Purdue Fan Here

[FriendlyBoilermaker]

Just stopping by to learn a bit about your team this year. By way of Montana State connections, the late great Joe Tiller was a MSU guy I believe, he played and coached out there. A former boss of mine played under him, great guy. He loved MSU. I was out in your part of the country a few years back, did a canoe trip out of Great Falls down the Upper Missouri river. One of the best trips of my life. I love it out there.

I think you guys will probably advance past Grambling. Can you share any thoughts on your potential match-up with Purdue?

Also, looks like you could wind up with a rematch against your former coach, any thoughts on TCU vs Utah State?

Regards

[lv2hoop]

Our closest comparable games from this year would be at California (W) and at Washington (L). Our squad peaked at the perfect time and our newfound presence in the paint, John Olmstead, made our improbable run through the conference tourney as a 5 seed possible.

Our most outstanding player, Robert Ford III, is a force of nature that I'm sure will be at the top of the scouting report if we play you guys. We also have shooters that can spread the floor and create some driving lanes because you've got to cover them.

Thanks for checking in on our board, and hopefully we'll make it out of Dayton to play you guys!

[Camo_Cat]

Just stopping by to learn a bit about your team this year. By way of Montana State connections, the late great Joe Tiller was a MSU guy I believe, he played and coached out there. A former boss of mine played under him, great guy. He loved MSU. I was out in your part of the country a few years back, did a canoe trip out of Great Falls down the Upper Missouri river. One of the best trips of my life. I love it out there.

I think you guys will probably advance past Grambling. Can you share any thoughts on your potential match-up with Purdue?

Also, looks like you could wind up with a rematch against your former coach, any thoughts on TCU vs Utah State?

Regards

Thanks for stopping by Friendly! Not many people - counting a lot of us Bobcat fans - thought we would make another run this year. After three great seasons led by our former coach, with 2 appearances in the Dance, this current team was decimated after last season ended. Our head coach left for Utah State, taking an assistant and two players with him. Raequan Battle left for West Virginia and had a great season. Between the portal and graduation, we were left with no coach and 4 players. Matt Logie was the last Division 1 head coach hired in the season and had little time to assemble a team. At times, we've looked like the rag-tag team he assembled late, but we're playing our best ball this last month to earn a third straight trip to dance.

Our offensive and defensive schemes all run through Robert Ford III. Ford entered the portal but was talked into returning by Coach Logie. Ford went on to earn Big Sky Conference first team all-conference honors and was named Defensive Player of the Year. He also won the tournament MVP. He recorded 100 steals for the season, a Bobcat record. He's a tenacious ball-hawk, and also a ferocious rebounder for his size. Our offensive primarily relies on outside shooting, with Tyler Patterson and Sam Lecholat as our 3-point marksmen, and Brian Goracke as our most steady shooter. We're small inside, and rebounding has been our weakness all season, yet we have turned that around as of late. Brandon Walker will get the start as our post and has some girth to make his presence known. He will give way to John Olmsted, a grad transfer from Arizona State. The offense has found a spark with Olmsted on the floor, with the oop dunk from Ford to Olmsted becoming routine. Lecholat has become a beast inside lately, with his rebounding and ability to swat shots out of the air.

In terms of offensive, it most closely resembles a motion offense, with drives to the basket followed by kick-outs to the open shooter. Our point guard Eddie Turner has a very quick move to the hoop and can be a handful when he heats up. It has taken this team a while to get going, actually losing a game at one point this season to an NAIA opponent. But Coach Logie has the team focused and moving in the right direction. We like our matchup with Grambling, and just hopeful we can make a respectful showing against the Boilermakers.

[MSU01]

Welcome! You may be interested in checking out this highlight video made by another user here showcasing John Olmsted, MSU's breakout player during the month of March and also our mid-major version of Zach Edey.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Hi, thanks for checking in!

As to Joe Tiller, I remember him during his playing time. He worked as a summer helper for the carpenters at MSU (then MSC), one of whom was my dad. I was 8-10 years old and remember him as a big, friendly, about 19-year-old kid.

The Utah St. matchup would be a very good story but very unlikely to happen. Our coach from our two-time NCAA tournament team won the Mountain West with two of our four best players, three of whom transferred and one that graduated. That wasn’t a great surprise, but MSU getting back to the tournament for the third straight year seemed highly unlikely at the beginning of the year. Four returning players and a new coach who was the very last D-I coach to be hired. And one starter from that group suffered a season-ending injury about 3 games in. But Matt Logie had been a great head coach at Pt. Loma (D-II power from San Diego) and he surely hasn’t lost his touch. The players responded to his coaching, and simply got better and better. They left it all on the court in the conference tournament and were clearly the best team when the smoke cleared, led by guard Robert Ford III, the tournament MVP. I believe he is second in the nation in steals, and second in rebounding for players 6’2” and smaller. He’s listed at 6’0” but that must have been on a very tall day.

Anyway, one step at a time. They struggled scoring early in the season, but in the tournament put up 66 points in the second half against Weber St. and early-round NBA draft pick Dillon Jones, and then came from 11 behind UM with a 41-9 run in the second half. A great story. Watch the Grambling St. game if you can.

Go, ‘Cats!