Cowboy Basketball: New Season, New Team, Same Attitude

John Luke Fabian
jfabian1@uwyo.edu
Twitter: @HouseFabian
When you look at the roster of Wyoming Cowboy basketball, there are a lot of new faces and few familiar ones. Gone are the stars like Larry Nance Jr. who helped Wyoming win its first Mountain West Championship last year. Eight new players have arrived to begin their journey and help replace those of old.
This is not to say that everyone from last year is gone. Senior Josh Adams is still here, the lone senior and only returning starter. He is coming off of a season where he averaged 12.8 points per game, led the team in assists and was named to the All-MW Third Team.
Oh yeah, he was also the Mountain West tournament MVP.
The expectations for the sequel season will be high and Josh knows what must be done for it.
“With a lot of preparation, a lot of effort and the same mentality. As long as Shyatt is here it is going to be a defensive minded program and that is where all of our focus is going to be and the offense will come,” Adams said.
Head coach Larry Shyatt returns for his sixth season as the Cowboys coach. The sweater wearing mentor will be the one responsible for figuring out how to replace the stars from last year, and making the new pieces fit. Wyoming will have six guards returning and two forwards returning from last year. Of the returning players, three averaged playing time of ten minutes or more per game.
Redshirt sophomore Alan Herndon is the lone big man to have starts among the forwards and significant playing time. As long as Shyatt has been at Wyoming, the team has been focused on defense with experienced big men guarding the rim. Shyatt will be hard at work in the lab to figure out how his team can best play defense.
“It is just a lot of strategy a lot of positioning and a lot of these guys just learning how to play like those guys played last year. It is not going to happen overnight, but we have had a lot of time to work on it,” Adams said.
UW might see smaller ball than in years past, with some of the more high profile players on the team being guards. Shyatt has been mixing and matching different players and he likes some of what he sees.
“I think we will have that opportunity because Jeremy Lieberman and Trey Washington play very well together and they are a very good tag team duo. They can play the one or the two, they know the system a little better than the rookies,” Shyatt said.
Shyatt will still want longer line ups on the court. He has enjoyed watching Alexander Aka Gorski, Jason McManamen and Justin James playing the wing positions, which would give the team longer length than in years past.
With the opportunity to play smaller ball, there will be a battle for playtime with some of the guards. They are more than up for the challenge.
“The competition is always great. We battle with each other in practice every day, but we know that when we step on the floor together we have each other’s back no matter what. I think that just helps us and makes us better,” McManamen said.
Junior guard Jason McManamen is a player who will have his minutes improve and look to start this season. He is considered Swiss army knife, someone who can play multiple positions. In a more traditional lineup he is a player who sets up at the three, usually a guard position. With a smaller lineup, he could be playing the four a position that is commonly occupied by a forward. He will assume the mantle if asked.
“I do not mind, I enjoy the four or the three. Honestly, I just like being out on the court and helping out the team in any way I can. If that means playing the four or the three then whatever that is, is fine with me.” McManamen said.
Now, small ball will not be the main lineup that Wyoming constantly has on the court. It is an option that previous Cowboy teams have not seen as much as in the past. Shyatt will continue to experiment with forwards until he finds a couple he can give significant minutes to. Forward Hayden Dalton is a player who could find himself in that mix.
“I am trying to listen to all of the coaches. I know coach Shyatt is big on defense, so I am trying to nail down the defensive principles and do everything that he is asking,” Dalton said.
Dalton is a transfer from Central Wyoming College, where he led the team in rebounding with 6.2 per game. Shyatt says Dalton’s size at 185 lbs is a little concerning, but has been impress with the knowledge that the sophomore has and his versatility on both ends of the court.
With new and young players expected to have a bigger role on the team, the expectation by some have the Pokes taking a step back from last year. The 2015-16 MW Preseason Media Poll has Wyoming finishing in eighth. The UW basketball team is trying to keep the noise out and hold themselves to a higher standard.
“There is no reason we should not do what we did last year we are not going to use youth or inexperience as an excuse. There is a lot of talent and a lot of potential and we are going to reach our full potential,” Adams said.
Wyoming will hold an exhibition game against Fort Lewis tomorrow Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. The Cowboys will hoist their 2015 Mountain West Championship banner before the game in a night of celebration.