Home Court Advantage

[GrizinWashington]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

[TomCat88]

I don't think it's possible to set an entire season of games where someone doesn't get more rest than another team. As was the case Saturday night, they usually have the less rested team play at home where they might be cutting it close. It's true, however, that a more rested team is usually going to play better and that can be a good reason for why a team might lose a game between to evenly matched teams. In this case UM is decidedly better than MSU and the Bobcats would need more than even rest and home court to be at the same level. Everyone predicted a two-team race and that's exactly what's happened. MSU is still sitting in a good spot and needs to keep at it the next few weeks. This weekend's road games are important in their development in terms of skill and character. They can either pull together or tank.

I realize there's a lot of frustration with MSU men's hoops due to the long run of average (Big Sky scale) teams for the past 10 years, but this year is truly a re-building year with a lot of talent that is about 80% new to each other. To still be sitting in fourth place after losing three straight isn't that bad. I don't know who returns what or what teams will end up bringing in ringers next year, but MSU should be more competitive.

[ilovethecats]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

ya, i don't know would give anyone the impression that fatigue is why we were missing shots. we're just not a good shooting team. simple as that. i've seen us shoot poorly on one days rest....i've seen us shoot poorly on 6 days rest. what if the excuse for us being dead last in free throw percentage? are we just always tired? we're in the bottom half of the league in most shooting categories. if you look at the first halves and second halves it is worse.

i think the simple answer is that this team fails to make adjustments like the better teams do. we don't adjust within games, and we don't adjust as the season progresses. we have the ability to do some things on offense...but after a team sees them once and plans for them, we look like a team playing pickup ball in north gym in the middle of july.

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

[ilovethecats]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

ya, i don't know would give anyone the impression that fatigue is why we were missing shots. we're just not a good shooting team. simple as that. i've seen us shoot poorly on one days rest....i've seen us shoot poorly on 6 days rest. what if the excuse for us being dead last in free throw percentage? are we just always tired? we're in the bottom half of the league in most shooting categories. if you look at the first halves and second halves it is worse.

i think the simple answer is that this team fails to make adjustments like the better teams do. we don't adjust within games, and we don't adjust as the season progresses. we have the ability to do some things on offense...but after a team sees them once and plans for them, we look like a team playing pickup ball in north gym in the middle of july.

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

[John K]

"""Our gurad play is still just terrible as it has been most of huse's time here. he seems to think the big sky is a weak enough conference where you can have a 5'8" turnover machine running the show and you'll win games. two moments that really stand out to me where i knew we were just screwed last night. wth about 5 minutes to go the cats battle back and cut the deficit to 4. we have the ball and singleton is bringing the ball up the floor. griz are barely pressuring him at all, and with no one near him he dribbles the ball off his leg and out of bounds. griz ball.....selvig 3....cats down 7. selvig hits another right after and the game is blown open again."""

SO TRUE, ILTC--- What the F is Singleton doing running this team? That idea should have been scrapped mid last year. We would have had growing pains with Dison, or whomever, but Singleton is NOT the answer. I think that Singleton may be the hardest working, most determined guy out there who sets a great exampole in prcatice and off the court. Very, very unfortunately that has swayed Huse to anoint him 'the leader'. His PRODUCTION, however, is absolutely not leader-like. Name a worse starting point guard in The BSC... Can't think of one? Try the Frontier Conference. Still looking for a worse floor general? Again, I am sure Singleton is a great guy and will be a success in life. But, not even in the most fool-hardy mindset can one ever expect him to be a good college point guard.

Call me fooloish but I would play Dison most the time or have a starting five of:
PF- JOHNSON
SF- BLOUNT
C- FALL
SG- MOON
PG- REID/DISON

Besides dribbling WAY TOO MUCH, Singleton is a defensive liability.

REGARDING HAVING NOOOOO HOME COURT ADVANTAGE_ Too true. The Court is so seperated from the fans that no enrgy can be sustained. The refurb of a few years ago mad e a poor HC advantage even poorer. Put the frickin seats as close to the court as possible. On the side with the teams and scorers table, where you could really cause the opposition to feel the heat, it's like a Night At the Opera- open, pleasant no feeling of pressure. Games at MSU have all the energy of neutral site.

Defensive liability? Rod is second on the team in taking charges. No, he's not the best PG in the Big Sky, but have you seen Dison play lately? Ever since his great UNC game, he's been in a funk. Stewart could have been the answer or at least a solid backup, but he chose to be selfish and a quitter. That's not Rod's fault. And the guards that weren't hitting shots? Yeah, they played an overtime heart-breaker not 48 hours before and combined for 78 minutes and 46 points. They simply didn't have the legs, and you could see it from the get-go.

