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Griz 61, Tigers 69

TrueGriz

TrueGriz

Well-known member
Griz looked just horrible against a terrible team.

Really not much to say, but they were not ready to play today at all.

Was it finals week?

Was it the tough schedule, causing the players to lose all confidence in themselves?

Was it because there are not enough weapons on this team and opponents are better able to stop us easier?

Or is Kennedy a total loss at coaching this team?

Or, is it because the Griz do not have a point guard?


As of now, I would have to say that the above questions covers a good bit on why the players played so lousy this game. And this game was against a patsy. Now, they have to pack the bags and play a tough game on the road this Sunday against Southern Illinois and then come right back home and play Northridge again two days after Christmas, and then continuing onto UNLV, Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, and Portland State.

I just do not see the Griz winning a game for quite sometime. The confidence of the Griz will be so shot, they may be lucky to even be able to make the Conference Tournament. These players are lost.

I have to say right now, I am so glad that Kennedy doesn't do the scheduling of the football games.

I think Kennedy should look and see how Robin Selvig schedules the Lady Griz games. Robin schedules some patsies in between the tough games.

But, the Griz have played so many games that were better than the Griz, that by time they met up with a patsy, they were so burned out, and totally lost that they couldn't beat a patsy like Jackson State.

And this game just cannot help the Griz confidence wise. Kennedy has one tough task ahead of him. I just do not know if I would want his job. And if this continues, many fans will not want him to have this job. And I think the way they will voice this opinion is by not showing up to the games, causing further erosion in the attendance of men's basketball.

And what agonizes me more is this team showed promise. But maybe that promise was mostly due to two players. Every team in the world must know that to beat the Griz, just double team Kamaar Davis and play rough with Criswell. There isn't anybody else that is good enough to be a consistent threat every game. And plus, they all know the Griz do not have a point guard, so press hard.
 
Even I'm at a complete loss as to what happened tonight. One thing I did notice though was that during the first 10 min, every time we tried to go inside we got triple teamed and usually just blasted by their defense. And the refs didn't call hardly anything on them inside during that time period. Our guys were getting beaten up in there, especially when they were going in from the right side of the basket. I could see it from where I was sitting I was just to the left of the basket in the 2nd row) but aparently the refs couldn't see if from where they were on the floor.

The really sad thing about this game is that I think their bench was louder than the entire stadium. I still can't figure out why the students aren't getting into the game, standing up and cheering. With the exception of the band, and two or three other people (usually me and my friend Noah) the student section is pretty silent. Its ridiculous. I've tried getting people to cheer and they just look at me like I'm crazy. If I try standing up people yell at me to sit down. Aparently what works at football games doesn't work for basketball but I have no clue why...maybe because we aren't all drunk.
 
The final score was actually 71-64. Our free throw shooting was bad (.680%) and we got horribly out rebounded 45-30 with 31 of theirs on defense. They only made 2 more baskets than we did...but they made 7 more free throws (which is equal to the final margin). On the bright side, our three point percentage was much improved over the last game (7-22 compared to 1-16) and we actually had fewer turnovers (20) than they did (21). Another interesting thing that's not necessarily good is that Booker and Venters combined for nearly as many points off the bench (24) as all 5 of our starters (29).
 
I pretty much agree with everything True said, excep the scheduling. I don't think we played that many tough team so far, with Auburn the exception. All the rest of the games could have been wins.

I do want to point out some positives from the game:
1) The parking situation seems to be fixed.
2) Monte hit a behind the back 1/2 court shot, and he was much closer on the rest of his shots than the Griz were from the field.
3) The cheerleading and dance squads gave a good performance.
4) IMO that was the best reffed (is that a word?) game i have seen all year - GrizGirl it was rough underneath, but I think they called it pretty even for the most part, and in fact JS had 2 players foul out and 2 more with 4 fouls.
5) I thought Ventors played his A$$ off, really hustled, and had a good game.
6) I thought Matt Dlouhy played well, and still has his shooting touch. He was open several mor times, but nobody would pass to him.
7) Seyfert showed improvement.
8) The entire BSC is terrible right now. WSU looks to be the only team that is medicore right now. I thonestly wouldn't surpise me if our conference champion has to play in the play-in game to get in the dance. But since the conference is terrible we coudl still win more 7 - 10 games this year. I agree with True we don't look good for making the tourney at this point.

The bad - well there is too much too list, and too depressing. This team is probable the most talented in a long tme, but right now they are the worst Griz team I have ever seen.

I stick by what I posted yesterday - it is time to look towards the future. I think one of the main problems is that these guys don't play as a team. Part of that is the number of JC players and transfers. IF we don't get more young players started now, Kennedy will be forced to get more JC transfers, and this ugly cycle will continue.

I think right now you go to a starting linup of Dlouhy, Seyfert, McKay, Lynch, and Easley. When Criswell gets his head problems worked out and can shoot and pass again put him in in place of Easley.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think these guys are the best on the team, or better than the starting line-up we have now, but they do have 3 years they can play together. Sure, we would lose by 30 - 40 points instead of 5 - 20 points. It would put players on the floor this year that want to play, and maybe by next year we can go .500, and 2005 have a championship team.

