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Balance the trademark in first Griz scrimmage of 2013

grizzlyjournal

Well-known member
Kareem leads the way in 59 (maroon) 53 (silver) scrimmage. The this was one of the most evenly waged opening scrimmages I've ever seen at Montana. It seems to foreshadow exceptional depth for the season. Offensive intensity was evident

Here's the story link: http://www.gogriz.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102213aad.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"I thought we had a good offensive balance inside and out," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. "We made some threes, we got to the rim, and we went to the free throw line. I was proud of the way the new guys played and came back in the second half, and that silver team was made up of mostly of our new guys."

I knew he had hops... having watched several scrimmages, but I was still a bit stunned at junior forward Chris Kemp's explosive power. Wish there was a video of his swooping one-armed power slam midway through the second half.

And -- after being a bit uncertain of (Corvallis, MT) frosh guard Riley Bradshaw's role on the team, was pretty relieved (pleased) to see his confident & aggressive play. He and true frosh guard Mario Dunn will be solid backups to junior Keron DeShields, who played capably by the way.

Otherwise, Griz fans will, I think , take to junior Jordan Gregory's muscled up profile and super-intense game-long concentration.

And freshman guard/wing Jack Lopez shows incredible finesse & balance for his age & experience... particularly his ability to float into the lane on levitated drives.

Anything else I had previously seen in practice, but was nonetheless encouraged by:
* Kareem Jamar's almost effortless knack at controlling tempo on both offense and defense.
• Michael Weisner's swarming defense & deadly baseline floaters
• DeShields' ability to reverse the flow of the game in a split second (he had 2 or 3 steals, I think)
• Andy Martin's imposing, shot-blocking presence
• Eric Hutchison's offense board presence
• Dunn's ability to weave through downtown traffic & finish with a deft shovel assist to Martin, Kemp & Hutch
• Frosh wing Brandon Gfeller's deadly quick-release baseline missles
• Morgan Young & Nick Emerson, who had quiet games but have showed marked improvement as important players off the bench

This team seems farther along than I've seen from Montana squads in the past. Most notable is the offensive balance. Rebounding, which has been a concern of many.... may actually be improved from last season.

There are, of course, things that need work. I'll let the more skeptical of egriz hoops readers focus on that.

Can't say the Griz will surprise anyone. But this team is stronger and more balanced than I've seen since Brian Qvale's senior year.

I took a few photos & will attempt to post them within a day or two.

Any questions? Let me know.
 
Thank you

Awesome write up at gogriz.com as well. Well worth the read. I am pleasantly surprised at a few of the comments. Sounds like your front court was more than productive on the boards and a certain big stepping up on defense too. :thumb:
 
Grizzlyjournal, thanks for posting!

The Griz need Kemp to be big, so it's nice to hear about his explosiveness. Questions for you and other Griz fans (about the scrimmage and in general):

- How do you think the minutes will be distributed between Hutchison and Martin?
- Who is third option after Jamar/Gregory? Or do you think it'll be a different guy every night in that third role?
- I am guessing with UM's options, Lopez will be a redshirt? Sounds like GFeller might play right away?
 
jon said:
Grizzlyjournal, thanks for posting!

The Griz need Kemp to be big, so it's nice to hear about his explosiveness. Questions for you and other Griz fans (about the scrimmage and in general):

- How do you think the minutes will be distributed between Hutchison and Martin?
- Who is third option after Jamar/Gregory? Or do you think it'll be a different guy every night in that third role?
- I am guessing with UM's options, Lopez will be a redshirt? Sounds like GFeller might play right away?
Based on what I saw this evening, I don't see how you keep Kemp out of the starting line up. Actually, I suspect Kemp and Weisner will frequently see the floor together, both as posts. Weisner seems far more at ease and aggressive when playing inside, especially on defense. As far as a "third option" is concerned, I think it is really a matter of second, third, fourth, etc. options after Kareem. Kemp is really skilled and I believe will have big scoring nights as will Weisner, Gregory and Deshields. I also liked Dunn's quickness, passing and defense. Both Gfeller and Lopez showed a lot and look like they could contribute this year. Gfeller has a great looking shot and Lopez looks strong and athletic enough to contribute as a post.
 
here are my questions.

is kemp a legit 6'7"? we all know how these heights get fudged, a la the all-everything kid we brought in from the wyoming jaycee a few years back, only to find he was really about 6'3" and got swamped down low against d-1 kids. that was sad to watch. even if kemp is a legit 6'7" with hops, that is not huge at the 4 in today's college ball.

has deshields achieved the maturity it takes to run the most important position on the court? last year he looked all-world at portland state, but was wildly inconsistent most of the rest of the year.

