no branden miller?

Swilly3224 · Post by **Swilly3224** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:47 pm

I remember El_Gato saying MSU people are smarting than dUMb people...

Whats this thread all about again?

just kidding

GO CATS!

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:49 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:
loyalbballfan wrote:Miller had 3 F's, I am sure that is Micks fault for not walking him to class and checking his homework!!
You know, you don't get F's in the last days of a semester. If he was failing, he should have had his hand held to class, and if not attending, he should have been gone a month ago.

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

Problems between Miller & Durham were evident , but I think Mick probably gave him every chance possible to get his act together.

Just hate to see a talented athlete blow a college education. Tough to be a student/athlete at MSU, because you definitely have to be a student. Wish him well though.

Ponycat · Post by **Ponycat** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:59 pm

I wish him the best and hope he gets everything figured out and turned around.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:37 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:
loyalbballfan wrote:Miller had 3 F's, I am sure that is Micks fault for not walking him to class and checking his homework!!
You know, you don't get F's in the last days of a semester. If he was failing, he should have had his hand held to class, and if not attending, he should have been gone a month ago.

Think about what has been reported here, and in the press. In late October Miller was told not to show up for practice. That has been reported in the paper. I talked with some folks in Bozeman who told me Miller had some type of upheaval in his life that required him to go back home to Wisconsin in early October and miss some school (what this was I do not know). When he got back I am told his head was not into school or much of anything else. The coaches did find out that his grades were suffering and this is why he was told to skip practices and get him self caught up. When Miller came back he expected to move right into the starting line up. The coaches said no, Holmes was getting the start until Miller worked his way back into shape and had more practices under his belt. Again I am told that the coaches tried to monitor his academic progress and put certain restrictions on Miller playing / Starting time wise tied to academics. The coaches found out what they less than 12 hours before game time Monday about Millers grades. Miller was and is STILL ELLIGIBLE by NCAA standards. Durham could have played him Monday and I believe through the holiday tourney I do believe. When the coaching staff heard of the grades they made a decision and moved on. Say what you want about Durham, but he is not a Pat Kennedy type coach. Durham will go to bat for his athletes but he expects them to meet there responsibilities, and if they don't he has very little patience. From everything I have heard the coaching staff did everything possible to help Miller in a very difficult time in his life, but Miller did not take the time to help himself
Let me say this also. As a father I would personally walk my kids by the hand to grade school or high school to make sure they got there. I would also camp out in their room to make sure they got their home work done. When they reach college, though, you can not make them do what they do not want to do.

MSUCATS · Post by **MSUCATS** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:03 pm

We don't know exactly what is going on in his life. We can speculate all we want, but maybe we'll never know exactly what happened. And that needs to be "okay" too. Why does everyone have to be such busy bodies around here? We can have a conversation to try to get details, but why exert so much energy into speculation??

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:04 pm

Echoes what I said earlier. You never know what circumstances are behind every student/athletes situation. The coaches try to analize all this when they're recruiting, but they're all young adults. Sh*t happens.

MSUCATS · Post by **MSUCATS** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:26 pm

Echoes what I said earlier. You never know what circumstances are behind every student/athletes situation. The coaches try to analize all this when they're recruiting, but they're all young adults. Sh*t happens.

EXACTLY! Thank you! You and I (and a select few on this board) must be the only ones who realize that they are young adults and $#*% happens!

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:30 pm

MSUCATS wrote:
Echoes what I said earlier. You never know what circumstances are behind every student/athletes situation. The coaches try to analize all this when they're recruiting, but they're all young adults. Sh*t happens.
EXACTLY! Thank you! You and I (and a select few on this board) must be the only ones who realize that they are young adults and $#*% happens!

That's a rationale that should be used sparingly. When it becomes a trend, people start to ask more questions.

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 12:16 am

Good post mslacat...certainly more insight into the issue.

And, just to let the so-called *cat* outta da bag...Student athletes, ahem, have been escorted to class at MSU before. It is not routine, tho. I suspect that given what mslacat posted, Durham likely was in closer communication with instructors than what I originally perceived.

