The Bobcat Nation

I'm no basketball expert, but I did stay at Holiday Inn Express one time, so here's my take on the men's BB program:

-- Enough of the JC guys. I count six on our roster this year. I know Coach Huse is going for the quick fix, but it ain't working. You bring in a JC guy and it takes him a whole season to learn the offense and adjust to the D1 game (let's face it -- most JC colleges don't even compare to what guys will experience at this level). Then you hope the guy makes an impact for one year and after that it's back to the drawing board. Take a page from the football program and Coach Ash. Recruit guys out of HS that you can red-shirt and develop. So what if you have a couple down seasons while you're building the program? It wouldn't be any different from the mess we got going right now.
-- Really, really try to recruit a couple big men. Sorry, but I don't buy into the "can't recruit big guys to Bozeman or the Big Sky" mentality. That's plain and simply an excuse. They've been here before. At least try to get some guys with size and develop them, because right now, Coach Huse is not even getting the smalls with enough athleticism to cover up for the lack of an inside game.
-- You gotta go get a couple local kids. That's how you're going to build excitement. Fans like winning, but they also like rooting for the MT kids. I really miss the likes of Scott Hatler, Casey Durham, Danny Sprinkle. In the past, I really think Huse missed the boat on this one. We've had discussions on this board before on this topic (i.e. Andy Garland, Missoula, whom both schools overlooked and has become a star at Carroll). Huse maybe is starting a little bit of this thinking, with guys like Danny Desin, Blake Brumwell, Stephen Davis, and Patrick Webb on the roster this year. Most of those guys are real young; let's hope that maybe a couple of them will become real stars for us.
-- Attitude. Someone mentioned before that Coach Huse seems extremely uptight on the floor, and maybe that type of personality bleeds onto the players. Every year, we hear these stories of these great recruits that shoot lights everywhere they go, but then they get to Bozeman and the light goes out. I have yet to see a real shooter for the Bobcats in about 10 years. And I can't remember the last time I remember thinking that the guys were having any fun on the floor.

Maybe guys like Domanko can comment on this. Tom was about the most pure shooter I have ever seen in the Big Sky. I'm sure he follows the program still, and probably has a much better insight than most of us. I think probably our biggest problem right now is the definition of insanity -- trying to do the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. We need a drastic change to happen, and I'm just not real sure Coach Huse is the guy to get it done. I admit I was a big supporter of Coach Huse when he was brought in, but I have been disappointed in the results. It's funny that Tinkle was named the UM head coach roughly the same time, and many ridiculed and laughed at that decision, thinking we got the much better hire. But now I think Bobcat fans would love to have the results that Tinkle has gained.

One of the problems is that we probably will have a real similar year this season as compared to the past few years -- we struggle early in the non-conference schedule and the fans are ready to throw in the towel and fire the coach; then we get a good start to the conference season, winning a few unexpected games and the fans are excited; we manage to work ourselves into 3rd or 4th place and the fans start talking about hosting a first round tourney game; then we finish the season losing 70-80 percent of our remaining games and barely grab the 5th or 6th place in the conference; we lose the first game in the tourney, and the fans are bummed, but hey - we made the tourney and that's better than we thought would happen so we're done talking basketball. Right now, there's a lot of apathy, and it's found everywhere -- the fans, the community, and I even believe to some extent, the administration. Football has become the school's baby (which, let's face it, is what alot of us as fans wanted) and men's b-ball has suffered because of it.

The problem I see is they don't play defense in JC so when those guys get here they struggle on that end of the floor. They put up some big offensive stats in JC, but once they get here if there's defender within 5 feet they can't hit the broad side of a barn. Even layups are struggle. This team must lead the nation in missed layups.

BelgradeBobcat wrote:The problem I see is they don't play defense in JC so when those guys get here they struggle on that end of the floor. They put up some big offensive stats in JC, but once they get here if there's defender within 5 feet they can't hit the broad side of a barn. Even layups are struggle. This team must lead the nation in missed layups.

That is a really good point, Belgrade. I cannot believe I've never put two and two together and wondered why good JC scorers struggle when they transfer in, but you may have nailed it.

GrizinWashington wrote:

BelgradeBobcat wrote:The problem I see is they don't play defense in JC so when those guys get here they struggle on that end of the floor. They put up some big offensive stats in JC, but once they get here if there's defender within 5 feet they can't hit the broad side of a barn. Even layups are struggle. This team must lead the nation in missed layups.

That is a really good point, Belgrade. I cannot believe I've never put two and two together and wondered why good JC scorers struggle when they transfer in, but you may have nailed it.

That IS a really great observation. JC ball is a lot like the old Continental Basketball Association. The guy who took the inbound pass was almost assuredly the guy taking the first shot. Shooting well got the attention of the NBA. Shooting well gets the attention of the four year schools.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem isn't the players, it's the coach. It doesn't do any good to get great athletes on the team, if Huse isn't going to allow them to use their athleticism. He wants them to slow down and run set plays every time down the floor. that makes no sense with a bunch of shooting guards and small forwards. If you have a dominant center, it makes sense, but I haven't seen one of those in a Cat uniform in a long time. There's nothing wrong with using a lot of players, but you should do it because guys are tired from playing full court basketball, not because they missed a shot.

