What would it take to turn MSU into a basketball power?

[Gallatin Griz]

In answer to this post's original question, I think the difference between the Griz (somewhat of a basketball power lately) and the Cats is that the Griz have a coach who was a standout big man in the Big Sky and he can recruit quality big men and coach them into being standout big men in the Big Sky.

I think Huse is a good coach but you guys had the same issue with Mick - he was a point guard in the conference and didn't have a big guy assistant who could focus on improving the skill set of the kind of bigs that are needed to balance out the skills of the team.

Just my humble opinion.

[wasacatfan]

Right now I think our only help would be from a higher power!

[whatever]

a point is being missed here. the question was asked, what would it TAKE to TURN msu into a basketball power. no one is disputing that gonzaga is regarded as a very good program. i don't think they belong in the category of the dukes and carolinas of the country but that is another issue. the fact is that even when gonzaga had stockton running the point...theyr weren't a basketball school. hell, in the mid nineties they were still more known for wonens soccer and mens baseball before anything else.

then along came a couple guys barely recruited, matt santangelo and richie frahm and they shocked the country almost going to the final four! that was the season they needed and their program is still building on that. that season allowed them to start getting very good recruits and maintaining success. they started playing top teams all over the country...and winning. of course they don't have to do that as much any more. now they have enough respect around the country where very good teams will travel to spokane.

we're not comparing the cats to the zags right now. we're trying to figure out how to be like the zags of '97....

Does anyone think like me that one of the reasons a team does well, even in a dungeon like the fieldhouse, is because they have a real following of all area fans. I believe that 75% of the Gonzaga class mentioned above were from WA (I counted Santangelo because he's from OR, close enough to draw some fans).
Having a few in state kids that can actually get in and score would bring a lot of us old farts back to the gym. I could care less about Bobcat basketball anymore, other than I hope that BH plays well. Look at the football roster, lots of kids from MT I can root for. I'd rather go to a women's bball game so I can root for Semansky, Banis, etc.

JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION:
I'm tired of watching 5'10" 'athletes' that couldn't throw it in the ocean, no offense to anyone or their abilities as everyone has to play how they play their best.
Recruit some players with 'scorer's mentalities'. There are some locals in this category.

[SonomaCat]

Would having more MT guys on the team help the Cats win more games?

[ilovethecats]

Would having more MT guys on the team help the Cats win more games?

nope. it's a much different game than football. initially there is always a little interest and state pride. however, winning means everything and you won't do that in this league anymore with a roster full of montana kids. look at howard. he was a great montana high school player. he simply could take games over as do most kids in high school before going to the cats and griz. if he was the 3rd or 4th best player on our team this season i'd bet we'd be very, very good. but he has been our 2nd best player, and if we're being honest the last few weeks he's been our BEST player. that is simply not enough talent on the roster.

think back to all of the montana kids we've had on this roster since the last time we went to the dance. all were very good high school players. most had decent careers for the cats as role players. imagine how bad our teams would have been over the years if justin brown was the best player on the roster. or pete conway. or danny faaborg. these were all players that fit the system to the best of their ability. a guy like conway probably could have played more minutes than he did. and if he played on this years team he'd be our best player easily, and likely first-team all big sky......

but we wouldn't be good at all if that is the best we could put on the floor.....

[wbtfg]

Another thing....15-20 years ago, bball was a much more popular sport than football in Montana. However, recently Montana has become absolutly football crazy, and pretty much all of the top notch athletes are choosing to focus on football rather than bball these days, thus the bball talent pool in the state of montana has drastically gotten small over the past 2 decades.

Guy like Matt Miller, Tanner Rodderick (and others) probably would have picked bball over football had they graduated from HS in the early 90's.

[ilovethecats]

that's a great point too. and again....i wasn't knocking anyone specifically or trying to further piss people off. there simply isn't enough talent in the state for d1 hoops....