Believe it, or not, every so often, a student athlete arrives on campus and is not as mature as the average high school student. Sometimes, hand-holding is necessary.

uascat2 · Post by **uascat2** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:28 am

THE STUDENT ATHLETES AT MONTANA STATE ARE AFFORDED EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED IN THE CLASSROOM. THEY HAVE AN
ACADEMIC COORDINATOR AND THEIR OWN ACADEMIC CENTER
RIGHT IN THE FIELD HOUSE WHERE THEY CAN GO FOR HELP. ALSO
EACH OF THE ASST COACHES IN THE MEN'S PROGRAM IS ASSIGNED
A CERTAIN NUMBER OF PLAYERS AND IT IS THEIR REPONSIBILITY
TO MONITOR THEIR PROGRESS. BRANDON MILLER WAS NOT GETTING
IT DONE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. ENOUGH SAID.

RYAN HOLMES DIDN'T WANT TO BE SEPERATED FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND
IN ARIZONA. IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO HIM THAN PLAYING BASKETBALL AT MONTANA STATE AND HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET HIS EDUCATION PAID FOR. SELFISH AND IMMATURE.

EDUCATION

duelalumnicat · Post by **duelalumnicat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:26 am

Post by **SonomaCat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:44 am

Remind me never to cross you guys. A guy allegedly wants to be within 4 states of his girlfriend, and that makes him immature and selfish? Sheesh.

FYI, I've heard there are Universities outside of Montana as well, so he may well get an education regardless of whether he plays bball for MSU.

As long as an allegation pushes responsibility away from Durham, then I guess it is mission accomplished.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:55 am

Who knows, he may be offered a scholly at a smaller school in Arizona.

Guys a bit harsh on the kid.

CheerForTheCats · Post by **CheerForTheCats** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 12:04 pm

You self-righteous know-it-all adults have NO idea what goes on within the Bobcat Athletic Department. The person who typed his/her response in ALL CAPITAL letters has had the most accurate read on the Branden Miller situation.

I want you to know that I am one person (among many) who almost literally held Branden's hand throughout this past difficult semester for him ... I, personally, would've literally held his hand if he'd wanted me to!

He is my classmate, my student, my pupil, my peer, and my friend. He is a really good human being who just happens to encounter personal difficulties more than most of us do.

You readers have ZERO comprehension of how much consideration Branden's coaches had (have?) for his academic well being. I'll spare you detials but I will tell you that many of us spent time waking him up, getting him to class, helping him study for exams, and encouraging him. These coaches put as much emphasis on academic success as they do on athletic success. (OK, let the juvenile potshots begin.)

The coaching staff were in near-constant contact with me and, almost for sure, with his instructors. MSU's Academic Coordinator is an exceptional person who simply has WAY too many student-athletes to oversee -- she mostly monitors the football guys.

Somebody earlier asked how you can suddenly end up with an F when you had a C at Thanksgiving? When a teacher has 40% of the grade depending on the final exam/paper/project, 60% x C plus 40% times zero = F. Despite all of the attention given to him by me, coaches, and faculty who care about him, Branden ultimately did not live up to HIS part of the bargain.

I think that now Branden is terribly devastated (and embarrassed), and I hope that his plight will serve as a scary lesson to all other student-athletes. At SOME point, these kids have to start being accountable for SOME of the things they do! And, similarly, we have every right to hold the student-athletes accountable while also understanding that they are bound to make errors. (Sheet, just 3 weeks ago I was cited by my home town's finest for "open container" and I am one of MSU's most shining citizens, or so I like to think.)

Let's put this topic to REST. Just as Branden is ALREADY doing, why don't we all move on and try to be OPTIMISTIC about things looking forward rather than griping about bad things that happen in the past? I'm not just talking about Bobcat mens & womens b-ball, but about all things in life. I spent last night looking through hundreds of posts and I am just amazed at the negativity: BobCatFan might be the best example of what I'm talking about.

