Bobcats vs. South Dakota St.

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:15 pm

Well, this is the last tuneup before conference for the Bobcats. The Jackrabbits are 3-10 on the year, but have played a tough schedule thus far. I think the Cats can win this one without necessarily having to play a close game. Some issues to consider for today:

1. Who should be starting for the Bobcats? Will Nick Dissly prove that he can keep his place in the starting rotation?

2. Can the Cats play to their potential in this game and can they finish the non-conference portion of the schedule on a high note?

3. Are the Jackrabbits Big Sky worthy? For me, it will be interesting to see, since we've already seen both Northern Colorado and North Dakota State.

Here's today's Chronicle article about the game, if anyone is interested.
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ar ... /02msu.txt

wbtfg · Post by **wbtfg** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:29 pm

Don't forget...the Women play at 2:00. These girls are working their butts off, get out and show them some support.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 1:26 pm

Durham's quotes in the Chronicle article are interesting. He's mad because he thinks the team is playing selfishly-they need to make each other better. That may be, but I haven't had a real problem with their shot selection or the amount of time it takes to put a shot up. These guys are simply missing too many shots that a D-1 college basketball player should make most of the time-heck Moss could start by just hitting the rim. It's so frustrating watching the visiting team shoot better in the fieldhouse than the home team. That shouldn't happen.

whitetrashgriz · Post by **whitetrashgriz** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:14 pm

it's obvious after watching this team, and listening to mick that this team desperately needs to come together. as fans, i find it hard to have confidence in this team when they clearly dont have confidence in eachother. i think losing brandon was a step in the right direction as far as unity went. but until every player on this team realizes that they need the other 4 guys on the floor to be good, we are going to be BAD! and while all the "coaches" on this board have some interesting thoughts, such as replacing durham with edmonds(rediculous), starting durr instead of diss(crazy but i can see where it's coming from!), and the craziest as far as i'm concerned, playing pratt more! he's a good guy. and i know after that sweet article about he and his family has us all pulling for him, but there is a reason that he doens't play. and that is because he is not very good. anyone who has watched him play enough knows this. and sorry, but schooling freshman in the rat-gym doesn't count! but even if all these ideas were legit, i don't think they would help this teams current problem. if this teams starters dont have faith in eachother, what makes us think that they'd love an opportunity to play with carson durr or taylor pratt more? sorry, but in my opionion, it's unrealalistic. they need to play together, believe in eachother, have a little fun, and play some ball!

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:30 pm

wbtfg wrote:Don't forget...the Women play at 2:00. These girls are working their butts off, get out and show them some support.

Yeah, the ladies have a good chance to win today, I think. They do play better as a team and work a lot harder. I should have mentioned that one earlier. I'm leaving for the game in 10 minutes or so, so it should be a nice day for a day-night, women's-men's doubleheader.

Swilly3224 · Post by **Swilly3224** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:33 pm

wbtfg wrote:Don't forget...the Women play at 2:00. These girls are working their butts off, get out and show them some support.

Obviously arent working hard enough

(no smack intended)

wbtfg · Post by **wbtfg** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:38 pm

Swilly3224 wrote:
wbtfg wrote:Don't forget...the Women play at 2:00. These girls are working their butts off, get out and show them some support.
Obviously arent working hard enough

(no smack intended)

You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about....

Smack board

CatGrad00 · Post by **CatGrad00** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 3:09 pm

whitetrashgriz wrote:it's obvious after watching this team, and listening to mick that this team desperately needs to come together. as fans, i find it hard to have confidence in this team when they clearly dont have confidence in eachother. i think losing brandon was a step in the right direction as far as unity went. but until every player on this team realizes that they need the other 4 guys on the floor to be good, we are going to be BAD! and while all the "coaches" on this board have some interesting thoughts, such as replacing durham with edmonds(rediculous), starting durr instead of diss(crazy but i can see where it's coming from!), and the craziest as far as i'm concerned, playing pratt more! he's a good guy. and i know after that sweet article about he and his family has us all pulling for him, but there is a reason that he doens't play. and that is because he is not very good. anyone who has watched him play enough knows this. and sorry, but schooling freshman in the rat-gym doesn't count! but even if all these ideas were legit, i don't think they would help this teams current problem. if this teams starters dont have faith in eachother, what makes us think that they'd love an opportunity to play with carson durr or taylor pratt more? sorry, but in my opionion, it's unrealalistic. they need to play together, believe in eachother, have a little fun, and play some ball!

