The Wednesday a.m. WAC basketball report

Do remember that the New Mexico State - Utah State matchup tonight in Las Cruces will be televised on ESPN2.

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Brian McInnis tell us that Coach Gib Arnold is a proponent of business management concept of continuous improvement. Brian also checked in with Jeremiah Ostrowski on his football playing status.

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Sam Wasson comments about Chris Murray's All-WAC selections.

Teddy Feinberg offers a very insightful column about the Aggie basketball squad.

Jason Groves' latest has Coach Marvin Menzies going philosophical and talking sports truths. Jason also features Wendell McKines' connection with the New Mexico State promotion for the Utah State game.

The NMSU - USU edition of PanAmmunition is up.

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The Idaho Statesman looks at Boise State's long list of seniors and Nick Jezierny features one of them, Justin Salzwedel.

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Josh Wright looks at the various placement scenarios of Idaho's finish in the WAC and has landed a number of quotes from Coach Don Verlin.

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Kraig Williams and Shawn Harrison inform us that Utah State will be chartering to the game against New Mexico State. Tony Jones is here and here. Tai Wesley is putting this label on the trip: the payback tour.

Friday's report on last night's games

With the Idaho triumph over host Nevada (and we thought about making this idea a separate post), will Don Verlin be crowding Stew Morrill for Coach of the Year honors? Really. Do think about it. The Vandals are epitomizing one of the truths of basketball -- that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

About the game, Chris Murray is here, here and here. Liz Margerum offers 30 photos. Mark Littlefield is here with Josh Wright here and Joe Santoro here (which probably sets a PTW record for using this particular four letter word).

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Another road winner was La'Shard Anderson-led Boise State in the Save Mart Center. Fresno State was Tim Steed-less but his availability more than likely wouldn't have made any difference. Daniel Lyght provides a game report as does Nick Jezierny, who made the road trip (a tip o' the hat goes to the Idaho Statesman suits).

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Did anyone predict UH to have a winning season this go-around? Uh, the show of hands seems as miniscule as some of Lady Gaga's outfits.

Dayton Morinaga serves up print, video and photos of the Rainbow Warriors win over Louisiana Tech. Brian McInnis has a game report, one with a clever headline.

A big hand to Idaho

Compared to its current 2010-2011 team, Idaho had a more talented roster last season which concluded with a 15-16, 6-10 records and featured seniors Mac Hopson, Steffan Johnson and Marvin Jefferson. Each is probably playing for pay at different locations around the world.

The higher capability level and greater accolade potential for last season's collective are indisputable.

So is not being better.

For the sake of comparison, here's that complete roster:

Mac Hopson G 6-2    
Jeff Ledbetter G 6-3
Shawn Henderson G 6-3
Steffan Johnson G 6-1
Landon Tatum G 5-11
Justin Stewart G 6-1
Kashif Watson G 6-4

Corey Stern F 6-7   
Brandon Wiley F 6-6
Luciano de Souza F 6-7      
Luiz Toledo F 6-8 225
Travis Blackstock F 6-5     
    
Kyle Barone C 6-10 
Joe Kammerer C 6-9
Marvin Jefferson C 6-9      

Here is the current Vandal roster:

(two players have departed since the beginning of the school year -- forward Renado Parker and guard Gary Winston both leaving for Portland State)

Matt Borton G 6-5
Deremy Geiger G 5-11
Shawn Henderson G 6-3
Jeff Ledbetter G 6-2
Shayne Sheridan G 6-0 
Landon Tatum G 5-11

Brandon Wiley F 6-5
Paul Jorg F 6-8 200
Stephen Madison F 6-5
Luiz Toledo F 6-8

Kyle Barone C 6-10
Joe Kammerer c 6-9

In a way, it's simple -- Coach Don Verlin has a better t-e-a-m this season.

But how are they really doing it?

Let's take a look at some of the numbers

Last Season                                                       This Season (so far)

averaged 71.2, allowed 70.6                                  66.9 to 66.4

shot 46%, allowed 44% overall                              45% to 42%

shot 38%, allowed 35% on treys                           39% to 33%

earned 71 more free throws                                  have 53 more free throws

34.6 rebounds, to 33.4 boards                             34.7 to 31.0

earned 92 more assists                                        have 20 more assists

committed 34 more TOs                                       have 34 more TOs           

nabbed 42 less steals                                           have 25 less steals

The comparative numbers aren't remarkably different -- even the trends are fairly close.

*** Also injecting some individual numbers, Jeff Ledbetter shot 32% and 34% respectively while averaging 2.9 ppg. in 2009-2010. But this season, he is at 45% and 44% and 8.8 ppg.

