anybody who sat in on the montana-syracuse game came away with two fundamental truths: a good big team will always beat a good small team; and height and athleticsm are no longer mutually exclusive. two of the best players ever to don grizzly duds--cherry and jamar--were rendered helpless by the taller, equally athletic orangemen, a lesson that cannot be lost on our coaching staff. in the four best showings by montana at the big dance--utah state and ucla (1975), nevada and new mexico more recently, montana had quality bigs--mckenzie, strait and qvale. we've got to get bigger, and adding one 6'7" guy to the same roster that got blasted by syracuse is not going to do it. if we can get another quality big at the expense of an athletic smaller guy who shows up on the police blotter but not at meetings, i'd do that in a heartbeat. oh, and it's not just syracuse. weber too. they got lucky with lilliard, and they may have got just as lucky with bolomboy. this team is really going to be something the next three years.
hope griz journal is right about wiley. the development of him, martin, gregory and possibly weisner will be critical to our success next year.
you know i'm a big mario dunn fan. i think he'll be even better at the college level for two reasons: he was overshadowed in high school by jabari bird, a human-highlight-reel going to cal; and in the last several games, owing to his jumping ability, he was playing on the wing on offense, where his true skill as a point guard was diminshed. at montana, he'll be a point, period.
problem with mario is, he's a high-octane, ultra-quick super-leaper, a la ty lawson of the denver nuggets, and he needs to be in an up-tempo offense. if he walks-the-ball-up-the-court-and-passes-the-ball-around-the-permiter-and-around-the-perimiter, we will have squandered his talent. this kid can fly. we need to adapt an offense to him. we have the athletes to go with him, and i hope tinks and his staff open the throttle on offense the next few years.
finally, a prediction on will cherry. that diastrous syracuse game, combined with the so-called "disturbing the peace" arrest (cops always throw the book at you, hoping at least one charge will stick) have likely killed his chances to be drafted. but one team will give him a look a good free agent look, and that team will be the blazers, on the say of his bud, damien lilliard. lilliard's got clout now, and is loyal to his own.