The loss to Weber State was heart breaking. I sat in shock after knowing that we had lost, and knowing there would be no more PSU basketball this year. So let's look at the year we had, and look at what we have to look forward to next year.
Our team started out the year a little unsure of what they wanted to be. They didn't have a lot of good chemistry, and some key players were hurt. Tyrell Mara ended up redshirting because of his knee, and Sean Smith's ankle never was quite right. We played Arizona State and won, but lost dramatically to Oregon and Gonzaga. We scored 100 for the first time in years against Pacific Lutheran, and then backed it up against Sac State.
The Viks had the best record going into Conference play, but as we all know, when Conference play starts, everything starts all over. Anthony Washington returned to the team, and brought a spark that we needed. We were in the middle of the pack throughout the season, and we had to win our last 3 games to make the tournament, and we ended up getting 4th and hosting a tournament game.
One word for the tournament game against MSU: Domination. Nothing else needs to be said. 60 pts in the second half on 72% shooting. Done and done. It was great to see the wave, as well as getting some chants going by the crowd. Hopefully we can roll into next year doing some of the same things.
The semi-final game against Weber was heartbreaking to watch. Weber shot more than twice as many free throws as we did, and that was the deciding factor. I'm not going to harp on our free throw shooting ability, it just seems odd that Weber has 19 fouls called on them, to our 25, and that most of theirs were shooting fouls.
On to next year
We lose Anthony Washington, Juma Kamara, and Paul Hafford to senioritis, but I think we have people to step into their shoes. To replace Washington, we have JR Moore and Alex Tiefenthaler, 6'8" and 6'9" resepectively. These two guys should be able to backup Scott as he goes into his senior season. Stepping into Juma's shoes should be Kyle Coston. The kid has a great shot from outside, but I think he can handle the ball a bit better than Juma could. Assuming that Sean Smith is healthy and ready to play next year, his outside shooting and defense should be able to fill Paul's role.
This doesn't include any freshmen coming into the program, or Tyrell Mara coming back after his redshirt year. We had a great freshmen class this year (Thomas, Coston, Jenkins) and I would expect the same next year. Tyrell showed a ton of promise as a freshman last year, but after getting injured, just couldn't get 100% healthy this year and took a redshirt. According to Coach Bone, he is 100% healthy now, and should be ready for next year.
This year's team got 19 wins, which is a pretty big deal. 20 would have been nice, and a trip to the NCAA's nicer, but we had a really good year, especially since it was only Bone's second year. I'm really looking forward to next year, and having another successful season.
GO VIKS!!!
Our team started out the year a little unsure of what they wanted to be. They didn't have a lot of good chemistry, and some key players were hurt. Tyrell Mara ended up redshirting because of his knee, and Sean Smith's ankle never was quite right. We played Arizona State and won, but lost dramatically to Oregon and Gonzaga. We scored 100 for the first time in years against Pacific Lutheran, and then backed it up against Sac State.
The Viks had the best record going into Conference play, but as we all know, when Conference play starts, everything starts all over. Anthony Washington returned to the team, and brought a spark that we needed. We were in the middle of the pack throughout the season, and we had to win our last 3 games to make the tournament, and we ended up getting 4th and hosting a tournament game.
One word for the tournament game against MSU: Domination. Nothing else needs to be said. 60 pts in the second half on 72% shooting. Done and done. It was great to see the wave, as well as getting some chants going by the crowd. Hopefully we can roll into next year doing some of the same things.
The semi-final game against Weber was heartbreaking to watch. Weber shot more than twice as many free throws as we did, and that was the deciding factor. I'm not going to harp on our free throw shooting ability, it just seems odd that Weber has 19 fouls called on them, to our 25, and that most of theirs were shooting fouls.
On to next year
We lose Anthony Washington, Juma Kamara, and Paul Hafford to senioritis, but I think we have people to step into their shoes. To replace Washington, we have JR Moore and Alex Tiefenthaler, 6'8" and 6'9" resepectively. These two guys should be able to backup Scott as he goes into his senior season. Stepping into Juma's shoes should be Kyle Coston. The kid has a great shot from outside, but I think he can handle the ball a bit better than Juma could. Assuming that Sean Smith is healthy and ready to play next year, his outside shooting and defense should be able to fill Paul's role.
This doesn't include any freshmen coming into the program, or Tyrell Mara coming back after his redshirt year. We had a great freshmen class this year (Thomas, Coston, Jenkins) and I would expect the same next year. Tyrell showed a ton of promise as a freshman last year, but after getting injured, just couldn't get 100% healthy this year and took a redshirt. According to Coach Bone, he is 100% healthy now, and should be ready for next year.
This year's team got 19 wins, which is a pretty big deal. 20 would have been nice, and a trip to the NCAA's nicer, but we had a really good year, especially since it was only Bone's second year. I'm really looking forward to next year, and having another successful season.
GO VIKS!!!
