Pokes win 84-58 in opener

[wyopokesfan23]

Frosh Moujeke finishes with 31 points. FOY?

[PL_Julian]

He could possibly be but there are some things to look out for.

He shot only 7-17 ( from the field and that isn't very efficient. He did get half of his points from the foul line and shot very well there.

I listened to the game and it didn't sound as if he ever looked to pass the ball once he got it and that won't fare well when the competition is better ( especially in conference play).Add to the 17 attempts the amount of trips to the free throw line.

17 shots with no assists ?

The announcers made reference to when he learns to play under control numerous times and when the opponents are better teams and have had a chance to scout him there will be help stepping in to take charges so he better get under control and see the open teammates.

One thing for sure is that no matter what he scored 31 points in his debut and that doesn't bode well for Dermody when he recovers.

Davis and Afem will be getting PT.

[nirv117]

He looked good tonight. Tyson struggled getting the ball to drop for him. We played a ton better than in our exhibition game. Our next game Wednesday will be much more of a test.

Also it was good to see #4 lofted in the rafters of the AA to honor Sailors.

[WYCowboy]

The competition wasn't great, but this could have easily been a 50 point win (the officials tried to keep this from becoming a total blowout). I liked what I saw tonight, but there are some rough spots. Waddell is a monster on defense - I would like to see some of that on the offensive end also. I was also impressed with Davis - he is a good addition to the team and will get even better. Ogirri sees the whole court and you can see his experience and savvy - I hope he didn't seriously injure his foot near the end of the game. This might very well be the best guard tandem in the conference. If Thiam lives up to his billing, this team may surprise. I don't know if we will get Dermody back or not - his arm is in a sling (couldn't tell if it is in a cast or not).

[PL_Julian]

If it was dislocated with no tendon or ligament damage he should be back by the second half od the OOC.They don't normally cast a dislocation however they may have used an imibolizer (soft cast with whalebone stabilizers). The question will be if they take the chance in rushing him back .I think how AFem and Aj continue to play will have alot to do with that. Not sure the chances of having a medical redshirt approved but that may be an option but with only 8 scholarship players dressed that will be tough in a long season.

Seemed that the cowboys upped the pace and looked to run in tranition after every defensive rebound.

As Afem and AJ learn and mature on the court this team will be very capable of making a good run.

Adam is a beast but will have to play smart and keep improving his footwork.He had 2 or 3 fouls while setting picks...Liskens also sounded like he was producing but the Cal team was undersized.

In any event the win gives some hope and something to look forward to

[one-smooth-poke]

Congrads to the Pokes for beating Cal State Bakersfield. Maybe they will be better than I thought.

[TheRealUW]

Very impressive play out of the Pokes last night. Granted, they weren't up against the most talented team, but they played well and took care of business anyways. Muojeke looks like he will be another viable scoring option throughout the season. That gives us four capable offensive players (Ewing, Ogirri, Muojeke, and Johnson). I think we will see another offensive threat emerge when Thiam becomes eligible in December. Waddell sounds likes he's playing very agressive, especialy on the defensive end. I don't think Waddell and Linskens need to do a lot of scoring this year with 3-4 good offensive players on the floor with them at almost all times. I'm content with them playing aggressively and knocking some people around. I have no problem with them both fouling out as long as they play smart and don't foul out too early in the contest. There are certainly some times when its beneficial to give a slasher a couple hard fouls so that he might think twice about coming down the lane again or at least alter his shot because of it. AJ Davis is an explosive player and sometimes it can work against him. He'll be a very good "energy player" for the Pokes and the number of mistakes he makes should decrease as we move through the season. I'm very excited about this season right now, but I understand it was only one game. If the Pokes can play consistently like they did last night and continue to improve, this season could be very interesting.

[OrediggerPoke]

Pokes beat them big just like they should have. Bakserfield is still in the transition period from D2 to D1. One of my biggest complaints is the scheduling. Johnson and Wales????

[armchaircoach]

We did look pretty good although Cal State will prove to be pretty weak as the year goes on—but hey, a wins a win. I too am a little worried about the schedule; I thought we were playing Johnson and Johnson, later I looked it up to see if their nickname was the Band-Aids. Then found out it was Johnson and Wales. After some arm chair investigation into Johnson and Wales I discovered it is a college in Denver, NAIA. They have colleges of Hospitality, Culinary Arts, Business and Technology. But it does have a legitimate athletic program, not very good but they have been playing for a few years. Looks like Northern Colorado is the largest school they have played in the past—WELCOME TO THE DOUBLE A - Wildcats.

It’s all about scheduling and recruiting for the Cowboys and every other D-1 team. Schedule soft until you can get the recruits you need.

[GetRealMan]

I can live with this crappy OOC schedule this season but I hope it's not the direction we take every year. This team needs better competition that compares to the MWC teams, especially UNLV and SD State.

This team could surprise and end up in the top half of the conference. If they stay healthy who knows, it's all about taking care of home court and splitting on the road. The AA could be a terror for visitors once again.

[WYCowboy]

I saw a thread on the MWC Board where they are evaluating all the BB teams in the MWC. They all picked UW for 7th. Evidently they are basing that on what we did last year. They are going to get the surprise of their life. I'll have the surprise of my life if UW doesn't finish in the top half of the conference this season. I'm expecting us to finish in the top 4.

[PL_Julian]

We did look pretty good although Cal State will prove to be pretty weak as the year goes on

Air Force played them on Saturday and beat them by 12 for a comparrison. Remember Oggirri left early because of a tweked ankle and Ewing had more rest in that game than he has in the past three years.

