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What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

citygriz

Well-known member
As I posted earlier, I felt that taking advantage of the NCAA's rule of one foreign trip every four years was a great idea, another merit badge in the coaching tenure of Travis DeCuire. It would give the team extra time to practice, to share an international experience, to bond as friends and teammates. And you would think that playing the national team of any nation would be a good thing, given they probably have been provided governmental funds to travel and compete, and are stocked with the best players that country can produce, however small that country is. It all sounded so great for us Griz nuts.

So our kids fly all day Thursday. Have you looked at a map? That's over 4000 miles, the equivalent of flying San Francisco to New York and back to Chicago. Then the very next night they play not the Costa Rica national team--HUH?--but a local-yokel "club" team, before travelling again, after one grueling flight and a game the night before, to play Laurentian University in Canada, a school that's a four and a half hour drive north from Toronto! (No, we didn't play them there, thank God!) Now,I know nothing about them, except that I'd be surprised if the school has produced a single NBA player. (Okay, surprise me!) Then our kids go to a zoo, see some crocodiles, assist at a charity, and fly back home, Chicago to New York and back to San Francisco. All in five days.

Meantime, the results of these games are delivered this way: Courier via Tica bus to the Mexican border; Greyhound bus to Boise; stagecoach to Missoula, where somebody announces the results to Kyle Sample, and he posts it to his Twitter account, with details to follow the next day. I mean, c'mon! Is there not a single member of our travelling entourage with a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account?

But here's the crazy thing. Our friends from Laurentian University make essentially the same trip to Costa Rica. I know they're not under NCAA rules, but here's their schedule: They're there for one full week, and they play Montana, Western Kentucky (twice) and Kent State. HUH? You mean those teams are all there at the same time, but we play only a local-yokel "club" team and Laurentian? Why can't we stay an extra few days and play those teams too? Wouldn't those be great tests for our kids?

As I say, what a long strange trip it's been. For those on this board who care, I will be following up on this, going to my "sources" in quest of answers. I'm guessing, as always, I'll be following the money trail: Lack of funding. I probably need to go back and read in more detail that story about how this trip got funded. But, jeez, it seems if you have one opportunity every four years to take your team on an international jaunt, this is the cheapest, stupidest, worst possible way to have done it.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/07/19/voyageurs-mens-cagers-get-early-start-on-season
 
Here are my excuses for the mess you mention. I am bias but you see that from my ID, great times but more on this.
---takes going to know what to do the next time, weak I know
---we were a late addition to this, better
---late addition and money, my bet

but still if you are already there it's not that much more money to hang around and play. Sounds like to me who ever put this together wasn't thinking of us in the mix.


can't you live stream to you tube ?
 
citay said:
As I posted earlier, I felt that taking advantage of the NCAA's rule of one foreign trip every four years was a great idea, another merit badge in the coaching tenure of Travis DeCuire. It would give the team extra time to practice, to share an international experience, to bond as friends and teammates. And you would think that playing the national team of any nation would be a good thing, given they probably have been provided governmental funds to travel and compete, and are stocked with the best players that country can produce, however small that country is. It all sounded so great for us Griz nuts.

So our kids fly all day Thursday. Have you looked at a map? That's over 4000 miles, the equivalent of flying San Francisco to New York and back to Chicago. Then the very next night they play not the Costa Rica national team--HUH?--but a local-yokel "club" team, before travelling again, after one grueling flight and a game the night before, to play Laurentian University in Canada, a school that's a four and a half hour drive north from Toronto! (No, we didn't play them there, thank God!) Now,I know nothing about them, except that I'd be surprised if the school has produced a single NBA player. (Okay, surprise me!) Then our kids go to a zoo, see some crocodiles, assist at a charity, and fly back home, Chicago to New York and back to San Francisco. All in five days.

Meantime, the results of these games are delivered this way: Courier via Tica bus to the Mexican border; Greyhound bus to Boise; stagecoach to Missoula, where somebody announces the results to Kyle Sample, and he posts it to his Twitter account, with details to follow the next day. I mean, c'mon! Is there not a single member of our travelling entourage with a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account?

But here's the crazy thing. Our friends from Laurentian University make essentially the same trip to Costa Rica. I know they're not under NCAA rules, but here's their schedule: They're there for one full week, and they play Montana, Western Kentucky (twice) and Kent State. HUH? You mean those teams are all there at the same time, but we play only a local-yokel "club" team and Laurentian? Why can't we stay an extra few days and play those teams too? Wouldn't those be great tests for our kids?

