GRIZ CAT GAME!

[Grizfan-24]

I now know why Griz fans are not showing up for home games. uke:

I would ask the same question.

I found the Breunig comment surprising because I was used to something so different when I was in Missoula 15 years ago. Not even 5,000 fans that showed up for the rivalry game. That would have been unheard of in the 80's. Doesn't help that MSU is about as talented as two or three of the Frontier conference schools right now either..

Things have changed immensely in Missoula. This has been debated over and over again over the past ten years about the attendance at Griz games. The administration and athletic department seem at least on surface to be luke warm to making significant changes in how to get more butts in the seats. I don't know they have been, but whatever they have tried have been with less than stellar results.

There are better guys on here to debate this, but lets say that Grizzly basketball doesn't occupy the same level of consciousness that it did even in the 90's.

 

[Grizfan-24]

I am going to give Fish some lee-way here. He needs time to turnover a roster and institute some culture change. There is little talent on that roster than can help them bridge the gap right now. Based upon what I have seen over a few games, MSU is two or three years away from competing in the conference.

Huse depended so heavily on JC route to add talent to the roster. His four year recruits Colbert, Dison, Shannon, Robison, and Brumwell are spectacularly average. Only Dison of his freshman recruits have proved to be any good and the rest are role players. You can't miss as often as Huse did on his four year talent. In fact whether they are or were walkon or scholarshipped talent, he didn't find much talent in the four year area and most didn't last. He was turning over way too much of his roster every year and what remained was merely glue guys (minus Dison).

Fish is left in a tough spot. His roster has no experience and very little experienced talent. Every Freshman who either Huse signed (early) or Fish (Late) has had to play. Kids they might have preferred to redshirt (ie the 7-0 English kid) have had to man some minutes here and there.

However the Cats will return a majority of the roster, provided there aren't defections for next years roster. The problem really as I see it, that unless a kid like the Holm or Colbert kid take a serious step forward, this roster lacks any scoring punch next year. It will be interesting to see whether Fish stays the course by sticking to adding Freshman. His current recruiting class of 4 includes 3 Freshman and 1 JC guy. I would think Fish gets time to see his vision through, but he's going to have to nail these two recruiting classes to push things forward because Huse left him with a fairly bare cupboard.

Talent can't be coached and doesn't always fit your ideal system, agree very much. BUT, effort and willingness to play for your coach can be done at any level with any talent. That's what is missing from the Cats. Stark contrast to both Travis and Tinkle who are both coaching other staff's rosters that don't necessarily fit their ideal team makeup. I was not impressed with their teams effort.

D,

I don't dispute that. I would question the level of passion at this point too. There are some of those guys that seemed to have mailed it in. I don't know how much of that is them responding to Fish or the fact they have 3 wins on the schedule and at one point were doubled up in the second half to a vastly superior Grizzly squad.

Not how many people would draw up a season. They aren't competitive, but you are right most teams success and failure can be measured in effort and some of those guys sure seem like their time in Bozeman is measured in days or weeks even months but not years.

 

[UMGriz75]

It also used to be that, for a "rivalry" game, the other side would show up. Considering that this Griz Cat game had 5,000 Griz fans, during Winter Break no less, if the Cats had made the trip, it would have at least started to look like games of old.

 

[GrizWhiz]

I remember when a good portion of the tan end seats would be infested by cat fans. Saturday night, there may have been fifteen of twenty cat fans behind the cat bench. That was it. Hardly enough to make it worth organizing a "poor bobcats" chant!

 

[UMGriz75]

I would question the level of passion at this point too. There are some of those guys that seemed to have mailed it in. I don't know how much of that is them responding to Fish or the fact they have 3 wins on the schedule and at one point were doubled up in the second half to a vastly superior Grizzly squad.

Not how many people would draw up a season. They aren't competitive, but you are right most teams success and failure can be measured in effort and some of those guys sure seem like their time in Bozeman is measured in days or weeks even months but not years.

It was a passionless team. Fish's behaviors and mannerisms did not impress me in the least, but perhaps he is just frustrated beyond caring. The Cats team did not seem to have any leaders. They had five guys just playing basketball.

 

[AllWeatherFan]

It sounds like you guys are saying that Fish has too much "fire!"

 

[ordigger]

It sounds like you guys are saying that Fish has too much "fire!"

Its all so confusing. At one point saying the team has no passion, but the coach is to passionate.

 

[UMGriz75]

It sounds like you guys are saying that Fish has too much "fire!"

Its all so confusing. At one point saying the team has no passion, but the coach is to passionate.

Cat Players, no passion. Cat Fans, no passion. Cat Coach, bully.

Griz win.