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GRIZ/Boise State game thread

Just got back from the game. The Griz came to play and they played hard. If someone was on their heals they got knocked back. We took no prisoners. Congratulations for the effort.

Gregory had a very poor 30 minutes for him. It looks to me like he gets down on himself too easily when he is in an offensive funk. I think he needs to toughen up mentally because he has the skills and the desire. He took a very hard charge and later got pushed into the scorer's table which shows his desire and toughness physically. When he got it going later he looked much more confident and wanted the ball in his hands.

The first 10 minutes of the second half spelled our doom as we lost our rhythm on both offense and defense. Travis tried to spread it out but we seemed unable to do that and keep in rhythm. These guys are young and they will learn.

I can't see anybody matching up with Breunig in the post when we get to conference and stopping him defensively. He is quick off the dribble and a quick jumper. He went to the ball on rebounds too and that is encouraging.

Losing Mario hurt us bad in the overtime. Bradshaw did ok but tired a little and I think we needed a more aggressive floor leader at the end.

The foul near mid court on Gfeller was not a smart one. I think he got lost in the moment which was too bad.

Take nothing away from this team Griz fans. Boise is good and they were at home. They don't lose there very often. My main take away from this game is that we will be fine with more time under our belt. This team showed great desire and toughness. I was very impressed with Travis and his demeanor. He has this team moving up and in the right direction.

Keep it up and go Griz.
 
dot 'n dash hash: we won't have decuire long. he will become a hot coaching property quickly, as mike montgomery has predicted...take away the first ten minutes of the c.s.u. game and our griz have played two tough teams heads up on their home courts...i love our defense--best montana defense since heathcote...a hunch: decuire spent most of the training camp working on defense. i believe the offensive sets will get better. right now, it seems we're too dependent on three-ball. and you know how that goes: high highs and low lows. strange thing is, our vaunted three-point shooting let us down both games...love that this team goes ten deep. when dunn fouled out, we just slid gregory over to the point, and brought in more bench players. i didn't see a helluva drop off in effectiveness, even if dunn is our quickest defender and best penetrator. we still had a chance to win the game; in fact, we kicked this one away...edmonson is a bit of a mystery to me. he seems a step slow on defense, racked up four fouls, and took an ill-advised fall-away jump shot late in the game, when i would have preferred to have the ball in gregory's hands. at the same time he rebounds well, and made the three-point shot to get us into the second overtime. he's not afraid to shoot. i think with a bit of discipline he will develop into a terrific player for us...i'm guessing dejong will redshirt...nwosu seems the odd man out right now...finally, i am pumped. this team is so well coached, we're going to be proud to follow them, win or lose. final final: look out big sky! this is not an eighth place team.
 
There were 13 players on the roster at Boise. Only 11 were dressed. Based on that I would conclude that DeJong and Boehning are red shirting.
 
citay said:
dot 'n dash hash: we won't have decuire long. he will become a hot coaching property quickly, as mike montgomery has predicted...take away the first ten minutes of the c.s.u. game and our griz have played two tough teams heads up on their home courts...i love our defense--best montana defense since heathcote...a hunch: decuire spent most of the training camp working on defense. i believe the offensive sets will get better. right now, it seems we're too dependent on three-ball. and you know how that goes: high highs and low lows. strange thing is, our vaunted three-point shooting let us down both games...love that this team goes ten deep. when dunn fouled out, we just slid gregory over to the point, and brought in more bench players. i didn't see a helluva drop off in effectiveness, even if dunn is our quickest defender and best penetrator. we still had a chance to win the game; in fact, we kicked this one away...edmonson is a bit of a mystery to me. he seems a step slow on defense, racked up four fouls, and took an ill-advised fall-away jump shot late in the game, when i would have preferred to have the ball in gregory's hands. at the same time he rebounds well, and made the three-point shot to get us into the second overtime. he's not afraid to shoot. i think with a bit of discipline he will develop into a terrific player for us...i'm guessing dejong will redshirt...nwosu seems the odd man out right now...finally, i am pumped. this team is so well coached, we're going to be proud to follow them, win or lose. final final: look out big sky! this is not an eighth place team.
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A new Griz coach loses his first two games and instantly becomes a candidate-in-waiting for a better job? Only on egriz... :lol:
 
If you had told me before the game that we'd take Boise State to two overtimes after losing Dunn, I'd have laughed in your face. The shots weren't dropping for us (Gregory will not have another shooting night like that all year), but overall, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. As grizrule pointed out, we outrebounded Boise, which I also would never have predicted. These games are great preparation for conference, even if they show up in the "L" column.
 
