Big Sky Conference hoops content - Skyline Sports

[Colter_Nuanez]

The classic griz reporter question "(losing away team llayer) can you tell us how the game atmosphere that I had nothing to do with creating, caused you to lose this game." Let's talk about how awful the audio is for TD. Ask him about why the gris A/V dept didn't do a better job getting that ready? Lol

The sound quality and venue - the moldy East Aux Gym where they store all the indoor track equipment - is honestly unbelievable for an event of this magnitude. It’s absolutely awful.

The sound is horrendous. The echo is so brutal. Last night, we tried hand mics on the table, lapel mics on cell phones and our cameras plugged into the mult box …none yielded quality sound. My brother was so furious. He would’ve given someone a serious piece of his mind, but there wasn’t anybody there when it got over…

It’s so frustrating. Thanks for letting me rant.

[lutecat]

The classic griz reporter question "(losing away team llayer) can you tell us how the game atmosphere that I had nothing to do with creating, caused you to lose this game." Let's talk about how awful the audio is for TD. Ask him about why the gris A/V dept didn't do a better job getting that ready? Lol

The sound quality and venue - the moldy East Aux Gym where they store all the indoor track equipment - is honestly unbelievable for an event of this magnitude. It’s absolutely awful.

The sound is horrendous. The echo is so brutal. Last night, we tried hand mics on the table, lapel mics on cell phones and our cameras plugged into the mult box …none yielded quality sound. My brother was so furious. He would’ve given someone a serious piece of his mind, but there wasn’t anybody there when it got over…

It’s so frustrating. Thanks for letting me rant.

Rant away man.

It especially doesn't help that TD's voice isn't conducive to bad sound quality because of how low and gravely it is to begin with.

When griz fans claim to have a *"facilities advantage" they have over everyone I'm going to start bringing this up. "You're absolutely right, you're the only ones with a moldy east auxiliary gym"!


*which in reality is only WA/gris stadium because the Champions center and the BAC are pretty much a tie I assume. Both fairly new. They have only recently added a big balloon that's only inflated with the hot air reminating out of Missoula and we will soon have a permanent structure.

[BelgradeBobcat]

There's a lot of pent up joy being released by the missoula media after their men's basketball win last night. I suppose that's understandable. It's been what-11 months since their last Cat-griz win in anything that they cover?

[BelgradeBobcat]

An almost upset for the ages!
How long has Selvig been gone?
Hyperbole much?

[Colter_Nuanez]

An almost upset for the ages!
How long has Selvig been gone?
Hyperbole much?

Montana State is 58 in this week’s net and is already one of the 3 best teams I’ve ever covered in 18 years of covering Big Sky women’s hoops.

Montana is 7-12, 3-5 in league, has looked among the worst of any Lady Griz teams I’ve ever covered…and operating under an interim head coach, which is a sharp upgrade but still a piece of adversity to overcome.

We put the over/under of Lady Griz turnovers at 27.5 on the radio. UM had 17.

The Cats have absolutely owned Montana for 8 years. The only three losses are anomalies because of either a funky one of a kind defense like Schweyen ran that caught MSU off guard or a barrage of 3s like last season. Montana State is so far superior a program over the last 6-8 years, it’s almost laughable.

Think about how many great teams Binford has had. And this one might be the best. Right now, they are in the mix for an at-large bid. Out of the Big Sky. That hasn’t happened in 28 years.

And again, this Lady Griz team is pretty broken and just not that good. They have good young talent led by Waddington and good veteran talent like Bartsch, who’s one of the all time misused players we’ve ever covered.

That’s all to say that, yes, if Montana would’ve beaten Montana State for the 4th time in 8 the last 8 years, and the team winning is one of UM’s worst during that span (and in turn ever) and it’s one of Montana State’s best, and it’s under an interim head coach, that’s an upset for the ages. If you think it’s hyperbole, that’s fine. But I meant that line as a huge credit to the Bobcats, not as some sort of boost up to the Lady Griz.

I thought the lady Griz were going to lose by 25 and embarrass themselves. And I think if they had their previous head coach, that would’ve been the case.

[BelgradeBobcat]

An almost upset for the ages!
How long has Selvig been gone?
Hyperbole much?

