citay said:
Squinting at a small box score in Spanish--this is like an archeological dig. But here's what I'm seeing.
--Led by Dorsey, Falls and Nicholas. All newcomers, two of whom are freshmen. Wow.
--Four rebounds from Kelby Kramer. Is he better than he showed in the Montana-Wyoming all-star game?
--Nicholas a double double. Looks like we've got a good one here.
--Oguine held scoreless. Amazing.
--Nikko Bevens 0-3 on treys. Team: 5-27. Not good.
--Not much from Akoh.
--Is Besovic with the team?
--Everybody played. Is this the plan for the season, or just an early-season test? Is Kelby Kramer showing too much to redshirt?
Conclusion: I'd have expected the veterans to lead the way--Rorie, Krslovic, Oguine, at least in an early season game. Instead, two freshmen and a redshirt seem to have been the stars. Bodes well for the future, no?
Agree totally with your statistical analysis, citay! Here are a couple of my personal gleanings from the box score (I can't fully interpret the box score, but it looks like the Griz had 20 turnovers to CR's 24... correct me on this?).
* Donovan Dorsey was clearly the "go-to-guy" and he produced. He only made 4/12 field goals, but the telling stat is that he scored 7/8 from the free throw line. People were trying to stop him, but could only do so by fouling him. On the other side, he played only 14+ minutes & had 4 fouls.
• Sayeed Pridget's game doesn't really show up in the stats (-1 efficiency rating), but he played 23 minutes (second only to Rorie). My conclusion is that he was playing a good defensive game; they needed him in there... plus, he collected 4 rebounds.
• Ahmaad Rorie played a team-hign 25 minutes, shot 50%, collected 6 rebounds and had two assists. Obviously, he's being called on to be this team's floor general. The stats show that he did his job. His personal efficiency rating was +4, but everything else indicates he ran this team well in its initial appearance.
• Fabijan Krslovic made only 4 pts (all free throws) & collected 5 boards, but was a stats stuffer everywhere else, including an efficiency rating of +7. Seems obvious he had an impact in the key, particularly on defense.
• Same for Bobby Moorehead. Only 5 pts total, but a solid stats line throughout and an efficiency rating of +7. I believe this kid has the potential to be an important defensive player for the Griz this year, with the hope he'll up his shooting %.
• Michael Oguine's stats a bit confusing, low minutes w/3 fouls. It's possible he got into early foul trouble and sat on the bench early as a result.
• Trever Spoja and Lars Espe had similar games, with Spoja's 4 rebounds a plus. Both had positive stats rankings. Nico Bevens went 0/3 from 3 pt range, collected an assist in 10+ minutes. Kelby Kramer's 4 rebounds in his first collegiate game is a good sign to me.
• A great game by frosh Timmy Falls in his first collegiate level competition. Only 16 minutes played, but 3/5 from the floor (7 pts), handled the ball well and had a couple of steals (I think). A positive efficienty rating of +14, a strong indication that TF will be an important contributor on this Griz team... as a frosh.
• The player & stats that jumped out the most for me were frosh forward Karl Nicholas. Eleven (11) rebounds in only 15 minutes on floor... in his first college game is a good sign. If that continues, he'll fill a role that Montana's been missing for several years.Looks like he played a solid defensive game as well. I love the prospect of opponents having to face Dorsey AND Nicholas on the front line.
* Only Jamar Akoh appeared to have a down game. He played only 9 minutes, grabbed 2 rebounds and had an efficency rating of -6.
* Regarding Besovic: Coach DeCuire made a brief announcement that Besovic did NOT clear NCAA academic qualifying standards in time for the CR trip. I believe he has registered for classes at UM (can't verify this), but he has not practiced with the team. Don't know if this is a minor, temporary thing, or something that might keep him off of the team for a semester or a year. We probably won't know until classes start.
Last note: Kyle Sample tweeted this morning that he'd heard the Costa Rican team was tough. Quote from Kyle: "As you can see from stats, Montana didn't play Cuban national team, but a local pro team with 3 or 4 Americans. Told it was very competitive."
