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Fatigue & Injury in Big Sky Basketball Hoops Schedules

grizzlyjournal

Well-known member
All things being equal (sort of) every Big Sky team (men and women) has or will play 5 games in 9 days including one Thurs-Mon stretch with 3 games that also involves travel.

I"m no expert in sports physiology, athletic stress or medicine, but I am of the opinion the current Big Sky Conference schedule is placing possibly dangerous physical and mental burdens on these young players, many still in their teens.

I watched parts of both ISU vs NAU games last night and -- post-game -- came to the conclusion that the players on the court showed significant signs of physical fatigue. The Bengals, in fact, were playing a Monday night road game after a Saturday night home game double OT loss. Ironically, it was the NAU players who seemed to be most affected. Weber State, the team that beat ISU in the double OT game, lost its Monday night game at UNC, 88-54. Fatigue? Hmmm. Of course, I can't prove anything re: my observations. But it seemed that the NAU men literally ran out of gas over the final 10 minutes of their home court loss to the Bengals. I didn't stay up to watch the UNC-WSU game, but the score made me think that the Wildcats were probably a bit tired Monday night, having to travel on Sunday from Pocatello to Greely.

The women's game in Pocatello involved several scrums with players on the floor, one in which an ISU player stumbled and plowed into NAU's Montana Oltrogge, causing what looked to be a significant injury. The ISU player was charged with a flagrant foul, but it looked like she simply lost her footing in a dive for a loose ball. An NAU fan was escorted out of the gym shortly after the incident. In the post-game interview, ISU coach Seton Sobolewski said his squad was dealing with significant exhaustion after its 10-point home court loss, but did not blame anything specific.

Obviously, teams with deep benches where up to 8 or 9 players regularly play in double digit minutes might fare better than those teams that rely on 6-7 players logging 30+ minutes over 5 games.

Regardless, I still think 5 games over 9 days is a tough task for young athletes who also have classes and homework.

Another factor: The schedule totally ignores low attendance numbers at all Monday games... an oversight that probably affects host schools with low Monday night gate receipts.

I strongly believe the Big Sky Conference should take steps to eliminate or adjust this clearly inconvenient and possibly dangerous conference schedule. I'm interested in the opinions of others regarding this schedule.
 
It’s gonna catch up to the Griz too. Moody’s minutes are off the chart in the last 10 games.
 
AZGrizFan said:
It’s gonna catch up to the Griz too. Moody’s minutes are off the chart in the last 10 games.

Not just Moody.....https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/montana/2023.html
 
grizzlyjournal said:
All things being equal (sort of) every Big Sky team (men and women) has or will play 5 games in 9 days including one Thurs-Mon stretch with 3 games that also involves travel.

I"m no expert in sports physiology, athletic stress or medicine, but I am of the opinion the current Big Sky Conference schedule is placing possibly dangerous physical and mental burdens on these young players, many still in their teens.

I watched parts of both ISU vs NAU games last night and -- post-game -- came to the conclusion that the players on the court showed significant signs of physical fatigue. The Bengals, in fact, were playing a Monday night road game after a Saturday night home game double OT loss. Ironically, it was the NAU players who seemed to be most affected. Weber State, the team that beat ISU in the double OT game, lost its Monday night game at UNC, 88-54. Fatigue? Hmmm. Of course, I can't prove anything re: my observations. But it seemed that the NAU men literally ran out of gas over the final 10 minutes of their home court loss to the Bengals. I didn't stay up to watch the UNC-WSU game, but the score made me think that the Wildcats were probably a bit tired Monday night, having to travel on Sunday from Pocatello to Greely.

The women's game in Pocatello involved several scrums with players on the floor, one in which an ISU player stumbled and plowed into NAU's Montana Oltrogge, causing what looked to be a significant injury. The ISU player was charged with a flagrant foul, but it looked like she simply lost her footing in a dive for a loose ball. An NAU fan was escorted out of the gym shortly after the incident. In the post-game interview, ISU coach Seton Sobolewski said his squad was dealing with significant exhaustion after its 10-point home court loss, but did not blame anything specific.

Obviously, teams with deep benches where up to 8 or 9 players regularly play in double digit minutes might fare better than those teams that rely on 6-7 players logging 30+ minutes over 5 games.

Regardless, I still think 5 games over 9 days is a tough task for young athletes who also have classes and homework.

Another factor: The schedule totally ignores low attendance numbers at all Monday games... an oversight that probably affects host schools with low Monday night gate receipts.

