MSU (MBB) vs. EWU thread

[Stratomatic]

Not sure why what my degree says on it has anything to do with this...Like I said in the earlier post, I'm just playing devil's advocate to stimulate discussion. I don't have a horse in this race.

Hypothetical: MSU puts it together, wins 11-12 BSC games, makes it to the tournament, gets hot, gets to the championship game. Do you all want Huse fired then?

Because both you and Sample (who took a shot at our fan loyalty) come from a place where men's basketball has been very successful in recent years, but in the not too distant past, fired a coach who didn't get great results, but much better than what Huse has done. I think you bring an interesting perspective to the discussion. And yeah-I do bristle at the notion that what can be done in Missoula can't be done in Bozeman-that we have the best possible coach we could hope for and we should just accept the results and quit complaining. Maybe you're right, but I don't have to like it.

I would guess that if Huse wins 11-12 conference game and makes it to the championship game he might be safe...if at least one of those wins is against the griz. What did you think about UM firing Holst? Or were you too young to care back then?

I remember thinking it was perplexing after they won the tournament, then downright frustrating when they hired Pat Kennedy. The Kennedy days actually really reminds me of the Bobcats the past few years. Good athletes, a few stellar scorers, no team chemistry. What saved UM basketball? A change that brought in a dynamic leader in Larry Krystowiak.

Once again, these posts with all the outlying factors are just for discussion. I will save what I think is the solution at Montana State because I truly don't know nor do I want to editorialize my opinions on a team I've covered as a beat for exactly 12 games.

It will be interesting. Last season I went to about half a dozen games just as a fan and I covered them once in Missoula. Like I said, the team I saw this last weekend was totally different than the team I saw last season and this season. But, as history as shown under Brad, the team fades down the stretch. 40-50 after the New Year it pretty hard to argue against.

If 11-9 in the Big Sky is enough to rescue Brad Huse, I have no idea, but it means the 'Cats will probably need to go 6-4 at home and 5-5 on the road (one
game better at home is pretty typical for Big Sky splits). If they want to have a realistic shot, they'd better win both games this weekend at UNC and UND.
True, the two wins vs PSU and EWU were great displays of energy and grit, but do they really mean the team has turned a corner? Both wins were really close and, if you take the losses at Sac State and NAU, add that oft-cited hypothetical 8 point home court advantage and presto: you've got almost exactly the two victory margins from last weekend. By that I mean, the ‘Cats would have lost both games if they had been played in Portland or Cheney
I hope Colter is right and the Cats win at least 11, but I'm not convinced yet. I also hope they win the Big Sky tournament and rip Louisville in the first round of the Big Dance, but never mind. I think they will have a really hard time winning if Biglow is indeed off the team, because Dison - for all the guts he showed Saturday- just has not been an assist guy. And if Colbert has a continuing back problem, look out! IMO reducing Stewart's playing time was long overdue, because he just wasn't good enough at anything to justify playing so much. He was third on the team in minutes played but not in the top three in any single category. But it is too bad he got kicked off.
And I think Huse has to decide who plays and who sits. Consider this: 9 Bobcats average at least 15 minutes per game and only one (Biglow) has 30.
A good team will often have something like 7 guys with 15 + minutes and two or three with 30 or more. Colter pointed out that only six players had “significant” minutes vs EWU ("significant" means "more than 11"?). That sounds like a positive development, but maybe it's just that suspensions and injury forced Huse’s hand. On the other hand, maybe it means he’s starting to make up his mind—I hope so.

There is no difference except degrees of difference between degrees of difference and no difference. - William James

[grizzh8r]

Am I the only one that likes the Brick? I mean, I do agree about the student seating and such but other than that I like it a lot.

no i actually like it too. i've had great memories in there. and i've been to games where the stands were packed and it was pretty electric. i just think they could do some simple things to actually give our team a home court advantage which we seem to have none.

I agree. I also like the Brick, but agree with ILTC's assessment.

[Hawks86]

Am I the only one that likes the Brick? I mean, I do agree about the student seating and such but other than that I like it a lot.

no i actually like it too. i've had great memories in there. and i've been to games where the stands were packed and it was pretty electric. i just think they could do some simple things to actually give our team a home court advantage which we seem to have none.

I agree. I also like the Brick, but agree with ILTC's assessment.

Would make a good project for architecture and engineering students.

[John K]

Not sure why what my degree says on it has anything to do with this...Like I said in the earlier post, I'm just playing devil's advocate to stimulate discussion. I don't have a horse in this race.

Hypothetical: MSU puts it together, wins 11-12 BSC games, makes it to the tournament, gets hot, gets to the championship game. Do you all want Huse fired then?

Because both you and Sample (who took a shot at our fan loyalty) come from a place where men's basketball has been very successful in recent years, but in the not too distant past, fired a coach who didn't get great results, but much better than what Huse has done. I think you bring an interesting perspective to the discussion. And yeah-I do bristle at the notion that what can be done in Missoula can't be done in Bozeman-that we have the best possible coach we could hope for and we should just accept the results and quit complaining. Maybe you're right, but I don't have to like it.

I would guess that if Huse wins 11-12 conference game and makes it to the championship game he might be safe...if at least one of those wins is against the griz. What did you think about UM firing Holst? Or were you too young to care back then?

I remember thinking it was perplexing after they won the tournament, then downright frustrating when they hired Pat Kennedy. The Kennedy days actually really reminds me of the Bobcats the past few years. Good athletes, a few stellar scorers, no team chemistry. What saved UM basketball? A change that brought in a dynamic leader in Larry Krystowiak.

