Bozeman Girls BB

Billings Cat · Post by **Billings Cat** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:11 pm

I went to see the Bozeman girls basketball team play this weekend and they are better than advertised. Probably the best team I've seen since Billings West had the 4 D1 signees on the same team. There's no way anyone is going to touch them this year. They've got it all, inside-outside, offense-defense.

That said, while they are long on talent, their coaching staff is short on class. Take note that I'm not talking about the kids one bit. It's the coaches, namely head coach Brad Rustan. They're killing their opponent and there's never less than 2 starters on the floor at any one time in the second half. And they call a timeout with 90 seconds left in the game and up by 27 points to bring back in all 5 starters in order to hold Senior, who has put their subs in, under 20 points. Apparently, when they came down to Billings earlier to play Skyview, they pulled the same thing. Now, they can use the lame excuse that they needed to practice running the clock out, but folks, they haven't had a close game yet all year and it's doubtful that they really needed practice on that. Talking to the parents from Bozeman it sounds like that's just their Head Coach.

The Bozeman girls are absolutely going to win the state championship this year, and more than likely next year, too, but eventually on the court or off, Rustan's going to get his and there's going to be a whole lot of happy folks.

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:24 pm

Billings Cat wrote:I went to see the Bozeman girls basketball team play this weekend and they are better than advertised. Probably the best team I've seen since Billings West had the 4 D1 signees on the same team. There's no way anyone is going to touch them this year. They've got it all, inside-outside, offense-defense.

That said, while they are long on talent, their coaching staff is short on class. Take note that I'm not talking about the kids one bit. It's the coaches, namely head coach Brad Rustan. They're killing their opponent and there's never less than 2 starters on the floor at any one time in the second half. And they call a timeout with 90 seconds left in the game and up by 27 points to bring back in all 5 starters in order to hold Senior, who has put their subs in, under 20 points. Apparently, when they came down to Billings earlier to play Skyview, they pulled the same thing. Now, they can use the lame excuse that they needed to practice running the clock out, but folks, they haven't had a close game yet all year and it's doubtful that they really needed practice on that. Talking to the parents from Bozeman it sounds like that's just their Head Coach.

The Bozeman girls are absolutely going to win the state championship this year, and more than likely next year, too, but eventually on the court or off, Rustan's going to get his and there's going to be a whole lot of happy folks.

rustan has always coached that way and it has nothing to do with class. he's a perfectionist and he is extremely intense. he never badmouths the opponents, and he would never do anything simply to run up the score. i know this because i have played for him, and coached with him. i admit it's not the best thing to do late in games when you have a big lead. but he could care less. if he sees his players making mistakes or losing focus....it doesn't matter if it's the first minute of the game or the last ten seconds of a blowout. he'll address what is making him mad, and if that means sitting people he'll do that. i have known rustan for a long time and class has never been an issue. he loves his players and his players love him. he respects the game and plays it the right way. so while it doesn't always look great to the fans watching, i can assure you that things like running up the score never enters his mind. he's also the same guy that sat all five of his starters in a state championship game with minutes left and a tight game because he hated the effort given. could have cost the team a title (it didn't) but he doesn't care.

TIrwin24 · Post by **TIrwin24** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:09 pm

If a team is up by 27 with minutes to go in the 4th quarter, no starters should be in. Period.

It's called having some decency and respect for your opponent. Of which Rustan is completely lacking.

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:38 pm

TIrwin24 wrote:If a team is up by 27 with minutes to go in the 4th quarter, no starters should be in. Period.

It's called having some decency and respect for your opponent. Of which Rustan is completely lacking.

again, everyone is entitled to their opinion but i have known rustan for many years and i know what kind of person he is. he never runs up the score on purpose, and he most definitely lack respect or decency. if you don't know the man that is an interesting comment.

i agreed that from a person watching a game, or listening to him on the sideline you might get the wrong impression. but like i pointed out, i have seen him do just the opposite and pull starters in big games to prove a point. i have seen him run camps much later than they were supposed to go because the players were not executing. you won't find a guy more intense than brad, and sometimes people get the wrong idea of him. but i feel very qualified to speak up for him here.

in case you don't believe me try this. it's one things to listen to opposing teams fans on what they think about this guy they likely have never met. but try asking some other coaches around the state. he is very well respected. and anyone who has ever talked to him or knows him that he certainly isn't perfect...but running up the score has never been something he did. and let's be honest....with some of the teams he's had over the years he could have.....

and with all due respect irwin....do you even live in montana anymore? were you from bozeman? have you met rustan? have you coached with or against him? i'm just curious what you are basing your opinions on. it is kind of funny that rustan has been coaching here for over 20 years, has won countless championships, and is just now being called out for being classless....

