Montana Grizzlies Sports, Football and Basketball : Grizzoulian

It's been speculated for a while now—especially with Zach Graves and Cameron Rundles—but as of Tuesday evening, it's official: these three players will not be returning to play basketball for the 2008-2009 season.

Most Griz fans never got a chance to see what "Big Dave" or Zach could do. Everyone raved about Graves' athleticism and Vanderjagt's potential presence inside but it was never realized. With Cam, it was different.

Cameron Rundles was recruited by Larry Krystkowiak as a point guard, a gritty floor general. But the point guard spot already had depth in senior Bryan Ellis and junior Matt Martin. At the beginning of the season, these two started at the guard positions but by the ninth game Rundles made the starting lineup. In a December 9th, 72-65 win over UC Riverside, he scored 13 points in 32 minutes.

By conference play, he was a major contributor. He earned Freshman of the Year honors and was the Big Sky's best three-point shooter, beating out Stephen Sir with a .481 clip during the regular season.

On top of the numbers, there were all the intangibles. From the beginning, it seemed as though he would inevitably become the leader the Griz needed. Maybe that had something to do with his downfall. Every time I spoke to him, he referenced being a leader, a coach on the floor. It'd be near impossible to get upper-classmen to listen to a struggling sophomore.

The slump was bad, no one can deny that, but I never thought it'd do him in. This kid once re-entered a high school playoff game and rallied his team from a 12-point deficit after suffering a concussion and gashing his face but he can't overcome a run-of-the-mill sophomore slump? Come on.

To him, it's undoubtedly more than that. There's probably some tension between he and Coach Tinkle over playing time and the like. To this Griz fan, that complaint seems unwarranted. Unlike some other players—see: Zach Graves, Matt Martin—he got minutes when he played well. You don't need to look any further than end of the last regular season match-up against Idaho State and the two games that followed to see this is the case.

Fans will bash his sometimes immature ways and poor decisions but no one can deny that he played with a lot of passion and tried to spread it to others. It usually looked like he was having some fun. He always took the big shots, the daggers. When a statement was needed, he'd try to make it.

I'm not going to lie, I think it's a terrible decision. I do not know what goes on behind closed doors so my judgement could be far, far off but I believe if he averaged 15 and 5 (assists) in limited minutes in the early games next season, a starting guard spot would his before Thanksgiving.

In summary: his freshman season was amazing, the slump was too much and both sides will regret this happened.

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Wednesday's Missoulian has an interesting article about the Griz's inability to defend against guards. Before I launch into my response, here's an excerpt summarizing the issue:

At Montana State, senior guard Carlos Taylor scored a career-high 34 points in rallying the Cats past the Griz in the Big Sky Conference opener. At Northern Arizona, center Kyle Landry ended up with a career-high 25 points, but it was the penetration of point guard Josh Wilson that got the ball into Landry's hands in the Jacks' big second half.

Then last week at home, it was Idaho State guard Donnie Carson who grabbed the rebound of his own miss and put back the winning basket. Three nights later, Weber State point guard Dezmon Harris scored 17 points and 5-foot-6 reserve guard Kellen McCoy added nine more and came up with a decisive offensive rebound in the waning seconds.

Weber's Harris and McCoy might be the toughest tandem the Griz have faced. Harris was 5-for-6 from 3-point range, but he's equally adept at driving to the basket and drawing fouls. McCoy shoots a whopping 49 percent from 3-point range, but at 5-6, can be past his defender in a flash.

This doesn't include Portland's Nik Raivio hitting a game winning 3 or Fullerton absolutely killing us with the same shot.

So, where do we go? If you asked 10 passionate, intelligent Griz fans what they'd do in an attempt to cure the problem, at least eight would say the same thing: play Zach Graves. Let's start this discussion off by talking about Graves' minutes up to this point. He's played a total of 33 minutes in 7 games for a 4.7 average. The average and total is the third least, only ahead of Dave Vanderjagt and Greg Spurgetis. The next closest is Brian Qvale with 182 minutes and a 14.0 average. That's another story right there.

Graves' season high for minutes (13) came against Montana State-Northern. They're easy to pass off as garbage minutes against an opponent who was scheduled to get kids like him playing time but those who remember the game know it's a bit different.

Here's the story: Lights guard Delvaugh Tinned scored 14 points in the game's first 15 minutes. The Griz were down 20-23 to the NAIA Lights. Zach Graves checked in with 4:58 left in the first half to guard Tinned. He didn't score the rest of the way. Not the rest of the half; the rest of the game. I understand the level of competition is different during conference play but he freakin' shut out a kid who was playing unconscious up to that point. That's worth something.

I'm not completely sure myself but I've heard that the knock on him is his offensive game. It's a little raw. By that I mean he's not a great shooter and at times has trouble handling the ball. First off, let me say that lock-down defense should be enough. See: Bryan Ellis. Now, let me move onto the other things.