Once again, these posts with all the outlying factors are just for discussion. I will save what I think is the solution at Montana State because I truly don't know nor do I want to editorialize my opinions on a team I've covered as a beat for exactly 12 games.

It will be interesting. Last season I went to about half a dozen games just as a fan and I covered them once in Missoula. Like I said, the team I saw this last weekend was totally different than the team I saw last season and this season. But, as history as shown under Brad, the team fades down the stretch. 40-50 after the New Year it pretty hard to argue against.

If 11-9 in the Big Sky is enough to rescue Brad Huse, I have no idea, but it means the 'Cats will probably need to go 6-4 at home and 5-5 on the road (one
game better at home is pretty typical for Big Sky splits). If they want to have a realistic shot, they'd better win both games this weekend at UNC and UND.
True, the two wins vs PSU and EWU were great displays of energy and grit, but do they really mean the team has turned a corner? Both wins were really close and, if you take the losses at Sac State and NAU, add that oft-cited hypothetical 8 point home court advantage and presto: you've got almost exactly the two victory margins from last weekend. By that I mean, the ‘Cats would have lost both games if they had been played in Portland or Cheney
I hope Colter is right and the Cats win at least 11, but I'm not convinced yet. I also hope they win the Big Sky tournament and rip Louisville in the first round of the Big Dance, but never mind. I think they will have a really hard time winning if Biglow is indeed off the team, because Dison - for all the guts he showed Saturday- just has not been an assist guy. And if Colbert has a continuing back problem, look out! IMO reducing Stewart's playing time was long overdue, because he just wasn't good enough at anything to justify playing so much. He was third on the team in minutes played but not in the top three in any single category. But it is too bad he got kicked off.
And I think Huse has to decide who plays and who sits. Consider this: 9 Bobcats average at least 15 minutes per game and only one (Biglow) has 30.
A good team will often have something like 7 guys with 15 + minutes and two or three with 30 or more. Colter pointed out that only six players had “significant” minutes vs EWU ("significant" means "more than 11"?). That sounds like a positive development, but maybe it's just that suspensions and injury forced Huse’s hand. On the other hand, maybe it means he’s starting to make up his mind—I hope so.

There is no difference except degrees of difference between degrees of difference and no difference. - William James

I would be stunned (actually that's probably the understatement of the century) if the Cats end up at 11-9 or better in BSC play. I won't try to predict their home/away split, but I will venture a guess at their 1st half/2nd half split. They'll probably go 5-5 or maybe even 6-4 in the 1st half, and then 1-9 or possibly 2-8 in the 2nd half, barely sneak into the tourney as the #7 seed, and then lose to the #2 seed in the 1st round. Don't get me wrong...I would be ecstatic if they exceed my expectations, but I've reached the point where I'm going to have to see it to believe it.

[KittieKop]

Concerning "home court advantage". Playing devils advocate, lets say there is no "home court advantage", wouldn't you then expect somewhere around a .500 winning percentage on your own court -all things being equal? Why is it other teams can then come onto "your court" and consistently have success there, when you play there 1/2 the time and can't. I'm sorry, I might agree some things could be improved to make a better game experience, but there are other issues deeper issues with this program than seating configuration and home court advantage.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

[John K]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

Didn't Aaron Rich play football one year? I'm not sure if that's who you were talking about though?

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

Didn't Aaron Rich play football one year? I'm not sure if that's who you were talking about though?

Yeah, that's the guy.

[John K]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

Didn't Aaron Rich play football one year? I'm not sure if that's who you were talking about though?

Yeah, that's the guy.

So did he ever actually punt in any games? That must have been right before the Luly/roll punt era?

[coachouert]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

Didn't Aaron Rich play football one year? I'm not sure if that's who you were talking about though?

Yeah, that's the guy.

So did he ever actually punt in any games? That must have been right before the Luly/roll punt era?

He did. Wasn't it Kramer's first year? It was very early in the Kramer years. I believe a kicker got hurt and Aaron kicked in the last half of the season...I think. I drank a lot that year at the games since I was a freshman and they were kind of hard to watch in 2000.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Has anyone heard if there could be a chance that Roderick would play basketball as well? I cant remember the last bobcat athlete to do so, and find it hard to see ash allowing him to do so, but he could seriously really help this basketball team. I would have to think that if He wanted to play two sports he could be someone that could get it done and be successful with both as he is a d1 talent in both arenas.

Wasn't there a basketball player a while back who decided to punt for the football team? I guess that doesn't really count, since punters aren't real football players, but they do have to go to all the practices and meetings and stuff.

Didn't Aaron Rich play football one year? I'm not sure if that's who you were talking about though?

Yeah, that's the guy.

So did he ever actually punt in any games? That must have been right before the Luly/roll punt era?

He did. Wasn't it Kramer's first year? It was very early in the Kramer years. I believe a kicker got hurt and Aaron kicked in the last half of the season...I think. I drank a lot that year at the games since I was a freshman and they were kind of hard to watch in 2000.

It was 2001, actually, and I thought the punter actually got injured pretty early that year. I remember because I was in the band that year. I just forgot the guy's name.

He could kick the holy crap out of the ball, but he had trouble with consistency. His first punt went 5 yards, and he shanked another one pretty bad.

He was a decent passer when they faked it. He looked more like a WR to me, but I wonder if he played QB in high school or something.