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Next year

teejay406

Member
Very proud of this team and its accomplishments this year. Looking to next year after only loosing one senior I'll be curious to see what the rotation may look like. Obviously Mike, Ahmaad, Sayeed, Jamar, Bobby, Timmy and Karl will continue to get heavy minutes. I'm assuming Donavan will also be ready to contribute significantly as well. That gives us a pretty solid 8 man rotation. Anybody else you guys see contributing significantly next year? Seems like we have a pretty full bench at the moment with a few freshman coming in as well. Will we go deeper than 8?

Also wondering who the Big Sky teams are that could realistically stand in our way next. A lot of senior talent finished their final seasons this year. Hoping the league can continue to keep winning OOC games against quality opponents so we can keep the RPI up next year.

Excited to keep watching this team develop. Got the funds set aside for season tickets next year. Go Griz!
 
teejay406 said:
Very proud of this team and its accomplishments this year. Looking to next year after only loosing one senior I'll be curious to see what the rotation may look like. Obviously Mike, Ahmaad, Sayeed, Jamar, Bobby, Timmy and Karl will continue to get heavy minutes. I'm assuming Donavan will also be ready to contribute significantly as well. That gives us a pretty solid 8 man rotation. Anybody else you guys see contributing significantly next year? Seems like we have a pretty full bench at the moment with a few freshman coming in as well. Will we go deeper than 8?

Also wondering who the Big Sky teams are that could realistically stand in our way next. A lot of senior talent finished their final seasons this year. Hoping the league can continue to keep winning OOC games against quality opponents so we can keep the RPI up next year.

Excited to keep watching this team develop. Got the funds set aside for season tickets next year. Go Griz!

I’ll be curious to see how Kramer and Besovic come along as young bigs. I also think Espe could be an up and comer at guard.
 
teejay406 said:
Very proud of this team and its accomplishments this year. Looking to next year after only loosing one senior I'll be curious to see what the rotation may look like. Obviously Mike, Ahmaad, Sayeed, Jamar, Bobby, Timmy and Karl will continue to get heavy minutes. I'm assuming Donavan will also be ready to contribute significantly as well. That gives us a pretty solid 8 man rotation. Anybody else you guys see contributing significantly next year? Seems like we have a pretty full bench at the moment with a few freshman coming in as well. Will we go deeper than 8?

Also wondering who the Big Sky teams are that could realistically stand in our way next. A lot of senior talent finished their final seasons this year. Hoping the league can continue to keep winning OOC games against quality opponents so we can keep the RPI up next year.

Excited to keep watching this team develop. Got the funds set aside for season tickets next year. Go Griz!

Northern Colorado will also be loaded next year
 
ewoo graduates Bogdan, but they had a couple kids shooting the 3 that will be around for a few more years. the spuds - I really dont know. the cats - they will suck as usual.
 
NorthEndZoneDan said:
ewoo graduates Bogdan, but they had a couple kids shooting the 3 that will be around for a few more years. the spuds - I really dont know. the cats - they will suck as usual.


There will be some good teams in the BSC next year but based on this year, and I am not saying it will be easy, I think the BSC is ours to lose. I cant wait to see the OOC results, I think we may win some games that would be considered upsets.
 
The tools are there, maybe uniquely so for this conference anyway, to line up correctly for a once in a lifetime type of experience in Missoula. I do hope it works that way.

Northern Colorado in my mind is the clear threat, followed probably by Weber. If Montana State figured things out, they have a player that could wreck a lot of plans for a lot of teams. I am a huge Barret Peery fan and if he gets the right personnel at PSU they are going to be super scary. He’s a great recruiter and if he establishes his philosophy that he was known for at CSI, they are a real threat as well.

There are a lot of suppositions that could occur, but for Montana to elevate beyond its standing and receive the type of national recognition, prior to the tournament... They have to win non-conference games against power 5 schools and do exactly again what they did in conference this year. Otherwise we are looking square at a 15-13 seed against a power 5 school. I do wonder if Coach is able to the get that type of schedule against beatable mid-majors, and a smattering of Power 5 schools. If I am a power 5 school, not sure I want anything of a body bag game that we might lose.

