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BOTH Lady Griz

I watch quite a bit of the LaGriz games but I'm not a basketball expert by any means. It seems to me like Holsinger can definitely recruit talent but his X's and O's just feel off. It always seems like the LaGriz are just playing playground basketball all the time. They quite frequently just look frazzled out there like they can't make any adjustments on the fly. There's no real momentum to the offense and no inside game. We haven't had a really good true big since Abby Anderson left. They're always just looking to jack up a bad perimeter shot instead of getting to the basket. Which is great when the shots are falling but when they're cold they have zero answer. Bit frustrating to watch.
 
And look at Minnesota, Michigan State or our own Big Sky Conference favorites NAU.

I am not saying your point re: player development is not valid, Big Sky, I am saying our team of 14 all white girls from Montana and mainly Eastern Washington lacks the speed and athleticism of some of the teams we've played and no offense to Creighton or SDSU, but they aren't going to be very competitive with a Minnesota, Michigan State, South Carolina, LSU, etc.

If we hold up a picture of Coach Holsinger's all white Lady GRIZ team vs. Coach Decuire's GRIZ team, the diversity difference is dramatic, one of the key reasons our men's team is much more competitive--recruiting--in addition to coaching and player development !!!


" If we're going to win, we're going to have to change everything, including who we recruit ! "

Coach Don Haskins
Texas Western University (UTEP)
Men's NCAA National Champions, 1966
( TWU revolutionized men's college basketball 🏀 in 1966 when their 5 black starters defeated Adolph Rupp's all white University of Kentucky team in the NCAA championship game, as depicted in the award-winning book and 2006 movie " Glory Road. "
 
BigSkyBreakdown said:
There are numerous schools with all white players that are very competitive and successful: Creighton and South Dakota State are two that come to mind right away. To recruit kids from those areas (Seattle, Tacoma, PDX, the Bay and LA) you have to have a staff put together to recruit those types. A head coach that can relate to those players.

Holsinger and his staff have focused on a particular type of player that fits his comfort zone from a region that he feels comfortable with.

Our question is whom ever is recruited are they getting developed and better? Are they improving every year or are they staying the same. This would be a question asked of all programs. Do there players improve or stay the same?
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But him and his mom can really work those middle school traveling team officials.
 
Grizrunr said:
Lots of talent on the team but they don't seem to play together that well, and they don't play fundamental defense. With the addition of Woolley to the coaching staff I was hoping he could influence that blaring weakness. Maybe he is trying, who knows.
Waddington is best player on the team, hope she sticks around.
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Interesting play sets at times. One in particular, has them spread out, not much movement, or pass plays the type you would normally see with a few seconds remining for a shot play. They are still plagued by turnovers, flimsy passing at times. Offense rebounding not great.
 
Grizrunr said:
Lots of talent on the team but they don't seem to play together that well, and they don't play fundamental defense. With the addition of Woolley to the coaching staff I was hoping he could influence that blaring weakness. Maybe he is trying, who knows.
Waddington is best player on the team, hope she sticks around.
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Re: "Waddington is best player on the team, hope she sticks around." Truly we are lucky to have a player of her caliber on the team. Her development looks outstanding! I can easily see her moving on to a bigger school, I can imagine a team hoping she might consider. Maci Huard was such a player, last year can you imagine if she had stayed!!
 
billingsgriz said:
And look at Minnesota, Michigan State or our own Big Sky Conference favorites NAU.

I am not saying your point re: player development is not valid, Big Sky, I am saying our team of 14 all white girls from Montana and mainly Eastern Washington lacks the speed and athleticism of some of the teams we've played and no offense to Creighton or SDSU, but they aren't going to be very competitive with a Minnesota, Michigan State, South Carolina, LSU, etc.

If we hold up a picture of Coach Holsinger's all white Lady GRIZ team vs. Coach Decuire's GRIZ team, the diversity difference is dramatic, one of the key reasons our men's team is much more competitive--recruiting--in addition to coaching and player development !!!


