BSC Championship Thread

[Helcat72]

May have been our best offensive game of the season. I think PSU was just that good. Huse can build on this.

Thank God Dominguez is done (all the league except PSU will rejoice at that). PSU is the type of team that could give somebody fits in the dance.

Now for the ladies to finish the deal.

Go Cats.

If they hit their threes...if not I don't give them much of a chance.

[Coyote77]

Really nice comeback by the Cats, to tie it. Too bad Howard didn't get a shot off.

[CapitalCityCat]

Congrats to the Cats on a well played tournament and an exciting championship game.

[CelticCat]

Mods can we maybe move some appropriate posts into some sort of "Congrats Cats" thread? I wana start one but there are enough posts in here.

[bpcats]

It was nice to see the Cats play up to their potential during this tournament.

To think that we were picked to finish last in conference in the preseason but were able to put together a great run. The only sad part about that last play was that Branden Johnson was flashing open on the near side.

I have to agree with the announcers when they stated that MSU was a total effort team. We are really going to miss Divaldo next year. It is hard to find a big man as athletic as he is especially when matching up with a team like PSU.

This was a big step forward for Coach Huse and the program in general.

Congrat Cats on a great run.

[BelgradeBobcat]

ESPN loves Will Bynum. His finger roll was a major feature on the highlights.

Lock him in the gym and get him to increase his range and improve his free throws (same with Austin Brown).

Mbunga is a huge loss. Will the big 7 footer from France be an adequate replacement? How much will Cody Anderson improve.

Get well Piepoli and Hennessy.

[bozbobcat]

What a game by the Bobcats! I still can't believe this run, but I'm very happy about it. This team was dead in the water one week ago, and they finish two agonizing points away from the NCAA tournament. I'm proud of these guys, and not giving up when the chips are down shows a lot of character. We have a lot to be proud about, and a lot to look forward to next season. But for now, what a run!

[TIrwin24]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

[grizzh8r]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Water under the bridge at this point. It was a great game and PSU just made a couple more plays than the Bobcats.

Also folks, don't forget about the 6'9, 215 lb. freshman recruit coming in out of Washington, Jeff Budinich. Here's what Scout has to say about him:

March, 2009: Budinich is one of the better sleepers in the west and a relative unknown outside of Washington. What standouts about his game is his ability to score in a variety of ways. He has a intriguing skill package that is quite versatile. He can be a potent scorer in the paint area and can knock down the mid-range jump shot with regularity. In addition, he can demonstrate his feel for the game with his ability to pass. One area of concern, however, is his effort level-he has a tendency to take plays off. With his ability to score inside and out, he should make an immediate impact at Montana State.

Somehow, I doubt he redshirts next season. We'll need his scoring ability.

[GOKATS]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Probably little doubt about it, but...............

Huse said in post-game that Divaldo took a charge on the Vikes last basket t go ahead, but said he didn't expect to get the call given the game circumstance.

It doesn't matter, it was a helluva game and a great end to the season. Mbunga will be a huge loss, but everyone else will be back. Go Cats!!!!

[hardhatcat]

Thanks bobcat for an exciting couple of days!!!!

[thecitygriz]

congratulations on a great run. the cats showed wonderful poise tonight, and did both the state and the conference proud on a national stage. bynum took care of the athleticism, as espn has duly noted, and noted, and noted, so nobody will think the skill level was small-time.

little mentioned is how young the cats are, with key players brown a freshman, rush, piepoli and howard only sophomores, and bynum, navarre and johnson all back too. if a couple of your big recruits come through, you will be tough to contend with next year.

[TomCat88]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Probably little doubt about it, but...............

Huse said in post-game that Divaldo took a charge on the Vikes last basket t go ahead, but said he didn't expect to get the call given the game circumstance.

It doesn't matter, it was a helluva game and a great end to the season. Mbunga will be a huge loss, but everyone else will be back. Go Cats!!!!

Yes, that charge is a very tough call to make or expect to get. I've seen a lot worse. If they don't call that, they surely won't call it on the inbounds play later. PSU was smart if it knew that pretty anything it did wouldn't get called. Until some mandate comes down from the NCAA we won't see that change.

The unfortunate call (I've seen this happen before, too) was the timeout that Rush made that I think cost us at least 0.6 seconds. On the replay you see Rush catch the ball and point with 3.3 seconds to go. You can't see the ref he was pointing to, but you can see a ref from across the court motion in a way that he appears to be acknowledging Rush's timeout with 3.1 seconds to go. The clock burned down to 1.8 and they reset it to 2.5, which is plenty of time to get a shot off. As it turned out it didn't matter, but I can't understand why you would take the time to watch the replay and not put the correct time back on the clock. Especially considering the no-call on the offensive foul.

