Moral victories are for losers... 
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Griz v. Weber State
- Thread starter Ashamed
- Start date
MissoulaMarinerFan
Well-known member
Thinking about it, the Griz sorta feels like the team(s) that Tinkle had his first few years...solid, and played good in stretches, but not consistent enough at enough positions to be a threat.
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
I'm also a long-suffering Mariner's fan. I'll also bleed Maroon & Silver til I die.
I ain't giving up on the Griz. I DO see an interesting transformation of this team by playing Kareem at the 4. Just don't know if they have time to revamp their game.
MissoulaMarinerFan
Well-known member
Definitely agree there, sir! I'm also not giving up on them, I've just resigned myself that they aren't going to be nearly as good as they have been the last few years.grizzlyjournal said:
WILDCATFAN
Well-known member
Man you gotta love rivalry games, that was one intense game to watch. The Griz shot lights out and really controlled the tempo for most of the game, one or two more plays and this game could have gone either way.
There is NO WAY the Griz dont make the tourney, Im no expert, but in my opinion, Tinkle teams are too good and too well coached to not make the tourney, heck Weber has played 6 of 8 conf games at home so far, we have 8 of the next 12 on the road, it's time to see what we are even made of.
Griz played very well tonight, good thing we had a great crowd tonight, we needed it and a little more to get the win. Good game Griz
There is NO WAY the Griz dont make the tourney, Im no expert, but in my opinion, Tinkle teams are too good and too well coached to not make the tourney, heck Weber has played 6 of 8 conf games at home so far, we have 8 of the next 12 on the road, it's time to see what we are even made of.
Griz played very well tonight, good thing we had a great crowd tonight, we needed it and a little more to get the win. Good game Griz
WILDCATFAN
Well-known member
PlayerRep said:
Fairly even game
The Griz will make the tourney and may even surprise some teams there. A key the rest of the way is Weisner. He doesn't need to score 17 each time but if he can get 10-12/nite along with some boards to go along with the play of Jamar, Gregory & Deshields this team can be pretty good. That will be true even with marginal play by the bigs and will be more important than relying on or expecting those bigs to improve much.
Potomac Griz
Well-known member
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
Couldn't agree more! We actually saw the same thing with Virgil Matthews years ago when Coach K was here. As soon as he started getting consistent minutes (after Lynch got hurt) he showed what he could actually do and was HUGE for us winning the Big Sky tournament that year.
When a player is getting yanked after the first mistake and has their minutes so erratic it's not hard to see that they might get a little nervous and almost try to hard not to make a mistake (which always leads to mistakes).
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
I don't think there's any way the Griz don't make the tournament. 7 teams get in, so only 4 are left out... I just don't see the Griz being one of those teams left out.
The Big Sky is awful and incredibly inconsistent this year, even the top teams right now don't have much consistency. One day they'll look like they are a damn good team, the next day they'll struggle with SUU or look like complete shit.
http://www.standard.net/stories/2014/01/25/weber-state-defeats-montana" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy hauled down a career high 19 rebounds to go with 12 points"
UM's 3 posts combined for 2 points on 1 for 3 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 turnovers, 2 assists, 8 fouls, 1 steal, no blocks, no free throw attempts, and 40 minutes. No production, but their combined play must have been good or credible enough to help keep UM in the game.
UM's 3 posts combined for 2 points on 1 for 3 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 turnovers, 2 assists, 8 fouls, 1 steal, no blocks, no free throw attempts, and 40 minutes. No production, but their combined play must have been good or credible enough to help keep UM in the game.
i'm a big believer in moral victories. don't tell me our 1975 game against ucla wasn't a moral victory. against the team that would eventually win the ncaa championship, against the legendary john wooden and a player in marques johnson who would go on to be a five-time nba all-star, our kids played magnificently. it set the tone for decades of basketball excellence at montana, and probably cost us jud heathcote as well. plus, as dean smith said, "if you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you'll die a lot of times."
