Quality of the Big Sky Conference

[UMFan12]

If MSU shoots even half decent at the conference tourney, they win it.

 

[IdaGriz01]

If MSU shoots even half decent at the conference tourney, they win it.

Seems like.

EWU will still win the regular season, which guarantees them a trip to the NIT. Lucky for them, because closing the season with two losses won't impress anybody.

 

[Mousegriz]

If MSU shoots even half decent at the conference tourney, they win it.

Seems like.

EWU will still win the regular season, which guarantees them a trip to the NIT. Lucky for them, because closing the season with two losses won't impress anybody.

Should they should just give the Cats the title? They can rest up for the ncaa and ewu for the nit.

Two losses......that don't mean a thing at the end of the conference season.......don't mean a thing!

 

[IdaGriz01]

Seems like.

EWU will still win the regular season, which guarantees them a trip to the NIT. Lucky for them, because closing the season with two losses won't impress anybody.

Should they should just give the Cats the title? They can rest up for the ncaa and ewu for the nit.

Two losses......that don't mean a thing at the end of the conference season.......don't mean a thing!

I'm getting a mixed message here. There's no "giving" MSU the title ... they have to earn it, and the Eags still have the best record in the Big Sky. These days, nobody wants the NIT consolation prize.

Still, your last statement is accurate: The Big Sky was never going to get an at-large bid to the Big Dance anyway, so those two ending losses for EWU do not, as you say, mean a damn thing. Also, if the kitties don't win the conference tournament, I doubt that their numbers are strong enough for them to get an NIT invite.

 

[marceagfan5]

If MSU shoots even half decent at the conference tourney, they win it.

I think Weber will beat MSU in the Semi's...just my thought.

I wouldn't put much on last nights game between EWU and MSU. Both teams played their starters longer than I expected, but neither showed a ton of defensive and offensive sets that they'll run in the tourney. EWU will most likely press MSU from the tip in most games, they didn't do that at all last night. Should be a great tourney...

 

[poorgriz]

If MSU shoots even half decent at the conference tourney, they win it.

I think Weber will beat MSU in the Semi's...just my thought.

I wouldn't put much on last nights game between EWU and MSU. Both teams played their starters longer than I expected, but neither showed a ton of defensive and offensive sets that they'll run in the tourney. EWU will most likely press MSU from the tip in most games, they didn't do that at all last night. Should be a great tourney...

Cats are shaping up pretty well at the right time, making threes, better boards, etc. Looking at the bracket I think the Cats win it again but we’ll see. Eastern looked pretty good last night later, after getting throttled to start.

 

[oldrunner]

There is no doubt in my mind that there are going to be some upsets. There is just not that much separation between teams this year. Just a matter of who gets hot and who does not. Makes it sort of interesting, doesn't it?

 

[UMFan12]

Should also be mentioned EWU is not even as close to as good as they have “looked” the past few months. Got lucky to edge out a couple of close wins, just lost to Idaho State. Lost to a Hawaii team that is 5th in the big west by 20 points. They will not win the conference tournament. Would rather play them in the conference tourney than the Cats. The analysts and committee know. Have them projected as a low 14/ high 15 and will drop now. Not even close to a 13 line

1/2

 

[EverettGriz]

The sad reality is that the bsc used to be on par with the WCC.

Now Pepperdine, dead last in the WCC, likely finishes 2nd or 3rd in the bsc. And we won’t even discuss the top teams.

But Wistrcill, you keep doin you, because it’s working sooooo well….

