Post from Montana fan "ordigger"

[sufandu]

5 steps:
1. Have Khalid El Amin bring the ball up court,
2. He passes to Otto Porter at the high post,
3. Porter can either dump it down to Patrick Ewing or,
4. Kick it out to Kyle Kuric, if Kyle Kuric can't get the shot, rotate it to far corner as the shot clock winds down so,
5. Kieth Smart can put up a desperation shot.

I feel the need to punch myself in the eyes after having read all of the horrible names in that post.

 

[MGP]

I feel the need to punch myself in the eyes after having read all of the horrible names in that post.

6. Have Michael Graham punch your eyes for you

 

[consonance]

He sent me this in a pm through the Grizzly board after I requested feedback about the Grizzs'.. He's still waiting to be cleared to post here, hope it's soon.

1. Jamar is very very good, but the straw that stirs our drink is obviously Will Cherry, who is getting NBA scouts looking at him. Unfortunately Cherry broke if foot for the first 7 games of the season, which included the narrow loss to Colorado State (a six seed I think) and the BYU bashing (we struggled to win against Utah teams this year). Cherry came back for the San Diego State loss in double OT at home (but only played 12 mins). With a 100% Cherry most fans believe we win both the CSU and SDSU games.

Cherry is probably considered the best Grizzly guard since Michael Ray Richardson, and I would say some younger ones believe is even better. I don't as I've seen both play. His game is more slashing, and driving to the bucket. He tends to play with to much emotion at times IMO. He is very good at screening his shots. Great first step, more athletic than most Orange fans would believe, and also faster than most would think.

He won't be intimidated by playing your team, as he has faced some very good point guards the last few years including Damion Lilliard (probably ROY in NBA), who he has known since high school. IMO he guarded Damion as good as anyone did, and actually outplayed him a couple of times.

2. Davidson - I keep seeing Davidson is much better. Probably not true, and I suspect many fans dont even realize we played them in the bracketbusters. Yes, we loss to them in OT, on their floor. It was an east coast game that was squeezed into, if I recall, 5 games in 10 days. That was the first game we did not have our leading scorer Ward, plus Cherry re-aggravated his foot, at first thinking it was broken but realizing later it was scar tissue. He sat the 2nd half. So without out 2 of our 3 best players we still had a chance to win, and would have even IMO with a healthy Cherry. I saw that game.

3. Keys to winning - well for the Griz to pull off the upset they need big games from Cherry and Jamar. Jamar has not played very well on the road this year at times, so he is going to need to step it up. The good thing is both are from California (Cherry Oakland, Jamar LA) so there should be a home feel to it. Griz will also need their two best 3 point shooters (Weisner & Gregory) to both have big games. I'm not as scared by the lack of a big man, as I am our streaky shooting. Late in the year, the rebounding was starting to improve as a result of the style of play...which is transition type ball. And of course we need a great defensive game. Will it happen? Maybe, maybe not but this team is considered one of the 3 best in Griz history. We have beaten UCLA in Pauley the last few years, with many of these players, albeit UCLA isnt what they once were.

4. Coaching tradition. Although probably not an impact directly on the game Wayne Tinkle is a product of a list of great former coaches from Montana. Michael Ray played for Jud Heathcote, who was followed by Jim Brandenberg, Michael Montgomery (current California - recruited Tinkle), Stew Morrill (current Utah State - Tinkle played for), and Blaine Taylor (recent Old Dominion, assistant/player to all the above). He also played & coached with another product of that system Larry Krystkowiak, who is currently HC at Utah. Very likely that this could be Tinkle's last year for the Griz. He will probably get a shot with a Pac 12 team. He is a player's coach, and very likeable. Basketball runs in the family. His wife is one of the all time Lady Griz greats. His son just led his team to the Class AA (top class in MT) state championship. His daughter starts and stars for Stanford, his other daughter is a freshman on a Gonzaga that just won their conference. He needs the upset to keep the top spot in family conversations...lol. Especially if Joslyn and Stanford go to the Final Four again.