As I say, what a long strange trip it's been. For those on this board who care, I will be following up on this, going to my "sources" in quest of answers. I'm guessing, as always, I'll be following the money trail: Lack of funding. I probably need to go back and read in more detail that story about how this trip got funded. But, jeez, it seems if you have one opportunity every four years to take your team on an international jaunt, this is the cheapest, stupidest, worst possible way to have done it.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/07/19/voyageurs-mens-cagers-get-early-start-on-season

You said they magic words: Laurentian "is not under NCAA rules". NCAA puts limits on these kinds of trips from who you can play, to how many practices you can have, to how many games you can play.
Just be happy for the guys to get to take the trip. Know that they get 10 extra practices this summer that most teams are not having. Know that they are getting additional opportunities to get to know each other both on court and off, very important with so many new teammates. Know that Travis is making some changes to both offense and defense, and these extra practices and games gives him and the team a head start on those implementations.
 
I'm not buying the limitations. Other teams generally travel for as many as 11 days--Wisconsin is gone for two weeks--and play up to five games. Western Kentucky and Kent State are already there. What's up with this?

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/news/college-basketball-foreign-tours-duke-kansas-butler-wisconsin-oklahoma-arizona-state/v7zfs81err981auvbosofq2o4
 
Got to admit, I am very disappointed at the lack of information, and who they are playing. In my opinion, this has turned out to be a wasted opportunity. I wonder, what DeCuire now is thinking about this? He is the only one who can convince me otherwise. It just seems like the team will not benefit much from this.
 
Some Griz fans worry too much.

It was an opportunity for the coaching staff to throw some young kids into the action and evaluate how they performed under adversity (long travel, better competition than Frontier Conference, etc.).

It was a team bonding experience more than anything else. Don't discount that. It may pay large dividends in March.
 
citay said:
As I posted earlier, I felt that taking advantage of the NCAA's rule of one foreign trip every four years was a great idea, another merit badge in the coaching tenure of Travis DeCuire. It would give the team extra time to practice, to share an international experience, to bond as friends and teammates. And you would think that playing the national team of any nation would be a good thing, given they probably have been provided governmental funds to travel and compete, and are stocked with the best players that country can produce, however small that country is. It all sounded so great for us Griz nuts.

So our kids fly all day Thursday. Have you looked at a map? That's over 4000 miles, the equivalent of flying San Francisco to New York and back to Chicago. Then the very next night they play not the Costa Rica national team--HUH?--but a local-yokel "club" team, before travelling again, after one grueling flight and a game the night before, to play Laurentian University in Canada, a school that's a four and a half hour drive north from Toronto! (No, we didn't play them there, thank God!) Now,I know nothing about them, except that I'd be surprised if the school has produced a single NBA player. (Okay, surprise me!) Then our kids go to a zoo, see some crocodiles, assist at a charity, and fly back home, Chicago to New York and back to San Francisco. All in five days.

Meantime, the results of these games are delivered this way: Courier via Tica bus to the Mexican border; Greyhound bus to Boise; stagecoach to Missoula, where somebody announces the results to Kyle Sample, and he posts it to his Twitter account, with details to follow the next day. I mean, c'mon! Is there not a single member of our travelling entourage with a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account?

But here's the crazy thing. Our friends from Laurentian University make essentially the same trip to Costa Rica. I know they're not under NCAA rules, but here's their schedule: They're there for one full week, and they play Montana, Western Kentucky (twice) and Kent State. HUH? You mean those teams are all there at the same time, but we play only a local-yokel "club" team and Laurentian? Why can't we stay an extra few days and play those teams too? Wouldn't those be great tests for our kids?

As I say, what a long strange trip it's been. For those on this board who care, I will be following up on this, going to my "sources" in quest of answers. I'm guessing, as always, I'll be following the money trail: Lack of funding. I probably need to go back and read in more detail that story about how this trip got funded. But, jeez, it seems if you have one opportunity every four years to take your team on an international jaunt, this is the cheapest, stupidest, worst possible way to have done it.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/07/19/voyageurs-mens-cagers-get-early-start-on-season

A few things:
Montana doesn't have the budget Wisconsin does. I don't know if Wisconsin's trip is funded in a similar fashion to Montana's, but if it is that school has the resources to add to extend its trip. Montana doesn't have that. If you think it should, there is an excellence fund you can donate to so the basketball program can afford the things its fans think it should have. If you want them to have the best, stop complaining on a message board and get some money together and donate it to the fund. Otherwise, this is the reality of rooting for a low-major team with little resources.