 

[UMFan12]

Should also be mentioned EWU is not even as close to as good as they have “looked” the past few months. Got lucky to edge out a couple of close wins, just lost to Idaho State. Lost to a Hawaii team that is 5th in the big west by 20 points. They will not win the conference tournament. Would rather play them in the conference tourney than the Cats. The analysts and committee know. Have them projected as a low 14/ high 15 and will drop now. Not even close to a 13 line

1/2

Andddd… 2/2. All this talk of parity, and we did get some upsets. But there has been a clear league favorite from day 1 and that never changed….For those who know basketball at least. Cats have really built the perfect, in my mind, mold for a mid major basketball team. Could use a little more shooting, yes. But the shooters they do have have significant size. Everybody on the floor is a threat to score. Elite defending at all positions. And for a team that isn’t elite shooting, you want either a guy who is an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. They have both. EWU had neither. That’s the difference. Compared that roster to the Griz. The spot up shooters we have are 6’1, 6’2, 6’5, and 6’8. Not all of our players are threats to score and are easy to double off(Mack, Oke at times, and Whitney on the perimeter ).We don’t have either an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. Really clear which roster is constructed better.

 

[UMFan12]

This conference will continue to struggle in March until we get the hell away from this reffing tree. OVC and even Summit teams have won games in recent years. We need to find away from the joke that is west coast reffing. UCLA lost this game by 2 points.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634777880956747779?s=20

 

[GrizBall]

1/2

Andddd… 2/2. All this talk of parity, and we did get some upsets. But there has been a clear league favorite from day 1 and that never changed….For those who know basketball at least. Cats have really built the perfect, in my mind, mold for a mid major basketball team. Could use a little more shooting, yes. But the shooters they do have have significant size. Everybody on the floor is a threat to score. Elite defending at all positions. And for a team that isn’t elite shooting, you want either a guy who is an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. They have both. EWU had neither. That’s the difference. Compared that roster to the Griz. The spot up shooters we have are 6’1, 6’2, 6’5, and 6’8. Not all of our players are threats to score and are easy to double off(Mack, Oke at times, and Whitney on the perimeter ).We don’t have either an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. Really clear which roster is constructed better.

Had the best shot creator in the conference . . . Just happened to play for another team this year . . .

 

[oldrunner]

This conference will continue to struggle in March until we get the hell away from this reffing tree. OVC and even Summit teams have won games in recent years. We need to find away from the joke that is west coast reffing. UCLA lost this game by 2 points.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634777880956747779?s=20

I totally disagree. Yes the officiating is not as good as it could be, but it is better than it was when the BSC hired its own refs. We still get the less experienced refs because they use a seniority system when assigning games. the more experienced refs get to choose first and they are not choosing to go to UM, ISU, UI, NAU, EWU, and UNCo. You will get some of them in Scramento, Portland, Bozeman, and Ogden, but that is about it. If they were randomely assigned, it might work out better, but a lot of refs would quit because they don't want to go to those places. We are sort of stuck with what we have and it isn't going to get a lot better. Deal with it. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

I think we got the best officials available in Boise. Mind you, the most experienced refs were in Las Vegas. they can do two or three games a day there, as apposed to one game a day in Boise. Better for the pocket book. You want the best refs, play in Vegas.

The scheduling of the BSCT was the best chance for our representative to do better in the Dance. More rest and prep time. :thumb:

Plus, by the rules, that was absolutely a charge. Do I agree with the rule? No, but they don't seem to want to change it, so we are stuck with calls like that. My personal feelings are that they should take away the charge/flop rule altogether, so that the only offensive fouls would be pushing off, hooking, clearing out, and illegal screens. Everything else is either a no call or a foul on the defender. I don't get a lot of coaching support in that opinion.

 

[UMFan12]

This conference will continue to struggle in March until we get the hell away from this reffing tree. OVC and even Summit teams have won games in recent years. We need to find away from the joke that is west coast reffing. UCLA lost this game by 2 points.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634777880956747779?s=20

I totally disagree. Yes the officiating is not as good as it could be, but it is better than it was when the BSC hired its own refs. We still get the less experienced refs because they use a seniority system when assigning games. the more experienced refs get to choose first and they are not choosing to go to UM, ISU, UI, NAU, EWU, and UNCo. You will get some of them in Scramento, Portland, Bozeman, and Ogden, but that is about it. If they were randomely assigned, it might work out better, but a lot of refs would quit because they don't want to go to those places. We are sort of stuck with what we have and it isn't going to get a lot better. Deal with it. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

I think we got the best officials available in Boise. Mind you, the most experienced refs were in Las Vegas. they can do two or three games a day there, as apposed to one game a day in Boise. Better for the pocket book. You want the best refs, play in Vegas.

