Men's Basketball vs. Rocky postgame

[bozbobcat]

The Cats looked pretty solid tonight for a first game. Some of the elements from last year were there. Dissly, Jefferson, Moss, Beye, and co. looked good tonight. Ted Morris and Derrick Edmonds (I think that's right) looked ok, but you could tell it was the first game. Rocky also did a solid job. As coach Durham said on the postgame, it looked like the first game and a team like Rocky is hard to play because of their up-tempo guard-based style. He was pleased with 60 points allowed in an up and down game. Nice effort overall, but there's certainly room for improvement. I'd give the Cats a "B" tonight.

[BelgradeBobcat]

A pretty workmanlike performance. Too many guys weren't hitting outside shots and we couldn't ever get a big run going. Instead it was sort of a gradual grind to get the lead to 20. Rocky was really patient in their offense. They didn't throw up quick shots to get us off and running, and they were pretty tough to break down defensively at times.

They couldn't handle Al though.

If we hit some open threes early it's probably more of a blowout-but we only had two 3's at halftime (and a boat load of misses).

Nice crowd for an exhibition game-3800.

[Wolfman]

Please note that I am not a "Cat basher". I'll leave that to the many pin-headed obessive Griz fans around.

But, I talked with an assistant BB coach from Portland State whom I sat next to on a plane recently. We were discussing the Big Sky teams this season. He said that he felt that the Bobcats were not nearly as good last year as their record. He said that they caught a couple of teams with key injuries at the right time allowing them to steal a couple of road wins.

He does not think they will be among the top 3 teams in the conference this year. He basically said that they played over their heads last season, and that they lost predicatbly in the tournament last year.

I'm not trying to flame your program, because I have never seen them play. But, I just wanted to give you some insights from a biased insider from another team. Take it for what it's worth.

By the way, he thinks the Griz will be one of the top 3 teams in the conference. Sorry.

[El_Gato]

I have no doubt that the Cats will finish in the top 3. If the Griz get their injured big men back before the conference slate, they should be as well.

Regardless of your "conversation" with the PSU guy, wolf, the fact is the Cats DID finish second in the conference and they DO have their starting 5 plus 2 solid reserves back. So the same kids that "got lucky" last year in finishing second (and went 2-1 versus the other 2nd place team) are back and you would have to figure they're at least more experienced than they were a year ago. Playing "over your heads" 1 season usually leads to increased confidence in successive seasons, doesn't it? Plus, I think "overachieving" is a GOOD thing (ie see the Griz football D last November/December & this season).

With a 14 game conference schedule, EVERY team will have to come through on the road a few times to make the playoffs, whether their opponents are injured or not. You line up and play the team in front of you with the team you've got, regardless of injuries. Speaking of which, I didn't realize that the league wasn't going to allow injuries this season; that's too bad because that will make it much tougher for the Cats to "steal" some of those wins (as they were apparently the ONLY Big Sky team that went injury-free last season).

Bottom line, wolf, is that you & your new PSU acquaintance are going to be proven wrong about the Cats, just as your weekly assessments of the Griz have been way off (don't feel bad, my October picking the Griz was only 3-2). I also sense that you are starting the same "slide" that you did on egriz, and soon most/all of your posts are going to end up in personal attacks and pissing matches (see the Joey Thomas thread); just as I have no doubt that this post will soon be followed by an attack on my comments/views/opinions...

[mslacat]

I thought I might pipe in with my opinions of Fridays night Game.
- We won the game shooting crap from 3-pt land!! Our inside game carried us. I just have not been able to say that much the last 25 years so it was nice.
- Rocky did there home work and really played some tough defense on the 3 point shots. Then it did not help that I think we missed and missed badly 3 wide open 3 point shots to start the game. From that point on it was like the team decided to try going in side and it worked well.
-I looks like we will have 10 fouls to give at the center position, unfortunately the way our centers play we may need 12 in some games. On the positive side, we are very likely to get 20+ points a game quite often from our center position.
-We have the talent to be a solid or better rebounding team. The coaches need to marshel the talent and get them in a scheme that works. I did not see a very good rebounding team last night. I do not know what the final numbers were, but we were sloppy. There could have easliy been a 6-10 rebounding swing to our favore last night but we rebounded weak and sloppy.
-Morris has a nice touch and an aggressive attitude and is going to be solid for us.
-Beye is the Beye we all love. If he could just hold on to the rebounds he gets his hand on our rebounding would be solid. Every time he gets his hand on a rebound in traffic it is like a game of hot potato.
-If Dissly is going to take his game to the next level, which we all have been waiting for, he is going to need to become a little more selfish and take the shots that he is given, and pass less ( I can not believe I just said that!!) When you can jump out of the gym, your head even with the rim, and 18 inches from the rim; a pass out to a semi open wing for a 15 foot jump shot IS NOT the better option! Take the Shot.
- Moss looked great. I actually think he was bothered by the sub pattern Durham was using to get all 11 players in the game, but once he got his rhythm going he was a load, He could have had 30 pts easy. Confident, active, playing like MVP material. There was little doubt who the best player on the court was.
_ We are sooooooooo deep it is amazing. 11 players and truthfully we don't lose much if anything if the 7,8,9 th players are in the game. We sub and we give a little bit up hear but gain something there. The worse you can say is that we lose about a half step with Durr and Pratt because they are not aggressive scores but that is it. I don’t' know how we can get a 11 man rotation to work, but I also don't know how you could narrow down a rotation to under 10 players.
=We are going to have to play a lot better and quickly. We are going to have to find out if our depth is due to a glut of exceptional players or mediocre players. Durham was subbing liberally and often, and I think that effected the level of play. This will change as soon as the games start to count It would not surprise me if the next game 3 other players stepped up to lead the team .



I liked what I saw but it is real early.

[CATS2000]

I think once the regular season hits you will see Miller back running the point.

I wasn't too impressed by Morris and it seemed like Edmonds never got into the flow of the game...

It's just a pre-season game though.

[MSU88]

The Cats looked pretty solid tonight for a first game. Some of the elements from last year were there. Dissly, Jefferson, Moss, Beye, and co. looked good tonight. Ted Morris and Derrick Edmonds (I think that's right) looked ok, but you could tell it was the first game. Rocky also did a solid job. As coach Durham said on the postgame, it looked like the first game and a team like Rocky is hard to play because of their up-tempo guard-based style. He was pleased with 60 points allowed in an up and down game. Nice effort overall, but there's certainly room for improvement. I'd give the Cats a "B" tonight.

I agree......Beye was exceptional (against an inferior RMC inside game) but he is fun to watch!; Jefferson and Dissly were their normal selfs; Ryan Holmes alittle nervous early; Marvin was Marvin...quality; Durham usual shot selection and %; Ted Morris, raw but will be good when he adjusts; Edmonds, not sure ... alot of Miller in him ... ???; Carson Durr played very steady minutes, especially defensively and lots as if his shot is back; Taylor looked good in the paint...looks bulked up some also.

I would give "B" as well.

[Wolfman]

Don't kill the messinger, Gato. If you want to be pissed at somebody, be pissed at the PSU coach. I told you that I had never even seen the Cats play last year. How could I have an opinion on them?