Enter The Bison

March 14th, 2012 by Wicks

It’s not quite ‘Enter The Dragon’ full of kung fu kicks and drug lords on a mysterious island but it is pretty darn close. North Dakota State will make the trip to the high plains “island” of Laramie where the Cowboys and Bison will do battle in the CBI. The Pokes faltered down the stretch in Mountain West play going 2-6 in their last 8 games but now is the time to move on from that. This is a new season the slate is clean and we are at home. These type of tournaments off the NCAA radar are all about motivation and desire. You have to believe that coach Shyatt will have the team focused on those two factors.

Defense, hustle, and yes some constant offensive production (without long scoring droughts) should see Wyoming through the next round with Washington State next on the docket. Wyoming is the better team that has played a tougher schedule (as seen in the chart below). Now is the time for belief, leadership and playing a complete 40 minutes of Wyoming basketball.

 

Rank and Records NDSU   WYO
RPI #185   #80
Strength of Schedule #253   #100
Overall 17-13   20-11
Conference 9-9   6-8
Home 10-4   15-3
Away 5-8   5-8
Top 25 0-0   1-4
RPI Top 50 0-2   2-7

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Wyoming Basketball Needs Strength (of Schedule)

March 13th, 2012 by Wicks

The Wyoming Cowboys coming off a 20-11 campaign did not receive an NCAA or NIT bid on Sunday. Instead the Pokes will have to “settle” for a home date in the third tiered CBI tournament against North Dakota State. If there was any single factor that kept Wyoming out of a higher tournament (besides wins) it would have to be strength of schedule. The difficulty of this year’s schedule was not very hard and we knew this would be a problem as I wrote about out last summer when the schedule was released. The Cowboys had the worst strength of schedule in the entire Mountain West finishing the season at the 100 mark out of 344 teams. For reference here are the SOS’s for the Mountain West teams who did earn NCAA bids this season:

New Mexico: 93

SDSU: 70

UNLV: 49

CSU: 8

As you can see New Mexico (the regular season MW champions) had a slightly better strength of schedule than Wyoming but what set them apart from the Cowboys was their 6-3 record against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. Wyoming only had a 2-7 record against the top 50 in the RPI. Wyoming will have to improve the schedule in future seasons as the talent on the roster grows to have a shot at earning NCAA bids. Coach Shyatt did the right thing though this year in building a schedule were the Cowboys could win games. The program was very much down after the dismissal of Schroyer and the Cowboys needed a boost in confidence. Now it’s time to build on the foundation that has been set this season and that process starts Wednesday night in the CBI.

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Cowboys NIT Bound?

March 11th, 2012 by Wicks

With New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV all likely to make this year’s edition of the dance and CSU on the bubble the Wyoming Cowboys have their eyes firmly set on the NIT. With all the upsets across the country the NIT is no lock for the Pokes but I think being a 20 win team in the Mountain West should get them in the mix. You can find out for yourself tonight at 7pm Mountain Time with the NIT selection show on ESPNU and online at ESPN3. It’s a sad state of affairs when the NIT has its own live selection show but ESPN has umpteen channels to fill with 24 hours of programming so in this case it works in our favor. Let’s hope it brings good news!

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Pokes Fall To UNLV In Mountain West Tourney

March 9th, 2012 by Wicks

Wyoming’s first round game against the Rebels in the Mountain West tournament was an all too familiar scene. Wyoming played a very poor first half trailing 28-11 when the whistle blew for halftime. The Cowboys then stormed back and “won” the second half 37-28 but the hole they dug for themselves was too big to overcome eventually falling by the score of 56-48. Leonard Washington was the lone semi bright spot for Wyoming scoring 11 points and collecting 10 rebounds. The difference maker for UNLV was forward Mike Moser who scored a game high 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting.

The hallmark of any Larry Shyatt team is going to be defense but all too often this year it was the lack of offense that hurt the Cowboys against the better teams on the schedule. Once Shyatt sorts out the programs offensive woes as he brings in players that fit his system the Cowboys have a chance to really take off. The good news is this is just year one of the rebuilding process under Shyatt and the program is ahead of schedule. The product on the court (offensive worries aside) and the future outlook of the program is much better than it was a year ago.

The season likely isn’t over yet either. Come Sunday the Cowboys should be selected to some kind of post-season play in the form of the NIT or the CBI with the NIT being the best bet. This will allow the team to get another week of practice in and have at least one more game to ply their craft. The NIT is all about motivation and I am sure Shyatt will have the team focused and they could win a game or two against teams who are disappointed to only be in the NIT.