TIrwin24 · Post by **TIrwin24** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:43 pm

ilovethecats wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote:If a team is up by 27 with minutes to go in the 4th quarter, no starters should be in. Period.

It's called having some decency and respect for your opponent. Of which Rustan is completely lacking.
again, everyone is entitled to their opinion but i have known rustan for many years and i know what kind of person he is. he never runs up the score on purpose, and he most definitely lack respect or decency. if you don't know the man that is an interesting comment.

i agreed that from a person watching a game, or listening to him on the sideline you might get the wrong impression. but like i pointed out, i have seen him do just the opposite and pull starters in big games to prove a point. i have seen him run camps much later than they were supposed to go because the players were not executing. you won't find a guy more intense than brad, and sometimes people get the wrong idea of him. but i feel very qualified to speak up for him here.

in case you don't believe me try this. it's one things to listen to opposing teams fans on what they think about this guy they likely have never met. but try asking some other coaches around the state. he is very well respected. and anyone who has ever talked to him or knows him that he certainly isn't perfect...but running up the score has never been something he did. and let's be honest....with some of the teams he's had over the years he could have.....

and with all due respect irwin....do you even live in montana anymore? were you from bozeman? have you met rustan? have you coached with or against him? i'm just curious what you are basing your opinions on. it is kind of funny that rustan has been coaching here for over 20 years, has won countless championships, and is just now being called out for being classless....

No I don't live in BZN anymore. However, being that I was able to witness many Bozeman games, I feel that I can offer my opinion on the topic, and I stand by that opinion.

If you don't like that, then too bad.

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:51 pm

TIrwin24 wrote: No I don't live in BZN anymore. However, being that I was able to witness many Bozeman games, I feel that I can offer my opinion on the topic, and I stand by that opinion.

If you don't like that, then too bad.

nope, no problem with that at all. in fact...i said as such. fans watching the game come away with much different perspectives of coaches and players then people coaching with them or playing under them. i can see why people might have this opinion of brad. they're certainly entitled to it. but after coaching with brad, and playing for him in camps and tournies i have a different outlook.

i'm not trying to make people like him. i'm not claiming he has no faults. i'm simply disputing the comment that he is classless...

rollo_tumasi · Post by **rollo_tumasi** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:04 am

Lost to West High!!

Billings Cat · Post by **Billings Cat** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:36 am

Congratulations to West High. Very good win at home. It sounds like one of the bigs for Bozeman went down with an injury and the other two got into foul trouble. Funny how that never happens at home. I still think Bozeman is the favorite, but this opened my eyes.

Ilovethecats, obviously you're a personal friend of Rustan, and it's admirable to defend him, but his continued actions belie what you're saying about him.

urcrackinmeup · Post by **urcrackinmeup** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:03 pm

Billings Cat - what you didn't say was in the Senior game all of Rustan's starters were on the bench by a couple minutes into the 3rd quarter. And they were there all through the 4th til they went in at the end. The reserves played more than the starters. He didn't put the starters in to hold Senior under 20. That's just dumb.
And you mention the reffing in Bozeman, when the reffing at West is always a huge hose job. Right before halftime of the Bozeman/West game, West was shooting double-bonus freethrows and they had only committed 4 team fouls total. West pressed the entire time.

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:33 pm

crying about officials and coaches is always a matter of perspective

Billings Cat · Post by **Billings Cat** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:10 pm

urcrackinmeup wrote:Billings Cat - what you didn't say was in the Senior game all of Rustan's starters were on the bench by a couple minutes into the 3rd quarter. And they were there all through the 4th til they went in at the end. The reserves played more than the starters. He didn't put the starters in to hold Senior under 20. That's just dumb.
And you mention the reffing in Bozeman, when the reffing at West is always a huge hose job. Right before halftime of the Bozeman/West game, West was shooting double-bonus freethrows and they had only committed 4 team fouls total. West pressed the entire time.

