• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!

Wednesday Night Scrimmage

GrizWhiz

GrizWhiz

Well-known member
I am just back from the men's scrimmage and have a couple of opening observations. Brandon Gfeller shot lights out tonight and played like a real veteran. If he can carry this into regular season games, the Griz have a real weapon. Likewise, Weisner and Gregory had very good offensive nights. The tricky part for the Griz is Weisner is playing the four. If he starts, there goes Kemp's rebounding (and he had more than a few tonight) and defense. Weisner gives them more scoring though. I will add a little more later after my memory is bumped by posts from others in attendance.
 
I look forward with some breakdowns, observations, and opinions here. Personally, I'd stick with Weisner being our 6th man. He thrives in that role due to his versatility, quick scoring, and he is more comfortable off the bench than starting. Meanwhile, I think Kemp is more of a player who needs minutes to find his comfort zone and get his potential. Last year, it did not matter what he did, he was often looking over his shoulder, and it showed with inconsistent play. We also need his rebounding much more than we need Weisner's scoring.
 
I forgot to mention the play of Dunn. He is lightening quick and tortures anyone he is defending. At one point, he got the ball in open court, was immediately double teamed and simply blew by both defenders. He played very well tonight and will undoubtedly start and see major minutes. I also liked the play of Krslovic. He really has good court awareness and defends well. Of the true freshman, I think he will play the most minutes and given the dearth of big men, potentially be part of the regular rotations.
 
I just got back from the Griz scrimmage. Stayed to watch the first half of the Lady Griz (impressive uptempo game).

The Griz? New coach, new system... but I came away almost flabbergasted at the number of offensive looks the Griz already have in place... including a powerful uptempo version of the classic Montana Hi Lo offense, TD style, or probably more accurately, TD's version of Monte's adaptation of the hi lo. Impressive.

GrizRule. Had you seen Michael Weisner tonight, you'd probably change your opinion. No more sixth man for him. I'll try to explain. There were so many looks from the "New Look Griz," that I'm trying to get this all in order.

But, I don't think Weisner was playing the four... but actually as a wing when the Griz played with Breunig at the four and Kemp at post (their "traditional offense). Otherwise the offensive scheme was one of two small-man offensive dribble-enter flows where Breunig played a roving post with Dunn at point and Weisner, Gregory and/or Gfeller/Edmonds in a three wing look that was absolutely potent. Very high powered spread-type of offensive flow that saw Breunig slide to the baseline wing, or to the tip of the key (while guards were aggressvely pushing a dribble-enter motion) and then shoot the trey himself as well. From that offense, Weisner and Gfeller were deadly.

In fact, that spread O was where the wings + Dunn gave the Griz an almost four-guard look instead of a single post/small forward look. We'll have to check the box score soon, but all four guard-wings shot lights out. Dunn had a bit of an off night from the perimeter.

I'll see if I can get my notes together and develop a general scouting report a bit later tonight.
 
Good point about Weisner not always at the four. The mixed up line ups and constantly changing teams made it hard to tell sometimes. He did play some four but I can see a starting line up with him (at the three,) Kemp, Breunig, Gregory and Dunn. I suspect Weisner will see time at the four also given the scarcity of experienced Griz big men.
 
I decided that -- instead of a long scrimmage report -- I'll just add brief descriptions of specific things that I observed of Travis DeCure's Montana Griz (14-15).

COACH DeCUIRE: Composed, sat on the bench through all game flow. Stood only to call time outs and/or announce a change of play to his point guards. Not at all animated. Always appeared in control... in fact, clearly the master of game flow. Always had a clip board handy for use in time outs. Always commanded player attention immediately.

I sat directly across the floor from DeCuire & could hear him clearly. So could his players. He called play changes clearly and occasionally directed players to a specific spot for a given play. Otherwise, his verbal commands were almost 100 percent positive. "Post hard, post hard, go up, go now, that's it. Good job." I never heard a single shouted criticism. But when players came out of the game, an assistant spoke directly to them.

On first observation, this is a very positive coaching staff with strong verbal directions and almost completely positive reinforcement.
 
