spent the holiday sky-high on cross-country horizontal elevator rides, the while we were playing duke (outbound) and the lady griz were going up against maryland (homebound.) in-flight-video is about as flaky as big sky tv, but i was able to get lowlights of the duke game while they refused to show even a score of the lady griz v. a top-ten women's team. oh, well, ladies, chivalry or equality when it comes to sports, i guess you're used to that, no?
on returning i see my detractors forming into an ugly mob in the street below, strengthened now by the formidably bright and articulate argh! on bullhorn. i admit i'm running a little low on cake, but here's what's left:
1.) i too have been preaching defense defense field-goal-percentage-defense for as long as i've been on this board, but it's as weak now as jud heathcote, whose frail visage was shown on tv last night during the gonzaga-oklahoma state game. jud brought defense to montana, and with it the start of our glory years, and while it thrives on the women's side (well, selvig did play for jud), it seems to have gone through a genetic mutation on the men's side. in fairness, many teams, even gonzaga, which recently has suffered as many first-round tournament kayos as our football team, fail to play defense, so it apparently is not an easy thing to teach. but i do know this--no mid-major like montana will ever amount to anything unless it plays defense, period, and this is a source of major frustration to me as well as many others on this board.
2.) but when it comes to recruiting, i can tell you, the past two classes, tinkle has really upped the ante at montana. ward, woods, digs and now cherry were remarkable gets for us, and not one will see the court till next year. if you'd told me last spring, when i watched cherry go for 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the major-division california high championship game that we'd get a kid of this caliber, i would have thought it impossible. and let's not forget: we may be a collegiate program, but we're still competing for the entertainment dollar. we need to win, yes, but we also need some stars, somebody to draw fans, and cherry and woods (who also played in the championship game) are kids of that caliber.
3.) the season seems lost so far, but that may be more a result of frustrated expectations than actual results. mcgillis is good but not the great player we thought, johnson is slowly adjusting to the higher level of competition, and while everybody here was disappointed with the colorado state and utah valley games, we probably weren't destined to win either game on the road, especially since utah valley was hot that night. and duke? well, coach k's team was tired and lacking their starting point guard, but even at that, to play them even the second half was pretty good. i thought that game might get ugly, but it didn't. this is a tough non-conference schedule, and there's little relief ahead, as santa clara is rebuilding under an excellent young coach to compete with gonzaga (and brings in a mountain-man of a center who has pro potential) while washington and fresno state loom on the road. there are no gimmes out there, but we should be in good shape for the conference.
still, i have yet to see this team play (in portland, dec. 20.) that's when i'll confront the brutal reality of this season. till then, i'll keep chucking my dwindling supply of cake atcha out the window.
on returning i see my detractors forming into an ugly mob in the street below, strengthened now by the formidably bright and articulate argh! on bullhorn. i admit i'm running a little low on cake, but here's what's left:
1.) i too have been preaching defense defense field-goal-percentage-defense for as long as i've been on this board, but it's as weak now as jud heathcote, whose frail visage was shown on tv last night during the gonzaga-oklahoma state game. jud brought defense to montana, and with it the start of our glory years, and while it thrives on the women's side (well, selvig did play for jud), it seems to have gone through a genetic mutation on the men's side. in fairness, many teams, even gonzaga, which recently has suffered as many first-round tournament kayos as our football team, fail to play defense, so it apparently is not an easy thing to teach. but i do know this--no mid-major like montana will ever amount to anything unless it plays defense, period, and this is a source of major frustration to me as well as many others on this board.
2.) but when it comes to recruiting, i can tell you, the past two classes, tinkle has really upped the ante at montana. ward, woods, digs and now cherry were remarkable gets for us, and not one will see the court till next year. if you'd told me last spring, when i watched cherry go for 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the major-division california high championship game that we'd get a kid of this caliber, i would have thought it impossible. and let's not forget: we may be a collegiate program, but we're still competing for the entertainment dollar. we need to win, yes, but we also need some stars, somebody to draw fans, and cherry and woods (who also played in the championship game) are kids of that caliber.
3.) the season seems lost so far, but that may be more a result of frustrated expectations than actual results. mcgillis is good but not the great player we thought, johnson is slowly adjusting to the higher level of competition, and while everybody here was disappointed with the colorado state and utah valley games, we probably weren't destined to win either game on the road, especially since utah valley was hot that night. and duke? well, coach k's team was tired and lacking their starting point guard, but even at that, to play them even the second half was pretty good. i thought that game might get ugly, but it didn't. this is a tough non-conference schedule, and there's little relief ahead, as santa clara is rebuilding under an excellent young coach to compete with gonzaga (and brings in a mountain-man of a center who has pro potential) while washington and fresno state loom on the road. there are no gimmes out there, but we should be in good shape for the conference.
still, i have yet to see this team play (in portland, dec. 20.) that's when i'll confront the brutal reality of this season. till then, i'll keep chucking my dwindling supply of cake atcha out the window.
