Griz at Portland State: Game Thread

[citygriz]

Both the Griz and the Warriors seem to be in a funk right now, and the parallels are striking:
--Slow starts. The Warriors have been down 15-0 and 11-0 in recent games, while the Griz looked in the first half last night like they'd been slipped a mickey. So many...
--Turnovers! Lazy passes, sloppy ball-handling.Turnovers plague the Warriors. Last night I saw something I may never have ever seen in a basketball game: A double-dribble by Rorie all alone, bringing the ball into the forecourt. No wonder coaches get grey hair.
--Defense. While the Warriors were known for their shooting, it was their defense that carried them to four straight finals. Now they're in the middle of the league in defense. So too with the Griz. I'm not sure what our stats are right now, but there are clearly times when they're more engaged in defense than they were the first half last night. I can't recall how many times they gave up baseline drives last night, simply because, well, the defender gave up the baseline.
--Injury to a big. Everybody said the Warriors were going to be the greatest team of all time with Cousins in the starting lineup, but the jury is still out on that, as he's having trouble defending smaller quicker guards off switches. But the young big who was more athletic and growing into his role as a starter and rim-defender, Damian Jones, went down with an injury mid-season. Of course, we too have lost our key big, and I can't see him returning in time for the tournament.
--The future. We all say, "Live for the moment; the time is now!" Yet it's hard if you're either a Warrior or Griz fan not to take your eye off the future. Next year the Warriors move into their fabulous new arena, and already players are trooping over there with their hardhats on to witness the blossoming spectacle. Meantime, we Griz fans are well aware that with Pridgett and Manuel returning, Anderson maturing, Miller coming off a redshirt year and a bevy of sparkling recruits arriving, next year's team could be even more balanced than this year's, even if we do lost the best guard line in the history of the school. Remember, during the DeCuire era we've lost Samuelson, Alphonso Anderson, Nicholas and now Akoh up front. Not to mention our anchor up front for four years, Krslovic. I sometimes feel this year like we're playing with fabulous guards, and four ghosts up front. That will change next year.

 

[grizfnz]

10 TO's in 10 minutes. :shock:

If I were TD, warmup dunk contest would be over.

Do you think the star drill, some old school three man weave or half court 3 on 2 during warm ups will solve the TO problem??

 

[fanofzoo]

10 TO's in 10 minutes. :shock:

If I were TD, warmup dunk contest would be over.

Do you think the star drill, some old school three man weave or half court 3 on 2 during warm ups will solve the TO problem??

Do you think that it would help with starting games a little (lot) more focused ? Fun is good when you deserve it.

 

[Silenoz]

So... 16 seed for the Big Sky?

 

[PlayerRep]

I just don't understand how a team this talented can play so shitty at times.

Would you believe that "talented" Bobby Moorehead has played more minutes than Oguine this year and only 1 fewer minute than Pridgett? That is unacceptable! Morehead has THE worst 3-point % of ALL 8 Griz who have attempted more than 1 (29%) and that is supposed to be his best offensive asset. He has 32 3's and 23 2's on the year. 30 starts and 23 2 pt baskets?? OMG, that is worse than I even imagined. He plays good defense and gets some rebounds now that Akoh isn't around, but he is a complete liability on the offensive end. When we get behind and need to make a come-back, I don't understand why he is on the floor. 0 pts vs PSU in 30 minutes. 30!!!! why?

Moorehead is very good and very consistent. Huge asset for the team. 10 rebounds against PSU. Next highest Griz had 5. In conference play with Akoh out, Moorehead is tied with Pridgett as leading rebounder. Moorehead's overall 3 pt shooting has been down, but in conference play, he and Oguine both are at 31%. Oguine is slightly higher than Moorehead. Moorehead has made a few more 3's.

Zirg, so your idea of how to staff a comeback is to have all shooters on the court, and no defenders or rebounders? That's pretty funny.

 

[PlayerRep]

10 TO's in 10 minutes. :shock:

If I were TD, warmup dunk contest would be over.

Do you think the star drill, some old school three man weave or half court 3 on 2 during warm ups will solve the TO problem??

Some Griz fans were complaining that the team kept getting big leads, and then blowing them, maybe even 2 or 3 times a game. Now, the team has responded, and they don't get big leads early in the game to blow them later.

 

[Grizfan-24]

As far as I have been told, this team is rotating four healthy players right now. Oguine and Dorsey are physically compromised based upon what I have been told. Doesn’t ‘excuse’ playing, but it can explain it. Dorsey is the one right now that hurts the most, because they aren’t as explosive to spread teams out.

Where do you expect the offense to come from when right now there are two consistent scorers on the floor? Oguine is not himself, Dorsey is compromised, and Akoh is sitting at home in Missoula? Is there anyone else on the bench that supplants Moorehead just on scoring alone? No. Who was DeCuire going to run out there besides Falls last night? Brown? Against a team that plays small, has little offensive structure and eats immobile posts players for dinner?