This team played their asses off - Allou and a banged up Mo played out of their minds around the rim and get screwed on 3 horrible GT calls. Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

I'm sorry, but I think that fatigue is a lame excuse. Teams play on Thursday/Saturday virtually every week in the BSC, traveling from one city to another in between. Why should traveling from Pokey back to Bozeman between games be any more difficult than traveling from Flagstaff to Sac, for example? I know that UM didn't play on Thursday before Cat-Griz, but they came back two nights after Cat-Griz, traveling almost as far as the Cats did, and smoked ISU by 30 points. If playing on Thursday/Saturday is too much for our players, then we're in big trouble, since we have to do that all throughout the conference season.

[GrizinWashington]

I wouldn't completely discount what h8r is saying. I suspect that fatigue may have played some factor in the game. It often does in Saturday games. But this late in the season it shouldn't be too big of an issue. Teams should be pretty accustomed to the Th/Sat schedule.

I think the biggest factor in poor shooting is Montana's defense, frankly. As I watched the Griz/ISU game last night, I found myself thinking, "Man, these ISU guys can't shoot worth a d*mn!". Then I realized that I'd pretty much thought that about every team the Griz have faced this year, and then watched that same team go light someone up the next week. Montana's D just does not allow teams to get into their rythm and really causes some ugly looking shooting.

FWIW, I agree with Tom and ILTC. I like a lot of the Cats younger players. It's also worth noting that they just happen to be in the conference at a time when two of the better teams the league has produced over the last 10 years or so are playing in it at the same time.

[grizzh8r]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

ya, i don't know would give anyone the impression that fatigue is why we were missing shots. we're just not a good shooting team. simple as that. i've seen us shoot poorly on one days rest....i've seen us shoot poorly on 6 days rest. what if the excuse for us being dead last in free throw percentage? are we just always tired? we're in the bottom half of the league in most shooting categories. if you look at the first halves and second halves it is worse.

i think the simple answer is that this team fails to make adjustments like the better teams do. we don't adjust within games, and we don't adjust as the season progresses. we have the ability to do some things on offense...but after a team sees them once and plans for them, we look like a team playing pickup ball in north gym in the middle of july.

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

I've also seen said team absolutely shoot the lights out. It's called the law of averages. As to your assertion about FT shooting, that doesn't even bear mentioning. There are very, VERY few teams in all of College BB that shoot a decent FT percentage, because it's just not emphasized as much as it used to be, starting when players are kids. Developing good shooting habits has gone by the wayside for want of the big dunk or slick alleyoop or finger roll. If more players would aim for the glass on layups and mid-range angle jumpshots, there would be a lot less missed shots. I find myself saying "Why didn't he use the glass???" a half dozen times a game or more. It may not be sexy or look as good as a swish, but it's damned effective. Ask Tim Duncan.

[CatBlitz]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

ya, i don't know would give anyone the impression that fatigue is why we were missing shots. we're just not a good shooting team. simple as that. i've seen us shoot poorly on one days rest....i've seen us shoot poorly on 6 days rest. what if the excuse for us being dead last in free throw percentage? are we just always tired? we're in the bottom half of the league in most shooting categories. if you look at the first halves and second halves it is worse.

i think the simple answer is that this team fails to make adjustments like the better teams do. we don't adjust within games, and we don't adjust as the season progresses. we have the ability to do some things on offense...but after a team sees them once and plans for them, we look like a team playing pickup ball in north gym in the middle of july.

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

I've also seen said team absolutely shoot the lights out. It's called the law of averages. As to your assertion about FT shooting, that doesn't even bear mentioning. There are very, VERY few teams in all of College BB that shoot a decent FT percentage, because it's just not emphasized as much as it used to be, starting when players are kids. Developing good shooting habits has gone by the wayside for want of the big dunk or slick alleyoop or finger roll. If more players would aim for the glass on layups and mid-range angle jumpshots, there would be a lot less missed shots. I find myself saying "Why didn't he use the glass???" a half dozen times a game or more. It may not be sexy or look as good as a swish, but it's damned effective. Ask Tim Duncan.

Yep, regression to the mean. Same thing as the sophomore slump. No such thing. Simple regression analysis.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

The problem is that it isn't a young team. It's a new team, sure, but it really isn't that young. Moon, Fall and Blount are all juniors. Allou and Singleton are seniors (although in the case of Singleton, you can make the argument that we'll be better off once he graduates). The only young guys who regularly get a lot of minutes are sophomores Johnson and Reid.

[John K]

Think about it. If the BSC hadn't screwed us over with the ISU game 2 nights before Cat/Griz, I guarantee you the Cats make better than 2-16 from 3. As a team, MSU shot 37.5% from 3 (before the game), a very solid team percentage. Many of their 3 point attempts were uncontested and on fully rested legs, I have to believe that had 4 of those go in (making it 6-16. which just happens to be exactly 37.5%), we're likely not having this discussion. Doug FOOLerton allowing this blatant scheduling gaffe to happen to either of the 2 core members of the Big Sky is simply unacceptable.

