The Bobcat Nation

I really hate to break in with some basketball talk, but I think it will be good for all of us. The games start two hours apart so it’s going to be easy to watch them both on PlutoTV! Dinner is in the crockpot and we’ve planned our evening around Bobcat basketball.

The men’s game starts at 6 p.m. MST. Will the team be able to generate both the energy and composure to defeat a Portland State team whose style according to Coach Sprinkle is “chaotic”?

The women’s game follows at 8 p.m. MST. Coach Bin said the team “regressed” in their play against Northern Colorado. Will they progress against the Vikings?

Let’s use this thread for both games since lots of us are fans of both teams. If you don’t usually watch either team, sit down and enjoy the evening watching all the talented newcomers on both teams. Exciting styles for each.

Go Cats!!!

Portland State's press vs. Xavier Bishop is going to be...interesting.

Up 8 at half. Cats offense started off a little slow, but got a nice boost from Hood and Fernandez off the bench.

PSU starts out like a house on fire. MSU withstands and grinds it out to an 8 point lead at halftime. Mike Hood looks really comfortable against PSU's crazy style-he's red hot. We'd be way, way ahead if Gazales and/or Patterson could hit anything, but both are in a shooting slump at the same time. PSU jacks up a lot of wild shots and thus gets a lot of offensive rebounds of of weird bounces. They'll make some runs and we have to be ready for it.

MSU 37, PSU 29

Portland is jumping the passing lanes and killings us. We are helping them out with poor passes and telegraphing.

This game is so frustrating to watch.

pluto stopped working for me

Wow-PSU hacks at everything, gets called for about 1/3 of it. MSU up 8 with PSU going to the line. PSU has quick enough guards to contain Bishop and Adamu, but they forgot about Mike Hood.

I mean that our inconsistent play is frustrating. If a couple bench players didn't show up, this would be a blow out loss. His team isn't the same team from one week ago.

Belo is a man tonight. Really good on both ends and somehow managed to stay out of foul trouble.

Nice bench points from Hood and Fernandez, and good game from Belo.

You beat me to it Belgrade. Yeah when he picked up that 4th I was so glad it was only 1:08 left in the game.

PSU clotheslines Bishop and gets flagrant foul called on them. MSU is going to win with a good stretch run after a very close game most of the way.
Now over to the women's game starting up in Portland.

Cats win! Belo was an absolute beast tonight!!

Go cats!

At the half in Portland the women lead PSU 30-27. Deden and Limardo are doing good. Bad Bear had a nice first quarter until she picked up the cheap 2nd foul way out at the 3 point line. PSU plays that zone defense exclusively. Our senior laden team picked it apart last year, but this team is still figuring it out. Still no Skye Lindsey or Madison Jackson. We're a better team when those two are playing.

Up 52-48 at the end of three. Gabby Mocchi continues to give high quality minutes-she's really picked up the slack in Lindsay's absence. White had a nice little spurt where her jumper finally fell. PSU is hanging around.

The ladies really played some nice basketball in the last stretch as they fed Kola Bad Bear several times for inside shots. Bad Bear fought through foul trouble to be there at the end of the game. PSU hit a barrage of threes to take the lead for a little while in the 4th quarter, but Darian White hit a three of her own and then Bad Bear got going. KJ Limardo is becoming a factor with her length and athletic abilities-she alters a lot of shots.

Bobcats 75 Vikings 67

BelgradeBobcat wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:42 pm

The ladies really played some nice basketball in the last stretch as they fed Kola Bad Bear several times for inside shots. Bad Bear fought through foul trouble to be there at the end of the game. PSU hit a barrage of threes to take the lead for a little while in the 4th quarter, but Darian White hit a three of her own and then Bad Bear got going. KJ Limardo is becoming a factor with her length and athletic abilities-she alters a lot of shots.

Bobcats 75 Vikings 67

Echo that. Bad bear had some really nice strong inside moves...nice to see. If she can just keep the fouls down (mainly from slapping down) she could get a few more minutes.

You might remember Gabbi had a sound freshman season then sat most of last year with the arm surgery and wearing a “garbage can” on the elbow all season. Must have been frustrating to be part of championship team last year and not get much time on court. She kept a positive attitude and it is nice to see her get some great minutes and making a difference this year. Two weeks ago she scored 13 which was a career high and last night 16 so must be another career high.

Deden has such a nice mid-range jump shot, when they start falling I’m looking forward to seeing her offensive output go up.

The team is missing two significant contributors in Skye and Madison, but needs an identity. Great win, but feels like every player is struggling right now. Madison’s absence is huge because of her defense, but I’m thrilled that Gabby is contributing at such a high level. The disappointment is in the lack of offense........ teams are stopping Darian because our shooters are struggling. I thought Martell and others would shoot the lights out this season. Our shooting percentage has been less than stellar. I’m not sure if Binford pulled some shooting privileges, but the Freshmen are letting it fly like at the start of the season. I still believe this freshmen class is going to be special......