WBB vs BYU

[arvcat2]

The regular season has finally arrived. Anxious to see how the newbies on the roster do and an early peek at what Binford has in mind with the guard positions. I expect a lot of mixing & matching of the players on the floor, regardless of what the score may be.

[MSU01]

BYU will definitely be out for revenge after MSU upset them in Provo last year. Looking forward to watching the replay this evening, let's see how successful I can be at avoiding score updates throughout the day....

[CelticCat]

Cats playing well to start, up 19-8 after the first Q.

What is the story with Lindsey Hein? I remember being stoked when we signed her. Is she just still that early in her development?

[arvcat2]

Great to see Limardo driving to the basket. Izzy Bunyan is gonna be a player!

[4KornerKat]

Cats playing well to start, up 19-8 after the first Q.

What is the story with Lindsey Hein? I remember being stoked when we signed her. Is she just still that early in her development?

Injury after injury. I think Ian said she's coming back from an ankle currently.

[84CatGrad]

Anyone know why Dylan Phillip isn't playing?

[tetoncat]

Will be a long season for wbb if we have to go season with 2 freshmen point guards. Ball security not very good and get lost on defense. Willneed to be patient and by end of year be in position to make a run.

[MSU01]

Will be a long season for wbb if we have to go season with 2 freshmen point guards. Ball security not very good and get lost on defense. Willneed to be patient and by end of year be in position to make a run.

Deden and Dykstra combining to go 3-17 from the field isn't going to win many games either. This team has so many new pieces that it's going to take time to gel.

[tetoncat]

Yep, couldn't make a shot in 4th quarter. But I thought struggled to get into offense and get good shots once BYU put a little more pressure on defense.

[BobcatDel]

Cats playing well to start, up 19-8 after the first Q.

What is the story with Lindsey Hein? I remember being stoked when we signed her. Is she just still that early in her development?

Injury after injury. I think Ian said she's coming back from an ankle currently.

This is a continuation of the injury she had as a freshman. You might recall that she required surgery and after removing plates and screws this fall she is rehabbing and hoping to return. Long slow recovery and I hope she makes it back.

[snarf]

Yep, couldn't make a shot in 4th quarter. But I thought struggled to get into offense and get good shots once BYU put a little more pressure on defense.

Legs definitely look heavy in the fourth. Only having the 2 young point guards rotating looked to be part of this.
I think this team is going to bank on playing tough d and hope some shots start falling.

[SACCAT]

BYU went to a zone in the 4th, and the Cats young players really struggled to break it.

Here are my take-aways from the game.

1) At one point the Cats had 3 freshman, a Sophomore, and one Senior on the court. This is a YOUNG team, and will take time to get in rhythm.

2) Cats have 0 Juniors on the team... That means that other than the 4 Seniors, the rest of the team has AT MOST one year of actual on court experience. Of those Sophomores (4 of them) 2 are out with injuries, So they have exactly 6 players that had played in an actual meaningful game (non-exhibition) before today.

3) 4 Freshman got very valuable playing time, that come Big Sky play will be HUGE.

Give them time, and they will be dangerous (especially on the Defensive side)

[BobcatDel]

Yep, couldn't make a shot in 4th quarter. But I thought struggled to get into offense and get good shots once BYU put a little more pressure on defense.

Legs definitely look heavy in the fourth. Only having the 2 young point guards rotating looked to be part of this.
I think this team is going to bank on playing tough d and hope some shots start falling.

The first three quarters I thought the ladies played as tough on D as I had seen in a long time. Yep in Q4 it looked like they were getting leg weary.

[BobcatDel]

Anyone know why Dylan Phillip isn't playing?

Foot in a boot on sidelines.

[BobcatDel]

Some of the positives I saw:

- excellent defense through at least Q3. Will win a lot of games just on that effort alone if they can sustain it for a whole game

- Issy Bunyan is smooth. She looked good in the Blue and Gold game and again today. Anxious to see how she developes. I told her at the “meet and greet” I’m looking forward to her being the first all-conference player ever from Wales.