The scheduling of the BSCT was the best chance for our representative to do better in the Dance. More rest and prep time. :thumb:

Complaint is about the West Coast pool in its entirety. When was the last time a West Coast team won a chip? The East is always better even with a conference that consistently gets 5* players. Big Sky is getting the worst of the worst. Conferences from this pool consistently rank at the top in FTAs and fouls.

 

[oldrunner]

I totally disagree. Yes the officiating is not as good as it could be, but it is better than it was when the BSC hired its own refs. We still get the less experienced refs because they use a seniority system when assigning games. the more experienced refs get to choose first and they are not choosing to go to UM, ISU, UI, NAU, EWU, and UNCo. You will get some of them in Scramento, Portland, Bozeman, and Ogden, but that is about it. If they were randomely assigned, it might work out better, but a lot of refs would quit because they don't want to go to those places. We are sort of stuck with what we have and it isn't going to get a lot better. Deal with it. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

I think we got the best officials available in Boise. Mind you, the most experienced refs were in Las Vegas. they can do two or three games a day there, as apposed to one game a day in Boise. Better for the pocket book. You want the best refs, play in Vegas.

The scheduling of the BSCT was the best chance for our representative to do better in the Dance. More rest and prep time. :thumb:

Complaint is about the West Coast pool in its entirety. When was the last time a West Coast team won a chip? The East is always better even with a conference that consistently gets 5* players. Big Sky is getting the worst of the worst. Conferences from this pool consistently rank at the top in FTAs and fouls.

I can see that point. The NCAA could take the whole thing over, but they have refused to do that up to this point. I would like to see them do it. You know, earn their money and do it right. However, when have you seen the NCAA do anything right? :lol:

 

[mthoopsfan]

1/2

Andddd… 2/2. All this talk of parity, and we did get some upsets. But there has been a clear league favorite from day 1 and that never changed….For those who know basketball at least. Cats have really built the perfect, in my mind, mold for a mid major basketball team. Could use a little more shooting, yes. But the shooters they do have have significant size. Everybody on the floor is a threat to score. Elite defending at all positions. And for a team that isn’t elite shooting, you want either a guy who is an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. They have both. EWU had neither. That’s the difference. Compared that roster to the Griz. The spot up shooters we have are 6’1, 6’2, 6’5, and 6’8. Not all of our players are threats to score and are easy to double off(Mack, Oke at times, and Whitney on the perimeter ).We don’t have either an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. Really clear which roster is constructed better.

Aren't you the one who said the Cats shouldn't have signed Battle (he was too big of a risk) and that he wouldn't be nearly as good as the other Cat players? After early January last year, he was either the Cats 2d or 3d leading scorer. And you said you were glad the Griz didn't sign him. Great call.

 

[UMFan12]

Andddd… 2/2. All this talk of parity, and we did get some upsets. But there has been a clear league favorite from day 1 and that never changed….For those who know basketball at least. Cats have really built the perfect, in my mind, mold for a mid major basketball team. Could use a little more shooting, yes. But the shooters they do have have significant size. Everybody on the floor is a threat to score. Elite defending at all positions. And for a team that isn’t elite shooting, you want either a guy who is an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. They have both. EWU had neither. That’s the difference. Compared that roster to the Griz. The spot up shooters we have are 6’1, 6’2, 6’5, and 6’8. Not all of our players are threats to score and are easy to double off(Mack, Oke at times, and Whitney on the perimeter ).We don’t have either an elite shot creator or an elite interior presence. Really clear which roster is constructed better.

