I am not sure how well this will turn out. I am needing to get on the road back to Denver. I wanted to watch the game on TV before posting here. I wanted to see if the officiating was as bad as I thought in person. They were as bad as I seen, but not as one sided as I thought. Both teams had their fair share of bad calls, so the officiating did not determine the point spread. It was actually pretty even out there. I do like the fact the officials let the teams play more physical the whole tournament.
1st of all, Way to GO GRIZ NATION, now that was as good as a crowd and environment any fan base could provide. It was electric in there both GRIZ games this week. It was great to see the students going crazy. It was awesome hearing the crowd, and best yet, the "sit down" folks were forced to stand. I heard one sit down in the 1st half, and next thing you know everyone else starts to stand and cheer too. That old man knew he was not going to win this one that game. The pregame for the National Anthem added to it too. Loved the confetti after each game too. U of M really went out of their way for the teams, and the fan base. It looks to me this school is beginning to actually care about basketball again. I hope the students enjoyed the games, and this can carry over for next season. GRIZ NATION I applaud you, we all should be proud what was done this weekend, beyond the teams.
I was disappointed the GRIZ did not attack Weber State like they did the 1st game they played, and how UND did. Credit Weber State, in a short time they shored up their defensive mistakes from the UND game. They were not letting themselves be backdoored and did not over play the ball. They were really bad at that against UND. They did lose track of Weisner and Gregory a little too often. Jamar and Cherry both did great jobs knowing where those 2 were. The GRIZ probably missed out another 1/2 dozen open looks too. I loved how well the GRIZ defended the 3 in both games. Very few wide open looks in either game.
Defensively I am pretty comfortable with Hutchison and Martin getting good minutes now. Andy still needs to stay on his feet when defending in half court, but man I love his transition defense. He made a few game changing blocks this weekend that were huge. He even poked a few balls onto the floor, which is something we had not seen before. Hutchison did well with position defense, and kept Weber State's bigs in check pretty well. Andy has good hands but needs to be ready to use them. Kareem should have 3 more assists. I am sure after game film is broken down, the coaches will hammer home this to Andy. I will be surprised if he is not ready for passes the next game. He did position himself much better, and it showed with better rebound numbers. He also was in the mix for more rebounds but timing was off or the ball just was not secured by him (Selvig and Qvale their 1st 2 years.)
Offensively, I loved the GRIZ riding the 2 horses that got them there. It was all Cherry and Jamar initiating the offense in the 2nd half, and making all the decisions. I feel the GRIZ need to be more selective on shooting the 3 and who is shooting it. More Weisner and Gregory from 3. Less Cherry and Deshields from 3, with him creating by taking the ball to the hole. The GRIZ are at their best with Cherry, Deshields, and Jamar attacking the rim. However, I am much more confident in Cherry taking clutch 3's. He has come through pretty consistently this year with big 3's. Cherry and Jamar are both primetime players with the game on the line. It is nice to know the GRIZ have 2 great one on one players for isolation when the offense needs it.
Defensively, the GRIZ were damn good this weekend in both games. They shut down 2 very good perimeter shooting teams this weekend, which has to be a confidence builder going into the dance. Offense needs to shore a few things up, mainly shot selection and ball movement. Rebounding still needs to improve, but is much better than it was early in the season. The GRIZ are dangerous match up for whoever they play. In the NCAA tournament guard play, perimeter shooting, and defense take teams far. The GRIZ have plenty of each. Feel free to dwell about our paint play, but if the GRIZ 5 guards are playing well and hitting open shots, this bodes well in the tournament. Also this team just knows how to win, and believes in themselves. That is huge. I expect the GRIZ to show well no matter who they play. The Cherry and Jamar factor will be ready this year.
With all that said, I want to applaud what a great program Weber State is. They are an NCAA worthy team, too bad the conference kills them and Montana. They deserve at worse, a NIT bid, but will get screwed again. I also want Weber State fans to know, everyone from Weber State was all class this weekend. I did not run into one bad fan, but think I did see one Weber fan be removed by security, or at least warned. Not sure what happened there, but something happened. As for the team, great kids, and coaches. I hope Rahe knows the kind of player they have in Bolomboy. He is by far the most talented big man in the conference. I would be riding him as far as he could take the team the next 3 years. If this kid has the desire to work at his game, he can be a very special player.
With that said, I am hitting the road back to Colorado, and will be getting caught up here when I get home. I will have the NCAA selection show tuned in on satellite radio. I am confident we will be 14 seed. Anything else would be a surprise to me. I am very happy I came up for this tournament GRIZ NATION don't let this weekend get lost going into next season. The ZOO felt like the ZOO again. Take pride in that GRIZ NATION. I plead to the students to commit to this team from the get go next season. I am as proud of our fans as I have ever been from this weekend. As always, very proud of the teams. GO GRIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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