Random Early Thoughts

[GrizBall]

Not to over-react after one game, but:

1. Watched the Idaho/Long Beach game tonight. Not sure whether it was the the first game in a new arena, the opponent or the camera angles, but there was significantly more energy and fans in that arena than that what I saw in the Montana telecast on Tuesday.

2. Idaho lost at home to Long Beach in OT. Idaho’s line-up in OT featured 4 players that didn’t play for them last year and had transferred from D-1 schools. Again, just one game, but Idaho is good.

3. Tonight Northern Colorado beat Pacific at Pacific.

4. MSU lost to Colorado at Colorado in OT.

5. According to KenPom, after tonight’s games, the BSC is the 16th ranked conference in the country. Going backwards from last year the KenPom final BSC rankings were 18, 17, 27, 17, 26 and 26. Recognizing that KenPom’s early predictions are based heavily on past results, but this has the potential of being the most talented BSC from top-to bottom in recent history.

Discuss.

 

[Griz til I die]

Not to over-react after one game, but:

1. Watched the Idaho/Long Beach game tonight. Not sure whether it was the the first game in a new arena, the opponent or the camera angles, but there was significantly more energy and fans in that arena than that what I saw in the Montana telecast on Tuesday.

2. Idaho lost at home to Long Beach in OT. Idaho’s line-up in OT featured 4 players that didn’t play for them last year and had transferred from D-1 schools. Again, just one game, but Idaho is good.

3. Tonight Northern Colorado beat Pacific at Pacific.

4. MSU lost to Colorado at Colorado in OT.

5. According to KenPom, after tonight’s games, the BSC is the 16th ranked conference in the country. Going backwards from last year the KenPom final BSC rankings were 18, 17, 27, 17, 26 and 26. Recognizing that KenPom’s early predictions are based heavily on past results, but this has the potential of being the most talented BSC from top-to bottom in recent history.

Discuss.

1. Their arena is beautiful, I'm gonna have to get down there to see a game. Our crowd never got into it because it was never a game. It wasn't even remotely interesting to watch. I almost turned it off in the second half but decided not to because I wanted to see a couple of guys.

2. Long Beach State is not good and hasn't been good for a long time. They're perennially towards the bottom of the Big West. Idaho should've won that game and should be embarrassed that they didn't win that game. Will Idaho be improved from last season? Absolutely, but they still won't be that good.

3. UNC beat Pacific in Hawaii in a tournament they're a part of, not at Pacific. Keep in mind that Damon Stoudamire is no longer the head coach at Pacific. He took an assistant coaching job with the Celtics in the summer. Good win for UNC, but I don't think Pacific has as good of a team as last year.

4. Cats are legit. If Xavier Bishop hits the front end of that one and one, they win the game. I believe they're the oldest team in the conference. It's either them or SUU. Cats will be tough to tango with this year.

5. Good news for the Big Sky to be at 16th after the first couple nights. That helps improve your seed.