BASKETBALL SCRIMAGE REPORT!!

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:36 am

I got in trouble last night for asking for a report on the mens basketball scrimage. You know i might jinx the football team. For the record i will be bring up the basketball team during every remaining football game until the end of the season!

WEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Did any of you bums make it to the scrimage!! How about you MSUSPORTSINFORMATIOM. Can anyone report!

Cats15 · Post by **Cats15** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 2:43 pm

I did make it out to watch the scrum yesterday and let me tell u , i liked what i saw. we are very fast and can go very deep into the bench this year. Durham was on fire. 3 after 3 after 3. Al will be a force on defense but he still needs to work on the offense.(missed put backs and layups)
Dissly played very well.I think they played there starting 5 against the resurves at the beginning. Dissly,Brown,moss, Al, and Brandon. The offense looked pretty solid all around but the D still needs alittle work. I am very excited for this b ball season

KY CAT · Post by **KY CAT** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:04 pm

I was impressed with the men's basketball scrimmage. I really like the additions of Marvin Moss, Jaron Jefferson, Al Beye and Brandon Miller. These key additions to the team are really going to help us this year.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:06 am

Here is a report from the Bozo Comical

Welsch: A peachy start for MSU hoops

In a blur of blue and white, Montana State basketball players sped up and down the creaky old floorboards in Romney Gym on Saturday afternoon, turning heads in both the literal and figurative sense.

On the one hand, in stately old Romney, which is two peach baskets and a Gene Hackman shy of a movie sequel, the confines are so cozy that following any lateral movement begs for a neck swivel.

On another hand, the speed unveiled by 15th-year coach Mick Durham during the first public scrimmage certainly had the attention of the smattering of curiosity seekers who wandered in from the October chill.

OK, so even a Yugo could look fast racing against Model A Fords.

Press fast-forward and even Sarah McLachlin sounds like Robert Palmer.

So it was difficult to discern whether the 2004-05 Bobcats, who have seven athletic new players, are that fast.

Or if the 1922-23 Romney, obviously less than the regulation 90 feet between baselines, is that slow.

You look around Romney and you think James Naismith, Phog Allen and Adolph Rupp.

You think Hickory, Hoosiers and two-handed set shots.

You think G. Ott Romney, "The Golden Bobcats" and cages.

You might even think of the 2003-04 'Cats, who weren't exactly ploughhorses but neither did they leave any skid marks en route to a 14-13 overall record and 6-8 Big Sky Conference finish.

Certainly they'd have been more at home in old Romney than the current crew.

"I didn't think we were dull," says junior point Frank Brown, one of seven holdovers and the guy who'll be charged with keeping these frisky new Bobcats on a leash early.

"I just think we didn't have as many athletes."

While far from firing on all nine or 10 cylinders, the current 'Cats at least have that many.

Last year, they were largely a one-cylinder operation - Jason Erickson - complemented by spare parts, yet still came within one game of a co-championship in the wild, wacky and, yes, mediocre Big Sky.

This year, Durham could put his top 10 into a cannister and roll them onto the floor, starting the first five who spill out.

"There's some separation," Durham said, allowing that there isn't much.

Brown is a seasoned vet who'll run the show, but junior transfers Branden Miller and Ja'Ron Jeferson can step in with little decipherable dropoff.

Redshirt freshman Casey Durham, who bears no resemblance to the classic token walk-on coach's kid, had at least 25 points while raining 3-pointers.

"We have so many shooters," Brown said.

Where once the middle was a bastion of sturdy but plodding big men, junior transfer Alioune Beye of Dakar, Senegal, gives MSU a high-emotion, rail-thin jumble of distracting arms and full-court speed.

In a league where 7-7 won it, and the Bobcats came tantalizingly close to sharing the regular-season crown, the influx of new talent is enough to dream big.

Cautiously.

"Personally, I think we can be in the Top 25," Brown said earnestly before downscaling expectations slightly.

Of course, there are inherent dangers in recruiting seven new players, especially when six are from junior colleges.

Time is short. Nobody comes to sit on the bench.

Chemistry can be a worry.

That urgency, and the players' desire to please Durham, was evident Saturday, revealed in a litany of quick shots, showcase moves and sloppy passing.

Small matter.

In the two weeks since he first rolled out the basketballs for keeps, the most noticeable happy news has been the chemistry.

"They're very coachable," said Durham, who has kept tasks "basic" for the newcomers.

"These kids like to play. We're not all on the same page, but they're coachable."

They're also speedy.

In stately old Romney, their practice home when Brick Breeden Fieldhouse is occupied by other events, these Bobcats looked as if they should've been colorized against a black-and-white backdrop.

If early indications are accurate, they might just be quick and athletic enough to turn back the clock.

No need to return to "The Golden Bobcat" years, though.

Even the ghost of G. Ott Romney would no doubt opt for the mid-90s or 2001-02, when even in cavernous Brick Breeden the 'Cats were a head-turning blur of blue and white.

Sports editor Jeff Welsch is at 582-262

Link:

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articl ... welsch.txt