That's what I would do, and it's why I'm not a coach.
 
Criswell has not been playing well at all, I think he needs to be benched until he gets his head in the game. He's been cold from the field and had a ton of turnovers. Kamaar also has not been playing up to potential. He doesn't hustle, rebound, or move, he just stands there and waits for the ball to come to him. Victor definately out played him last night. Thought Booker looked like he's coming around and starting to play better. Mansell had a good defensive game, Seyfert played pretty well. Cummings still doesn't seem to be 100%. For a few minutes last night the guys actually played with heart and looked like they wanted to win, but that didn't last. They seem to get discouraged easily. I've heard before that Kennedy isn't a good coach, just always had really good players that already knew how to play, it's looking like that is true, haven't been impressed with him so far. Crowd was pathetic again. The next couple weeks will be tough on the team, I really hope that they can keep their chins up and find a new resolve to win.
 
Just read that our field goal percentage was 35%, that's terrible. We're getting some good open looks, not sure why they aren't falling. Also, outrebounded again. Definately need to work on that! Also JSU is in the middle of 9 straight road games, so I don't think using our schedule as an excuse for losing is right. Only two players in double figures, only 14 and 10 points at that, we need more players to score in double figures. I hope Kennedy can get this team straightened out, we have alot of talent and potential, just aren't playing together.
 
Grizbeer said:
I pretty much agree with everything True said, excep the scheduling. I don't think we played that many tough team so far, with Auburn the exception. All the rest of the games could have been wins.
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Grizbeer, I have to disagree about the tough teams. Griz have played a good stretch of teams that are pretty good. They were all better than the Griz were. Especially, on the day the Griz played them. You may have called WSU average, but that average is better than any school in the Big Sky(at this time). And because the Griz have been looking very burned out, WSU was a pretty good team. But the thing is, due to the losing, and the lack of confidence in the players, the teams can become weaker and weaker as each game goes by, and the Griz will lose. Why? Because they do not know how to win.

But the fact that Griz could have won those games doesn't mean that those teams they could have beat are only average, or patsies. Far from it. Montana Tech game was the only patsy on the schedule up to the game yesterday. Northridge was the only other game that I was sure they would beat but they lost, but Northridge wasn't a patsy.

What the games where the Griz came so close to winning tells me, is that this team does have the talent to be a good team. Just need to get over the hump by winning a game against a very good team. Confidence is the key.

Anyway, what they could have used in between the game against San Francisco and Washington State game was a game against a team like Montana Tech again. Getting a blow out victory can loosen up the team, regain some confidence, re-energize the juices for the game (or enjoy the game more). Winning helps players enjoy the game more.

The losses are building up, and it is affecting the players in a very negative way. Quote by Venters pretty much backs that up. And the thing is, the games are just getting tougher from now on. What this team needs real badly is a Montana Tech, but what it will get are teams that are not even close to being a patsy. Northridge is the closest to being a patsy, but I cannot say they will beat Northridge. Northridge is a better team than Jackson State is.

But, just maybe the Griz can recoup between the SIU game and Northridge. It is the longest stretch of time between games until the next Griz home game. A little rest may help them in more ways than not.

Well, lastly, I will mention this. I will not be able to watch another Griz BB game until the first conference Home game against ISU. Will be going to Florida for two weeks, so will not be able to catch the only remaining Griz home game before Conference against Northridge. Way they are playing now, won't know if that will be a blessing or not. I sure hope the Griz rebound from this game in a positive manner. The way the team played yesterday though, it has pushed some negative thoughts into my mind about them. Hopefully, they can change that by beating SIU this Sunday.
 
I agree their confidence is low and they don't know how to win. We've had a few games that were within reach the last few minutes, but we couldn't get the win. The griz football team has known how to win, even if we were down there was never a doubt that they were going to pull off a win (until this year). It's all about a state of mind and a true belief in yourself and your team. Teams that have that winning attitude are tough to beat. Right now they are too worried about losing and that negativity is dominating their thoughts.
 
I see what you are saying TrueGriz and I guess I conceed the point that another Tech game in there could have stopped the slump and given the Griz a chance to turn things around. I'm not saying the teams we are playing have been terrible, but they are moderate to good team dor the most part. It is true the schedule is not loaded with gimmees, but it also not like we have played all Michigan St, Duke, Stanford, etc. In other words, you look at the talent and schedule and you say Auburn and Gonzaga are losses, Wisc-Mil, SIU, and UNLV we should be cometitive, and the rest are wins. Maybe you pull the upset or have a dog day and a game or 2 go the other way, but with this schedule we should have finished the non-conference 9-4, with a pretty good RPI. IMO scheduling more gimmes that hurt your RPI as a safety measure in case the team self-destructs is not the direction I want to see the team go. Alos I understand the practices go great (which is essentially all a tech game would be), but the practice performance doesn't seem to carry over to the games.

