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Scrimmage 10/17
- Thread starter GrizWin99
- Start date
BelierPeaux
Well-known member
I don't think they have ever streamed it. It's weird that way.
During a recent football press conference, featuring Hauck and two players, you could hear in the background the muffled sound of basketball sneakers squeaking on the floor and players and coaches shouting, in what obviously was a basketball practice going on behind the background wall of the press conference.
Apt metaphor I thought for what’s happened to the basketball program at Montana: Background noise to the football program.
Time was, we students lined up way early for basketball games. As a grad, I’d eagerly await the first Street and Smith’s basketball magazine to read about our team and see our conference ranking, then check the schedule for trips I could make to see the team play in my area—Palo Alto, Stockton, San Jose, Berkeley.
All-time memorable events were sitting in Pauley Pavillion with my good Tarheel friend, watching the Griz demolish UCLA behind Will Cherry and Brian Qvale, or watching with another friend in San Jose as the Griz nearly took down New Mexico in an opening round NCAA tournament game.
But tonight is another event I used to eagerly anticipate, the Maroon and Silver scrimmage
.
Now?
More curious than eager. And after several months of entertaining articles and news about the Lady Griz, not to mention complete bio’s on all the players and the emergence of Oregon State fan as a consistent and knowledgeable contributor to this board, I find my attention shifting to the distaff side.
It’s simply the case that Lady Griz seem to be on the rise, while the men? I dunno. I think they have an up-and-coming star in Money Williams but we haven’t heard a peep about him or anybody else all summer, and the interest on this Board has dwindled to almost nothing.
And frankly, my dears, with the Lady Griz on the rise, our football team headed for the playoffs and my hometown Warriors looking good, I’m not even sure I give a damn.
Apt metaphor I thought for what’s happened to the basketball program at Montana: Background noise to the football program.
Time was, we students lined up way early for basketball games. As a grad, I’d eagerly await the first Street and Smith’s basketball magazine to read about our team and see our conference ranking, then check the schedule for trips I could make to see the team play in my area—Palo Alto, Stockton, San Jose, Berkeley.
All-time memorable events were sitting in Pauley Pavillion with my good Tarheel friend, watching the Griz demolish UCLA behind Will Cherry and Brian Qvale, or watching with another friend in San Jose as the Griz nearly took down New Mexico in an opening round NCAA tournament game.
But tonight is another event I used to eagerly anticipate, the Maroon and Silver scrimmage
.
Now?
More curious than eager. And after several months of entertaining articles and news about the Lady Griz, not to mention complete bio’s on all the players and the emergence of Oregon State fan as a consistent and knowledgeable contributor to this board, I find my attention shifting to the distaff side.
It’s simply the case that Lady Griz seem to be on the rise, while the men? I dunno. I think they have an up-and-coming star in Money Williams but we haven’t heard a peep about him or anybody else all summer, and the interest on this Board has dwindled to almost nothing.
And frankly, my dears, with the Lady Griz on the rise, our football team headed for the playoffs and my hometown Warriors looking good, I’m not even sure I give a damn.
WyomingGrizFan
Well-known member
Do they even allow General Admission into the basketball games any more; I've heard that UofM doesn't have General Admission. I mean, with that policy, why even bother?
MissoulaMarinerFan
Well-known member
WyomingGrizFan said:
No. The section with the bleachers has turned into a "Beer Garden". No kiddos allowed - even with a parent. Makes going to games with my little more expensive and more of a nuisance. Worst idea they've for basketball they've had in a while.
Money Williams = legit
BelierPeaux
Well-known member
HookedonGriz said:
Did you go? Any more insights?
GrizWhiz
Well-known member
PeauxRouge said:
I went.
Williams was very impressive. He is super energetic, very quick and can score in a variety of ways. I suspect he had around fourteen points in a fairly short scrimmage. Also impressive was the play of Oke. He scored at will inside and much of his scoring came on drives to the basket. He looked far more confident and adept offensively than he did last year. Moody was his normal three point machine self. I also like the play of Williams and Henderson. I think both will contribute this year assuming Henderson does not redshirt. Vazquez and Thomas were not suited up.
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
GrizWhiz said:PeauxRouge said:
I went.
I was also at the scrimmage and agree: Hooked and GrizWhiz are on target re: Money. I was most impressed with Oke. It's obvious he's been working hard to up his game. I would add soph. Jaxon Nap into the mix. Nap looked very comfortable and could start at wing. Moody was electric and I'm happy he's in Zootown for another year. More significantly, this team appears built to play a very aggressive defense this season; there were some peeks at halfcourt perimeter defense that I really like. Go Griz.
WyomingGrizFan
Well-known member
PeauxRouge said:
Hell, they can't even come up with a box score, no less. I guess Imogen Greenslade is listed with a new number, #25 instead of #15. Nice to know that gogriz.com is still up to date.
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
I admit that -- every pre-season scrimmage I've ever seen gets me jacked. It's no different this year, although there are major factors affecting the 2023-24 Griz:
1 -- The absence of Josh Bannan in particular. The previous three teams were principally built around Josh and so the 23-24 team already has a new identity.
2, -- The return of Aanen Moody to drive what hinted last night as a faster squad all-around and one that gave hints at being even more aggressive on defense than over the past 3 seasons.
3. -- While I can't be certain of this having watched only 20 minutes of Griz hoops...without projected key players Josh Vazques and Dischon Thomas... but this team already seems deeper and more balanced than we've seen recently... NOT having to rely on one or two players to carry the team.
