. He's way too skinny to play in the front court right now.
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For one thing, he missed four straight games with a hip flexor issue. But like you said, I don't think he has the weight to bang and guard forwards right now. And a lot is with confidence with him. I've seen him absolutely light it up in practices and scrimmages, then look lost in games. He needs to gain weight and perhaps more importantly get that confidence back.
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Shooting is significantly more than 50% confidence. You can't doubt your stroke. Feel like that's happening.
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Are you as shocked as the rest of us that he isn't redshirting with all of those issues?
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I don't think he can. He's played minutes this year, if I'm not mistaken. And I believe Shyatt thought he'd be a bigger part of the rotation going in than he has been.
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Yes. If you look at the next few games, Wyoming has SJSU, Air Force, Nevada at home, Fresno on the road, Utah State at home. They're capable of winning every one of those games.
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I'm not saying they will, but this is the make or break part of the schedule. They need to rack these up.
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I know basketball is in full swing but FB recruiting is getting hot- given 3 weeks to signing date. Your sense of recruiting
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Tons of kids coming in for official visits next few weekends. Obviously that will be big. My guess is starting after this weekend, the commitments are going to flow in pretty steadily. Even so, they're in a tough spot going after kids late. Don't think they'll get big-name guys. The question is if Bohl can get guys for his system and then, most importantly, develop them.
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I've been interested to see a lot of UW chatter from a few kids in Florida. Big difference than region of previous staff.
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any word on who they are looking at to fill the 2 remaining coaching positions?
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Nope, I get the sense Bohl is putting that on back burner and focusing on recruiting. I could be wrong, but we may not get one or both of those hires until after signing day. He doesn't seem too concerned about it.
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looks like they are recruiting Florida- a least a few offers being made to players in the Tampa area. Asl recruiting kids with 1-AA offers but Bohl must see something in those kids that makes him believe they are capable of competing in the MWC
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Yes, if Bohl is going by his statement that guys must be "Above the line." But I also think with his FCS ties and reputation there, it may be late to get a lot of top talent but he can still lure a lot of those guys that were thinking of going to top FCS schools. Also, he's talked about how recruiting is a year long process, and a lot of those kids he's been recruiting at NDSU for about a year.
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Much more familiarity with those top FCS kids. And Bohl won't offer guys he doesn't feel like he knows.
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Would like to see more coverage of the 10-3 Cowgirls and wrestling- now that conference is in action starting Sunday up in Gillette.
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I agree, Mike. Doing my best as only UW beat guy here. I have both a women's basketball and wrestling story coming in next few days, as well as track and field.
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But I certainly agree that both of those programs deserve that attention.
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It's an interesting concept. Imagine there's a line, and on one side is all the HS players that can realistically thrive in the Mountain West. Not, "Well, maybe with a lot of work in a couple years..." guys. On the other side of the line is everybody else.
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He has said that he refuses to reach past that line and take lesser players just to fill a recruiting class. We'll see.
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thanks- I thought it was something like that but I and several others just weren't sure. Have got to run- keep up the great work
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