UW-San Diego State key to the game

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For the Wyoming men’s basketball team to have a chance to win at San Diego State tonight, the No. 1 key is rather simple:

No scoring droughts: Wyoming can’t afford extended periods of time where it doesn’t score. During its three-game losing streak those times have come mostly in the second half. But whether its early or late, UW needs to be more consistent and efficient offensively.

Any thoughts, opinions?

Be sure to join me at 3 p.m. Thursday for our weekly live chat on UW sports. An update will be posted soon on the blog.

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UW-San Diego State Q&A

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I am still in Orlando, Fla., for the Associated Press Sports Editors winter conference and contest judging event. Not trying to rub it in to those of you back in Wyoming, but the weather is a lot better here. … Windy, but in the 70s.

Anyway, I caught up with Mark Zeigler who covers San Diego State men’s basketball for the San Diego Union-Tribune and I asked him five questions on Wednesday’s Wyoming-SDSU game.

With San Diego State’s recent struggles, is the team wearing down because of a lack of depth with only nine scholarship players? I don’t think anyone knows for sure, but it certainly looks that way. Two things I have noticed that would indicate accumulated fatigue are players getting stuck in screens far more often than earlier in the season, and flatter jump shots. Both point to tired or heavy legs. And the nine scholarship players is deceiving. One rarely plays. Another plays but only because a guard has to come off the bench and there’s no one else. Another is DeShawn Stephens, who was cut from his high school team and, while an incredibly inspirational story, is in just his third year of organized basketball (and first at the Division I level). So when Jamaal Franklin sat out the Air Force game with a sprained ankle and Garrett Green, his replacement in the starting lineup, sprained an ankle midway through the second half, they in reality were down to four experienced players who get meaningful minutes.

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UW-CSU Q&A

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Kelly Lyell of the Fort Collins Coloradoan answered five questions I gave him on Saturday’s Wyoming-Colorado State men’s basketball game.

Let me know what you think.

What’s been Colorado State’s biggest hang-up on the road this season? Maintaining the kind of defensive focus and intensity that the Rams play with at home, particularly as fatigue sets in as games wind down. CSU has a short bench this year, because coach Tim Miles committed scholarships to two transfers who have to sit out under NCAA rules – Colton Iverson (Minnesota) and Daniel Bejarano (Arizona). The Rams are basically playing an eight-man rotation when everyone’s healthy and have had as few as six of those players available in some conference road games.

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Gone but not out

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The will be out of the basketball mix for a few days as I am heading to Orlando, Fla., for our Associated Press Sports Editors winter conference. This is our national organization for sports editors and this conference mostly serves as juding for our national contest. It’s a pretty cool experience going through sports stories and sports sections from some of the best newspapers in the country.

Be sure to follow Scott Nulph @ScottNulph on Twitter for Wyoming-Colorado State men’s basketball updates; and David Watson @dwatsonsports for updates from the UW-CSU women’s game on Saturday in Laramie.

Will be checking in while I am gone for comments, and if I see things I will post them.

Hope all of you enjoy the games this weekend.

 

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Review of the Arena-Auditorium

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Paul Swaney is the President and Co-founder of stadiumjourney.com. Paul and his crew have reviewed 780 sports venues from around the world. He did one on Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium last year and here is the one on the Arena-Auditorium.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/arena-auditorium-s541 

What do you think?

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Live chat on UW sports

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Join me for a live chat today at 3 p.m. for a live chat on University of Wyoming sports.

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UW-Air Force postgame thoughts

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Can’t sugar-coat this one folks, this was Wyoming’s worst loss of the season so far.

A 12-2 start and 24-10 first-half lead evaporated and turned into a 58-53 home loss to Air Force, which fired its coach last week and had lost seven straight games.

“We did not have an urgency, we didn’t not have a connectedness and we didn’t't have an energy. There was no energy in the building,” coach Larry Shyatt said.

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Gilmore cleared to play by NCAA

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Here’s is the release from Wyoming on junior point guard Derrious Gilmore cleared to play immediately:

Derrious Gilmore Cleared to Play by NCAA

Laramie – University of Wyoming head basketball coach Larry Shyatt announced on Wednesday that junior guard Derrious Gilmore has been cleared to play by the NCAA beginning immediately.  Gilmore’s academic eligibility was reinstated by the NCAA through an appeal process.  The NCAA notified the University of Wyoming Athletics Department that Gilmore’s appeal was granted late Tuesday.

Gilmore was ruled academically ineligible to play in games, beginning with Wyoming’s home game versus Idaho State on Jan. 9.  He was allowed to continue to practice with the Cowboys, per NCAA rules, as he continued his education at the University of Wyoming.  He missed the last nine games for the Cowboys.

Gilmore played in Wyoming’s first 15 games of the season, starting one game versus Northern Colorado on Nov. 15.  He is averaging 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Definitely good news for Wyoming. Thoughts, opinions? Will be curious how much he plays tonight against Air Force. Since he’s still been allowed to practice, perhaps it will be double-digit minutes?

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UW-Air Force key to the game

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My top key for the Wyoming men’s basketball team in tonight’s home game with Air Force:

Go inside: Meaning junior forward Leonard Washington and senior center Adam Waddell get off to good starts offensively and bounce back from a combined 7 of 27 shooting performance in last Saturday’s 48-38 loss at New Mexico.

Yes, no or do you think this is as crazy as my MW power poll for the week?

For more keys to the game and a little more detail on defensive play of UW junior guard Luke Martinez, see Wednesday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang.

 

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UW-Air Force Q&A swap

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As he has during football season and prior to the first Air Force-Wyoming men’s basketball game last month, Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette agreed to do a Q&A swap with me about Wednesday’s game in Laramie.

First are my questions and Frank’s answers, followed by Frank’s questions and my answers.

Let me know what you think.

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