The Bobcat Nation

Cats win 75-71. Sounds like Moss had a much better night from last night, but the team still had terrible field goal percentage (something like 38%)and free throw shooting. Still some things that definately need to be cleaned up before conference play, but a win is a win! Way to go Cats.

I'm surprised at the free throw %. We went to the game and it seemed like we were making quite a few of them.

Basketball perspective from an old wrestler:
First game of the year for me tonight. I've been reading everybody's posts about this team. In my opinion, Casey Durham deserves kudos for his defensive performance tonight. About the only thing I can recognize in basketball is effort; Casey lit the spark with his defensive effort in the second half when the 'Cats had relinquished the lead and San Jose was seven points ahead and building momentum.

*The Cats actually seemed to rebound fairly well at times tonight (Jefferson can flat out leap into the clouds!!!)
*As I mentioned, I don't know a lick about b-ball. But, it just didn't seem we run very many organized plays when we have the ball; I could be completely wrong here.
*Morris either had a TERRIBLE night or he should get less playing time; much less! He doesn't seem to have much mobility/quickness when he has the ball. I can't think of one shot that he made.
*Al Beye does a great job of being in position for offensive rebounds. He seems to have trouble catching the ball when someone drives and dishes off. If he's allowed to post up, he's got decent moves. Did I mention he's a very decent shot blocker?
*Moss showed tonight down low why so many are high on him. He is so quick!

I'm just not versed enough in basketball to make any other kind inferences other then these generalities.

Game was entertaining in the second half when the sparse crowd got into it. And, the 6th player seemed to help the guys on the court.

My wife did make the comment that something needs to be done to draw more people to the games that live in Bozeman. This is a wonderful evening event to take in any night of the week; particularly in the winter.

barechestcat wrote:I'm surprised at the free throw %. We went to the game and it seemed like we were making quite a few of them.

Finally ESPN got their stats up and you are correct. Free throw percentage according to them was 71.9% which is a helluva lot better than what I said originally. I probably had my head me arse when listening to it. My bad.

This game was a little better than last night. The Cats ended up having to come back again and won. Here are some observations, adding the barechestcat's nice observations already.

Marvin Moss had a much improved game from last night and his offensive contributions were much better with 14 points. It was a good night for Marvin.

Casey Durham is my MVP for the last 2 games. His defensive pressure was very good and again buried a couple of key 3 pointers. Casey also stole the ball twice. He really is a good player for this Bobcat squad and has earned his place.

JaRon Jefferson was JaRon Jefferson. He had a nice effort, scored about 13. Not bad at all. Nick Dissly played OK and he hit a couple of key 3 pointers. I wonder if he would play better if he took more shots and he might need a confidence booster. Nothing that a good 20 point game wouldn't fix.

Al Beye was good on the rebounds and his free throws seemed to be a lot better. He needs to catch the ball on the offensive end so he can be more effective. Ted Morris really didn't have a great night tonight, but he made a couple of good contributions.

Overall, a little better, but the shot percentage just wasn't great and it seems like this team is not extremely agressive on the defensive end of the court. It seems like San Jose St. hit less 3s than NDSU did. The Cats had to mount yet another second half comeback, and they succeeded. There's a lot to work on, but there's one more non-conference tune-up against South Dakota St. on Monday before conference. A win could put the Cats at 7-7 going into conference, winning 4 out of the last 5.

I have to agree with barechestcat that the Bozeman community could support the Bobcats more. Conference usually spikes attendance and it will be much better when the students return for the Cat-Griz game. But yes, there isn't anything more fun than Bobcat basketball on a winter evening.

bozbobcat wrote:This game was a little better than last night. The Cats ended up having to come back again and won. Here are some observations, adding the barechestcat's nice observations already.

Marvin Moss had a much improved game from last night and his offensive contributions were much better with 14 points. It was a good night for Marvin.

Casey Durham is my MVP for the last 2 games. His defensive pressure was very good and again buried a couple of key 3 pointers. Casey also stole the ball twice. He really is a good player for this Bobcat squad and has earned his place.

JaRon Jefferson was JaRon Jefferson. He had a nice effort, scored about 13. Not bad at all. Nick Dissly played OK and he hit a couple of key 3 pointers. I wonder if he would play better if he took more shots and he might need a confidence booster. Nothing that a good 20 point game wouldn't fix.

