Random thoughts on the New Mexico game

[.44caliberkiller]

1. Barnes getting the start was puzzling. Even more puzzling is not leaving him in and playing him more while he is playing the best basketball of his career and being the catalyst to our 7-0 start. Edwards rotations continue to be mystifying. This late in the season you would expect some consistency but our lineups seem completely random e.g. (Moemeka is playing in crunch time, which I liked).

2. Speaking of Moemeka he continues to impress me. I feel like he could be a potential defensive player of the year candidate by his junior/senior seasons. He has great bounce and a very good wing span, he always seems to be deflecting balls on defense.

3. James is a budding star and his potential is off the charts. But I think he needs to work on his conditioning before next season. After playing the first 5 minutes of the second half and completely dominating he asked Edwards to come out. No if and's or but's about it James needs to be starting next year and playing around 35 minutes a game.

4. I have been hard on Lieberman but I have to admit he has been solid ever since conference play has started. This game should serve as a blue print on how he can play to help this team. He shot a high percentage from three, chipped in 3asst/4reb and played spectacular defense (5 steals)!

5. Dalton seemed a little better than the last few weeks but where is that double double machine from earlier in the season? Hopefully he is just getting over that nagging ankle injury and we see him return to beast mode Dalton.

6. Adams didn't do anything particularly good or bad but I feel like 14 minutes is too low for him. His superb athleticism is just to helpful to the team to be bottled up on the bench.

7. This is the 4th consecutive game our opponent has attempted at least 10 or more free throws than us. I don't believe it's a conspiracy against Wyoming but I also don't completely buy into the theory that we "shoot less free throw because we settle for 3pt shots". Several times James was either bumped or hammered while driving to the lane with no call.

8. While we still have the stupid turnover from time to time I feel like this team has quietly improved their ball handling. In the last four games we have had 39 total turnovers or 9.75 a game. While having 57 assists or 14.25 a game.

9. When we went on runs and got a lead Jmac was hitting his shots. When we went in droughts Jmac was missing his shots. Coincidence? I think not. I think Jmac is our x-factor, when we have the Jmac from last year we win games. When we have the slumping Jmac we lose games.

10. Gorski and Herndon both played solid but unspectacular games. But these types of games can make the difference between winning and losing. We got net positive contributions from almost everyone who played today with Kelley being the one exception. He really needs to work on his shooting and ball handling, because at his size and athleticism he needs to be a knock down shooter and limit the turnovers. Until he can improve in these areas I think he needs to be cut from the rotation.

11. Overall it was great to get the win and hopefully we can build some momentum moving towards the tournament. And nothing would build momentum like knocking off the old rival in their house as their in contention for a conference championship!

P.S. I'm absolutely stoked about our incoming recruiting class! Hunter Maldonado has Josh Adams like athleticism but 4 inches taller! While he is more of a scorer than shooter, he is no slouch as a shooter (35% 3pt/80% ft). Hunter Thompson is a prototypical stretch 4. On offense he plays a lot like Herndon but has a better shot especially from mid range and the free throw line. Anthony Mack is quit simply the best shooter we have recruited in the last 20 years. Dude shoots like Jimmer and has unlimited range while being 6'5 with solid athleticism. He was clearly the best player on a team littered with future D1 players.

[FarmerPoke]

First game in a long time that I didn't have really any big gripes with the minute distribution Obviously makes things easier when the pokes win!! As usual, we live and die by the three ball, and yesterday the pokes shot well from the arc, over 48% they have a shot against anyone if they can shoot like that, but consistency always has been an issue. Main thing I'm happy about is seeing Jmac have a nice game again. Pokes will go as far as Jmac goes. If he shoots poorly in the tournament, likely 1 and done, but if he lights it up, could be interesting!!

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

This was, in my opinion, JMac's best game all season. He shot relatively well, but more importantly he was efficient with the ball, he made smart passes, played solid D, got some rebounds, and (MOST IMPORTANTLY) led the Cowboys. He played like a senior. Really loved seeing that yesterday. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come as they make a run at the tournament.

[cali2wyo]

Appreciate the breakdown 44caliber!

Hopefully you make this a regular tradition, I enjoy your insight.

[WYCowboy]

We didn't play flawless, but I thought we did a much better job of rebounding (boxing out) which gave us an opportunity to make up for some of the turnovers & missed shots.

[Vt poke]

We got some good minutes out of Barnes, but I'm beginning to think we should have primarily a 3 man front court rotation with Moemeka, Herndon and Dalton. This is not a beefy front court at all, but Naughton and Barnes have been too inconsistent. It also helps that you have a long 2/3 in James and Adams who has serious hops as well. Liebs has been playing great ball since the conference started. I think this team could make a run in the tourney if we can do more driving to the hoop and either taking it all the way or kicking out for the open three. The one knock I see on Adams when he drives, he almost always takes it to the rack, but rarely kicks it out or dishes to the open man in the lane like Josh did. Derek Cooke made a living off from easy dunks thanks to Josh. If we are more effective with this, I think you will see a more effective McManamen as well. Go Pokes!

[wrxman]

didnt make it to the game yesterday, "thank you!" for putting together the synopsis. Looks like it was a good game.

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[stymeman]

It was one of the most boring games I ever attended, the flow was almost non existent no one looked like they wanted to be there, me included. That Barnes start and then not play him the rest of the game except to start the 2nd half, I truly don't understand Edwards at all, it was working from what I noticed. Dalton used up all his game earlier this year as he's gone non existent as well. We'll see how bad these Pokes want it when they go to Moby tomorrow. That Lobo game was truly an odd one all around, yes we got the W, but still

[LanderPoke]

I'll be happy if Dalton never shoots a three again. He needs to keep down low and drive to the rim - which he did Saturday.

If JMac plays well we have a chance to beat anyone. If he plays like crap we won't beat anyone because he'll play a crap load no matter what.

JJ is like off the charts good.

Liebermeister play pretty dang well. He was pesky on defense. I still want to see Adams more though.

I like Moemeka a ton. He is a gifted rebounder and super active defender

[.44caliberkiller]

It was one of the most boring games I ever attended, the flow was almost non existent no one looked like they wanted to be there, me included. That Barnes start and then not play him the rest of the game except to start the 2nd half, I truly don't understand Edwards at all, it was working from what I noticed. Dalton used up all his game earlier this year as he's gone non existent as well. We'll see how bad these Pokes want it when they go to Moby tomorrow. That Lobo game was truly an odd one all around, yes we got the W, but still

I respectfully disagree. I didn't find the game to be boring in the least. After the 9-2 start we went into about a 6 minute funk, but after that I thought we played pretty well for the most part. But if your referring to the crowd, I would tend to agree that it was a pretty tame atmosphere.