martin was described above as a "shot blocking machine," yet last year he was also a "foul-prone machine." against syracuse he committed so many stupid fouls so quickly, he was quickly a non-factor in the game. has his game matured? can he avoid those quick early fouls this year?

you make weisner sound like the next coming of krysko, and i too have always liked his game and his potential. but he's 190 pounds for god's sake. my wife weighs more than he does! can he take the pounding inside?

remember, we're still awfully young. lopez, gfeller, dunn and bradshaw have yet to play their first collegiate game. it's one thing to watch them compete against each other in an intra-squad game, another to see them up against kids with three to four years of experience at the d-1 level. i still wish we could redshirt one or two kids every year. meantime, these kids are going to take their lumps against more experienced d-1 players.

all in all, a year i anticipate greatly, especially watching the young 'uns grow up. but it appears to me we don't quite have the guns to match the best in the conference, let alone contend in a first round ncaa playoff game.
 
Kareem was terrific, in all phases, as he was on Sat. morning. Looked very comfortable and smooth. Kemp is very good. Quick, explosive, good around the basket, can score (both posting up and facing), can rebound. If he's not a true 6'7", he's 6'6". Very nice kid too. Played at a JC in Snyder, Texas (west Texas). Hutchinson couldn't stop him. Seems to have a nice touch shooting free throws. Hutch had a few nice baskets, and had 4 or so offensive rebounds (against Martin mainly). Martin looks improved. Still slender, but has some muscle on his arms. Showed some scoring ability, and of course blocked shots. Had some fouls, some of which were mystery calls. Not the dumb ones he sometimes got last year. Weisner continues to look good. Shooting well. The guards look good and improved, but weren't knocking down enough 3 pointers. Defended well. Dunn will be a good player, and will get good minutes this year. He's solid already. Good ball handler. Quick. Seems to defend. Nice shooting touch. Doesn't try to do too much. Gfeller looks like he'll be a player. Can shoot. Looks like he'll fill in nicely this year. Bradshaw will be good off the bench. Solid. Lopez has some potential. It may take some time. It's unfortunate that Breunig isn't eligible this year.
 
Citay: Well... I have indicated that -- by season's end -- we could be discussing Kareem Jamar as a Montana Griz great in the same breath (sentence, paragraph) as the great MJ Richardson. That's because Kareem -- in three years as a Griz -- has already proven himself statistically, also by performance in big games, and -- most importantly -- by UM, Big Sky and national awards & recognition. I stand by that and anticipate watching Kareem in his senior year, hopefully to develop into a Griz -- and Big Sky -- all time great.

BUT... I haven't compared Michael Weisner to Larry K, and probably won't. Even if Weisner has a "career" season for the Griz.

I DO, however, like what I've seen from Weisner and think he can step into the four alongside Chris Kemp and bolster Montana's front court attack considerably. But Weisner is not a classic power forward in the mold of Krysko. He does fit the prototype of a lot of quick, athletic forwards I've seen in college basketball over the past few years who have done quite well on teams that rely on speed, all-court defensive pressure, and a quick-hitting inside outside offensive attack.

Which brings me back to last night's scrimmage & why I'm very high on Weisner's role with the Griz: those of us who saw last night's scrimmage, caught a glimpse... just a tiny glimpse of this year's Griz 3/4 court pressure trap. Not a word of that pressure in any story I read. But this year's team has the personnel to make their pressure D a game-changing defensive attack. Weisner fits into that scheme far better than any classic (slower) power forward would. If the Griz pressure zone works like I think It can this season, then it'll more than make up for some height/weight undersizing that will be a disadvantage in defending beefier opponents' half court offense.

Beyond that, I agree wholeheartedly with comments written in this thread by GrizWhiz and PlayerRep.
 
Another interesting thing from the scrimmage. At the beginning, the silver team (Kemp, Martin, Dunn, Gfeller, and Kareem) really took it to the maroon team (Hutch, DeShields, Weisner, Gregory, Bradshaw). I was guessing that the maroon team but with Kareem may be the starting lineup for the first game. I think silver was up 11-2 at one point. As the half went on, and substitutions were made, it ended at 35-28, silver. However, when Kareem went to the maroon team after halftime, the maroon team dominated (in terms of scoring) the silver team for much of the half. While there may have been multiple factors at play, the obvious one was switching Kareen from silver to maroon.
 
grizzlyjournal said:
Kareem leads the way in 59 (maroon) 53 (silver) scrimmage. The this was one of the most evenly waged opening scrimmages I've ever seen at Montana. It seems to foreshadow exceptional depth for the season. Offensive intensity was evident

Here's the story link: http://www.gogriz.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102213aad.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"I thought we had a good offensive balance inside and out," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. "We made some threes, we got to the rim, and we went to the free throw line. I was proud of the way the new guys played and came back in the second half, and that silver team was made up of mostly of our new guys."