MOreover, I really wonder if they are going to get the type of non-conference games at home that fans would like. We won’t see Boise State anytime soon, not sure that other mid-major western teams are going to want to travel to Missoula. That just hurts the schedule in regards to RPI when you have to play bottom level WCC, Big West and WAC schools at home. In some ways it is very comparable to the BSC.

We know we have NDSU at home, SDSU on the road. Anyone else heard rumors about who might be on the schedule for non-conference this upcoming year?
 
Grizfan-24 said:
The tools are there, maybe uniquely so for this conference anyway, to line up correctly for a once in a lifetime type of experience in Missoula. I do hope it works that way.

Northern Colorado in my mind is the clear threat, followed probably by Weber. If Montana State figured things out, they have a player that could wreck a lot of plans for a lot of teams. I am a huge Barret Peery fan and if he gets the right personnel at PSU they are going to be super scary. He’s a great recruiter and if he establishes his philosophy that he was known for at CSI, they are a real threat as well.

There are a lot of suppositions that could occur, but for Montana to elevate beyond its standing and receive the type of national recognition, prior to the tournament... They have to win non-conference games against power 5 schools and do exactly again what they did in conference this year. Otherwise we are looking square at a 15-13 seed against a power 5 school. I do wonder if Coach is able to the get that type of schedule against beatable mid-majors, and a smattering of Power 5 schools. If I am a power 5 school, not sure I want anything of a body bag game that we might lose.

MOreover, I really wonder if they are going to get the type of non-conference games at home that fans would like. We won’t see Boise State anytime soon, not sure that other mid-major western teams are going to want to travel to Missoula. That just hurts the schedule in regards to RPI when you have to play bottom level WCC, Big West and WAC schools at home. In some ways it is very comparable to the BSC.

We know we have NDSU at home, SDSU on the road. Anyone else heard rumors about who might be on the schedule for non-conference this upcoming year?

It seems like someone posted some already known OOC games for next year. Possibly we are playing in a tourney?
 
cmtgrizzly said:
NorthEndZoneDan said:
ewoo graduates Bogdan, but they had a couple kids shooting the 3 that will be around for a few more years. the spuds - I really dont know. the cats - they will suck as usual.


There will be some good teams in the BSC next year but based on this year, and I am not saying it will be easy, I think the BSC is ours to lose. I cant wait to see the OOC results, I think we may win some games that would be considered upsets.

do we know what our pre conference schedule is yet?
 
NorthEndZoneDan said:
cmtgrizzly said:
NorthEndZoneDan said:
ewoo graduates Bogdan, but they had a couple kids shooting the 3 that will be around for a few more years. the spuds - I really dont know. the cats - they will suck as usual.


There will be some good teams in the BSC next year but based on this year, and I am not saying it will be easy, I think the BSC is ours to lose. I cant wait to see the OOC results, I think we may win some games that would be considered upsets.

do we know what our pre conference schedule is yet?

I dont know the schedule. Knowing TD it will have some P5 schools
 
AZGrizFan said:
If we can’t hit layups and 4 footers it wont matter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was last year, we are on to the next year. Last year is left to table conversation and "remember".
 
We have an excellent coach and several talented players. If we are going to continue improving, we must have challenging competition on a regular basis. Travis has done well with his scheduling efforts.
 
Spanky2 said:
We have an excellent coach and several talented players. If we are going to continue improving, we must have challenging competition on a regular basis. Travis has done well with his scheduling efforts.

I have belief that neither TD nor the players are satisfied with this year and want more opportunities against top level schools. TD has big time plans for this program and I am sure he will do all he can to eclipse this year's OOC schedule.
 
fanofzoo said:
AZGrizFan said:
If we can’t hit layups and 4 footers it wont matter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was last year, we are on to the next year. Last year is left to table conversation and "remember".

OK, let me clarify my comment: NEXT YEAR, if we can’t hit layups and four footers it won’t matter who we play in non conference or what our seed is in the NCAA tourney.
 
Life, business and sports are all moving targets. You have to adapt, you have to change, and no matter our considerable success this year, these are the changes I'd like to see next year.