So what if he's not a great shooter. Seems like that should be required to get quality minutes playing hoops? Not quite. Alando Tucker, Wisconsin's all-time leading scorer and current  Phoenix Sun is not a great shooter. He became what he is by getting to the hole, something I believe Graves is capable of. That's where the ballhandling thing comes into play.

What I've heard and seen on Graves' ball-handling comes from situations where Graves was playing against Griz teammates. I've mentioned what I think the reason is before. This team is perfectly suited to stop players like Graves. In practice, he's going up against three 7-footers and talented experienced post players in Hasquet and Strait. If they wanted they could create a red rover chain stretching from one side of the court to the other. Of course, Graves could jump over it.

Graves, unlike anyone else on this team, has the ability to get the crowd buzzing. Following the opener against CSU, students could not stop talking about Graves' dunk towards the tale end of the game. I overheard people talking about that as much as anything else. Remember how Dlouhy's dunks used to start monster runs, Graves' could do the same.

Of course, it all comes down to what he actually does in games and whether or not he earns the minutes in the eyes of his coach. If I were Tinkle, I'd start giving Graves 5-10 minutes per game, every game. When a guard is making a run, sick Graves on him to see how he does. If I were Graves, I'd bust my ass in practice. Be vocal (leading and communicating, not asking for minutes), play like my hair was on fire and try to pull a Jeremy Pargo as often as I could.

At this point in the season, every single option needs to be exhausted. Playing Graves is one of those options.

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Tonight the Griz play the 6-3 Broncos of the West Coast Conference. The Griz have lost three straight and come into the matchup at 5-5 looking to get a win before finishing off the road trip against Cal State Fullerton.

As always, the grizzlyjournal has an excellent preview on the game.

Tonight I'll be running a live blog on the game. I've done this before, but never without TV. I'll be listening to the radio broadcast over the web and offering up any comments and insight I have. On top of that, Glenn Junkert, author of the grizzlyjournal, will be chiming in as well.

It all starts after the jump. Feel free to add whatever comments you have.

Pregame

Colin: Obviously, the Griz need a win bad. Picking up these next two would be huge for the Griz's confidence heading towards conference play. Everyone knows this. Anyway, here's the lineup I'd start if I ran the show:

1-Cam Rundles
2-Ryan Staudacher
3-Jordan Hasquet
4-Andrew Strait
5-Brian Qvale

The Griz need to go big to battle huge John Bryant (6'10", 305 lbs, 20.7 ppg) and Martin would be great coming off the bench. I'm not saying Stads is more valuable out there. I just think Martin's fire and swagger would be perfect coming off the bench. Second guy off the bench: probably Sharpie to help out on Bryant. Third off the bench: Graves. This kid needs minutes like the Chicago Bears need a new quarterback. No, I won't let MNF be a distraction during the game. Graves needs minutes because quick guards killed this team in their loss to Pacific (see video).

Glenn: Ok. Before this game even starts, my hope is that Brian Qvale gets the opportunity to match up against the Broncos' 310 lb, 6'10" center John Bryant. I firmly believe Griz are a couple pieces away from cementing into a solid team heading toward conference play. One of them is more game experience from Qvale. The more minutes he gets, the more opportunities he'll get to show what he can do. Waging battle with Bryant is an ideal opportunity for Qvale.

Colin: Agreed. I think this matchup is going to be a great test for Qvale. It'll be interesting to see how their styles of play factor into this. Qvale is a quick, agile big who goes for a lot of blocks. I do not know for sure but going in, I'm imagining Bryant as a player similar to UCLA's Kevin Love, except 50 pounds heavier. Not really quick but more powerful. He can back you down so that your head is touching the net then lay it up and in. It'll be interesting to see if Qvale can get some points and rebounds down at the other end of the court.

Colin: Still waiting on the audio feed.

Colin: Alright, here's an alternative to the audio feed because the one from MontanaGrizzlies.com isn't up yet. Heard tinks Briefly mention he wanted to run. That'd be great. Hope he has the personnel in there to do it.

Colin: Broadcasters point out we gotta make Bryant run. He's only playing 25 minutes a game so endurance is obviously an issue... woah, wait, Tinks car got broken into. Wow. Talk about a bad omen.

'Squets injury is going to be interesting. As they noted, Griz did not practice yesterday.

Glenn: Former Griz Mike Warhank, a guest color analysis commentator for Mick Holien, made a good point on the pre-game show. If the Griz can push the pace with every chance they get, they might have success in the low blocks. Andrew Strait runs the floor well, and can be very effective in the early offense. If the Griz can force the Broncos into a "faster than normal" transition game with sideline entry passes to Andrew, they could open the game up a bit.

First Half

20:00 0-0

Colin: Cameron sits to start again. Same lineup as last game. Qvale-Strait-Jordo-Martin-Stads.