- I thought Natalie Picton showed well for her first start in D1 ball against a level up opponent. Particularly on D. I am pretty sure she stole the ball three times from their point guard in one on one situations. Has room to grow but I liked her first trip out. (Bonus Fun Fact: Natalie was an elite gymnast before focusing on basketball)

- nice to see KJ take on a larger role on the offense and also as a leader on the court….several times she was trying to “mother hen” the new kids into their right spot on the court

- I loved the energy the kid fans brought to the game! Wished we had that energy every game from several thousand fans. It was certainly disrupting BYU coaching and on court action at least at early part game….and even late when their coach was trying to get attention of folks on the court. Reminded me of the student fans at Grand Canyon who have a goal of being so loud the coach can’t be heard in the huddle.

And I smiled at the refreshing “new” music they played for the kids! Good job crew!

- glad Maddie is back. Her hustle and spirit is good.

- Deden & Dykstra fought hard on the boards and still make some good moves inside. Those shots will fall in time.

- for a first outing with so many new folks I was more pleased than disappointed with what I saw.

They’ve got some good tough tests coming in preparation for conference play.

Go Cats!

[aucat]

There are some really nice optimistic Bobcat fans here. I agree with Bobcat Del. I was very impressed with the energy and really tough D that we played for three quarters. Sometimes when the shots stop falling it just becomes contageous. I can't imagine Lexi having many games like the one she had today. Best to just try to learn from this one and move on.

Going forward I really have no idea what the Big Sky teams are going to be like. So I don't know how we stand. If I had to guess right now I would assume we are about a middle of the conference team, but we do have a lot of young players as has been noted.

[MSU01]

There are some really nice optimistic Bobcat fans here. I agree with Bobcat Del. I was very impressed with the energy and really tough D that we played for three quarters. Sometimes when the shots stop falling it just becomes contageous. I can't imagine Lexi having many games like the one she had today. Best to just try to learn from this one and move on.

Going forward I really have no idea what the Big Sky teams are going to be like. So I don't know how we stand. If I had to guess right now I would assume we are about a middle of the conference team, but we do have a lot of young players as has been noted.

Hard not to be optimistic given the track record of success Binford has had rebuilding her rosters over the past decade or so. I'd agree with you, MSU is probably a middle of the pack Big Sky team right now but they've also got more room to grow and improve over the next two months than more experienced teams.

[tetoncat]

Some of the positives I saw:

- excellent defense through at least Q3. Will win a lot of games just on that effort alone if they can sustain it for a whole game

- Issy Bunyan is smooth. She looked good in the Blue and Gold game and again today. Anxious to see how she developes. I told her at the “meet and greet” I’m looking forward to her being the first all-conference player ever from Wales.

- I thought Natalie Picton showed well for her first start in D1 ball against a level up opponent. Particularly on D. I am pretty sure she stole the ball three times from their point guard in one on one situations. Has room to grow but I liked her first trip out. (Bonus Fun Fact: Natalie was an elite gymnast before focusing on basketball)

- nice to see KJ take on a larger role on the offense and also as a leader on the court….several times she was trying to “mother hen” the new kids into their right spot on the court

- I loved the energy the kid fans brought to the game! Wished we had that energy every game from several thousand fans. It was certainly disrupting BYU coaching and on court action at least at early part game….and even late when their coach was trying to get attention of folks on the court. Reminded me of the student fans at Grand Canyon who have a goal of being so loud the coach can’t be heard in the huddle.

And I smiled at the refreshing “new” music they played for the kids! Good job crew!

- glad Maddie is back. Her hustle and spirit is good.

- Deden & Dykstra fought hard on the boards and still make some good moves inside. Those shots will fall in time.

- for a first outing with so many new folks I was more pleased than disappointed with what I saw.

They’ve got some good tough tests coming in preparation for conference play.

Go Cats!

Good analysis. I was only able to watch second half so 4th quarter probably skewed my view. So many moves inside where they did the lobg steps with extended arms trying to get a layup to fall or draw co tact that either didn't come or wasn't called. Clean those up to get a better look and hit some outside shots we are right there at the end.

[84CatGrad]

20-61 (32.8%) from the field but took 12 more shots than BYU. Hit 4-5 more shots and we win the game.

[Catlady]

I get this was the first game, but didn’t like how we crumbled. We need a leader on this team that’s willing to take over when needed. Darian is gone…… is there a junior or senior leader?