This team is in trouble because three of its best six or seven players aren’t healthy. Subract those from any Big Sky team, what do you think is going to happen? In an ideal world the Griz would have found a way to grind out a win last night and then rested Dorsey and Oguine on Saturday. As it stands you go with all hands on deck and try to find ways to win.

 

[tourist]

Some Griz fans were complaining that the team kept getting big leads, and then blowing them, maybe even 2 or 3 times a game. Now, the team has responded, and they don't get big leads early in the game to blow them later.

Moral of he story, be careful what you wish for...

 

[Big Sage]

In the pregame interview TDC said the Griz were the healthiest they’ve been in a long time

 

[Grizfan-24]

Maybe, but I don’t see the type of explosiveness out of Dorsey that he exhibited in those two or three games post Akoh injury. Oguine’s health issues maybe be as good as they are going to get, I just don’t know. The team seems slow, stuck in the mud lately, and I just don’t think you can go from the explosiveness of late January and Early February to this. Rorie doesn’t look right either, he doesn’t seem himself the last two weeks. LIke I said something isn’t right.

Maybe you can and maybe there is a far more nefarious reasoning, but the health seems like a fairly good and logical descriptor.

 

[SACCAT66]

So... 16 seed for the Big Sky?

I still think that if UNC, or the griz, win the tourney they will get a 15 seed. Any other team, and 16 (hopefully not paly-in game)

 

[PlayerRep]

I don't know about the injuries, but I have noticed a couple players wearing contraptions on their backs while on the bench. Rorie played great on Monday night, when he scored 22. That doesn't mean that he's not hurting. Dorsey has played only 18/19 minutes per game the past 3 games, after playing 33 minutes in the prior game.

I didn't see the PSU game, but from just looking at the stats, it seems that the difference in the game was mostly the 11 TO and giving up 7 steals in the first half. Compared to 1 TO and no steals in second half. Those first half stats were unbelievably bad, and those second half stats were unbelievably good. Griz were 1-8 from 3 in second half.

I still think the guys are going to get it together for the tourney, altho the tourney will be a battle. They tasted the ncaa last year, and all of those seniors and the others must have huge desire to return.

 

[grizfnz]

10 TO's in 10 minutes. :shock:

If I were TD, warmup dunk contest would be over.

Do you think the star drill, some old school three man weave or half court 3 on 2 during warm ups will solve the TO problem??

Do you think that it would help with starting games a little (lot) more focused ? Fun is good when you deserve it.

Personally, I subscribe to the John Cheney philosophy. The Temple Owls practiced at 5:30 AM because Cheney believed if you could concentrate and stay focused at 5:30 AM, you should never have a mental breakdown or commit unforced turnovers during a 7:00 PM game.
Kids are phenomenal athletes these days, but fundamentals and discipline are severely lacking.

 

[Grizfan-24]

Barrett Peerys defensive philosophy is to speed teams up. I watched a ton of CSI basketball and last night was a case study as to why his system works. What makes PSU so inconsistent isn’t defensively but how they score. They have so many isolation sets, designed to get guys like Woods in advantaged matchups. They took a crap ton of bad shots last night that they made. They are pretty piss poor offensively and hold on to the basketball a ton. That doesn’t mean they can’t score, they can, but you are going to get a lot of ball handling and breaking down defenders and settling for a 5-10 foot jumper, fade away or some other trash shot. Three times when the Griz got back within 8 or so, they hit a ridiculous scoop shot, bailed out on a last second offensive initiated contact and a 28 foot three pointer off of one leg.

PSU might be one of the more athletic and well conditioned teams in thee conference and it might be one of the few teams that might be a match for the Griz. Without Akoh who can punish teams who play like PSU does, I’d think athletically PSU in depth is deeper than the UM is right now.

 

[Mousegriz]

I don't know about the injuries, but I have noticed a couple players wearing contraptions on their backs while on the bench. Rorie played great on Monday night, when he scored 22. That doesn't mean that he's not hurting. Dorsey has played only 18/19 minutes per game the past 3 games, after playing 33 minutes in the prior game.

I didn't see the PSU game, but from just looking at the stats, it seems that the difference in the game was mostly the 11 TO and giving up 7 steals in the first half. Compared to 1 TO and no steals in second half. Those first half stats were unbelievably bad, and those second half stats were unbelievably good. Griz were 1-8 from 3 in second half.

I still think the guys are going to get it together for the tourney, altho the tourney will be a battle. They tasted the ncaa last year, and all of those seniors and the others must have huge desire to return.

Rorie didn't score on Monday night......possibly his only scoreless game in career at UM.....do you even watch the games or just the Dance Team?

That dance team must really be distract for you.

 

[grizband]

Would like to disagree with the negative posts. Can't. :?

How long has it been since the Griz played a complete, dominant game ... worthy of their supposed high level of talent on the floor? Too long.

