Top Players?

[imacat]

Who is the best Bobcat Men's Basketball player you have personally seen play? Who is the top Men's Basketball player you have personally seen play against the Cats?

My pick for the top Bobcat player I have seen is Bill Brickhouse. Bill was a point guard for the 1969-70 and 1970-71 teams. He was a fantastic ball handler and a very good shooter/scorer. If a team tried to press the Cats in those years, they would simply spread the court and let Brickhouse break the press. No problem.

The best opponent would have to be Michael Ray Richardson (Montana). Although for one game I would have to go with Willie Humes (Idaho State). I watched Willie score 53 points in the Fieldhouse in 1971. Bill Brickhouse and Willie Weeks each scored 38 points for the Cats. The Bobcats won the game 105-92. It remains the most exciting/entertaining basketball game I have had the privilege to watch.

[mslacat]

Best Bobcat Player I saw: Tom Damako - Tom was special you knew from his first game in the Blue and Gold. I remember sitting in the stands with Kilborn during a pre-season practice Tom's freshman year and Kilborn would not shut up about what a great shooter/player Tom was going to be. Quote: "Why the heck is "the shooter" <that is what Kilborn kept calling Tom> not practicing today at a Big Ten school"

Favorite Bobcat Player (best example of what I think Bobcat basketball should be) Kral Ferch

Best Bobcat Player I saw but was everything Bobcat Basketball should not be: Johnny Mack - I got the same feeling when I first saw Johnny Mack play in practice as a freshman as I did Domako. He was so much more talented than 99% of the Bobcat Freshman I had ever saw. You knew early on he was a special talent plus he had the aestheticism that put him on a complete different level that most of the Big Sky players, but he knew it and between his JR & DR year tried to parlay that into grabbing control of the team from Durham. Durham cut Mack the all conference player and odds on favorite to be league MVP and no body objected.

Best Big Sky Player I saw play against the Cat's: I might say Richardson also but at the time I was a Griz fan, so I will go with Larry Krystowiak. Larry always had big games against the Bobcats even his freshman year he made big shots for the Griz off the bench when they needed it. Trivia: Kystowiak's official recruiting visit to Montana State was during the home Cat/Griz. Late in the game Derrick Pope get a spectacular break-away slam dunk late in the game. Kysco who was on the Bobcat bench jumped up and started whooping and hollering at Pope's dunk. The Bobcats knew they were not getting Krysco.

[MSUcantouchus]

Gavin DeYoung will be a name we will never say, cause Fish made no effort. Griz got him to walk on. This will be a huge mistake.

[Helcat72]

Who is the best Bobcat Men's Basketball player you have personally seen play? Who is the top Men's Basketball player you have personally seen play against the Cats?

My pick for the top Bobcat player I have seen is Bill Brickhouse. Bill was a point guard for the 1969-70 and 1970-71 teams. He was a fantastic ball handler and a very good shooter/scorer. If a team tried to press the Cats in those years, they would simply spread the court and let Brickhouse break the press. No problem.

The best opponent would have to be Michael Ray Richardson (Montana). Although for one game I would have to go with Willie Humes (Idaho State). I watched Willie score 53 points in the Fieldhouse in 1971. Bill Brickhouse and Willie Weeks each scored 38 points for the Cats. The Bobcats won the game 105-92. It remains the most exciting/entertaining basketball game I have had the privilege to watch.

I agree that Brickhouse was good and with Weeks probably had the best game of any bobcat I have seen...and that game against ISU had to be the best game I have ever seen!........but maybe my favorite Bobcat was Craig Finberg

Micheal Ray was good too....and if it isn't him it was probably a Griz or a Wildcat. Humes had the best game I had seen....

Actually the other best game I ever saw in the fieldhouse was in the 1971 state tournament when Havre played Helena High. Havre got beat by 40 points but Skip Grodahl had around 54, all but like 6 of Havre's points

[gtapp]

MSU: Craig Finberg
Opposition: Michael Ray

[Mr Lisle]

Cats-Bill Brickhouse

Noncats-tie, Wayne Estes/Elgin Baylor

[Cat Grad]

My favorites:

Cats: Larry Chanay, Tom Storm, Jack Gillispie, Kermit Young, Willie Weeks

Opponents: Pete Marivich, or Elgin Baylor

[imacat]

Pistol Pete! I would have loved to watch him play!