" If we're going to win, we're going to have to change everything, including who we recruit ! "

Coach Don Haskins
Texas Western University (UTEP)
Men's NCAA National Champions, 1966
( TWU revolutionized men's college basketball 🏀 in 1966 when their 5 black starters defeated Adolph Rupp's all white University of Kentucky team in the NCAA championship game, as depicted in the award-winning book and 2006 movie " Glory Road. "
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Changing the dynamic of the roster is not an argument you will here from us. Just pointing out that there are a number of mostly white teams that are highly successful. Those are two example. Creighton was sweet 16 last year so they are no slouches.

To recruit those types of kids, you need to have a coach that is able understand and relate to those types of kids. Oregon State did not recruit them, not sure about his time at WSU, but I would say most of the players he recruited came from similar areas to where he recruits now.

Does Holsinger have those types on his staff. Wooley is new to staff, so is the young lady he brought in this year. Many of the female assistants have moved on to other opportunities. One just left to go to league foe Idaho after just 1 year.

It boils down to can Holsinger and his staff go to a home of a kid you are wishing them to recruit and sell the families and those recruits on his vision and how he will help them. Can he relate to those families and kids? Can he and his staff get out of their comfort zone to do this? Our guess is he will stay true to his history and recruit the kids he feels fit his system, personality and comfort zone. Will it lead him and the LG to the BSC chipper? Time will tell.
 
I agree, Big Sky, that a coach needs to be able to relate to a kid, her family, and sell them on a UM education hundreds or even thousand or miles away from home and that is why I mentioned hiring a female assistant that is a person of color from the inner city. And should we have another takented Native girl from the Montana rez like Malia Kipp, I would be all over recruiting her !!!

Please keep in mind:
1. Seattle-Tacoma CSA ( combined statistical area) has a population over just over 4 million, dwarfing Spokane's CSA of approximately 785,000 people. (Coach Decuire comes from the Seattle area.]
2. Seattle and Tacoma are closer to Missoula by car than most of Eastern Montana.
3. Don Haskins was a white head coach @ Texas Western recruiting black kids from NYC, Philiy, Chicago, etc., to play college basketball in El Paso during the 1960's in the Jim Crow South--his team could not even stay in many of the region's hotels or eat in the restaurants and we're taunted both entering and leaving their opponent's arenas and during the actual games with racial epithets and yet those black student-athletes stuck with their white coach because he showed them and their families he genuinely cared about them and wanted these kids to succeed both athletically and academically even though he came from an entirely different racial and cultural background.

If we recruit some of these minority girls from the inner city and combine them with our best Montana girl basketball players and other players from the region, our team will be more successful both on and off the court both at UM and after graduating from UM, making friendships across racial and cultural boundaries that will last a lifetime, just like is currently occurring on our football and men's basketball teams !!!
 
billingsgriz said:
I agree, Big Sky, that a coach needs to be able to relate to a kid, her family, and sell them on a UM education hundreds or even thousand or miles away from home and that is why I mentioned hiring a female assistant that is a person of color from the inner city. And should we have another takented Native girl from the Montana rez like Malia Kipp, I would be all over recruiting her !!!

Please keep in mind:
1. Seattle-Tacoma CSA ( combined statistical area) has a population over just over 4 million, dwarfing Spokane's CSA of approximately 785,000 people. (Coach Decuire comes from the Seattle area.]
2. Seattle and Tacoma are closer to Missoula by car than most of Eastern Montana.
3. Don Haskins was a white head coach @ Texas Western recruiting black kids from NYC, Philiy, Chicago, etc., to play college basketball in El Paso during the 1960's in the Jim Crow South--his team could not even stay in many of the region's hotels or eat in the restaurants and we're taunted both entering and leaving their opponent's arenas and during the actual games with racial epithets and yet those black student-athletes stuck with their white coach because he showed them and their families he genuinely cared about them and wanted these kids to succeed both athletically and academically even though he came from an entirely different racial and cultural background.

