Pokes struggle with Rams

Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:38 pm

They jumped to a nice lead but once the Rams switched defensive tactics it was a fight to hold them off.

If a Ram team without a starter and leading scorer can push the Pokes in Laramie it will be difficult to think that this team will win any on the road and will do good to get 6 home wins in conference play.

Things are looking more and more like a 6-10 conference finish with maybe a best of 8-8 if they can get a road win. At least 4 more wins makes the record overall 17-13 which is better than 12 total wins like last year.

Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:40 pm

I think it had a lot to do with the Rams just shooting the ball well early in the second half....but overall the Pokes had that game under control. Wyoming is a better team than CSU even if CSU has all their players. On a side note, that freshman Carr for CSU impressed me.

Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:22 am

We started missing some shots in the second half, especially our 3 pointers. But worse than that we didn't have the same intensity on defense as we did in the first half. If you look at how har we played and hustled the lat 5 minutes or so of the first half when we created our bid lead, and compare it to how we came out in the 2nd it was night and day.

We need to learn to be aggressive and play hard a whole game. We still have to many horrible passes too.

Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:18 am

I was very disappointed with our defensive intensity. We didn't contest 3 pointers and we let Carr drive the lane anytime he wanted. Ewing had one of his worst games, imo. He shot horribly, dribbled around too much and got burned on defense several times in the second half. Also, nothing out of the 5 spot again. Waddell should not be starting. He has terrible hands and gets next to no boards. He is no threat in the post so the opposition barely guards him. Afam had maybe his best game. He will be all conference in the years to come.

Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:24 pm

But, just like almost every other Poke opponent, CSU got inside too easily for shots, especially in the second half. Luckily, CSU wasn't hitting them that much in the first half. And yes, Ewing has not been that great at shooting the last few times out. His percentage has been miserable compared to his team mates. Good thing he has learned to feed it off.

Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:40 pm

If the Pokes would just play aggresive defense the ENTIRE game, this game wouldn't have even been close, and they'd have a few more wins. I just don't understand why they lose their focus on defense so much. And give credit for the defensive adjustments. The Pokes are going to see a lot more zone the rest of the way out, and they better figure out how to deal with it.

Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:14 am

cheypoke wrote:If the Pokes would just play aggresive defense the ENTIRE game, this game wouldn't have even been close, and they'd have a few more wins. I just don't understand why they lose their focus on defense so much. And give credit for the defensive adjustments. The Pokes are going to see a lot more zone the rest of the way out, and they better figure out how to deal with it.

Agreed...don't know why the foot came off the pedal, but it did. We had a chance to put the Lammies away by 30 or 40, and instead we relaxed. I am sure Heath saw what everyone else saw...