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GRIZ/Cats threads

Just got back from the game and haven't really glanced at the game thread yet, but here's my two cents:

We were completely outcoached in this game. That's an understatement. Kudos to Huse for having a game plan coming into this one and running it to perfection. The cats were able to score at will layup after layup. It's really dumbfounding that our staff was unable to adjust for that. We had little inside prescence defensively and the cats exploited that to perfection. How does this team go nearly 13 minutes without a single field goal!?!? Let me say that a little louder, HOW DOES THIS TEAM GO 13 MINUTES WITHOUT A SINGLE FIELD GOAL!?!?! Pathetic. It didn't help that our normally steady players played off, too. There were quite a few times the Griz looked confused on defense. This really seems to boil down to coaching and that line is getting to be a broken record. I will be patient, though, for the next few years while Tinkle is here. It's getting old not knowing which Griz team is going to take the floor. Did you see how much better we were at the end of each half when the Griz actually worked the ball inside? I'm starting to think that our problem is we don't have a player right now that can penetrate. I think Cherry can and will be this guy, but it's not consistent yet.

Let's get this thing figured out Tinks. It's been awhile.
 
They are in a funk right now and have lost their rhythm. The road is tough on them. Hopefully with school back in session they will get a little more spring in their step. Tinks can't seem to find the right combo and minutes for the players. Huse definitely had the better game plan and worked it nicely. They owned the paint and had layup practice. There was no sense of urgency in the griz play tonight. The offense is not crisp and just going through the motion. If they would speed up the offense then the players would find more energy in my opinion. If they are not careful they could be a .500 in conference.
 
mtgrizrule said:
Is it me, or have others lost any hope for us to contend this year? Our offense and insistence to play 1/2 court ball really has me doubting this team this year. That says a lot. Normally, I am much more positive concerning the GRIZ.

This team just has no offensive flow any longer.
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You aren't the only one. I am always optimistic and hope for a win around the corner, but this Griz team is playing like the last team in the tourney.
 
bobaloo said:
They are in a funk right now and have lost their rhythm. The road is tough on them. Hopefully with school back in session they will get a little more spring in their step. Tinks can't seem to find the right combo and minutes for the players. Huse definitely had the better game plan and worked it nicely. They owned the paint and had layup practice. There was no sense of urgency in the griz play tonight. The offense is not crisp and just going through the motion. If they would speed up the offense then the players would find more energy in my opinion. If they are not careful they could be a .500 in conference.
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We looked flat-out slow out there. We made the cats look like sprint champs the way they attacked the rim. No penetration on our side.
 
BTW, it's a good thing we had our sixth man planted in the student section or that would have been an even worse loss.
 
mtgrizrule said:
PR, I agree with you on the talent part. Does our offense not concern or worry you? With our talent and depth, why are we not a more aggressive, pressure, and faster paced team? I seriously see no reason to not try to be faster paced. Does Tinkle not have the confidence in this team to try it or at least change it up now and then like LK did?

You are much closer to the program than most us here, give us some insight. Normally, I understand Tinkle's strategy and even like it. But this year, things just are not right with the 1/2 court strategy. Something has to be done to find an offense that can consistently be relied on.
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MGR, I go to the games but I don't have answers to your question. While I think UM could run, or run more, that's not consistent with pounding the ball into Qvale and others, is it?

As for tonight, I felt that the Griz just didn't seem to have it, and that at times, especially at the end, the Cats made more plays. Also, at times, the Cats seemed to want it more, and hit the offense boards hard at times. UM shot very poorly early in the game. Johnson had an off night (2-9), and, uncharacteristicly, missed two key front end throw throws at the end. Staudacher had only one shot, until a shot at the buzzer. l assume he was defended very well. Qvale and McGillis played well. Cherry didn't have any steals. He got called for travels on two drives for scores. One looked like a horrible call. He didn't have much influence on the game. Taylor's shooting is presumably impacted by the tape on his shooting hand/thumb. The guards/threes (AJ, Cherry, Stauds, Taylor and Young) were 3-21, excluding Stockton's two nice scores under the bucket. We seemed to defend better in zone, and didn't do as well in man. MSU made shots on some nice, but tough, drives.

They can play much better. I don't blame the coaching.
 