19:00 4-0 Broncos

Colin: Qvale apparently got a bad call on a block and picked up a foul. Hopefully the officiating is better than last game. This isn't a great start. Looks like Broncos are willing to foul and be physical.

Glenn: Good to hear that Jordan Hasquet is starting, playing on his gimpy ankles.

4-3 Broncos after Hasquet 3, good call by Glenn

Colin: Arena seems very dead. Not much atmosphere whatsoever. I believe attendance is close to what it was at Pacific but sounds much more quiet. Students must be gone.

17:02 6-3 Broncos

8-3 After a Dunk

8-5 after bunny by Drew

Colin: Really would prefer to see the Griz take control of a game. Seems as though it always starts out like this with a medium sized deficit.

10-5 with 15:12

Colin: Hopefully the Griz can come out of the break with some fire. Look to see Cam or Graves (PLEASE). Need some fire. This is where you need the Chavez.

Colin: Cam does come in. Hopefully he can give the Griz what they need. Sharpie comes in as well. Still 10-5.

Glenn: Single-shot possessions won't do on the road. Griz will need to get some offensive boards for second shots.

Colin: Agreed. We need some offensive boards. That as Qvale checks back in. Going to be tough with Bryant.

10-6 as Ceylon Elgin-Taylor checks in

Colin: Griz seem to be drawing quite a few fouls. Hopefully someone important is getting in trouble.

11-8 after a pair of Sharp FTs

Glenn: An aside on the game: Mike Warhank is an excellent color commentator. Great observations.

Colin: Agreed. I have a terrible memory, I believe Mick was all alone last year. Mike is filling in great with the color.

It's now 11-10 with 11:00 to go, hopefully the Griz can come out of the break and make a run. One Chavez candidate is in in: Spurgetis.

Glenn: Correct with your earlier post suggesting that Zach Graves & Greg Spurgetis get more playing time. Both have energy & can help the Griz in important areas of the game.

Colin: Dave is checking in. This should be interesting. We'll see what type of minutes he can earn against possibly the best center we've seen this year.

19-10 Broncos after a pair of threes and a layup

Colin: Wow, exactly what we weren't supposed to do. Johnson has ONLY made three point shots. It's not like all 4 of his makes. It's all 15+ of the shots he's made. Amazing. Get Graves to chase that kid around.

Glenn: The three-point bugaboo is biting the Griz again.

Colin: That and missing easy shots. Come on fellas. Cannot do that when the Broncos are shooting so well.

Now 22-10 after another trey with about 8:00 to play

Colin: Boy does this seem familiar. Griz let medium lead grow due to three pointers for them and missing open shots. We need to come out on fire. Revamped. Come on Tinks, toss in something else if this isn't working. Insanity: trying the same thing over and over while expecting different results. The Griz need to show they're not insane... that'd be a good start.

Glenn: I think Mike lives in the area and is just serving as a guest for these two games.

Colin: We could use him full-time. Great insight.

22-11 after Strait makes a FT... then fouls someone on the other end

Colin: This is pretty much echoing Mike, the Griz are pretty much letting Santa Clara run their offense however they want. Get Graves in there. We need someone to get in passing lanes and screw them up a bit.

Lead is all the way up to 13 after FTs

Glenn: Disappointing start against an opponent I figured would be a decent mark. It's obvious the Griz aren't handling the Broncos inside-outside game.

Lead down to 11

Now 9 after Hasquet jumper

Colin: It's looking like Hasquet might have to carry us again. Who knows if he can on those ankles. Why Martin is still in there with this lead is beyond me. He is a great offensive player. We need a little D with the way the Broncos are shooting.

Lead all the way back to 13 after missed Martin 3 and Bryant layup... Strait gets a lay-in to move it back down to 11... but then someone rolls down the lane again.

Colin: What the hell. Get someone in there who can prevent people from walking down the lane. This is kind of a joke. The only way our D up the middle gets worse is if we put down a trampoline around the free throw line and they can just jump over us and dunk it.

Glenn: Can't see it, but it appears the Broncos are getting high post screens for easy penetration by their guards.

Colin: Yep. Mick says there's no real sense of purpose... or something close. BRING IN THE BENCH GUYS. We need some fire. We've done this over, and over, and over again. We need quick or passionate guards. Someone rip Graves' and Greg's sweats off and shove them in the game.

Colin: Mike points to lack of effort. This is unbelievable. We need new guys if this continues. The end of bunch guys are starving for minutes. STARVING. You think effort will be a question of effort there? I doubt it.

Glenn: Andrew is playing the post well tonight. But the Griz won't make any headway without someone stepping up to make some threes. Hasquet just collects his third pf.

Colin: Agreed. Don't want to see us get too dependent on that though. And they get a rebound on a free throw. Yeah, effort is definitely an issue.