Which Billings Senior game are you talking about? I saw the game in Billings not last week's in Bozeman and I can assure you that in the game I saw in January, Rustan never pulled all of his starters off the floor and always had at least two in the game the entire time. He also called a timeout with 90 seconds left in the game and up by 27 to have his entire starting five in to finish the game. If you don't know even what game you're talking about, then that's just dumb.

But hey, if you can defend that, then more power to ya!

As for officiating, Billings West can be a tough place to play, but consider this about the Bozeman pool...in the last 6 years going back to the 2004-05 season, just twice have individuals from the Bozeman pool even been selected by the coaches and MHSA to work a State Tournament. Remember that number--2. With the boys and girls and the four classifications this is 8 state tournaments a year. With six officials chosen to work a tournament this is 48 spots per year that are filled. Over six years this amounts to 288 spots. Dude, those two amount to .69% of the spots over these last 6 years. That's almost unbelievable, but it's true. Given that all other AA towns are well represented in selections, what do you think that says about the Bozeman pool? To literally have almost no one considered to be at the top of their game should be embarassing to an officiating pool.

I have no doubt that there are some good officials in the Bozeman pool, but obviously there's something that's bringing the perception of these officials down among coaches and administrators across the entire state, and the MHSA. How else would you explain it?

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:37 pm

Billings Cat wrote:
urcrackinmeup wrote:As for officiating, Billings West can be a tough place to play, but consider this about the Bozeman pool...in the last 6 years going back to the 2004-05 season, just twice have individuals from the Bozeman pool even been selected by the coaches and MHSA to work a State Tournament. Remember that number--2. With the boys and girls and the four classifications this is 8 state tournaments a year. With six officials chosen to work a tournament this is 48 spots per year that are filled. Over six years this amounts to 288 spots. Dude, those two amount to .69% of the spots over these last 6 years. That's almost unbelievable, but it's true. Given that all other AA towns are well represented in selections, what do you think that says about the Bozeman pool? To literally have almost no one considered to be at the top of their game should be embarassing to an officiating pool.

I have no doubt that there are some good officials in the Bozeman pool, but obviously there's something that's bringing the perception of these officials down among coaches and administrators across the entire state, and the MHSA. How else would you explain it?

As far as officiating selections for state tournaments, its a little more complicated than the best officials go. There is a process MHSA goes through using the votes submitted by schools. Whether or not you are selected for a state tournament is a direct result of how many schools are in your pool and whether or not they bother to turn in a ballot.

stevo · Post by **stevo** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:08 pm

I was at the West high game. I have never met the Bozeman coach or seen him coach before that game. Less than 2 minutes into the game is saw all I needed to see. He was screeming in his players faces as they came off the floor for a time out. You could see the anger in his face as he sprayed his girls with spit as he just yelled at them nose to nose. It was horrible. No Player needs that. He acted like an ass the entire game. As far as the fouls that day, yes it was lopsided in the first half for West but the second half was the complete opposite infavor of Bozeman. It evened out.

4everacatfan · Post by **4everacatfan** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:38 am

ilovethecats wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote: No I don't live in BZN anymore. However, being that I was able to witness many Bozeman games, I feel that I can offer my opinion on the topic, and I stand by that opinion.

If you don't like that, then too bad.

nope, no problem with that at all. in fact...i said as such. fans watching the game come away with much different perspectives of coaches and players then people coaching with them or playing under them. i can see why people might have this opinion of brad. they're certainly entitled to it. but after coaching with brad, and playing for him in camps and tournies i have a different outlook.

i'm not trying to make people like him. i'm not claiming he has no faults. i'm simply disputing the comment that he is classless...

This explains sooo much about who you are. A couple points are does he run the score up? hell yes. His philosophy is if we have to play them again we never want them to think they can beat us so drill them. That is the way he is. He has an ego and the talent to back it up. Will it always be that way probably for awhile he is the only school in one of the largest towns in Montana. He is also an excellent recruiter. Dawkins from Belgrade Gilham from Browning. He has been doing this for 20 years kids move in to play for him Jamie Spring from Manhattan, Andrea Lalum from JI (but he gave her to Jordan when he left for the college scene) Now that is where he gets the sleeze ball rep. He never dirties his hands he just has a "friend of the program" speak to these potential players parents. It will be interesting to see who will pick up the recruiting for him when McLeod's daughter graduates and his AAU team is no longer there to pull them in. So if you are interested I am sure Brad has a position for a new recruiting coordinator opening up next spring. Maybe you should apply iltc since you are the expert on recruiting.

