The Bobcat Nation

Nice win for the Cats tonight....team seems to be surging as the conference schedule opens up....they've won 4 of the last 6.

Hall lit it up tonight with 32...now second all-time on the Big Sky scoring list.

Women held the lead for the whole game until 5.7 seconds left. Foul called away from the ball, sent Bolston to line where she hit 2. Cats got the ball inside to Lundberg and she dribbled it off her foot to turn it over.

Great win for the men tonight. Super effort all around. When Hall goes off for 32 and Frey gets 25 we're not gonna lose too many. But there were some real unsung heroes tonight. We're all going to have to apologize to Lassi Nikkarinen as he has been legit. He's got very quick hands and he was clutch most of the night with 10 big points. Unfortunately he turned it over and then fouled out and had to endure a Fish butt chewing on his way to the bench, but other than that he played very well in face of PSU's frenetic pressure. The other unsung hero was Quentin Guliford who stepped up in the second half. He had the athleticism to contend with PSU on the press when Ricketts was struggling. He had 6 big points and really did a credible job in there. Finally, we were big at the free throw line at the end. Kirby was 5-5 from the line-one of his bounced off the rim 5 times and then fell in-it was pretty funny.

Portland State played really hard and that crazy press caused some turn overs. My guess is they were keen to get the win tonight because they ain't winning in Missoula. So they put it all on the line and gave the Bobcats their best shot. Their tank will be empty on Saturday. I hope ours isn't.

Lady Griz won in 2OT just like we lost. Sac had a chance to win it with a 4 ft shot that rolled off the rim with 1 sec left.
Bobcat and Grizzly luck!

Helcat72 wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:43 pm

Women held the lead for the whole game until 5.7 seconds left. Foul called away from the ball, sent Bolston to line where she hit 2. Cats got the ball inside to Lundberg and she dribbled it off her foot to turn it over.

MSU scored the first 16 points of the game. After leading 16-0, PSU outscored us 55-37 the rest of the game. Great win for the men though.

Kirby's soft touch at the line:

Whatever success we have this year will be bolstered by Kirby's presence inside. PSU was relegated to outside shots while he was in the paint. They were a good 3 pt shooting team, but they had to take shots 6 ft beyond the 3 pt line because the inside was shut down by Kirby. Their all conference point guard, Woods tried repeatedly to drive the lane and was blocked by Kirby at least twice.
Kirby is almost averaging a double double (in the games I have seen on tv.)

If Ricketts can learn how to play defense without fouling, we may have a chance to make it into the upper division of the league. Also because of his presence our 3 pt shooters are getting a lot more open shots. The two freshmen Quinlan and Guiliford(sp)are also providing some good bench minutes especially on defense.

Haruna got in the game for only three minutes, but had a bucket and a blocked shot. I'd like to see a bit more playing time for him. Bigger body than Kirby, might match up better against some of the other bigs in the league.

I didn't see Russell Daniels, did anyone else? Did I miss a roster change?

SAE94 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:02 am

I didn't see Russell Daniels, did anyone else? Did I miss a roster change?

Got it RobertCats, Thanks.

Last night Tyler Hall and Harold Frey lit it up, scoring 57 points. When those two play this well MSU is
capable of competing with most teams in the Big Sky imo

Great aggressive start with team play that lasted for 30 minutes followed by six minutes of less than stellar performance and nail biting.

Crowd energy and enthusiasm best I have seen in more than 10 years. Still not as good as the good old 60's.

How big was the crowd last night?

I heard 2300 ish ... it was a nice crowd.

that was the best game I've seen the Cats play in a long time, maybe the best overall effort for a Fish team ever at home. They showed GREAT ball movement with crisp passes against continuous pressure combined with unselfish play. Cat's outrebounded PS who leads the Big Sky with a 45 average 38 to 30. The two biggest surprises to me was ; the play of Nikkarinen who I thought would be dropped after last year who has become a very good ball handler and actually scored 10 points and was aggressive as hell and 2; FISH. He has actually quit that damned whistling at the players every time down the floor and lets them PLAY!!! Good crowd of 2300 considering no students (no classes, still out for holidays). Kirby looked excellent, finally have a post presence. Impressed with the overall talent of the team, they play like that it'll be a good season for MBB!!! You won[t lose many games shooting at better than 50% (30/56 overall) with that kind of overall hustle.

desmond1957 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:15 pm

FISH. He has actually quit that damned whistling at the players every time down the floor and lets them PLAY!!!