1:35... 31-19

Colin: Mike says "there are driving lanes to the basket." Really, tell me I'm wrong. Tell me Graves shouldn't be in this game.

Glenn: Hmmm. Mike Warhank suggests the Griz guards have lanes to the basket. That suggests tentative play by Griz guards.

Colin: Wonder if the injury is affecting Cam. Last season he'd drive without abandon. He's been more of a shooter this year. Significantly hinders what used to be a very dynamic style of play.

33-20 at Half

Colin: That really couldn't have gone a whole lot worse. It was exactly what we've seen in our bad losses.

Colin: "Tell me what you're up to Mike"... "Well, I'm actually talking to O'Day about getting my old job back. Tinkle said he'd be fine moving back to assistant." Maybe he just takes over for one half. I'm not normally one to rail on a coach but I don't like the way this first half has been handled. The same thing keeps happening and we keep trying the same faulty solutions.

Glenn: Don't have to go any farther than the stat line: Santa Clara is shooting 52 percent from the field and 100 percent from three-point range with 22 rebounds. The Grizzlies are shooting 29.2 percent from the field, 14.3 percent from three-point range, and have 10 rebounds. If the Bronco hadn't turned the ball over six times the margin could be even greater. I don't like to think this, but the Grizzlies are starting to show the same pattern of logging disastrous halves of play much like they did last year. This is the fourth time this year they've shown this pattern.

Second Half

Colin: Griz need to come out and play a totally different game while hoping the Broncos do the same. We need a great pep talk and some phenomenal adjustments.

Colin: Mick says "you can see the energy on offense"... great... until Strait misses a lay-up.

Glenn: The Griz are shooting 55 percent from the free throw line, which is another puzzling up & down stat.

Lead is 16 after a 3 point play... then Staudacher makes a trey.

Colin: Really sounds like the Griz have some fire now. Still not making their shots though. Sounds like they are trying to run it and get to the rim. You can hear Marso screaming 'GO!'

40-25 with about 16 minutes left

Colin: If the Griz don't make a big run this will go down as an L. Chipping away is just not going to work. We need a series of stops and a lot of makes.

Lead is 16...12 after solid plays by Sharp and Rundles...13:57

Glenn: Judging by the audience, it sounds like the Griz have pretty good crowd supporting them.

Colin: Hopefully we can show them a win. Nothing like walking out of an opposing arena with a win while dressed in garb from the visiting team.

One FT pushes lead back to 13

Colin: Mick says Jordo's ankle isn't bothering him at all. Good to hear. Don't want any lingering injuries.

Colin: Seems like we're forcing put-backs a little too hard. Need to reset more. We did on the last possession after getting a second offensive rebound. Good to see the Griz hitting the glass after an abysmal first half in that category.

Glenn: Even Mick Holien is making critical comments about the Grizzlies' tentative, "lazy" play. Ouch.

Colin: He also points out that we are not picking up getting any momentum and cannot make two shots in a row. The Broncos travel on two consecutive possessions. Need to capitalize on TOs like these.

Stads puts down a 3 as the Griz cut it to ten with close to 10:00 left

Colin: Here's the goal for rallying. Just be calm, try to keep it so you're down that fewer points than minutes left.

Glenn: Would love to see Ryan Staudacher have a "break-out" game from long range.

Colin: We need it. We need someone to be there.

Lead is back to 12 after Bryant basket

Goaltending as it's back to 14

Staudacher missed 3 and Broncos run down and get to the line

Colin: This is awful. Griz make the tiniest run then give it all back and then some. No rhythm, confidence, momentum.

Lead is at 16 with 8:18 left

Colin: Running out of minutes. Pace is way off. Down twice as many points as minutes. Great.

14 after Cam FTs about 8:00 left... Cam hits a 3 and it's 11

Colin: Real risky shot by Cam. Lucky it goes down. Now Graves comes in. This should be interesting.

Glenn: Sure is nice that Cam's playing with energy once again. It might be a sign he's getting past his foot injury. Your guy's subbing in, Colin.

Colin: Not gonna lie, I'm kind of nervous.

Lead is back to 13 after a pair of FTs

Colin: Real young line-up down the stretch. This will be very very interesting. Wow, missed front end of one and one by Hasquet. FTs kill us and whatever momentum we have. It happens in almost every game.

Cam throws one away and Broncos get 2 more... back to 15... then makes a runner at the other end.

Colin: Maybe Cam should be taking/making more shots early. Didn't he do this the other night in Portland?

Strait picks up fouls on the offensive and defensive ends... lead goes to 16 as Bryant makes a pair of FTs then Stads hits a 3, it's 12.

Colin: We're getting homered again. Not that it'd help that much but come on. Can't put us down even further.

