When Will Montana Hire a Good Coach?

[grizonbob]

It isn't rocket science. There's a major lack of discipline on offense, with big guys wandering outside to shoot threes, and the team rarely making more than 2 passes before launching a shot. On those occasions when they do work it around, get it in to the post, do an inside out game, they usually have some success.

When our big guys go outside, we're usually badly outrebounded. And I don't know how many times we've made lazy passes that have been picked off; lack of concentration is a problem.

On defense, there's often a lack of intensity. Too often we see opponents getting uncontested bunnies because defenders lost track of them.

I agree with those who point out that Robin Selvig has figured out how you fix problems like these, early in the game in which they are occurring. He doesn't let them fester, game after game.

 

[citygriz]

were that it were rocket science. motivating people is an art, and much more difficult than simple old rocket science.

i watched the stanford-cal game tonight and one thing was immediately clear: each head coach (montgomery for stanford and dawkins for stanford) was clearly in charge. both had a retinue of assistants, including dick davey at stanford who used to be the head man at santa clara, but no matter their roles in practises, in the huddles it was the head men who commanded all the respect and drew all the attention. not so our griz. during time-outs at portland all the coaches huddled up apart from the team as if they were trying to figure out what to do next, while the players languished on the bench. neither i nor my posse could help but comment about this several times during the game. come to think of it i can't think of a single successful big-time coach who isn't in complete charge on the court.

actually, tinks's manner may be better suited to the pros, where it's the players are in charge, and the coach is nothing but an affable accoutrement who if successful writes a book about zen hoops. but since i don't see tinks making it to the pros on the strength of a .500 record at montana, i suggest he step up and take charge now--or at least fake it.

 

[Liquor up front!]

I want to preface that I am a big Tinkle fan off the court, matter of fact, I think he is going to be a great coach, but I have seen with my own eyes that he must be a little confused.

I have been reading all the posts over the last couple of years abou how he got the job, or how good of a job he is doing, but what I saw Friday night makes me very skeptical that he knows what he is doing.

I watched a kid who wanted to play for the Griz more then anything else in this world have one of the greatest individual performances I have ever seen. 35 points, 17 rebounds in 48 minutes and to top it off he made one of the greatest plays that I have ever seen to tie the game.

Andy Garland maybe the best player in the state right now and he is a true freshman. I don't think he would be red shirting for the Griz if he played for them this year, I think he would be starting. He is the most complete player to ever play at Carroll and I don't think Carroll is to far behind the Griz.

Why bring this up on a thread about Tinkle and his coaching ability, because if he cant land an amazing player like Andy Garland, who wants to go to U of M, Who else is he going to miss? Just my opinion!

 

[Griznationalist]

The beauty of living in a democracy with Constitutionally protected free speech is it allows anyone in the world to pop off on subjects they know little about and say a lot of ridiculous things.

 

[thinkuno]

Anyone who thinks Tinkle is the best coach that Montana can hire is embarassly mistaken. Do you really think he is the best out there? Give me a break! Players take on the personality of the HEAD coach, and obviously we are soft...just like the HC. Can't win on the road. Take that back. Can't COMPETE on the road! MSU got their split! Montana does not compete, has no discipline, and Tankle has all the excuses. Now he is blaming in on the players. "We got open shots, just weren't going down." That's him saying we ran the right plays and got our guys open shots, they just didn't knock them down.

Whatever! Get tough and compete. There are many guys out there that would bring more respect to the program than him.

 

[Montanan]

The beauty of living in a democracy with Constitutionally protected free speech is it allows anyone in the world to pop off on subjects they know little about and say a lot of ridiculous things.

i whole-heartedly agree...

