The Bobcat Nation

Here's where I will post my Cat-Griz coverage for the week. Here's a preview about the MSU women's trip to Cedar City — a potential speed bump preceding the Lady Griz — and a feature on senior Latisha Adams. I'll also have a preview for both Cat-Griz matchups and a feature about recruiting in Montana for both men's and women's Division I teams.

A STEP AT A TIME: MSU faces SUU with Lady Griz on the horizon
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NO REGRETS: MSU senior Adams taking advantage of last season
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CONFIDENT CREW: MSU men head to Missoula to face surging Grizzlies
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TREASURE HUNTING: Finding prep talent in Montana vastly different for men, women
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SHOWDOWN SATURDAY: MSU women battle Lady Griz with 1st place on the line
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Go Griz!! Hope I don't get banned for this outrageous, insensitive and unproductive comment. Does anyone read the basketball board over here?

mousegriz wrote:Go Griz!! Hope I don't get banned for this outrageous, insensitive and unproductive comment. Does anyone read the basketball board over here?

Looks like we do. There are around 300 views of this thread.

Not really.

Colter_Nuanez wrote:CONFIDENT CREW: MSU men head to Missoula to face surging Grizzlies
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TREASURE HUNTING: Finding prep talent in Montana vastly different for men, women
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I believe that high school boys and girls playing in different seasons for so many years was a huge factor in the development of girls basketball in Montana. Especially in smaller towns, that led to them having better access to good coaching, more availability of gym time, as well as greater fan support and media attention. The girls probably also received more recruiting attention, since they were playing in the fall when college coaches weren't so busy with their own programs, and out of state recruiting. In addition to all of the Montana girls that have played for MSU and UM over the years, there's also been a number of them who have played for out of state D-I programs.

So any comments about the game? I've seen several Griz games this year and can say am more impressed with getting a few W's lately than anythng amazing about their play. I'd think the Cats have to come in and try to play with confidence and take a game from the Griz. Griz inside presence is very limited but Cherry, Jamar and Ward are all experienced quality players and leaders. By no means are the Griz an imposing physical team.

I get frustrated with this conference. Griz/UNC game at UNC had 355 (I think!) fans, that after 1,300 or so vs. N.Dakota. What a joke. And has to affect longtime rivalries like UM/MSU and the following our BB teams deserve. All the talk about coaches, style of play, etc. seems to forget the days of Boise, Idaho, Reno (even Gonzaga way back) instead of UNC, SUU, Sac, PSU. It's hard to get down on 2,500 - 4,000 attendance games at MSU or Missoula when the teams we are playing draw under 1,000.

Good luck to the Cats tomorrow (hope Griz win!!).

mousegriz wrote:So any comments about the game? I've seen several Griz games this year and can say am more impressed with getting a few W's lately than anythng amazing about their play. I'd think the Cats have to come in and try to play with confidence and take a game from the Griz. Griz inside presence is very limited but Cherry, Jamar and Ward are all experienced quality players and leaders. By no means are the Griz an imposing physical team.

I get frustrated with this conference. Griz/UNC game at UNC had 355 (I think!) fans, that after 1,300 or so vs. N.Dakota. What a joke. And has to affect longtime rivalries like UM/MSU and the following our BB teams deserve. All the talk about coaches, style of play, etc. seems to forget the days of Boise, Idaho, Reno (even Gonzaga way back) instead of UNC, SUU, Sac, PSU. It's hard to get down on 2,500 - 4,000 attendance games at MSU or Missoula when the teams we are playing draw under 1,000.

Good luck to the Cats tomorrow (hope Griz win!!).

Yea, 2500 fans is top 3 in the Sky these days.

The Sky used to be a decent basketball conference, but in the last 10 years or so, only a few teams are every good and the rest is just fodder.

I think the rise of the Sky as a football power conference has really hindered it's basketball prowess. Schools at this level just don't have the funding or support for two big time sports, and most choose football.

Big Sky is a bunch of football schools who play basketball (except for Weber). UM has had very good success as of late, but they are the only consistent school with strong football and basketball. PSU tends to be decent in both, as does EWU, and MSU is never awful awful...

Oh and also, we aren't very good since Huse took over so...

montana is a 15.5 point favorite. going back and forth on whether or not to take this action. on one hand...griz are much better than the cats. they should win handidly. they have better players and are better coached. on the other hand...i'm fairly happy with how this team has played over the last few weeks. add in the fact that it is cat-griz and 16 points feels like a ton. i think i'm taking the action. cats will probably lose. and they might lose by ten. but i'll be surprised as well as annoyed if we lose a rivalry game by 16 points.

I never bet $$ on or against my team.

Thats a pretty damn big number for a rivalry game, though

mousegriz wrote:So any comments about the game?

I think you'll enjoy decisive victories in both the men's and women's game.

In the men's game, the wild card could be getting Biglow back. He is actually quick enough to keep Cherry in front of him, but he could also be a disaster. Cherry is every bit as good as Lillard who is tearing up the NBA, except Lillard is a better outside shooter. And Jamaar is the real deal as well as a matchup nightmare.

The women have difficult situation with a road game last night, a long road trip, which required them to practice in Salt Lake. Also, the lady griz are bad matchup for the Cats. They will play zone and dare us to shoot from out-which has been a very bad thing for our team this year. They're big enough to neutralize Semansky. So I'm not sure where the Cat's point are going to come from. We need a player to come out of nowhere, like Peyton Ferris maybe, and light it up.

That's how I see it.

Well I was totally wrong on the first one. Maybe I can go two for two!

Nice win for the Bobcat women's team 58-49. They've won 3 of 4 in Missoula. Didn't think I'd ever see that in my life time.