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FYI Basketball update

M

mtgrizrule

Well-known member
Being basketball practices just got under way, here is some of what I have heard from a few flies on the wall.

I mentioned earlier, I was concerned about early season cohesiveness with breaking in new players. I hear, overall the team has been surprisingly cohesive so far. That is always a good sign for a coaching staff. I also hear it is a shame we cannot use Breunig this season. Apparently he is a great rebounder, and Andrew Strait like effective in his post scoring, but more range. I hear Kemp is expected to be a main piece to post scoring. He is also very strong and agile. He will be an improvement for us from last season. The one criticism I am hearing of him, he at times gets to cute with leans and fades sometimes in the paint. He needs to be more consistent going straight up, and using his strength more. Expect to see Weisner to contribute most his minutes from the 4, his rebounding is getting better too.

I am trying to get some feedback on Hutchison and/or Martin. All I have heard is both improved in the offseason, but have yet to get anyone to tell me how they are looking in practice. I was told, practicing against Breunig is making each step it up a lot in practices and soon to be scrimmages. So that is a good sign.

So far Deshields, Gregory, and Jamar have embraced their new roles since last season. Deshields is expected to create more scoring opportunities for his teammates this season. Meaning break down the defense in the paint and find open scorers. He can still score, but not his 1st priority. Gregory has busted ass again in the off season, added about 10 lbs of muscle. He is setting the tone for attitude, and hustle for rest the players. He is also picking up some of Cherry's tenacity and being more vocal. Basically, being the leader of the team along with Jamar. Speaking of Jamar, he has added some arsenal to his scoring prowess. Guess he has feather soft semi hook, floater, and runner that is money. He has also taken on a more verbal role when a voice is needed by the players. This is apparently "his" team this year, with Gregory and Deshields being 2A and 2B in command.

I was told Emerson has spent a lot of time in the weight room. Physically he is much stronger, better shape,, and more athletic. How that translates on the floor? Only time will tell. Dunn is making typical freshman mistakes and having difficulty adjusting to the faster and rougher style of college ball. However, he is very confident offensively, but needs to learn to distribute better within the offense. He is likely forcing some shots and turnovers, which is expected for a true Freshman guard. Likely he will start out in a limited role, and gradually have minutes increased as the season progresses. He is tough as nails on defense though, and by far the best leaper on the team. Athletically he stacks up with any guard he will face. I guess the Aussie, Jack Lopes (sp?) has had a few unfortunate minor injuries holding his development back some. A few people have told me, Riley Bradshaw is hard to get a read on far early in the season. One time he looks like he is one the top players on the team, the next he struggles to justify a lot of time. He is struggling being consistent, and surprisingly soft at times. I hope Riley finds his consistency. I cannot recall that every being an issue when he played in HS. Likely to be an adjustment for him to find his consistency.

Now for the most pleasant surprise this season. Apparent Gfeller is making it hard for the staff to redshirt him this year. He is intense in practice. He is already earning the expectation of taking and hitting big perimeter shots when needed. He is also very lean, athletic, and heady. He will not be a defensive liability either. The kid apparently is this year's diamond in the rough. Physically, a few people told me, based on early practices, he is most likely to be the GRIZ next superstar after Jamar and Gregory move on.

There is one piece of information I am leaving out. I will let another egrizzer break out that piece of information. Sorry, I am not going to be the one to post it here. I hope to get more updates before the season starts. I honestly don't know when my updates will come in, but this is what I have heard to date, minus the one piece of information I am leaving out. By the way, save the rumor mill of it being something bad. It has nothing to do with legal issues or bad grades. :thumb:
 
Thanks for the info Grizrule!

I was glad to hear that Deshields is looking to distribute more. I think that is one of the big keys for this team. We need him to be smart and to run the offense first and look to score only as a second option. If he trusts his teammates, plays within the offense and doesn't force up a bunch of b.s. shots, he will be a stud this year.

The stuff on Dunn and Bradshaw isn't to big of a surprise. The point guard spot is the most important position on the floor and the toughest to play properly, so turning it over to a freshman is always a little worrisome for me. Both have big upside and will have very good careers but we (myself included) may have been overestimating how much they will play and contribute this year. With Jamar being able to play PG very effectively, it is going to be a better option to have Emerson or maybe Gfeller come in and play the 3 and move Kareem over to the 1.

In the spring I was skeptical of bringing in a transfer. In part because I don't like how it can leave you short handed while we wait for him to become eligible, but I have to say I am getting excited about Bruenig. Everything we hear is very positive and he looks the part. He looks like a NFL tight-end! With any luck we won't lose any of our front-court guys and my fears will be baseless.

Just 10 days until the maroon and silver scrimmage and two week until the first game!
 