You have some very good insight here......someones needs a reality check on team basketball. We do not make enough passes before shooting, players do not work very hard to get teammates shots (they do a great job getting themselves shots), and many seem to have no pride in Bobcat basketball. I have seen many open shots for players in which they are not given the ball. If it is obvious from the nickel seats in the stands, you know Mick sees it. I just wish he would yank a player who is selfish rather than worry about it. I can really see why Mick is frustrated even after the win over SJS.

Also, in my opinion, the Cats will need to win all three league openers at home to win the Big Sky..(ISU, Weber, Montana) ...because we know how they play on the road (the ol' let's split philosophy). When the players get the idea to play "Bobcat Basketball" the fan support will come! Come on guys......gut check and commit to the total program, not just yourselves!

Swilly3224 · Post by **Swilly3224** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 3:41 pm

wbtfg wrote:
Swilly3224 wrote:
wbtfg wrote:Don't forget...the Women play at 2:00. These girls are working their butts off, get out and show them some support.
Obviously arent working hard enough

(no smack intended)
You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about....

Smack board

When are you winless obviously you arent doing something right, Im just stating facts and if you dont like them then become a griz fan

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:00 pm

SDSU is typically a MBB force. I haven't looked at who they have played so far, but I don't think their record is probably a good indication of how they will do against these Cats.

I guess my comment to the "guys need to play as a team and make each other better" quote is this: Maybe if the post guys thought they would get the ball back from the guys who hug the 3-pt line, then maybe the post guys would probably be willing to pass more.

whitetrashgriz · Post by **whitetrashgriz** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:24 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:SDSU is typically a MBB force. I haven't looked at who they have played so far, but I don't think their record is probably a good indication of how they will do against these Cats.

I guess my comment to the "guys need to play as a team and make each other better" quote is this: Maybe if the post guys thought they would get the ball back from the guys who hug the 3-pt line, then maybe the post guys would probably be willing to pass more.

but on the other side, maybe if the the guards and forwards had a little more faith in the big guys under the basket, they'd give it to them more. there are always two sides to every story. maybe if marvin, who might be one of the best players around the basket in our league, would play around the basket, rather than bombing from the outside, he'd get more touches. maybe if ted decided to make his one and two footers he'd get passed to. so, like i said, i think this TEAM needs to come together. winning can make for a lot of confidence. let's win tonight, and then try to start conference play out right winning our first three at home.

twentythreeOh4 · Post by **twentythreeOh4** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:57 pm

Halftime score: South Dakota St 32, Montana St. 29.

Apparently MSU still doesn't believe in getting off to a good start. They will have to come from behind again.

PapaG · Post by **PapaG** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:34 pm

Lesson from this thread?

It's OK to criticize any player other than the coach's son.

twentythreeOh4 · Post by **twentythreeOh4** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:14 pm

Final: Montana St. 78, South Dakota St 73

wbtfg · Post by **wbtfg** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:16 pm

PapaG wrote:Lesson from this thread?

It's OK to criticize any player other than the coach's son.

Just out of curiosity, how many Men's bball games have you been to this year?

I'm not trying to talk smack, but it's sometime difficult to see who's playing well, and who is not just by looking at the stat sheet.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:35 pm

Bobcat basketball=40 minutes of frustration.

We couldn't seem to get anything going on offense and got absolutely killed on the boards. Bad freethrow shooting in the first half (4-10) almost doomed us.

Al Beye hits a 15 foot jumper to put us up by three right at the end-it was a wierd night.

I guess the good news is we haven't peaked yet-or if we have we're really in trouble.

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:40 pm

I'm back from the game. Well, a win is a win, I guess, but at some point the Bobcats aren't going to get away with having to pull a victory out of the air (I say that nicely-there's a different word going through my head right now) at the end of the game. I'll start my anaylsis by going back to my original questions.

bozbobcat wrote:1. Who should be starting for the Bobcats? Will Nick Dissly prove that he can keep his place in the starting rotation?

2. Can the Cats play to their potential in this game and can they finish the non-conference portion of the schedule on a high note?

3. Are the Jackrabbits Big Sky worthy? For me, it will be interesting to see, since we've already seen both Northern Colorado and North Dakota State.

1. There's no clear answer here right now. Derrick Edmonds had a great game and so did JaRon Jefferson. So far, JaRon has been this team's MVP. JaRon and Derrick sparked the comeback and hit big baskets. These two and Al missed only 5 shots between them. Jacques Wilson had a good game but I wonder why he wasn't in at all in the second half. He's going to be a player for years to come. Casey Durham did OK at the point. I'm starting to think Edmonds should start in a 3 guard starting lineup with JaRon and Casey.