If Branden decides to stay at MSU, I plan to continue to try to help him make it trhough school and earn progress towards a degree. That's my view of the future regarding this topic.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 12:13 pm

CheerForTheCats wrote:You self-righteous know-it-all adults have NO idea what goes on within the Bobcat Athletic Department. The person who typed his/her response in ALL CAPITAL letters has had the most accurate read on the Branden Miller situation.

I want you to know that I am one person (among many) who almost literally held Branden's hand throughout this past difficult semester for him ... I, personally, would've literally held his hand if he'd wanted me to!

He is my classmate, my student, my pupil, my peer, and my friend. He is a really good human being who just happens to encounter personal difficulties more than most of us do.

You readers have ZERO comprehension of how much consideration Branden's coaches had (have?) for his academic well being. I'll spare you detials but I will tell you that many of us spent time waking him up, getting him to class, helping him study for exams, and encouraging him. These coaches put as much emphasis on academic success as they do on athletic success. (OK, let the juvenile potshots begin.)

The coaching staff were in near-constant contact with me and, almost for sure, with his instructors. MSU's Academic Coordinator is an exceptional person who simply has WAY too many student-athletes to oversee -- she mostly monitors the football guys.

Somebody earlier asked how you can suddenly end up with an F when you had a C at Thanksgiving? When a teacher has 40% of the grade depending on the final exam/paper/project, 60% x C plus 40% times zero = F. Despite all of the attention given to him by me, coaches, and faculty who care about him, Branden ultimately did not live up to HIS part of the bargain.

I think that now Branden is terribly devastated (and embarrassed), and I hope that his plight will serve as a scary lesson to all other student-athletes. At SOME point, these kids have to start being accountable for SOME of the things they do! And, similarly, we have every right to hold the student-athletes accountable while also understanding that they are bound to make errors. (Sheet, just 3 weeks ago I was cited by my home town's finest for "open container" and I am one of MSU's most shining citizens, or so I like to think.)

Let's put this topic to REST. Just as Branden is ALREADY doing, why don't we all move on and try to be OPTIMISTIC about things looking forward rather than griping about bad things that happen in the past? I'm not just talking about Bobcat mens & womens b-ball, but about all things in life. I spent last night looking through hundreds of posts and I am just amazed at the negativity: BobCatFan might be the best example of what I'm talking about.

If Branden decides to stay at MSU, I plan to continue to try to help him make it trhough school and earn progress towards a degree. That's my view of the future regarding this topic.

done.

uascat2 · Post by **uascat2** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:52 pm

To CheerForTheCats

THANKS FOR HELPING. I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT BRANDEN DECIDES
TO REMAIN IN SCHOOL. I KNOW ITS BEEN A DIFFICULT YEAR FOR HIM.

loyalbballfan · Post by **loyalbballfan** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:24 pm

If the Cats do ever make the mistake of firing Mick, hiring a new guy should be easy, they can hire one of the many experts on bobcatnation!!!! Thr one guru that comes to mind is Bay Area Cat.

Post by **rtb** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:26 pm

loyalbballfan wrote:If the Cats do ever make the mistake of firing Mick, hiring a new guy should be easy, they can hire one of the many experts on bobcatnation!!!! Thr one guru that comes to mind is Bay Area Cat.

I don't think anyone here has ever stated they could or should be the basketball coach. However there are many things that some of the fans have pointed to as to reasons why a change might be a positive move for MSU Basketball. I don't think calling people out on the board is the right thing to do. We all have opinions and ideas as to what is best, but when it comes down to it we are all Bobcat fans who want to see our teams succeed.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:29 pm

loyalbballfan wrote:If the Cats do ever make the mistake of firing Mick, hiring a new guy should be easy, they can hire one of the many experts on bobcatnation!!!! Thr one guru that comes to mind is Bay Area Cat.

If noticing your uber-consistent posting trends qualifies me as an expert without even opining on coaching itself, then I would be more than happy to take the job. Again, only if you are my boss. I don't want to be bound by any standards of any kind. Deal?

Ponycat · Post by **Ponycat** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:34 pm

BAC
I've got a couple buddies that might be able to set you up with a cush Assistant job for a while. And I promise they wont hold you accountable.

no branden miller?

Branden Miller

Re: Branden Miller