oldrunner said:
Sounds like a really good kickoff for the upcoming season. I have a feeling that this is going to be a really good year for BSC basketball. See you in late December. I'll let you know how our exhibition game with Adams State goes. It happens on Nov. 2nd. :thumb:
Actually, I've watched a few work outs over the summer and a few practices this fall, along with one full scrimmage with refs. Dillon Jones has improved his body, his leaping, and his shooting. He will be a load for everybody we play. Alex Tew is going to surprise a lot of people. He has buffed up and is playing more aggressively. He is hitting a good percentage of his 3 point shots now and may play some at the 4 spot. Tamba has put on about 25 lbs of muscle, although, with his frame, it's hard to tell. His coordination is catching up with his body. Steven Verplancken is his usual self. In the scrimmage, he shot about 7 times and only missed once. Blaze Threat shoots over 41% from 3, just like Moody, and is a fierce competitor, just like Moody. He is a big addition to our team. All of the new freshmen are knock down shooters and playmakers. However, it may be hard to find minutes on this team. Of them, Marko Sarenac, a 6'11'' PF/C, has a good chance of getting minutes. He has a really good stroke from 3, is athletic, and has a fairly complete skill set for a freshman. Chris Dockery, a 6'6'' G/F, is the best athlete on the team and has shown that it will be hard to keep him off the floor for long. He made one block where his head must have been close to hitting the rim and then he took it the other way and made a great spin move to the basket. PT for him, Viliame Vartiainen, and Nemanja Sarenac will be spotty, as they will be playing behind Jones and Verplancken. Another one who has improved a lot, but may see only spot minutes is Louie Jordan, a 6'9'' G/F. In the scrimmage, he hit a couple of really nice 3s, played some good D, and rebounded well. Our transfer from Maryland, 6'10'' Arnouh Revaz, broke his wrist earlier in fall practice and will get his cast off in a week or two. When I saw him in the summer, he looked skilled around the basket and athletic, although he was out of shape at the time. The coaches tell me that he is the most offensively skilled player we have, within 10 ft of the basket. We won't see him against real competition until late November. My guess is that he will be in the rotation at center by the time BSC play starts.
I can hardly wait. :clap:
Good for you, Oldrunner. You've got a long glorious tradition at Weber, going all the way back to Allen Holmes, the father of Byron Scott, later of NBA playing and coaching fame, followed by chapter and verse of players who've given Montana fits through many decades: Willie Sojurner, Justus Thigpen, Bruce Collins and Harold Arceneaux, before we even get to the great Damian Lillard and Joel Bolomboy. Dillon Jones was a potential second-round NBA draftee last year, meaning he was considered among the top 60 players in the country, and should be better this year. I take your word that he'll be a load for any Big Sky foe this year.
Glad you can hardly wait!
Sadly, our fans can. Montana is now a full-fledged football school. A player can develop a hangnail on his pinky finger and it will be the subject six pages of posts on the Board.
But let us open the season with a scrimmage and an exhibition game, and there are no official stats or write-ups on GoGriz, and only a few sketchy reports from the one fan with a low battery on his cell phone who made it to the scrimmage. Full bio's on the new players were only recently posted, the while our coaching staff holds everything as close to the vest as poker players wearing shades on ESPN. A press conference? A Midnight Madness event? Even a box score, for God's sake, of a goddamned EXHIBITION game? Are you daft?
I've always said, any sports franchise depends on three things: A League, with coaches and an administration to run things; Players, to attract attention and provide athletic feats beyond the normal person's abilities; and Fans, to provide the noise and the bucks without which the League and the Players would not exist.
Our basketball program has a solid Coaching Staff, and after a few years of grave mishaps on the recruiting trail, they may also have the Players.
But the attitude toward the Fans is basically, F.U. We don't see you, hear you or care about you. It's not fair to blame them completely for the plummeting attendance at Griz basketball games because attendance at many schools has been on the decline for years, including at the fabulous Power-Five Purple Palace.
But nor is out of bounds to point out that the once-proud tradition and enthusiasm that defined the Montana Men's Basketball program has been substantially impaired by the callousness of this Administration and this Coaching Staff. I hope they never seek degrees in Marketing because they've already flunked out of 101.