OFFENSE: I once had a girlfriend who knew nothing about sports, which made her uncomfortable around my sports buddies. But I said, "No problem. In any conversation, just listen. Then, at an appropriate moment, say "DEFENSE!" It worked every time. Everybody immediately agreed! She knew her stuff! She was one of us! She loved me for it. We always laughed about it.
And it's true, good defense always levels the playing field. As horrible as that ten minute drought was against Michigan, we came out of it only three possessions down, still in the game, because our defense was terrific. And YET! Games are won and lost on the scoreboard; to win consistently, you have to have the ability to put up points, in bursts at times. Somehow, some way, we have to develop, steal, recruit, find or build in a biology lab one or two guys who can shoot the damned ball. Yes, I know, even the best teams can go cold, and even a Steph Curry can have one or two bad shooting nights. But when it happens with us as often as it did this year, especially against the Power Five teams like Penn State, Stanford and Michigan, you have to say, it's not just a team gone cold--it's a team that at the very least has to have better shooters. UMBC won that game last night against Virginia because they were in a shooting zone, and kept pouring it on relentlessly late when you expected they might suddenly collapse. They just kept putting that damned ball in the basket, especially the three-ball, the shot that has changed the game. We did not, and could not. If we had, we could have taken down Michigan. The game was ours for the taking.

POST PLAY: Finally, in the fourth year of the DeCuire regime, we got some legit bigs--Akoh and Nicholas. What a relief! At the same time, all our bigs had flaws, and those really showed up against Michigan. Where Oguine and Rorie, arguably the best guard tandem ever had at Montana, were more than up to the challenge against Michigan, our post play was embarrassing, almost comically inept. Krslovic got blocked once and seemed timid after that. Akoh rebounded okay, but disappeared offensively, as if the ball had been greased. If we'd had better post play, it would have opened up a lot more driving lanes for our guards as well.
On this score, help may be on the way. Nicholas will improve, and hopefully Akoh as well. Kelby Kramer brings legit height and a redshirt year to the table, so he should contribute. If Mack Anderson can contribute anything as a true freshman, it would be helpful as well. You could conceivably have four legit bigs in a conference not known for bigs--and ones who could compete against Power Five post players. Fingers crossed.

ROTATION: I'm not a big fan of the seven-man, or even eight-man rotation, for two reasons. First, injuries. Luckily, we went an entire year with no major injuries--a rarity, frankly. By playing ten, you develop deeper talent as you go, as the big schools know. Remember when North Carolina went the first seven minutes without a bucket against Miami in the ACC tournament, Roy Williams benched all five starters, and brought in his next five, and they turned the game around. Depth is always good, and for as second reason as well: You don't want to burn out your starters. DeCuire was masterful at the way he shuffled players in and out, yet Rorie still played tons of minutes every game. And when you're expending as much energy on defense as our kids too, it's also going to wear you down on the offensive end. So I believe a deeper rotation would lead to better shooting.

FAN SUPPORT: I see it coming back, I do. More fans at road games, even a sellout at Dahlberg. The beauty of this year's team is, most of them will be back--with promising players in Kelby Kamer and Mack Anderson joining the party. Thus I think the enthusiasm we created this year will carry over to next year, and beyond. DeCuire has got this program rolling.
 
citay said:
Life, business and sports are all moving targets. You have to adapt, you have to change, and no matter our considerable success this year, these are the changes I'd like to see next year.

OFFENSE: I once had a girlfriend who knew nothing about sports, which made her uncomfortable around my sports buddies. But I said, "No problem. In any conversation, just listen. Then, at an appropriate moment, say "DEFENSE!" It worked every time. Everybody immediately agreed! She knew her stuff! She was one of us! She loved me for it. We always laughed about it.
And it's true, good defense always levels the playing field. As horrible as that ten minute drought was against Michigan, we came out of it only three possessions down, still in the game, because our defense was terrific. And YET! Games are won and lost on the scoreboard; to win consistently, you have to have the ability to put up points, in bursts at times. Somehow, some way, we have to develop, steal, recruit, find or build in a biology lab one or two guys who can shoot the damned ball. Yes, I know, even the best teams can go cold, and even a Steph Curry can have one or two bad shooting nights. But when it happens with us as often as it did this year, especially against the Power Five teams like Penn State, Stanford and Michigan, you have to say, it's not just a team gone cold--it's a team that at the very least has to have better shooters. UMBC won that game last night against Virginia because they were in a shooting zone, and kept pouring it on relentlessly late when you expected they might suddenly collapse. They just kept putting that damned ball in the basket, especially the three-ball, the shot that has changed the game. We did not, and could not. If we had, we could have taken down Michigan. The game was ours for the taking.

