Best Case/Worst Case from Pat Forde

[1986cat]

Montana (14)

Best Case: Anthony Johnson, the best individual story in the entire tournament, picks up where he left off in the miraculous Big Sky Conference tournament title game -- scoring every basket. He scored the Grizzlies' final 21 points in the comeback upset of Weber State, and he scores their first 21 against New Mexico. After Johnson threatens during one TV timeout to sue his teammates for lack of support, they step up the rest of the way and the Griz upend the Lobos 72-70. With the help of bracket chaos, Montana then beats Washington to reach the second Sweet Sixteen in school history. Everything after that would be gravy -- and, well, there's nothing after that. But what a ride, huh? Coach and Griz whiz Wayne Tinkle gains nationwide fame -- in part for his surname, which works its way into a "Late Show with David Letterman" monologue.


Worst Case: Johnson's day in the sun is done. New Mexico double-teams him from the minute he walks into the arena, and he can't manage even half the 42 he scored on Weber. The team that lost to Idaho State, Montana State (twice) and Eastern Washington is no match for the Mountain West champions and gets run out of the gym. The result puts a wrinkle in Tinkle's forehead.

 

[putter]

:lol:

 

[stubbins]

Montana (14)

Best Case: Anthony Johnson, the best individual story in the entire tournament, picks up where he left off in the miraculous Big Sky Conference tournament title game -- scoring every basket. He scored the Grizzlies' final 21 points in the comeback upset of Weber State, and he scores their first 21 against New Mexico. After Johnson threatens during one TV timeout to sue his teammates for lack of support, they step up the rest of the way and the Griz upend the Lobos 72-70. With the help of bracket chaos, Montana then beats Washington to reach the second Sweet Sixteen in school history. Everything after that would be gravy -- and, well, there's nothing after that. But what a ride, huh? Coach and Griz whiz Wayne Tinkle gains nationwide fame -- in part for his surname, which works its way into a "Late Show with David Letterman" monologue.


Worst Case: Johnson's day in the sun is done. New Mexico double-teams him from the minute he walks into the arena, and he can't manage even half the 42 he scored on Weber. The team that lost to Idaho State, Montana State (twice) and Eastern Washington is no match for the Mountain West champions and gets run out of the gym. The result puts a wrinkle in Tinkle's forehead.

Pat Forde is a douche...not because of this article, this is fairly accurate, he's just a douche to read and listen to.

 

[General Disarray]

Obviously the best case scenario and worst case scenario are pretty much true, but his attempt at comedy and recipe for Griz success is pretty weak. If you look at how the Griz matched up with Washington, who I think are similar to UMN in their personnel (no real big men, went with a lot of 3-guard sets, wings, etc) Montana used smothering zone defense and absolutely should have won the game until the refs started calling fouls on the Griz for looking at a Husky player wrong. Anthony Johnson only had 10 points in that game while Cherry and Qvale led the way with 15 and 13 respectively.

Here's commentary from Poindexter:
"They did a good job of not letting catches get in the middle and when we got in the middle they did a good job of collapsing," Pondexter said of Montana's 2-3 zone. "They really tried to force us to shoot outside shots. They were just really solid in everything that they did on the defensive end of the floor. It was hard for us to get cracks at the rim sometime."

and Romar:
"[Montana] just packed it in. I mean, really packed it in unlike any zone we've ever played against,"

I think a zone defense, when run really well, does a good job at neuralizing talent/athleticism advantages. If the Griz play the best defense they can play and Johnson goes over 30, they can beat almost anyone in the field. :twocents:

 

[1986cat]

Obviously the best case scenario and worst case scenario are pretty much true, but his attempt at comedy and recipe for Griz success is pretty weak. If you look at how the Griz matched up with Washington, who I think are similar to UMN in their personnel (no real big men, went with a lot of 3-guard sets, wings, etc) Montana used smothering zone defense and absolutely should have won the game until the refs started calling fouls on the Griz for looking at a Husky player wrong. Anthony Johnson only had 10 points in that game while Cherry and Qvale led the way with 15 and 13 respectively.