I looked back at my post from the Tech game. It was amazingly similar to my post from this game as far as performance by the team and players, despite the difference in score. Maybe I have tunnel vision, or maybe we have not improved at all. I think Kennedy is a good coach, but 2 losing seasons in a row will be pushing it for me. The thing is I don't think it is coaching - I see lots of open shots that don't hit, open players not getting passed to, people passing up open shots to throw it away, etc. I think this team has some dysfunction - either they don't like each other, they are depressed, or something. All teams are tired, I can't buy that as an excuse at this point.
 
I'm sure the players are depressed, it would be hard to not be depressed if you're on a losing streak.
 
I've only been to one game (WSU) and I couldn't understand the offense we were running. It seemed very lathargic. On defense, no one blocked out. I listened to the Jackson state game on the internet and it sounded like they weren't blocking out again.

Luckily, the Griz are playing bad before the conference schedule. Hopefully they get in the gym a ton and get their shooting and confidence back. The talent seems to be there.

I agree that Kennedy needs to let the players get into some sort of rythm with continuity.
 
MontanaRaised said:
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Luckily, the Griz are playing bad before the conference schedule. Hopefully they get in the gym a ton and get their shooting and confidence back. The talent seems to be there.
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That isn't easy to do with the Griz's schedule. I believe the break between the SIU game and Northridge is the longest break without a game until after the first week of conference play. Will have a hard time during this week due to Christmas holiday.
 
I think there is some over-reacting going on. First off, the entire BSC is having a tough non-conference year. Weber has 5 wins, and then everybody else only has 3. Eastern Wash & Montana are the basement dwellers at 3-6, and are supposedly the two best teams in the conference.

Secondly, why would you play your younger players to get them ready for next year? That's absolutely rediculous. Conference play hasn't even started yet. Last time I checked, you only have to win the BSC Tourney to make the Big Dance. And I know that's the goal of every Division I team right now.

The team hasn't had many days off lately. They are extremely tired (which has showed the last couple games). They've got a home game right after Xmas against Northridge, which they will be rested for. Knock out a win there, end the losing streak, gain some confidence and maybe get an upset before conference begins.

There are seven new players and FOUR new starters this year. You can't just throw 14 guys together and expect them to play to their full potential. If halfway through the conference schedule they still aren't winning, then I'll be concerned.

5-8 heading into conference wouldn't be bad at all considering the schedule. The team needs to realize that, and more importantly so do the fans. Give this team a chance. The season is only 1/3 over, and the most important part of the season is still to come.
 
Fire Kennedy for running all the time!!!


OPPS..........wrong board!!!


Actually, I think the tough early schedule will be a positive going into the meaningful part of the schedule. I think that this is a much improved team ovet last year!
 
Montana Gym Rat said:
I think there is some over-reacting going on. First off, the entire BSC is having a tough non-conference year. Weber has 5 wins, and then everybody else only has 3. Eastern Wash & Montana are the basement dwellers at 3-6, and are supposedly the two best teams in the conference.

Secondly, why would you play your younger players to get them ready for next year? That's absolutely rediculous. Conference play hasn't even started yet. Last time I checked, you only have to win the BSC Tourney to make the Big Dance. And I know that's the goal of every Division I team right now.

The team hasn't had many days off lately. They are extremely tired (which has showed the last couple games). They've got a home game right after Xmas against Northridge, which they will be rested for. Knock out a win there, end the losing streak, gain some confidence and maybe get an upset before conference begins.

There are seven new players and FOUR new starters this year. You can't just throw 14 guys together and expect them to play to their full potential. If halfway through the conference schedule they still aren't winning, then I'll be concerned.

5-8 heading into conference wouldn't be bad at all considering the schedule. The team needs to realize that, and more importantly so do the fans. Give this team a chance. The season is only 1/3 over, and the most important part of the season is still to come.
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For the sake of the Grizzly players and coaches, I sure am hoping you are right and that we are just over-reacting. But it is a quite ominous trend that is occurring the past couple of games. I hope that trend ended against Jackson State, which they actually have had time to rest for since they didn't have to travel.
 
Boy the Griz need to do something, and quick. S. Illinois is no push over by far. This pre-conference sched has just kicked us around so far.

I was listening to Kennedy on the post game radio broadcast and he had some sharp things to say about the team. He seems as stumped as most Griz fans on the overall poor preformance from the team. He did say that he thinks the "Hype" leading into the season may have affected his players, got them into a mind-set that they're the best thing Montana's ever seen in the past 20 years. He also said, "Right now, we're just a bad team, theres no way around it."
 
The combined records of the Div. 1 teams played so far by the GRIZ is 31-19. Southern Illinois is 6-1 and will indeed be a real challenge. Gonzaga (7-1) and UNLV (5-2) on the road will also be obviously tough games. I am going to continue to think positively and anticipate the tough pre-season schedule will better prepare the GRIZ for the conference games.
 
I fail to understand how getting whipped game after game prepares a team for anything but getting beaten again.... I hope I'm wrong, but I truly don't understand the supposed benefits.
 
It doesn't help...that's why we keep losing. We just can't get back into a groove. Though we played pretty good in the second half against SIU...so hopefully that gave us some confidence and we'll do better in the next game. We might actually have beated SIU had we not had so many turnovers...though a lot of our turnover have been forced by good play on the other teams part rather than sloppy play on ours.
 
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