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[imacat]

I never did see Jack Gillispie play BUT I do remember touring the campus during High School Week, meeting Jack on the sidewalk ... he made a point to say "hello" to an awestruck high school kid.


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[Helcat72]

Gillespie had a hook shot from the elbow that was deadly and unstoppable. As far as I know he and Kareem were the only two college players with that kind of hook shot. In fact Gillespie shot it from further out than Kareem.

[Cat Grad]

I never got to see the game, but I think we played Houston when they had the twin towers? There were some good players on the Syracuse team and of course we also played a kid from Gonzaga named Stockton. Stockton was second team all conference and went on to a decent pro career.

[Weltercat]

These topics are always a lot of fun. I don’t know a lot about basketball but here are my picks.
Best bobcat player Kral Ferch, the guy was so athletic, maybe the most athletic person I’ve ever seen.
Best player who played against the cats would be either Orlando Lightfoot from Idaho or Brendon Merritt from EWU. Merritt actually reminded be a lot of Ferch because of his long arms and athleticism. A super fun guy to watch much like ferch was.

[John K]

I'd nominate Harold "The Show" Arceneaux from WSU...not necessarily the best MSU opponent ever, but certainly among the best. I was really surprised that he didn't make it in the NBA. Didn't he score like 39 or something in a first round NCAA tourney game? I believe Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, and Mark Jackson all played on the St. John's team that beat MSU in the 1st round of the 1986 tourney...that was a pretty talented trio. Kral Ferch was great, but he probably wasn't even the best player on those mid to late 80's teams...I'd have to give the edge to Domako.

[Cat Grad]

Weber has had so many great players. If I didn't dislike the school almost as bad as another one that I won't mention because it goes without saying which one that'd probable be, you just have to start looking at all the kids that made it in the NBA from their school. Chris Childs had a decent NBA career--Boise State. Still, my favorites are the ones I listed. Wish Marivich would have had better people around him early in his career.

[BroncoCat]

I'd nominate Harold "The Show" Arceneaux from WSU...not necessarily the best MSU opponent ever, but certainly among the best. I was really surprised that he didn't make it in the NBA. Didn't he score like 39 or something in a first round NCAA tourney game? I believe Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, and Mark Jackson all played on the St. John's team that beat MSU in the 1st round of the 1986 tourney...that was a pretty talented trio. Kral Ferch was great, but he probably wasn't even the best player on those mid to late 80's teams...I'd have to give the edge to Domako.

Chris Mullin was not on the 1986 team, he was a rookie in the NBA.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Maybe not the absolute greatest but pretty great-pound for pound was Tony Hampton. My favorite as a kid was Arnold McDowell.

A great opponent: Malik Rose from the Drexel Dragons. He and Lollis had a good battle, but the Dragons were a little better in the Holiday Stores tourney championship. They were seeded a notch or two higher than MSU in the NCAA tournament that year. Rose had a long NBA career with the Spurs.

[MSU01]

Maybe not the absolute greatest but pretty great-pound for pound was Tony Hampton. My favorite as a kid was Arnold McDowell.

A great opponent: Malik Rose from the Drexel Dragons. He and Lollis had a good battle, but the Dragons were a little better in the Holiday Stores tourney championship. They were seeded a notch or two higher than MSU in the NCAA tournament that year. Rose had a long NBA career with the Spurs.

And beat Memphis in the game after MSU lost to Syracuse in the NCAAs in Albuquerque. John Wallace of Syracuse and Rose were the two guys I thought of for best opponent I've seen. Damian Lillard has to be up there given what he has done in the NBA, but I don't recall him generally having huge games against MSU.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Maybe not the absolute greatest but pretty great-pound for pound was Tony Hampton. My favorite as a kid was Arnold McDowell.

A great opponent: Malik Rose from the Drexel Dragons. He and Lollis had a good battle, but the Dragons were a little better in the Holiday Stores tourney championship. They were seeded a notch or two higher than MSU in the NCAA tournament that year. Rose had a long NBA career with the Spurs.

And beat Memphis in the game after MSU lost to Syracuse in the NCAAs in Albuquerque. John Wallace of Syracuse and Rose were the two guys I thought of for best opponent I've seen. Damian Lillard has to be up there given what he has done in the NBA, but I don't recall him generally having huge games against MSU.

From what I can recall, the Cats concentrated on stifling Lillard, and let everyone else on the team beat them instead.