Perspective from a basketball fan

aucat · Post by **aucat** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:16 am

I'm a big fan of MSU athletics. However, I did not attend MSU. My kids did though.
So I will always PULL for MSU no matter how bad they are.

But here's the thing. As a fan, I attend games, not out of blind loyalty for good ole MSU,
but rather for entertainment. When MSU is competitive, athletic games are entertaining.

After the two disasters yesterday--two games with ZERO entertainment value to MSU fans, one
wonders what Leon Costello is thinking this morning as he looks at the Big Sky standings.
He sees both MSU teams sinking toward the bottom of the league.

The women are the real mystery. I have attended every men and women's game this year.
I have felt all along that the men are way short on talent, but not the women.

UM women outrebounded MSU 48-25. Absolutely no excuse whatsoever.

But as frustrated as a fan might be, you can't ignore those two championship banners hanging from
the rafters that the MSU women have earned the past two years. Maybe John Stockton had more to do
with that success, I don't know.

But the men? Look at the rafters. When was the last time the MSU men won the Big Sky? It has been
22 years since the MSU men earned the right to play in the NCAA tournament. Really? Why?

Leon must be wondering this morning why his two basketball teams absolutely could not compete
against its rival. The question is, why? And what needs to be done to change the situation?

I'm no expert but for the men the chief problem is we don't have enough talent to compete. That's
recruiting. And that's the head coach's job.

For the women, I find it incredible that the players lack the fundamental skill of boxing out.
That falls on coaching.

Anyway, I suspect Leon is having a tough morning. Because he knows if MSU cannot even compete,
the attendance will begin to fall. I know I would rather go watch a competitive high school game
around the area (Go THREE FORKS!) than watch what the MSU teams put on the court yesterday

Hawks86 · Post by **Hawks86** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:36 am

The first thing he's thinking is 9-3. The second is wondering when that check for $150,000 will arrive. I don't think Binford crossed his mind.

seattlecat95 · Post by **seattlecat95** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:57 pm

aucat wrote:I'm a big fan of MSU athletics. However, I did not attend MSU. My kids did though.
So I will always PULL for MSU no matter how bad they are.

But here's the thing. As a fan, I attend games, not out of blind loyalty for good ole MSU,
but rather for entertainment. When MSU is competitive, athletic games are entertaining.

After the two disasters yesterday--two games with ZERO entertainment value to MSU fans, one
wonders what Leon Costello is thinking this morning as he looks at the Big Sky standings.
He sees both MSU teams sinking toward the bottom of the league.

The women are the real mystery. I have attended every men and women's game this year.
I have felt all along that the men are way short on talent, but not the women.

UM women outrebounded MSU 48-25. Absolutely no excuse whatsoever.

But as frustrated as a fan might be, you can't ignore those two championship banners hanging from
the rafters that the MSU women have earned the past two years. Maybe John Stockton had more to do
with that success, I don't know.

But the men? Look at the rafters. When was the last time the MSU men won the Big Sky? It has been
22 years since the MSU men earned the right to play in the NCAA tournament. Really? Why?

Leon must be wondering this morning why his two basketball teams absolutely could not compete
against its rival. The question is, why? And what needs to be done to change the situation?

I'm no expert but for the men the chief problem is we don't have enough talent to compete. That's
recruiting. And that's the head coach's job.

For the women, I find it incredible that the players lack the fundamental skill of boxing out.
That falls on coaching.

Anyway, I suspect Leon is having a tough morning. Because he knows if MSU cannot even compete,
the attendance will begin to fall. I know I would rather go watch a competitive high school game
around the area (Go THREE FORKS!) than watch what the MSU teams put on the court yesterday

Plenty of talent on this team. Talent is not the issue.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 8:01 pm

This is my take on what happened.

Bonton and Shultz were big losses along with Kirby's redshirting. Bonton was supposed to take up scoring slack due to the inability of the team to identify another scorer. When we were left with no post game, and no alternate scorer, Hall and Frey were marked men. They had the energy early to carry the team, but when no one else stepped up they got worn down and we we're left with what we have now. I believe Blevins is a player with skills that do not include being a knock down shooter. The rest of them are hard working, athletic, but not strong and not skilled enough to hit open shots consistently. Clines is a very athletic kid, but he's not a shooter, and not a finisher. He drives into the lane but all he can think of doing is going to the rim....he's not a point guard that sees the floor, so although he gives 110%, he's ineffective. I think our problem is talent at the 2, 4, and 5 positions depending on what Tyler plays. Just my 2 cents!