Staudacher--30 minutes 2 rebounds 2 assists 0 points weak

the game could have gone either way at 52-51.

tinkle got hit by a ball this game. remember when he was a player vs MSU and a fan threw a full can of squirt at him, but missed. A T was also called, which led to a Win then. I wonder if it is the same person still living in Bozeman throwing stuff at Tinkle?
 
It's a shame to have good talent wasted because of poor coaching. I was excited when Tinkle was first hired. I really thought he was the right man for the job to keep the momentum going from Coach K's run. I can see now that I was wrong.
 
griz2000 said:
It's a shame to have good talent wasted because of poor coaching. I was excited when Tinkle was first hired. I really thought he was the right man for the job to keep the momentum going from Coach K's run. I can see now that I was wrong.
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Got a couple more years to turn it around yet. Hold your breath.
 
The Griz almost always lose the battle of quickness to their opponents. Yes, there is talent, but I disagree that we are consistently losing to less talented teams. We have only one true power forward (Ward) and are getting very little production from that position or the wing. This is a lot to overcome. It was pretty obvious from last night that one way to overcome our lack of quickness (at least on defense) is to play zone. Following the game, Huse stated that the cats struggled against the zone. With the zone working, I cannot understand why we kept switching back to man. It seemed every time this happened, the cats started to consistently get easy baskets.
 
GrizWhiz said:
The Griz almost always lose the battle of quickness to their opponents. Yes, there is talent, but I disagree that we are consistently losing to less talented teams. We have only one true power forward (Ward) and are getting very little production from that position or the wing. This is a lot to overcome. It was pretty obvious from last night that one way to overcome our lack of quickness (at least on defense) is to play zone. Following the game, Huse stated that the cats struggled against the zone. With the zone working, I cannot understand why we kept switching back to man. It seemed every time this happened, the cats started to consistently get easy baskets.
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Yeah, My dad and I were sitting there and were boggled at why we would only play zone for a minute and then go to man. The cats were VERY good at creating mismatches off our man-to-man last night and Tinkle didn't do anything to stop it. The only thing I could think of as to why he stopped doing zone was the personel on the floor, in Tinkle's mind, was better off in man. Either way, the Griz were completely out-coached last night.
 
bigtyme said:
Not what the television stats said. And considering all of our points have been inside I take that over Philip Buck. I am shocked you would abide by what he says.
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Points in the paint-UM 24,MSU 36. (numbers from the official UM stat sheet)

I'm shocked that you were shocked. It was pretty obvious to me that the Cats were beating the Griz inside, despite the Grizzlies height advantage.

Seemed like the only time the Grizzlies started to make a run at the Cats was when they stopped settling for jump shots and made an effort to feed it inside to Qvale.

Those numbers are pretty sad.
 
8-) The Griz will finish up with the bobcats at the end of February and the shots will be dropping and the Griz will win by 23 and we will be all excited for the tournament in Ogden. 8-) :shock: Thats how silly some of us will be. How soon we will have forgot the lessons of last night the trip to ISU and the Northern Colorado game on our home floor. :shock: :mrgreen: That is if we qualify for the tournament :mrgreen:
 
mtgrizrule said:
They can play much better. I don't blame the coaching.
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I don't blame Tinks, either. As he said, the Griz had plenty of nice looks at the basket and took good shots.They just didn't fall. Nothing a coach can do about that. I think if even half those shots would have fallen, UM would have won the game. The offense went cold. Simple as that.
 
I think many of us are disappointed in our offense and the inconsistent play. I do question something amongst us.

How are we slow? Cherry, AJ, Young certainly are not slow, in fact quite quick compared to previous GRIZ teams. As for the rest, I do not see anyone that can be classified as "slow", at least defensively. Qvale and Selvig are not plodding bigs either. Tinkle and many opposing coaches have commented how well those 2 move for 7 footers. Defensively, I just do not physically a slow team, maybe sometimes slow to recognize or react to things as a group or few individual break downs occasionally. Defensively, I will take this years team over any GRIZ team the last decade. Defense is not why we are struggling. We are 4-4 in conference because our defense has kept games close, and even won us a game (Sac) that we should not have won.

