Griz 60, Cats 62

[WILD_CAT]

Don't even go into race. That is very low to even insinuate that Bozone. That comment is uncalled for. Maybe its you who needs to take a lesson in gracious winning.

No, Strait and Martin do not understand the rivalry, but they will by the time they are juniors.

I am commenting on a Griz board about things I am frustrated about. The Cats played a tough game, won fair and square. I never once said the Cats didn't earn their win, all I said is that I don't like the way that program is heading. It's the first time I've seen them play in person, so I have been able to establish an opinion now. Once again, this is a Griz board. Do not come in and gloat and then call me a poor loser.

Well I'm sorry you didn't like how MSU won the game. I sure did and a lot of other Bobcat fans did as well. Go back to the film and see how many open 3's the Bobcats had (especially first half) and tell me if a guy was within 2-3 feet of him when he shot the ball from outside? Is this one on one game or just bad defense from the Griz? MSU's guards will take the 3 with no hesitation if they do not have a defender in their face. Which is pretty darn good if your shooting 36% from 3 point range in the game eh?

 

[BARN BALL]

Congratulations Wild Cat I hope I can be as gracious in March.

 

[WILD_CAT]

Congratulations Wild Cat I hope I can be as gracious in March.

Read the postings above from Gym Rat and I think you'll see our point I'm not rubbing it in at all? Just setting Gym Rat straight on a few things.

 

[BARN BALL]

Congratulations Wild Cat I hope I can be as gracious in March.

Read the postings above from Gym Rat and I think you'll see our point I'm not rubbing it in at all? Just setting Gym Rat straight on a few things.

Thanks for the clarification. Gym Rat has considerable passion and knowledge of the game and therefore I will allow him to vent some frustration. I too feel his pain. There were a few loose bobcats early and one late and one not so loose late. I would not want to wish that on anybody.

 

[Montana Gym Rat]

Or, maybe it is mostly you that likes to win now. I actually have no expectations for this years Griz team. If I did, the Griz exceeded those expectations by a long shot so far.

I don't have any problem with rebuilding years. They're a part of the system. I feel as though we should have won our last two games. We were coming into conference play looking like a team who could challenge Portland State. We've got a team full of Juniors this year. I would hope that Krysko would be trying to set them up for a strong run next year. In two years, half of the team will be leaving. If the Griz don't win the BSC next year, I think they might have a shot when Martin and Strait are seniors, but there's going to be too many holes to fill the year after Criswell, Seyfert, McKay, Easley, Farr and Matthews are gone.

And WILD_CAT, take your JC team and enjoy them for two years. But when your program hits rock-bottom after they leave, don't say you didn't see it coming. That's what I don't like about MSU. Heck, I'd like to see MSU win every game in the BSC besides two of them. MSU has three guys who account for 75% of their scoring though. You have to have balance, this isn't the NBA. The team concept is leaving college basketball and it hurts to see a great coach abandon his philosophies.

 

[WILD_CAT]

The 5/8 rule was rescinded late last year at the end of the recruiting session if I remember right. So MSU had 2-3 scholarships pop up that they needed to fill. Looks like they filled it pretty nicely I might add as these 3 guys are filling in very nice. Like I said with MSU football, a coach just cannot take a Montana kid for the sake of being a Montana kid and expect to have success if the kid doesn't have the talent. The coaches job is at stake (especially with the yearly contracts). MSU filled their open holes with solid players. I too would like stud 4 year players, but in Montana sometimes it just doesn't work that way if your going to compete in Div 1 basketball. The JC's are meshing with the Montana kids just fine so far and this team should be a POWER team next year as well. Even UM only has 5 MT kids on their roster so the other 8-10 must not have any loyalty or passion for the Cat/Griz tradition either?

