Reflections on a great season

[Geo-Guy15]

I'm apologize in advance for the lengthy post. Since I don't live in Ogden anymore, I don't have many opportunities to talk with fellow wildcat fans. I need to get this all out of my system. My wife certainly doesn't want to listen to me talk about basketball for an hour...

What a great season! I'm as proud as ever of this team and to be an alumni of Weber State. There were a lot of great things that happened this year. The biggest highlights/storylines of this past season in my view:

1. CHAMPIONS
Gulf Coast Showcase, Big Sky Regular Season, and Big Sky Conference Champions! As was mentioned in a different thread (oldrunner I think...) very few teams compete for championships year in and year out. We won three this year. Our team showed remarkable grit and determination this season and came out on top. Weber will never compete for a national championship (I'm sorry if that comes to a surprise to anyone) but by our leauge's standards, we had a terrific season.

2.PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Joel Bolomboy finally became a powerful offensive force this season. Do you remember what he was like his freshman and sophomore year? He was a freak of an athlete but just played the game so raw and unintentional. He could jump out of the gym but couldn't put the ball on the floor. That all changed this season. He really stepped up his game this year and was rewarded with the most prestigious individual honor in the conference, "Player of the Year." As a student (up until a year ago) I had the opportunity to meet Joel several times. He was just a super cool and nice guy. What a great representation of what Wildcat basketball is all about, both on and off the court. Congrats to Joel, and good luck in the NBA. He will be missed.

Jeremy Senglin showed continued strides in his game this year, most noticeably as being a clutch three point shooter when it mattered most. I think most of us on the board could agree he still has some areas of his game he can improve upon but I don't think anyone of the team is as determined and competitive as Senglin. I'm excited to see how he finishes out his senior year.

The development of underclassmen this year was very exciting to see! Zach Braxton is the future of our program in our frontcourt. What a beast. I have to constantly remind myself that he is a freshman! McKay Cannon can be a little streaky but you can tell he has a high ceiling. Just look at the way he played in the Xavier game. He seems very comfortable running the point and seems to be a true pass first point guard, which is often an ingredient to a strong offense. Dusty Baker, while not the most athletic player on the team, plays the game smart, tough, and fearless. I love the way he plays off the bench, and seemed to really add a spark in some of the biggest games this season.

Some players take offense when relegated to the bench but Kyndall Hill was exactly what we needed this year and others noticed too, with him taking home the award as "Sixth Man of the Year" in the Big Sky. He and Braxton will give apposing teams nightmares in the paint next year.

Losing Bolomboy will be tough but I'm confident in our guys we've got coming back.

3. PLAYING XAVIER TOUGH IN THE NCAA TOURNEY.
It's never fun to lose, but I was proud of our guys last night. Xavier was obviously a bigger, faster, stronger, more talented team. They play in a big time conference. Us playing them in basketball is the football equivalent of a Sun Belt team playing Alabama or Ohio State. We hung with them last night! We were within 7 with 8 minutes to go. We never gave up and played them tough. Our guys don't have anything to hang their heads about. I think most other Big Sky teams would've lost to Xavier by 30+. We likely had more viewers during that game last night than all viewers in all games combined since our last NCAA tourney appearance. Friday night, national TV, ratings were expected to be around 3-5 million viewers!!! Great exposure for our program.

4. BEST WINS OF THE SEASON
In no particular order, I'd say these were our best wins of the season:
Central Michigan
Drake
Murray State
South Dakota State @ home
Montana State and Montana w/o Bolomboy
@ Eastern Washington to win the Regular Season Title
North Dakota in the BSC tourney (imo the hottest team in the league going into the tourney)
Montana to win the BSC tourney

Obviously our worst losses of the year were the UVU embarrassment, and the SDSU blowout on the road. Look at how far our guys came since those low points though.

4. A DEFENSE OF RANDY RAHE
Many on the board were very critical of Randy Rahe after the UVU loss. I posted that I was disappointed about the perpetual losses to in state schools. After an amazingly successful season, I must admit I'm a little embarrassed that I was overly critical of such a great coach. Let me say that again. RANDY RAHE IS A GREAT COACH.

This season he became the all time winningest coach in WSU and Big Sky history. You don't get to that point without doing a lot of things very well. Rahe repeatedly gets the most out of his players. He helps his players peak at the right time, the end of the season. He is a teacher to these guys. His players love him, most noticeably evidenced by Damian's continued involvement with him and the team. Rahe is as classy as they come. He is never looking to disrespect or deal out verbal cheap shots to opposing teams. He treats the game with respect and determination to improve and win. There are 11 other teams in the Big Sky who would love to have Randy coach their team.