Montana State is 58 in this week’s net and is already one of the 3 best teams I’ve ever covered in 18 years of covering Big Sky women’s hoops.

Montana is 7-12, 3-5 in league, has looked among the worst of any Lady Griz teams I’ve ever covered…and operating under an interim head coach, which is a sharp upgrade but still a piece of adversity to overcome.

We put the over/under of Lady Griz turnovers at 27.5 on the radio. UM had 17.

The Cats have absolutely owned Montana for 8 years. The only three losses are anomalies because of either a funky one of a kind defense like Schweyen ran that caught MSU off guard or a barrage of 3s like last season. Montana State is so far superior a program over the last 6-8 years, it’s almost laughable.

Think about how many great teams Binford has had. And this one might be the best. Right now, they are in the mix for an at-large bid. Out of the Big Sky. That hasn’t happened in 28 years.

And again, this Lady Griz team is pretty broken and just not that good. They have good young talent led by Waddington and good veteran talent like Bartsch, who’s one of the all time misused players we’ve ever covered.

That’s all to say that, yes, if Montana would’ve beaten Montana State for the 4th time in 8 the last 8 years, and the team winning is one of UM’s worst during that span (and in turn ever) and it’s one of Montana State’s best, and it’s under an interim head coach, that’s an upset for the ages. If you think it’s hyperbole, that’s fine. But I meant that line as a huge credit to the Bobcats, not as some sort of boost up to the Lady Griz.

I thought the lady Griz were going to lose by 25 and embarrass themselves. And I think if they had their previous head coach, that would’ve been the case.

A lady griz win in Dahlberg is never an upset of the ages. If EWU would have got their last second shot to fall in Cheney would that have been an upset for the ages? This is a very good Bobcat team, but they have some things to work on.

[lutecat]

I will point out there were two articles written. On from a griz perspective and one from a Cat perspective.

[MSU01]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

[BelgradeBobcat]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

It wasn't just Colter's headline that rubbed me the wrong way. It was the general tone of the missoula fanboy media that came out all weekend after the game. I said it before this game-Binford probably has more wins in Dahlberg than any other coach, but she has brought some outstanding teams in there that got blown out. So them celebrating a "morale victory" doesn't sit well. It wouldn't have been an upset for the ages, and that is not the worst lady griz team in history. The MSU staff and players deserve to feel good about that win-going into that hostile environment and gritting out a win is a good accomplishment. That lady griz team is very talented and now that their coaching issues are behind them, I think they'll go on a run. The game in Bozeman in February could be a tough one.

[TomCat88]

I never doubted for one second that MSU would win this game. UM wbb and much of its media coverage has been sucked into a weird vortex that keeps telling everyone and itself that it has no equal. It’s so strong that up until about 4-5 years ago people outside the vortex still think that UM wbb is and has been the singular power in the BSC.

It’s so mind-boggling to listen to or watch a postgame report and hear the tone of the reporter sounding so perplexed and astounded that they lost a game. That self-awareness resonates throughout the entire athletic program. Whenever UM wins a game regardless of how good the opponent is, you’d think that they have an unstoppable team on the brink of the Sweet 16 or FCS title.

[AFCAT]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

It wasn't just Colter's headline that rubbed me the wrong way. It was the general tone of the missoula fanboy media that came out all weekend after the game. I said it before this game-Binford probably has more wins in Dahlberg than any other coach, but she has brought some outstanding teams in there that got blown out. So them celebrating a "morale victory" doesn't sit well. It wouldn't have been an upset for the ages, and that is not the worst lady griz team in history. The MSU staff and players deserve to feel good about that win-going into that hostile environment and gritting out a win is a good accomplishment. That lady griz team is very talented and now that their coaching issues are behind them, I think they'll go on a run. The game in Bozeman in February could be a tough one.

That entire fanbase, university, and media are still living in the 90s.

[MSU01]

Montana State is 58 in this week’s net and is already one of the 3 best teams I’ve ever covered in 18 years of covering Big Sky women’s hoops.

Montana is 7-12, 3-5 in league, has looked among the worst of any Lady Griz teams I’ve ever covered…and operating under an interim head coach, which is a sharp upgrade but still a piece of adversity to overcome.

We put the over/under of Lady Griz turnovers at 27.5 on the radio. UM had 17.