One early huge impression (I hope this pans out) is that sr. power forward Laolu Oke and soph wing Jaxon Nap showed signs of making significant development over the summer. Oke, in particular, owned the paint at both ends last night. But Nap also seemed to claim ownership of a kind of alternate perimeter force to Moody in first getting the ball to Aanen but -- if he's covered -- to create offensive opportunities of his own, whether shots from the perimeter, or from drives into the key. I haven't even mentioned sr. Brandon Whitney, but I see this lineup as liberating for Brandon in a way because it's not always going to be "on him" to put the offense in gear.
In the midst of that were hugely talented newcomer frosh Money Williams and Chase Henderson, each of whom is either capable of starting or hitting the floor as first-subs. Senior transfer Giordan Williams needs mention here as a versatile and aggressive wing with ball-handling quickness and a quick release shot. Not even considering post players at this juncture, it looks to me that the Montana guard/wing roster is loaded with 5 players capable of starting. Add two wings and that makes seven. That's not even considering Vazquez and Thomas.
But the paint presence of bigs 6-8 jr. Te'Jon Sawyer and 6-10 soph Blake Jones adds even more depth. Neither player scored much, but their size, bulk and height gives the Griz an in-paint presence -- especially on defense -- that struggled in past seasons. I couldn't get a solid picture of Montana's potential in the paint on rebounding and defense... but the size is there no doubt.
I'm certain the roster will shake out over the next three weeks, but last night hinted at all-around team depth that's been missing in previous seasons.
A couple of hints here: 1-- Besides Moody, at least four of the above-mentioned players look to be very good perimeter shooters. 2 -- Montana seems to have the quickness to play very aggressive man-on defense with the ability to jump-trap opposing teams at several points on the floor. I confess though, 20 minutes wasn't enough time for me to get a good view of Montana's defense.
One additional bit of humor as an add-on: Oke was in great mid-season form as a trash talker... to his own teammates no less.
Those are my general impressions from the scrimmage.
1 -- The absence of Josh Bannan in particular. The previous three teams were principally built around Josh and so the 23-24 team already has a new identity.
2, -- The return of Aanen Moody to drive what hinted last night as a faster squad all-around and one that gave hints at being even more aggressive on defense than over the past 3 seasons.
3. -- While I can't be certain of this having watched only 20 minutes of Griz hoops...without projected key players Josh Vazques and Dischon Thomas... but this team already seems deeper and more balanced than we've seen recently... NOT having to rely on one or two players to carry the team.
One early huge impression (I hope this pans out) is that sr. power forward Laolu Oke and soph wing Jaxon Nap showed signs of making significant development over the summer. Oke, in particular, owned the paint at both ends last night. But Nap also seemed to claim ownership of a kind of alternate perimeter force to Moody in first getting the ball to Aanen but -- if he's covered -- to create offensive opportunities of his own, whether shots from the perimeter, or from drives into the key. I haven't even mentioned sr. Brandon Whitney, but I see this lineup as liberating for Brandon in a way because it's not always going to be "on him" to put the offense in gear.
In the midst of that were hugely talented newcomer frosh Money Williams and Chase Henderson, each of whom is either capable of starting or hitting the floor as first-subs. Senior transfer Giordan Williams needs mention here as a versatile and aggressive wing with ball-handling quickness and a quick release shot. Not even considering post players at this juncture, it looks to me that the Montana guard/wing roster is loaded with 5 players capable of starting. Add two wings and that makes seven. That's not even considering Vazquez and Thomas.
But the paint presence of bigs 6-8 jr. Te'Jon Sawyer and 6-10 soph Blake Jones adds even more depth. Neither player scored much, but their size, bulk and height gives the Griz an in-paint presence -- especially on defense -- that struggled in past seasons. I couldn't get a solid picture of Montana's potential in the paint on rebounding and defense... but the size is there no doubt.
I'm certain the roster will shake out over the next three weeks, but last night hinted at all-around team depth that's been missing in previous seasons.
A couple of hints here: 1-- Besides Moody, at least four of the above-mentioned players look to be very good perimeter shooters. 2 -- Montana seems to have the quickness to play very aggressive man-on defense with the ability to jump-trap opposing teams at several points on the floor. I confess though, 20 minutes wasn't enough time for me to get a good view of Montana's defense.
One additional bit of humor as an add-on: Oke was in great mid-season form as a trash talker... to his own teammates no less.
Those are my general impressions from the scrimmage.
DoubleNicks
Well-known member
Here's some media stuff on the scrimmage:
No official UM highlights on GrizTV or their Twitter/X page yet...
And while the men's sports don't get the introduction stories/articles like the "Orientation" (Lady Griz basketball), "Craig Hall Chronicles" (soccer), and "Origin Stories" (softball) pieces for the women's sports, I've enjoyed the "Countdown To/Get To Know" short clips for the newcomers this year on their Twitter/X page.
#22 Adam Shoff
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1714073326698815726[/media]
#23 Connor Dick
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1713628865606865025[/media]
#32 Te'Jon Sawyer
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1710339139932196990[/media]
#34 Blake Jones
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1709706039686480031[/media]
No official UM highlights on GrizTV or their Twitter/X page yet...
And while the men's sports don't get the introduction stories/articles like the "Orientation" (Lady Griz basketball), "Craig Hall Chronicles" (soccer), and "Origin Stories" (softball) pieces for the women's sports, I've enjoyed the "Countdown To/Get To Know" short clips for the newcomers this year on their Twitter/X page.
#22 Adam Shoff
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1714073326698815726[/media]
#23 Connor Dick
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1713628865606865025[/media]
#32 Te'Jon Sawyer
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1710339139932196990[/media]
#34 Blake Jones
[media]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizBB/status/1709706039686480031[/media]
Thanks for the reports - I am really looking forward to the upcoming season! 