Down by 10 with 4:01 left..now 8... Griz get a stop and over-the-top foul on Santa Clara

Colin: Not sure if we're shooting FTs coming down but we NEED points. Either two makes at the line or a big shot. A three would be beyond massive. If Stads makes it his starting spot is cemented.

Glenn: A good late-game run, fueled by Cameron. I'm reading some stuff into this, but if Cameron's taking control, that's a good sign.

Colin: I agree. He's turned it over a couple times but made up for it on following possessions. We need him to play this way the entire game.

Jordo misses the front end of a one and one again... 3:00 left and still down 8... 10 as Bryant gets another one.

Colin: Tough basket there. Leads to an MT miss.

Still 8 with less than 2:00 left

Colin: It was there for the taking. I'm not sure it is anymore. Mike Montgomery even left.

Griz get a couple of turnovers but cannot convert.

Colin: That's game. I think. Another Griz miss.

Another turnover by Santa Clara leads to zero Griz points

Colin: The game was there and we didn't go out and take it. Just needed to make a fun more shots run a few better sets and we're right there.

Santa Clara 60, Griz 49   Final.

Postgame

Colin: The Griz lose their fourth in a row and fall below .500 for the first time with a record of 5-6. Just not a good game whatsoever. There were a few extremely short stretches where we played well but never could put together enough solid possessions. There was certainly a time in the second half when the Griz could've got back in the game but they didn't jump on it. There didn't seem to be the clutch mentality and determination to pull out a come-from-behind victory.

Glenn: The best game plan in the world won't work when your team shoots 33 percent from the field and 53 percent from the free throw line. Am I correct? -- The Griz get two 1-and-1 opportunities with the lead down to 8 points and they can't convert.

But still, they play the Broncos even in the second half. But another 20-point first half (the last time they did that was at home against the Portland Pilots) is a tough hole to crawl out of.

Colin: Agreed. The Griz didn't have what was needed to jump on a team when they had a chance. I don't know if it was effort, endurance or what. You can't play all your games at home and you can't get long breaks between every game. I don't know why the broadcasters are blaming the legs at times when the Griz played great in the final two days of the Spokane tournament. Just poor shooting, poor effort.

Glenn: I was pretty encouraged after the Grizzlies battled to overtime against Pacific. This game's a big setback. It'll be interesting to hear what coach Tinkle has to say. Of course it doesn't get any easier on Thursday.

Glenn: Did Tyler Hurley suit up? Was he even there? The official statistics indicate Hurley was suited up.

Colin: Not sure. I didn't hear anything about that.

Tinkle sounds pretty somber. Said he found a combination that might've worked... when was that? Graves maybe. I'm not going to say that. We came back for like two minutes. Tinkle sounds pleased with the play of Spurgetis and Graves. We'll see what that does. We're going to have to toss everything we have at Fullerton if we don't want to go to 5-7.

Well, that's it for me. The game was a major disappointment with very little positives. I want to thank Glenn Junkert for helping me out and sharing his thoughts on the game. Check out his blog, the grizzlyjournal.

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When Mike Chavez entered a game, it was like letting some half-mythical, wild and angry creature out of a cage. For the other team, it was like the end of the world was coming off the far bench. Chavez would enter the game, then fire the team and the crowd up with his passionate play. As a senior, he was grateful for the minutes he got, most of which came off the bench. He'd hop up, bust his ass off and make big plays to either end an opposing run or start a Griz one. He'd grab rebounds, block shots, drain 3's and throw down put-back dunks.

Every team needs a Mike Chavez. Scratch that, every good team needs a Mike Chavez. Someone who goes out there and gives the rest of the team a proverbial punch to the ear when they're dicking around, letting the other team go on a run or not pulling away from a bad team.

Anyway, here are my three candidates for this year's Mike Chavez:

Matt Martin
Yes, he's currently a starter, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be better coming off the bench. Martin already plays with something of a chip on his shoulder, why not make it bigger by bringing him off the bench? He could swagger onto the court, make 2-3 treys and all of a sudden a one point lead is double digits. This may not include reducing his playing time. Tinkle could bring him off the bench a few minutes into the game while still giving him starter-like minutes.

Zach Graves
The explosive combo guard could be the most athletic player the Griz have. He's a slasher. A quick guard who can get to the paint and has the hops to finish. Graves is not a drive a dish guy, as we've seen before. He has gotten very few minutes so far, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Here's what I think is going on: Graves' playing time is based on how he's done in practice, which is against  team full of bigs. Not quite the type of opponent he'd thrive against. He gets in the paint and it's a sea of four foot long arms. Against some of the smaller, quicker teams we've been playing, that wouldn't happen. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more minutes considering the size and quickness of our opponents. Imagine a Jeremy Pargo-type player coming off the bench. He's starved for minutes and would fly around on the defensive end while driving hard to the whole on offense. Nothing would get guys pumped and the crowded going like a huge dunk over an opposing forward or center.

