Thank you! That was the one. I was trying to do it from my phone and it wasn't having it hahaha!
Men's March Madness 2025 bracket: Get to know all 68 teams
The men's bracket is revealed. Here's everything you need to know about the competitors for this season's national title.www.espn.com
Montana Grizzlies
Region: East
Record: 25-9
Tournament ceiling: Sweet 16
If you're looking for possible Cinderellas, you should pay attention to teams that recently turned a corner. Montana fits that bill, winning 14 of its past 15 games. Travis DeCuire, who was a star for the Grizzlies in the early 1990s, has led his team to its third NCAA tournament appearance since he was hired in 2014. His starting lineup -- All-Big Sky first-team honoree Joe Pridgen, Brandon Whitney, Malik Moore, Kai Johnson and Te'Jon Sawyer -- has registered 125.7 points per 100 possessions. (For contrast: The Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA's top offense, are at 121.8.) That output has flipped the Grizzlies into one of the country's top offensive units entering the tournament: Since Jan. 20, they have been a top-40 offense, making 60.9% of their shots inside the arc and 42.1% from beyond it -- both the No. 2 marks nationally at BartTorvik.com over that stretch.
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MBBALL Let's Talk Wisconsin
- Thread starter mtgrizrule
- Start date
5280Griz
Well-known member
Teams that rely too much on their big man getting to the free throw line instead of outside shooting to get points are prime for upsets in the tournament against teams who can shoot well because refs don’t call as many fouls as the regular season. Purdue with Zach Edey losing to Farleigh Dickinson and Arizona with Balo losing to Princeton are 2 recent examples.
MissoulaMarinerFan
Well-known member
Anybody else just baffled by Pridgens game?
Dude is a 6-4 guard with a power forward build and post moves like Andrew Strait.....Yes! Fascinated, and absolutely love it. only vaguely remember Charles Barkley's game, but imagine pridgen's game to almost be a spitting image.Anybody else just baffled by Pridgens game?
Explosive athleticism with go go gadget arms, it's wild watching him snatch rebounds. But most of all, his toughness and attitude has elevated an entire team around him in toughness and attitude. It's the coolest thing I've seen in griz hoops in a long while.
I truly hope Wisconsin is arrogant enough to believe they don't need to double him in the post, like unc was in the chipper. He'll dominate.
horribilisfan8184
Well-known member
Adrian Dantley?
MissoulaMarinerFan
Well-known member
Yeah....though I think Joe has less of a midrange game than Dantley (or Joe has it but just doesn't use it).
fanofzoo
Well-known member
(2024; 5 seed): Lost to James Madison, 72-61, in first round.
Wisconsin is 1-3 in the last 5 years against double digit seeds in the tournament. They've been very upset prone under Greg Gard.
formerlybis
Active member
Hello folks - Badger fan stopping by who will not talk crap - I come in peace. I signed up for an account way back when we played you in 2012. and it still works!
What I wrote on our board is that it is really hard to get a good read on a team from a one-bid league that doesn't get the opportunity to play a lot of Q1 and Q2 games. We were confident facing a JMU team last year from one of those leagues, but got beat fairly handily. Your shooting % numbers are enough to scare me. I also looked at where you take your shots from and am impressed that you do well at avoiding midrange shots offensively - sign of a coach paying attention to the analytics. You're not quite as good at preventing teams from getting to the rim, however, allowing 40% of attempts close to the hoop (Wisconsin only allows 28% of opponents shot attempts at the rim and offensively you shoot 43% of your FGAs there - something to watch, anyway)
I didn't understand the OKC paper's comment about our tempo. First of all, we have slightly more possessions per game than you do (i.e. we're faster, but it's practically even). Second, Wisconsin has traditionally been ranked in the 350s for tempo, but made a big change last year and is no longer a slow team. We average over 80 ppg. Weird comment. We had our worst offensive game of the season by far yesterday against Michigan, shooting 22% (!) from the field, and still almost won - 4th game in 4 days was probably a major factor, but that was a very anomalous game.
Ask me anything you want about our team - and, I promise to take any and all crap, and will never throw back.
What I wrote on our board is that it is really hard to get a good read on a team from a one-bid league that doesn't get the opportunity to play a lot of Q1 and Q2 games. We were confident facing a JMU team last year from one of those leagues, but got beat fairly handily. Your shooting % numbers are enough to scare me. I also looked at where you take your shots from and am impressed that you do well at avoiding midrange shots offensively - sign of a coach paying attention to the analytics. You're not quite as good at preventing teams from getting to the rim, however, allowing 40% of attempts close to the hoop (Wisconsin only allows 28% of opponents shot attempts at the rim and offensively you shoot 43% of your FGAs there - something to watch, anyway)
I didn't understand the OKC paper's comment about our tempo. First of all, we have slightly more possessions per game than you do (i.e. we're faster, but it's practically even). Second, Wisconsin has traditionally been ranked in the 350s for tempo, but made a big change last year and is no longer a slow team. We average over 80 ppg. Weird comment. We had our worst offensive game of the season by far yesterday against Michigan, shooting 22% (!) from the field, and still almost won - 4th game in 4 days was probably a major factor, but that was a very anomalous game.
Ask me anything you want about our team - and, I promise to take any and all crap, and will never throw back.
Thanks for dropping by, Formerly! Always great to have oppo fans on the board. Welcome!
Admittedly I'm not as familiar with Wisconsin as I might be in most years. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you have like 1.7 million teams in your league. In any event, are you as physical as you always seem to be?
Typically Big Sky teams have struggled in the tournament because of the shitty way they officiate in our conference, which has generally been that if you even look at another player, you're whistled for a foul. Then when we get to the Tournament where fouls are only called to allow time for the aid car and stretcher to get onto the court, we get brutalized. This year they've allowed them to play a little more, so I hope we're better prepped for that style, but we are not a big team.
Admittedly I'm not as familiar with Wisconsin as I might be in most years. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you have like 1.7 million teams in your league. In any event, are you as physical as you always seem to be?
Typically Big Sky teams have struggled in the tournament because of the shitty way they officiate in our conference, which has generally been that if you even look at another player, you're whistled for a foul. Then when we get to the Tournament where fouls are only called to allow time for the aid car and stretcher to get onto the court, we get brutalized. This year they've allowed them to play a little more, so I hope we're better prepped for that style, but we are not a big team.
formerlybis
Active member
It's funny that we have the opposite perception - things that get let go in the B10 are called in the tourney. And yes, having 18 teams is a lot to keep track of, even for us.
Defensively, I'd say we are fairly physical, but because (intentionally) we don't gamble on trying to force turnovers or block many shots, we generally commit fewer fouls. One of our coach's goals is to make more FTs than our opponents attempt (just missed out on that for the year, but it's really close). We are excellent at defensive rebounding, too, which limits opponents' second chance opportunities.
Offensively, I think it's a mixed bag from a physicality standpoint. Almost half our shots are 3s, and literally every one of the 9 players in the rotation will take them, including the two 7-footers. However, we also have excellent slashers - particularly Tonje and Blackwell - who draw a lot of contact, and may have gotten (earned) reputations as push-off artists. Crowl (one of the 7-footers) can be physical in the post on offense, but is often double-teamed. He actually leads the team in assists, but teams have been able to neutralize his scoring. The other 7-footer, Winter is more finesse - pretty good rebounder, though
I think your lack of size might be a blessing in disguise, because we might not be able to take advantage of that for defensive reasons. We may only play one big at a time other than at the starts of halves.
That's okay. The GRIZ can count their season offensive rebound totals without taking their shoes off....
Man, your two seven footers scare the bejeezus outta me. I think the GRIZ play bigger than they are, but they can't play that big without a step ladder.