The club wasn't a local yocal team, ARBA is the best team in the Latin Basketball league. That's probably not a really difficult league, but it is a talented team. One that was going to give Montana a better team than the Costa Rican national team would have.

The loss to Laurentian University was probably a disappointment, but Montana didn't play Jamar Akoh and limited Mike Oguine's minutes. The minutes were spread pretty equitably among the rest of the players.
 
Laurentian was led by Kadre Gray's 24 points and nine assists. Looks like a good player. Was named Rookie of the Year last season.
 
Couple points back at you, Kyle.
--I'm not JUST a Grizzly board complainer, though bitching when appropriate is a bodily function with me. The summer Travis hosted former coaches at a fund-raiser, I bought an entire table, in the hopes GrizRule and others on stretched budgets could attend on my buck, and advertised that fact on this board. At the last minute, somebody pm'd me, asking if they could go, only to find the table was sold out. So a nice group of Griz fans (hopefully) went on my buck. In return for that donation, I got not even a thank you note. Several years ago I hosted in my living room a meeting among the A.D. and several prominent Griz alums in the Bay Area, including one very notable person who had been estranged for a long time from Grizzly athletics. Result? This alum got back in touch, and I believe made a substantial contribution to the athletic department. So, in sum, I have contributed, nor am I done contributing.
--I brought up Wisconsin, not to prove that they have more money, but that the NCAA does not limit teams to five days and two games on these foreign trips, as was suggested as an excuse for this long strange trip. Your response still does not address the issue of why we could not have played Western Kentucky or Kent State in what I assume is the same tournament. If money were the issue, why wasn't that issue addressed, such that alums like me might have helped out? Once again, it seems to be an issue of communication, which...
--is pathetic, as between this basketball department and its fan base. Always has been. Last summer, when I stopped in just to say hello, I struck up a nice conversation with somebody in the basketball department. I asked to speak to a woman I once knew there, only to find she'd retired. I asked several questions, enough to betray my keen interest and financial support in the basketball program, such that if the roles had been reversed, I would not have let such a guy get away, without calling over one of the coaches, a P.R. guy, or maybe even the A.D.! But the guy didn't ask me a single question. Just as we got not a single report from any member of the athletic department or coaching staff or team members about the results of this trip. For that matter, I don't know why DeCuire can't come on this board himself and answer questions, or why the basketball department couldn't update the roster sooner, or let us know schedule developments sooner. When I called the basketball department in late June, they said the schedule would be posted in July. It's now August 6, and we still don't have a schedule, which may be fully understandable, but why can't somebody, anybody, come on this board, where reside the true patron saints and avid fans of Griz basketball, and tell us what the hell is going on! If you want to restore Griz basketball to its former glory, I say to the basketball department, stop blaming the students, the semester system, the remodeling of the field house, the horoscope, and begin fukcing COMMUNICATING with people on this board.
Meantime, I hold this trip up as Exhibit A of how not to deal with a fan base. If it weren't for you, Kyle, and grizzlyjournal, we would have NO information about this trip.
 
citay said:
Couple points back at you, Kyle.
--I'm not JUST a Grizzly board complainer, though bitching when appropriate is a bodily function with me. The summer Travis hosted former coaches at a fund-raiser, I bought an entire table, in the hopes GrizRule and others on stretched budgets could attend on my buck, and advertised that fact on this board. At the last minute, somebody pm'd me, asking if they could go, only to find the table was sold out. So a nice group of Griz fans (hopefully) went on my buck. In return for that donation, I got not even a thank you note. Several years ago I hosted in my living room a meeting among the A.D. and several prominent Griz alums in the Bay Area, one very notable one of whom had been estranged for a long time from Grizzly athletics. Result? This alum got back in touch, and I believe made a substantial contribution to the athletic department. So, in sum, I have contributed, nor am I done contributing.
--I brought up Wisconsin, not to prove that they have more money, but that the NCAA does not limit teams to five days and two games on these foreign trips, as was suggested as an excuse for this long strange trip. Your response still does not address the issue of why we could not have played Western Kentucky or Kent State in what I assume is the same tournament. If money were the issue, why wasn't that issue addressed, such that alums like me might have helped out? Once again, it seems to be an issue of communication, which...
--is pathetic, as between this basketball department and its fan base. Always has been. Last summer, when I stopped in just to say hello, I struck up a nice conversation with somebody in the basketball department. I asked to speak to a woman I once knew there, only to find she'd retired. I asked several questions, enough to betray my keen interest and financial support in the basketball program, such that if the tables had been reversed, I would not have let such a guy get away, without calling over one of the coaches, a P.R. guy, or maybe even the A.D.! But the guy didn't ask me a single question. Just as we got not a single report from any member of the athletic department or coaching staff or team members about the results of this trip. For that matter, I don't know why DeCuire can't come on this board himself and answer questions, or why the basketball department couldn't update the roster sooner, or let us know schedule developments sooner. When I called the basketball department in late June, they said the schedule would be posted in July. It's now August 6, and we still don't have a schedule, which may be fully understandable, but why can't somebody, anybody, come on this board, where reside the true patron saints and avid fans of Griz basketball, and tell us what the hell is going on! If you want to restore Griz basketball to its former glory, I say to the basketball department, stop blaming the students, the semester system, the remodeling of the field house, the horoscope, and beginning fukcing COMMUNICATING with people on this board.
Meantime, I hold this trip up as Exhibit A of how not to deal with a fan base. If it weren't for you, Kyle, and grizzlyjournal, we would have NO information about this trip.