POST PLAY: Finally, in the fourth year of the DeCuire regime, we got some legit bigs--Akoh and Nicholas. What a relief! At the same time, all our bigs had flaws, and those really showed up against Michigan. Where Oguine and Rorie, arguably the best guard tandem ever had at Montana, were more than up to the challenge against Michigan, our post play was embarrassing, almost comically inept. Krslovic got blocked once and seemed timid after that. Akoh rebounded okay, but disappeared offensively, as if the ball had been greased. If we'd had better post play, it would have opened up a lot more driving lanes for our guards as well.
On this score, help may be on the way. Nicholas will improve, and hopefully Akoh as well. Kelby Kramer brings legit height and a redshirt year to the table, so he should contribute. If Mack Anderson can contribute anything as a true freshman, it would be helpful as well. You could conceivably have four legit bigs in a conference not known for bigs--and ones who could compete against Power Five post players. Fingers crossed.

ROTATION: I'm not a big fan of the seven-man, or even eight-man rotation, for two reasons. First, injuries. Luckily, we went an entire year with no major injuries--a rarity, frankly. By playing ten, you develop deeper talent as you go, as the big schools know. Remember when North Carolina went the first seven minutes without a bucket against Miami in the ACC tournament, Roy Williams benched all five starters, and brought in his next five, and they turned the game around. Depth is always good, and for as second reason as well: You don't want to burn out your starters. DeCuire was masterful at the way he shuffled players in and out, yet Rorie still played tons of minutes every game. And when you're expending as much energy on defense as our kids too, it's also going to wear you down on the offensive end. So I believe a deeper rotation would lead to better shooting.

FAN SUPPORT: I see it coming back, I do. More fans at road games, even a sellout at Dahlberg. The beauty of this year's team is, most of them will be back--with promising players in Kelby Kamer and Mack Anderson joining the party. Thus I think the enthusiasm we created this year will carry over to next year, and beyond. DeCuire has got this program rolling.

:thumb: :clap:
 
Rotation:
I agree about the 7-8 man rotation. At the high school level it is considered deep. Used to using six or seven kids most competitive games, and a keeping no more than 10.

I think this year was unique in that those 7 or 8 worked so well as a collective unit, you didn't need to have 5 guys replacing 5 starters.

I see the same versatility next year, with the added bonus of going personnel groupings (which I love). So Traivs could play roughly the same 7-8 guys he did this year and not miss a beat.

I was thinking about how to increase the rotation and this team is an interesting swiss army knife type element for next year. That is provided everyone is coming back. they have answers (maybe not great answers, but answers none the less)...

Here are some scintilating pairings...
Existing Rotation: Rorie, Oguine, Moorehead, Pridgett, Akoh
Flash: Rorie, Oguine, Falls, Moorehead, Dorsey (if healthy) or Nicholas
Thunder: Rorie/Oguine, Dorsey, Akoh, Besovic, Kramer
Length: Oguine, Pridgett, Dorsey, Moorehead, Nicholas
Bombs Away: Rorie, Oguine, Moorehead, Bevins, Espe/Falls

Rotation #1: Rorie, Oguine, Moorehead, Pridgett, Akoh w/ Dorsey???
Rotation #2: Espe, Falls, Bevins, Nicholas, Besovic

THe point, is those units can do just about anything. That is a diverse population of players. I don't know how deep it is really after Nicholas on the bench for next year, but he'll have 13 guys (with Spoja, Kramer, and Jones as well). A lot of those guys are really unknowns Kramer, Besovic, Jones, Bevins, but the depth seems absurd for a mid-major program.
 
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