Al Beye was good on the rebounds and his free throws seemed to be a lot better. He needs to catch the ball on the offensive end so he can be more effective. Ted Morris really didn't have a great night tonight, but he made a couple of good contributions.

Overall, a little better, but the shot percentage just wasn't great and it seems like this team is not extremely agressive on the defensive end of the court. It seems like San Jose St. hit less 3s than NDSU did. The Cats had to mount yet another second half comeback, and they succeeded. There's a lot to work on, but there's one more non-conference tune-up against South Dakota St. on Monday before conference. A win could put the Cats at 7-7 going into conference, winning 4 out of the last 5.

I have to agree with barechestcat that the Bozeman community could support the Bobcats more. Conference usually spikes attendance and it will be much better when the students return for the Cat-Griz game. But yes, there isn't anything more fun than Bobcat basketball on a winter evening.

well, if the team starts to play better, more fans will come. i dont like it, but lets be real, that's how it goes. many of us who attended all their home games this year sometimes left wishing we would have done something else! also, the holiday tourney is never a good indicator as school is still out and their just are no fans!

Yea, keep in mind the students aren't back yet. Our attendance hasn't been to bad over the break, ove 3k every team, and over 4k last night against NDSU. I wish it would be better (as for every Cat sport), but winning games will bring more fans.

I was at the game (and stayed to watch NDSU win the tourney in a thriller!), and we played pretty well tonight, except for a 5 minute stretch there where we squandered our lead.

This team improves just slightly about every game it seems (minus NDSU). I hope our best bball hasn't been played yet - better to peak later than early.

I think we played about the same as last night-it's just that San Jose didn't have the dagger outside shooting that NDSU had. We blew a nice lead in the first half and were lucky to be up by 1. Then we hit that second half dead spot and were in real danger of losing control. But thanks to clutch free throw shooting by Al Beye (7-8 tonight) down the stretch, two strait steals by Casey Durham, and a huge three by Derrick Edmonds we were able to reel them in and win. 1 for 2 free throw shooting by Durham, Jefferson, and Edmonds at the very end gave San Jose hope.

Moss played somewhat better, but still had several turnovers and a couple of air ball jumpers. He needs to abandon the jumper. We didn't get the points out of Morris that we got last night though.

I think Durham may have figured out that he need Derrick Edmonds on the court at the end of these close games (he said so on the post game show). Jefferson was bricking shots left and right-he needed to come out. Edmonds came in with 4 minutes left and hit a key three pointer. If Edmonds was in down the stretch instead of the invisible Dissly last night I think we would have beat NDSU.

This team is a long ways from being well, but tonights win can only help. It was an amazingly even tournament as 3 of the games came down to last second shots and the 4th game was a four point margin. Of course if the teams were truely even, MSU should have won it with the homecourt advantage.

edmonds played well. i dont think mick "just realized" that he needed to play edmonds at the end of the game. he probably did "just realize" that while jaron has always shot the ball every time he touches it, tonight he wasn't making anything. am i the only one that actually gets a little worried when he makes a couple because i know that the next time down the floor, no matter what the situation, the ball is going up. and where are all the posts bashing him and his shot selection? or is that just saved for the coaches kid. how about moss launching shot after shot from 15 feet when he clearly had the edge inside most of the night. i'm not doggin' these guys because they are two of my favorites. but i try to be impartial when expressing my criticism. jaron and moss were horrible yesterday and tonight. jaron got his points but some of his decisions leave us shaking our heads. let's hope for a final tune-up monday before the start of conference on thursday!

whitetrashgriz wrote:edmonds played well. i dont think mick "just realized" that he needed to play edmonds at the end of the game. he probably did "just realize" that while jaron has always shot the ball every time he touches it, tonight he wasn't making anything. am i the only one that actually gets a little worried when he makes a couple because i know that the next time down the floor, no matter what the situation, the ball is going up. and where are all the posts bashing him and his shot selection? or is that just saved for the coaches kid. how about moss launching shot after shot from 15 feet when he clearly had the edge inside most of the night. i'm not doggin' these guys because they are two of my favorites. but i try to be impartial when expressing my criticism. jaron and moss were horrible yesterday and tonight. jaron got his points but some of his decisions leave us shaking our heads. let's hope for a final tune-up monday before the start of conference on thursday!