Catlady · Post by **Catlady** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:23 pm

aucat wrote:I'm a big fan of MSU athletics. However, I did not attend MSU. My kids did though.
So I will always PULL for MSU no matter how bad they are.

But here's the thing. As a fan, I attend games, not out of blind loyalty for good ole MSU,
but rather for entertainment. When MSU is competitive, athletic games are entertaining.

After the two disasters yesterday--two games with ZERO entertainment value to MSU fans, one
wonders what Leon Costello is thinking this morning as he looks at the Big Sky standings.
He sees both MSU teams sinking toward the bottom of the league.

The women are the real mystery. I have attended every men and women's game this year.
I have felt all along that the men are way short on talent, but not the women.

UM women outrebounded MSU 48-25. Absolutely no excuse whatsoever.

But as frustrated as a fan might be, you can't ignore those two championship banners hanging from
the rafters that the MSU women have earned the past two years. Maybe John Stockton had more to do
with that success, I don't know.

But the men? Look at the rafters. When was the last time the MSU men won the Big Sky? It has been
22 years since the MSU men earned the right to play in the NCAA tournament. Really? Why?

Leon must be wondering this morning why his two basketball teams absolutely could not compete
against its rival. The question is, why? And what needs to be done to change the situation?

I'm no expert but for the men the chief problem is we don't have enough talent to compete. That's
recruiting. And that's the head coach's job.

For the women, I find it incredible that the players lack the fundamental skill of boxing out.
That falls on coaching.

Anyway, I suspect Leon is having a tough morning. Because he knows if MSU cannot even compete,
the attendance will begin to fall. I know I would rather go watch a competitive high school game
around the area (Go THREE FORKS!) than watch what the MSU teams put on the court yesterday

Wow! Went after the women’s team without any consideration that they’re coming off of two regular season and a tournament championship. Strange that Binford didn’t adjust to the Griz going big in their lineup. We stayed constant and got hammered. It wasn’t blocking out, it was due to a lack of adjustments by our coaching staff. Never thought I’d say this, but Binford got out coached. I’m confident the women’s team will be fine next season. Almost willing to guarantee a championship. I’m not willing to count them out in the tourney, but need some help at the 4 spot to be able to compete inside. We seem to have lost the defense we had at the 4 and 5 spot last year. I think Binford has the chops to get this fixed. My read is we need to get taller and stronger at the 4 spot. Maybe even try Smith, Braxton and Pranger on the floor together. Start playing big versus small. Our defense has just lost its tenacity. Time to try some new things. We don’t beat anybody up anymore.

The men......... our lack of talent is too much to overcome. It was 2 versus 5 all season long. I’m not sure if Fish is the answer due to many reasons, but what concerns me is the lack of top BSC talent coming in the next couple of years. The future with or without Tyler looks cloudy at best. Yes we’ve lost players due to reasons we’ll never know. I can’t say that Fish’s future is going to meet expectations. Basically a change in style and direction might be sorely needed. This team has not met even the mediocre expectations set for this season. Schultz was not the answer. He figured out that D1 wasn’t the right level and left. That’s ok, but we need to be hitting transfer wires to bring in an impact player or two.

We should never be satisfied with this type of results. I think the women’s team is close to being good and with the talent coming in is very bright. The future isn’t as bright for our men’s program.

Hawks86 · Post by **Hawks86** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:54 pm

The home team basically kicked the others butt on the women's side. I hope the seeds work out to play again on a neutral court.

Bobcat4Ever · Post by **Bobcat4Ever** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 7:55 pm

Losing Peyton Ferris, Riley Nordgaard and Margreet Barhoum to graduation was obviously a big loss to the women's team, but it was a planned loss. There was another event that directly affected the roster and composition of this year's team.

At the conclusion of last season, the women's basketball team had three 6'1" players on the roster. Two sophomores, one freshman. One starter. So all were slated to return. Then Annika Lai (play closer to home), Ashton Seigner (injury) and Madison Kast (???) did not return. What a curveball Coach Binford had to deal with. I'm not sure if any Big Sky teams could lose all three of their 6'1" players and come out of it unscathed. This is a huge reason we are at a size deficit this year.

