Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Tyson Johnson, center, looks to get past a Denver player last week.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
The Wyoming big men haven’t had too many opportunities to be physical this season, as the Cowboys opponents have generally been smaller finesse teams.
That should all change Wednesday night when the Cowboys hit the road for the first time this season at Boise State, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at Taco Bell Arena.
It’s not like the Broncos are giants, as their posts go 6-foot-9, 6-7 and 6-7. What the three Boise State big men -- Paul Noonan, Mark Sanchez and Kurt Cunningham -- lack in height, they fill out fairly well in girth and the ability to take the ball to the basket.
Enter Wyoming big men Mikhail Linskens (7-0) and Adam Waddell (6-9), along with 6-7, 245-pound Tyson Johnson and 6-7 Mahamoud Diakite. Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said his post men are going to have to come to play on Wednesday.
“They have to really understand the scouting report and game plan, because those guys are very crafty around the basket,” Schroyer said. “Sanchez was the WAC player of the week and can really score. We’re going to have to do a very fundamental job guarding the post. Our guards are going to have to get back in transition. Noonan is a guy who when he gets open shots, you’re in trouble. They have a lot of weapons.”
Sanchez leads the team at 16.0 points and 7.6 rebounds a game, followed by Cunningham at 11.2 points and Noonan at 10.6 points.
And off the bench for Boise is former Cowboy Ike Okoye (6-9), who is scoring 6.2 points, while leading the team in rebounding at 8.0 per game.
What is going to make it difficult, Schroyer said, is they are not dealing with one good post player who is skilled around the basket -- the Broncos have four.
“Greg (Graham, head coach) does a nice job of spacing the floor and giving those guys the ball with proper angles," he said.
The four Cowboy posts will have their hands full.
“All four will get a lot of opportunities,” Schroyer said. “We’re going to have to figure a way to control their post guys and try tot take away their transitions.”
The Broncos, 4-1, are the defending WAC champions and are not a one-dimensional team, Schroyer said. He likes their guards (Anthony Thomas, Aaron Garner and Jamar Greene) as well.
“They are the best team that we have played up until this point,” he said.
First road game
You can’t say “on the road again” for Wyoming (5-0); this is its first game away from the A-A this season.
That will present some difference circumstances for the Cowboys, especially for the younger players. Schroyer said they have gone over everything to prepare for the road, including how they dress, how they eat, what they do in the hotel room and especially how they prepare.
And then there is the fact that they are on a foreign court. Good starts are imperative.
“We have had a tendency at home not to do that (start well),” Schroyer said. “When you do that on the road, instead of being down 4-0 or 6-0, you’re down 12-0. Sometimes it is just too much to come back from. We’re going to have to be ready to play from the tip and do a good job in the first four minutes of each half. That is a big key and a concern of mine with such a young team.”
Then again, the Cowboys are led by senior guards Brandon Ewing (18.2 ppg) and Sean Ogirri (13.4), along with Johnson (15.8).
“Brandon and Sean both been around the block a little bit; they have both matured as people,” he said. “The nice thing is they really understand what it is that we are trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball. The communication I have with both of them, through the game and throughout the season, is so much farther along than it was a year ago.”
The Cowboys won’t get back in Laramie until Sunday, as they will stay in Boise to practice and lift on Thursday, before leaving for Los Angeles on Friday to play Loyola Marymount Saturday night.
Schroyer said that because it is hard to get in and out of Laramie, they would spend one day getting back and another day going to Los Angeles. Staying on the road just makes sense, he said. Wyoming will do that again later in the conference season on its BYU-New Mexico swing.
“I think it is better to stay out there,” he said. “It gives us a chance to bond as a group, be together five to six days, with one purpose in mind: To go out and try to win games.”
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