Montana State Outlook

It's time to get ready for the Big Sky season again with some overviews of each team this month, and then eventually we'll get into more detailed looks at everything.

What They Lost: The change starts at the top, as head coach Brad Huse is out, and Brian Fish is in. MSU fans had been frustrated at times with Huse, who seemed to have the players to push the pace and force tempo, but they never seemed to put that into practice. I expect that to change under Fish.

The biggest losses will be upfront, where Paul Egwuonwu and Flavien Davis. Egwuonwu was one of the best defensive rebounders in the nation, which was one of the big strengths of MSU. He was solid offensively as well, and will be a big loss. Davis was a skilled player who was a bit inconsistent at times, but was a big part of the offense. A third loss is guard Antonio Biglow. He perhaps never lived up to the big hype, but he was a good passer and pesky defender.

Who Returns: They return some experience and talent in the backcourt. Marcus Colbert will be in his third year of starting, and he's an efficent lead guard that was a lot better in the paint last year, as well as bumping his assist rate. He is a good outside shooter as well, and if he can cut down on some turnovers he can be one of the best point guards in the Big Sky.

Terrell Brown was good for them as a wing last year, and should be even better as a junior. He can shoot a bit, but is mostly an efficient offensive player who doesn't turn the ball over. His free throw shooting suggests he may be able to improve on his 28% from downtown. Michael Dison will be a senior, and can provide offense in spurts for them. Stephan Holm is a guy to watch, as he contributed more as a freshman than I thought he would. He can be an excellent shooter for them, as he made 39% from three last year and should get more playing time.

Eric Norman and Danny Robison return in the frontcourt. Neither was a significant contributor last year, but they were not bad when they did see the court. Production from guys like them will be the key for the Bobcats.

Newcomers: Fish has reportedly been impressed with new guard Joey Frenchwood, who is 6'1'' and hails from Oakland. He averaged 17 points and six assists last year, and should help to make PG a strength for the Bobcats. At 6'4'', Zach Green should provide Fish with an athletic wing after signing this spring. He averaged 17 PPG as a junior, and broke his leg his senior year. Quinn Price should provide some talent up front, averaging 15 and 10 last year. Bradley Fisher is a big man from England who committed to the previous regime, but stayed with his commitment to MSU. He may be a bit raw and not quite ready physically, but could be very good in time. Last, Ryan Shannon redshirted last year, but he is a forward with a ton of skills and versatility. He has the ability to hit from outside, rebounds well, and can block shots. I would expect to see him get some time.

General Outlook: The Bobcats will have a young team in Brian Fish's first season, with three seniors on the roster, though none of them perhaps as centerpieces. This means there will likely be many growing pains, but also the chance to evaluate guys and get them valuable experience. It will at times be a frustrating year for MSU, but I think there will be some seeds for the future planted that will pay dividends later on.

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Montana State With Comeback Road Win

 

Not long ago, Montana State was 3-7 overall, 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference, and losing two of their most talented players (Jamie Stewart was dismissed, Antonio Biglow was suspended). Things looked bleak. But then a funny thing happened. The Bobcats started playing like a team, becoming much better defensively, and attacking the rim more offensively. They became a little bit more than the sum of their parts.

After two home wins last week, MSU faced a test of coming into Greeley and playing a Northern Colorado team that was pretty desperate for a win. For most of the game, it looked like UNC was going to get it, as they led by as many as nine in the second half. But the Bobcats hung around, and made their move over the last four minutes.

They got some help to... as Northern Colorado seemed to get tight, committing turnovers down the stretch and missing some easy shots. Tevin Svihovec struggled with a couple bad turnovers, and Tim Huskisson threw a lazy pass in the last 30 seconds. Each time, MSU took advantage. When they had the ball, they were the aggressor, with guys like Xavier Blount and Mike Dison (who hit the go-ahead free throws with about 30 seconds left) taking the ball to the rim and getting fouled or getting easy baskets.