If we recruit some of these minority girls from the inner city and combine them with our best Montana girl basketball players and other players from the region, our team will be more successful both on and off the court both at UM and after graduating from UM, making friendships across racial and cultural boundaries that will last a lifetime, just like is currently occurring on our football and men's basketball teams !!!
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We agree with you. Completely aware of who Don Haskins is and the statistical numbers of potential recruits in bigger areas such as areas you mentioned.

Billings Griz We are in agreement. What we are trying to figure out is...Can they? Will they? Or is that a convo the staff is having?
 
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Big Sky if this staff has not had that conversation, I am afraid they are running out of time. While I hope Coach Holsinger succeeds, not protecting our home floor is not a good sign !!!

I hope within our athletic department, the conversation will be across sports, " How do we improve our athletic and academic success by recruiting more inner-city student athletes," and a main--not the only-- focus should be on the biggest city in The Pacific NW, nearby Seattle and the surrounding area, including Tacoma.

I enjoy reading your thoughts, Big Sky... Go GRIZ !!!
 
PhxGriz said:
Thank you. I only got a chance to watch a little here and there and every time I tuned in, I thought they were having troubles. Got me thinking I was being a snob.

Kept hoping for the usual. When I tune out, teams do well, and when I watch, they do poorly!
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HAHA... I thought that just happened to me? Every Time I watch my Wifes cousin, he starts to bogey holes, then I shut it off and he starts doing well. His Wife told me I am not allowed to ever watch him on TV again.
 
TheNorthRemembers said:
I watch quite a bit of the LaGriz games but I'm not a basketball expert by any means. It seems to me like Holsinger can definitely recruit talent but his X's and O's just feel off. It always seems like the LaGriz are just playing playground basketball all the time. They quite frequently just look frazzled out there like they can't make any adjustments on the fly. There's no real momentum to the offense and no inside game. We haven't had a really good true big since Abby Anderson left. They're always just looking to jack up a bad perimeter shot instead of getting to the basket. Which is great when the shots are falling but when they're cold they have zero answer. Bit frustrating to watch.
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Looked like LG had resolved "the bigs" role, Lincoln was contributing well on the inside, but it appears most of the inside post play mainly involves Zingaro now. Pirog? looked as though at some point starting to produce. It seems when they click, they are explosive, other times as you point out.
 
MTbest said:
Looked like LG had resolved "the bigs" role, Lincoln was contributing well on the inside, but it appears most of the inside post play mainly involves Zingaro now. Pirog? looked as though at some point starting to produce. It seems when they click, they are explosive, other times as you point out.
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I think Pirog (watching on espn +, I think I saw her suited up but with a really heavy knee brace) is hurt right now and Greenslade (the other big) has been hurt and is expected back in a few weeks. Might be effecting the offensive philosophy a bit, but I dunno.
 
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
I think Pirog (watching on espn +, I think I saw her suited up but with a really heavy knee brace) i, did not play few weeks. Might be effecting the offensive philosophy a bit, but I dunno.
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Pirog warmed up with a mask on, did not play. I presume it is a broken nose.

New Zealander Kavanah Lene his left the team to return home. Home sickness was too much.

Talked with Avery Waddington at Hoop Club last night. She and Chloe Larsen are planning to share a house with a couple of volleyball girls next year (first they have to find a house). So, at least for now she is happy and planning to return.
 
maroonandsilver said:
Pirog warmed up with a mask on, did not play. I presume it is a broken nose.

New Zealander Kavanah Lene his left the team to return home. Home sickness was too much.

Talked with Avery Waddington at Hoop Club last night. She and Chloe Larsen are planning to share a house with a couple of volleyball girls next year (first they have to find a house). So, at least for now she is happy and planning to return.
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Thanks. Must have been someone else or a mis-view from from me.
 
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