Thursday, January 17, 2008

Wyoming Review

Just got to watch Eric Kenzik’s game-winning basket this morning on ESPN’s "SportsCenter." It was No. 2 on the show’s Top 10 plays.

As always, I was surprised to see Air Force highlights on the Worldwide Leader. It doesn’t happen too often.

After I got over that shock, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Kenzik’s cut to the basket and even more impressed by the assist Andrew Henke made. Great vision, and there was some heat on that pass.

That was a pretty big victory for the Falcons. On the road. Against a rival. In an arena where Air Force had won just two of its previous 18 games.

For a team that has little experience and had found little success away from Clune Arena prior to Wednesday, it should be a big-time confidence booster.

Quick Thoughts

-Through three games, Tim Anderson is the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year.

He’s averaged 17.7 points in conference play (tied for third in the league) on 53.3 percent shooting from the field (fourth-best in the league). And he’s played outstanding defense. Five charges taken against Wyoming? That has to be some kind of record.

Best of all, he’s shown a knack for knowing when to take control (see his step-back 3-pointer with 4:26 left in regulation when Wyoming was surging) and when to let others make plays (see the game-winning play in overtime).

He’d have his opponents’ vote. When I spoke to Wyoming’s Brad Jones before the game, Jones said he had “the utmost respect for Air Force, especially Tim Anderson."

“I got to hang out with him at media day, and I think he’s a stand-up guy and one of the premier guards in the league.”

-Air Force has to improve its free throw shooting. The Falcons made just 7 of 14 attempts from the line Wednesday night, and it nearly cost them the game.

-The Falcons desperately need some more help from their bench. Anderson played all 45 minutes Wednesday night, and freshman guard Evan Washington played 43. Last year’s late-season collapse probably had something to do with fatigue. I remember Matt McCraw playing every minute of the Falcons’ first four contests.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome win! We are watching this team grow up before our eyes.

Anonymous said...

In a press conference yesterday, Jim Boylen of Utah said there was a lot of talent around the league, and cited Tim Anderson's 31 points against Wake and 27 vs UNLV. He's defintely got folks attention around.

jake.schaller said...

That's good. The quiet kids sometimes don't get their fair share of attention. But I think Anderson's play will garner him plenty of it.