• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts, upgrade to remove ads and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your BigSkyFans.com experience today!

USU Game Post Game Thoughts

weberwildcat

weberwildcat

Active member
there was more good than bad to take from that game. we had the lead with no lead change the whole game until about 13 minutes to go. we had 4 freshman play 40 minutes. i would assume bam is still not at 100% since we didn't think he would even play. porter still not available.

we dominated the game for the first 25 minutes, then a 5 minute drought with no fg and usu going on a 17-0 run and they took the lead. we got back with 5 points with 4 min to go but 80% ft' shooting from usu kept us from getting close. if they keep that up they will be the best ft shooting team in the nation which they usually are up there.

morris in 29 minutes went 4-7 from the field for 8 points and 3 rebounds but fouled out with 9 minutes to go; that was way too early. we needed him still. i think he even had a cluster of fouls, twice in a 30 second spam he had 2 fouls.

mahoney played 20 minutes and was in foul trouble finishing the game with 4. he had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.

bull also with 4 fouls scored 7 points and had 4 rebounds. bull only taking 4 fg attemps wasn't enough. usu's defense was arguably the toughest our team we will see all year.

tresnak had the team high 6 rebounds in 24 minutes, shot 3-5 from the field and scored 7 points. he only made 1 of 5 ft's but it was his first ever game and who could make ft's with that student section behind the goal?

fulton in just 7 minutes went 3-5 f'g, made a 3 and had 7 points. he had a couple nice post moves. im looking forward to seeing him in big sky play.

overall we did get out rebounded 39-27 but i believe at the half we were winning that battle. but again our team was well defended in the game at every position.

turnovers we had 12 they had 10. considering we had 40 minutes of freshman on the court and only having 12 to's in that hostile environment was pretty good.

the 28 to 19 fouls really hurt but at least in the second half we can't complain it wasn't fair. it was i think 16 to 15, 2nd half. 1st half was 12 for us 4 for them which hurt. i believe they had 13 pts in ft's first half which kept them in the game despite their early game struggles. on the game they hit 24 of 30 and we made 10 of 17. one good thing we can take from all the fouls was we played tough, ill take some extra fouls if it means the team is gonna play tough D down the stretch of the season.

we shot 9-20 from the 3 point line and were 6 of 8 in the first half. really good shooting, lillard hit 6 in a row. i can't believe usu made just 1 of 12. they always shoot great from outside against us.

damian lillard was our only player to score in double figures. hughey shot only 1-8 from the field but they were all over him much like they were all over everyone but they couldn't stop lillard. in 37 minutes, lillard shot 9-17 fg's, 6-10 3's, 4 rebs, 3 steals, 2 assists. the 3 steals were the only steals we had as a team.

i thought the team looked MUCH better than they normally do for the first game of the year. considering it was a road game and the environment the team played in i am very optimistic and very excited for this season!
 
we for sure could have won that game and maybe should have won. if usu is one of the maybe 2 or 3 best teams we face all year that is great news. we looked good. we won't play a road game in a place that tough again all year (well maybe sac state :lol: ). the big sky is definetly screwed but the rest of our OOC better watch out.

brockeith pane also might be the 2nd best player lillard faces this year.
 
"It was a good college basketball game for the first one out of the chute," Morrill said. "Weber has a good quality team. There is a reason they are picked to win their league. They have a premier guy who is about as good as we will see all year. He is right there at the top of the list."


"We got a little bit tentative because we were fouling some and I thought that took away from our aggressiveness," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "Aggressiveness is usually what turns a ballgame and they had that stretch in the second half where they were the aggressor and they got away from us a little bit."

"They're good. You can't hold them down forever. We still hung in there, we cut (the deficit) down to four. Usually when Utah State makes a run, at home, in the second half, they get away from everybody," Rahe said. "Overall, our team played extremely hard and we played well."

"I'm very proud of how hard we fought. In the first half, against a really good veteran Utah State team with a bunch of seniors, even our young kids came out and I thought we fought them like crazy."
 
DesNews

Weber State guard Damian Lillard led all scorers with 28 points, and he sparked the Wildcats to their eight-point lead early in the second half. Aggies coach Stew Morrill, however, made a key defensive adjustment, putting Newbold on Lillard. Lillard and the rest of the Wildcats didn't score for nearly six minutes after the switch.

When it was suggested that Newbold shut Lillard down, Morrill didn't necessarily agree but he credited his player.

