The key to the rest of the season

[Ewujason2003]

is Cliff Colimon. Many fans on this board aren't huge fans of Chiverton, but his fg % is actually higher than Colimon's and Chiv has played pretty well in our big games (minus Weber at home). Colimon on the other hand has done very well against inferior opponents, but has struggled in a lot of our big games down the stretch (killed us against N. Colorado and the Thurs. night vs. Montana).

Colimon is a solid player (like he showed vs. Gonzaga and if he plays up to his potential we can beat anyone in this conference.

Plus on another note. I grew up in Cheney and attended Eastern so I've seen some good basketball (Aggers' years and Giaco's years) and lots of terrible basketball over time. I have seen some discouraging things this year (which some on this board have eluded to), but I have seen more encouraging things. I really think that when we get some of Hayford's guys in here we will see a solid (maybe not amazing) basketball program. This group of players can't be the easiest guys to coach. Great athletes, but very inconsistent and with low basketball IQ's. Earlywine brought in some solid recruits, but his players weren't and still aren't great decision makers or great shooters on the court. Give Hayford some time and I think we will see him move the program in the right direction. I've heard really good things about the two tranfers that are redshirting and I have heard a couple of the foreign recruits will help right away. However, this season isn't over and I think we could make some noise in the Big Sky tourney if guys play up to their potential.

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

is Cliff Colimon. Many fans on this board aren't huge fans of Chiverton, but his fg % is actually higher than Colimon's and Chiv has played pretty well in our big games (minus Weber at home). Colimon on the other hand has done very well against inferior opponents, but has struggled in a lot of our big games down the stretch (killed us against N. Colorado and the Thurs. night vs. Montana).

Colimon is a solid player (like he showed vs. Gonzaga and if he plays up to his potential we can beat anyone in this conference.

Plus on another note. I grew up in Cheney and attended Eastern so I've seen some good basketball (Aggers' years and Giaco's years) and lots of terrible basketball over time. I have seen some discouraging things this year (which some on this board have eluded to), but I have seen more encouraging things. I really think that when we get some of Hayford's guys in here we will see a solid (maybe not amazing) basketball program. This group of players can't be the easiest guys to coach. Great athletes, but very inconsistent and with low basketball IQ's. Earlywine brought in some solid recruits, but his players weren't and still aren't great decision makers or great shooters on the court. Give Hayford some time and I think we will see him move the program in the right direction. I've heard really good things about the two tranfers that are redshirting and I have heard a couple of the foreign recruits will help right away. However, this season isn't over and I think we could make some noise in the Big Sky tourney if guys play up to their potential.

Great post, and welcome to the forum!

 

[Eagle1990]

Agree for the most part. I've been critical of Chiverton. He can score, no doubt. But I think much of his scoring is cancelled out by his poor defense and lack of rebounding. He also takes head scratching shots with an overall fg% of 1% better than Colliman so I wouldn't throw Colliman under the bus just yet. Colliman makes the team better in three key areas that Chiverton does not: assists, defensively and rebounding. Consider that in 22 games Colliman has 116 assists to 16 assists for Chiverton, 40 steals to the 21 of Chiverton and averages more rebounds than Chiverton all the while shooting 1% less than Chiverton. Regarding decision making, that is the coaches responsibility. We foul more than we did last year. We take more threes than last year. Our defensive FG % is consistent with last year and our shooting % is as well. The main variable change is a new coach and a new player in Chiverton. Both will be fine in time but let's not act like everything is peaches and cream difference. We have discipline/decision issues for sure and fortunately for one night they were corrected. I hope it sticks so that we can meet the pre-season expectations. We won't make another run at a league title for a couple of years. This has to be our year given the talent on the team. These next two games are guarantee wins and with the Montana's behind us we should go on a nice roll with only loss being at Weber.

 

[Eagle1990]

Salt meet Wound. Chiverton has been AWOL the last two games due to character issues and Cliff C. has carried them.