We need to realize what we have, not compare apples to oranges, and support Rahe and the outstanding job he has done over the years as the head coach. He could've left multiple times, but he stays because he loves the university and the community. He is Weber State basketball. Those of you on the board who think you know more about coaching basketball than coach Rahe, I'm calling you on your bullshit. Randy Rahe is a great coach and is the primary reasons for our success over the past decade. He is also a great ambassador for the school, the community, and the state of Utah. You won't find a classier guy than Rahe.



Wow, that was a lot...like I said, I just needed to get that out of my system. I'm sad that basketball season is over, but am looking forward to another great season come fall. As I mentioned before, I'm proud of our guys and so proud to be a graduate of Weber State University.

Michael Garlick

 

[baller]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON
I wouldn't call it a great season, but I do think it was a very good season. Had we beat BYU, UVU and SDSU twice and played Xavier inside 5 points it would have been a great season. I believe had we got a better seed we could have won one game in NCAA's. That would classify as a great season to me.

MY THOUGHTS ON RANDY RAHE
I see Randy as a good coach, a great human being, very good at attracting better than average Big Sky level players and an excellent coach at maintaining a disciplined program. He gets the most out of his players. But he is not a great coach! To be a great coach he needs to add several things to his skill set. First he needs to be more flexible in his approach to the game. Secondly, and most importantly, he needs to be better at in-game adjustments. When his team is getting beat over and over at one thing there needs to be some defensive adjustments made that, so far, Randy has not been good at making. Also, when his inside guy or guys are getting double teamed he needs to make offensive adjustments to attack the weakness created by the double team. He hasn't shown yet that he is adept at either of these things. He gets out coached in games quite often. He still wins most of those games because he has more talent than the other team. I like him, I am not suggesting that he should be fired. I am just saying that to be classified as "great" he needs to improve his coaching skill set.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE XAVIER GAME
Weber played hard and never gave up as Randy's teams usually do. They were outmanned big time. Weber is just not in the class of Xavier. They were bigger, quicker, better shooters, deeper and more skilled as a team than Weber was. Randy should have clogged the interior and let them beat him from the outside, or at least, double team the big 6'10" guy when he got the ball down low. He schooled the smaller and slower "bigs" of Weber. Secondly, Weber should have done more to get its 3 point shooters open closer to the 3 point line. Xavier pushed them way to far out. Again, talent prevailed there. I don't think Senglin made even one three during the game. Those big 6'6" guards were just too much for him one-on-one and Randy did nothing special to try to get him free. They were predictable and Xavier took all that they were accustomed to doing away. I wouldn't be surprised to see Xavier make the final four.

MY THOUGHTS ON CREATING A BETTER WEBER TEAM
Randy recruits as well as can be expected for a Big Sky team who doesn't really "play up" in its pre-conference games. To get better recruits we must improve the schedule. Go on the road and play the big boys over and over. Playing a school with a RPI of less than 100 and losing (assuming no blow out) helps a team to get a good seed in the NCAA's. It helps a team to learn to play at a higher level and thus do better when they step down a notch when conference time comes. It helps to get a higher level recruit. That is how Gonzaga improved their program beginning 20+ years ago. They lost a lot of non-conference games and gradually got national respect and a higher level recruit to go there. I would like to see Weber take this approach and build a more talented program who could get an 8-12 seeding in the NCAA's. I would like to see them do this starting with the scheduling next year. To me it is not a great season when all Weber does is win the BSC... we need to aim higher and make the changes that will eventually build a better team.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

Well stated, Baller, and my feelings about those things are near spot on.

 

[Tomcat]

:wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :dunce: :dunce: :dunce:

 

[oldrunner]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON
I wouldn't call it a great season, but I do think it was a very good season. Had we beat BYU, UVU and SDSU twice and played Xavier inside 5 points it would have been a great season. I believe had we got a better seed we could have won one game in NCAA's. That would classify as a great season to me.

I don't look at individual losses or wins, other than post season games.

This is my season ranking system.

Sensational = Win more than one game in the NCAAs.

Great = Win one game in the NCAAs or multiple games in any other post season tournament.

Very Good = Win the regular season championship, BSCT, and get an NCAA bid.

