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Weber's Weakness?

N

n.ogdencat

Moderator
Staff member
I'm kinda interested in what everyone thinks will be Weber's biggest weakness this upcoming season.

Offensively...Personally, I think the only area where the Cats could potentially struggle is in the low post on offense. I say potentially because we all know that Mahoney can score if put in the position too and that Tresnak, Fulton, Mook, and Hajek all have their own abilities to put up numbers. Really, offensively, there isn't a lot of problem areas for the Cats. Weber can go big, small, spread the court, pack the paint, drive, dish, and hit the outside shot (probably the most dangerous aspect of the Cats game).

Defensively...I'm thinking the Cats should be a little more sound than last season. The two areas that drive me a bit nuts with Weber is perimeter defense and keeping the Bigs on the floor. It is really nice knowing that Weber has a lot of depth at the 4 and 5 positions. I am worried about the 3, but if Bull gets into foul trouble, Rahe can either go with a big lineup putting Mook or Fulton in at the 3 or go to the quick and small lineup playing three guards.

Intangibles...Rahe is our coach and the team has great chemistry. Really is there anything to worry about? Rahe has recruited very well. He had consistently brought in kids who are hard working, tough, and team players. But if there is anything to worry about it is the incoming freshman. Can they handle the pressure? Will a couple, possibly, be willing to sit for a year (redshirt)? Are they truly team players (I'm not to worried about this one, these kids are all high character kids)? For this season everyone of us know that Barry will be sitting and that one, possibly, two of the the incoming freshman will be sitting too.

On a side note...from what I can tell Weber is really trying to fill the spaces that will be vacated by Mahoney and Bullinger at the end of the season with athletic wing type players. Most of the guys being recruited are between 6-4 and 6-8 who are excellent outside shooters, solid rebounders, and can play down-low or outside on defense. These type of players are in high demand so it should be interesting to see what happens; however, the Wizard has offered three tweener type of players and each of them look solid.
 
Tal;

You are right on target. If everyone stays healthy, we can match up well with about anyone that we will see this year. Depth is a really good thing to have. Our options are more plentiful, both directions. The fact that we can entertain red shirting players, of the caliber we have coming in, is remarkable. And, we only have two seniors in the lot. This is shaping up to be a special year.

As far as this summer and fall's recruiting, it is great to be coming from a position of strength. We are in a position now to shoot for the stars. We don't have to take on any projects or settle for less than the best. If we don't get exactly who we want this fall, we can leave openings into spring or summer. I can't wait to start hearing about prospects as the process develops. :thumb:
 
Weber's weakness is definately the 5. The 4 is rock solid with Otis and Fulton, but Tresnak, Hakek, and Mahoney could get dominated by taller more athletic teams( U's Foster, Washburn, byu's Davies) I think Hajek and Tresnak will be solid their Junior and Senior years, but I think we will struggle at that position all year offensively. The good news is we may have one of the best backcourts in the country. Bullinger and Fulton ever so dangerous from behind the arc as well. As long as we can get some buckets in the paint from Fulton and Otis, and plenty in transition we will have a special year, oldrunner...
 
Skeeter, I agree, the 5 is only a weakness due to experience and height. We all know that Mahoney is a tough player and that he is solid defensively, but offensively, he has struggled. Tresnak showed flashes of genius last season, and I feel that he is going to become the go to guy in the paint. As a True Fresh he did everything that was asked of him and, in my opinion, really developed. Hajek will also get a lot of chances to really develop throughout the season.
 
However...our 4 and 5's won't be double teamed at all this year. How can you double team down low leaving Dame, Bam, or Bull open on the perimeter, and then also having a 6-10/11 guy in the paint too? Even if the 5 isn't as experienced, they should be able to contribute in a one on one situation.
 
I'm not worried about the centers, WSU has some pretty solid centers and historically the Big Sky Conference hasn't exactly seen dominant big men very often.
 
from a defensive standpoint, i'd say the biggest weakness that will carry over from last year will be keeping our bigs out of foul trouble. Tres was the man last year, but seemed to get more fouls called on him than any other big in the league. He showed his offensive abilities several times last year too, and since Mahoney isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut and we don't know too much about hajek's offese, i'd say keeping tres on the floor as much as possible will be vital to our post scoring this year.
 