Great info, happy to hear about Weisner being more of a 3 than a 4 this season. I've said many times, to me he is a true 3/SF. He is out of position as PF/4. I know he will be out there as a 4 some. Offensively it is not a big deal where he plays. Defensively, I hope he added the needed muscle to defend the paint, or is used more of a help defender.

I hear Edmonds in time could remind many of Jamar with his offensive versatility and passing ability. I think he will be a better man defender than Jamar. It is good to hear the offense is so versatile with many sets. That is a great sign this early. Travis said he threw a lot at them in the 1st week. That seems to be what the posts of the scrimmage indicate too.
 
grizzlyjournal said:
I decided that -- instead of a long scrimmage report -- I'll just add brief descriptions of specific things that I observed of Travis DeCure's Montana Griz (14-1).

COACH DeCUIRE: Composed, sat on the bench through all game flow. Stood only to call time outs and/or announce a change of play to his point guards. Not at all animated. Always appeared in control... in fact, clearly the master of game flow. Always had a clip board handy for use in time outs. Always commanded player attention immediately.

I sat directly across the floor from DeCuire & could hear him clearly. So could his players. He called play changes clearly and occasionally directed players to a specific spot for a given play. Otherwise, his verbal commands were almost 100 percent positive. "Post hard, post hard, go up, go now, that's it. Good job." I never heard a single shouted criticism. But when players came out of the game, an assistant spoke directly to them.

On first observation, this is a very positive coaching staff with strong verbal directions and almost completely positive reinforcement.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
GrizWhiz: Yes, I agree. In fact, Weisner may be the most versatile player on the floor, swinging from four to wing to an occasional two. But I'm still not certain. I do know that Weisner will dribble the ball a lot more this year. He made a couple of nice drives (and one awkward one) later in the game. Most important: He has a big, bright green light for shooting it.

It also looked like Edmonds and Gfeller also played some at shooting guard (when Jordan was out fo the lineup), otherwise as a wing in the offensive looks (I'm still trying to get a grip on a couple of the passing game offensive schemes).
 
grizzlyjournal said:
GrizWhiz: Yes, I agree. In fact, Weisner may be the most versatile player on the floor, swinging from four to wing to an occasional two. But I'm still not certain. I do know that Weisner will dribble the ball a lot more this year. He made a couple of nice drives (and one awkward one) later in the game. Most important: He has a big, bright green light for shooting it.

It also looked like Edmonds and Gfeller also played some at shooting guard (when Jordan was out fo the lineup), otherwise as a wing in the offensive looks (I'm still trying to get a grip on a couple of the passing game offensive schemes).
Click to expand...

I've always been a big advocate of green lights for true shooters. I wanted to see that green light for Staudacher (when he was a GRIZ), Weisner Gregory, and now the young Gfeller. With that many good shooters on the same team, it is a matter of time to find which one or ones will carry a team offensively. Outside shooting opens up the paint for penetrating, rebounding, and post scoring. I am not surprised Weisner is looking to drive more. He started to drive more and be more aggressive the last 6 weeks of last season. It happened just after Wayne decided to have him come off the bench instead of starting.

Any hint(s) of how we will defend the paint?
 
mtgrizrule said:
Any hint(s) of how we will defend the paint?
Click to expand...

GrizRule: There's a brief story already up at GoGriz, with a candid assessment of the game by TD. Yes, he's worried about defense and rebounding.

I believe that both Breunig and Kemp will improve as the year goes on. I still do not know how Kemp will defend taller and/or faster posts.

But the topic of "green lights" came up. I honestly believe this is an early identity of a DeCuire-coached team: he knows which of his players shoot well in practice and he trusts them to shoot in game action. He has given them the green light. That translates into fun for me. Here's the link: http://www.gogriz.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/102914aaa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
ABOUT DEFENSE: Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Anyone who thinks I'm wrong can go into full ridicule mode.

Travis DeCuire's defense is the most aggressive and "in-your-face" Montana defense I've seen since Blaine Taylor was Griz coach.

But they're still learning. They have a long way to go, have some problems with man-on D, and have a lot of learning to do. Part of that may be because this team struggles (as did last year's team) with lateral movement and blocking off driving/passing/shooting lanes. We'll see if they can get better.