Good = Win the regular season championship and get a bid to a secondary tournament, or win the NCAA bid while not winning the regular season.

Average = Finish in the top three of the BSC regular season and compete well in the BSCT.

Poor = Anything else.


This year's Wildcats were VERY GOOD. GO WILDCATS!

 

[Tomcat]

If you look at all that was accomplished this year. Gulf Coast champs,big sky regular season and tournament champs,big sky player of the year and defensive player of the year,5th man award,big sky tournament mvp,two players on the big sky first team,is there anything else I forgot? Oh and personally I think big sky coach of the year should have gone to Randy,I think all this above sits way above what any other coach did.Idaho States coach did a fine job but to finish 4th above a bunch of crappy teams doesn't warrant coach of the year.So I give them and a :rockon: grade

 

[WILDCAT]

I agree with both Oldrunner and Tomcat.

 

[Webergrad02]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON
I wouldn't call it a great season, but I do think it was a very good season. Had we beat BYU, UVU and SDSU twice and played Xavier inside 5 points it would have been a great season. I believe had we got a better seed we could have won one game in NCAA's. That would classify as a great season to me.

I don't look at individual losses or wins, other than post season games.

This is my season ranking system.

Sensational = Win more than one game in the NCAAs.

Great = Win one game in the NCAAs or multiple games in any other post season tournament.

Very Good = Win the regular season championship, BSCT, and get an NCAA bid.

Good = Win the regular season championship and get a bid to a secondary tournament, or win the NCAA bid while not winning the regular season.

Average = Finish in the top three of the BSC regular season and compete well in the BSCT.

Poor = Anything else.


This year's Wildcats were VERY GOOD. GO WILDCATS!

I agree with this thinking. The opportunity to be great or sensational does not come along every year. I felt like this year we had that opportunity. A great chance to beat USU at home and BYU neutral court. In reality, this team could have finished with 30 wins in the regular season and received a 12 seed. Just like when we were a 16 seed two years ago, this team was a much better team than how we were seeded. Emphasis on the non conference and a little better scheduling could have helped tremendously. I hope we are very good next year, but it is going to be more difficult without Joel.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Nice post Geo-Guy!! I don't necessarily agree 100% with you, but nonetheless, I am all for it. I felt the Cats had a really solid year and accomplished a great deal. No, not the most dominant team, but were able to get the job done. The Cats were pegged as being #1 in the league and with the target on their backs were able to get the job done and win the Big Sky.

I think a question that we should be asking ourselves is, what needs to happen to help Weber get to the next level?

Losing Joel is not going to be easy. But we do have quite the deep bench. From what I can tell, the Cats have 1 scholarship available and Coach Rahe is expecting everyone to return. So, I'm guessing Coach signs 1 during the next signing period and I'm sure it will be another big. We have plenty of wing players and guards. We need a little more depth in the middle. Zach and Kyndahl are the guys next year and I'm confident in them, I'm worried about the other two...we desperately need some more depth. Yes, we have Dallas (he can shoot, but isn't very strong) and Kiko, but another big wouldn't hurt.

 

[weberwildcat]

it was a great season with a very anti-climatic ending and i dont mean the big dance.

im ok with rahe winning the big sky and not gettin COTY, afterall being isu's coach and finishing top 4 even in the big sky would be the equivalent of weber finishing in the ap top 25. can you imagine recruiting to holt arena? wow. we have it so good.

26 wins, banner, conf tourney title. our FIRST EVER conf tourney title away from ogden.

the reason i say anti-climatic is we didnt get the excitment and energy that a crowed of 10,000 in the dee would have provided. only a few hundred wsu fans were able to be there for the final. no students, no band, just an empty arena.

then on to play the #9 ranked team in america. yikes. i was impressed with rahe vs xavier. no i wasnt happy just to see our team on the same floor as a 2 seed. i really was a proud fan. the final score shows we were schooled but we held our own and kept it a game til late in the 2nd half. i can only imagine what might have been had senglin been hot as opposed to 0-5 from the arc, we can credit XU but still...

XU game are the games i love most as a wsu fan. you can see the team is amped up to compete with some of the nation's best. i was at the arizona game in 2014 and felt the same way. its a rare opportunity. i wish these kinds of experiences were possible in the dee. the team i saw in st louis isn't the team i saw lose in poca or orem.

even after 10 yrs of rahe i can see so much potential in our program. rahe is our coach, he can only do so much. many other factors are not in his controll such as budget to host teams we care to see or getting students to show up.

rahe deserves an A+ for what he did in 2006-07 (last to 1st) and 2015-16 (8th to 1st)

 

[kcoolhand]

"26 wins, banner, conf tourney title. our FIRST EVER conf tourney title away from ogden."