The forward positions did not have a great night. Nick Dissly may just need to shoot hoops in an empty gym and get back his stroke. He's lost all confidence on the offensive end and it showed, scoring no points. Marvin Moss only had 4 and just didn't look great either. Carson Durr and Taylor Pratt gave solid contributions in other parts of the game, but neither scored.

Ted Morris had an OK game and Al Beye played very well, scoring 11 and blocking 4 shots. Al has really improved as the games have gone on and he's helping to keep the Cats in the game. Ted got some solid minutes and hit a couple key baskets. The defense really wasn't great as the Cats were sorely outrebounded, but it was a decent performance from the center.

I'd like to propose this starting lineup for Thursday's game vs. Weber St.
PG Casey Durham
SG JaRon Jefferson
SG 2 Derrick Edmonds (in place of small forward)
PF Marvin Moss
C Al Beye

2. The Cats did finish on a high note, pulling out a win yet again. They've won 4 out of 5 heading into conference play. This really has to be frustrating for the players having to win like that, but it shows a lot of resolve and character coming back and winning, hitting 60% from the floor in the second half. The defense just isn't there right now, but I hope it will come soon. They'll come out motivated against conference play, I HOPE. They just need to play better in conference.

3. South Dakota State is not as bad as their record indicates. They played well tonight and really would make a good fit in the Big Sky, along with NDSU.

I hope that wasn't too much writing. Have a nice evening.

farmcats · Post by **farmcats** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:23 pm

Just got back from the game. In spite of their play they won , how I don’t know. SDU statistically out played us. We just didn’t play good ball for 35 of the 40 minutes. For five minutes we played Cat basketball and came back to tie the game. Then were able to hold on and win at the end.
Dissly played terrible. When he was in he played like he was sleep walking. In the second half he played about five minutes. When Dissly wasn’t in Edmonds was at the two guard and Jefferson at the three.
Both Dissly and Moss need to get their head’s on straight in order for us to make a run in conference. We can’t win games with then not scoring nor not playing good team defense. Dissly needs to play loose. He is playing so uptight, not playing relaxed. Moss needs to play within the game and not try to over play. He is trying to be the main guy. For Moss the main difference between this year and last year is last year he didn’t force things and played within the frame work of the offense. This year all he wants to do is force up shoots..
Wilson came in and made three 3- pointers and played good defense in the first half. He well get more playing time with each game. Edmonds playing time well also increase with Dissly getting less if not starting over him.

whitetrashgriz · Post by **whitetrashgriz** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:10 am

PapaG wrote:Lesson from this thread?

It's OK to criticize any player other than the coach's son.

i get your sarcasm. it's fine. you obviously haven't seen this team play, read the boxscore after the game, and criticize. have at it. criticize casey all you want. doesn't mean my opinion will change. i try to be objective. if that's not your thing, i dont care. you can hope casey dies for all i give a s h i t. it's not changing the fact that i like how he plays, i like his effort, and while he's not hittin the shots, he comes with a desire to win every night. it's not like i am sitting here saying he's the best player in the conference or anything. i was simply defending him when people were laying so much blame on him early on. i stand by this now more than ever after watching the rest of this teams performance. so papa, you keep reading the boxscore, and you keep thinking that casey is the problem, and i'll keep GOING TO THE GAMES, and thinking that there are a lot of areas that need improvement!

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:30 am

I just got back from Bozeman and we need to do something about Dissly! He needs a good dose of Prozac or something. He looks depressed! Maybe his dog died or he's having women problems! He tries a few moves early and if he's unsuccessful....forget the rest of the game!

Moss looks like he was up all night with the baby or something. I still believe that his problem is that he gets frustrated when he's up against a better athlete. Moss cannot jump! He can make quick up and under moves under the basket, but if the defense can beat him to the spot he will travel or give it up. He can't put the ball on the floor..and if he tries he dribbles it off his foot or gets it stolen. He just looks like a player who has been a center for most of his career and still cannot get used to facing the basket! His range is about a foot and a half!

The result of this is that we get no offense from either forward most nights. They play decent defense some nights, and we'd be in deep trouble if they didn't play, but they're a waste on offense!

Tonight the defense and rebounding was atocious! SDSU was getting 15 foot jumpers at will and their post was making us look bad. He had 24 or so. Mick said before the game that we were going to play straight up man to man and not trap...but we had to! When we trapped and they escaped, it looked like the defense just gave up the shot!

Mick was dumbfounded with the defense according to what he said on the post game show.

Frankly, IMO, we lack size at the guards, and we just don't have the athletes at the forwards to compete with the teams that we play. The good news is we have everyone back from last year...the bad news is we have everyone back from last year...a year when we overachieved against a WEAK LEAGUE!