Griz hoops season comes to disappointing finish
It's really hard to adequately describe just how this game felt. I don't know if I've every really experienced anything like it. The ride this game took Griz fans is really only comparable to how this
whole season felt.
The Griz were down by 22 early in the game and I really can't describe how much I hated the team at this point in the game. Most fans know what I'm talking about. You know; those moments when you can't help but wonder why they can go out and not give a damn while you have so much emotionally invested in them. You can't help but wonder why the players can't get up for a game that decides their season. You have to ask how a coach can't get his team pumped the most important 40 minutes of the season.
Then they go and remind you why you've never been more obsessed with any sports team by playing like their hair is on fire and making up a deficit you thought was far too large. At one point the Griz couldn't be beat on the defense end and could not be stopped when they had the ball. Things were looking up and it appeared as though I would be hopping on a bus tomorrow morning to go watch our Griz get their passes punched for the Big Dance.
Then things started to slip a bit. The lead decreased and Drew headed to the line before a media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the world was thrown off its tilt for all Griz fans as it seemed like the nothing was right on Earth.
The time out ended and the game was over. The music cued on the radio broadcast for the game to come back but it just wasn't right as the cheesy techno-ish music cut out for a few seconds only to be replaced by cheesy country music and someone announced that they were having technical difficulties.
As the technical difficulty break went on I tried to convince myself that when the game came back we would be up but I couldn't help but be afraid that when it did come back we would be down by some insurmountable margin. Mick came back on what sounded like an old Nokia cell phone and we were down by 9. I had a feeling this was going to happen but had no idea how it did.
The roller coaster went up again as the Griz cut the lead to 5 on a big trey with less than thirty seconds to play. Then it shot downwards for good as the Griz turned it over and the Lumberjacks made two free throws.
It was the story of the season with a poor showing in preseason play then showing strong signs in early conference play.Things dipped after a couples losses but we picked it up again and at one point it looked like we were going to host the tournament. Then we lost a couple big ones and didn't even get a bye. Now it ends in a disappointing loss that we should've won.
That rant is all I have on the game for not but more analysis on the game is sure to come.
whole season felt.The Griz were down by 22 early in the game and I really can't describe how much I hated the team at this point in the game. Most fans know what I'm talking about. You know; those moments when you can't help but wonder why they can go out and not give a damn while you have so much emotionally invested in them. You can't help but wonder why the players can't get up for a game that decides their season. You have to ask how a coach can't get his team pumped the most important 40 minutes of the season.
Then they go and remind you why you've never been more obsessed with any sports team by playing like their hair is on fire and making up a deficit you thought was far too large. At one point the Griz couldn't be beat on the defense end and could not be stopped when they had the ball. Things were looking up and it appeared as though I would be hopping on a bus tomorrow morning to go watch our Griz get their passes punched for the Big Dance.
Then things started to slip a bit. The lead decreased and Drew headed to the line before a media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the world was thrown off its tilt for all Griz fans as it seemed like the nothing was right on Earth.
The time out ended and the game was over. The music cued on the radio broadcast for the game to come back but it just wasn't right as the cheesy techno-ish music cut out for a few seconds only to be replaced by cheesy country music and someone announced that they were having technical difficulties.
As the technical difficulty break went on I tried to convince myself that when the game came back we would be up but I couldn't help but be afraid that when it did come back we would be down by some insurmountable margin. Mick came back on what sounded like an old Nokia cell phone and we were down by 9. I had a feeling this was going to happen but had no idea how it did.
The roller coaster went up again as the Griz cut the lead to 5 on a big trey with less than thirty seconds to play. Then it shot downwards for good as the Griz turned it over and the Lumberjacks made two free throws.
It was the story of the season with a poor showing in preseason play then showing strong signs in early conference play.Things dipped after a couples losses but we picked it up again and at one point it looked like we were going to host the tournament. Then we lost a couple big ones and didn't even get a bye. Now it ends in a disappointing loss that we should've won.
That rant is all I have on the game for not but more analysis on the game is sure to come.
It's really a tough loss seeing the season end this way... thought this team would eventually put it all together but it just never happened.
Way to go Tinks, you pissed away another one.
Martin & Rundles should have played the entire game, as the FIRST options to score. Hasquet and Strait's first priority should have been (all year) to get into position for offensive REBOUNDS and get their points on put backs.
Give Dlouhy the green light to shoot from out, or drive, plus be ready to get long rebounds on plays run for Martin & Rundles.
The entire year, Tinks mistakenly seemed to think the Griz had a big man game ... THEY DON'T ... they never did.
Tinks pissed away many games with his stubborn insistence to always make our (so called) big men the first option of scoring.
We don't have any big men. We do, however, have two premier 3 point shooters in Martin & Rundles, but Tinks pissed that away too.
Can you imagine how many 3 pointers Martin & Rundles could have made if plays were run specifically to give them open looks to score as the FIRST OPTION, and not make them force shots as a last resort when the shot clock has run down. They would have to actually gotten good, open looks instead of last second, beat the shot clock shots.
Look at points per game average of No. Arizona's Bazy (16.1) and Sir(14.9). They are guards that actually get to shoot the freaken ball. By the way ... THEY WON !!! Amazing ... how can that be, when they weren't made to waste time trying to force it into little big men all the time.
Anyone in the middle can score 20 points if the idea is to throw the ball to them every time, regardless of whether it is working or not. You are not going to win ... but that guy will get his 20 points.
Tinks ... What a screw up. Hopefully next year we can get a real coach.
PeeOde, I couldn't have said it better.
This year, our two toughest conference foes were Weber State and Northern Arizona.
I point to the two time we played Weber state.
On January 20th, Martin played 35 minutes and scored 28 points, WE WON.
On February 14th, Martin's time was cut by more than half to only 15 minutes, got 6 points, WE LOST.
I point to the last three time we played Northern Arizona.
On January 25th, Martin played 27 minutes, scored 8 points, got 4 assists WE WON.
On Feb. 22nd, Martin played only 2 minutes, and yes, WE LOST.
On March 6th, Martin played only 8 minutes, scored 3 points and yes, WE LOST AGAIN.
When we play tough opponents, and Martin gets playing time, WE WIN. When he only gets 2 and 8 minutes on the floor, WE LOOSE.
In the last 5 games Rundles has been given the green light to put up a lot of shots but in this offense soon reality strikes. Over the last 5 games he is shooting 34% and soon the coaches' love affair will go bad even though they say they will live and die with him. No offense being run for the guards turns into low shooting percentages. Rundles is a smart kid and he has seen what they have done to Martin. He has to know that it could happen to him.
The coaches always say that they have watched the film many times and have tweeked the offense but there are never any changes. Coaching is a profession of assessing talent, implementing what is best for the team and making adjustments as you go for the WHOLE TEAM to be successful. Not a sport of falling in and out of love with the one or two guys that are hot at the moment and continuing to do the same thing over and over only to produce the same results.
Utah took big steps at a cost to save their program. Will we? Or will we just rename the school Junior College Finishing School @ Montana? Four year guards will not want to come here.