The Cats should be running the ball up the court as fast as possible even after made baskets. Once the D is set, it's really difficult for these guys to find shots because they just aren't physically imposing enough. Huse wants to play the game the way he coached in Jamestown ND. This ain't Jamestown. None of these guys has ever played the old walk it up, run a set play game since they were probably 12 years old. You don't see Calipari, Pitino, Roy Williams trying to slow their athletes down. Every decent coach knows that once the defense is set, it's a lot harder to get good shots. Huse, though, wants the D to set up so he can call a play. It just makes no damn sense. Brad needs to loosen up his tie and let his players play.

I'm not sure I agree that we are slowing things down. In order to run, you have to force a stop then get the rebound. Seems to me when we do that the guys take off. Still haven't seen a lot of this team play yet this year. I look forward to watching the two BSC games in late Dec.

Couple things...
First, whoever brought up the point that we need to get stops to run was spot on. You can go ahead and try to run even on makes but that usually results in drive and kicks and from what I see who on our team would you drive and kick to? I do agree that we need to use our athleticism and press. But to run and all that jazz you need a decision maker which we do not have. If Rod is a pass first pg then it is only because he cannot score. Pass first pgs, the good ones can score and are always a threat to that is how try get others open. We have no presence inside either. Do we have some nice pieces? Yes, but I think we are team with no identity. Maybe X can be that scorer we rely on. I would love to see a line up of Stewart on the point as I believe he is the best decision maker and moon and X on the wings... Run a 1-2-3 and use Jamie's length and athletic ability on the top of it???

As for recruiting... We've had some bad breaks but I wouldn't say that he's a bad recruiter... Look who didn't pan out that could have been tough. Hennessy with the knees, Marco never made it with grades... Friesen left after a very promising jr year. Cody never panned out but I definitely would've taken the bait on 6 10 280 with shooting touch. An Swan who would've brought a lot to our team especially last season.

Look who did work out... Mbunga, Howard, Rush, Bynum and Navarre were good together an Johnson finished strong... With that core we were very competitive in conference and even out of conference with wins against big time conferences.

So I have sat and listened to everything and I don't blame anyone for being very concerned about the situation the program is in. And the criticism is somewhat just. And you same ppl called for durham's head for much less and that was very unjust. But the only times this school has been elite in hoops is when the program has been centered around local and regional area players with the right jc talent sprinkled around it. It's gotta be a combo. If you say screw jc players you are saying goodbye to quadre Lollis guys. And for those who say there isn't any my talent to build around... That tide is quickly hanging starting with the frosh and Sophs around the state. And we need to e recruiting Colorado Minnesota and Washington like we used to!

I am also free for criticism as well!

in my "way-to-simplistic" point of view....i think the biggest issue with this team, and frankly ALL of huse's teams is that they lack trust. the players don't trust huse. huse doesn't trust the players. and the players don't trust eachother. this leads to timid play for fear of getting benched. it leads to very vanilla, methodical play because huse doesn't trust his players to play. and it leads to players trying to do too much because they don't trust the other four guys on the floor with them.

obviously, i can't prove this with certainty because if you're not in that lockeroom....you have no clue. but this is what it has seemed like to me for years now, and it shows in their play.

Trust is an issue. That's one of the things I'm talking about when I say Huse wants to slow the game and run set plays that he calls. He doesn't trust his players to make any decisions. If anyone does make a bad decision, they're on the bench. Huse is just a control freak and you can't play basketball (or any sport) scared.

The comment above about Stewart playing the point instead of Singleton is right on. I actually posted that after the first game. It was clear to me, anyway, that Stewart was way more effective than Rod.

DicTater wrote:I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem isn't the players, it's the coach. It doesn't do any good to get great athletes on the team, if Huse isn't going to allow them to use their athleticism. He wants them to slow down and run set plays every time down the floor. that makes no sense with a bunch of shooting guards and small forwards. If you have a dominant center, it makes sense, but I haven't seen one of those in a Cat uniform in a long time. There's nothing wrong with using a lot of players, but you should do it because guys are tired from playing full court basketball, not because they missed a shot.

The Cats should be running the ball up the court as fast as possible even after made baskets. Once the D is set, it's really difficult for these guys to find shots because they just aren't physically imposing enough. Huse wants to play the game the way he coached in Jamestown ND. This ain't Jamestown. None of these guys has ever played the old walk it up, run a set play game since they were probably 12 years old. You don't see Calipari, Pitino, Roy Williams trying to slow their athletes down. Every decent coach knows that once the defense is set, it's a lot harder to get good shots. Huse, though, wants the D to set up so he can call a play. It just makes no damn sense. Brad needs to loosen up his tie and let his players play.

I couldn't help but think of this post on every possession in the EWU game, because it was spot on. It was like EWU knew exactly what play was called every time down the floor. MSU wouldn't run the floor and use their athleticism for fear of being benched. I don't know what happened against PSU - I was at a party and just caught the end of the first half and the final score and some highlights from the second half. Moon evidently went off from deep and it sounded like they had an inside presence - quite a few dunks. I guess the Jury is still out on this team...