Greg Spurgetis
At the beginning of the season, Tinkle said he would look at giving this "practice player" more playing time. That hasn't been the case. So why give Greg this spot? You would never question his effort. Out of all the players on the team, I doubt you'll find another who could come off the bench and give the team as much pure effort. He would follow the gameplan and work his ass off. Out of the times I've seen a Griz basketball player at the regular students gym, either shooting around or working out, just about every time it's been Spurgetis. For the short time I worked as a team manager for the Griz, Spurgetis was almost always the last one out of practice and would always put in extra time working on his shot. It's shown too. The kid can knock down a jumper. More than anything else, he can hustle, and that's something this Griz team hasn't shown a lot of.

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Portland was 2-6 heading into Friday night's game against the Griz. They're now 3-6. The Griz were up two with 35 seconds left—after Cameron Rundles made one of two free throws—but Nik Raivio hit a three to give the Pilots the lead and eventually the win.

It was a bad night. Throughout the game, I never really felt too positive about what was going to happen. On the last possession—one in which Cam fed a driving Hasquet—I had a feeling the shot wasn't going to fall. It was just that type of night. The Griz shot less than 25% in the first half and 35% for the game.

Going off the Missoulian article, it sounds as though players aren't buying into the coaches' gameplan.

“We get great looks out of our offense when we run it all the way through,” Strait said. “We're kind of struggling right now with that.”
...
“We give him that shot all day long,” Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said of Raivio, who scored 13 of his game-high 17 points after the break. “I am a little disappointed that we left him. We had a timeout where we said stay with their shooters, make them dribble into our big players - we were ready to take charges - and we left him alone for a split second and that was enough for him to get the shot off and make it.”

Tinkle was upset with his team's inability to execute the game plan.

“We took a lot of mediocre shots, to say the least,” Tinkle said. “For whatever reason, we weren't focused on our game plan. We came out and wanted to go 94 feet of pressure. We didn't do it the first four times we scored. Our game plan was to pound it at them, pound it at them, posts take it and finish strong.

“Maybe what happened when we threw it in to them early and we were soft going to the basket, maybe the players said we shouldn't throw it in there anymore. I thought we came out and played very soft on both ends.”

The Griz cannot lose these type of games. In the most recent simulated RPI listings, Portland was over 200. And we lost to them at home! It can't happen. Not when we have a potentially season-defining road trip on tap. I don't know if it's leadership, execution, coaching or the lineups, but it has to change.

Here's my proposal for the lineups, without really factoring in Cam's possible injury: I believe we have to either go big or go small, no more 'tweener lineups that force us to play the other team's game. We can go big with Qvale-Strait-Jordo-Martin-Cam and squash teams while potentially taking our lumps on the defensive end. One thing is for sure, teams will have to live or die by the outside shot because it'll be tough driving on those bigs. If we go small we toss in the slashers and go with a lineup like Strait-Jordo-Cam-Graves-Martin/Elgin-Taylor. Graves, who is potentially the most athletic player on the team needs to get minutes against smaller quick teams. He also needs minutes when we're trying to press. With Cam not starting and Tinks trying to press, it would've made sense to start Graves.

However, I am not laying this on Coach Tinkle. This loss was on the players. A coach can't do anything to make players shoot that poorly. With that, something does need to be done. A leader needs to step up and discipline needs to be laid down because if the Griz go on this road trip with the mentality they've had in the past two games, they'll come back to Missoula as a 5-7 team.

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Because this game was a comlpete blowout (72-47 Griz), let's start with the students' perfomance tonight. It was God awful. Really. The south student section (why the student section is split up into two halves is beyond me) sat the entire game and made zero noise. None. Wonder why the game was so close in the first half (29-27 Griz)? It's probably because the Lights were going at the end completely devoid of any activity.

The second half, the Lights were going at the north end (bleacher side) of the student section. I'm not sure how they could've possibly been rattled because we didn't make much noise. Maybe they were just intimidated by anyone that stood. If that's really all it takes, this shouldn't be too difficult. Case in point: when the Lights were going at a dead student section they were -2; when they were going at a somewhat active student section they were -23.

I want to get this across. The north end was standing the entire game but made almost no noise. Things finally got going when a few rowdy kids walked in with five minutes left and the Griz already up twenty. When we start playing better teams, the students cannot wait til the end of the game to make noise. We also can't wait til we face the good teams to be loud the entire game. Teams practice before they play anyone and we should get this cheering thing down before we play half-decent teams.

Oh, yeah, and almost no one wore the student shirts. I saw less than 50. The marketing department gives out a thousand student shirts and more than half the students show up in ridiculous looking non-Griz attire. You know when you try and look good by wearing Abercrombie and Fitch or Hurley to a sporting event? Yeah, it doesn't look good at all. It's like trying to wear fancy fake athletic shoes to go work out. You're trying to look stylish but the look is doing the exact opposite of what's intended. You know, at most other schools students have to pay for the shirts and they still all wear them. Unbelievable.

