It came with neither the same harmonies nor the same rhythm as the first of the Pandemic Pair, but the CSU Men’s Basketball scored another easy victory nonetheless over the hapless Spartans.
Two early fouls called on Isaiah Stevens sent the Rams’ point guard to the bench early, creating some issues on the offensive side. And when the Spartans threw a zone defense at the Rams that was dissimilar from anything they had experienced all season, there was a hint of danger in the air.
But this Ram team is mature beyond their years and they soon figured out how to attack the San Jose zone both inside and out and began scoring at will. A 16-14 lead midway through the first half became 42-26 as halftime approached.
But when San Jose’s Richard Washington scored off an isolation play to end the half, it didnt just draw the Spartans closer. It provided a harbinger of what was to come to begin the second half.
The Rams started off hot offensively, but Washington continued to torch them on the same iso play. The Rams still led by 51-40 but they entered a bit of a danger zone. They were trading baskets which is not what a good team does.
A media timeout, a discussion of sorts by the coaching staff, a reminder according to CSU’s Adam Thistlewood to “play our fundamentals”.
And play their defensive fundamentals they did as Thistlewood immediately forced a 5-second violation and the Rams followed with stops on 5 of the following 6 San Jose possessions.
At the same time, they scored inside and out and in less than 3 minutes they pushed the lead to 60-42. Thistlewood led the burst with 8 quick points.
The Rams continued the onslaught, building the lead to 33 before the Spartans scored the game’s final 6 points.
Thistlewood and Stevens led the Rams with 16 apiece but it was balanced scoring for the Rams on this evening as Kendle Moore added 15, James Moors 14. David Roddy was held to 9 points but contributed 13 rebounds, leading to a monstrous 47-30 edge on the glass.
With the win, the Rams moved their record to 10-2 overall, 7-1 in conference. The 7-1 conference start is the best ever for the Rams going back to day one in their history.
As Coach Niko Medved said, “We did what we needed to do. Maybe it wasn’t as sharp as the first game but we found a way.”
A Game of Horse?
CSU is the leading 3-point shooting team in the Mountain West and once they figured out how to attack the Spartans zone, they had wide open looks that their coach described as “Horse” shots. But they only made 12-34, a percentage lower than their season average. Could it have been the sight lines associated with playing in a health club gym? Could it have been players thinking about how wide open they were rather than shooting in rhythm? Who knows? But based on what I’ve observed , the Rams could have easily made 5 more. They can really shoot!
Rotations Set?
Last year it took the Rams 13 games before they made changes to their starting lineup and substitute patterns that launched them up a level starting with the Tulsa game.
With the shortened season and the conference season well underway, Medved was asked if he’s feeling pretty solid about his lineups and rotations.
He talked about the the different lineups that CSU has used including a smaller lineup that has probably been used more than he had expected.
He said, “Schematically, its how we can continue to evolve. We’re still a work in progress. We can get better.”
Lots of questions Ed.
I still think Wyoming is a better team than Air Force. More depth, better athletes, some very good shooters. I think Wyoming had to be disappointed in their loss on Saturday to the Falcons. They had the game in their control and allowed the Falcons back into it in the final minute of the first half, giving AFA hope. I think Wyoming will win tonight’s game but if I were a bettor I wouldn’t touch it.
As for Joe Scott’s second verse, he inherited a very weak roster and will struggle in the short term. The Falcons lacked the requisite toughness that Scott requires in his disciplined approach. They had been careless with the ball under Pilipovich. There’s one stat I always look at with slow tempo Princeton teams. Turnovers. If they’re over 10 consistently you wont win. Air Force had only 8 turnovers on Saturday against Wyoming and won by 3.
Jeff Linder also inherited a weak program. It wasnt until his 3rd year at UNC that his program took off. After early wins this season,many were high on Wyoming. Problem is that many of those games were over teams with barely a pulse. He has implemented a pretty solid offensive system with strong perimeter shooting and the one-on-one capabilities of Hunter Maldonado and freshman Marcus Williams. His defensive system is dependent on winning the 1-on-1 battles inside and out and features very little help. Linder likes to think he’s trading 2’s for 3’s. I think its a naive approach. Maybe he could get away with that style in the Big Sky because he had better athletes relative to the rest of the conference. He certainly won’t out-athlete the rest of the MWC at Wyoming. I think he’ll figure that out but with the restraints caused by COVID19, it probably wont be this season.
Can you revisit the Front Range bottom prospects after the Falcon comeback? How would you handicap tonight’s Air Forceversus Wyoming game? Is the second verse of Joe Scott better? Is Linder finding the Mountain West tougher than the Big Sky or did he have better Bears than Cowpokes?