Don’t look now, but suddenly this team has quietly won 4 games in a row and actually looks relevant. I’m very interested to see how we measure up against Weber.
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Griz - ISU Game
- Thread starter MikeyGriz
- Start date
IdaGriz01
Well-known member
Crucial span started with a bit over 15 min left in the game. Bengals did a Griz impersonation and scored just 1 point in the next nine+ minutes. Griz eased out to 10-point lead, but then – sadly true to form – let ISU get it down to just 5. Then, as you note, the Griz pulled it out at the foul line.MikeyGriz said:
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
I thought Lonnell Martin played perhaps his best game as a Griz... 4-6 from the field, all treys, four rebounds and very solid in-your-face defense.
The winning stat, however, was Montana's 10-for-18/ 55.6% shooting from beyond the arc and balanced scoring from all five starters (four in double digits & the fifth starter with 9). I don't think I can recall a Montana team with 4 players capable of double-digit scoring nights from beyond the arc... 5 if you count Vazquez.
The winning stat, however, was Montana's 10-for-18/ 55.6% shooting from beyond the arc and balanced scoring from all five starters (four in double digits & the fifth starter with 9). I don't think I can recall a Montana team with 4 players capable of double-digit scoring nights from beyond the arc... 5 if you count Vazquez.
IdaGriz01
Well-known member
Noticed that point about the scoring. (One more point for Whitney, he joins the double-dip). That kind of balanced scoring can get a team a long way ... defenses can't know who to focus on. Still worrisome: the bench (non)contribution. Except for Bannan, who had 29 min, all the starters were in for over 30 minutes. (They averaged over 33 min.) The bench totaled just 35 min, and scored just 2 points. The lack of bench scoring is at least partly the result of the lack of time. However, playing the starters 33 min per game will surely catch up with the Griz come tournament time.grizzlyjournal said:
I think we had become a bit conditioned that Travis didn't emphasize shooting from the perimeter, but the more that you look at this squad as compared to the team last year and year before, it is clear they didn't shoot well enough to put up threes. For the most part this year, they aren't taking threes because they are obligated but rather at logical parts of the possession. Thomas has been a huge addition in that regard because as teams collapse on Bannan we are getting the ball into his hands for a ton of clean looks. We've been able to work sets for Moody who has shown he can make threes off of one foot in a tight window. Been a long while that we'd have more than 1 or 2 sets to get clean looks for 3. Vasquez got a bit early on in his career, but we've seen seemingly a half dozen sets designed to get Moody windows to shoot .
On another note...
What struck me last night was that when Montana went on the run in the second half to stretch it to 10, he left Bannan and Moody on the bench for pretty much the whole duration of it. In that time it was Thomas, Oke, Martin, Whitney and Vasquez. Vasquez is having a solid year, with the limited bench he continues to find ways to impact the game and it is a bit different every night. Last night he hit a key shot and then iced the game with key free throws. Oke's game continues to evolve and the Anderson injury probably forced him into the rotation and it is paying dividends. Oke can't or won't score unless his life depended on it, but its clear at this point what he provides. He's a really good defender and so active on the floor. He's not physical, but rather positional wise he defends really well with his lower body.
Lastly...
This team has tight margins. They haven't given up more than 70 since the NAU/UNC road trip and that includes games against PSU and EWU. They are 7-2 in conference when they score above 65 points. In that stretch of games since the NAU/UNC road weekend, where they haven't in spite of giving up less than 65 ppg, they are 5-4. Sort of insane really. Obviously it is philosophical, but it is sort of death, taxes and games in the mid 60's for the Griz and their opponents. Griz are averaging 65.3 points in that span and their opponents are averaging 63.3.
Since the Sac State debacle they've averaged a right about 69 a game and you have to feel pretty good if they can get into the high 60's about their chances for winning. The peripherals are terrible as they always are, got out rebounded 15 last night, still they are able to take league average defensive peripherals (teams shoot league average, they don't force a ton of turnovers, etc) and translate it into a defense that few teams in the league a) can rival or b) consistently unlock and c) gives them a really good chance on most nights of being there in the end.
On another note...
What struck me last night was that when Montana went on the run in the second half to stretch it to 10, he left Bannan and Moody on the bench for pretty much the whole duration of it. In that time it was Thomas, Oke, Martin, Whitney and Vasquez. Vasquez is having a solid year, with the limited bench he continues to find ways to impact the game and it is a bit different every night. Last night he hit a key shot and then iced the game with key free throws. Oke's game continues to evolve and the Anderson injury probably forced him into the rotation and it is paying dividends. Oke can't or won't score unless his life depended on it, but its clear at this point what he provides. He's a really good defender and so active on the floor. He's not physical, but rather positional wise he defends really well with his lower body.
Lastly...
This team has tight margins. They haven't given up more than 70 since the NAU/UNC road trip and that includes games against PSU and EWU. They are 7-2 in conference when they score above 65 points. In that stretch of games since the NAU/UNC road weekend, where they haven't in spite of giving up less than 65 ppg, they are 5-4. Sort of insane really. Obviously it is philosophical, but it is sort of death, taxes and games in the mid 60's for the Griz and their opponents. Griz are averaging 65.3 points in that span and their opponents are averaging 63.3.
Since the Sac State debacle they've averaged a right about 69 a game and you have to feel pretty good if they can get into the high 60's about their chances for winning. The peripherals are terrible as they always are, got out rebounded 15 last night, still they are able to take league average defensive peripherals (teams shoot league average, they don't force a ton of turnovers, etc) and translate it into a defense that few teams in the league a) can rival or b) consistently unlock and c) gives them a really good chance on most nights of being there in the end.
Grizfan-24 said:
One thing you know for sure is that, if your team has a lot of offensive rebounds, you're missing a lot of shots. :lol:
mtgrizrule
Well-known member
Mavman said:
Next step, finding shooting and offensive consistency.
Most games, shooting is solid of late. However, the stinker games are still a little to prevalent. It would be nice to expect high 30s plus percent from 3, and a bad night be 7 or 8 3's. The 10+ for 2 games, then 1 or 2 games below 35% has to end. If we're struggling with shooting, more minutes for Oke just to get a few more offensive boards for extra possessions.
