Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Put Focus on the Moment, Not Standings
1/28/2020 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Execution key for Medved as second round begins
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – What the fans see, Niko Medved would prefer his players ignore. If you take his players at their word, the Colorado State's men's basketball coach is happy.
Sophomore sniper Adam Thistlewood said he hasn't looked at the Mountain West standings since the end of last year. Senior reserve Hyron Edwards has no idea where the Rams sit in the conference pecking order. In this conference, where surprises are the norm, planning on outside factors do nobody any good, leading the players directly down Medved's preferred thinking.
"It's playing each moment and losing yourself in the moment and focus on executing and doing the things that you do to be successful," he said, with his team facing an important homestand this week. "That doesn't guarantee anything, but that's what gives you the best chance to develop consistency and win."
Fans know the Rams are tied for fourth with three others at 5-4 in conference play. Those victories all came in succession, a streak which came to an end on the road last Saturday at Utah State. In front of them are Nevada (Wednesday, 7 p.m.) and UNLV (Saturday, 2 p.m.), the two teams tied for second (both at 6-3 in MW play).
The team knows this week begins Round 2 of conference play, which changes the dynamics of everything. UNLV is the outlier, as this will be the first meeting with the Rebels, the second to come 17 days later.
"You get familiar with teams, the scouting reports aren't so secret anymore and everybody knows everybody," Thistlewood said. "It's honestly who can play the best basketball that night at that time is going to win the game. You know the personnel, you just have to go play out there.
"That's the key. They can simulate all the motion and plays they want, but they can't simulate our pace and our execution, and that's how you have to separate yourself in these games."
Putting preparation squarely in a coach's wheelhouse.
The opposition may know what's coming, but still executed at a high level, there remains a great chance of success. Practice becomes a time to polish what a team does best, and if they do it well enough – and do it consistently – the opposition knowing what's coming isn't going to bother them.
There will be modest alterations, depending on trends, but nothing wholescale.
"I think in reality, teams make adjustments and all that stuff, and that's part of it," Medved said. "It's not about out-tricking your opponent, it's about out-executing them on both ends. It's about still doing what you've practiced every day and what you do well. If somebody takes away a first option, can you keep playing and keep executing? Same thing defensively. You're going to get beat, but have you learned how to help each other and learned how to help the help and scramble and all those things? I think every coach would say that."
Now too, so do Medved's players. Nothing sells it to them more than what they see around the league.
Each night, they see the scores. They raise their eyebrows at the surprises, same as the fans. Only from their perspective, none of it is much of a shock anymore, driving the point home that much more.
"Standings are standings. Anybody can beat anybody in this league, and that's the big difference. The Mountain West is a very competitive conference," Thistlewood said. "The best team can be beat by the worst team. Those are just stats. Anybody can show up on any night, and anybody can make shots."
Games, Medved said, are a series of runs. So are seasons. The focus has to be on the reaction, and hopefully, being on a good one heading into the tournament.
To do so, progression has to be constant. With the makeup of the Rams' roster, getting better was easier to do early on. Rotations were developed, so was chemistry. Roles were created and comfort with them.
The longer the season goes, the work becomes harder in order to improve. That's where he wants the attention directed. Do that, wins come and placement in the standings improves.
"I don't even know where we're at," Edwards said. "All I know is we need to win versus Nevada. That's all I know. If we keep racking up the wins, we'll move up. I know for the fact, at the tournament, we will be moving up if we just keep winning.
"Those five games we won in a row, we didn't know we won five in a row. We've been taking it day by day, practice by practice and game by game. We had a little week off, and it hit us, we won five in a row. We were just worried about us right now."
Sophomore sniper Adam Thistlewood said he hasn't looked at the Mountain West standings since the end of last year. Senior reserve Hyron Edwards has no idea where the Rams sit in the conference pecking order. In this conference, where surprises are the norm, planning on outside factors do nobody any good, leading the players directly down Medved's preferred thinking.
"It's playing each moment and losing yourself in the moment and focus on executing and doing the things that you do to be successful," he said, with his team facing an important homestand this week. "That doesn't guarantee anything, but that's what gives you the best chance to develop consistency and win."
Fans know the Rams are tied for fourth with three others at 5-4 in conference play. Those victories all came in succession, a streak which came to an end on the road last Saturday at Utah State. In front of them are Nevada (Wednesday, 7 p.m.) and UNLV (Saturday, 2 p.m.), the two teams tied for second (both at 6-3 in MW play).
The team knows this week begins Round 2 of conference play, which changes the dynamics of everything. UNLV is the outlier, as this will be the first meeting with the Rebels, the second to come 17 days later.
"You get familiar with teams, the scouting reports aren't so secret anymore and everybody knows everybody," Thistlewood said. "It's honestly who can play the best basketball that night at that time is going to win the game. You know the personnel, you just have to go play out there.
"That's the key. They can simulate all the motion and plays they want, but they can't simulate our pace and our execution, and that's how you have to separate yourself in these games."
Putting preparation squarely in a coach's wheelhouse.
The opposition may know what's coming, but still executed at a high level, there remains a great chance of success. Practice becomes a time to polish what a team does best, and if they do it well enough – and do it consistently – the opposition knowing what's coming isn't going to bother them.
There will be modest alterations, depending on trends, but nothing wholescale.
"I think in reality, teams make adjustments and all that stuff, and that's part of it," Medved said. "It's not about out-tricking your opponent, it's about out-executing them on both ends. It's about still doing what you've practiced every day and what you do well. If somebody takes away a first option, can you keep playing and keep executing? Same thing defensively. You're going to get beat, but have you learned how to help each other and learned how to help the help and scramble and all those things? I think every coach would say that."
Now too, so do Medved's players. Nothing sells it to them more than what they see around the league.
Each night, they see the scores. They raise their eyebrows at the surprises, same as the fans. Only from their perspective, none of it is much of a shock anymore, driving the point home that much more.
"Standings are standings. Anybody can beat anybody in this league, and that's the big difference. The Mountain West is a very competitive conference," Thistlewood said. "The best team can be beat by the worst team. Those are just stats. Anybody can show up on any night, and anybody can make shots."
Games, Medved said, are a series of runs. So are seasons. The focus has to be on the reaction, and hopefully, being on a good one heading into the tournament.
To do so, progression has to be constant. With the makeup of the Rams' roster, getting better was easier to do early on. Rotations were developed, so was chemistry. Roles were created and comfort with them.
The longer the season goes, the work becomes harder in order to improve. That's where he wants the attention directed. Do that, wins come and placement in the standings improves.
"I don't even know where we're at," Edwards said. "All I know is we need to win versus Nevada. That's all I know. If we keep racking up the wins, we'll move up. I know for the fact, at the tournament, we will be moving up if we just keep winning.
"Those five games we won in a row, we didn't know we won five in a row. We've been taking it day by day, practice by practice and game by game. We had a little week off, and it hit us, we won five in a row. We were just worried about us right now."
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