I did not get any practice report on Wiley. I do know he busted butt this summer in the weight room and improved his game a lot.
 
all the above translates into this:

wait till next year!

here's why.

breunig does not play this year. helpful in practise, no games.

gfeller and dunn: true freshmen. so: erratic at best.

kemp: jaycee guy. ya never know. i prefer guys who've come up within the tinks system.

martin, wiley, bradshaw: essentially redshirt freshmen. total college minutes played among all three last year: 291, mostly by martin. three guys we need, all inexperienced.

hutchison, gregory, deshields, jamar, weisner. our "core," the experienced veterans we're counting on. jamar: all-american calibre, good. but hutch, not a scorer. gregory, love him, love his grit, his game, but questionable at the point. weisner, role player. deshields, wildly inconsistent. think back to when our core group included cherry, qvale and selvig. does this group even remotely compare?

we'll miss jamar next year, but we'll be big, talented and experienced up front, and solid in the back line with dunn, bradshaw, gregory, deshields and gfeller.

too many potholes on the road to a three-peat in my opinion. it will take some huge contributions from the young-uns plus the jaycee transfer, and you should never count on that in college basketball--unless you're kentucky or kansas.
 
citay said:
all the above translates into this:

wait till next year!

here's why.

breunig does not play this year. helpful in practise, no games.

gfeller and dunn: true freshmen. so: erratic at best.

kemp: jaycee guy. ya never know. i prefer guys who've come up within the tinks system.

martin, wiley, bradshaw: essentially redshirt freshmen. total college minutes played among all three last year: 291, mostly by martin. three guys we need, all inexperienced.

hutchison, gregory, deshields, jamar, weisner. our "core," the experienced veterans we're counting on. jamar: all-american calibre, good. but hutch, not a scorer. gregory, love him, love his grit, his game, but questionable at the point. weisner, role player. deshields, wildly inconsistent. think back to when our core group included cherry, qvale and selvig. does this group even remotely compare?

we'll miss jamar next year, but we'll be big, talented and experienced up front, and solid in the back line with dunn, bradshaw, gregory, deshields and gfeller.

too many potholes on the road to a three-peat in my opinion. it will take some huge contributions from the young-uns plus the jaycee transfer, and you should never count on that in college basketball--unless you're kentucky or kansas.
Click to expand...

Understandable to think this. I do hope you are wrong. Record wise, I expect a drop off. There is no way any team can keep up the conference pace the GRIZ had the last 2 seasons. Add into this, ND and UNC has everyone returning on their teams. I have a feeling those 2 teams will be giving the GRIZ and Weber State all they can handle this season. I can see the conference winner having 4 or 5 losses this season. I am extremely high on UND this season. Also MSU, NAU, EWU, PSU, and ISU should all be better this season. Rest of the conference I'm not sure about. Southern Utah lost a lot of talent after last season. Not really sure how good their replacements are.

I think it will be a very competitive league this season. In an effort somewhat dissuade Citay's post, I hear the improvement in Jamar and Gregory is very noticeable. With Jamar's commitment to new scoring moves, he will be unstoppable for any one defense to stop this season. Gregory won't be seeing much time at PG this season. Deshields is ready to be the man at PG, and well aware of his role this season. He has embraced it ,which is good. Jamar is another PG on the floor anyway. Come conference play, Dunn and Bradshaw will be able to run the PG spot too. Gregory will be the 2nd scoring option, and depending on match ups, be the 1st scoring option much more often this season.

I expect Jamar to hover between 18 and 20 ppg this season. It can be more, if he is asked to do it. He is that damn good offensively. Gregory should be 12 to 15 ppg. It will be a good sign, if Jamar and Deshields can combine for 10 plus assists per game.

If Gfeller continues to make the impact he has so far, don't be surprised to see him get rotational minutes.
 
couldn't we redshirt dunn and gfeller?

every year, some young guy shows promise, so we burn his redshirt year. only to find the kid has difficulty adjusting to college life, the speed and rigors of the college game. he winds up hurt or standing around the perimiter of the huddle, guaging the size of the crowd.

what did we get from qvale as a true freshman? (foul-prone, then hurt). didn't it take gregory a year to adjust to the college game?

what did it gain us last year playing wiley? even martin? how good would any of these guys have been as fifth-year seniors, versus the wasted year as true freshmen? jamar was the exception, but most of the kids at the level that montana recruits could always use an extra year.

i don't get it. but--one and done.
 
astutegriz said:
How is Wiley looking?
Click to expand...


Now that it is official, here is why there was no comment on Wiley, and the one piece of information I did not tell before. He's no longer a GRIZ. Losing him sucks. He is a great kid, student, and player. I'm glad this came out now. I did not like holding up back the information.

http://missoulian.com/sports/college/montana/mens-basketball/wiley-quits-griz-basketball-team/article_7be44034-33b8-11e3-9d48-0019bb2963f4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
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