The Cats have absolutely owned Montana for 8 years. The only three losses are anomalies because of either a funky one of a kind defense like Schweyen ran that caught MSU off guard or a barrage of 3s like last season. Montana State is so far superior a program over the last 6-8 years, it’s almost laughable.

Think about how many great teams Binford has had. And this one might be the best. Right now, they are in the mix for an at-large bid. Out of the Big Sky. That hasn’t happened in 28 years.

And again, this Lady Griz team is pretty broken and just not that good. They have good young talent led by Waddington and good veteran talent like Bartsch, who’s one of the all time misused players we’ve ever covered.

That’s all to say that, yes, if Montana would’ve beaten Montana State for the 4th time in 8 the last 8 years, and the team winning is one of UM’s worst during that span (and in turn ever) and it’s one of Montana State’s best, and it’s under an interim head coach, that’s an upset for the ages. If you think it’s hyperbole, that’s fine. But I meant that line as a huge credit to the Bobcats, not as some sort of boost up to the Lady Griz.

I thought the lady Griz were going to lose by 25 and embarrass themselves. And I think if they had their previous head coach, that would’ve been the case.

I'm not sure if people truly realize how historically good the MSU women's team has been so far. I don't recall ever seeing a Big Sky team this high in the Net Rankings this late in the season, and they are right around the same area with the teams who are currently considered as on the bubble for NCAA Tournament consideration. To seriously receive any consideration at all for an at-large selection I think they'd need to run the table and go 18-0 in conference play but then lose in the tournament championship to someone like NAU who will also be highly ranked. That's going to be really hard though - the historical standings on the Big Sky website go back to the '08-'09 season and no team has been undefeated in conference play since then. MSU's '19-'20 team that didn't get to play the conference championship game and UM in '08-'09 came closest losing one conference game each. I suppose the good news for the Bobcats is that they've already made it through the toughest game on paper (at NAU) with a win. The regular season finale playing at Idaho on a Monday night is going to be really tough, though.

[rfischer94]

I never doubted for one second that MSU would win this game. UM wbb and much of its media coverage has been sucked into a weird vortex that keeps telling everyone and itself that it has no equal. It’s so strong that up until about 4-5 years ago people outside the vortex still think that UM wbb is and has been the singular power in the BSC.

It’s so mind-boggling to listen to or watch a postgame report and hear the tone of the reporter sounding so perplexed and astounded that they lost a game. That self-awareness resonates throughout the entire athletic program. Whenever UM wins a game regardless of how good the opponent is, you’d think that they have an unstoppable team on the brink of the Sweet 16 or FCS title.

Like this?

[aucat]

Winning on the road is always very difficult, whether it's in the Big Sky or any other conference. On paper, Montana State is better then UM by at least ten points, but they don't play the games on paper. I would be willing to bet though that when the Lady griz come to the Brick, the Cats will win by double digits.

Right now, I would say that the Cats winning AT NAU was the best win of the year by far. The showdown on Feb. 6 at the Brick against NAU will be an epic matchup. I can't wait. Finally, I wish that I could agree with the above poster that Montana State could possibly get an at large bid in the NCAA if we come up short in the Big Sky Tournament, but I just don't think that will happen. The Big Sky is a long way from big time programs, at least in my opinon. I hope that a lot of Bobcat fans will plan to travel to Boise for the tournament. It's only a 7 hour drive.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Finally, I wish that I could agree with the above poster that Montana State could possibly get an at large bid in the NCAA if we come up short in the Big Sky Tournament, but I just don't think that will happen.

Didn't EWU's volleyball team get through the regular season with only 1 or 2 losses or something and ran the table in the Big Sky-only to get upset in the tournament and didn't get a sniff of an invite to the NCAA tournament? Our ranking might be high, but a loss to any Big Sky team at any point will drop us like a rock-so yeah there will be no NCAA tournament without a Big Sky tourney win. If they did run the table and win the tourney we'd probably get a 12 or 11 seed which would be pretty good but still make us an underdog.

[Common Cat]

I never doubted for one second that MSU would win this game. UM wbb and much of its media coverage has been sucked into a weird vortex that keeps telling everyone and itself that it has no equal. It’s so strong that up until about 4-5 years ago people outside the vortex still think that UM wbb is and has been the singular power in the BSC.