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Foosball Schedule Mania

March 5th, 2012 by Wicks

The Mountain West released the football schedule late last week and now we know when and where the Pokes will do battle on the gridiron next season. Remember the days when the Mountain West would not release the conference slate until late spring or even early summer? I sure do and I am glad that practice is no longer in play as it gives us a chance to breakdown every little nuisance of the schedule ad nauseam through these slow spring and summer months. For those who missed it the schedule for 2012 is as follows:

Sat., Sept. 1 – at Texas
Sat., Sept. 8 – TOLEDO
Sat., Sept. 15 – CAL POLY
Sat., Sept. 22 – at Idaho
Sat., Sept. 29 – OPEN
Sat., Oct. 6 – at Nevada
Sat., Oct. 13 – AIR FORCE
Sat., Oct. 20 – at Fresno State
Sat., Oct. 27 – BOISE STATE
Sat., Nov. 3 – COLORADO STATE
Sat., Nov. 10 – at New Mexico
Sat., Nov. 17 – at UNLV
Sat., Nov. 24 – SAN DIEGO STATE

At first glance the only game that looks out of reach is the opener on the road versus Texas. All the other games could go Wyoming’s way if the Cowboys play like we know they can. I add Boise State onto the list as a possible win because who knows how they will look with the departure of Kellen Moore who has guided the Broncos the past 4 years. Lady luck has been on their side for far too long, perhaps she will pick a new school support (just as well be Wyoming!).

Other things of note about the schedule include a month off between home games which is less than ideal. Cal Poly comes to town on September 15th and the Pokes are not at the War again until October 13th versus the Air Force with two road games and a bye week in-between. The Border War has also been moved from the last slot of the season to the weekend of November 3rd. This is a poor move and rivalry games should be played at the end of the season. I don’t buy this idea of competitive balance that the league office is spouting. Find a way to make these games happen at the end of the year.

How do you like this year’s schedule?

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Pokes Take Care Of TCU On Senior Night

February 29th, 2012 by Wicks

Six University of Wyoming basketball seniors played (or watched) their last regular season home game last night as the Cowboys reached the 20 win mark with a victory over the TCU Horned Frogs. With their regular season home games now over, let’s take a quick look at the contributions and achievements of this year’s outgoing senior class:

Arthur Bouëdo

The former walk-on from France has seen limited playing time over his career and can be best described as a hard-working squad player. He scored 14 points in his only start this year when Wyoming played South Dakota. His biggest contribution to the program was his 17 points in 201o in a win over New Mexico.

Francisco Cruz

The Mexico native came to Wyoming as a junior college transfer and has only played two years for the Pokes but has made quite an impact. In 2010-2011 he averaged 10 points per game and has increased his average to 12 points per game this year. He has been a solid player who can score both inside and outside and will be missed next season.

JayDee Luster

Luster is by far this year’s most improved player after two below average seasons. His overall numbers are about the same in terms of points and assists but his shooting percentage and assist to turnover ratio has improved greatly. He has also stepped up as a team leader which is an invaluable asset.

Afam Muojeke

You have to feel really sorry for Muojeke. The 2008-2009 MWC freshman of the year averaged 13.8 points per game and followed that up with half a season at 16.8 points a game before suffering a knee injury. He was rushed back too soon last season and has had several more knee procedures. Who knows how great Muojeke could have been if healthy over four years in Laramie. There is a good chance he would have rewritten many records.

Adam Waddell

Waddell is an under-rated player who will finish his career in the top 10 in two categories (games played and blocks). This is especially impressive considering all the injuries Waddell had to suffer through during his sophomore and junior years. People may say Waddell is soft but I think once time has passed he will be remembered very fondly by the fan base.

Rob Watsabaugh

Really not much to say about Watsabaugh. He was  a squad/practice player who came into the program from West Hills College in Coalinga, CA and has only played in 37 games averaging 1 point per game.

 

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We’re Not Going Streaking!

February 27th, 2012 by Wicks

I have returned from my week on the road and now the blogging can recommence. Over the weekend the Pokes defeated Boise State by the score of 64-54 improving to a record of 19-9 for the year. This is important because “Frank the Tank” is no more as the Pokes are done streaking in a negative sense. The four previous games were quite ugly with Pokes letting go of halftime leads in each contest. With just two games left in the regular season perhaps the Cowboys can close out with a three game winning streak but that could prove to be a difficult task considering the last game is on the road against UNLV.

