grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
New head coach Travis DeCuire started his inaugural season at Montana with a thin roster. Before trimming it to 11 after redshirting two freshmen. That's an uphill trek to start with.
Nonetheless, DeCuire's Griz raised some eyebrows early with some heady play, despite playing one of the 25 toughest schedules in Div 1 basketball. Then senior wing Michael Weisner and team scoring leader, junior power forward Martin Breunig went down in early December with serious ankle injuries.
But it wasn't until talented sophomore wing Jermaine Edmonds was declared ineligible (academics) that the uphill grind got a lot steeper. Until we find out if Weisner and Breunig are healed up enough to play, that leaves only senior combo guard Jordan Gregory, senior reserve forward Chris Kemp and SIX underclassmen who will suit up for tonight's conference tipoff against Northern Colorado.
It all means, bluntly... that a large measure of any Montana success in Big Sky play will rest on the shoulders of sophomores Mario Dunn, Riley Bradshaw, Brandon Gfeller, Jack Lopez and Daniel Nwosu... and true freshman Fabijan Krslovic.
Someone, more likely all of them, will have to step up for the Griz to compete for tourney seeding.
It's of interest that many observors believe the Griz will do just that. That's partly because -- with the lone exception of a solid Eastern Washington team -- the rest of the Big Sky teams have been as up and down as yo yos. Pre-season co-favorite Weber State has struggled on offense, while early frontrunners Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, have had inconsistent showings.
Jon over at Big Sky Basketball http://www.bigskybball.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has his Big Sky power ranking up (see link).
And the pre-conference rankings at KenPom have the Griz still ranked fourth... pretty high despite Montana's loss to South Dakota. Here are KenPom's rankings and predictions for the first night of Big Sky Conference play (most likely absent the recent info regarding the Griz):
1. Eastern Washington over Weber State (by 11)
2. Sacramento State over Northern Arizona (by 4)
3. Weber State, loss @ EWU
4. Montana over Northern Colorado (by 5)
5. Idaho over Idaho State (by 8)
6. Northern Arizona, loss @ Sacramento State
7. Northern Colorado, loss @ Montana
8. Portland State over Southern Utah (by 11)
9. Idaho State, loss @ Idaho
10. Montana State over North Dakota (by 5)
11. North Dakota, loss @ MSU
12. Sousthern Utah, loss @ PSU
An opening night win would be good for Montana in many ways. But it will be tough to make it happen -- even if Weisner and Breunig play -- unless the Griz underclassers... all of em' ... show up ready to compete.
NOTE: For those of you too young to know, Montana's junior varsity teams of the sixties and seventies were called the Montana Cubs.
Nonetheless, DeCuire's Griz raised some eyebrows early with some heady play, despite playing one of the 25 toughest schedules in Div 1 basketball. Then senior wing Michael Weisner and team scoring leader, junior power forward Martin Breunig went down in early December with serious ankle injuries.
But it wasn't until talented sophomore wing Jermaine Edmonds was declared ineligible (academics) that the uphill grind got a lot steeper. Until we find out if Weisner and Breunig are healed up enough to play, that leaves only senior combo guard Jordan Gregory, senior reserve forward Chris Kemp and SIX underclassmen who will suit up for tonight's conference tipoff against Northern Colorado.
It all means, bluntly... that a large measure of any Montana success in Big Sky play will rest on the shoulders of sophomores Mario Dunn, Riley Bradshaw, Brandon Gfeller, Jack Lopez and Daniel Nwosu... and true freshman Fabijan Krslovic.
Someone, more likely all of them, will have to step up for the Griz to compete for tourney seeding.
It's of interest that many observors believe the Griz will do just that. That's partly because -- with the lone exception of a solid Eastern Washington team -- the rest of the Big Sky teams have been as up and down as yo yos. Pre-season co-favorite Weber State has struggled on offense, while early frontrunners Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, have had inconsistent showings.
Jon over at Big Sky Basketball http://www.bigskybball.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has his Big Sky power ranking up (see link).
And the pre-conference rankings at KenPom have the Griz still ranked fourth... pretty high despite Montana's loss to South Dakota. Here are KenPom's rankings and predictions for the first night of Big Sky Conference play (most likely absent the recent info regarding the Griz):
1. Eastern Washington over Weber State (by 11)
2. Sacramento State over Northern Arizona (by 4)
3. Weber State, loss @ EWU
4. Montana over Northern Colorado (by 5)
5. Idaho over Idaho State (by 8)
6. Northern Arizona, loss @ Sacramento State
7. Northern Colorado, loss @ Montana
8. Portland State over Southern Utah (by 11)
9. Idaho State, loss @ Idaho
10. Montana State over North Dakota (by 5)
11. North Dakota, loss @ MSU
12. Sousthern Utah, loss @ PSU
An opening night win would be good for Montana in many ways. But it will be tough to make it happen -- even if Weisner and Breunig play -- unless the Griz underclassers... all of em' ... show up ready to compete.
NOTE: For those of you too young to know, Montana's junior varsity teams of the sixties and seventies were called the Montana Cubs.