It’s so mind-boggling to listen to or watch a postgame report and hear the tone of the reporter sounding so perplexed and astounded that they lost a game. That self-awareness resonates throughout the entire athletic program. Whenever UM wins a game regardless of how good the opponent is, you’d think that they have an unstoppable team on the brink of the Sweet 16 or FCS title.

Like this?

That never gets old! Thank you, Roger!

[lutecat]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

It wasn't just Colter's headline that rubbed me the wrong way. It was the general tone of the missoula fanboy media that came out all weekend after the game. I said it before this game-Binford probably has more wins in Dahlberg than any other coach, but she has brought some outstanding teams in there that got blown out. So them celebrating a "morale victory" doesn't sit well. It wouldn't have been an upset for the ages, and that is not the worst lady griz team in history. The MSU staff and players deserve to feel good about that win-going into that hostile environment and gritting out a win is a good accomplishment. That lady griz team is very talented and now that their coaching issues are behind them, I think they'll go on a run. The game in Bozeman in February could be a tough one.

I'll point out it wasn't Colter that wrote the article it was Andrew Houghton.

[BobcatDel]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

The most dramatic finish in recent memory to me was the 2019-20 dramatic comeback in Missoula. Lady Cats trail by 11 at start of Q4. Held gris to 3 points in Q4 while scoring 14 to tie the game at end of regulation. Then outscore gris 15-10 in OT for victory. Freiji took over if I recall correctly. Both teams had winning records at the time.

Edit: just went back and read the recap. Freiji hit a jumper with 14 sec to tie game and send to OT then she scored 10 of Cats 15 overtime points. Finished with 27. I just remember thinking that was a true MVP performance by the Senior if there ever was one.

I don’t have a problem with Colter headline either. Until UM resolves their coaching issues I think he is right. Personally I hope Nate gets the job…great person, kids and fans love him, has respect from people he coaches with, good record as an assistant at MSU and head coach at St. Angelo….on the downside I hate that he might get the job because he will make gris a better team and as a Montana kid he will recruit the state well IMO.

[MSU01]

I have no issue with Colter's headline. To me it's not the simply that an upset almost happened but HOW the upset almost happened that made it a lot more memorable. Everyone expected going in that MSU would win and they appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, but Waddington put the Griz on her back in the fourth and gave them the lead before MSU pulled it out at the end. I don't recall a Cat/Griz women's game in recent memory with that dramatic of a finish.

The most dramatic finish in recent memory to me was the 2019-20 dramatic comeback in Missoula. Lady Cats trail by 11 at start of Q4. Held gris to 3 points in Q4 while scoring 14 to tie the game at end of regulation. Then outscore gris 15-10 in OT for victory. Freiji took over if I recall correctly. Both teams had winning records at the time.

Edit: just went back and read the recap. Freiji hit a jumper with 14 sec to tie game and send to OT then she scored 10 of Cats 15 overtime points. Finished with 27. I just remember thinking that was a true MVP performance by the Senior if there ever was one.

I don’t have a problem with Colter headline either. Until UM resolves their coaching issues I think he is right. Personally I hope Nate gets the job…great person, kids and fans love him, has respect from people he coaches with, good record as an assistant at MSU and head coach at St. Angelo….on the downside I hate that he might get the job because he will make gris a better team and as a Montana kid he will recruit the state well IMO.

Ah yes, I remember that game now. MSU was a one-point home loss to Idaho away from going undefeated with that team, it was a remarkable achievement for them to go undefeated on the road that season in conference play. I still think this year's team is better than that one was when they're playing their best basketball!

[BelgradeBobcat]

Ah yes, I remember that game now. MSU was a one-point home loss to Idaho away from going undefeated with that team, it was a remarkable achievement for them to go undefeated on the road that season in conference play. I still think this year's team is better than that one was when they're playing their best basketball!

That will always be one of my all time favorite Bobcat teams-in any sport. Led by precocious freshman point guard Darian White and veterans including Madeline Smith, Fallon Freije, Martha Kuderer, Tori Martell, Oliana Squires and Blaire Braxton. It still breaks my heart that the tournament got called off right when they were on the cusp of winning it. I don't who was better, this year or that team, but that team was really really good. It's an interesting thought, this team thrives on the full-court press, but Darian was unpressable.