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Bzman Newspaper - Griz smoke Cats

Proud Griz Man

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MISSOULA — Nothing seemed to change Saturday evening.

Four weeks since a soul-crushing home loss in which Montana State head coach Brian Fish described his team’s shooting performance as demoralizing, the Bobcats still haven’t responded.
Against an in-state rival that’s terrorized the Bobcats for years, MSU crumbled and Fish struggled to find an explanation after his team’s 90-63 loss. “For whatever reason,” Fish said, “we couldn’t stick the ball in the hole tonight.”

The Grizzlies hedged hard on ball screens to limit leading scorers Tyler Hall and Harald Frey to a combined 25 points. They allowed eight assists. They anticipated plays, constantly contested shots and forced 16 turnovers. Fish again said his team took good shots. His players again missed too often. The Bobcats (13-16, 6-10 Big Sky) again lost, for the 10th time in their past 12 games.

. . . It wasn’t enough against the league-leading Grizzlies (21-7, 14-2) in front of 7,256 at Dahlberg Arena. Though this contest broke the tie in the all-time series, putting UM up 149-148, it’s been one-sided in recent memory. Save for a home win last season, the Grizzlies have won every time since 2011.
A month ago, UM sought revenge and accomplished the task with a 15-point thrashing. The Grizzlies dominated by racking up 40 points in the paint. UM clinically broke down the Bobcats inside and on the other end by guarding aggressively. MSU missed 20 of 24 field goal attempts in the second half, its worst offensive half of the season.

The same happened this time. MSU scored 21 in the opening half, its third fewest points in a half this season, and resembled the team that put up 19 in the second half the last time these two played. The Bobcats shot 25 percent and hit only one 3-pointer.
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/bobcats/mens-basketball/montana-smokes-msu-men-again/article_4c6c7506-84e2-58f1-aa60-d8747ff73652.html
 
Looks to me like they took kittynation.com down for a while to let people cool off. They have threatened to do this before so maybe they did this time. You can ping the name but no access...

Maybe they are just having problems with the web site as well as the BB team....
 
VictorG said:
Looks to me like they took kittynation.com down for a while to let people cool off. They have threatened to do this before so maybe they did this time. You can ping the name but no access...

Maybe they are just having problems with the web site as well as the BB team....
I went over the see the dumpster fire and saw that it was down :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Thanks for posting the Chronicle story Proud Griz Man. Not only an accurate story describing the way the game unfolded... but an unflinching picture of the Bobcats' almost total collapse since the Griz beat them in Bozeman. Can't overlook that this is the first time Montana has ever led this series. I remember... sometime in high school (1960s) reading that the Bobcats led the series by over 30 games total (38 I think). So, what fun to be able to relish the victory that finally flipped the ledger. Thought I'd add a couple of graphs in the Chronicle story that described the game's turning point. From the Chronicle:

"Keljin Blevins posted up with three minutes remaining (in the half) and dished a pass toward the top of the key directly into Timmy Falls’ hands. Blevins immediately dropped his head and stood in place. Falls sped down court and Blevins could only trail behind — like the Bobcats did all night.
Falls finished the possession with a layup and drew a foul that triggered a media timeout. He sauntered to the Grizzlies’ sideline and later swished the ensuing free throw. The sequence helped spark a 16-2 run entering the break to put UM up 16."

What wasn't described was a second half where the Cats simply could not stop Montana's dribble-enter passing game, dominated by Rorie, Oguine, Pridgett, Falls... and even Lars Espe, with his capping assist to Admir Besovic for the game's final bucket.
 
and their coach throws his players under the bus... (once again) by basically saying i put them in a position to be open and knock down shots, the players just couldn't get it done. I hope he sticks around in Bozeman for a long time... let Montana extend their new all-time advantage.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/-IMP8l175So/[/youtube]
 
grizzlyjournal said:
Can't overlook that this is the first time Montana has ever led this series. I remember... sometime in high school (1960s) reading that the Bobcats led the series by over 30 games total (38 I think). So, what fun to be able to relish the victory that finally flipped the ledger.

Great Post GJ. Excellent point on the historical ledger flip. :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
The Cats seemed to be giving up fairly early in the second half. Think Hall had only 1 bucket until late in the game, when he got a bunch of free throws and then one late bucket (39 seconds). Moorehead shuts him down. When Moorehead went out in first half with 2 fouls, I was concerned, but then Rorie shut him down.

The refs were awful at times. Akoh got screwed multiple times, and the last foul when the Cat player fell down far from Akoh was one of the worst calls I have ever seen. And led to a techical. Liked how one ref had to ask Maes to have the video guys to quit showing the replay on the video, as the crowed yelled and yelled and booed. When one of both refs see a completely blown call, why don't they huddle with the person who missed the call, and overrule it. Everyone in the gym seemed to see what happened, and the video confirmed it, why oh why can't refs undo the call. And then they compound their mistake by call ing a technical.
 
kittynation was up a while ago but back down again....While it was up I saw one post that basically said if you have nothing good to say................
 
And the post saying that if you have nothing to say . . . . . comes from perhaps MSU basketball's most knowledgeable and persistent fan - Mslacat. He has always had great insight regarding the MSU program and its recruiting. Much as I hate to say it, I don't enjoy watching such a classy fan taking such a beating.

It was clear to me that UM has better talent and much better depth. But the real shocker was how totally out-coached the MSU women were. There must be something going on behind the scenes to have the MSU women suddenly collapse - and, with no injuries that I know about. Actually, the big injury loss was to the Griz with Sophia Stiles missing.

But, have you ever seen a point guard run the team as confidently as McKenzie Johnson? And, she is only a Sophomore. Earlier in the season, I thought the women lacked talent but I have to eat my words. And, next year the Cats lose the two best players on their women's team.
 
I don't visit bcn, but will agree that Mslacat is a top quality poster. Unfortunately I think he may have gotten chased away from eGriz, which is shame 'cause the dude knows college BB. But I have little doubt he's frustrated with the...ahhh, "progress"(?) being made in bozo.
 
717s7e said:
It was clear to me that UM has better talent and much better depth.

I'm assuming you are referring to the Men here? I actually walked away from the Men's game thinking that individually, the Bobcats have some pretty dang good players. Hall, Frey and Blevins are easily one of the most talented trio's in the conference. I can see where the Cat's aren't super deep, but there are some decent roll players in addition to your big three. I think the Cats meet the eye test for having a pretty good team. Obviously the coaches and media felt the same way in the pre-season.

Talent and depth aren't enough to explain the Bobcats' struggles. With players leaving the team, and the team under performing, there is more to the story.

I agree that the Lady Cats' season has been a real head scratcher.
 
EverettGriz said:
I don't visit bcn, but will agree that Mslacat is a top quality poster. Unfortunately I think he may have gotten chased away from eGriz, which is shame 'cause the dude knows college BB. But I have little doubt he's frustrated with the...ahhh, "progress"(?) being made in bozo.

He's been pretty critical of Coach Fish all year, he may be getting chased away from BCN as well. I'd happily welcome him back to egriz. The dude knows basketball and has a ton of recruiting information for the Cats and the Griz. He's a solid poster for sure.
 
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