Women Zags vs Lady Griz

[bobaloo]

This might be a topic Citay could weight in on. I see a lot of similarities in both program but different results. How did the Zags get so good so fast? #7 seed. Have the Griz ever had that high of a seed? Is the incoming freshmen class good enough to bring the griz up to a South Dakota State or Zag level? How did incoming class do in the AAU tournaments last summer? On paper a lot of potential.

 

[DoubleNicks]

The highest seed the LG have received is a 4 seed (twice). They won a first round game against Oregon State and then lost to USC as a 4 seed in 1984. Also, when they lost to Stanford by two in OT in '88, they were a 4 seed. Of course, back then there weren't as many seeds.

Looking at their history in the NCAAs and the more recent results, it looks like the gap between the big dogs and everyone else is really starting to show. I doubt the LG will see a single digit seed again for awhile.

 

[Grizbacker1]

Selvig will have a good team next year, but great teams the follwoing years. Look for 2 of the incoming class to start as true freshmen, Nelson and Sullivan.

 

[evergriz]

Not many similarities between Lady Griz and Zags.

Gonzaga (men and women) has a global recruiting base (Catholic), state-of-the-art court, basketball-only training facilities, private jets, no football competition, deep-pocket hoops crazy boosters, the private-institution advantage, and a flashier metro location.

 

[citygriz]

This might be a topic Citay could weight in on. I see a lot of similarities in both program but different results. How did the Zags get so good so fast? #7 seed. Have the Griz ever had that high of a seed? Is the incoming freshmen class good enough to bring the griz up to a South Dakota State or Zag level? How did incoming class do in the AAU tournaments last summer? On paper a lot of potential.

i'm as curious as you bobaloo to see how this all plays out. for its population size, montana over the years has produced many women who excelled at the college level, and this year's class is supposed to be one of the best ever. yeah, joslyn got away, but selvig pretty much snared everybody else--tori hill, lexie nelson, carly selvig and jordan sullivan. sullivan was supposed to be the best but lexie nelson put up huge numbers as a senior and won the gatorade award as montana's player of the year. no question this class, combined with this year's--especially katie baker--will significatnly raise our talent lever over the next few years. but to the level of gonzaga or south dakota state? or just to return to our position as a "big sky power?"

two issues for me. first, most of these gals played at smaller high schools. can they make the adjustment to college ball, and if so, how long will it take? and second, do we have in this bunch that super-quick point guard to run the team, and prevent us from wilting under full-court pressure once we get to the ncaa tournament? in my opinion, skyla sisco was the only player montana has produced who had the quicks to compete with the bigger programs--and that includes mandy morales and sonya rogers.

and take note. in women's basketball, all the early rounds are played on the home-court of the top seeds, because unlike the men, on a neutral court they would put zero butts in the seats. all of which means, our ladies will definitely be up against joslyn and the stanford machine, and probably more than once, during their careers. ouch!

 

[bobaloo]

The one thing that I can't get my arms around that Citay addressed is the quality of this years freshmen and next years. This years crop were the stars of their high school teams but in smaller classifications in their respective states last year and so goes the same with next years stars as Montana is a small population state. I would like to know how they did in AAU tournaments outside the state last summer discounting Tinkles presence which I know would be hard to quantify. Do graduated seniors get to play in AAU tournaments before entering college? I do agree that Sullivan and Nelson appear to stand above the rest.

 

[Gallatin Griz]

Don't forget, Cole from Bozeman High who was State Tourney MVP on the State Champ team. She actually played part of the last half of the title game with a broken wrist. What an outstanding recruiting class and many of them did play AAU ball on the same team with Jos. Lady Griz future is bright IMHO.

 

[GrizLA]

Not many similarities between Lady Griz and Zags.

Gonzaga (men and women) has a global recruiting base (Catholic), state-of-the-art court, basketball-only training facilities, private jets, no football competition, deep-pocket hoops crazy boosters, the private-institution advantage, and a flashier metro location.

And, superior coaching, might be a possibility....

 

[1986cat]

I too was surprised that the Lady Zags came on so quickly. They weren't too great of a program at the beginning, but they were ranked for the first time ever this year in the polls and won two tourney games. They advanced further than the men did too. I suppose after they built the new court, it was only a matter of time before they would start to catch up with the men's program.

I do know, though, that the Lady Griz have sustained success in the Big Sky more so than any other basketball team, men or women, in the conference. It will be interesting to see if the Lady Zags can keep it going over the next few years.

 

[Grizbacker1]

I too was surprised that the Lady Zags came on so quickly. They weren't too great of a program at the beginning, but they were ranked for the first time ever this year in the polls and won two tourney games. They advanced further than the men did too. I suppose after they built the new court, it was only a matter of time before they would start to catch up with the men's program.

I do know, though, that the Lady Griz have sustained success in the Big Sky more so than any other basketball team, men or women, in the conference. It will be interesting to see if the Lady Zags can keep it going over the next few years.

It will be interesting if they can hang onto their coach, this is his 3rd program and he was won at all 3 of them. Look for him to move to a bigger school and the paycheck that is attached.I don't think Gonzaga is going to put near the resources into womens bb as the do on the men's side.