I for one really like Tresnak. I think he will have a solid year. Like Pattenjr said though, for him to really be successful he will need to be able to stay on the court longer. The team will need for him to put in a solid 20 mins a night.

Really, who else in the Sky will be able to challenge Tresnak or Hajek? Selvig may be 7' but he doesn't/can't play in the post. He thinks he is a guard. And right now, I can't think of any other 5's in the league who are even worth mentioning. Proctor?? MSU's JC transfer?? PSU has Catalado, but he hasn't even played yet.
 
We are stronger in the post right now, than we have been in the past 6 years. We might be young, but these kids are solid. Any scoring we get is a plus. What we need them for, is to play D, set picks, and rebound. They can do all of that and they are bigger and more mobile than we have had for a while. I think the scoring will come as the season progresses. There were times, last year in practices, when James was the best big man on the floor and Kyle got progressively better as the year went along. I look for Kyle to be much improved this year. I think our bigs compare favorably with YBUs or UUs.
 
I think both Arturas and Panos were solid post players, and to a lesser extent Morris. In my opinion, Morris exceded expectations this past season. One thing you could always get from Morris was his best effort. What else could we, as fans, ask for.

Art lead the conference in rebounds and was one of the top scores in the conference his senior year, and without Panos, Weber doesn't win a Big Sky Championship. Steve may have been a bit of an undersized, height that is, center, but he was a stud. His junior and senior years he was extremely productive.

Finally, the Wizards offense, well at least right now, doesn't go through the post, but is guard/wing driven. Catcat is dead on. We need Bigs who can rebound, play solid/shutdown defense, and set picks. Everything else is icing on top of the cake. However, the last few years our starting center has averaged over 10 a game.
 
What else can we ask for? Weber is deep and talented at ever position. Even though Mahoney hasn't been the strongest offensive player, when needed he can produce (last year at SUU). Tresnak, Hajek, Mook, and Fulton all will produce, but in different ways. One of the nicest things about our bigs is that they can score in different ways, and each have different styles.
 
PURPLEFORLIFE said:
The question we should be asking ourselves is: Does Weber have a weakness?
Click to expand...
This team does have weaknesses, EVERY team does. Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves here.
 
Everyone is right to question the 5 position players. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered. I think that they will get answered in December. I really like this team. By March, we are going to be hard to beat. We have as good of guards, or better, as anyone we will play. Our bigs may not be the flashiest, but they will get the job done. Our coaches are the best around, in my opinion. If you have to pick a weakness, what about the student/fan support. Its OK but not great. Lets make it great, and then we've got the whole package. I would like to see refs and opposing teams shake in their shoes, when they walk on to our floor. :werd:
 
oldrunner said:
Everyone is right to question the 5 position players. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered. I think that they will get answered in December. I really like this team. By March, we are going to be hard to beat. We have as good of guards, or better, as anyone we will play. Our bigs may not be the flashiest, but they will get the job done. Our coaches are the best around, in my opinion. If you have to pick a weakness, what about the student/fan support. Its OK but not great. Lets make it great, and then we've got the whole package. I would like to see refs and opposing teams shake in their shoes, when they walk on to our floor. :werd:
Click to expand...

biggest team weakness = the home crowd
good point made. if you compare quality of play on the hardwood vs the quality of fan support and attendance figures....on a scale from 1 to 10 for the upcoming season....a 10 for the play and the fan support if it equals last yr would be what a 4-5.

i have heard on this board the student cards haven't been scanned for a few yrs so that tells me students are not being counted. so does this mean if we can get 1,000 students a game that it would go unnoticed?

rahe teams should average nothing less than 7,000 ever. i dont care if we have the best average in the big sky and make the top 20 in the west, still not good enough support for these teams.

fan support = utah jazz basketball, nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be proud of, just not good enough :rofl: :lol:
 
I'm not worried about the 5 position. When it comes down to crunch time the hard-working, hard-nosed players always shine. Darin Mahoney will come up big in those times of need, while Tresnak will give valuable minutes in between and further develop into a future 1st Team All Big Sky. Mahoney might not be a dominant scorer and a little undersized, but he provides all of the intangibles that cannot be taught. I have told people that I honestly think that barring injury, we will not lose more than 2 games in the Big Sky this year, and we have a better team than the last Weber team to go undefeated in conference play. Looking at our schedule I think we lose 5-6 games max this year.
 
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