aaaannnnddd UM75 has been cloned.
 
AllWeatherFan said:
Laurentian was led by Kadre Gray's 24 points and nine assists. Looks like a good player. Was named Rookie of the Year last season.

Anything on their league ? Looks like they play at the bsc level ? Was a step up from last game.

Good to see our big three keep us in the game, Fab,Rorie and Mike.
 
maroonandsilver said:
citay said:
Couple points back at you, Kyle.
--I'm not JUST a Grizzly board complainer, though bitching when appropriate is a bodily function with me. The summer Travis hosted former coaches at a fund-raiser, I bought an entire table, in the hopes GrizRule and others on stretched budgets could attend on my buck, and advertised that fact on this board. At the last minute, somebody pm'd me, asking if they could go, only to find the table was sold out. So a nice group of Griz fans (hopefully) went on my buck. In return for that donation, I got not even a thank you note. Several years ago I hosted in my living room a meeting among the A.D. and several prominent Griz alums in the Bay Area, one very notable one of whom had been estranged for a long time from Grizzly athletics. Result? This alum got back in touch, and I believe made a substantial contribution to the athletic department. So, in sum, I have contributed, nor am I done contributing.
--I brought up Wisconsin, not to prove that they have more money, but that the NCAA does not limit teams to five days and two games on these foreign trips, as was suggested as an excuse for this long strange trip. Your response still does not address the issue of why we could not have played Western Kentucky or Kent State in what I assume is the same tournament. If money were the issue, why wasn't that issue addressed, such that alums like me might have helped out? Once again, it seems to be an issue of communication, which...
--is pathetic, as between this basketball department and its fan base. Always has been. Last summer, when I stopped in just to say hello, I struck up a nice conversation with somebody in the basketball department. I asked to speak to a woman I once knew there, only to find she'd retired. I asked several questions, enough to betray my keen interest and financial support in the basketball program, such that if the tables had been reversed, I would not have let such a guy get away, without calling over one of the coaches, a P.R. guy, or maybe even the A.D.! But the guy didn't ask me a single question. Just as we got not a single report from any member of the athletic department or coaching staff or team members about the results of this trip. For that matter, I don't know why DeCuire can't come on this board himself and answer questions, or why the basketball department couldn't update the roster sooner, or let us know schedule developments sooner. When I called the basketball department in late June, they said the schedule would be posted in July. It's now August 6, and we still don't have a schedule, which may be fully understandable, but why can't somebody, anybody, come on this board, where reside the true patron saints and avid fans of Griz basketball, and tell us what the hell is going on! If you want to restore Griz basketball to its former glory, I say to the basketball department, stop blaming the students, the semester system, the remodeling of the field house, the horoscope, and beginning fukcing COMMUNICATING with people on this board.
Meantime, I hold this trip up as Exhibit A of how not to deal with a fan base. If it weren't for you, Kyle, and grizzlyjournal, we would have NO information about this trip.

aaaannnnddd UM75 has been cloned.

