Informative Montana WBB season-preview

[UncleRico]

I agree with you that Holsinger has had a pretty impressive recruiting run so far. I think that the idea that the Griz and Lady Griz can "build a real reputation at the national level" is an unrealistic goal to say the least. Last year the Bobcat men and Women teams were clearly the best teams in the Big Sky and they lost by 35 and 41 points respectively in their opening NCAA games. The Big Sky overall record in NCAA tournament is 11-56 and the last Big Sky team to win an NCAA tournament game was in 2006(Griz). The Lady Griz under Selvig had a 6-21 NCAA Tourney record with the last win coming in 1995. I couldn't find if any Big Sky women's teams have won a game since then. If Holsinger gets anywhere near the success that Selvig had I would be amazed. Robin is the greatest coaching legend in UM history and it really isn't even close. One thing to consider also when you talk about bringing in African American players to Montana is that less than 1% of the state's population is black. Why do you think the state with the lowest per capita percentage of African Americans would become a huge draw to top level black players? With most having to come from Missoula a long ways from home? If you are waiting as a basketball fan to have interest in any Big Sky basketball team until they reach national prominence I am afraid you are going to be continously disinterested. If you want to cheer for a possible Big Sky Tournament ring and hopefully a decent enough seed to make a tourney game competitive (and maybe pull off the upset) then you might enjoy watching.

Here we go again. Another "Yes We Can't" chant!
So why can't we?
Because we never have!
With that attitude we'd still be riding around in stage coaches, reading by kerosene lamps, communicating by carrier pigeon and crapping in outhouses. Thank God enlightened souls somewhere had the wisdom and vision to know we could do better, and made it happen, no thanks to the Uncle Rico's of their time.
Because we can't recruit black athletes!
That's simply not in conformity with objective reality. I count more than twenty black athletes on our football team, and another nine on our men's basketball team, not to mention two black coaches on the basketball staff, and three on the football staff, including...the recruiting coordinator! I've been around long enough to know there are hella more shithole places for a black athlete to be than Missoula Montana, and have talked to several former black athletes who loved their time in Missoula, including--to cite but one example--Will Cherry, who still returns to "the 406."
As opposed to a Lady Griz program that had three black athletes during the entire 38 year tenure of Robin Selvig, a legacy that would have been laughable for any NBA or NFL franchise, and pretty much guaranteed a record of futility for us on a national scale.
Which is why I'm happy to have a coach who casts a much wider recruiting net than Selvig ever did, and for whom the sky is the limit--and not just the Big Sky.

Citay first of all I took no offense to anything that you said. It is a good discussion. The 20 plus black athletes we have in football I think probably love Missoula and Griz football. But they ended up here because they were often passed over by PAC 12 perhaps MWC teams and chose then chose Montana. Justin Ford in a recent interview said he really knew very little about Montana football. My point is if you take all Division 1 schools that play basketball how many have major metropolitan areas within 500 miles. I would guess MSU and UM would be in the small minority that are not. That means it is a huge disadvantage in recruiting. Parents and family can't afford to attend a lot of games etc. They are 18 and 19 year olds and they get lonely. Look at Bobcat lineman TJ Sessions last year. Transferred after playing in championship and spoke of the love for Bobcat program but living in Bozeman was a cultural shock. Look at where the kids that left the Griz last year ended up after they left. Owens, Beasley and Parker basically went home.So my question to you what constitutes being a nationally prominent program? In men's basketball would you mean like Utah St,. New Mexico or New Mexico St or Gonzaga like? I think having asperations to be nationally prominent are great but evaluating the success of a program and their coaches should be somewhat reality based. And UM is what it is. A Big Sky school.

 

[mthoopsfan]

So what is there for black female athletes to do in Missoula?

I assume you don't know that Rico has been a head basketball coach in MT. He's also been a high school AD. His dad was a high school and college hoops coach and is in the MT Coaches Hall of Fame. His uncle was a high school hoops coach and is in his college's basketball hall of fame. Rico's female cousin played hoops in the Big Sky and was all-conference several years. She was also a high school hoops coach in MT. I'm thinking Rico might now something about basketball and MT high school hoops.