It's hard to judge just from broadcasts rather than live looks. But I still have the feeling that the problem with the Griz has been, and is, the lack of a true "take charge" leader. I just do not see any one guy filling that role. It's great that different guys have stepped up, at times, and helped the Griz win games. But that does not give you any consistency when things are not going well. And the coaches cannot "manufacture" a leader ... it has to arise naturally from the squad.

The Griz haven't been just showing up. Griz didn't get their ass kicked tonight. They had a bad first half.

Jeez, come to a game. Learn something about the game and the team. You are too far removed from the games and program to know what's going on. You just admitted that you don't know what's going on.

I don't agree that lack of leadership is the problem. The problem is that they don't have their all conference 5, or any 5, and have lost their leading scorer and leading rebounder, and their best defender in the middle. How I that so hard for you to see? The Griz have nice remaining talent, but so do multiple other conference teams.

Sorry, but it's not a cake walk. It's a very competitive conference, particularly when the Griz now have one hand tied behind their back.

Big Sky should be a cake walk though, for any team with real NCAA aspirations. Losing Akoh hurts, but the Big Sky is terrible this season, bottom 5 bad by Sagarin rankings. As a fan, it's just frustrating, especially after avoiding injuries most of last season.

PR is right this time. The Big Sky is ranked 29th this year (out of 33), as opposed to 23rd last year. The Griz are the only team that will not be a #16 seed if they make the NCAA. Montana is ranked #127 and might get a 14 or 15 seed. No Colo is #174 and they and every-other BSC team will likely get a #16 if they win the "Battle in Boise" or whatever they are calling it.

Agree, PR is correct, just voicing my frustration.

 

[Grizbeer]

If EWU beats Weber Saturday, and the cats lose to PSU, then the tiebreaker becomes a mystery (at least to me.) :? (Assuming the Griz and NCU both win.)

If that happens WSU, MSU and PSU will be tied for 4th. I believe MSU is first out due to being swept by WSU, since the rest split the series. To determine 4/5 PSU will get that based on Sweeping the Griz while Griz swept WSU. If PSU gets 4th No Colorado gets 1st and regular season crown.

For the Griz to get first they need to win and have MSU beat PSU or WSU beat EWU or No Colorado loses.

 

[citygriz]

Remember, too, we are targets. My brother reported that attendance has not been great at the new PSU arena, but that they expected a great crowd last night just because it was Montana. Every team now gets up for Montana. Playing defense the way DeCuire demands requires a lot energy and concentration. It's almost impossible to sustain that over the course of an entire season.

Why, some posters here can't even sustain it through one post.

 

[AZGrizFan]

10 TO's in 10 minutes. :shock:

If I were TD, warmup dunk contest would be over.

Do you think the star drill, some old school three man weave or half court 3 on 2 during warm ups will solve the TO problem??

Some Griz fans were complaining that the team kept getting big leads, and then blowing them, maybe even 2 or 3 times a game. Now, the team has responded, and they don't get big leads early in the game to blow them later.

Yeah, I don't think that's what we were looking for... :lol: :lol:

 

[Grizfan-24]

UM UNC WSU MSU EWU PSU SUU SAC NAU ISU UI
UM — 1-1 2-0 2-0 1-1 0-2 2-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 15-4
UNC 1-1 —- 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-0 2-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 15-4
WSU 0-2 1-1 — 2-0 1-0 1-1 0-2 1-1 2-0 1-1 2-0 11-8
MSU 0-2 1-1 0-2 — 1-1 1-0 2-0 1-1 1-1 2-0 2-0 11-8
EWU 1-1 1-1 0-1 1-1 — 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-0 2-0 1-1 11-8
PSU 2-0 0-2 1-1 0-1 1-1 — 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-0 10-9
SUU 0-2 2-0 0-2 0-2 1-1 1-1 — 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-0 9-11
SSU 0-2 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-2 1-1 1-1 — 1-1 1-1 1-1 8-11
NAU 0-2 2-0 0-2 1-1 0-2 1-1 1-1 1-1 — 1-1 2-0 7-12
ISU 0-2 0-2 1-1 2-0 0-2 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 — 1-0 6-13
UI 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 1-1 0-2 0-2 1-1 0-2 0-1 — 2-17

Rankings if the season ended today”
1. UM (Tiebreaker w/ WSU)
2. UNC
3. WSU (MSU head up)
4. MSU
5. EWU
6. PSU

UM, EWU, MSU victories that put UM/UNC
1. UM
2. UNC
3. EWU
4. MSU
5. WSU

UM, EWU, PSU Victories (Means WSU, PSU, MSU tied)
1. UM
2. UNC
3. EWU 12-8
4. WSU 11-9 (3-1 v MSU and PSU)
5. PSU. 11-9 (2-2 v MSU, WSU)
6. MSU 11-9 (1-3 v. WSU, PSU)

If I understand the tie breaking rules, it is head to head among the group before they go to descending order. If UM wins I think most tie breaker rules break in their favor product of the 2-0 finish over MSU and WSU. WSU’s two wins against MSU looms large here I think).