Griz @ lumberjills

[EverettGriz]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[IdaGriz01]

'Jacks gave the kitties a tussle tonight, but lost 63-57. Looks like NAU could be peaking nicely for the conference championship.

 

[Hoops watcher]

Could sort of see this game coming from several miles away.

First our margin is still pretty small. Pretty evident last night when Pridgett struggled to get his, and Manuel was less efficient than he has been lately, that depending on points outside of Samuelson is pretty hard to come by.

Second, NAU is the longest team we'll see in the conference. They gave us fits in Missoula and it is pretty evident at this point they among the better teams in the conference defensively. Their issues come offensively. They are outside of NC the team who scares me the most come tournament time.

Three, I will state my total dislike of hedge hipchecks. This is my officiating rant for today. For whatever reason, it is permissible 30 feet from the basket for the post player to hip check the ball handler just as so long as you don't put your hands on him. I hate that this has become as permissive as hand checks were five years ago. NAU is so dang long, and if you allow them to play straight up while bumping the primary ball handler, you can effectively take them off their route/spot on the floor. We'll call a non-consequential handcheck that doesn't create an advantage but we'll let go an offensive flow disruption hip check 9 out of 10 times.

You want to free up the flow of college basketball and force teams to think twice about using post players to stretch hedge on the perimeter, 30 feet from the basket? Call that foul as much as you call illegal picks or handchecks. That will fix the aggressive hedge.

Four, I just honestly do not know what to say about the last 3 minutes of games under DeCuire. Continues to be an issue and not scoring for the last 3:30 last night was replete with a whole slew of bad possessions and bad shots. I get that you want to shorten the game, but I don't know what the answer is. Two of our four losses in conference this year have been been because of this issue. I don't know how to fix it, or where the problem begins/ends.

--
On to Sacramento State. An environment that normally creates ugly basketball games. Sacramento hasn't been as good defensively in the second half of the conference season, but they seem to be able to dial it up when they face Montana. I'd be surprised if this game makes it out of the 50's.

Agree on the bulk of your post. They lost because Pridgett only had 6 field goal attempts.His previous low this year was 10 a few times. He scored his 8 during that stretch mid second half when we jumped up by 10 or 11. They sustain that offense they win going away, but Sayeed had maybe 1 shot the last 10 minutes. Won't get it done against anybody given the makeup of this squad. Also agree they seem to take the foot off the gas which has led to less than ideal shots late when trying to hold leads. Was checking some stats and as a team the Griz are at .473 FG%, 26th in the country. Pretty darn amazing for an undersized jump shooting team so their shot selection given those limitations is pretty darn good. Seems best to just have them run the O without worrying about milking clock.

 

[Rxgrzz]

NAU has GRIZ hangover and lose to bobs. Bobs shoot 18 free throws. NAU 19. Pathetic.