But not to beat a dead horse. MSU's bball team is growing leaps and bounds the last 2-3 weeks with their team play. If you saw this team early in the season they are almost 65% different on offense now. Patient/pass pass pass/inside outside game and have cut their TO's to below 9 the last 3 games. You can really see the chemistry starting to form.


http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/01/17/sports/01bobcatsconscience.txt


And Montana Gym Rat - I will say this .. I do like your PASSION for the game. You EXPECT a lot from your team and don't like making excuses for being young/inexperienced etc. I am the same way and thats why I was starting to stoke up the debate on Durham. Like I said on BobcatNation ... sometimes to get the fire HOT ... you have to STOKE the fire. I dont' like 3 point launching type teams either, but Durham is slowly starting to get this team playing inside/outside now that he has some big men back to go to.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

Gym Rat~

You know that I am not a fan of Durham, I am not a fan of bringing in more than a very occasional JC, and ... I think it is pretty arrogant and petty to say that the JC's don't appreciate or care about the Cat-griz rivalry. I agree that they probably don't understand it as deeply as a kid who grew up in Montana does (such as Dissly, etc.), but explain to me how the Montana State JC players understand the rivalry any less than the UM freshman Martin and Strait who you seem to like? Neither of those guys is from Montana. Give them a couple years, and maybe that would be an argument. Is it the fact that Montana State's players are black?

Whatever the case, it just sounds like a case of being a poor loser. POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR grizzlies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BC, do you have a personal feud with MGR or feel the need to play the race card here? You often make good posts here, but this one is bad.
Lets summarize, we have two bobcat fans on e-griz. One criticizes the direction of the MSU program and their style of play, and gets called a racist by another MSU fan.

 

[wbtfg]

Wow...What a great game. Both teams played great defense, and everyone played hard. MSU has been criticized a bit for having a lot of JUCO players who don't know anything about the rivalry in the game, but I think that ended up being beneficial to us. When you look at the people that have been around for a while, and the in state kids the only person on either team that really stepped up was Seifert. Criswell looked like he was lost out there. Dissly didn't look great, Durham was WAY too amped up, Lynch and Durr barely played.

It seemed like the people with less experience with the cat/griz game were the ones who had the biggest impact...sans Seifert.

I think that Krysto had you guys prepared defensively. You guys dominated us on the glass, and for the most part, kept our big guys pretty silent. You guards were really cheating inside, and that really opened up the outside game for us, and are fortunate enough to have some shooters this year.

All in all it was a fun game to watch, and I am excited to see Moss and Davis go at it on the block next game. That should be quite an epic battle. I also think that there was a bit of a rivalry started between Martin and Durham that could be fun to watch for the next 4 years.

I was really impressed with your team, and I think that Krysto has you all headed in the right direction. Straight, Martin, and Dloughy are going to be a great trifecta down the road. Good luck with the remainder of your season....you all are a lot better than your 1-2 conference record.

 

[Montana Gym Rat]

We'll do our best to get a win at PSU, and MSU should give them a run a too. I'm all for getting the tourney in Montana.

 

[BARN BALL]

Responding to WBTFG ABOVE: That was a great game. Coach larry K says that moss and davis are similar in that you do not know where they are going to come from. He says Moss has no real tendancies. It is a good idea to make moss play defense. Lynch had some good oppurtunities and his two good looks did not go was one reason he did not see more Montana time. Criswell knows what is going on out there although I did not see him at his normal level of high intensity on D. Martin is getting a lot more experience than Durham but I did notice that Durham was all over him in front of the Bobcat bench and had it his way and a few minutes later in the same situation in the same spot on the floor Criswell drew a foul on Durham when Criswell created some space with an experienced elbow to the jaw. Martin has been better and I think the ankle was interfering with his shooting although he does have a strange shot. The tall bobcat Beye? (spelling) how is his play if he is not in foul trouble ? Dissly looked pretty effective from where I was setting. Although I watch the games and then look at the stats and wonder what happended. Great Game I Hope the next is as Great with better shooting and more of the same defense also.