But, believe me, if they work at it, this will become a very capable and multi-look defense. On to tonight:

The Ugly: The scrimmage showed some severe weakness in man-on defense and some huge holes in zone D. On more than one occasion a defensive post did not rotate quickly and was beat to the bucket. On several occasions there were gaping holes in the swing side of zone defenses.

The good: The Griz played aggressive. For the first time in years I saw defenders pounce into passing lanes in an attempt to intercept a pass. It worked or it didn't. When it didn't, it was ugly. But these guys are good enough to learn.

The awesome: How about an already very good jump-trap full court defense? When was the last time you saw a Montana team even play a full court trapping defense? Montana's f-c jump trap tonight was as good as any I've seen from a Bill Evans-coached team. Honest.

That's not all: Two variations of trapping half-court zones... one a sideline trap similar to what Montana has applied over the past 3 years. Just as good. Probably better.

Even better yet: A jump trap double-team defense where the opposite side wing pops into the key to help the defensive post trap the opposing team's post moves. Last time we saw that was with Larry K's Griz.

Lastly: Breunig, Kemp, Edmonds and Dunn have been given the green light to slash into passing lanes. Tonight that accounted for at least 6 steals and a couple of breakaway layups.

TD's defense will be aggressive. It will take risks. It will gamble. It will get burned. The concept becomes a game of percentages. If it works, we'll see the Griz create some breakaway wins with their defense. But it's early. The kids are learning. It's going to take weeks, not days to perfect.

This year's Griz are no Duquesne on D (a lot of havoc & early O). But a defense like the one the Griz hinted at tonight will be a game changer as the season progresses. These kids will get better. And they'll start winning games late with their D. I would liken their early look to the defense that San Francisco brought into Missoula last year and turned into a late-minutes win. I left that loss with a rueful respect for the Dons. Maybe now I'll look forward to the Griz winning games with that style of play.

Yes, there are holes in paint defense. You can often board up those holes with aggressive perimeter play.

We have yet to see how this will play out. I, for one, believe it will start winning games for the Griz as the season develops.
 
grizzlyjournal said:
ABOUT DEFENSE: Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Anyone who thinks I'm wrong can go into full ridicule mode.

Travis DeCuire's defense is the most aggressive and "in-your-face" Montana defense I've seen since Blaine Taylor was Griz coach.

But they're still learning. They have a long way to go, have some problems with man-on D, and have a lot of learning to do. Part of that may be because this team struggles (as did last year's team) with lateral movement and blocking off driving/passing/shooting lanes. We'll see if they can get better.

But, believe me, if they work at it, this will become a very capable and multi-look defense. On to tonight:

The Ugly: The scrimmage showed some severe weakness in man-on defense and some huge holes in zone D. On more than one occasion a defensive post did not rotate quickly and was beat to the bucket. On several occasions there were gaping holes in the swing side of zone defenses.

The good: The Griz played aggressive. For the first time in years I saw defenders pounce into passing lanes in an attempt to intercept a pass. It worked or it didn't. When it didn't, it was ugly. But these guys are good enough to learn.

The awesome: How about an already very good jump-trap full court defense? When was the last time you saw a Montana team even play a full court trapping defense? Montana's f-c jump trap tonight was as good as any I've seen from a Bill Evans-coached team. Honest.

That's not all: Two variations of trapping half-court zones... one a sideline trap similar to what Montana has applied over the past 3 years. Just as good. Probably better.

Even better yet: A jump trap double-team defense where the opposite side wing pops into the key to help the defensive post trap the opposing team's post moves. Last time we saw that was with Larry K's Griz.

Lastly: Breunig, Kemp, Edmonds and Dunn have been given the green light to slash into passing lanes. Tonight that accounted for at least 6 steals and a couple of breakaway layups.

TD's defense will be aggressive. It will take risks. It will gamble. It will get burned. The concept becomes a game of percentages. If it works, we'll see the Griz create some breakaway wins with their defense. But it's early. The kids are learning. It's going to take weeks, not days to perfect.

This year's Griz are no Duquesne on D (a lot of havoc & early O). But a defense like the one the Griz hinted at tonight will be a game changer as the season progresses. These kids will get better. And they'll start winning games late with their D. I would liken their early look to the defense that San Francisco brought into Missoula last year and turned into a late-minutes win. I left that loss with a rueful respect for the Dons. Maybe now I'll look forward to the Griz winning games with that style of play.