C'mon. Yes, perhaps the schedule wasn't ideal for the Cats. But the Griz had to turn around and head home tonight to play a well-rested and hot ISU team on a Monday and beat them by 36. Then the Griz have to go on the road for 2 more road games this week, meaning they're playing 4 games in 7 days, 3 on the road, one against their rival. You can say the schedule wasn't favorable, but please don't use it as an excuse. Certainly the Griz schedule this week is much, much worse.

ya, i don't know would give anyone the impression that fatigue is why we were missing shots. we're just not a good shooting team. simple as that. i've seen us shoot poorly on one days rest....i've seen us shoot poorly on 6 days rest. what if the excuse for us being dead last in free throw percentage? are we just always tired? we're in the bottom half of the league in most shooting categories. if you look at the first halves and second halves it is worse.

i think the simple answer is that this team fails to make adjustments like the better teams do. we don't adjust within games, and we don't adjust as the season progresses. we have the ability to do some things on offense...but after a team sees them once and plans for them, we look like a team playing pickup ball in north gym in the middle of july.

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

I've also seen said team absolutely shoot the lights out. It's called the law of averages. As to your assertion about FT shooting, that doesn't even bear mentioning. There are very, VERY few teams in all of College BB that shoot a decent FT percentage, because it's just not emphasized as much as it used to be, starting when players are kids. Developing good shooting habits has gone by the wayside for want of the big dunk or slick alleyoop or finger roll. If more players would aim for the glass on layups and mid-range angle jumpshots, there would be a lot less missed shots. I find myself saying "Why didn't he use the glass???" a half dozen times a game or more. It may not be sexy or look as good as a swish, but it's damned effective. Ask Tim Duncan.

But the point is, that we're a bad free throw shooting team as compared to the rest of the BSC. It is irrelevant how our FT percentage compares to teams "back in the day".

[John K]

i do agree with tom though. this is a young team and i didn't expect much this year. i think our frustration carries over from years past in which we SHOULD have been good and we weren't. this is not one of those teams. sitting where we are right now i think is pretty good. if we can actually start knocking down open shots....we can play with almost everyone which is good for a young team like ours.

The problem is that it isn't a young team. It's a new team, sure, but it really isn't that young. Moon, Fall and Blount are all juniors. Allou and Singleton are seniors (although in the case of Singleton, you can make the argument that we'll be better off once he graduates). The only young guys who regularly get a lot of minutes are sophomores Johnson and Reid.

And I guarantee you that you'll find posts saying the exact same thing virtually every season in recent years. Something to the effect of "yeah, we may be struggling this year, but what do you expect with all of our young players? We should be pretty good next season once they have some more experience and have played together for awhile". But somehow, "next year" never comes in the world of Bobcat MBB.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

That's how it goes when you rely on JC guys though. If your JC guys aren't good enough now, they ain't gonna be. This team lacks top-tier guys who you can rely on for a big game every night. You need one or two to win a conference. The JC guys are all good players, but collectively they aren't good enough.

[ilovethecats]

I've also seen said team absolutely shoot the lights out. It's called the law of averages. As to your assertion about FT shooting, that doesn't even bear mentioning. There are very, VERY few teams in all of College BB that shoot a decent FT percentage, because it's just not emphasized as much as it used to be, starting when players are kids. Developing good shooting habits has gone by the wayside for want of the big dunk or slick alleyoop or finger roll. If more players would aim for the glass on layups and mid-range angle jumpshots, there would be a lot less missed shots. I find myself saying "Why didn't he use the glass???" a half dozen times a game or more. It may not be sexy or look as good as a swish, but it's damned effective. Ask Tim Duncan.

just curious...but what games have we shot the lights out? i remember we did against that northern new mexico team early on in the season. we were like over 60% in that one! but other than that our percentages are always in the 30's and 40's. i think we have had games that SEEM to be shooting lights out because overall we shoot so poorly. we shot well against isu the first time and and at nau. since then it has been pretty bad. especially our threes. 4-19 against ewu. 2-16 against the griz! just not going to cut it in this league. we need a go-to scorer....simple as that.

and free throw shooting DEFINITELY bears mentioning. you are correct that many teams don't shoot ft's well......but many do. and some of the ones that don't are good enough in other areas to make up for lousy percentages from the line. our problem is we rely on our athleticism which in turn draws a lot of fouls. we get to the line often. but we are dead last in the league. and better ft shooting would have one us some games this year. remember that riverside game this year? it was brutal to watch because we shot over 50 free throws. but we made like 40 of them. we have had games where we proved we can make them. but in the games that matter....the last place we want to be is on the line. teams like weber and the griz will win a lot of games from there in the end of games....and we'll lose games from there. and more to the point....this isn't the first year free throws have been an issue. we are regularly at the bottom or close to it in this regard and whether you think so or not, they are VERY important.