"We shut him down for 28 didn't we?" Morrill said. "Tyler is a good defender. One thing we know is he's going to try like crazy. I thought he did a solid job out there."

Newbold guarded Lillard throughout Utah State's 17-0 run.

"Tyler Newbold did an awesome job on him," Wesley said. "He contained him. I mean, you can't really stop a guy like Damian Lillard, you kind of have to contain him. Tyler Newbold did a good job of that."
 
I really liked how Tresnak played. Yes, he missed some FT's, but hell, he had to deal with the USU student section at the same time. I really liked his dunk.

You could tell that Bamforth wasn't 100%. He was going around screens somewhat gingerly, because of his shoulder, I'm pretty sure the closer he gets to 100% the harder he will play. I'm not worried in the slightest about him. He'll be fine. If only his last 3 attempt would have dropped. That would have put Weber in a great position. Instead USU gets a three after an offensive rebound, and is able to run the clock down. Oh well, thats the game. He'll hit those shots in the long run.

Richardson, other than a couple of times getting confused on offense, played great. He should have been on Pane most of the game. He is the quickest player Weber has. Granted, I think Porter would have limited Pane too, but he isn't available so; whatever. I'll give it to the Ag's...Pane is a great pickup for them. Crazy, they got another really good JC PG. I'd rather have really good Freshmen PG though.

As for the Post play. Weber got screwed out of at least two buckets with really sketchy calls. Morris' 5th was utter BS. He was doing the same thing that their bigs were getting away with all night. He would have scored on that play. And the other one where Bull got his 4. He had perfect position and was being held, but evidently it was offensive. Thats 4 points right there, and two fouls that got USU into the bonus that much quicker. That was a huge key to their win. They got to the FT line, often and early.

Regardless, Wesley is a monster. He had some great moves in the post, like always, and really carried the Ags when they needed some points. I didn't get some of the fouls on Mahoney. When Mahoney was in the game Tai was limited. None of the other bigs played Wesley very well. Tresnak, for a fresh, did a good job, but Morris got skooled a couple of times that made him look childish. Along with Wesley I thought Morgan Grimm did a great job for the Ag's. He really surprised me. Then again, I don't know why he shouldn't have, Morrill is a hell of a lot better coach than the Joke down at the U and actually gave him a chance to play.

All in all...I really liked how the Cats played. I think Fulton is coming along nicely. He is only going to get better. He's got long arms and good post moves. Most importantly, he has a deadly outside shoot, which really extends the defense. I also, expect to see him become a defensive beast. He really reminds me of a player named Tai Wesley.
 
After watching his game I feel very optimistic about this years team. Yes they are very young yet very talented. Our young big guys were very effective especially considering this being their first D1 game ever.
Guard line is very good and has good depth especially when Bamforth is 100% and Porter is eligible to play.
Overall this team is solid and VERY well coached. GO WILDCATS!!
 
and 1.....and 1.....and 1, that and the fact that USU, year after year, is the biggest Euro-trash flop crazy team in the U.S. drove me up the wall.

Seriously, I know their post guys are big, slow and flat footed, but that is no excuse for them constantly flopping to the floor like a bunch of little girls. We have a big, slow, flat-footed Bigs and they man you up (when was the last time you saw Mahoney or Morris falling to the floor and look up pleadingly to a ref to get a call? Then think about how many times you saw USU do it on Saturday. Pathetic!). Its a pleasure to watch Mahoney, it's so aggravating to watch USU while the Big Sky and WAC officials let them get away with carp (two fouls on Morris were flops). It is one of the reasons they get crunched come NCAA time when those refs won't buy into weak-a$$ed Stew taught flopping. From a mere entertainment value, I can't stand watching the Aggies play--I don't do girl's basketball!

We will be better, much better, than USU by the end of the year. We just need a little time to gel and learn to work together. This is an interesting group. I do think we are missing Noble as we needed another guy with more experience off the bench.

Given the number of new players and the atmosphere, it was a good start. Really looking forward to tomorrow...however, Hughey needs to show up more consistently!
 
http://blogs.standard.net/wsu-sports-blog/2010/11/15/weber-state-basketball-wildcats-learn-lessons-rahe-expects-to-see-aggies-in-top-25/

“That’s a tough environment to play in. Maybe the hardest one we’ll probably potentially play in all year with the crowd and not only that, but the quality of team we played,” he said. “That is a high-quality team that I think someday this season will be a Top 25 team. I liked how we handle that whole situation. If we continue to have strengths in all those areas then we’ll get better.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top