While Tinkle and the coaches deserve considerable credit for the excellent conference consistency of the team in the past several years (and note the frequents quotes about challenging guys at halftime or during the game), the consistency comes from comes from Will Cherry's mental toughness and burning desire to win the conference, host the conference tournament and get back to the ncaa tourney.
Cherry has an incredible desire and will to win, seemingly stronger than other players who of course have a strong desire and will to win. Cherry has been showing his strong leadership in that regard in the past several years. He shows it with his excellent play on both ends of the court, especially when the game is on the line or the team needs some big plays, and what he is presumably saying to teammates in huddles, in the locker room, and on the court. His mental game seems to be equal to his on-court play.
I always enjoy his quotes after games. Very honest and direct. Below are quotes of his from yesterday's game. I've also noticed Jamar saying on occasion that he felt he had to perform well and step up, to take up slack for Cherry (when he was out with foul trouble or whatever) and not let him down.
From the Missoulian article on the last night's game:
“I’m not looking at streaks,” said Griz senior Will Cherry, who had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds against Eastern. “This was just one game; there’s no complacency with us. We still have eight more games left with four on the road. It’s nice to be undefeated in league, but there’s no complacency. I want the Big Sky championship and I want to host the tournament.”
“The second game of the road trip is always tougher,” Cherry said. “It’s more mental than anything. The first couple of minutes they came out hot. That was scary because we weren’t at home. This time their crowd was into it. We made a point to ‘D’ up and get stops and that led to easy baskets in transition and we got a lead going into halftime.”
Cherry has an incredible desire and will to win, seemingly stronger than other players who of course have a strong desire and will to win. Cherry has been showing his strong leadership in that regard in the past several years. He shows it with his excellent play on both ends of the court, especially when the game is on the line or the team needs some big plays, and what he is presumably saying to teammates in huddles, in the locker room, and on the court. His mental game seems to be equal to his on-court play.
I always enjoy his quotes after games. Very honest and direct. Below are quotes of his from yesterday's game. I've also noticed Jamar saying on occasion that he felt he had to perform well and step up, to take up slack for Cherry (when he was out with foul trouble or whatever) and not let him down.
From the Missoulian article on the last night's game:
“I’m not looking at streaks,” said Griz senior Will Cherry, who had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds against Eastern. “This was just one game; there’s no complacency with us. We still have eight more games left with four on the road. It’s nice to be undefeated in league, but there’s no complacency. I want the Big Sky championship and I want to host the tournament.”
“The second game of the road trip is always tougher,” Cherry said. “It’s more mental than anything. The first couple of minutes they came out hot. That was scary because we weren’t at home. This time their crowd was into it. We made a point to ‘D’ up and get stops and that led to easy baskets in transition and we got a lead going into halftime.”