:lol: :lol:

 

[General Disarray]

extremes hide the truth. and the truth about tinkle is, he's an okay coach, not great, whose recruiting abilities will always keep him in the game.

two of the last three times i've gone to see the griz play under tinkle, i was keenly disappointed at the lack of effort. even though it was the conference opener at portland state against the pre-season fave, our kids didn't have their collective heads in the game till halftime, and then it was way too late.

i don't agree with many personnel decisions. qvale needed a redshirt year, period. and a.j. is so far above the rest of the talent on this team, i wonder why he wasn't in the starting lineup from day one.

i don't like his rotations. mike montgomery and robin selvig have definite starters and definite subs, and if you're not among either group, you have to play your way in. not so tinks. one night stockton gets minutes and plays well, next game he doesn't play. some of the lineups tinks throws out there just baffle me. it's almost as if he's trying to get everybody minutes rather than put his best kids out there in a cohesive unit to win games.

i still don't see real defensive intensity. this team still plays AT defense, rather than having a tough defensive profile like the lady griz.

and have we seen players improve under tinks? a hallmark of robin selvig's teams is that players who hardly play as freshmen are often stars by the time they're upperclassmen. this year lauren beck has improved, while stephanie stender and jessa linford are showing progress. can you say qvale has improved year to year? or staudacher? i think you can make a better case that hasquet has regressed since his freshman year.

personally, i've fallen out of love with this team. i went out of my way to see them play in portland, then got stranded for four days by a snow and ice storm, only to witness this team play an absolutely lazy-dacsical (my word) game against a team they should have been prepared for and up for. my passions have swung back to the lady griz and the football team.

having said all that, i'm okay that tinks got a three-year extension. the first essential of division one basketball is that you need the talent, and tinks can get the talent. and coaches, like players, learn from their mistakes and improve over time. tinks is a great guy, a good representative of the unversity of montana. i'm willing to show some patience.

I agree with pretty much all your observations. Larry K brought in casual fans because the team was a well-oiled machine that was greater than the sum of their parts. Clear leadership and 100% effort. The way college basketball should be. Tinkle pushes away casual fans because the hustle, chemistry, defense, and leadership is lacking. There's no team identity or consistency. Good recruiting and pre-season hype, followed by the same result. Not living up to potential.

I don't know if this analogy will make sense or not, but I feel like Larry K was able to get grade "B" results from "C+" talent. Tinkle may someday win the Big Sky and have a "B" or "B-" season, but I feel like it's going to take "B" or "B+" talent.

 

[Spanky]

What is your grade of our current talent, General?

 

[General Disarray]

I have no idea.

 

[papa bear helena]

I have no idea.

Speaks volumes. How can we judge talent with the extreme inconsistency we've seen this year?

 

[grizonbob]

In terms of talent, it is safe to say AJ is one of the best guards in the league -- maybe the best right now. If the team had a better record he'd be MVP material. Based on past performances, one would have thought that Hasquet would have been a shoo-in for first team all-big sky this year. Jack McGillis showed he could hold his own in the Pac 10. Sharp and CET are solid. There's considerable talent on this team.

Most teams are going to have some miscues, some problems adjusting to each others styles, some off nights, etc. What bothers me about this team is that the same mistakes, the same patterns of problems keep repeating. I really hate to bitch about coaching, but I don't know where else to lay the blame.

Some folks have mentioned the difference between Robin Selvig and Tinkle, and I noticed a difference in their comments after their games this weekend. Selvig at one point said something about our defense was unacceptable in the first half but we got it straightened out. Tinkle was commenting on the various things that went wrong, such as the inability to make baskets, and seemed to being saying it was beyond the team's control. I just sensed a whole different attitude in terms of responsibility and accountability.

 

[wimpything]

You Griz are funny fans. Griz beat Montana State, Sac State, and N. Ariz at home .... he is the best thing since sliced bread. He loses one game on the road, the next week he is dog meat! You guy's are spoiled :?

Not talking about football - this Griz men's basketball team is mired in mediocrity. The only thing "Tink" does is motivate his players to lose!

 

[wimpything]

Good Post Peaux, i might add.. I like Tinkle too but I am frustrated as well and don;t know sht..

Is it because a few message boarders recognized the talent of Johnson before he earned a starting role by default, that we needed to start Sharp 2 games before he did, that Stauds can't get open, that nobody taught Qvale any moves offseason nor strengthened his hands, that Stockton was ready 8 games ago when CET went out, etc , etc , etc...
Go Griz...kick Weber ass. We do not want to be a 3rd to 5th place team ,like the CATS!

