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Is NAU as good as their 8-4 record suggests?

BWahlberg

BWahlberg

Well-known member
DONOR
I'm going to be at both conference games this week, I'm really looking forward to it, so I pulled up the conference standings and I see NAU is tied for the best record in the conference at 8-4 (with UM).

But then I looked at their 8 wins:

Alabama St (2-10)
SW Arizona (lower division)
Kennesaw St (2-9)
Pepperdine (5-9)
CSU Bakersfield (8-5)
Bethany CA (lower division)
Texas Pan-Am (3-11)
Air Force (7-3)

It would seem their only quality win was the most recent against AFA a solid team with a good defense who is 7-3 this season. And one has to give credit to NAU being "road warriors" playing 7 of 12 games on the road so far.

This should be a good game, NAU and UM are projected to battle for the top spot since Weber lost Lillard for the season.
 
I think NAU is going to be very good this year. However, I don't think (like last year) they match up well with the Griz...

They had a terrible time guarding AJ and Cherry last year. AJ + Cherry in the 3 games we played against NAU last year had a total of 112 points, 29 rebounds, 19 assists, and 17 steals. NAU did not handle the quickness of Cherry or AJ well at all.

Of course this year we don't have AJ, but Cherry has improved quite a bit. We also have Jamar, and Steward at the 2 and 3 with quite a bit of quickness.

Cameron Jones for NAU had good games against the Griz last year, but that was about the only bright spot for NAU in the 3 games against the Griz. I think like last year, our quickness and athleticism gets the best of NAU. Qvale has turned into a block machine on D too... Jones might have a little trouble in the paint with Qvale down there.

Looking forward to the game. I hope I'm right and the Griz come away with a victory.. I wish this game wasn't in the middle of the day... It's not going to be much of a home court advantage with as bad of attendance as we are going to get for this game :(

One quick note.. I wouldn't count Weber out yet... Losing Lillard hurts, but Weber always seems to be loaded with talent. I'm guessing they'll be right up near the top of the Big Sky again this year too.
 
NAU's wins aren't terribly impressive. But they do have some real quality losses:

At Creighton by just 4.
At USC by 8.
At Arizona by just 5.

Throw in a convincing win at Pepperdine and the AFA win, and I think NAU will be very, very good.
 
NAU will be a factor this year, as they generally are. The NAU road trip is one of the toughest in the BSC, especially if you have to play the 2nd game of the swing at their place. The Griz conference openers with NAU and Weber are HUGE!
 
NAU is at least as good as the Griz this year. Their losses, like the Griz are all close games (except UNR - which is an odd outlier). Unlike the Griz, NAU's losses are to some very, very good teams. It's a weird year for BSC BB, if Webs had Lillard they would def be in the mid major 25, and with a few more points, so would NAU. If WSU had Lillard, the conference would be better than it was last year - which was the best BB year for the Big Sky in probably 15 years.

Of course if we play the "if game", if we had AJ back this year, we'd be in the actual top 25 and would be undefeated. We'd be able to go toe to toe with all but maybe 10 teams in the nation.

Oh well...
 
Re/MaxGriz said:
I'm going to be at both conference games this week, I'm really looking forward to it, so I pulled up the conference standings and I see NAU is tied for the best record in the conference at 8-4 (with UM).

But then I looked at their 8 wins:

Alabama St (2-10)
SW Arizona (lower division)
Kennesaw St (2-9)
Pepperdine (5-9)
CSU Bakersfield (8-5)
Bethany CA (lower division)
Texas Pan-Am (3-11)
Air Force (7-3)

It would seem their only quality win was the most recent against AFA a solid team with a good defense who is 7-3 this season. And one has to give credit to NAU being "road warriors" playing 7 of 12 games on the road so far.

This should be a good game, NAU and UM are projected to battle for the top spot since Weber lost Lillard for the season.
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I think this will be a great game of two very good defensive teams and if Selvig can play with consistency, UM should be able to pull it out....foul shooting will be decisive.
As for Weber, I think you might be overlooking the overall quality of this team. Losing Lillard is a blow, but they are well coached and play tough, though, like the Griz, inconsistent...that is what makes college basketball so great...the favorite can be beaten by good coaching and one player stepping up....it is a shame that the games have been scheduled as they are....alas...
 
As of 12/20/10 Griz are ranked @ #22 in the mid majors. Congrat's to coachs & team, a good finish for the 1st third of the season.
 
Should be a great game - Montana will have the edge on this one, being at home.

NAU's 4 losses have come to Iowa State (11-2), Arizona (11-2), Creighton (8-4) and an 8-5 USC team that has beaten Texas and Tennessee, and was homered from a win at Kansas. NAU had chances to win all the games but the Iowa State game.
 
dbackjon said:
Should be a great game - Montana will have the edge on this one, being at home.