Well after reading what he writes, count me as a supporter for what it's worth. Keep it up Citay.
 
maroonandsilver said:
citay said:
Couple points back at you, Kyle.
--I'm not JUST a Grizzly board complainer, though bitching when appropriate is a bodily function with me. The summer Travis hosted former coaches at a fund-raiser, I bought an entire table, in the hopes GrizRule and others on stretched budgets could attend on my buck, and advertised that fact on this board. At the last minute, somebody pm'd me, asking if they could go, only to find the table was sold out. So a nice group of Griz fans (hopefully) went on my buck. In return for that donation, I got not even a thank you note. Several years ago I hosted in my living room a meeting among the A.D. and several prominent Griz alums in the Bay Area, one very notable one of whom had been estranged for a long time from Grizzly athletics. Result? This alum got back in touch, and I believe made a substantial contribution to the athletic department. So, in sum, I have contributed, nor am I done contributing.
--I brought up Wisconsin, not to prove that they have more money, but that the NCAA does not limit teams to five days and two games on these foreign trips, as was suggested as an excuse for this long strange trip. Your response still does not address the issue of why we could not have played Western Kentucky or Kent State in what I assume is the same tournament. If money were the issue, why wasn't that issue addressed, such that alums like me might have helped out? Once again, it seems to be an issue of communication, which...
--is pathetic, as between this basketball department and its fan base. Always has been. Last summer, when I stopped in just to say hello, I struck up a nice conversation with somebody in the basketball department. I asked to speak to a woman I once knew there, only to find she'd retired. I asked several questions, enough to betray my keen interest and financial support in the basketball program, such that if the tables had been reversed, I would not have let such a guy get away, without calling over one of the coaches, a P.R. guy, or maybe even the A.D.! But the guy didn't ask me a single question. Just as we got not a single report from any member of the athletic department or coaching staff or team members about the results of this trip. For that matter, I don't know why DeCuire can't come on this board himself and answer questions, or why the basketball department couldn't update the roster sooner, or let us know schedule developments sooner. When I called the basketball department in late June, they said the schedule would be posted in July. It's now August 6, and we still don't have a schedule, which may be fully understandable, but why can't somebody, anybody, come on this board, where reside the true patron saints and avid fans of Griz basketball, and tell us what the hell is going on! If you want to restore Griz basketball to its former glory, I say to the basketball department, stop blaming the students, the semester system, the remodeling of the field house, the horoscope, and beginning fukcing COMMUNICATING with people on this board.
Meantime, I hold this trip up as Exhibit A of how not to deal with a fan base. If it weren't for you, Kyle, and grizzlyjournal, we would have NO information about this trip.

aaaannnnddd UM75 has been cloned.

Not even close to UM75. Citay is right about the lack of communication within GRIZ Basketball and it's fanbase. It is not a DeCuire issue either. It has been that way for way too many years and too many coaches. That leads me to believe, there have been and continue to be, internal problems.

As for team bonding, there could have been more affordable options than this. I do understand the importance of team bonding, extra practice time, experience, etc. However, from what we know and don't know so far from this trip, will the benefits outweigh the experiences? I sure in the hell hope so. We shall see, as this season plays out.
 
citay said:
Couple points back at you, Kyle.
--I'm not JUST a Grizzly board complainer, though bitching when appropriate is a bodily function with me. The summer Travis hosted former coaches at a fund-raiser, I bought an entire table, in the hopes GrizRule and others on stretched budgets could attend on my buck, and advertised that fact on this board. At the last minute, somebody pm'd me, asking if they could go, only to find the table was sold out. So a nice group of Griz fans (hopefully) went on my buck. In return for that donation, I got not even a thank you note. Several years ago I hosted in my living room a meeting among the A.D. and several prominent Griz alums in the Bay Area, one very notable one of whom had been estranged for a long time from Grizzly athletics. Result? This alum got back in touch, and I believe made a substantial contribution to the athletic department. So, in sum, I have contributed, nor am I done contributing.
--I brought up Wisconsin, not to prove that they have more money, but that the NCAA does not limit teams to five days and two games on these foreign trips, as was suggested as an excuse for this long strange trip. Your response still does not address the issue of why we could not have played Western Kentucky or Kent State in what I assume is the same tournament. If money were the issue, why wasn't that issue addressed, such that alums like me might have helped out? Once again, it seems to be an issue of communication, which...
--is pathetic, as between this basketball department and its fan base. Always has been. Last summer, when I stopped in just to say hello, I struck up a nice conversation with somebody in the basketball department. I asked to speak to a woman I once knew there, only to find she'd retired. I asked several questions, enough to betray my keen interest and financial support in the basketball program, such that if the tables had been reversed, I would not have let such a guy get away, without calling over one of the coaches, a P.R. guy, or maybe even the A.D.! But the guy didn't ask me a single question. Just as we got not a single report from any member of the athletic department or coaching staff or team members about the results of this trip. For that matter, I don't know why DeCuire can't come on this board himself and answer questions, or why the basketball department couldn't update the roster sooner, or let us know schedule developments sooner. When I called the basketball department in late June, they said the schedule would be posted in July. It's now August 6, and we still don't have a schedule, which may be fully understandable, but why can't somebody, anybody, come on this board, where reside the true patron saints and avid fans of Griz basketball, and tell us what the hell is going on! If you want to restore Griz basketball to its former glory, I say to the basketball department, stop blaming the students, the semester system, the remodeling of the field house, the horoscope, and beginning fukcing COMMUNICATING with people on this board.
Meantime, I hold this trip up as Exhibit A of how not to deal with a fan base. If it weren't for you, Kyle, and grizzlyjournal, we would have NO information about this trip.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Montana can't play Western Kentucky or Kent State or any other American team during a trip. According to an NCAA regulation: 17.29.1.7 Opponents. The team shall not compete during the tour against other American teams (colleges or other U.S. teams) other than teams composed of U.S. armed forces personnel stationed at U.S. military bases in foreign countries.