Matters could have gone way south after the November 22 meltdown in Missoula, an embarrassing 75-33 loss to Montana.

But character prevailed.

And a three game winning streak ensued.

In league play, Idaho currently owns a 5-1 record, plus with a win over Bakersfield mixed in and four of those matchups were on the road.

We repeat: how are they doing it?

At this point, Verlin has to be the favorite for WAC Coach of the Year. Yet it's likely that none of his players will earn All-WAC honors.

Crediting all involved, this is a whole being greater than the sum of the parts -- a monumental achievement in any endeavor.

Sure, the Vandals could nosedive in the remaining conference games. Maybe an injury will curtail the momentum but the absence of Luiz Toledo in the last two games has been overcome.

All basketball fans should be acknowledging this achievement-to-date -- yes even the Boise Staters. Creating a group dynamic that results in success is always a monumental task and Idaho is over-achieving (the latter term is not to be considered anything close to a backhanded compliment).

So hats off to this bunch of true teammates.

Saturday's WAC-aroo

New Mexico State closed out its Canadian trip on a successful note -- go here for the details.

Bleed Crimson's Sam Wasson offers two different links to game writeups here.

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Boise State had some degree of interest and at some point in 6-foot-3 Arizona transfer Garland Judkins but he decided to return to his home state and play for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. Go here for the details.

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The Idaho Statesman's Brian Murphy has a post up on Coach Don Verlin's new contract, which contains a very interesting item about the financial requirement to Idaho for a non-conference contest.

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Jared Quayle's better half has an entertaining  post up on the couple's arrival and first day or so in Belgium. Go here.

Bye-bye to Kashif Watson

PTW cannot imagine a way that Kashif Watson could be brought back into the fold -- at least not without a loss of credibility from within and without.

Travis Mason-Bushman has the details on Don Verlin's decision on his senior.

Does Watson have a future as a banker? Yes, our bad.

Go away for a few hours and a soap opera breaks out

Man, talk about strange!

This was posted at the Idaho Statesman on Friday afternoon:

"University of Idaho men’s basketball player Kashif Watson is suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the program, head coach Don Verlin announced Friday.

“Kashif’s suspension is a matter that he must work through in order to be reinstated for practice and play,” Verlin said. “The matter will be revisited prior to the WAC Tournament next week...”

Speculation has this action connected to the content of Watson's Twitter account (where Watson appears to confirm it): "Wow just gott in trouble for my Twitter comments!! Gotta watch wat u say may hurt peoples feelings.. about 8 hours ago

Watson is apparently referring to what he tweeted on March 27: "Another fuckn L yo.. Don't gett how we pose to win wit this guy coachin us, just don't want it that bad I guess."

But his Match 26 tweet isn't exactly class personified: "Just seen Karl Malone in the lobby drunk then a bitch lol, oh bitch ass N*gg* drinkin his sorrows away from when Mj use to thrash his ass!!"

Wow.

Thankfully, there are games to be played on Saturday even though Kashif Watson won't be there. It's hard to imagine he will be back in uniform for the tourney but time will tell.

Your Wednesday WAC - ology

Tony Jones leads us off with a feature on unsung Tyler Newbold here.

Shawn Harrison has a lengthy Aggie notebook here that will fulfill the rabidity (did we just make up a word?) of even the most devout USU fans.

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The Argonaut's Nick Groff sings sweet praises for Coach Don Verlin here and chastises some of the Vandal fanbase. (a tip of the hat to Travis Mason-Bushman)

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New Mexico State hosts Idaho on ESPN2 tonight -- make a note -- and Jason Groves has that covered here.

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Daniel Lyght offers some bad news to the rest of the WAC here -- Paul George is healthy.

More Friday WAC stuff

Boy, Jeff Portnoy pulls no punches. He's back with another column:

yes it can get worse
Jeff Portnoy
Honolulu Advertiser
February 11, 2010

in my last post, i asked whether things could much worse for the basketball Bows. Well, it can and did. The latest news is that Jeremy Lay's season is over. The stated reason is that he will undergo hernia surgery. I find it very curious that he says he has to been dealing with this injury all season, but only now has decided to miss the rest of the season with only three weeks to go. If he has been living with it, there was no prior information regarding the injury and it certainly did not show on the court. I am not saying it doesnt exist nor am i saying he doesnt need surgery. I just find the timing very strange. This is a team that is now left with one scholarship guard, and will have to finish the season with either guys playing out of position or walk-ons at the Guard position.. And speaking of guys playing hurt, some say its possible Thompson may need surgery on his shoulder after the season, but he continues to suck it up game after game...