The previous four games were difficult to take as the Cowboys could have been victorious in each of them. Yet, there is no need to hang our heads and think what might have been because this is just year one in a rebuilding process. Before the season if I offered you a 19-9 record with 2 games left in conference play I’m pretty sure you would have taken that deal with a smile on your face. It is a big improvement over our form the past few seasons under the direction of the used car salesman.

Larry Shyatt has produced results and will continue to produce as he upgrades the talent in the program. Wyoming should be a lock for some sort of postseason (the NIT or the make beleive invite) which will allow our younger players a few more games to learn and grow as we build for next season. There is also a chance that we could earn a bid to the dance if our chips fall right in Vegas, crazier things have happened! So hold tight and hope for better rebounding and three point shooting in future seasons as the program grows.

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Random Basketball Stats

February 15th, 2012 by Wicks

The Cowboys (18-6) take on Air Force (11-11) at the AA tonight (6pm tip-off) in search of their 19th win of the season. It is a critical home game that Wyoming must win to keep their name in the NCAA bubble talk. With conference play rapidly heading down the front stretch, let’s take a look at a couple of stats that jumped out at me that have helped and hurt the Pokes so far this season.

 

+3.3 : Team Turover Margin

The Cowboys lead the MW in turnover margin thanks to their stingy defense and the improved play of PG JayDee Luster who leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 2.4. This is a boost from last year where Wyoming was just under +1 for the season. 

 

.582 : Leonard Washington’s Shooting %

The USC transfer leads the league in FG percentage and is a full 8 percent ahead of  the next best shooting rate held by New Mexico’s Drew Gordon. Washington has only attempted 196 shots though ranking 3rd on the team behind Cruz and Martinez. It may be wise to get Washington more looks in the games ahead.

 

.339 : Team Three Point Shooting %

The Cowboys have improved their three-point shooting from last year (up to 33% from 28%) but rank 7th in the MW only ahead of Air Force. A lot of the teams offensive struggles at time can be attributed to shot selection. While I like the confidence of the shooters to keep shooting sometimes it would be better to get to the basket more than settling for an outside shot. Once Shyatt builds a squad with a better outside-inside balance, with the coaching staff’s commitment to team defense the sky really is the limit.

 

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Just Say No To Conference North America

February 14th, 2012 by Wicks

Enjoy the Mountain West while you can folks because in its current look and feel it is all but dead. One can argue that the true Mountain West died when two conference founders BYU and Utah packed their bags but what is on the horizon for the conference is a clear and direct change from the western based conference we have grown to quite like. Yesterday the Mountain West and Conference USA announced the formation of a new conference but offered very little in actual details. Like most things the devil is in the details and it is this lack of details that has me concerned. The “new” conference which I have dubbed conference North America will have 16-24 teams. The conference “leadership” claims increased television revenue and visibility for conference North America based on the fact it covers five time zones from Hawaii to the east coast.

When did we last hear this argument? Oh yeah, back in 1996 when the 16 team WAC was formed. Just three years later the Mountain West was formed due to the major inefficiencies of such a large conglomeration of schools. So it seems we have learned very little in the past 16 years as we are doomed to repeat a mistake we have already made. Now sure this new attempt may end up being more regionalized with two divisions of eight teams or even four divisions with four teams to meet the goal of hosting football semi-final and championship games but that novelty will quickly die down. Are you really exited about possible matchups against Tulsa, Southern Miss or Eastern Carolina? I’m not!

I will support the Cowboys no matter what and I just want what is best for the university and its sports programs but this is clearly a step in the wrong direction. The conference and its institutions are trying to chase football money and gain BCS access (which is on its death-bed) but in doing so they are risking alienating the people who matter the most their alumni and fans. It will only be a matter of time before a new Mountain West emerges from the ashes of conference North America.

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Former Pokes Prepare For NFL Scouts In Denver

February 10th, 2012 by Wicks

The Denver Post reports today that former Wyoming football players Brian Hendricks and Josh Biezuns are in Denver training with NFL  performance coach Loren Landow. They are looking to improve their times and marks in NFL combine style drills to impress NFL scouts on their pro day in Laramie. You can read the complete article in the link below to see what other college stars are participating in this program with the former Cowboys.

 

 
 
 

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