More thinking about Idaho this coming season

PTW found these Don Verlin comments in Nick Groff's article very interesting:

“...We should be a ton more physical,” Verlin said. “We should be a lot bigger and a lot more physical than we’ve been any year since I’ve been here, even when Marvin (Jefferson) was here. This team has the opportunity to own the paint ...”

and

"... He’s [guard Deremy Geiger] worked really hard on his shot this summer — shot up a million shots. He’s feeling a lot more comfortable,” Verlin said. “He’s gotta shoot the ball for us. He’s going to be our No. 1 perimeter threat ...”

The Vandals were out-boarded by a mere 27 in conference play during 2010-11 so a 'guessstimate' is that Verlin's expectations are winning the overall rebounding matchup by a 5-10 margin per game. Such physicality also applies to inside scoring plus the # of free throws attempted.

As for Geiger, he shot 32% overall and 31% overall on 159 three-point attempts last season (32% and 25% in WAC action). He possesses some elements of creative ability which is not a strong suit in this season's Vandal backcourt so a winning-his-position output each contest is critical for Idaho to finish in the upper half of the WAC. In 20 minutes against Evergreen State (albeit not a true challenge), Geiger shot 0-2 from the floor, with no threes attempted. He was credited with five assists.