I will be the first to acknowledge that after the MT State game I was highly critical of the Grizzly effort and posted comments in the heat of the moment that until these last three games I stood by. While I make no apology for the previous posts because I still think with regard to that one game they were accurate, I will apologize for contending that the way the Grizzlies played in that game was indicative of the way they played all season. I blamed Coach Tinkle for that and for that I do apologize.
What has become evident since that time is that this group embodies the concept of TEAM better than many groups in the past. While I applaud the individual efforts of AJ & BQ it was the unselfish play of the stars that led to the Grizzlies post season success. The game against UNC was a great TEAM effort. If not for the defensive intensity of the TEAM in the second half of the Weber game AJ's 42 points would not have been enough to win. While everyone will remember AJ's incredible performance, I will also remember the overall defensive job Will Cherry, (and others), did on Damon Lilliard and the Wildcat offense in the second half of that game.
Last night's game was the true pinnacle of team play for the Grizzlies. They competed step for step with the Lobo's as a TEAM. The success for UNM is that they do play as a team each and every game. They have confidence in one another. That is exactly what I thought the Grizzlies showed as well. Brian can't do anything without the ball and he got feeds from all over the place last night, which led to his success. The TEAM defense kept UNM to one of it's lowest point totals of the year.
Whether it was there all year and I missed it or whether the Grizzlies just developed the TEAM confidence in the last month is irrelevant. Coach Tinkle and the rest of the staff are to be commended, not only for installing a system that worked with the talent they have, but with getting the players to have confidence in that system and more importantly to have confidence in each other.
Congatulations to the Grizzlies and Coach Tinkle and Staff for a terrific year of basketball. The future is brighter than it has been in many years.
What has become evident since that time is that this group embodies the concept of TEAM better than many groups in the past. While I applaud the individual efforts of AJ & BQ it was the unselfish play of the stars that led to the Grizzlies post season success. The game against UNC was a great TEAM effort. If not for the defensive intensity of the TEAM in the second half of the Weber game AJ's 42 points would not have been enough to win. While everyone will remember AJ's incredible performance, I will also remember the overall defensive job Will Cherry, (and others), did on Damon Lilliard and the Wildcat offense in the second half of that game.
Last night's game was the true pinnacle of team play for the Grizzlies. They competed step for step with the Lobo's as a TEAM. The success for UNM is that they do play as a team each and every game. They have confidence in one another. That is exactly what I thought the Grizzlies showed as well. Brian can't do anything without the ball and he got feeds from all over the place last night, which led to his success. The TEAM defense kept UNM to one of it's lowest point totals of the year.
Whether it was there all year and I missed it or whether the Grizzlies just developed the TEAM confidence in the last month is irrelevant. Coach Tinkle and the rest of the staff are to be commended, not only for installing a system that worked with the talent they have, but with getting the players to have confidence in that system and more importantly to have confidence in each other.
Congatulations to the Grizzlies and Coach Tinkle and Staff for a terrific year of basketball. The future is brighter than it has been in many years.