but i do not believe last night was a moral victory. we're simply too competitive against weber state, and we had too many chance to win this game--especially by making the front end of one-and-one's down the stretch. still, i'm damned proud of our kids, and the way they played this game. when you go out there knowing that you're going to be hugely outplayed at the five, it's almost a triumph just to stay in the game. our kids played remarkably well, way better than i expected. maybe this road trip was the turnaround for our season.
but, oh...that weakness up front. as a griz fan, you want to believe in magical turnarounds. as a realist, you say, you just can't get mauled in the post, and expect to go very far. thank god for now we're in the big sky.
but i do not believe last night was a moral victory. we're simply too competitive against weber state, and we had too many chance to win this game--especially by making the front end of one-and-one's down the stretch. still, i'm damned proud of our kids, and the way they played this game. when you go out there knowing that you're going to be hugely outplayed at the five, it's almost a triumph just to stay in the game. our kids played remarkably well, way better than i expected. maybe this road trip was the turnaround for our season.
but, oh...that weakness up front. as a griz fan, you want to believe in magical turnarounds. as a realist, you say, you just can't get mauled in the post, and expect to go very far. thank god for now we're in the big sky.
Potomac Griz
Well-known member
citay said:
True, the game was winnable, but a few blown opportunities and it turns into a loss. That's the closest regular season game we've had @Weber since 2005-2006 when we lost by 5 points. Over the years (Especially since Rahe got there) Weber has been damn hard to beat down there. I forget what Rahe's home record was, but they mentioned it in the pre game and it was awesome.
The 5 previous years we only had 1 game there in the regular season that didn't result in a 10+ point loss. We lost by 24 there last year, 16 the year before that, 16 before that, 8 before that and 16 before that (wtf is with losing by 16 down there?).
A 5 point loss this year even with Weber being a bit down and inconsistent may not be a moral victory really, but it may also be a sign that things are starting to get a little turned around for the Griz. I hope that's the case and we continue to see improvements throughout the 2nd half of the Big Sky like we have in the past years where we finished very strong in the tournament.
We'll see I guess. Next up is @SUU then @MSU.
grizophile
Well-known member
Let somebody else be embarrassed by the Syracuses of the world. You thought last year was bad.
Potomac Griz
Well-known member
grizophile said:
Yeah, that's exactly the attitude a mid major program should take :roll:
Glad the Griz didn't have that attitude in the 2009-2010 season when they nearly upset 3 seed New Mexico, or in 2005-2006 when they beat 5 seed Nevada & then hung around with 4 seed Boston College... or 2004-2005 when they put up a strong showing against 1 seed Washington.
I'd take being blown out in the tournament a few times with a few good showings and even a win occasionally over not making the tournament like the majority of our conference members.
TrueGriz said:
grizophile is a fan of "Moral Victories"
UMGriz75
Well-known member
UM has a great coach who wants to coach basketball. UM has some great kids who want to play basketball. The Stars and the Moon don't always line up to produce a "Championship Season." Well, that's the breaks.
Even while praising the kid who has a great night, it's hard for me to denigrate the kid who didn't. And if I did, I regret that.
Step back.
This may be the best time of their lives. It is for the rest of us.
Weber had a great game. That is a program and people to be admired. The announcers did a great job. The Griz had a great game. That is a program and people to be admired.
The coaches were everything that coaches should be. The players on both sides had nothing to be ashamed of.
Count me: "positive" to the sport experience as represented by this game.
Signed, old sports reporter and sports editor from way back when. "I covered the UCLA Game."
Even while praising the kid who has a great night, it's hard for me to denigrate the kid who didn't. And if I did, I regret that.
Step back.
This may be the best time of their lives. It is for the rest of us.
Weber had a great game. That is a program and people to be admired. The announcers did a great job. The Griz had a great game. That is a program and people to be admired.
The coaches were everything that coaches should be. The players on both sides had nothing to be ashamed of.
Count me: "positive" to the sport experience as represented by this game.
Signed, old sports reporter and sports editor from way back when. "I covered the UCLA Game."
