Two words: Josh Adams. Adams has been put on all top opposing guards so far, and he's done a tremendous job. Very athletic, high motor. They could also switch between man defense and 2-3 zone to throw them off.
Example: at UNLV, Dejean-Jones scored only 8 points against Adams. He's their best scorer.
Pulled his groin at UNLV. They wrapped it extremely tightly, which is why he could barely run in the second half. He says he feels better, didn't practice yesterday. He'll start and probably get a cortisone shot before the game.
We'll see how effective he can be, though.
And by the way, guys: I'm going to have a blog post on that Thames vs. Adams match up right after the chat. So look out for that.
That's the question. Not DC. He's still very limited offensively. It will then become about attacking the lane, getting to the foul line. They can do that with Adams, Hankerson, Sobey, Grabau a bit. They'd also like to get Adams in transition if they could.
Nope, the team should be pretty much good to go. Sobey hurt his ankle a week back, but he has been able to play through it last few games. And Grabau's bruised hand doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.
Everyone will be available to play tonight.
Very good. Opponents only shoot 28 percent. But of course, they're probably one of the top 5 defensive teams in the country, so they're good all around. It could very well be that first team to 50 wins.
Hard to say. It's the highest-ranking opponent in years, but I think the 9 pm start time is going to scare some people off. I don't think it'll be a huge turnout, but I hope I'm wrong.
Of course, a lot of it depends on health, but it's a tough match up. Josh Davis is an excellent rebounder, and JJ O'Brien is another serviceable big man who can score. Hopefullt Nance can get to the basket.
I think they can. No doubt this is the murderer's row part of the schedule right now. But after this you have SJSU again, you play CSU a few times and one big thing is they don't have to play SDSU on the road. I think they can finish above .500 in conference.
My concern is that if they lose this game, meaning the drop three in a row, that might start a downward slide. Even though technically none of these three were real bad losses.
They haven't won that many of them, but I think they can. It's been about sinking the last shot, which is tough. I'd like to see someone other than Nance get a crack at it. It's tough for him to always operate one-on-one when the defender is usually bigger than him. And plus, there's no way a ref will call a foul in the last five seconds.
Looked like he was battered pretty good on the last play at UNLV.
Definitely possible. SDSU and New Mexico look like pretty solid locks at this point. You'd have to think that Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, etc. could all potentially make a run in the MW tourney.
We all know anything can happen in a win-or-go-home format.
Add UNLV to that list also.
Depends also on how they finish this season, but I'd think if they got the MW Tourney semis they'd have a pretty decent shot. And of course, a quality win like tonight wouldn't hurt either.
Wyoming is definitely still in that hunt at this point.
I don't like the term "or bust." I think that's unfair. If that team makes a huge leap, finishes 2nd or 3rd in the conference and makes the NCAA Tourney, does that make it a bust? Don't think so. But I get your point. I think you can expect continued improvement next year.
Still though, I don't think this is ever going to be a team that scores a ton of points. They're somewhat limited by their lack of athleticism. So there's a high ceiling, but it's still going to be tough.
Agree. He gets the absolute most out of his players, which is crucial when you're in a tough recruiting landscape. Ideal coach for this particular program.
That's true. I've been saying for a while that this team is built for next season. Any exceeded expectations this year is just gravy. But after next year you lose Nance, Grabau, DC, Hank. It's going to be tough. However, I'll add that I think his past recruiting class was his best one so far.