Go here for the remainder.

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This was inevitable -- Don Verlin hears from Karl Benson. Chris Murray has the details here.

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It's thankfully not WAC-related but here's yet another Icarus-like tale of a big-time basketball wannabe.

Neither does George Vecsey hold back anything (has he ever?). Binghamton's rise was a house of cards with too many jokers and very few aces. Did these people really think the charade would work? Or were they figuring they would be elsewhere when the eruption occurred?

Pete Thamel has a more formal report here.

Here's the litany in full-length form.

If you employ Don (Renardo Sidney) Jackson as your lawyer, well, prepare to wear stripes and pound rocks.

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Saturday's WAC links

Troy Gillenwater's return is receiving all the pub but let's also focus on the game tonight featuring the Aggies and visiting San Jose State. Jason Groves leads us off here.

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Fresno State will be George-less and Steve Cleveland is making a lineup change for tonight's Hawaii game -- this per Daniel Lyght here.

Brian McInnis says here it's make-or-break time for UH.

Dayton Morinaga quotes Paul Campbell here as being embarrassed by the previous UH loss to Fresno In Fresno.

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Nevada has payback on their respective minds -- to be expected -- but is there a more difficult arena to win in anywhere than The Spectrum? Chris Murray has the story here.

Jared Eborn fills readers in on the Logan - Salt Lake City College connection here. Norm Parrish is a very good buddy to have.

Shawn Harrison has more here on the Aggie - Wolf Pack matchup.

Tony Jones says here that the contest is a role reversal.

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Nick Jezierny details what went down between Coach Don Verlin and star player Mac Hopson here.

Merlin Verlin? We love it

Travis Mason-Bushman is back with a look at Idaho Coach Don Verlin and whether or not he'll remain in Moscow after additional seasons of success. The wordplay in the headline is topnotch!

Vandal fans key to keeping Merlin Verlin on the Palouse
Travis Mason-Bushman
Vandal Nation
September 16, 2009

In Don Verlin’s first press conference as coach of the Idaho Vandals, back in March 2008, he had but one request.

“We need you to care,” he said.

At the time, it seemed to be a plaintive cry for attention by one of the nation’s most inept basketball programs.

Now, after Verlin engineered the biggest single-season turnaround in Idaho history (we looked it up), giving the Vandals their best season of the century with just seven scholarship players, that same plea looms large when it comes to answering the key question for the future of Vandal hoops:

Can we keep Merlin Verlin?

Go here for the remainder.

Travis Mason-Bushman with another Don Verlin interview

Travis Mason-Bushman interviews Don Verlin, with the subject being Idaho's 2009-2010 schedule.

On the Record with Don Verlin: “I wish we had more home games”
Travis Mason-Bushman
Vandal Nation
September 3, 2009

The 2009-10 Idaho Vandals men’s basketball schedule has been released, and we sat down yesterday with coach Don Verlin to find out his thoughts on the Vandals’ foes and the chase for the Western Athletic Conference championship.

Tomorrow, in the second half of the interview, we’ll quiz Don on his scheduling philosophy and the challenge of putting together a winnable mid-major schedule.

Vandal Nation: I have to say, this looks a lot like a Stew Morrill schedule down at Utah State.

Don Verlin: Well, I did them at Utah State, so it would look pretty similar! We don’t have as many home games as those guys have. They have 19 home games and are hosting a tournament — it’s a great deal for them. I wish we had more home games. That’s the thing I don’t like about our schedule...

Go here for the remainder.

Travis Mason-Bushman delivers the goods

Travis Mason-Bushman has an interview with second year Vandal head coach Don Verlin up at TMB's Vandal Nation site:

On the Record with Don Verlin: “We want to win this league”
Travis Mason-Bushman
Vandal Nation
August 26, 2009

Hard to believe, but Idaho Vandals hoops will kick off in just over two months. We sat down with men’s coach Don Verlin to talk summer workouts, scheduling and his goals for the season ahead.

Vandal Nation: Talk about the Vandals’ progress over the summer.

Don Verlin: I evaluate the summer based on how we did in the weight room and how we did in the classroom.

Our guys did a great job in the classroom, they passed all of their summer classes and are moving toward graduation. We have no eligibility problems and everyone made academic progress...

Go here for the remainder and do bookmark this site.

Chris Murray previews Idaho

Here's Chris Murray on how Idaho is looking this summer:

Summer basketball prospectus on Idaho
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
7/9/2009

Last season: 17-16 overall, 9-7 WAC (tied for third)

Returning starters: Four (Mac Hopson, Kashif Watson, Brandon Wiley, Marvin Jefferson)

Key losses: Trevor Morris, Terrence Simmons, Luis Augusto.

Go here for the remainder.

Idaho has gotten a 2010 verbal

A Washington state prepster has just aligned himself with Coach Don Verlin and the Idaho Vandals after next season. A hat tip to jlwaters1 at the Idaho Scout site message board for bringing this to our attention.

Winston offers verbal commitment to play basketball at University of Idaho

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Walla Walla High School junior guard Gary Winston verbally committed to accept a scholarship to the University of Idaho to play basketball beginning in 2010. Winston, 6'1 and 185 lbs, is a two-time all league selection and the Cascade Division Defensive Player of the Year. He also earned Honorable Mention All-State status last season after leading the Blue Devils to the Big 9 District title and a berth in the State 4A Basketball Tournament...

Go here for the complete article.

Some background on Phillip Thomas

The story (and much, much more) about Phillip Thomas' departure from Idaho is contained in an article we recently wrote for the Rivals NorCalPreps site. It doesn't requires a subscription to access it so head on over there. The portion we have excerpted below will probably be of most interest to Vandal fans:

"...According to Thomas, even with all the comings-and-goings "everything seemed all good."

He went home for the summer, intent on preparing for his second season. Thomas worked hard, believing he could contribute in the coming season. Then a few days before he was to return to Moscow, Thomas received a long distance call.

It was Coach Verlin telling him that the basketball program was going in another direction and the decision had been made to sign a junior college transfer with Thomas’ athletic scholarship.

Thomas was dumbfounded. "I was kind of stunned and at a loss for words..."

Travis Mason-Bushman is back

Travis Mason-Bushman has re-surfaced and that's good news for WAC basketball fans. At his Vandal Nation site, he's promising an upcoming Idaho men's basketball season review plus a talk with Coach Don Verlin. Do bookmark the site or do whatever the latest technology allows you to do (we're still grasping to understand the need for something like Twiiter but are sure it is due to our intelligence shortcomings).

JUCO backcourter signs with Idaho

(Landon Tatum photo credit to southtexashoops.com)

Point guard Landon Tatum of South Plains College in Texas has become an Idaho Vandal.

This is a curious signing -- not due to Tatum's qualifications or lack thereof -- but because senior Mac Hopson is going to be on the court and with the ball in his hands for 35 minutes a game.

Senior Steffan Johnson -- the Pacific transfer -- will also be handling the ball quite often in the backcourt as he was credited with 151 assists in his last season in Stockton.

So when does Tatum, who will be a junior, play?

Maybe the plan is to redshirt him unless an injury occurs.

Tatum played his prep ball in San Antonio. His height/weight seems to be 5-11, 170 but most writeups on him employ the term strong and physical in describing his style of play. He averaged 8.7 points per game and 5.8 assists a contest this past season at South Plains and was a First Team All Conference selection. Tatum passed for 181 assists and nabbed 46 steals.

An update on Greg Allen's recruiting status

Here's what we found out regarding the recruiting status of Eureka High's (CA) Greg Allen, who was going to sign with Idaho back in November but then made the decision to hold off on any decision until the 2009 signing period (which is now).

Greg is not headed to Idaho. He currently possesses three offers (hopefully we're not being annoying here but just respecting his privacy until he makes his final decision): one is from another WAC school, the second is from a Missouri Valley Conference team and the third is from a Colonial Athletic Association program.

Greg also passed his SAT -- so kudos to him for that achievement.

Jeff Ledbetter will be a Vandal

Okay, here's the initial item regarding Idaho basketball recruiting:

Per Coach Jerry Hernandez at Irvine Valley College, Jeff Ledbetter (picture above courtesy of IVC athletics) did sign a letter-of-intent with Idaho in November of 2008 and will be a Vandal basketballer.

We thank Coach Hernandez for removing any mystery from the situation.

On the year, Ledbetter averaged 13.7 points per game, 40.6% overall from the floor (131-323), 38.4 from three-point range (78-203), 3.6 rebounds a contest, 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals each time out. He was a First Team Orange Empire All Conference selection.

Go to the IVC basketball site here to read about each game this season.

A sort of update on Jeff Ledbetter to Idaho

We sent an email a couple of days ago to Irvine Valley Coach Jerry Hernandez asking for clarification on the Jeff ledbetter/Idaho situation and haven't heard back as yet. We'll give him a call if we don't hear something soon.