Catlady · Post by **Catlady** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:23 pm

Bobcat4Ever wrote:Losing Peyton Ferris, Riley Nordgaard and Margreet Barhoum to graduation was obviously a big loss to the women's team, but it was a planned loss. There was another event that directly affected the roster and composition of this year's team.

At the conclusion of last season, the women's basketball team had three 6'1" players on the roster. Two sophomores, one freshman. One starter. So all were slated to return. Then Annika Lai (play closer to home), Ashton Seigner (injury) and Madison Kast (???) did not return. What a curveball Coach Binford had to deal with. I'm not sure if any Big Sky teams could lose all three of their 6'1" players and come out of it unscathed. This is a huge reason we are at a size deficit this year.

Unfortunately that’s not accurate. Kast never played a minute, Seigner was inconsistent and didn’t have significant minutes, it was a major loss losing Lai. Kast and Seigner didn’t even play last season. Smith and Braxton both 6’2” returned this year and the addition of 6’2” Laura Pranger. They have the size, just wasn’t on the court at the same time. It seemed like Binford had something else in mind. Due to the injury of Stiles, Montana adjusted its starting 5 to emphasize rebounding. Montana State didn’t make an adjustment. They got pounded on the boards. I’m not sure if there’s a lot to analyze on this one.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:50 pm

The men's team is a lost cause.
The women's team will be if Binford and staff can't figure out how to beat a zone. The griz just copied what Portland State did-now every team will do it against us. If the other team can execute it they will win because our coaching staff and/or players can't figure out to beat a good zone.

Bobcat4Ever · Post by **Bobcat4Ever** » Tue Feb 27, 2018 12:40 am

Catlady wrote:
Bobcat4Ever wrote:Losing Peyton Ferris, Riley Nordgaard and Margreet Barhoum to graduation was obviously a big loss to the women's team, but it was a planned loss. There was another event that directly affected the roster and composition of this year's team.

At the conclusion of last season, the women's basketball team had three 6'1" players on the roster. Two sophomores, one freshman. One starter. So all were slated to return. Then Annika Lai (play closer to home), Ashton Seigner (injury) and Madison Kast (???) did not return. What a curveball Coach Binford had to deal with. I'm not sure if any Big Sky teams could lose all three of their 6'1" players and come out of it unscathed. This is a huge reason we are at a size deficit this year.
Unfortunately that’s not accurate. Kast never played a minute, Seigner was inconsistent and didn’t have significant minutes, it was a major loss losing Lai. Kast and Seigner didn’t even play last season. Smith and Braxton both 6’2” returned this year and the addition of 6’2” Laura Pranger. They have the size, just wasn’t on the court at the same time. It seemed like Binford had something else in mind. Due to the injury of Stiles, Montana adjusted its starting 5 to emphasize rebounding. Montana State didn’t make an adjustment. They got pounded on the boards. I’m not sure if there’s a lot to analyze on this one.

Kast was redshirted last year.

Thanks for chiming in. My point, albeit stated poorly, is that this left a pretty big hole in our non-guard roster. I can't remember if anyone came in late to fill any of these positions, but I don’t think so.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:17 pm

A kid with an injured ankle played. A kid who could "past tense" shoot the ball. Then, he played with the residual effects of the flu. I have every confidence he will get his shot back, if and when the coaching staff at MSU leaves him alone.

rivercat · Post by **rivercat** » Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:43 am

With regard to the Lady Cats, relax! Two wins separate #3 from #8 and we sit at #7. Two fantastic seasons have a tendency to spoil a fanbase. We have no juniors on this team. Three seniors and true sophomores and freshmen make up the team. And while I have thoroughly enjoyed watching these seniors, the loss of Ferris and Norgaard with their mental toughness and competitiveness is evident when this team struggles.

The talented youth on this team will provide years of entertaining and winning basketball. This year, who knows? UNC and UI are definitely the best in the conference. I was fortunate to arrange a work trip next week to Reno. As long as the Lady Cats win on Monday, I will be able to catch the rest of their games. Hope to see other Cat fans next week.