Utah State BB game....

[maroonmania]

Haven't seen much on the board about that game but I attended while in town for the football game and thought the team definitely looked improved with a LOT more players on the team that can contribute. If Sword can get back healthy this team will have a lot of different weapons and could definitely be an NIT type team. Was impressed with Ndoye, he's definitely no Reik. He's coordinated with a long reach and has a decent shot around the basket and even hit all of his free throws. Utah State I thought had a pretty decent squad and that might turn out to be Ray's best OOC win to date. In the first half UT St burned us with 3 pointers from leaving their perimeter shooters alone to help on the penetration. In the second half we got that straightened out and did much better. Also Ware got in early foul trouble but was a big boost in the 2nd half. In fact, Ware may be our best perimeter shooter. He was shooting anywhere from 6 to 16 feet out and everything he fired up hit bottom. Fred Thomas hit a few 3 pointers but we are still going to see a ton of zone defense until we get a few more shooters on the team.

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

a LOT more players on the team that can contribute.

This is the key. Not only do we have numbers on our side, but those numbers will come in & make a positive impact. Last year, once our top 6 was gassed, we had walk-ons coming in to try & keep us in the game. Tyson Cunningham won us the Auburn game, but you can't expect much being in that situation game after game. This year we have more than warm bodies, we have skilled young players coming in who have confidence in their game. That confidence will grow with experience, & soon RR will have 9-10 players he can rely on in crucial situations.

Ware and Ndoye really impressed me on offense. As you mentioned, Fallou was money around the basket & Gavin can hit from anywhere inside the arc. If they can keep the lane clear on defense without getting into foul trouble, we have a chance to be stingy. Last year, every time Ware got into foul trouble we turned into swiss cheese b/c there wasn't a long body to replace him.

From what I've seen, Roq Johnson may be playing the best basketball on the team right now. I've always appreciated his scrap, but he's showing some skill & control to go along with it. Still missing dunks though..

[Coach34]

It's what many of us have been saying- once we got the numbers up- we'd be better simply by putting better talent on the floor off the bench. We will be improved and our recruiting is improving. Hard not to be excited about basketball right now

[hailmari]

Yeah, I was surprised with Ndoye too. He's not lanky and awkward like I expected, but he does need to get stronger. He can be pushed.