I strongly believe the Big Sky Conference should take steps to eliminate or adjust this clearly inconvenient and possibly dangerous conference schedule. I'm interested in the opinions of others regarding this schedule.

It's particularly inequitable when one team is playing their second game of the weekend and the other is playing for the third time in five days. It's pretty much automatic scheduled losses like when the Griz lost at EWU and the 'Cats lost at Idaho when both those teams didn't play Thursday, just Saturday while the Montana schools were playing for the third time in five days.

The NBA deals with this a lot when teams play five games in eight days or back-to-back-to-backs. But that's NBA players, aka the greatest athletes on earth. I agree with this that the league needs to look at these. The Monday games are almost always non-competitive and in front of paltry crowds.
 
...assuming you are talking about physical fatigue...
...should always remember not to forget...
...mental fatigue is equally disabling....

... :ugeek: ...
 
Hoops watcher said:
AZGrizFan said:
It’s gonna catch up to the Griz too. Moody’s minutes are off the chart in the last 10 games.

Not just Moody.....https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/montana/2023.html

Yep. Bannon too. Only less than 33 minutes TWICE since 12/17.
 
Our BSC coaches voted for this so as not to have any mid December games that might interfere with potential money games.

I too think that it is a crock of crap. I don't see what good it could do, other than money, and perhaps some prep for the post season BSC tournament.
 
oldrunner said:
Our BSC coaches voted for this so as not to have any mid December games that might interfere with potential money games.

I too think that it is a crock of crap. I don't see what good it could do, other than money, and perhaps some prep for the post season BSC tournament.

Part of why the scheduling is particularly inequitable for the Montana schools is the demand to have an open Thursday before a Saturday rivalry double header with the women's teams. That's a dynamic that no one else in the Big Sky has or demands. Because of this necessity, Montana and Montana State will almost always have their three games in five days come on the Thursday-Saturday-Monday before the rivalry Saturday, just as they did this last time.
 
The pre-season schedule is a product of the landscape of NCAA hoops now. Those money games are better than any home game for 90% of the schools as the intake for those money games is greater than their highest attended home game of year. Most of the schools without them would operate at a net loss, and that likely includes Montana. Those road money games are a two or three day venture especially when you are going to SEC schools like Montana has the past two years. Outside of Weber State, who seems to get 1 or 2 Non-Conference home games per year, the pickings are pretty slim for non-conference games at home that puts butts in the seats. You have to listen to your members, and home games aren't paying the bills when the best teams you play at home are non group of 5 or power 5 teams. Montana's home schedule during non-conference w/ SDSU/Troy St was one of the better ones in the conference if you don't include PSU's "home games" in Portland against Gonzaga and Oregon State on a neutral floor.

Attendance has been putrid coming out of the pandemic and a lot of our fellow BSC brethren have been given the edict, find a way to balance the budget. Season ticket sales have been flat, attendance paltry, and the UM has been exploring different ways to create revenue streams for the program. Including having in game beer sales and beer garden and closing the bleachers on the north end. There was essentially nary a complaint two years into it. Even at its best attended years, we've been headed this way at the UM for close 20 years. It has been a hot minute since Montana has sold out the Cat-Griz game, and been years since Montana has done that for more than just the CG game.

So I don't begrudge teams trying to balance budgets by creating a schedule where they can go anywhere at any time in the non-conference schedule. My issue is with the bloated conference schedule, which is still better than only playing a limited schedule the conference toyed with. Back when the calendar was vastly more predictable, you could pencil in the one game week at the end of January and February for most conference teams. Used to work geographically, but it doesn't anymore. So until we see teams move out the conference or we move to another one, this is sort of the natural progression to having a 10 team conference and 18 game conference schedule.

So if the 3 in 5 were to end, it would have to be off the back of conference schools not wanting those 6 days off once or twice through the schedule. Because the compressed conference schedule isn't going to go away unless the schedule is lengthened deeper into March which won't happen in the BSC who wants to get its Conference Title game on at a time and a day that isn't being shown at either 1am nationally or on an obscure ESPN channel as it had in recent years.
 
Might have been coincidental, but Bannan, Moody, etc. seemed to get more rest than usual last night against Idaho State. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
AllWeatherFan said:
Might have been coincidental, but Bannan, Moody, etc. seemed to get more rest than usual last night against Idaho State. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Really helped Bannon. He looked far better after that long break he got.
 
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