Aren't you the one who said the Cats shouldn't have signed Battle (he was too big of a risk) and that he wouldn't be nearly as good as the other Cat players? After early January last year, he was either the Cats 2d or 3d leading scorer. And you said you were glad the Griz didn't sign him. Great call.

Not at all what I said. Griz shouldn’t have yes, Cats no.
What I said-
1-Better fit for the Cats with vet guards, 5th year seniors who could play regardless of whether or not he panned out
2- From what he had shown on paper, and the program he was coming from. He was a risk for either team.
And 3- The Griz were not in the position to take this risk with the developing guards we had on the roster that we would be taking the ball out of their hands. What the Cats got in Battle, it looked like we would have between Gaskin and Beasley.
If you’d like to tell me any of those 3 statements are wrong, go ahead. But, they’re not.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Aren't you the one who said the Cats shouldn't have signed Battle (he was too big of a risk) and that he wouldn't be nearly as good as the other Cat players? After early January last year, he was either the Cats 2d or 3d leading scorer. And you said you were glad the Griz didn't sign him. Great call.

Not at all what I said. Griz shouldn’t have yes, Cats no.
What I said-
1-Better fit for the Cats with vet guards, 5th year seniors who could play regardless of whether or not he panned out
2- From what he had shown on paper, and the program he was coming from. He was a risk for either team.
And 3- The Griz were not in the position to take this risk with the developing guards we had on the roster that we would be taking the ball out of their hands. What the Cats got in Battle, it looked like we would have between Gaskin and Beasley.
If you’d like to tell me any of those 3 statements are wrong, go ahead. But, they’re not.

First, that’s not what you said. I guilted you in another thread.

I don’t agree with any of your 3 points. He was a great and one of a kind talent for the big sky. Who cares about the school with best fit. He was not a risk anymore than any transfer. You and others made up stuff about him. My info comes from someone close to the UW program. And a Cat coach. The Griz would have done great with Battle. 2 guards left anyway.

Why can’t you just admit that you were wrong?

 

[UMFan12]

Not at all what I said. Griz shouldn’t have yes, Cats no.
What I said-
1-Better fit for the Cats with vet guards, 5th year seniors who could play regardless of whether or not he panned out
2- From what he had shown on paper, and the program he was coming from. He was a risk for either team.
And 3- The Griz were not in the position to take this risk with the developing guards we had on the roster that we would be taking the ball out of their hands. What the Cats got in Battle, it looked like we would have between Gaskin and Beasley.
If you’d like to tell me any of those 3 statements are wrong, go ahead. But, they’re not.

First, that’s not what you said. I guilted you in another thread.

I don’t agree with any of your 3 points. He was a great and one of a kind talent for the big sky. Who cares about the school with best fit. He was not a risk anymore than any transfer. You and others made up stuff about him. My info comes from someone close to the UW program. And a Cat coach. The Griz would have done great with Battle. 2 guards left anyway.

Why can’t you just admit that you were wrong?

“Who cares about the school with the best fit.” Really? He’s exceeded my expectations, yes. But A- it would’ve been a signing that made no sense from a developmental and coaching perspective at the time it would’ve been made.
And B- He fits much better with the Cats. Both in play style, and the fact that he was able to have a transitional year learning and easing into it behind veteran, talented guards. We did not have that. I do not think his development would’ve gone the same here. Just throwing a, at the time, raw talent, into an already overfilled and young guard room.

You couldn’t have paid me to watch DeCuire try to make a Whitney-Beasley-Battle-Bannan-Anderson lineup work. And throw Gaskin in that mess? Best playmaker is a post? Only one shooter? The shooter is subpar defensively and streaky? All 3 guards are score first? No paint protection? Even now, Battle would’ve had trouble getting decent looks in the mess that would’ve been this offense. Seriously, tell me how you expect this was going to work. The Griz problems ran way deeper than not recruiting Battle.

 

[HelenaHandBasket]

This conference will continue to struggle in March until we get the hell away from this reffing tree.

I don't think officiating is the crux of the problem for the BSC.