Griz 86, Wolves 57

[TrueGriz]

Griz won as expected. Best shooting performance by a Griz team in quite sometime.

Shot 63% from the field, 69.6% just in the second half. That is, 34 - 54 for the game, 16 - 23 in the second half. Just 7 shots missed in second half.

Griz were lead in scoring by the 18 points from Andrew Strait and 17 points from Criswell.

Griz outrebounded the Wolves 33 to 23. Strait had 7 rebounds to lead the Griz.

Defensively, Griz played well in the second half. First half, they let the Wolves make 56% from the field. But in second half, Wolves could only hit on 34.5% from the field.

Griz stole the ball 13 times lead by Virgil Matthews 3 steals. The rest was spread out pretty well evenly among 7 players.

Next is Utah Valley State, a Division I team. I hate division II teams.

 

[GrizWhiz]

I listened to the post-game interview with Krysko while driving home from the game. The GRIZ will redshirt nobody this year. Swift, Van Vliet and Spurgetis (walk-on) all played in this game. Krysko said that he thought Swift and Van Vliet could contribute this year. He really likes Swift's versatility and abilty to play as a big point guard if the situation warrants it. I think he also said Austin is the best passer on the team. He thinks Van Vliet will be needed against bigger teams and spoke of Eric's improvement as the season has progressed. My wild guess reading between the lines is that both of these kids want to play this year and Krysko does not want to deny them the opportunity to do so. I too am glad that our non D1 schedule is over. I think it is hard for the kids to get up for these games. As always I was impressed with Virgil Matthews in this game. He really does everything and is a true team player. :thumb:

 

[citygriz]

notice that both van vliet and swift played, so no more redshirt. i take it to mean that krysko thinks he's got a good team this year, wants to devote all his resources to success in the present.

 

[Grizbeer]

I too am glad that our non D1 schedule is over. I think it is hard for the kids to get up for these games.

Still have Montana Western on 12/14.

I thought the griz played pretty well overall, turned the ball over a few more times than they should have. It's funny how if you just watch the game, and don't keep track of stats how misleading things can be - watching I thought the Griz played better in the first 1/2 then the 2nd, and was surprised on the way home when everyone agreed the Griz put in a poor effort in the 1st 1/2. I swore in the 2nd 1/2 they weren't being aggressive and were mailing it in, which just shows what a dolt I am.

It was hard to get a feeling for how good the team is watching. i do have to say if this was the first time I saw the Griz play and you told me Chavez sat out last year I would say you are lying. He doesn't look like he has missed a thing from where he left off 2 years ago. I saw at 1 point Krysko pulled him out of the game, and was explaining something he wanted him to do differently - Chavez listened intently, shook his head he understood - a great sign from some of the attitude I have seen from other players over the last few years (not necessarily Chavez) when a coach corrects them after pulling them out - usually the player just wants to sit down and pout - with where Chavez is now, and if he is as receptive to the coaching as he looked tonight, he might be an all-time Griz great before he is through.

Dloughy is a lot of fun to watch.