Wonder Why?

Have been season ticket holders for 2 years - will be back next year.

I wonder why when Thomas Vandermere starts to play inside well - especially late this season - and showing emotion that reflects self-confidence - that a substitute is sent in and he hits the bench?. No foul trouble. Same to a lesser extent with our only real warrior - Ryan Nicholas. And without sounding too harsh, what is Riley Barker doing out there? Clearly, he is following coach's orders so no disrespect to Riley, but I wonder why?

Do the NCAA rules allow you to say "thanks, nice effort" to a player and give the scholarship to someone else? Caveat: The "thanks, nice effort" player should continue to have a comparable scholarship provided by the University.

And yes, we would benefit from a point guard.

Finally, can we find a pep band leader with a great purple wig - that will go "crazy" like the now deceased "leader" that I remember from several years ago?

I wonder why?

1) runs out of gas. Another year of conditioning and weights will do wonders.

2) UP doesnt give up on players. Not part of the culture in any sport they play. It has payed off sometimes as players mature. He was actually the better player until injury sat him down a year. And the recruiting pitch is we can make you better and give you a good education, not we can warehouse you until your one-and-done year is up.

3) they are looking for volunteers for the purple wig gig. You up for it?

van der Mars is right around 24 minutes a game...that can't be too far off the average for a post, can it?

And to be perfectly honest I feel that post depth (in the form of Barker) isn't a problem on this team. He had a few head-scratching attempts from three, but hey....us big guys like to think we can shoot every now and then.

Your question about vdM has been answered; it's just not realistic to expect more of him than the minutes he now plays. Next year, when he's even stronger and his body more mature, he may add a few minutes.

Barker may actually have the greater potential of the two, but his injury and exercise induced asthma slowed him some this year. He's younger than vdM, is the better defender of the two, and can induce a lot of misdirected shots around the lane due to his shot blocking prowess.

As for his 3pt shooting---look out, he's working on it, and it may not be long before he'll be drawing defenders out of the lane because they'll have to respect his shot.

Really, you think Nicholas should play more than his current 30+ per game?

The scholarship is a year-to-year contract, and from time-to-time, if a student does not fulfill his end of the contract by giving a 100% effort, the school may in fact not renew the contract. We have a player in a similar situation now, but I have to assume he'll be back; it's VERY rare a contract is not renewed anywhere in the WCC except at USF under Rex Walters.

Barker can block like a beast.

A serious question...which WCC teams have the luxury of bringing true centers off the bench that are better than Barker?

Austin from BYU is probably the best player in the conference in this category if you don't count Gonzaga's power forward Dower. But beyond maybe the two freshmen Karnowski (Gonzaga) and Hodgson (Saint Mary's) is there any other center in the conference that came off the bench in a more effective manner than Barker did for the Pilots this year?

Plus he's Canadian, so +1 point.

Yea, I have to rate Riley behind Karnowski, and just a little behind Hodgson---otherwise he's the best off the bench.

As for his country of origin---he must have had some reason for leaving, ehh.