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Montana plays Texas A&M in NIT

Damn, that'll do it. 81-64 Griz lose after the Aggies dunk it with 3 seconds left. Put up a hell of a fight though against an SEC team. Even leading a while in the 2nd half. Much closer than the final score indicates.
 
Overall a really good (and kind of unexpected) season by the Griz. I see good things for the future.
 
IdaGriz01 said:
... Griz could hang with them when they played "lights out" -- but A&M has better, deeper talent. Not totally over yet, but the final score probably won't reflect how well, IMO, the Griz played.
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I'll stand by this statement. The Griz probably did as well as could be expected -- and maybe a bit better. The first-half comeback was a classic to remember. But, in the end, they got worn down by a team with better, deeper talent, playing on their home court.

Thank you Griz! for great, unexpected season!. :clap: :clap: :clap:

:egriz:
 
Potomac Griz said:
Damn, that'll do it. 81-64 Griz lose after the Aggies dunk it with 3 seconds left. Put up a hell of a fight though against an SEC team. Even leading a while in the 2nd half. Much closer than the final score indicates.
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Roger that ...
 
Griz2k said:
Overall a really good (and kind of unexpected) season by the Griz. I see good things for the future.
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Agreed. In a game like this our lack of depth really hurt (did quite a bit throughout the season) but still a very good season for the Griz.

When Breunig got taken out for a quick rest our offense completely came to a halt. Hopefully with Krslovic continuing to improve and some newcomers next year we'll be able to keep things going offensively when Breunig is out.

Once he came back in we were still in the middle of a cold spell from outside though and never really got it back except for a couple late 3s towards the end.
 
Not much consolation, but Illinois, the #8 team in the Big Ten, got blown out by Alabama, the #8 team in the SEC, by a score of 79-58. (A&M was #4 in the SEC.) At least the Griz showed up and played hard.
 
grizindabox said:
Grizbeer said:
Getting silly. Might be a good opportunity to get some other young guys some experience. Not playing Gregory or weisner until the last 10 seconds will help next year a whole lot.
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I don't think it will help next year...
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Oops agree, meant to type "not sure playing". Completely different context.
 
Quite a comeback by the GRIZ, just ran out of gas from all the travel, and close games throughout the season. Nice to see Gfeller end the season on a high note, and I hope a confidence builder going into next season. Gregory, with a good overall game. I could tell he was tired the last week, his shots were so inconsistent from playing so many minutes. Nice game from Breunig, too bad he got himself in foul trouble.

As some posted, the game was better than the final score indicated. The last 2 games this season showed what the GRIZ need to be better next season. More depth in the paint is necessary, especially on defense. We need more length overall. Here is to hoping Boehning and DeJong will be upgrades for rebounding and interior defense to help Breunig and Krslovic. Despite being small, the GRIZ did well on the boards this season. I am still hoping somehow the GRIZ land 1 more big post player. The GRIZ are in dire need of a shot blocker. Imagine how much better this year's team would have been with someone like Qvale. I doubt the GRIZ would have lost many games with a true defensive presence in the paint.

I will post more thoughts regarding our returning players and off season a little later. As for this season, as disappointed as I was the way the last 2 games turned out, overall I am pleased excited for the program. I have to remember, this team over achieved and surpassed most all expectations.

Enjoy some time off basketball, get rest, catch up on the studies, and then hit the off season training and skills development as the staff expects. I am looking forward to next season. GO GRIZ!!!
 
AZGrizFan said:
Sure am tired of hearing how the Griz continually run out of gas. Is conditioning an issue?
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No, Depth is the issue really. We had 3 very tough games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then quickly travel to Texas to play a game against the 4th place SEC team on Tuesday while still banged up from the previous games (Krslovic). That's pretty brutal for any team that isn't very deep on the bench.

Griz also played most of the year minus two scholarships basically (after Edmonds became ineligible). Griz only suit up 10 players and Texas A&M has 11 guys who average around 10 mins or more per game. They had a 17 different players play in games for them this year :P

As a not very deep mid major team we're going to notice the drop off big time when the starters go out. A team like A&M is going to have a dropoff, but the people coming in off the bench are often players that would start for most Big Sky teams no problem.