Agreed for the most part...but there was this one play where Fish was yelling at Blevins about what defense they should be in. Blevins had one eye on number 2 and one eye on Fish who was yelling at him from opposite end of the court. In that moment of distraction number 2 for PSU, who was hitting everything from deep, got away from Blevins and canned a three. If Fish would have just shut up, Blevins had him covered. But for the most part Fish did a good job working the refs and getting guys in and out in the right spots.

I would have like to have seen a little more of Haruna. He was in for a short stretch in the first half. He blocked a shot and hit a baby hook shot. He got away with traveling on the score, which is probably why Fish didn't use him again-as turnovers was something we had to avoid to keep PSU from making a run.

BelgradeBobcat wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:51 pm

desmond1957 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:15 pm

FISH. He has actually quit that damned whistling at the players every time down the floor and lets them PLAY!!!

Agreed for the most part...but there was this one play where Fish was yelling at Blevins about what defense they should be in. Blevins had one eye on number 2 and one eye on Fish who was yelling at him from opposite end of the court. In that moment of distraction number 2 for PSU, who was hitting everything from deep, got away from Blevins and canned a three. If Fish would have just shut up, Blevins had him covered. But for the most part Fish did a good job working the refs and getting guys in and out in the right spots.

I would have like to have seen a little more of Haruna. He was in for a short stretch in the first half. He blocked a shot and hit a baby hook shot. He got away with traveling on the score, which is probably why Fish didn't use him again-as turnovers was something we had to avoid to keep PSU from making a run

The Bobcats were well prepared to handle Portland State’s press. They adjusted their normal press break, having their PG inbounding the ball and getting it back because the Vikings typically don’t contest that pass back. When they did late in the game, the Bobcats went to a 4-across press breaker, which was the right move but some guys made some bad decisions which led to the two minutes of chaos before they got things straightened out. They handled the press well throughout, even being down a ball handler with Daniels out. The Bobcats out rebounded a team that hasn’t shot well, but has been dominant on the boards. Lassi’s improvement is impressive. Kirby’s progress has been impressive as well. Last night was not a good fit for Usman. I think he’ll help with some spot minutes against teams that have a thick post player, but not in a fast game.

phantom wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:10 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:51 pm

desmond1957 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:15 pm

FISH. He has actually quit that damned whistling at the players every time down the floor and lets them PLAY!!!

Agreed for the most part...but there was this one play where Fish was yelling at Blevins about what defense they should be in. Blevins had one eye on number 2 and one eye on Fish who was yelling at him from opposite end of the court. In that moment of distraction number 2 for PSU, who was hitting everything from deep, got away from Blevins and canned a three. If Fish would have just shut up, Blevins had him covered. But for the most part Fish did a good job working the refs and getting guys in and out in the right spots.

I would have like to have seen a little more of Haruna. He was in for a short stretch in the first half. He blocked a shot and hit a baby hook shot. He got away with traveling on the score, which is probably why Fish didn't use him again-as turnovers was something we had to avoid to keep PSU from making a run

The Bobcats were well prepared to handle Portland State’s press. They adjusted their normal press break, having their PG inbounding the ball and getting it back because the Vikings typically don’t contest that pass back. When they did late in the game, the Bobcats went to a 4-across press breaker, which was the right move but some guys made some bad decisions which led to the two minutes of chaos before they got things straightened out. They handled the press well throughout, even being down a ball handler with Daniels out. The Bobcats out rebounded a team that hasn’t shot well, but has been dominant on the boards. Lassi’s improvement is impressive. Kirby’s progress has been impressive as well. Last night was not a good fit for Usman. I think he’ll help with some spot minutes against teams that have a thick post player, but not in a fast game.

At Belgrade Bobcat, I agree, Fish needs to shut up!! Let them play and stop dictating every step of the game. Players look scared to be out there. Let them play and insert correction when needed. It drives me crazy and makes me not want to come watch as he makes a spectacle of himself. It is so frustrating!