We are 4-4 because of inconsistent perimeter shooting, penetration, and as a whole, bad offense. This team needs to figure out how to play every game like they did Portland State, Boise State, UW, and Oregon. In my opinion those are the only games we came even close to being the team we can be.

As for personnel, we lack a true 4 and big depth. What this team has really needed the last few years is a true banger/rebounding 4. I think Qvale can be that rebounder, but problem is teams know he is our only good rebounder, so they focus on him. Too bad our only true attitude guy is 6'3" or 6'4", IF Banny had 4 more inches we would not be needing a banger or more rebounding. Fortunately there is help on the way, but that depth is not here until next year.

As for this year, Qvale and Selvig, for that matter this whole team need to just start throwing bodies around and show teams they mean business. They need that attitude and edge. I have no doubts in what the GRIZ need. The question is, do they have what it takes in effort and mentality to meet those needs? I sure hope so.
 
mtgrizrule said:
Great W for MSU. I have questioned in the past and still am, why do we insist on being such a 1/2 court team? Our personnel is more suited for a faster paced game, yet every game we see the same ineffective offense and struggles.

Damnit, just try switching it up now and then. Take advantage of our shot blockers in Qvale and Selvig by trapping or having our guards and forward apply more pressure! Seriously, when a team struggles offensively, strategy is to create offense through defense. This really upsets me to see other teams be the aggressors with us. At the very least unchain Cherry every game defensively.

Also we have the depth to dictate a faster paced game. Wayne, please have some confidence in your personnel not named Anthony Johnson. Take the reigns off now and then. Good things can and will happen!!!
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Huse had a very good game plan and knew how to attack the Griz bigs inside. They were stepping up to trap (stop penetration) but the onside help D was terrible by the Griz and every cut/bounce pass to the cutter was killing them. I didn't see any adjustments for this either so not sure what the Griz were doing there. The Griz have the bigs, but they are pretty slow in my opinion to adjust on a cutter (slow footed). I think you will see other teams see the game film on this game and will do some of the sames things. The best way to attack teams that are big is to go right at them and attack.
 
I have not seen the GRIZ in person often the last few years to accurately determine if we are slow or not. The few times I have seen them though, I did not think of them as slow, as a whole. I will try paying more attention to who gets up the court and who does not against UNC. Maybe Selvig and Qvale are not the kinds that can play more up tempo, but I have no doubts Cherry, AJ, and Young can play up tempo.

I think the better wording would have been, we lack aggressiveness on both ends of the court. I believe our defense is solid for the most part. It just bugs me we do not let our more athletic guys gamble more defensively to make for a few transition baskets every game. I was taught that if you have guys that can protect the paint, it allows for more gambling on the perimeter and on the ball.

Why not put that kind of responsibility on Qvale and Selvig? I am not suggesting to do it a whole game, but at least a bit more than we do now. LK chose the perfect times every game to spring the press and traps for a few minutes at a time or on key possessions. Those GRIZ teams were effective when asked to do it, as a whole did those teams have more talent or quickness than this year's team?

How much would it hurt to have us gamble now and then?
 
I've been to most home games. Selvig and Qvale are good athletes, especially Selvig. Obviously Qvale is most improved player this year, by far.
Stauds and McGillis are deathly slow compared to other D-1 teams. They get beat in man and have a hard time getting free. Key point...The lack of either Stauds and McGillis penetrating ability is a huge weakness on this offense and could very well be at the root of our struggles. The opposing players and coaches know that neither guy is going to back door them. With our starting lineup , we are really easy to prepare for and execute against.
 
Evizzerate said:
I've been to most home games. Selvig and Qvale are good athletes, especially Selvig. Obviously Qvale is most improved player this year, by far.
Stauds and McGillis are deathly slow compared to other D-1 teams. They get beat in man and have a hard time getting free. Key point...The lack of either Stauds and McGillis penetrating ability is a huge weakness on this offense and could very well be at the root of our struggles. The opposing players and coaches know that neither guy is going to back door them. With our starting lineup , we are really easy to prepare for and execute against.
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Yep, that lack of punch/attacking from the sides makes it a lot easier for team to defend you. Especially with the 3 good guards MSU has containing your guards. Very similiar analogy to football taking away the run will help against the pass etc.
 
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