Yes, there are holes in paint defense. You can often board up those holes with aggressive perimeter play.

We have yet to see how this will play out. I, for one, believe it will start winning games for the Griz as the season develops.
Click to expand...

Based on what I thought DeCuire would be implementing defensively, I posted before I felt it would take a few months to find team consistency. I will stick by this, this team will likely be much better the 2nd half of conference season than the 1st half. They will be the sleeper team come conference tournament. :thumb:
 
mtgrizrule said:
grizzlyjournal said:
I decided that -- instead of a long scrimmage report -- I'll just add brief descriptions of specific things that I observed of Travis DeCure's Montana Griz (14-15).

COACH DeCUIRE: Composed, sat on the bench through all game flow. Stood only to call time outs and/or announce a change of play to his point guards. Not at all animated. Always appeared in control... in fact, clearly the master of game flow. Always had a clip board handy for use in time outs. Always commanded player attention immediately.

I sat directly across the floor from DeCuire & could hear him clearly. So could his players. He called play changes clearly and occasionally directed players to a specific spot for a given play. Otherwise, his verbal commands were almost 100 percent positive. "Post hard, post hard, go up, go now, that's it. Good job." I never heard a single shouted criticism. But when players came out of the game, an assistant spoke directly to them.

On first observation, this is a very positive coaching staff with strong verbal directions and almost completely positive reinforcement.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
Click to expand...
 
Team moved the ball around pretty well. D was active, especially in first half. Shots more open in 2d half, but mostly not guys just left alone. Team was moving up the court fast, and showed some ability to run the court and finish, including Breunig. Pretty nice trapping in first half. Full court, half court, situational. Traps have some potential. Nice talent and athleticism in the top 10 or so players, but not sure how the team would do if starting the season right now.

Gregory - very good, seems to be getting to the hoop ever better and making terrific finishes, good ball-handling, took good care of ball, make the free throws I saw

Dunn - made some shots, tough D, good ball-handling, had some bad passes, I'm not worried about him

Weisner - agree that he showed more of an all around game, make a few tough 3's, as well as other good shooting, agree his game looks better

Breunig - very athletic, fairly smooth, hit a nice outside shot, made free throws I saw, definitely can jump, will be a very good player, didn't score much tonight, has muscular arms and looks very fit, don't know why he didn't do or score more

Kemp - on and off, looks like he's put on considerable muscle, didn't shoot much, didn't look for his post-up shot enough, is strong, can jump, can get rebounds, made some mistakes, still needs consistency, left with 2 hotties

GFeller - looked good, shot very well, has a nice-looking shot, looked improved

These are my top 6.

Lopez - had some nice plays, seemed to come and go

Bradshaw - solid, didn't knock down some shots, took good care of the ball

Edmonds - seems to like to shot and can

Krslovic - I like this guy, is fairly big but looks smaller because he slumps, made some nice plays, can post up, has lots of potential

DeJong - good size and looked athletic, make a few very nice plays, didn't seem to play alot or make frequent noise, I think he has nice potential, maybe not this year

Nwosu - athletic, didn't notice him much

Boenhning - nothing good, nothing bad, didn't seem to play alot

I missed the first 8 minutes. I wish we still had the point guard who left, and think Andy Martoe should be on the roster if he's on scholarship. He could contribute on this team.

Sonja Rogers can still play, and is still a very good passer. She didn't look to shoot, even when open.
 
grizzlyjournal said:
ABOUT DEFENSE: Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Anyone who thinks I'm wrong can go into full ridicule mode.

Travis DeCuire's defense is the most aggressive and "in-your-face" Montana defense I've seen since Blaine Taylor was Griz coach.

But they're still learning. They have a long way to go, have some problems with man-on D, and have a lot of learning to do. Part of that may be because this team struggles (as did last year's team) with lateral movement and blocking off driving/passing/shooting lanes. We'll see if they can get better.

But, believe me, if they work at it, this will become a very capable and multi-look defense. On to tonight:

The Ugly: The scrimmage showed some severe weakness in man-on defense and some huge holes in zone D. On more than one occasion a defensive post did not rotate quickly and was beat to the bucket. On several occasions there were gaping holes in the swing side of zone defenses.