Well, Greenie, one thing remains true. That through all your provisional identities on this board over the many years, I can always count on you to miss the point.
Which in this case is that in no way did I disrespect Uncle Rico (a steady contributor to this board and passionate Griz fan) or his family heritage but only an attitude that crops up again and again on this board under a banner that I have come to call The Great Montana Inferiority Complex.
O! We are only little ole Montana, a flyover state! O! We don't have the athletes to compete at the FBS level! O! We don't have the corporate backing to move up! O! We can't recruit black athletes because....O! What would they do in Missoula!
My educational and professional path has taken me to Portland, New York, New Orleans and San Francisco, and I can assure you Montana remains for me and for just about anybody that's ever lived there a special place, of which the legendary writer John Steinbeck said, in his famous quote, "I'm in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition and even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it is difficult to analyze love when you're in it."
But instead of being inspired by this, it seems most on this board adhere instead to Spiro Agnew's description of the press: "Nattering nabobs of pessimism."
Which for our sports programs has had opposite effects: Good for football given the chance to chase a second-rate lower-division "national championship" whose title game draws flies on national TV; but bad for both our basketball programs because it sticks us in an inferior conference with weak competition and only one invite to the Big Dance after a grueling three-day tournament, and insures that only second-rate non-conference teams ever come to Dahlberg Arena. We were fortunate to have had many battles with Damien Lillard back in the day but membership in the Mountain West conference would have drawn many more future NBA players to Missoula and been a huge stimulus to fan interest and recruiting for our Griz.
Success always begins with the right attitude. And that's my issue with Montanans. That's my issue with this board. That's my issue with UncleRico.
Not with his family.

Rico is the last person in the world with a Griz inferiority complex. He understands basketball, follows Griz basketball, goes to games, and knows and understands recruiting. You can blab all you want from CA or wherever you are, but you don't know nearly as much about Griz basketball compared to posters like Rico. You are the one who missed my point.

And you are wrong about your main point. MT does not have an inferiority complex. That's one of multiple gripes I have with you.

 

[citygriz]

Well, Greenie, one thing remains true. That through all your provisional identities on this board over the many years, I can always count on you to miss the point.
Which in this case is that in no way did I disrespect Uncle Rico (a steady contributor to this board and passionate Griz fan) or his family heritage but only an attitude that crops up again and again on this board under a banner that I have come to call The Great Montana Inferiority Complex.
O! We are only little ole Montana, a flyover state! O! We don't have the athletes to compete at the FBS level! O! We don't have the corporate backing to move up! O! We can't recruit black athletes because....O! What would they do in Missoula!
My educational and professional path has taken me to Portland, New York, New Orleans and San Francisco, and I can assure you Montana remains for me and for just about anybody that's ever lived there a special place, of which the legendary writer John Steinbeck said, in his famous quote, "I'm in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition and even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it is difficult to analyze love when you're in it."
But instead of being inspired by this, it seems most on this board adhere instead to Spiro Agnew's description of the press: "Nattering nabobs of pessimism."
Which for our sports programs has had opposite effects: Good for football given the chance to chase a second-rate lower-division "national championship" whose title game draws flies on national TV; but bad for both our basketball programs because it sticks us in an inferior conference with weak competition and only one invite to the Big Dance after a grueling three-day tournament, and insures that only second-rate non-conference teams ever come to Dahlberg Arena. We were fortunate to have had many battles with Damien Lillard back in the day but membership in the Mountain West conference would have drawn many more future NBA players to Missoula and been a huge stimulus to fan interest and recruiting for our Griz.
Success always begins with the right attitude. And that's my issue with Montanans. That's my issue with this board. That's my issue with UncleRico.
Not with his family.

Rico is the last person in the world with a Griz inferiority complex. He understands basketball, follows Griz basketball, goes to games, and knows and understands recruiting. You can blab all you want from CA or wherever you are, but you don't know nearly as much about Griz basketball compared to posters like Rico. You are the one who missed my point.

And you are wrong about your main point. MT does not have an inferiority complex. That's one of multiple gripes I have with you.

:lol:

 

[grizzlyjournal]

Though I often disagree with both citay and UncleRico, I always respect what they write in their numerous posts on all subjects hoops. :thumb: :thumb: