Edwards’ Cowboys look to James for boost
Wyoming has lost valuable seniors
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in an 11-part series previewing UNM men’s conference basketball opponents for the coming season. The series is running in reverse order of the preseason Mountain West media poll and concludes with a nonconference schedule preview.
Year three of the Allen Edwards run as the Wyoming Cowboys head coach has some similarities to the final year of the Larry Shyatt run in 2016 — a team Edwards was an assistant coach on.
Both Shyatt’s last Wyoming team and Edwards’ roster now appear to most outside of Laramie to be dominated by a senior scoring machine and a lot of new faces that haven’t exactly convinced the league’s media they can make the team a contender. The Cowboys were picked 7th in the 11-team league’s preseason media poll.
In 2016, after seniors like Larry Nance, Riley Grabau and Derek Cooke moved on and left behind all-league guard Josh Adams, the result was a 14-18 Wyoming team that went 7-11 in conference play and had a first-round MWC Tournament loss to Utah State.
This year, Edwards’ Cowboys have lost from a season ago valuable seniors Hayden Dalton, Al Herndon, Louis Adams and Alex Aka Gorski, while returning preseason All-Mountain West selection Justin James, the 6-7 senior guard who flirted with turning pro in the offseason. He averaged 18.9 points, 6-0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season.
“This group will be more team oriented,” Edwards said. “Obviously with J.J. (James) having the ability to go score the basketball — me and J have had a lot of long talks and I always equate this scenario back to when Josh Adams was a senior. Not being able to, I don’t want to say lack trust, but he has to be able to trust these other guys because the talent and ability is there.”
Like Adams, James has the ability to take over a game. But can he find the balance between doing so and getting his team involved?
Sophomore Hunter Maldonado, a 6-7 sophomore guard, thinks so.
“He tested the (NBA) waters and he came back,” Maldonado said. “He’s really been a student of the game. He’s seeing the floor better. He’s taking everything into account and being a better overall player and a teammate. Last year, I think he had a different mindset, but this year, we want to win and we want to do this as a team.”
And, as for replacing the seniors who left, Edwards is optimistic there are some very good options, particularly to replace Dalton, who averaged 17.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
“I think I’ve got three guys to choose from right now — Lwal Dung (6-foot-7 junior), Brandon Porter (6-8) and Trace Young (6-9) are all the same size and a few maybe more athletic,” Edwards said. “... These guys are probably better defenders, or have the ability to become better defenders.”
Another big difference between the way things were under Shyatt, who now coaches in the NBA as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, and Edwards’ teams is in tempo.
The highest ranking in possessions per game in Shyatt’s 20112016 run as the Cowboys coach was 322 of 351 Division I teams. In Edwards’ first two seasons as coach, the Cowboys ranked 14th and 13th in tempo, and don’t expect to slow down this season.