Great post about our team, I agree Cherry is one the best guards we've ever had, if I'm not mistaken I believe he surpassed Michael Ray Richardson's career steal record at Montana to become #1 in steals in Montana history? He isn't as good of a scorer as Richardson was (from the videos' I've seen of Sugar Ray play), but he is one heck of a defender when he's clicking. He's also a big catalyst in our success. When he stays composed, and doesn't let his emotions take over in a game, our team is totally different in a good way, but if he breaks down and gets too emotional it can ruin our teams morale. That's what happened to us last year in the Wisconsin game.

One thing to note about the history of our basketball program, I would say our best team ever was our 1975 squad (Michael Ray Richardson and Eric Hays). We entered the NCAA Tournament that year (when it was a round of 32), and had huge upset over Utah State, then in the Sweet 16 took UCLA down to the wire and nearly pulled an enormous upset, but lost by 3(Hays had a career day, outscoring all players on the court). UCLA went on to win the national title that year...

We used to be a basketball school back in the day, but now we are known as a football school, as our Grizzly Football program was revived in the late 80's by an amazing coach named Don Read, who eventually led us to our first FCS national championship title in 1995, beating Marshall with a late game winning field goal.

cool video documenting that monumental 1995 season


But, I feel basketball coming back strong over the last 5 years, and counting. This game against CUSE is pretty much our championship game. If we were to win, it would feel like winning another championship for our Conference.

 

[djcon57]

5 steps:
1. Have Khalid El Amin bring the ball up court,
2. He passes to Otto Porter at the high post,
3. Porter can either dump it down to Patrick Ewing or,
4. Kick it out to Kyle Kuric, if Kyle Kuric can't get the shot, rotate it to far corner as the shot clock winds down so,
5. Kieth Smart can put up a desperation shot.

If that all fails, have TJ Sorrentine pull up from 30 feet

 

[mantonio]

This is the type of game where attitude is everything.

Montana will play with reckless abandon, because they have nothing to lose & will have to play that way for a chance to win.

Syracuse must focus on playing a confident, but focused game, not getting too fancy, but getting the job done. Another important issue is confidence coming down to the wire. The reason Vermont was able to win, Syracuse got nervous in the close game, & couldn't overpower their less talented opponent.

As the higher seed in a power conference, you must have a killer instinct, knowing all the time that you will eventually prevail, even if it takes a little bit more effort & time than you desired at the outset.

 

[Opus]

I must admit when I first heard 'Montana' I thought Fennis Dembo. Since I haven't seen him mentioned...my bad.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I must admit when I first heard 'Montana' I thought Fennis Dembo. Since I haven't seen him mentioned...my bad.

Wyoming.

 

[jdubs30]

This is the type of game where attitude is everything.

Montana will play with reckless abandon, because they have nothing to lose & will have to play that way for a chance to win.

Syracuse must focus on playing a confident, but focused game, not getting too fancy, but getting the job done. Another important issue is confidence coming down to the wire. The reason Vermont was able to win, Syracuse got nervous in the close game, & couldn't overpower their less talented opponent.

As the higher seed in a power conference, you must have a killer instinct, knowing all the time that you will eventually prevail, even if it takes a little bit more effort & time than you desired at the outset.

I didn't think our '05 team was great, I think this team is much better. I also think Vermont was better than Montana is.

 

[mantonio]

I didn't think our '05 team was great, I think this team is much better. I also think Vermont was better than Montana is.

I gotta agree with your assessment.

This team has more talent at more positions than that team had, & I think this team is also longer overall from a defensive perspective. We had Hak back then, but really, we can look at every spot on the starting roster, & they match up quite formidably with opponents.

I think the experts are misjudging & underestimating the potential of this team. With our talent, if we just use it properly, we can win it all with a little luck & some confidence.

 

[sutomcat]

He sent me this in a pm through the Grizzly board after I requested feedback about the Grizzs'.. He's still waiting to be cleared to post here, hope it's soon.