We could have beat them by 50 or more but coach let off the gas and made sure everyone got some minutes

[WyoCow85]

Saw the game, here's my thoughts (quite a bit after the fact)...

Waddell is light years ahead of last year physically, although I didn't see it translate much through out the game. Down low with him, Tyson Johnson looked pretty good. He has by far the best hands and moves down low of anyone on the team, and finishes the best around the hoop, although again, he didn't finish too well Friday night. I still see him struggling in conference with the big boys as he is I think somewhere around 6'7" or so. Linskens still looks like a waste to me at this point. He looks to be in a little better shape, and he certainly has the size to dominate, but he has terrible hands, absolutely no post moves, and he looks pretty clueless on the defensive end. He does rebound decently well, and has that crafty little outside shot, but lets be honest, we don't need a 7 footer who can shoot threes, we need one who can body up and dominate down low.

Moving outside now, Muojeke (Sp?) looked decent for his first action. He slashes well, and has a tremendous stride when driving. It the kind of stride that excels in the NBA, so there is certainly potential for a serious scorer there, but he has tons to work on! He seems to have decent ball handling, but fumbles the ball a lot upon receiving it, and fumbles it when he gets moving to quickly without being set. He doesn't see the court too well either right now as others mentioned. Just from Friday night I would say Dermody is still the better option if healthy, but Afam offers a nice addition from the bench, and could be something special down the road. I didn't note much from AJ Davis as others did, but from what I remember he looked solid for a first outing. On to the guards...
The kid I wanted to see the most besides Waddell was obviously the illustrious Sean Ogirri. I can't say I was impressed, and I can't say I was disappointed. He looks like a kid who hasn't played in over a year, but he had flashes. He has a VERY smooth stroke, even though from what I remember he didn't shoot too well from distance percentage wise. I'm thinking he has the potential to really heat up from distance as the season progresses, and my god does this team need that! He could be what Platt never was, but he is certainly a more complete player than Platt past shooting. He played really good defense, and I think he may be one of the smarter players. B Ewing looked just like always. I still think he could be better, and I think Schroyer is puzzled when it comes to Ewing. He knows he can't just let him take over, but at times its simply what's best for this program. There was a moment in the second half when Ewing did temporarily take over, and he dominated like always. This team does not have enough components to win consistently without Ewing taking over for stretches, and Schroyer is just going to have to figure out how to manage that. Without a doubt you can tell that in the last five minutes this is going to be Ewing's team, and it is going to be Ewing's game. It is up to the rest of these kids to play great team ball to keep this team close against the big boys going into those five minutes, and while it might not be how Schroyer does it after this season, its going to be how he wins this season.

[UW44]

Pretty good assesment WyoCow85. I think your right about Linskens. As far as Muojeke, I don't think he is an option from the bench. I think Dermody is now the option from the bench. Muojeke certaintly had moments when he looked like a freshman, but he also had moments where he was dominate, which is something Dermody has never shown. He did fumble the ball a bit, but I also saw some very crafty dribbling from him so I attribute his mistakes to some overanxiousness. Muojeke has far superior quickness, a better shot (from what I've seen), and he seems to be stronger. For the mistakes Afam will make this year, he is a game changer when he plays well and I think we need him on the court as much as possible. As far as Ewing still needing to dominate this year, I think you may be right for a while, but as the season progresses I think you'll see that Ogirri, Johnson and Muojeke will all be able to lead us in the scoring department. Muojeke already showed, although against weak competition, that he could dominate for stretches. He scored 13 straight points and single handedly blew the game open. Sure, Ewing will need to show that he is a scoring threat, but with those other three scoring threats becoming more comfortable together I think it will be best for the team to have Ewing as more of a combo guard. We will be able to compete offensively with any team this year, its on defense where we will prove our worth.

[PL_Julian]

So after two games what I see is this. Schroyer or somebody will have to reel in Afem and settle him down. Through 2 games he has 9 turnovers and 1 assist. He has scored very well but he also is becoming a black hole once he touches the ball. Oggirri needs to get touches if he is to realize his shooting stroke. He needs to get touches on kickouts when he is open and can be set.His stregnth is not creating shots off the dribble. Afem doesn't advance the ball to his teammates downcourt if he gets an outlet pass instead choosing to go coast to coast and force it if it isn't there. Because of his skill he can still score but he needs to be more in control and remember he has a team out there.The excitment of having so much talent will be wasted if we aren't moving the ball through them and getting easy shots.Afem has to realize that for the motion to be truly effective it needs more than one pass.He also has to know that he will get the ball back and doesn't have to work so hard in forcing it.

That may work against weak competition but it won't work against the UCLA,Utah St's and our MWC opponents. The cowboys will be very difficult if teams have to try and guard Afem,Ewing,Johnson ,Oggirr and Waddell. FIlm won't lie and if they know that once Afem touches the ball nobody else is a threat because he doesn't pass (at all) their defense will be easy.

It is early and he has shown great comfort on the offensive end and if Schroyer doesn't teach the lesson this season will not be much better than last.If Schroyer does what he needs to do and teaches,this team can be a threat in this conference and a contender at the tournament.

[WYCowboy]

I think that is a pretty good assessment. All of our freshmen are making freshmen mistakes, and that is expected. At the same time, I see much to be excited about. Hopefully those mistakes will become fewer and fewer by the time conference season starts. The type of game we had last night makes the problems that need to be worked on stand out. I completely agree about getting the ball in Ogirri's hands and kicking the ball out to him. Waddell and Linskins are two completely different type of players. I thought Linskins played well when he was in last night. Waddell played well also, but the officials are not going to give him a break all season.