Eric Ohs · Post by **Eric Ohs** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:57 pm

4everacatfan wrote:
This explains sooo much about who you are. A couple points are does he run the score up? hell yes. His philosophy is if we have to play them again we never want them to think they can beat us so drill them. That is the way he is. He has an ego and the talent to back it up. Will it always be that way probably for awhile he is the only school in one of the largest towns in Montana. He is also an excellent recruiter. Dawkins from Belgrade Gilham from Browning. He has been doing this for 20 years kids move in to play for him Jamie Spring from Manhattan, Andrea Lalum from JI (but he gave her to Jordan when he left for the college scene) Now that is where he gets the sleeze ball rep. He never dirties his hands he just has a "friend of the program" speak to these potential players parents. It will be interesting to see who will pick up the recruiting for him when McLeod's daughter graduates and his AAU team is no longer there to pull them in. So if you are interested I am sure Brad has a position for a new recruiting coordinator opening up next spring. Maybe you should apply iltc since you are the expert on recruiting.

It never ceases to amaze me how those that know so little, speak as if they know everything.

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:37 pm

4everacatfan wrote:

This explains sooo much about who you are. A couple points are does he run the score up? hell yes. His philosophy is if we have to play them again we never want them to think they can beat us so drill them. That is the way he is. He has an ego and the talent to back it up. Will it always be that way probably for awhile he is the only school in one of the largest towns in Montana. He is also an excellent recruiter. Dawkins from Belgrade Gilham from Browning. He has been doing this for 20 years kids move in to play for him Jamie Spring from Manhattan, Andrea Lalum from JI (but he gave her to Jordan when he left for the college scene) Now that is where he gets the sleeze ball rep. He never dirties his hands he just has a "friend of the program" speak to these potential players parents. It will be interesting to see who will pick up the recruiting for him when McLeod's daughter graduates and his AAU team is no longer there to pull them in. So if you are interested I am sure Brad has a position for a new recruiting coordinator opening up next spring. Maybe you should apply iltc since you are the expert on recruiting.

over a month after i comment and you come up with this gem?

hmmm. well, i never claimed to know so much. also never claimed to be an expert on recruiting. any time the issue of recruiting has come up i have suggested that we try to get more talent. seems to me that would be a given. so i don't know how my comments explain who i am.

all in all this post is confusing...

looks like ohs summed up my thoughts very well though....

Billings Cat · Post by **Billings Cat** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:35 am

catamaran wrote:[As far as officiating selections for state tournaments, its a little more complicated than the best officials go. There is a process MHSA goes through using the votes submitted by schools. Whether or not you are selected for a state tournament is a direct result of how many schools are in your pool and whether or not they bother to turn in a ballot.

Wrong. When the ballot goes out each year to the schools it includes all eligible officials from across the state for coaches to select from and not just those from the the pool(s) in their area. So, a coach from a school can (and I'll guarantee you they do) pick/rate officials on their ballots from pools totally outside of their area as the best. The proof in this is that officials from other one AA school towns like Butte and Kalispell (before Glacier) are regularly selected to work state tournaments while Bozeman's representation clearly speaks volumes as to what coaches from around the state think about their officiating pool.

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:42 am

Unless you're in the room voting, how can you be sure EVERY school is as honorable as you claim. As you can see in any mailing by the MHSA there are a lot of schools that don't even bother to vote. Take a look at the officials at any sport at any level, they don't change from year to year. Are they consistently the best or are they just voted for because everyone knows them. I assume by your condescending answer that you're an official and know how the process works

urcrackinmeup · Post by **urcrackinmeup** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:37 pm

The rematch is tonight. Should be a good one.

urcrackinmeup · Post by **urcrackinmeup** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:01 pm

Lady Hawks won by 6. Fun game to watch. Hawks wrap up #1 seed.

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