Onward with game-relevant material. Martin looked amazing. He drained shot after shot and finished with 13 points. The Griz were led by Hasquet, who was his usual self. His line: 19 points, 8 boards and 4 assists. Tonight the reboarding looked solid, especially from players coming off the bench. Both Qvale and Sharp finished with 10 boards while neither could've played more than 15-20 minutes. Qvale also finished with 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Other scoring notes: Drew had 12 and Cam had 13.

While the numbers don't really show it, Zach Graves also impressed tonight. He's easily one of our most athletic players. When he gets in, he puts forth more effort than anyone, as evidenced by his 3 steals (leading the team) in 13 minutes. He finished with 4 points and 1 assist on 2 of 3 shooting.

Back to the crowd thing: besides the students, there was no one there. The official attendance:3,334. Come on. Seriously? We can get behind a football team that plays down to every opponent and has players who terrorize the town but we can't draw 7k for hoops? I'm not saying people should follow basketball more than anything else or that people should abandon our football team. I'm saying anyone who calls themself a Griz fan should actually be a Griz fan, not a Griz football fan.

Edit: the directions were off. The south side is the chair side, the north side has bleachers. Thanks Mr. Gregory McDonald, who apparently hates Griz basketball.

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MSU-Northern Lights. The name alone makes them sound unimpressive. Not only does it start off with MSU but it ends with the region of a state. Usually never good. The grizzlyjournal points out that this team comes in with a 6-0 record and looking good on offense.

Lights Out: Montana State Northern, the Grizzlies’ Wed. opponent, rolls into town with a 6-0 record, which includes an interesting comparison against a common opponent. The Lights -- an NAIA Div. I school and a member of the Frontier Conference -- are averaging 92.3 points per game. Included in the 6 wins is a 93-82 victory over the University of Regina, which beat the University of Great Falls 84-59. The Griz beat UGF 77-46 in a pre-season game Oct. 31.

Against this small, quick, fast scoring offense, it'll be interesting to see if Tinkle changes the lineup a bit. The Lights seem like the type of redshirt freshman guard Zach Graves would do well against. He's a quick kid who could penetrate on a team without a decent shot blocker. The Lights' roster says they have a few guys who are 6'7" and 6'8" but this really means they're about 6'5" and 6'6". I want to see a lineup that includes the 3 guard trio of Martin, Rundles and Graves. Rundles and Graves can fly around while Martin spots up from beyond the arc.

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I hope to have some media up later and possibly even a little video but for now, here are my impressions from the game. It's a work in progress...

One thing I really liked tonight is that it looked like a completely revamped offense. We weren't jacking up threes or clogging up the tempo by running every play through our bigs. There was a lot of movement and great balance between driving to the basket, taking jumpers and running it through the posts. The shooting could've been better but that's expected this early in the season.
 
Jack McGillis: I know he's not playing this year but tonight he was easily the most impressive player on the court. That's why I'm starting with him. An excerpt of my notes on him read "GREAT...really, really, good." At the beginning of the scrimmage he was going to the basket a lot but as it went on he showed his range of skills. He made 3's, a tough fade-away, layups and a couple dunks. On one of them he was one on one with Greg Spurgetis on a fast break. Both players went up, Jack let Greg fly by before throwing it down. There really should be an exception to the transfer eligibility rule if said player fits so perfectly onto a team.

Brian Qvale: One of our two young (very) bigs. He's a bit more filled out than Selvig. He's a very aggressive defender. On one possession, he went one on one with Drew. Drew made his usual low post move. You know, where he does a bit of a dipsy-do before he lays it off the glass. Well, Drew has him beat with the spin and as the ball kisses the glass, Qvale smacks it off the backboard. Lookin' good. Besides that, he also was great on the boards.

Derek Selvig:  His style, figure and demeanor remind me a bit of Spencer Hawes. He's all arms and legs. He's willing to take the 3. To be honest, I think the only shots I saw him take were from beyond the arc. If he can consistently knock that down and bring a center out to guard him, it'll be good news for our quick guards, especially...

Zach Graves: He's a great Nellie-ball type player. Great bursts of speed. Flies around the court offensively and busts his ass getting to the basket. However, against our defense, he had some trouble. With all the talented bigs, that lane just fills with arms. If someone tries to play small-ball, he's the type of player who can make them pay.

Matt Martin: His shot was falling tonight and he was taking it. He played with a lot of intensity, and rightfully so. He's trying to get his starting gig back. A spot he'll be battling Ceylon Elgin-Taylor for. It was interesting seeing them go head-to-head, easily the most competitive part of the scrimmage. Martin runs a bit slower offense than the other guards. He runs the play and waits for it to set up. It's not a bad thing, he just runs the offense with a slightly different style than Elgin-Taylor or Rundles.