I knew he had hops... having watched several scrimmages, but I was still a bit stunned at junior forward Chris Kemp's explosive power. Wish there was a video of his swooping one-armed power slam midway through the second half.

And -- after being a bit uncertain of (Corvallis, MT) frosh guard Riley Bradshaw's role on the team, was pretty relieved (pleased) to see his confident & aggressive play. He and true frosh guard Mario Dunn will be solid backups to junior Keron DeShields, who played capably by the way.

Otherwise, Griz fans will, I think , take to junior Jordan Gregory's muscled up profile and super-intense game-long concentration.

And freshman guard/wing Jack Lopez shows incredible finesse & balance for his age & experience... particularly his ability to float into the lane on levitated drives.

Anything else I had previously seen in practice, but was nonetheless encouraged by:
* Kareem Jamar's almost effortless knack at controlling tempo on both offense and defense.
• Michael Weisner's swarming defense & deadly baseline floaters
• DeShields' ability to reverse the flow of the game in a split second (he had 2 or 3 steals, I think)
• Andy Martin's imposing, shot-blocking presence
• Eric Hutchison's offense board presence
• Dunn's ability to weave through downtown traffic & finish with a deft shovel assist to Martin, Kemp & Hutch
• Frosh wing Brandon Gfeller's deadly quick-release baseline missles
• Morgan Young & Nick Emerson, who had quiet games but have showed marked improvement as important players off the bench

This team seems farther along than I've seen from Montana squads in the past. Most notable is the offensive balance. Rebounding, which has been a concern of many.... may actually be improved from last season.

There are, of course, things that need work. I'll let the more skeptical of egriz hoops readers focus on that.

Can't say the Griz will surprise anyone. But this team is stronger and more balanced than I've seen since Brian Qvale's senior year.

I took a few photos & will attempt to post them within a day or two.

Any questions? Let me know.
I hope you are right on and I suspect you are. As much as I hate to confess it, the Griz often did better last year when Cherry was injured. They really had to work as a team and it showed. They are the same nucleus of guys as last year and had it not been for the total humiliating loss in the Tourney, would be highly favored to win the conference again. I have been following Weber site and a couple others and Montana looks very good. Minnesota is going to be a great test as they are going to be in the top tier of the their own league.
 
GrizLA said:
As much as I hate to confess it, the Griz often did better last year when Cherry was injured.

Not sure about that. The Griz weren't exactly dominating teams with Cherry out of the lineup.

Griz Record against D1 opponents while Cherry wasn't starting:
5-4

Griz Record against D1 opponents with Cherry in the starting lineup:
18-3
One of the losses being @Davidson in overtime was where Cherry got hurt again & did not play in the overtime (or the last few minutes of the 2nd half).

If we had an injury free Cherry last year I bet at least a couple of the losses would have been wins...maybe even the opening loss against #18 Colorado State where we led at halftime and were within 3 with about 1:30 to go in the game.
 
Potomac Griz said:
GrizLA said:
As much as I hate to confess it, the Griz often did better last year when Cherry was injured.

Not sure about that. The Griz weren't exactly dominating teams with Cherry out of the lineup.

Griz Record against D1 opponents while Cherry wasn't starting:
5-4

Griz Record against D1 opponents with Cherry in the starting lineup:
18-3
One of the losses being @Davidson in overtime was where Cherry got hurt again & did not play in the overtime (or the last few minutes of the 2nd half).

If we had an injury free Cherry last year I bet at least a couple of the losses would have been wins...maybe even the opening loss against #18 Colorado State where we led at halftime and were within 3 with about 1:30 to go in the game.
To be honest, Cherry was not playing in his top form for much of the year. He was one of the best ever at UM but that bad ankle hurt him in more ways than one...He gave is all but the team, itself rallied when he was off. You are right, I will agree but had he been 100% Colorado State, Davidson, and the other couple of close ones, could have been victories over good teams and boosted the Griz into a better seeding in the Tourney where they might have been able to get passed the stage fright. We will never know but I still think this team is the cream of the Big Sky.
 
Here is Will's summer league profile for the Pelicans he hardly got any playing time but I was kind of expecting that. He obviously didn't make the team but he can still try out for a D-league team.
http://www.nba.com/summerleague/2013/players/sl_will_cherry/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
I believe Will is recovering from surgery and presumably will seek to play BB somewhere when ready.
 
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