When the only player who can create shots for himself and rebound the ball like a power forward is 6-1 you have to take what you can get from him. He was a little leg weary last night after the game the previous night so his shot was off. He still scored 13 points. He's the go to guy on this team...so he's expected to shoot. I'm just gald we had Edmonds waiting in the wings to spell him because this is when we miss Miller.

whitetrashgriz wrote:he probably did "just realize" that while jaron has always shot the ball every time he touches it, tonight he wasn't making anything. am i the only one that actually gets a little worried when he makes a couple because i know that the next time down the floor, no matter what the situation, the ball is going up. and where are all the posts bashing him and his shot selection? or is that just saved for the coaches kid. how about moss launching shot after shot from 15 feet when he clearly had the edge inside most of the night. i'm not doggin' these guys because they are two of my favorites. but i try to be impartial when expressing my criticism. jaron and moss were horrible yesterday and tonight. jaron got his points but some of his decisions leave us shaking our heads. let's hope for a final tune-up monday before the start of conference on thursday!

I was about to say the same thing. He went 1 for 6 last night from three (his worst effort of the year), and was 4-13 overall, a pretty bad percentage. However, Ja'Ron has made 30 of 70 threes this year, for 42.8%, which is a pretty good percentage. The thing I like about Ja'Ron is his ability to drive it to the hoop. I don't mind missed shots if he is driving and getting fouled, or even just driving. He is creating opportunity for a tip-in or an offensive rebound when he does it, especially when Al or Ted is out there.

I disagree with the statement that Ja'Ron was terrible against NDSU. He was the only guy besides our centers getting anything done in that game. He was 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from 3, made 5-6 FT's, had 3 rebounds, 2 ast's, 1 TO, and 4 steals, and had 17 points. He and Marvin switched "off" nights, but I'll take an 11 point "off" night with 8 rips and no TO's over Moss's "off" night against NDSU (see below).

Moss was 5-15 from the floor tonight, but had 9 rebonds, 5 assists, and only 2 TO's, whereas last night he was 2-11 from the floor, had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 TO's. A better game, but he can do better. One thing I noticed on his ESPN.com stats is that his averages in all categories have decreased from last year (ppg, ft%, 3pt%, fg%, stl, reb, etc.). The only thing that has increased is his AST/TO ratio. Granted there is still a lot of basketball to be played, but it makes one wonder.

I still do not understand why Marvin is attempting threes. That is not his game. Sure he'll make one every now and then, but it is still not wise to have him shoot a three on a set play off an inbounds pass. Get Edmonds (47.2%), Dissly (41.5%), Durr (45.8%), or Jefferson (42.8%) back there insead of Marvin (23.8%), or even Casey (28.3%).

I have one more gripe. Why can't Pratt play more? He is the third tallest guy on our team, and has an incredible wingspan (shot blocking ability). When Moss goes out, I think Pratt should see equal playing time as Durr. They both bring a different game to the court, which makes other teams think more. If both Al and Ted are out, there is absolutely NO REASON why Pratt should not be in the game. When Moss is our biggest guy in there, we are very vulnerable inside, just because of our height disadvantage. If Al can do alright inside with his 210 frame (defensively), then there is no reason why the 205 Pratt can't. Besides if Moss is 6'6", Pratt is 6'9" easy . I think the one thing that limits his minutes is that he doesn't shoot the 3, and Durr does. Durham is wasting talent....

Helcat72 wrote:

whitetrashgriz wrote:edmonds played well. i dont think mick "just realized" that he needed to play edmonds at the end of the game. he probably did "just realize" that while jaron has always shot the ball every time he touches it, tonight he wasn't making anything. am i the only one that actually gets a little worried when he makes a couple because i know that the next time down the floor, no matter what the situation, the ball is going up. and where are all the posts bashing him and his shot selection? or is that just saved for the coaches kid. how about moss launching shot after shot from 15 feet when he clearly had the edge inside most of the night. i'm not doggin' these guys because they are two of my favorites. but i try to be impartial when expressing my criticism. jaron and moss were horrible yesterday and tonight. jaron got his points but some of his decisions leave us shaking our heads. let's hope for a final tune-up monday before the start of conference on thursday!

When the only player who can create shots for himself and rebound the ball like a power forward is 6-1 you have to take what you can get from him. He was a little leg weary last night after the game the previous night so his shot was off. He still scored 13 points. He's the go to guy on this team...so he's expected to shoot. I'm just gald we had Edmonds waiting in the wings to spell him because this is when we miss Miller.

I agree, see the above post.