1. defense! there's a revolution going on in the college game, and it's on the defensive side of the ball. thus, southern illinois, without a single recruit in the nation's top 140, is in the sweet 16 on the strength of their incredible defense. purdue, using a hawking, pressing defense, takes a much-superior florida team deep into the fourth quarter. ucla throttles weber, and then as if to prove it's no fluke, two nights later does the same to indiana. if i can detect a trend, it is this: the old "man-to-man" defense is a thing of the past, replaced by a trapping, pressing "two-man-to-man" defense. in any case, the difference between the defense i see being played in this tournament, and the defense as montana played it at sac state, is horrifying. i hope our players and coaches are watching. i hope they're taking notes. i doubt any of these teams that play such great defense are using the excuse, we lost two players from last year. not!
2. athleticism! next year montana will field one of the great "all-airport" teams in the history of the big sky conference--vanderjagt at 7'; qvale at 6'11"; selvig at 6'10"; hasquet at 6'9"; strait at 6'8"; sharp at 6'7". height be good in basketball, but in the ncaa touranment, it's the smaller quicker more athletic players that are making the big difference. thus u.s.c., starting four guards, is able to whip texas, featuring one of the best big men to come along in years, while oregon, also using a four-guard offense, smacks down winthrop. nevada has fazekas, but the players who got them into the second round this year were kemp, shiloh and sessions. washington state would not have been a three seed without 6'5" kyle weaver and 6'6" ivory clark, but at that they could not beat vandy behind guard-forward derrick byars. it's these smaller quicker kids that are doing it for the big schools, and while the griz are getting bigger, we've also lost a lot of kids who fit that smaller quicker profile: chavez, dhlouy, ellis, mayes, plus the kid from milwaukee via mississippi who left because of grades. we retain swift and bring in graves, but i hope our remaining one or two scholarships go to the more athletic kids.
3. free throws! ya gotta make 'em, especially down the stretch, or an experienced coach like montgomery or roy williams will exploit that weakness to make up a lot of points in a very short period of time. again, free-throw shooting does not depend on "leadership," just practise, practise, practise and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy.
i believe the reason the higher seeds are prevailing in this tournament is because of this defensive revolution, since the smaller schools aren't seeing those defenses is their own conferences and aren't used to them once they get under the bright glare of the big dance. if southern illinois can make the sweet 16 without a single recruit in the top 140, surely we can too. but we've gotta pay attention to what's going on. no more games like the one i saw at sac state this year.
2. athleticism! next year montana will field one of the great "all-airport" teams in the history of the big sky conference--vanderjagt at 7'; qvale at 6'11"; selvig at 6'10"; hasquet at 6'9"; strait at 6'8"; sharp at 6'7". height be good in basketball, but in the ncaa touranment, it's the smaller quicker more athletic players that are making the big difference. thus u.s.c., starting four guards, is able to whip texas, featuring one of the best big men to come along in years, while oregon, also using a four-guard offense, smacks down winthrop. nevada has fazekas, but the players who got them into the second round this year were kemp, shiloh and sessions. washington state would not have been a three seed without 6'5" kyle weaver and 6'6" ivory clark, but at that they could not beat vandy behind guard-forward derrick byars. it's these smaller quicker kids that are doing it for the big schools, and while the griz are getting bigger, we've also lost a lot of kids who fit that smaller quicker profile: chavez, dhlouy, ellis, mayes, plus the kid from milwaukee via mississippi who left because of grades. we retain swift and bring in graves, but i hope our remaining one or two scholarships go to the more athletic kids.
3. free throws! ya gotta make 'em, especially down the stretch, or an experienced coach like montgomery or roy williams will exploit that weakness to make up a lot of points in a very short period of time. again, free-throw shooting does not depend on "leadership," just practise, practise, practise and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy.
i believe the reason the higher seeds are prevailing in this tournament is because of this defensive revolution, since the smaller schools aren't seeing those defenses is their own conferences and aren't used to them once they get under the bright glare of the big dance. if southern illinois can make the sweet 16 without a single recruit in the top 140, surely we can too. but we've gotta pay attention to what's going on. no more games like the one i saw at sac state this year.