Silvertip said:
citay said:
dot 'n dash hash: we won't have decuire long. he will become a hot coaching property quickly, as mike montgomery has predicted...take away the first ten minutes of the c.s.u. game and our griz have played two tough teams heads up on their home courts...i love our defense--best montana defense since heathcote...a hunch: decuire spent most of the training camp working on defense. i believe the offensive sets will get better. right now, it seems we're too dependent on three-ball. and you know how that goes: high highs and low lows. strange thing is, our vaunted three-point shooting let us down both games...love that this team goes ten deep. when dunn fouled out, we just slid gregory over to the point, and brought in more bench players. i didn't see a helluva drop off in effectiveness, even if dunn is our quickest defender and best penetrator. we still had a chance to win the game; in fact, we kicked this one away...edmonson is a bit of a mystery to me. he seems a step slow on defense, racked up four fouls, and took an ill-advised fall-away jump shot late in the game, when i would have preferred to have the ball in gregory's hands. at the same time he rebounds well, and made the three-point shot to get us into the second overtime. he's not afraid to shoot. i think with a bit of discipline he will develop into a terrific player for us...i'm guessing dejong will redshirt...nwosu seems the odd man out right now...finally, i am pumped. this team is so well coached, we're going to be proud to follow them, win or lose. final final: look out big sky! this is not an eighth place team.
Click to expand...

A new Griz coach loses his first two games and instantly becomes a candidate-in-waiting for a better job? Only on egriz... :lol:
Click to expand...

heh, heh. you're right 'tip. but here's what i'm thinking.

he's taken over a team with nine freshmen and sophomores, a team predicted to finish anywhere from fifth to eighth in a very poor conference. he's installed new systems. and he has yet to add a single player that he recruited (and he's proving that he can recruit.) once his players are in place, and his systems are second-nature to the team, we are gonna roll. i know two games is a small sample size, but trust me, i've got x-ray vision on this. i'll be digging up this post one day, you'll see, just as others dug up my first post about will cherry.
 
Griz1 said:
There were 13 players on the roster at Boise. Only 11 were dressed. Based on that I would conclude that DeJong and Boehning are red shirting.
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I thought I saw in the box score the DeJong played at CSU?
 
Not to blame him, but Gregory's cold streak told the whole story; without it, this would have been a win, a good one. This team is very reliant on its key players, and Gregory has a well-deserved slot that balances the team nicely. As noted, Jordan Gregory has a "fire" about the game that sometimes burns too hot and he starts to beat himself up when he misses a couple. Had he been hitting in that first half, that would have been some score after the first ten minutes. Since he is one of the most consistent players, there's nothing to really change there.

I would have preferred a different ending, but that was a real basketball game, well-played.

I am developing a real confidence in this coaching staff after watching these past two games. Things are not "staying the same." And the rotations off the bench appear well-designed and well-implemented. This is a very good bench. Mike Weisner has become a much better basketball player than I thought he could be. Breunig is going to be a very important part of this team.
 
The box score DID show that DeJong played at CSU. However, I never saw DeJong on the floor. Could have been a mistake by bench officials. DeJong is #30 and Lopez is #31 on Montana's roster.
 
grizzlyjournal said:
The box score DID show that DeJong played at CSU. However, I never saw DeJong on the floor. Could have been a mistake by bench officials. DeJong is #30 and Lopez is #31 on Montana's roster.
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If you look at the following site http://www.gogriz.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2014-2015/um-cs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; he does not appear in the box score. I am assuming that is correct but am not staking my life on it.

It would seem to me if he had played at CSU he would have been on the road trip to Boise and would have dressed unless he is hurt but he wasn't.
 