All of a sudden, the Bobcats are 3-2 in Big Sky play and playing good, team basketball. They have a nice rotation going, with Mike Dison/Marcus Colbert at the point, Christian Moon/Xavier Blount/Calen Coleman on the wing, and Paul Egwuonwu/Flavien Davis up front. They are confident and look like a team that will be playing in the Big Sky tournament.

Some other notes from the game:
- Derrick Barden was as good as advertised, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He was fantastic on the glass, skying for offensive rebounds and using his big hands to come down with them. He looked like an all-conference player in this game.
- Tate Unruh is my favorite shooter in the Big Sky conference to watch (with all due respect to Scott Bamforth). He has a great release and smooth stroke. He led the Bears with 23 points, including 5/11 from downtown. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was 1/10 from deep.
- To call UNC unsettled at the PG spot right now would be kind. Tevin Svihovec was supposed to make the leap, but he has been making some bad decisions, especially down the stretch. Paul Garnica was probably the top backup option coming into the year... but he had his pocket picked by Christian Moon early in the game and didn't play the rest of the way. James Davis was their best PG in this game. He is still trying to find his way offensively, but he is their most sound perimeter defender.
- I thought the refs got it right on a flagrant-2 foul call (along with ejection on Blake Brumwell in the second half. With Unruh going for an uncontested layup, Brumwell gave him a full two-handed shove while Unruh was in midair. It was a dangerous play, and the refs were right to boot Brumwell.
- When Xavier Blount does not settle for threes, but goes hard to the rim, he is one of the more dangerous players in the conference. He is tough to defend because he is so strong and uses his body well.
- I am not sure it is what Brad Huse intended when the season began, but I really like the PG duo of Marcus Colbert and Mike Dison for the Bobcats. They are very unselfish and give maximum effort on both ends.

Anyone else watch the game?

*Photos taken by my lovely wife!

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Northern Colorado Stays Alive

Yesterday was an absolute must-win game for Northern Colorado if they wanted to have a chance to make the conference tournament. Sitting at 4-8, 4-9 would not have been a hole they would have been able to come back from, looking at their schedule. However, for 25 minutes, it looked like that was where they were headed, as Montana State led by as many as 16 points early in the second half, before UNC pulled it out for a 77-64 win in OT.

Some thoughts from the game (I was in attendance) in bullet point fashion.

- The key spark for Northern Colorado was that they got into a full-court press (54 press, they called it) early in the second half. BJ Hill said in an interview after the game that it was a staff suggestion, while a member of the staff told me that it was all Hill, and he was just being modest. Whoever's idea it was, it was absolutely huge, and may helped turn this around. Montana State led by 7 at half, and UNC seemed to come out very flat to me in the second half.

So the press did two things - one, it gave the Bears more energy. Coach Hill said, "It gave us some confidence that we could make plays and get some defensive stops which allowed us to get back in there." Two, it took the Bobcats out of their rhythm, and made them take some quick shots at times or hurry more than they would have liked.

- One thing I noticed from MSU, and Bobcats fans have noticed too, after they got a nice lead, they changed from being the aggressor to being a bit more tentative. One reason Hill said they went to the press was that MSU started to take 30 seconds per possession. It seemed like they were content often to do a three-man weave 40 feet from the basket for 20 seconds of the shot clock, eventually leading to a jacked up three (where they finished 4/24). Don't know why they got so tentative.

- Tate Unruh finished with 20 points, including a particularly big three in OT that knocked MSU out. He is fun to watch shoot because his stroke is so pure. He is 34/35 from the FT line, which, needless to say, would put him #1 in America if he had enough attempts to qualify. If he gets an opening, the shot is likely to swish through so well it will barely touch net.

- Mike Proctor had a nice day with 8 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists, but it was something that won't appear in the box score that may have been his best attribute on the day. You can clearly hear him in the back of the defense, communicating and talking with his teammates, telling them where he was, or if he saw a specific play coming. That is the kind of thing that coaches love.

- Paul Garnica provided a nice spark for the Bears in the second half with a couple nice assists and a couple of nice threes, probably playing the best game he has played in a while. He has a tendency to go for the spectacular play rather than the smart and solid play, which usually doesn't go over so well with coaches. In this one he did much better at playing within himself.