As far as the schedule goes it's not complete. When it is, they will release it. That has nothing to do with the basketball program or the people in it. The athletic department, as many are doing these days, tries to control the message so they can direct traffic to its website that it can monetize selling ads. The department discourages certain types of stories being reported, amongst them: schedule releases.
 
maroonandsilver said:
aaaannnnddd UM75 has been cloned.

No, that's unfair and inaccurate. Citay is a strong Griz basketball booster. He has some valid criticisms, but he generally focuses on the positives and certainly doesn't drone on and on and on and on about the negatives.

I can't really relate to the criticisms in terms of the specifics since I'm just a fan, but trust me (and not in a Donald sort of way), citay is no '75.
 
Since I was mentioned in citay's post & this follows Kyle Sample's response, I thought I'd chip in. I'm not a hoops insider. I usually get my info from Kyle's twitter threads and other various fragments. MOST of the info I got on Montana's summer hoops activities came from Travis DeCuire himself, in an extensive early summer radio interview with Missoula's Gus Tootell at Missoula's ESPN 102.9 fm [tweet]https://twitter.com/gusTootell[/tweet]. Coach DeCuire was open, transparent and provided tons of info in the interview... as he always is & does when given the chance to talk Griz hoops.

Importantly, DeCuire explained his continuing plan to get more exposure to Montana basketball with events like last season's Paradise Jam, this year's Legends Classic. The Costa Rica trip has a connection with the Alaska Shootout, which Montana will participate in next November (2018).

Importantly, DeCuire explained that the early 10 days of practice and the Costa Rica trip presented an ideal opportunity to get this team -- with seven newcomers (eight, counting Admir Besovic, who couldn't participate because of eligibility questions) a chance to play together. He stressed that his goal was for everyone to play. Judging by the box scores, that's exactly what happened (with the exception of Jamar Akoh's absence in the second game).

I think it's very productive for the kind of engagement with Montana basketball that's being generated on egriz. I have always respected most of the posters and consider citay's threads as always supportive and positive and constructive.

That places a focus on the reality that Griz men's basketball takes a distant second place to all things football. That's just how it is. However, guys like Gus Tootell and Kyle -- people with inside connections via their media associations -- are really important to furthering the cause for Griz hoops. They should be commended for their efforts and ENCOURAGED to provide more (which does not mean I expect them to be boosters; they're info specialists/journalists). If they do, I firmly believe that Travis DeCuire will always be ready to promote Grizzly basketball. He bleeds Montana maroon and is always ready to talk about it (which doesn't mean he can talk about every issue facing the team).

If anything... I believe more encouragement of these guys and more positive demand for info on Griz hoops is critical. The more we let them, and the coaches, know that our support goes hand-in-hand with more info... then the more we should get, I believe.

For me, personally, there are some drawbacks. I don't golf, so the September golf promotion for Griz basketball is a huge zero. But I'd be willing to get involved with other stuff. A good place to start is for the posters here to give feedback, positive and negative... and to continue to demand more.

As for the Costa Rica trip: I think it's doing exactly what the coaches planned. Every kid played minutes and every one (except Nico Bevins, I think) got a stat in a game box score. Any notion by us fans that it was a negative thing because they lost one game is losing a focus on the objectives of this summer trip.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/894584523416940544[/tweet]
 
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