Ok. That is an official, "corrected," box score. The original post-game box showed Lopez with 6 minutes on floor, Nwosu with 2 and DeJong with two.
 
UMGriz75 said:
Not to blame him, but Gregory's cold streak told the whole story; without it, this would have been a win, a good one.
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Agreed about Gregory. At least three of his first-half trey attempts were open looks and looked good... rimmed out, in fact. But it was his miss on a nifty drive with 35 seconds left in regulation and a 3-point Griz lead that hurt the most. That shot bounced three times on the rim before teetering off. Had it gone in, Montana would have had a 5-point lead & final possession.

I don't really think Montana's "cold" shooting was the total story. Montana actually bested Boise St. in most game statistical categories, except one: trips to the free throw line. Here's a brief look:
Rebounds: Griz 38, BSU 36
Game shooting %: Griz 43, BSU 33
Points of turnovers: Griz 16, BSU 13
Second chance points: Griz 6, BSU 7
Points in paint!!! -- Griz 32, BSU 20
Turnovers: Griz 17, BSU 13 (3 critical ones in the 1st ot)
FG/FGA: Griz 25-58 (8-25 treys), BSU 20-60 (10-27)
and finally...
Fouls: Griz 23, BSU 13
Free throws: Griz 9-12, BSU 22-28

The Griz played aggressive defense. But BSU didn't? A lot of booing on two charging calls by Bronco fans, but I believe the refs missed several calls late that should have sent the Griz to the line. I know, and understand, that's part of the game of playing on the road.

So, like many others on this board, I'm pretty jacked at Montana's overall game, especially their points in the paint and rebounding. This team will just get better as it gets familiar with Travis DeCuire's game philosophy. Go griz.

BTW: The attached photos from the Idaho Statesman show one play that was called "tight defense," and a second play that ended up in Mario Dunn's fourth foul... Eh.
You can get a closer look at these and other photos here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/11/18/3494920/boise-state-men-72-montana-67.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


 
Regarding the rotation, Travis mentioned he likes keeping players competing for playing time as often as possible. He feels it is best to not give into given rotations, minutes, and roles to make for a more competitive team all the time. I really like that philosophy at this level.

As for Citay's comment regarding DeCuire's future, I agree with him. I like everything about him as a coach. I have a feeling DeCuire will be GRIZ coach for 3-5 years. Look out Big Sky when he gets his players in place here with experience!!!!

As I posted before, I am amazed at the improvement on the boards in such a short time. Hard to believe rebounding was the one consistent weakness under Wayne Tinkle, and I know damn well they worked very hard at improving rebounding. Travis obviously has something within himself and his staff that gets results quickly. I pray the improvement in rebounding remains. The Boise State and CSU games were great signs of rebounding being consistently better.

Not sure who pays much attention to defense, but I am so impressed how GRIZ defenders seem to be everywhere, and still not give up back door cuts. Usually aggressive defenses leave back door cuts left open often. Those opportunities have not been there for our opponents so far. This GRIZ team has played evenly with good to great MWC teams for 70 of 80 minutes, that is a great sign. It can only get better with experience.

Travis wants 5 to 7 players that can be relied on to get double digits consistently. Regardless who scores the points and how, this team will be tough when they find their offensive consistently.
 
mtgrizrule said:
Not sure who pays much attention to defense, but I am so impressed how GRIZ defenders seem to be everywhere, and still not give up back door cuts. Usually aggressive defenses leave back door cuts left open often. Those opportunities have not been there for our opponents so far. This GRIZ team has played evenly with good to great MWC teams for 70 of 80 minutes, that is a great sign. It can only get better with experience.
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The game play announcers, who were obviously very familiar with the Broncos, repeatedly commented on Montana's defense shutting down the Broncos.

"Montana just flying around on defense."

"Montana everywhere on defense!" 25-10!

The stats show it. It was intense and effective. Yes, there were some lapses, but its much easier to fix the lapses than to not have anything to work with in the first place. That first half was really something. This is a good team. This is a good coach.
 
If rebounding improvement is a pleasant surprise, so is improved defense, at least to me. In the scrimmage and first exhibition game, there were lots of defensive mistakes and lapses.
 
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