Alright, Bears fans. Basketball season isn't that far off. Found this yesterday on NAU athletics facebook page and figured a few folks here may be interested.
I have a tradition of never picking my team to come in first but I can see any of the top 4 teams listed here in any order and feel good about those being the final results. As a matter of fact, I am going with the Bears as my pick for first. Yes, you lost a successful coach and a damned good guard but you're generally coming back with a loaded team. Everyone else in the Big Sky lost the same or more.
-MTJack
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http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Big-Sky-Preview-It-s-completely-wide-open-at-th?urn=ncaab-259572
Big Sky Preview: It's completely wide-open at the top
By Jeff Eisenberg
Our conference preview series continues with the Big Sky. Here's a look at the projected standings, three players to watch and the conference's three most intriguing storylines entering the new season.
Can Weber State end its string of March disappointments?
Weber State is a program that is accustomed to finishing near the top of the Big Sky each season, so the Wildcats' three-year NCAA tournament dry spell feels more like a drought than it would at other schools.
Three years ago, Northern Arizona rode a late surge to oust Weber State in the Big Sky semifinals. Two years ago, Montana State stunned the conference champion Wildcats again in the semis on their own home floor. And last season, it took a 32 second-half points in the Big Sky title game from Montana's Anthony Johnson to rally the Grizzlies from a 22-point deficit and deny Weber State an NCAA bid.
The Wildcats' chance of winning the Big Sky for a third straight year took a hit when Big Sky newcomer of the year, Franklin Sessions, was dismissed despite averaging 10.2 points, 5.8 boards and 1.8 steals last season. Starters Steve Panos and Nick Hansen are also gone, but there is optimism as a result of the return of point guard Damian Lillard, one of the favorites for Big Sky player of the year after leading Weber State in scoring last season at 19.9 points per game.
Will Northern Arizona leap back into contention?
Northern Arizona finished a disappointing fifth in the Big Sky last season, yet there's optimism around the program that the Lumberjacks should contend for the league title this season.
Whereas the majority of the teams above Northern Arizona in last year's standings lost key players to graduation this offseason, the Lumberjacks return their top five scorers and all but one member of their rotation. Star guard Cameron Jones is back after a brief flirtation with the NBA draft and fellow guard Eric Platt is healthy again after missing long stretches of last season with shin splints.
Productive forward Nick Larson's rebounding prowess will be missed, but the Lumberjacks believe they have an ideal replacement in Austin Smith, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Liberty. In a conference that should be deeper than it was a year ago but lacks a dominant team, this group has as good a chance as anyone to finish atop the standings.
Can new coach B.J. Hill keep Northern Colorado on course?
It took 28 days for DePaul to nab Clemson's Oliver Purnell, 37 days for Oregon to settle on Creighton's Dana Altman and 84 days for Chicago State to hire Illinois-Chicago assistant Tracy Dildy. Nothern Colorado, on the other hand, needed mere hours to promote Tad Boyle's top assistant after he left for Colorado on April 20.
Hoping to build on the success the program achieved rising from dead last in the RPI four years ago to 25-8 last year, Northern Colorado selected B.J. Hill to try to keep the Bears on course. He inherits a program that loses leading scorer Will Figures from its backcourt, but returns most everything else.
One of the key's for Northern Colorado will be the health of guard Devon Beitzel, who averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 44.4 percent from behind the arc last season but missed the team's final seven games with a broken foot. Forward Chris Kaba also will be counted on offensively after coming on strong late in the season a year ago.
I have a tradition of never picking my team to come in first but I can see any of the top 4 teams listed here in any order and feel good about those being the final results. As a matter of fact, I am going with the Bears as my pick for first. Yes, you lost a successful coach and a damned good guard but you're generally coming back with a loaded team. Everyone else in the Big Sky lost the same or more.
-MTJack
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Big-Sky-Preview-It-s-completely-wide-open-at-th?urn=ncaab-259572
Big Sky Preview: It's completely wide-open at the top
By Jeff Eisenberg
Our conference preview series continues with the Big Sky. Here's a look at the projected standings, three players to watch and the conference's three most intriguing storylines entering the new season.
Can Weber State end its string of March disappointments?
Weber State is a program that is accustomed to finishing near the top of the Big Sky each season, so the Wildcats' three-year NCAA tournament dry spell feels more like a drought than it would at other schools.
Three years ago, Northern Arizona rode a late surge to oust Weber State in the Big Sky semifinals. Two years ago, Montana State stunned the conference champion Wildcats again in the semis on their own home floor. And last season, it took a 32 second-half points in the Big Sky title game from Montana's Anthony Johnson to rally the Grizzlies from a 22-point deficit and deny Weber State an NCAA bid.
The Wildcats' chance of winning the Big Sky for a third straight year took a hit when Big Sky newcomer of the year, Franklin Sessions, was dismissed despite averaging 10.2 points, 5.8 boards and 1.8 steals last season. Starters Steve Panos and Nick Hansen are also gone, but there is optimism as a result of the return of point guard Damian Lillard, one of the favorites for Big Sky player of the year after leading Weber State in scoring last season at 19.9 points per game.
Will Northern Arizona leap back into contention?
Northern Arizona finished a disappointing fifth in the Big Sky last season, yet there's optimism around the program that the Lumberjacks should contend for the league title this season.
Whereas the majority of the teams above Northern Arizona in last year's standings lost key players to graduation this offseason, the Lumberjacks return their top five scorers and all but one member of their rotation. Star guard Cameron Jones is back after a brief flirtation with the NBA draft and fellow guard Eric Platt is healthy again after missing long stretches of last season with shin splints.
Productive forward Nick Larson's rebounding prowess will be missed, but the Lumberjacks believe they have an ideal replacement in Austin Smith, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Liberty. In a conference that should be deeper than it was a year ago but lacks a dominant team, this group has as good a chance as anyone to finish atop the standings.
Can new coach B.J. Hill keep Northern Colorado on course?
It took 28 days for DePaul to nab Clemson's Oliver Purnell, 37 days for Oregon to settle on Creighton's Dana Altman and 84 days for Chicago State to hire Illinois-Chicago assistant Tracy Dildy. Nothern Colorado, on the other hand, needed mere hours to promote Tad Boyle's top assistant after he left for Colorado on April 20.
Hoping to build on the success the program achieved rising from dead last in the RPI four years ago to 25-8 last year, Northern Colorado selected B.J. Hill to try to keep the Bears on course. He inherits a program that loses leading scorer Will Figures from its backcourt, but returns most everything else.
One of the key's for Northern Colorado will be the health of guard Devon Beitzel, who averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 44.4 percent from behind the arc last season but missed the team's final seven games with a broken foot. Forward Chris Kaba also will be counted on offensively after coming on strong late in the season a year ago.