That of course also makes foul trouble a huge issue for the Griz. Have Breunig get into foul trouble and the main piece that your offense runs through is on the bench. The player that opens up those 3s by being double teamed inside is no longer a factor which allows other teams to just focus on stopping the 3s, and our offense grinds to a halt against very talented teams.

With the incoming players next year, Krslovic continuing to develop and Edmonds returning (hopefully) we won't be nearly as short handed as we were for much of the season this year and hopefully be able to get bench players more consistently involved and contributing.

As I've said before in other posts losing DeShields to transfer hurt a lot as well. I'm confident DeCuire will rebuild the depth of this team and we'll see some good results over the next few years. Already saw some pretty amazing results with him leading a team picked to finish 8th by the coaches to a 1st place finish in the Big Sky and giving a good SEC team a game on the road :)
 
AZGrizFan said:
Sure am tired of hearing how the Griz continually run out of gas. Is conditioning an issue?
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I feel this one is a little more acceptable. They finished a grueling conference tournament on Saturday night and had to be in TX on Tuesday night. Conditioning or not, that would have a toll on most any team. Jordan Gregory in particular looked worn, which could explain his inconsistent shooting the past few weeks. Gfeller, Weisner, Dunn, and Bradshaw were all inconsistent the last few weeks. Gfeller disappeared last week, and played great in this game. Gregory's shot was inconsistent in the conference tournament and tonight. Bradshaw, had one great half last weekend. Weisner had 1 great game, against EWU, but struggled otherwise. Dunn fell off the last few weeks. When the legs are tired, the perimeter shot and having hops in the lane are signs of fatigue. They looked very fatigued against EWU and TX A & M. Hell EWU even showed signs of it in the championship game.

Good thing is, the GRIZ should have much more depth next season. Travis really would like to play 10 to 12 deep for his preferred style of play. :thumb:
 
Two words to describe tonight:

Pride -- absolutely loved the heart and the fight in this team. They never quit and for good periods of the game, they looked like the better team. They could've folded the tents early on and packed it in, but instead they battled their asses off.

Fatigue -- 4 rugged games -- physically and emotionally -- over six days, along with some brutal travel and simply no to prepare for an SEC opponent did in the Griz. They just had no legs in the last ten minutes. You could see it on the missed 3s and on the defensive end, when guys stopped moving their feet. They were just done. Can't blame em.

Congrats to the GRIZ and to TDC. If was another fun year of GRIZ hoops. Thanks to the seniors and in particular Jordan Gregory. Take your place amongst the Grizzly greats, JG. It's where you belong.

Until next season: UP WITH MONTANA!!!!
 
mtgrizrule said:
AZGrizFan said:
Sure am tired of hearing how the Griz continually run out of gas. Is conditioning an issue?
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I feel this one is a little more acceptable. They finished a grueling conference tournament on Saturday night and had to be in TX on Tuesday night. Conditioning or not, that would have a toll on most any team. Jordan Gregory in particular looked worn, which could explain his inconsistent shooting the past few weeks. Gfeller, Weisner, Dunn, and Bradshaw were all inconsistent the last few weeks. Gfeller disappeared last week, and played great in this game. Gregory's shot was inconsistent in the conference tournament and tonight. Bradshaw, had one great half last weekend. Weisner had 1 great game, against EWU, but struggled otherwise. Dunn fell off the last few weeks. When the legs are tired, the perimeter shot and having hops in the lane are signs of fatigue. They looked very fatigued against EWU and TX A & M. Hell EWU even showed signs of it in the championship game.

Good thing is, the GRIZ should have much more depth next season. Travis really would like to play 10 to 12 deep for his preferred style of play. :thumb:
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I am not necessarily disagreeing, but please explain how/why the Griz should have much more depth next season. I am especially concerned that no JC post player has committed. We lose two posts and I am not sure it is enough to expect two incoming redshirt freshmen Boehning and DeJong to be ready to significantly contribute.
 
IdaGriz01 said:
Not much consolation, but Illinois, the #8 team in the Big Ten, got blown out by Alabama, the #8 team in the SEC, by a score of 79-58. (A&M was #4 in the SEC.) At least the Griz showed up and played hard.
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Yep. Not blown out. Not at all. Tough draw. Let's play them or their brethren in OOC in the coming years. To borrow a phrase from another program, "Anybody, anytime, anywhere."
 
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