Ceylon Elgin-Taylor: He reminds me a lot of Bryan Ellis. He's a bit bigger. He has that same defensive intensity, he'll take chances and go for the ball. His offense game is somewhat similar to Ellis' as well. More of a distributor than an offensive threat and why not? He's a pure point, exactly what we need.

Cameron Rundles: Cam performs a bit better when there's something on the line, which makes sense. Even so, he still looked good tonight. As far as his offensive style and pace goes when running the point, his is the fastest. It's more improvisational and not as stuck on the play. If he sees something, he'll jump on it. Besides that, he has a great looking shot.

Greg Spurgetis: He was out there, getting bounced around a bit but still working hard, trying to be more than just a "practice player." Made a few shots, hustled on D. The type of player every team needs.

Ryan Staudacher: Pure shooter. He's a big, strong player and that helps him on getting boards. Need him to consistently deliver that dagger 3 and most of the time he does. He must run off screens well because he almost always finds a way to get open beyond the arc.

Michael Taylor: Another guy that won't play this year due to the transfer rule. He's a guard that's in the Steve Kerr/John Paxson mold. A solid shooter who can make passes. Maybe he'll eventually be  a GM too, who knows.

Jordan Hasquet: You know the deal, this Jordo is a beast. He's a leader on the team who can overpower almost anyone you put on him. A lot of other guys were taking shots tonight and it's tough judging any possible improvement in an intrasquad scrimmage.

Andrew Strait: Similar to Jordo. You know what he does. He was going to the basket a bit more of the post up. He was trying to get to the hoop for layups as opposed to settling for the baby hooks. Something I liked to see.

Kyle Sharp: Looked good defensively, didn't do a ton on offense. He grabbed a few boards. He's gotten a lot bigger over the last two seasons.

Tyler Hurley: Didn't get much playing time so I can't really leave any notes. Looked a bit timid. Too early to make any real judgement.

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The Florida Gators won back to back with what amounts to a group of talented college buddies. Pretty sure my college buddies couldn't band together and win the smallest athletic competition. After seeing how we did in intramural 3-on-3 hoops, the only championship we could maybe win is one in which we had to consume as much as Pabst Blue Ribbon as possible.

With the Fab 4 or whatever they're called on this Gator team, you rarely saw one without the other. Random pictures would surface of them at random places with the quad constantly being intact. This off-court chemistry contributed to major success on the court. I read somewhere that, as freshman, this quad and some other guy beat the starters in a scrimmage.

I don't understand how something like this isn't possible with our Griz. They don't have nearly as many distractions. I mean come on, is Sharpie gonna be selfish to try and crack the SC Top Ten or is Drew considering jumping early just so he can go off and make it rain? I don't think so. Everyone is here for four years, there is no TV and no Florida girls. Come on guys, just be friends.

For those of you that aren't on campus and don't get a chance to see the "quasi-celebrities" that are the Griz hoopsters, they really aren't a solid group of buds. I mean I'll see them eating together every now and then but it's rare and they're usually split up into a couple groups. The two main one's I've seen are the middle guys of Swift and Sharp, they seem kind of inseparable, well, until one bolts. Then there's a duo/trio of Gus, Cam and Zach. As with the Sharpie/Swift combo, part of this group is gone as well. Besides thinking Gus is a really solid player, his chemistry with the young great players is another reason I hate that he left.

As far as the upper classmen go, they tend to be a off on their own. I'm going to stop with the stupid speculation and say that everyone is friends but the team is just not as close as it could be. Come on guys, head up to Canada, bunk together, do what ya gotta do. Lets get this rolling.

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The Griz basketball team comes into the 2007 season with a great deal of young talent. The problem with that is that some of these guys are going to have to sit. Seriously, the Griz basketball poster schedule has 17 guys on it. The basketball one only has  12.

At the bottom of this Missoulian article on how the Griz are looking to go dancing yet again, there is a note pointing to just who may sit out. The article itself isn't very interesting, it just has the very basics every team says after success. You know, "we'd love to get back, but we're just looking to take it one game at a time." Anyway, the most interesting part is a note on who will redshirt, here it is:

Tinkle said he has talked to freshmen Zach Graves and Dave Vanderjagt about sitting out as redshirts, but the decision will be up to the players and their families. ... Freshman Jovanni Sims, who played at a prep school last season, has yet to receive the go-ahead to practice from the NCAA Clearinghouse. ... Sophomore Charlie Cox, who transferred from Montana-Western, must sit out this season.

Vanderjagt's parents, who along with Big Dave are from Townsville, Australia, have been coming and watching their son at practice recently.

Graves is from Sacramento, California. He is still working on his shooting touch but he will become, in time, a very explosive player.

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