1. Luster gone? No, Wyoming sophomore point guard JayDee Luster has not left the team or anything like that, but he has to play well. How does he play with ankle and shoulder injuries? How well can he play defense and distribute the ball? Everyone for UW must play well, but especially him.
2. Fab frosh: Two of the better freshmen guards in the MWC will play in this game in UW’s Desmar Jackson and CSU’s Dorian Green. Green leads the conference among freshmen in scoring (13.7 ppg) and Jackson is fifth (8.9 ppg). Should be fun to see these guys play against each other Wednesday night, and for a long time to come.
3. Forward force: CSU’s strength is with its forwards like Andy Ogide, Travis Franklin and Pierce Hornung. UW must not let these guys go off, or at very least, not all of them.
4. Feel the pressure: UW should be at full strength in terms of players. So, the Cowboys need to press and use pressure defense to force CSU into turnovers and some easy baskets. That doesn’t mean a foul-fest, but hopefully to fluster CSU, especially with the freshman Green.
5. Shoot the rock: I wanted to say the Cowboys must “play a complete game” and while that is still very important, so is making some perimeter shots. UW can’t rely on driving to the basket. It’s got to make more than 22.5 percent from 3-point range like it has so far this season. If it makes 30 percent its chances of winning go up a lot. Let’s see if sophomore guard Arthur Bouedo, who makes his UW debut, is the kind of shooter coach Heath Schroyer has touted him as.
See Wednesday’s paper for a mid-season analysis of the Cowboys, along with coverage of the Cowgirls MWC opener at CSU Tuesday night. The plan is to live blog Wednesday from Laramie, but I hear Mother Nature may prevent me from that. But if I’m there, I hope you will join me at http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/01/04/wyoming-vs-csu-live-blog-2/
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