Good post Sir Velo, but I must correct you on one point. This was not WSU's first BSC Tourney win away from Ogden. When Bruce Collins, David Johnson, Mark Mattos and Richard smith were all sophomores (1977 or 1978 or there abouts) Weber went up to Missoula, MT as the conference's third place team and won the Conference championship.

 

[weberwildcat]

"26 wins, banner, conf tourney title. our FIRST EVER conf tourney title away from ogden."

Good post Sir Velo, but I must correct you on one point. This was not WSU's first BSC Tourney win away from Ogden. When Bruce Collins, David Johnson, Mark Mattos and Richard smith were all sophomores (1977 or 1978 or there abouts) Weber went up to Missoula, MT as the conference's third place team and won the Conference championship.

Oh wow! Nice catch! It's almost hard to believe of the 41 conf tourneys we have won just wanted away from ogden.

1978
University of Montana - Host
Dahlberg Arena - Missoula, MT

SEMIFINALS (9,100)
Weber State 84, Idaho State 79
Montana 70, Boise State 61

CHAMPIONSHIP (9,203)
Weber State 62, Montana 55

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Bruce Collins, Weber State - MVP
Michael Ray Richardson, Montana
Lawrence Butler, Idaho State
Richard Smith, Weber State
Steve Connor, Boise State

Is that 2 or 3 NBA players in the all tourney team?

 

[kcoolhand]

:clap: Here's another tournament won by the Wildcats away from Ogden. This was in 1983 and it was so important to me because I was personally involved with this team (not a player though.) We finished tied with Nevada-Reno for first place in the regular season with identical 10-4 records, Montana was third (9-5) & Idaho fourth (9-5.) Reno hosted because they won the tie breaker. In the first game, we beat Montana 54-53 & Reno beat Idaho by five. In the championship game, Nevada was up by about 10 points at halftime behind about 26 or so points from Ken "Tree" Green mostly on shots launched from somewhere near Carson City. Neil McCarthy, having been informed of this before they got the halftime statistics (Reno was always so slow in getting the visiting coaches the halftime stats) he changed strategy for the second half putting Randy Worster on Green. Woo (as we all called him)stuck to him like glue and didn't let him get those easy shots from downtown. The rest is history. Weber erased a ten point halftime deficit and ended with a nine point victory in the second half.

Awesome tournament, Awesome time on that trip. Here's a link with more info on that tourney.

http://www.jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1983_Big_Sky_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball

 

[n.ogdencat]

:clap: Here's another tournament won by the Wildcats away from Ogden. This was in 1983 and it was so important to me because I was personally involved with this team (not a player though.) We finished tied with Nevada-Reno for first place in the regular season with identical 10-4 records, Montana was third (9-5) & Idaho fourth (9-5.) Reno hosted because they won the tie breaker. In the first game, we beat Montana 54-53 & Reno beat Idaho by five. In the championship game, Nevada was up by about 10 points at halftime behind about 26 or so points from Ken "Tree" Green mostly on shots launched from somewhere near Carson City. Neil McCarthy, having been informed of this before they got the halftime statistics (Reno was always so slow in getting the visiting coaches the halftime stats) he changed strategy for the second half putting Randy Worster on Green. Woo (as we all called him)stuck to him like glue and didn't let him get those easy shots from downtown. The rest is history. Weber erased a ten point halftime deficit and ended with a nine point victory in the second half.

Awesome tournament, Awesome time on that trip. Here's a link with more info on that tourney.

http://www.jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1983_Big_Sky_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball

Awesome information kcoolhand! I mentioned to Sir Velo a few months ago that Weber had won a couple of times away from the Dee and he didn't believe me. His current obsession is on cycling so he is apt to miss on stats more often than not lately. No matter, your first hand experience is super neat to read about, and I'm glad you shared it. Thank you!!

On a side note...I thought LK said he was the only player in Big Sky history to be 1st teamer 4 times. On the link it states that he was tied for the 6th man award, but definitely wasn't a 1st team selection. Hmmm...interesting.

 

[sacstateman]

He was MVP 3 times...maybe that's where the snafu is....