The good: The Griz played aggressive. For the first time in years I saw defenders pounce into passing lanes in an attempt to intercept a pass. It worked or it didn't. When it didn't, it was ugly. But these guys are good enough to learn.

The awesome: How about an already very good jump-trap full court defense? When was the last time you saw a Montana team even play a full court trapping defense? Montana's f-c jump trap tonight was as good as any I've seen from a Bill Evans-coached team. Honest.

That's not all: Two variations of trapping half-court zones... one a sideline trap similar to what Montana has applied over the past 3 years. Just as good. Probably better.

Even better yet: A jump trap double-team defense where the opposite side wing pops into the key to help the defensive post trap the opposing team's post moves. Last time we saw that was with Larry K's Griz.

Lastly: Breunig, Kemp, Edmonds and Dunn have been given the green light to slash into passing lanes. Tonight that accounted for at least 6 steals and a couple of breakaway layups.

TD's defense will be aggressive. It will take risks. It will gamble. It will get burned. The concept becomes a game of percentages. If it works, we'll see the Griz create some breakaway wins with their defense. But it's early. The kids are learning. It's going to take weeks, not days to perfect.

This year's Griz are no Duquesne on D (a lot of havoc & early O). But a defense like the one the Griz hinted at tonight will be a game changer as the season progresses. These kids will get better. And they'll start winning games late with their D. I would liken their early look to the defense that San Francisco brought into Missoula last year and turned into a late-minutes win. I left that loss with a rueful respect for the Dons. Maybe now I'll look forward to the Griz winning games with that style of play.

Yes, there are holes in paint defense. You can often board up those holes with aggressive perimeter play.

We have yet to see how this will play out. I, for one, believe it will start winning games for the Griz as the season develops.
Click to expand...
Thanks to all who are keeping us hyped for the season with these updates. I certainly like the aggressive Defense being talked about but in a real game does UM have the depth on the bench to actually be aggressive. The BSC refs call fouls way to easily. Is the bench up to this?
 
Just finished reading the gogriz.com report. Having it up this soon with comments from DeCuire alone is a positive step forward in coverage. Thanks for the effort U of M.

I really like what Travis said about sticking with what was working. So many teams in different sports don't get that. I do feel getting Breunig 10 plus shots per game will make this team even better as the season progresses.
 
mtgrizrule said:
Just finished reading the gogriz.com report. Having it up this soon with comments from DeCuire alone is a positive step forward in coverage. Thanks for the effort U of M.

I really like what Travis said about sticking with what was working. So many teams in different sports don't get that. I do feel getting Breunig 10 plus shots per game will make this team even better as the season progresses.
Click to expand...

Breunig should be getting more than 10 shots, in my opinion. I think he has the potential to score from multiple spots.
 
mtgrizrule said:
I do feel getting Breunig 10 plus shots per game will make this team even better as the season progresses.
Click to expand...

A lot of that is going to depend on matchups. Some teams that the Griz play may have a pretty sturdy frontcourt, while weak on the perimeter defense. It all depends, granted. But it is nice to have the shooters that can hit from downtown; it'll open things up underneath, I would hope. Then it'd be Breunig and Kemp taking over in the second half underneath, drawing late fouls and winning it on the charity stripe, if necessary. A decent transition game will help as well, throughout.
 
Here's the Missoulian story. I usually try to provide a link, but it didn't work. HJence, the entire story, written by sports editor Bob Meseroll


Maroon 62, Silver 37
Composite box -- Mario Dunn 4-5 0-0 9, Riley Bradshaw 3-5 0-0 7, Jordan Gregory 6-12 2-2 16, Jermaine Edmonds 2-3 1-1 6, Fabijan Krslovic 2-2 2-2 6, Daniel Nwosu 1-6 0-0 3, Chis Kemp 2-5 0-1 4, Gavin Dejong 2-3, 0-0 4, Jack Lopez 3-7 0-0 7, Brandon Gfeller 7-11 0-0 20, Bryden Boehning 0-0 0-0 0, Martin Breunig 0-3 2-2 2, Mike Weisner 6-9 0-0 15.