1. Jamar is very very good, but the straw that stirs our drink is obviously Will Cherry, who is getting NBA scouts looking at him. Unfortunately Cherry broke if foot for the first 7 games of the season, which included the narrow loss to Colorado State (a six seed I think) and the BYU bashing (we struggled to win against Utah teams this year). Cherry came back for the San Diego State loss in double OT at home (but only played 12 mins). With a 100% Cherry most fans believe we win both the CSU and SDSU games.

Cherry is probably considered the best Grizzly guard since Michael Ray Richardson, and I would say some younger ones believe is even better. I don't as I've seen both play. His game is more slashing, and driving to the bucket. He tends to play with to much emotion at times IMO. He is very good at screening his shots. Great first step, more athletic than most Orange fans would believe, and also faster than most would think.

He won't be intimidated by playing your team, as he has faced some very good point guards the last few years including Damion Lilliard (probably ROY in NBA), who he has known since high school. IMO he guarded Damion as good as anyone did, and actually outplayed him a couple of times.

2. Davidson - I keep seeing Davidson is much better. Probably not true, and I suspect many fans dont even realize we played them in the bracketbusters. Yes, we loss to them in OT, on their floor. It was an east coast game that was squeezed into, if I recall, 5 games in 10 days. That was the first game we did not have our leading scorer Ward, plus Cherry re-aggravated his foot, at first thinking it was broken but realizing later it was scar tissue. He sat the 2nd half. So without out 2 of our 3 best players we still had a chance to win, and would have even IMO with a healthy Cherry. I saw that game.

3. Keys to winning - well for the Griz to pull off the upset they need big games from Cherry and Jamar. Jamar has not played very well on the road this year at times, so he is going to need to step it up. The good thing is both are from California (Cherry Oakland, Jamar LA) so there should be a home feel to it. Griz will also need their two best 3 point shooters (Weisner & Gregory) to both have big games. I'm not as scared by the lack of a big man, as I am our streaky shooting. Late in the year, the rebounding was starting to improve as a result of the style of play...which is transition type ball. And of course we need a great defensive game. Will it happen? Maybe, maybe not but this team is considered one of the 3 best in Griz history. We have beaten UCLA in Pauley the last few years, with many of these players, albeit UCLA isnt what they once were.

4. Coaching tradition. Although probably not an impact directly on the game Wayne Tinkle is a product of a list of great former coaches from Montana. Michael Ray played for Jud Heathcote, who was followed by Jim Brandenberg, Michael Montgomery (current California - recruited Tinkle), Stew Morrill (current Utah State - Tinkle played for), and Blaine Taylor (recent Old Dominion, assistant/player to all the above). He also played & coached with another product of that system Larry Krystkowiak, who is currently HC at Utah. Very likely that this could be Tinkle's last year for the Griz. He will probably get a shot with a Pac 12 team. He is a player's coach, and very likeable. Basketball runs in the family. His wife is one of the all time Lady Griz greats. His son just led his team to the Class AA (top class in MT) state championship. His daughter starts and stars for Stanford, his other daughter is a freshman on a Gonzaga that just won their conference. He needs the upset to keep the top spot in family conversations...lol. Especially if Joslyn and Stanford go to the Final Four again.

Appreciate you posting this Stoney.

I have never been to Montana, but I want to visit it sometime (based on reading Stephen Ambrose's book Undaunted Courage).

For the Montana natives on the board, what is the straight scoop about your state? Is there a speed limit on the Interstates? I thought I read that at one point there wasn't but it has been changed. If there is a limit, what is it and what is the real speed limit (the top speed you can go without getting a ticket on the Interstates, even with the police present). The real speed limit for the Interstates in NY with a 65 MPH limit is 75...

 

[ordigger]

Appreciate you posting this Stoney.

I have never been to Montana, but I want to visit it sometime (based on reading Stephen Ambrose's book Undaunted Courage).

