The Bobcat Nation

Tough day for the men and women's teams, but man I am looking forward to next year.

Listening to Coach Sprink's post game presser makes me think he's not satisfied. We've got a great core of guys returning who've gotten a taste of the big dance. Plus Jasper and Germer will be coming off their red shirt seasons. Adding a 7'3" guy in with Belo and Osabor will be a formidable lineup.

Coach Bin loses only Mocchi and Van Sickle. Plus Lindsey Hein will be coming off her redshirt freshman season. Adding a 6'6' center will really help going up against the more elite programs.

Next year is looking like another strong one for Bobcat basketball!

It’s no secret Bozeman is eating it’s own financially. If we keep our coaches around, we need to pay them more as well as their assistants. Bozeman’s prices might be pricing out our coaches and students.

Of course all of this is subject to the dreaded transfer portal, but assuming we don't lose any key people, both our teams should be very good next season:

The women lose Mocchi and Van Sickle, but Washington transfer point guard Grace Beasley should fill Van Sickle's role and 6'6" Lindsay Hein will provide some much needed size inside assuming she recovers from her injury and stays healthy. We've also picked up a big from Canada and a high school guard from the state of Washington that is pretty highly touted. If all our remaining players each work and improve I see no reason why we won't be cutting down the nets in Boise next March. I'll be surprised if we're not picked to be top of the league next fall.

For the men: If Jasper Reinalda can back up Belo it could free up Osobor to play the four. When Belo and Osobor were on the floor together this season we were really hard for other Big Sky teams to deal with. I think Osobor has some skills facing the basket that he's itching to show off. I see RayQuan Battle taking a big step up in minutes. If he keeps improving he'll help fill the hole created by Adamu's graduation. We also lose swiss army knife guy Abdul Mohamed. His length is pretty irreplaceable. Patrick McMahon showed a flash in that NCAA tourney game. He's very athletic and pretty long. Alex Germer who redshirted is 6'8"-can he take some of those Mohamed minutes? Following Mslacat's tweets its clear that Sprinkle is in the market for a transfer point guard. That's probably the key-either Tynes and Spears need to improve by a lot, or we need a really good player to fill that spot. If we solve that problem I see no reason why this team won't be at or near the top of the league next season.

The men have 9 freshman, 4 sophomores and 1 junior on the roster this year. We will be young but very talented. Almost all the guys coming back have showed flashes of being good. Belo, Battle, Patterson, Osobor, Gazellas and Lecholat all look good. Macmhaon is going to very good as well. Tynes is super athletic but was only a freshman. He will get better and develop into an occasional scorer under Danny’s tutelage. That is 8 solid guys with point being the main concern. I am not sure we will be pre-season favorites next year, but the future is very bright.

Next season, the ladies will, of course, contend for the Big Sky title. Should they win the tournament and go to the NCAA tournament again, they will be one and done unless and IF…

White becomes a scoring threat beyond 16 feet, Lamardo could dribble in traffic and drive to the hoop (adding a little more weight & strength wouldn’t hurt either), Beasley turns out to be even better than BobcatDel thinks she will be, Binford unchains Deden, Janssen continues to improve in the paint, and Marah Dykstra turns out to be a unanimous Big Sky freshman of the year type player. Bad Bear & Beattie’s game, IMHO, are and will be what they are (not a criticism).

Ladies will be even better next year.

Men have some tough senior vets and production to replace but we have some young talent for sure. The coaches are really high on McMahon and you can see why, he has some skill for just a freshman. Biggest issue is PG, but like others have said I think we bring in a transfer here. Not sure I've seen it mentioned here but I know MSU has been in contact with Griz transfer Cam Parker, who honestly would be a good senior grad PG to hold down the fort for a year but I can't imagine he ends up in Bozeman...

CelticCat wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 12:51 pm

Ladies will be even better next year.

Men have some tough senior vets and production to replace but we have some young talent for sure. The coaches are really high on McMahon and you can see why, he has some skill for just a freshman. Biggest issue is PG, but like others have said I think we bring in a transfer here. Not sure I've seen it mentioned here but I know MSU has been in contact with Griz transfer Cam Parker, who honestly would be a good senior grad PG to hold down the fort for a year but I can't imagine he ends up in Bozeman...

Life is GOOD...

The MSU womens' path to a repeat title gets a bit smoother if the reports are true that ISU will lose 3 of its top 4 scorers to the transfer portal along with their multiple Covid year seniors.

I wonder if Borja will be back to making an impact next year? Really curious what happened with him this year. Go from playing significant minutes to nothing...

arvcat2 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 12:10 pm

Next season, the ladies will, of course, contend for the Big Sky title. Should they win the tournament and go to the NCAA tournament again, they will be one and done unless and IF…

White becomes a scoring threat beyond 16 feet, Lamardo could dribble in traffic and drive to the hoop (adding a little more weight & strength wouldn’t hurt either), Beasley turns out to be even better than BobcatDel thinks she will be, Binford unchains Deden, Janssen continues to improve in the paint, and Marah Dykstra turns out to be a unanimous Big Sky freshman of the year type player. Bad Bear & Beattie’s game, IMHO, are and will be what they are (not a criticism).

