Andrew Strait named Co-Big Sky Player of the Week.
Last week I mentioned that Andrew Strait is really pulling things together; the BSC office has noticed, as they named him Co-Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.
A big part of this was his 11-11, 23 point performance in the great road win over Northern Arizona. Drew also had 13 and 8 in the blowout win over Northern Colorado.
Awards like these are a good sign as when Drew is going good, the team usually is as well. Check out the previous entry for more opinion and some great comments on Drew's contribution to this team.
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Last week I mentioned that Andrew Strait is really pulling things together; the BSC office has noticed, as they named him Co-Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.
A big part of this was his 11-11, 23 point performance in the great road win over Northern Arizona. Drew also had 13 and 8 in the blowout win over Northern Colorado.
Awards like these are a good sign as when Drew is going good, the team usually is as well. Check out the previous entry for more opinion and some great comments on Drew's contribution to this team.
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Congrats, Andrew.
Colin, I really enjoy your blog, but I don't always agree with your assessments. We agree on a lot of things, but a couple of big issues, we don't.
I watched Matt Dlouhy, Matt Martin, and Andrew Strait play high school ball. Yeah, I know ... Idaho, S. Dakota, and Washington. I live in Wa and have relatives in SD and ID. I love hs BB and in particular love state tournaments. I get around a little. I know for a fact that ALL THREE of these ball players are incredible talents. They all have different talents, and Coach ... being a big himself ... seems to focus in on Andrew's talent while not fully utilizing the talents of others. Not a good plan.
What I disagree with you about here is one simple sentence. You say when Drew is going good, the team usually is as well. That's where we disagree.
I would reword it thusly: When the team does well, so does Andrew. It's cause and effect. The cause is a balanced attack, the effect is Andrew cleaning house because he's in single coverage. It's not the other way round, otherwise we wouldn't need five guys on the floor, would we?
Coach T needs to recognize that when he has the whole team involved in the scoring plan, Andrew ends up one-on-one. When that happens, who's going to stop him? But, if the game plan is simply "feed Andrew" or explain why to Coach, then the other team is free to double Andrew and their job just got lots easier.
Anyway, Colin, I enjoy your blog and thanks for giving the fans a place to try to provide some input. I hope Coach T reads it!!
This seems like a chicken and the egg type situation. It may be that the way you worded it is the more correct statement. I can't remember a game where Drew dominated and we didn't win. He needs outside shooters to open him up and keep double and triple teams away. The outside shooters you mentioned do need him however. Dlouhy is close, but neither Martin nor him can really create their own shot. This is the reason the team, most of the time, needs Drew to have his game going in order for the team as a whole to succeed.
On the other hand, Drew cannot carry a team by himself. I really like what you said in a previous comment; Drew is not a "horse." You can't just work him down low when no one else is on because he doesn't have the pure strength required to beat double teams that a typical dominant 5 would have. Also, his horrendous foul shooting makes him very susceptible to getting hacked.
Dlouhy's length and outside shooting do make him a great talent but you are right, it doesn't seem as though he has been incorporated into the offense enough.
Martin, on the other hand, has gotten his shots. He's a very streaky shooter who will keep trying to get his whether he's hot or not.
Dlouhy isn't necessarily a guard, but even if he was I wouldn't rank these two as the best guards on this team. I may be taking potential into account a little too much but I think when Cameron Rundles is going, he is this team's best perimeter player. His pure athleticism, I think, is unmatched on the team. He has the size and strength to drive, but he still needs to find the technique to finish well. Even so, once Cam matures, I think he and Drew have the potential to be an excellent inside-out combination. If Martin can shoot consistently and control his swings in confidence, this trio could be phenomenal.