For the Montana natives on the board, what is the straight scoop about your state? Is there a speed limit on the Interstates? I thought I read that at one point there wasn't but it has been changed. If there is a limit, what is it and what is the real speed limit (the top speed you can go without getting a ticket on the Interstates, even with the police present). The real speed limit for the Interstates in NY with a 65 MPH limit is 75...

I know many still believe this to be the case, but it is not. A little background...

Prior to the federal mandated speed limit of 55 mph in the 1970s, Montana had no speed limit that was set as a number. The law on the books read "reasonable and prudent". As a "protest" against the federal government setting speed limits, Montana for years had their cheap ticket. I think it was $5, maybe $10 if i recall. You could drive across the state for example on I-90, get pulled over 4-5 times...pay the officer is fine and go on your way. It was never reported to insurance companies, etc.

In 1995 when the federal law was abolished, the state of Montana law reverted to what it had been. It caused mass confusing. Exactly what is "reasonable and prudent?" Many people assumed we had no speed limit, but in truth you could be pulled over at the officer's discretion, and the burden fell on you to prove why you thought it was safe. I know the most common places to get tickets were on bridges as you crossed them, or in corners. They would watch how your car performed. I got pulled over for doing 5 mph less than the previous speed limit, going downhill on McDonald Pass (outside of Helena - state capital).

Accidents and deaths started increasing. Calls for the state legislature to do something started mounting. Companies like Mercedes-Benz were coming to Montana to test the open speed limits on our roads. Tourists from all over the world would come to drive what they thought was a legal (100+ mph). That fast you got pulled over and ticketed anyway. Most of Montana is rural so many people wanted the "reasonable and prudent" law to remain.

However around 1998 it was finally abolished. Speed limits on Interstates were set at 75, but more important on two lane roads it is 70 mph. As to the "real speed limit", I would think that usually 5-7 mph over and you're fine, maybe up to 10 mph but I wouldn't chance it beyond that. There is no more protest ticket so you pay a real fine now also.

I'm a geologist, currently in Oklahoma, but spent the last couple of years working in NE Pennsylvania. That speed limit you mention didn't work for me down between Elmira & Binghampton. Got pulled over at 71...but perhaps it wasnt 65 - but I think it was. Maybe the Montana plates...lol.

btw edit - Another good book about Missoula (home of the UM) to read is "A River Runs Through It". The old family home is near the campus if I recall. The great line from the movie is something like "the number of bast**** increases the further you get from Missoula". The rivers they fished were the Clark Fork (right near campus), and the Blackfoot (about 8 miles east of Missoula) up Hellgate Canyon.

 

[MCC]

I don't know. My gut instincts tell me...maybe...

Classic Futurama line. Wait... can anything ostensibly occurring in the future - inherent to any and all Futurama dialogue - be "classic"?

Head... exploding...

 

[rstone7727]

btw edit - Another good book about Missoula (home of the UM) to read is "A River Runs Through It". The old family home is near the campus if I recall. The great line from the movie is something like "the number of bast**** increases the further you get from Missoula". The rivers they fished were the Clark Fork (right near campus), and the Blackfoot (about 8 miles east of Missoula) up Hellgate Canyon.

Great post ordigger, as a matter of fact, my mother told me about the Black Foot Tribe when I was younger because her Great Grandfather was a member of that tribe. She said some of the tribe left Montana and trekked across Canada looking for a place to settle. It was during the winter and most of them died from starvation/exposure but my Great-Great Grandfather survived and settled in Southern Quebec. So I'm a descendant of the Blackfoot.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Hit a lot of threes and pound us on the offensive boards.

They lost their PF. They had 3 very good players on their team - a PF, a SF and a PG. The PF is out. The SF is actually their best rebounder, but they lost their talented inside guy. They're unlikely to pound us on the boards. Their guards could play well, but they are smaller and will be pushed a bit farther outside by the zone. Their 6-5 guy might be the guy to make plays at the foul line. That's what we've got to watch for - him getting the ball and making the kick out to their shooters.