3-point goals -- Montana 16-36 (Gfeller 6-9, Weisner 3-5, Gregory 2-5, Edmonds 1-2, Dunn 1-2, Bradshaw 1-3, Nwosu 1-5, Lopez 1-3). Rebounds -- Montana 36 (Breunig 5). Assists -- Montana 20 (Dunn 5, Bradshaw 5). Turnovers -- Montana 25 (Breunig 4). Steals -- Montana 10 (Dunn 3).

Montana men's basketball coach Travis DeCuire says that sophomore Brandon Gfeller has the green light from 3-point range.

Gfeller showed why Wednesday night during the annual Maroon-Silver scrimmage in front of roughly 400 fans at Dahlberg Arena.

He made 6 of 9 attempts from beyond the arc and led all scorers with 20 points in the Maroon's 62-37 win over the Silver.

In a 10-minute stretch of the second of two 15-minute halves, Gfeller and senior Mike Weisner combined for nine treys as the Maroon's lead grew from 24-20 to 59-33. Gfeller was 6 for 6 during that stretch; Weisner made his first two before missing.

After a quick start to his freshman season, Gfeller struggled with his shot as the season wore on.

"One, he was a freshman and it was a team that was struggling defensively, so every shot probably felt like a game-winning shot," DeCuire said. "He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. He knows he has a green light to let it fly. He works hard to get good shots and his teammates are looking for him. Right now he’s happy, he’s comfortable with what we’re doing, he knows where his shots are going to come from and he’s always ready to let it go."

Gfeller's problems last season were between the ears, the Colfax, Washington, product said.

"Oh man, it was a mental lapse," said Gfeller. "I’m confident this year, I’m excited for this year. I had a good offseason. Me and all of my teammates are really confident going into this year, so we’re excited."

Gfeller said he took a lot of shots during the offseason.

"It was all mental. I could shoot like this last year, it was a little bit of a transition from high school. Hopefully, knock on wood, it won’t happen again. I know it won’t happen again."

The Maroon shot 64 percent from the floor overall, while the Silver struggled at just 40 percent.

"The good is we made shots, the bad is most of those shots were uncontested," DeCuire said. "The ugly is we haven’t figured out how to rebound. We’re improving in those areas. Martin (Breunig) has shown signs of being able to go grab the ball. We did compete for balls, we just need to figure out how to come up with them.

"Defensively, we were looking at a lot of uncontested shots tonight. Some of it was really good offensive execution, but you always want to take care of the defensive side of the ball. That’s an area of growth for us."

Senior Jordan Gregory backed up Gfeller with 16 points and Wesiner tallied 15.

"He’s being very vocal, saying all the right things," DeCuire said of Weisner. "He’s doing all the right things. I think he’s more of a player right now as opposed to a 3-point shooter. He’s doing a lot of things for us off the ball, screening, and I think we’ll get him to the free-throw line more this year, too."

Gregory had just a pair of treys, but did most of his damage driving to the hoop, where he probably could have been rewarded with more than the two free throws he shot.

"He’s in attack mode right now," DeCuire said of Gregory. "He spent a lot of time this summer and fall working on attack moves, getting to the rim and finishing. I’d like to see him shoot more free throws than in the past. That’s going to be a major key for us is if we can get to the free-throw line a lot. One, it gives us a chance to recharge our legs and two, uncontested shots are always the best shots."

Other highlights included junior college transfer Jermaine Edmonds hitting the game-winning shot when the Griz went to an eight-minute situational scrimmage, Mario Dunn (9 points, 5 assists, three steals) showing the lightning quick hands that make him a dangerous defender, a more confident Riley Bradshaw (7 points, 5 assists), and a more assertive Chris Kemp.

Breunig, the 6-foot-8 Washington transfer, struggled on the offensive end, scoring just two points, both on free throws.

"We turned it over trying to get it to him," DeCuire said. "We definitely would have liked to have seen him get off double figures in shots. We played small in the second two sessions and spread the floor. When guys like Brandon Gfeller, Jordan Gregory and Mike Weisner catch fire the way they did, we might as well go on and take the 3s until they stop going in. There was probably about a five-minute stretch where we missed maybe one. When the ball is falling that way, you ride it out."

The Griz will return to practice Friday, then host Whitworth in an exhibition game on Monday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top