The Griz are headed for NINTH PLACE, after their miserable showing at Weber State. The Griz & the KATZ can fight it out for the cellar. Gee, just think - we'll get to hear all of Tink's excuses for this inept bunch in 2009 and beyond!

 

[wimpything]

Robin Selvig could be the best coach in the nation. His program is the proof.
Promote Selvig to run the men's and women's programs. Call him the AD of Basketball. The Lady's can take over the ladies and Robin can mentor Tinks.

Montana is extremely fortunate to have a coach like Robin Selvig. He gets the most out of his team! The "Tink" should watch Selvig! He might learn something, but I think it is too late for "Tink" - mediocrity breeds more mediocrity and it will only get worse as time passes!

Tink's Griz are the worst in the Big Sky!

 

[Potomac Griz]

Wimpything - So you are predicting the Griz and the Cats (or..Katz as you put it) will be 8th and 9th in the Big Sky? Just wanted to make sure that's what you are saying. You do realize that Sac State is 1-18 so far this year right? So you see Sac State turning things around after an 0-6 start in the Big Sky? Interesting...

Maybe you are overreacting just a bit? The loss to Weber was definitely a frustrating one to watch, but I think it's a little bit over the top to be saying the Griz are the worst in the Big Sky. Unless something drastically changes though, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Griz finish 5th or 6th. There are still a lot of games to go though. The Griz started out 3-3 in conference during the 2004-2005 season too, and things turned out pretty well that year. Hopefully they get things turned around this year.

 

[ronangrizfan]

1. Focus.
2. Intensity.

These two things are coachable and are a by-product of discipline.

This is the difference between men's and women's program at U of M.

 

[AllWeatherFan]

Larry K brought in casual fans because the team was a well-oiled machine that was greater than the sum of their parts.

The fact that those "parts" included Kevin Criswell and Virgil Mathews was not entirely coincidental.

But yeah, I agree. I don't even care about wins and losses as much if the team is competing. Grizzly teams getting blown out of conference games against middle-of-the-road opponents is not exactly the stuff of proud traditions.

But I'll wait to pass judgment until this season is over. Step one is to get into the damned conference tournament. Step two is to surprise some teams and compete for the title.

 

[Tanker]

Step one is to get into the damned conference tournament. Step two is to surprise some teams and compete for the title.

That is what Holst thought the steps were.

 

[General Disarray]

Larry K brought in casual fans because the team was a well-oiled machine that was greater than the sum of their parts.

The fact that those "parts" included Kevin Criswell and Virgil Mathews was not entirely coincidental.

But yeah, I agree. I don't even care about wins and losses as much if the team is competing. Grizzly teams getting blown out of conference games against middle-of-the-road opponents is not exactly the stuff of proud traditions.

But I'll wait to pass judgment until this season is over. Step one is to get into the damned conference tournament. Step two is to surprise some teams and compete for the title.

It's true, but we'll never know how well those players would have played under Tinkle. Arguably, Hasquet and Strait were better players as youngsters under LK than as vets under Tinkle. LK got the most out of his talent. It can't be assumed that Tinkle would have got as much out of them. Maybe he would have got more. Who knows.

 

[mtgrizfankb]

Is Coach Tinkle still experimenting and trying to learn how all of players react out on the court? It is still early in the conference season and the fans should be able to tell how far a team is coming along when they start to play conference opponents the second time around.

The trick is to go into the conference tournament playing your best basketball and then go on a run and win it. There is still plenty of time to develop as a team and the Griz have come from a lower seed and won the tournament several times.

TINKLE CANT CONTROL HIS TEAM!!! there are many a rumors around campus that practice is in the same realm of a highschool team. and many players do as they please. I think that in order for the Griz to be a conf. leader and a bubble buster every once in a while. They need a true head coach. The only time we have doen well is with Coach K. FIRST ORDER OF BUIESNESS THIS OFF SEASON- FIRE COACH Tinkle...let him move to cali. and watch his girl play bball down there.