- Emmanual Addo showed the whole variety of his offensive game, and why he has the chance to be such a big-time player. He hit two threes, but also showed good fluidity and moves near the basket, finishing with 13 points and 5 rebounds. He still will make a couple head-scratching plays per game, but he has the talent to be one of the best big men in the conference, without question.

- For the Bobcats, for long stretches it seemed like Shawn Reid was their only offensive weapon. It seemed like their best plan of attack was to give it to him to take a stepback jumper with a hand in his face, which can only work so many times (though it was impressive how many times he did make that shot). He led the team with 18 points. I was excited to watch Christian Moon play, but he had no impact. He scored 4 points and finished 0/5 from downtown. He seemed to sit for long stretches, which I am not sure if that was a result of him jacking up a couple threes early in shot clocks.

- Xavier Blount struggled as well, only finishing with 8 points. It is hard to imagine, but the game and the following thoughts on the game would have been a lot differentif Blount had made an extra free throw. With a little under a minute to play and UNC up 55-54, Blount was sent to the line. He made just 1 of 2, and it went to OT tied at 55..

- I know that MSU fans aren't very happy with Rod Singleton at PG, but there are not a lot of options right now. Michael Dison played 19 minutes but had no impact. Without Jamie Stewart, it is tough for them to find the depth to have Blount play the PG more often. It is clear they could have used Antonio Biglow this year.

- In the overtime, MSU never had a chance, as they came out lifeless. Northern Colorado scored 22 points in the five-minute period and put any doubt to rest quickly about who would win. For MSU fans, it is deja vu. Another promising start to the conference season has led to another second half collapse. They should make the conference tournament (since they play one more against NAU), but it is hard to see them making a run.  UNC still has a long way to go to make the conference tournament, but they can at least take some positives out of this one. It is tougher to find them for MSU.

Thoughts?

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Montana State Improves to 5-2 in Big Sky

It was a toss up for the most impressive Big Sky win on Saturday night. You could make the argument for Portland State, or you could make the case for Montana State.

The Bobcats were in control for most of the game, beating Northern Colorado 84-72 on Saturday night. The win improves MSU to an impressive 5-2 in the Big Sky, in sole possession of third place. For UNC, the loss of both games on the Montana roadtrip drops them to 3-4, as well as being a bit disheartening that they weren't all that close to winning either game.

Montana State may still be finding themselves, but they have to be happy with what they are finding.

Montana State head coach Brad Huse still describes his team as one that's finding itself. If nothing else, the last three games have taught the Bobcats they're pretty good at counter-punching.

MSU shook off two Northern Colorado runs - one in the first half, one in the second - and countered UNC's 52 percent shooting effort from the field by hitting 13 3-pointers in an 84-72 victory at Worthington Arena Saturday night. The Bobcats (10-8, 5-2) pushed to a homestand sweep and three wins in a row by starting hot and using their bench to provide sparks all game long.

The Bobcats beat the Bears at their own game. UNC came into the game by being the third best three-point shooting team in America, but it was MSU that made 13 treys in this one (and ironically Christian Moon, their best three-point shooter, was just 2/9 from downtown). Freshman Mike Dison was 4/5 from outside and led the team with 17 points, and four other guys were in double figures for MSU. They also took great care of the ball, turning it over just six times in perhaps their most impressive win of the year.

Northern Colorado also shot the ball well, but their old defensive problems cropped up again. Anytime you can shoot over 50% and turn it over only 11 times you have to like your chances, but they simply could not get stops. They had four guys in double figures, but BJ Hill must have been trying everything he could think of to spark the team to play defense. 11 guys played at least five minutes in this game for the Bears.

Montana State will now travel for a roadtrip against Eastern Washington and Portland State. If they can get a split out of that, they will be sitting nicely at 6-3. Northern Colorado goes on a roadtrip to play Idaho State and Northern Arizona, and it is not unreasonable to say they should be disappointed with anything short of a sweep. Improbably, UNC @ Idaho State on Thursday night is a huge game in the Big Sky.

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