So who are they protecting? The timekeeper. On fouls, they're supposedly "letting them play," while also protecting themselves and the player committing the foul, I suppose, but the timer seems like a pretty behind the scenes guy. Looks like they just split the difference. 1.8 or 3.3. The middle is 2.55. But I've seen this happen before, too, so they must have some unwritten rule about this, too.

Aside from that it was a great game and the Bobcats did a helluva job to just get there and a helluva job getting back in this game after falling behind twice in the second half. It was 61-51 and we cut it to 63-60, then it was 73-64 and we tied it at 77-77.

[Billings Cat]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Probably little doubt about it, but...............

Huse said in post-game that Divaldo took a charge on the Vikes last basket t go ahead, but said he didn't expect to get the call given the game circumstance.

It doesn't matter, it was a helluva game and a great end to the season. Mbunga will be a huge loss, but everyone else will be back. Go Cats!!!!

Huse is right. You can't expect that call in that situation. The problem was the defender getting beat (to put it mildly) off the dribble up top that precipitated the play. Still a very great effort by the team considering I was about to give up when they were down by 10. Nice way to finish the season!

[technoCat]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Probably little doubt about it, but...............

Huse said in post-game that Divaldo took a charge on the Vikes last basket t go ahead, but said he didn't expect to get the call given the game circumstance.

It doesn't matter, it was a helluva game and a great end to the season. Mbunga will be a huge loss, but everyone else will be back. Go Cats!!!!

Huse is right. You can't expect that call in that situation. The problem was the defender getting beat (to put it mildly) off the dribble up top that precipitated the play. Still a very great effort by the team considering I was about to give up when they were down by 10. Nice way to finish the season!

Yeah i thought the refs were overall pretty decent although they seemed to switch back and forth on what they were calling. Don't know about the final play but it looked to me like Howard just lost the handle.

As for giving up when we were 10 down, I was amazed that I still felt good about the game. I knew that we were playing more consistenly and that PSU had just managed to put a couple of easy buckets together. I was nervous for sure, but after the last two games I knew this team wouldn't fold up the tents just yet(not left). BJ's three with 11 brought me right out of my seat! Hell of a game! Here's hoping Portland gets a decent seed and makes a little noise in the tourney!

[CATS2000]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Huge 'Cat hoop fan here so I don't mean this as a insult to Bobby but if the refs did call a foul on him in the final second - how many of the FT's do you think he would have made?

[RMD]

I still think there was a foul at the last play...

Huge 'Cat hoop fan here so I don't mean this as a insult to Bobby but if the refs did call a foul on him in the final second - how many of the FT's do you think he would have made?

You would hope and expect all of them!!!

[urcrackinmeup]

I think he'd make 2 more than Cat2000... dumb hypothetical question.

Good job Cats! Great finish this year especially for a young team and also one that was pretty banged up and shorthanded by the end. It was fun watching you out-hustle teams in the tournament and I hope it gives you extra confidence going into next season. Thanks for all your hard work - players and coaches!!

...and I feel just great that you sent the pooooor grizzlies home to sulk.

[Griznationalist]

I think he'd make 2 more than Cat2000... dumb hypothetical question.

Good job Cats! Great finish this year especially for a young team and also one that was pretty banged up and shorthanded by the end. It was fun watching you out-hustle teams in the tournament and I hope it gives you extra confidence going into next season. Thanks for all your hard work - players and coaches!!

...and I feel just great that you sent the pooooor grizzlies home to sulk.

The Griz don't sulk, my man. But you've just tipped your hand on what the Cats do the 9 out of 10 times they lose to the Griz? Good job Cats. Wish the outcome against PSU would have been different. Was very pleased to see you bump off Weber.

[GrizinWashington]

...and I feel just great that you sent the pooooor grizzlies home to sulk.

Just what do you think we're sulking over? First the Griz clearly were not the best team in the conference, so we really didn't expect to nor did we deserve to win the tournament. Second, we took it to the cats hard two out of three times during the season. Third, we finished tied for 2nd in a pretty good league. Fourth, we have one of the top 30 women's programs in the country. Fifth, that women's team will probably end up with a 12 or 13 seed and a legitimate shot at winnig games in the Dance. And that's just basketball.

Sulking? No, we're too busy dusting trophies to sulk, thanks.