Beattie has improved every game and is now the most impactful sophomore. She still makes mistakes and has room to grow in her game. I say that because Beattie is a long way from her ceiling.

technoCat wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 7:15 pm

I wonder if Borja will be back to making an impact next year? Really curious what happened with him this year. Go from playing significant minutes to nothing...

Borja broke his leg in the off-season. He wasn’t healthy until at least part way through conference play. Just not sure what his role is even fully healthy.

I really think Tynes shined some offensive ability late this year. While I don’t know if he has shown he can run the offense, but if we don’t get this transfer we’re looking for, I’d certainly be okay seeing him starting at the beginning of next season. It certainly is nice to have a lock down defender on the floor at all times, especially if we’re missing the lengthly help defender Abdul was this year.

I think Kellen can run the point just not sure he wants to be a scoring pt guard. I think the other kid is more of a scorer, but not the lock down defender. I think between the two they will be fine. I think if another pt guard is brought it then it will cause one of the two kids to move in most likely. Borja has been a great addition, but bobcat basketball I believe has risen above and with Sam and Great his time window has closed. I think Great and Bello dominate next year and the big guy gets few minutes as he is a work in progress and I am not sure can really guard anyone. Patrick is the x factor with Nick. I wasn't high on Nick, but he has shown he can compete. His confidence is his big issue. Patrick needs to be given a chance to showcase and will progress througout the year. We all know Ray can shoot, but he isn't the guy who needs the pressure as he needs someone to take relief. Tyler is maybe our best three point shooter, but confidence again has been an issue. Also the guy needs to come up with some more moves he is 6'8" and should be able to post of some smaller guards around the big sky and create some matchups. Time to hit the weights big guy! Can't wait to see what Danny can bring in to help these guys out a little. Hopefully whatever is up with Belo's knee gets taken care of right away so he will be back at full strength for next year!

GO CATS!

Anyone hear any news about Belo's knee?

We need a shooter. Whether it comes from the current roster or new guys. Patterson and Gazelas were too inconsistent. Adamu and Bishop really came on in the conference season with outside shooting. We've got the bigs, but everyone will be sagging if we can't shoot it.

BelgradeBobcat wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:49 am

We need a shooter. Whether it comes from the current roster or new guys. Patterson and Gazelas were too inconsistent. Adamu and Bishop really came on in the conference season with outside shooting. We've got the bigs, but everyone will be sagging if we can't shoot it.

Ya need another shooter that can create his own shot, Battle can but we need another. Patterson and Gazelas are good shooters but they’re more the spot up types that needed Bishop and others to create for them.

The new recruit at PG, Jed Miller, looks to be an exciting addition to the roster too. I think he's a 2021 HS graduate who maybe has done a year post grad, so he should be a little saltier than the average HS recruit. If you look at some of his highlights, he can really crank up the shots from downtown.

Patrick says the three seniors are all excited about their futures. Dually (Abdul) is possibly going to be with the team as a grad assistant and X and Amin are both planning to play overseas or professionally somewhere. We had so much fun following the team from Alaska this season. Thanks to all who welcomed us into Bobcat Nation and we look forward to seeing you all next season in the Brick or Boise or wherever we may catch a game.

jgrilley406 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:57 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:49 am

We need a shooter. Whether it comes from the current roster or new guys. Patterson and Gazelas were too inconsistent. Adamu and Bishop really came on in the conference season with outside shooting. We've got the bigs, but everyone will be sagging if we can't shoot it.

Ya need another shooter that can create his own shot, Battle can but we need another. Patterson and Gazelas are good shooters but they’re more the spot up types that needed Bishop and others to create for them.

Both men and women are lacking a good 3 point shooter. In order to affect the defense and open up the floor you need someone in the mid 40s percentage wise. Jackson for the women and Mohammed for the men were in the 40s, but neither shot enough to affect a defense.

lv2hoop wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:58 pm

The new recruit at PG, Jed Miller, looks to be an exciting addition to the roster too. I think he's a 2021 HS graduate who maybe has done a year post grad, so he should be a little saltier than the average HS recruit. If you look at some of his highlights, he can really crank up the shots from downtown.

Patrick says the three seniors are all excited about their futures. Dually (Abdul) is possibly going to be with the team as a grad assistant and X and Amin are both planning to play overseas or professionally somewhere. We had so much fun following the team from Alaska this season. Thanks to all who welcomed us into Bobcat Nation and we look forward to seeing you all next season in the Brick or Boise or wherever we may catch a game.

Pat is going to be a star in this league.

So with the two new recruits from Cali doesn't that put us over our roster limit?