NAU's 4 losses have come to Iowa State (11-2), Arizona (11-2), Creighton (8-4) and an 8-5 USC team that has beaten Texas and Tennessee, and was homered from a win at Kansas. NAU had chances to win all the games but the Iowa State game.
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True, but USC also lost at home to Rider and at Bradley. Still, that's not to take away from what NAU has done, which, as I note above, has been very impressive nonconf play.
 
1:00 pm on a Wednesday....and I'll be stuck at work only being able to follow the game on gametracker. Crapola! I'll admit I'm not a big fan of U of M's scheduling this time around but my bitching won't change it. The collective comments of the Griz fans may though. Fire away, Griz Nation.

Cameron Jones is having a great season. I was able to attend the NAU game @ the U of A. Derrick Williams (UofA power forward...projected as a lottery pick) was not the best player on the court that night. Cam Jones has a bit of a "throwback" feel to his game as the majority of his points are from mid-range jumpers and drives to the hoop. Not many of his points are above the rim or through 3 pointers. There's just something satisfying about a college guard using the backboard on a 10-15 foot jump shot. The antithesis of the NBA.

NAU's 3 bigs (Johannsen, Lepley and Smith) have proven to be serviceable. Qvale and Selvig have the upper hand in this one but NAU has 15 fouls and some tough guys in this battle. Point guard play has improved this year, especially on the part of Stallon Saldivar. 71 assists to 23 turnovers is positive. He's not as quick as Cherry but apart from Lilliard I don't think too many in the Big SKy Conference will be. The bulk of NAU's points come from the 2 guard and wings. Cameron Jones, Gabe Rogers and Eric Platt have shown the ability to put up points in a hurry this season. Three point shooting has faltered a bit the last few games but Gabe Rogers and Eric Platt can light it up. Free throw shooting has improved but still has it's "bad old day" moments leading Coach Adras to mutter to himself and stare at the floor. Rebounding and limiting turnovers has been a positive as well. Defense has been a mix of man and zone. I expect a bunch of zone vs. the Griz due to the bigs size discrepancy. NAU has a pretty steady 10 man rotation and depth hasn't been an issue this year.

One truly crappy half of basketball all year (1st half vs. Iowa State) and Adras has the team playing tough. I expect a close, well-played game. For those in attendance, have a blast. NAU has some die-hard supporters who will be in attendance. Please play nice. Wish I was back in Missoula and Bozeman this week.

Good luck Griz. Go Jacks.
 
Some rare love for the Lumberjacks (and some respect for WSU and UM) from the Arizona Republic. Kind words from Sean Miller and Lute Olson. I just hope that U of A keeps scheduling the Jacks even though the previously thought impossible almost happened this year.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/nau/articles/2010/12/27/20101227cameron-jones-nau-basketball-worthy-attention.html
 
Can't get off of work so will miss my first league game since well before the remodel. :x If they do this type of scheduling again next season, I am absolutely done as a season ticket holder. Based on the article in today's Missoulian, it is pretty clear that Tinks is not happy with the mid-day starts either.
 
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
To be the devils advocate...Are we as good as our 8-4 record implies?? :twisted:
.Well, the Griz just showed that they are....
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...I think yes :thumb:
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After seeing NAu I was awufully impressed, the rematch in Flagstaff will be a battle. #10 Jones is a match-up nightmare at the 3 spot, he most of the guys who guarded him were beat repeatedly. #30 who came in off the bench I think was killer from the 3-point line.

I do have to say though, this game got weird really fast, BQ got in foul trouble fast in both the 1st half and 2nd half. When he was out there it was a different game, the first 5 minutes or so of the 2nd half with Cherry and Qvale working together - that was when the Griz streched the lead out. I have a feeling that if the Griz had BQ for most of the game the 2nd half might've turned the game into a blow-out for the Griz.
 
Re/MaxGriz said:
After seeing NAu I was awufully impressed, the rematch in Flagstaff will be a battle. #10 Jones is a match-up nightmare at the 3 spot, he most of the guys who guarded him were beat repeatedly. #30 who came in off the bench I think was killer from the 3-point line.

I do have to say though, this game got weird really fast, BQ got in foul trouble fast in both the 1st half and 2nd half. When he was out there it was a different game, the first 5 minutes or so of the 2nd half with Cherry and Qvale working together - that was when the Griz streched the lead out. I have a feeling that if the Griz had BQ for most of the game the 2nd half might've turned the game into a blow-out for the Griz.
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I think you are right on about that..but, considering that for most of this game, next year's team had NAU down big, I think the future looks very good for UM basketball....
 
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