Here's commentary from Poindexter:
"They did a good job of not letting catches get in the middle and when we got in the middle they did a good job of collapsing," Pondexter said of Montana's 2-3 zone. "They really tried to force us to shoot outside shots. They were just really solid in everything that they did on the defensive end of the floor. It was hard for us to get cracks at the rim sometime."

and Romar:
"[Montana] just packed it in. I mean, really packed it in unlike any zone we've ever played against,"

I think a zone defense, when run really well, does a good job at neuralizing talent/athleticism advantages. If the Griz play the best defense they can play and Johnson goes over 30, they can beat almost anyone in the field. :twocents:

Washington was, and still is, one of the most overrated teams in the entire country. Lorenzo was sugarcoating the scraper of a win because he knew that the favored team in the Pac-10 couldn't justify a competitive game with a Big Sky team without it. Seriously, I would have enjoyed a Washington loss, but they ended up losing to about every team in the Pac 10 at least once along the way to their tourney title.

Close to, but not victories don't count as wins. They are still losses. Montana lost to some bad teams this year, and it wasn't once or twice. They did it consistently. And, let's not forget that but for Johnson in the Weber game setting a new conference record, the Griz would not be here in the first place. No other Griz player did anything of note in that game. If you don't think Steve Alford recognizes this and won't lock him down, you are kidding yourself. Nobody else on Montana's team is good enough to take over a game, especially against a 3 seed who dominated Big-12 teams and its own conference.

 

[General Disarray]

Obviously the best case scenario and worst case scenario are pretty much true, but his attempt at comedy and recipe for Griz success is pretty weak. If you look at how the Griz matched up with Washington, who I think are similar to UMN in their personnel (no real big men, went with a lot of 3-guard sets, wings, etc) Montana used smothering zone defense and absolutely should have won the game until the refs started calling fouls on the Griz for looking at a Husky player wrong. Anthony Johnson only had 10 points in that game while Cherry and Qvale led the way with 15 and 13 respectively.

Here's commentary from Poindexter:
"They did a good job of not letting catches get in the middle and when we got in the middle they did a good job of collapsing," Pondexter said of Montana's 2-3 zone. "They really tried to force us to shoot outside shots. They were just really solid in everything that they did on the defensive end of the floor. It was hard for us to get cracks at the rim sometime."

and Romar:
"[Montana] just packed it in. I mean, really packed it in unlike any zone we've ever played against,"

I think a zone defense, when run really well, does a good job at neuralizing talent/athleticism advantages. If the Griz play the best defense they can play and Johnson goes over 30, they can beat almost anyone in the field. :twocents:

Washington was, and still is, one of the most overrated teams in the entire country. Lorenzo was sugarcoating the scraper of a win because he knew that the favored team in the Pac-10 couldn't justify a competitive game with a Big Sky team without it. Seriously, I would have enjoyed a Washington loss, but they ended up losing to about every team in the Pac 10 at least once along the way to their tourney title.

Close to, but not victories don't count as wins. They are still losses. Montana lost to some bad teams this year, and it wasn't once or twice. They did it consistently. And, let's not forget that but for Johnson in the Weber game setting a new conference record, the Griz would not be here in the first place. No other Griz player did anything of note in that game. If you don't think Steve Alford recognizes this and won't lock him down, you are kidding yourself. Nobody else on Montana's team is good enough to take over a game, especially against a 3 seed who dominated Big-12 teams and its own conference.

Close to, but not losses, don't count as losses. They are still wins.

Why is it that the national champions always end up having 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 losses at the end of the season? Is it because sometimes the better team doesn't win each game? Maybe some teams step up their level of play when there is a lot on the line? I don't know, you've probably got an answer for me. I thought we were talking about amatuer athletics where there are a lot of variables at play, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[mtgrizrule]

What nobody else did anything against Weber State? That is absurd and so off base.

(1) Selvig scores in double digits, creates a few turnovers,blocks/influences a few shots, and adds 6 to 8 rebounds (very good numbers).

(2) Qvale had 14 rebounds and 6 BLOCKS. That is what every team needs from the starting center. Those are not easy stats to get.

(3) Everyone defended their ass off, and contested every shot.

Without these elements, despite AJ's 42 points, we lose. There is more to basketball than lighting up the scoreboard.