WYOMING GAME THOUGHTS:
- It’s a bit depressing that we needed a lights out performance from Ky to squeak by Wyoming.
- Chatman’s had two solid games and two stinkers. I would like to see more consistency from him. Though he did contribute last night besides scoring. He moved the ball well offensively.
- The refs were atrocious. 52 fouls called. The problem with a game like that is…once you start calling ticky-tack fouls, you gotta keep calling them. Then the game turns into a foul fest.
- I like Herren’s athleticism. He has solid fundamentals. Watch the way he plays D. He competes for boards. He looks like he belongs. I would be surprised if he ever turned into a 16-17 point guy here, but I think he’ll contribute.
- I am happy for JCR. I thought he finished GREAT last night. I mean, when he got the ball near the basket, he did exactly what he should have done…go to the hole strong and throw it down. With that said, for those who thought “where has this been”…let’s think about his overall game last night. He sat on the baseline last night 5 feet from the basket. He was given 4-5 great passes when the ball handler drew all defenders…then they dished to JCR. Of course he will finish those. I will say, the feed from Ky and that finish was fantastic. Defensively, JCR was invisible. No blocks…no shots altered. How do you have that type of length and play half a game and have one rebound? Anyway, overall I thought JCR did OK.
- Hamilton’s box score does not represent the effort I saw from him last night. I thought he was decent. He was active. He is very athletic for a big man. If we can get some more polish out of him offensively, then I think he’ll be a good one. And it’s funny, because watching his high school film I was under the impression he was more polished offensively.
- I think the criticism of Christian is all very fair. But I think he had a good coaching/teaching moment with Steff last night. After Steff missed those horrendous jumpers early in the game, Christian pulled Steff aside and hopefully said “that isn’t your game…stop shooting those”. Because Steff did stop shooting those. Also, you hate to change a guy’s shot at the beginning of the start of the season…but they need to change what Steff is doing. He is just trying to be soooooo fundamentally sound with his stroke, (elbow under shooting hand) that his shot has just turned into a disaster.
- I was happy to see Vin Baker get some run last night. And overall, not bad. I would like to see Vin get away from just jacking threes and try to become more rounded offensively. He’s 6-8/6-9, typically matched up against a dude who is 6-5/6-6. Why just launch threes? Does he have any low block moves? Does he have any mid-range game…when it’s easy to elevate over the defender for a 10-12 footer? He needs more diversity in his game.
