BIG SKY Preseason Polls

[n.ogdencat]

First ever official Big Sky Preseason all league team...http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2015/10/2/MBB_1002154022.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Player Year Pos. School Hometown
MVP - Venky Jois Sr. F Eastern Washington Boronia, Australia
Bogdan Bliznyuk So. F Eastern Washington Lutsk, Ukraine
Martin Breunig Sr. F Montana Leverkusen, Germany
Marcus Colbert Sr. G Montana State Post Falls, Idaho
Kris Yanku Jr. G Northern Arizona Chatsworth, Calif.
Joel Bolomboy Sr. F Weber State Fort Worth, Texas
Jeremy Senglin Jr. G Weber State Arlington, Texas

Nice...I can agree with this.

I wish they would do a Preseason Newcomer of the Year and/or Preseason Freshman of the Year. There are a lot of good players joining the ranks this season across the Big Sky. All the newbs will add to the parity that the conference will experience this season.

 

[thescout]

would have found a spot for Cody Demps on the team and maybe Q Hooker...Bogden and Colbert questionable picks... Newcomer of year I will go with Cam Forte of Portland st... Was rated 14th best Juco in 2013 by Juco recruiting.com and stepping down in class from SEC to big Sky. Fr. of year I will guess Crandall RS. Fr. of UND averaged 11pts,8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals on Euro tour. And will have the ball in his hands from the get go at UND. Both picks are crap shoots as it looks like this is an exceptional year for D1 transfers plus some quality jucos in the league and picking the top freshman is never easy.

 

[n.ogdencat]

I don't really know what to expect from the guys newly arrived to the conference. I've looked over Forte's stats at Georgia and it isn't amazing, but it isn't bad either. He is a guy that needs to find the right fit. Maybe that is in Portland. I think Greving found a good one in Forte.

As for Fresh...there are soo many guys coming in who are going to make an immediate impact that it'll be really hard to find out who is going to end up being the best, but I like your analysis at the moment. Who wouldn't think Crandall can't go forward and end up having a solid freshman campaign after what he did in Europe this past summer? I personally like Zach Braxton, but that is because I am a Weber State homer. But, we haven't been able to really see him play against good competition.

 

[thescout]

Geno will be asked to and need to put up numbers...Zach and other top frosh may be equal to or better players but this season may be 5th option on team not 2nd or 3rd.

 

[sacstateman]

I saw Michael Oguine in HS and if he gets over 20 mins a game in Missoula, I would consider him a threat to be BSC freshman of the year....

 

[n.ogdencat]

I saw Michael Oguine in HS and if he gets over 20 mins a game in Missoula, I would consider him a threat to be BSC freshman of the year....

I've never seen him play, but have heard great things about him. I think he and the kid that Murphy got from Florida, Michael Green, could definitely contribute for their respective teams this year.

Weber has a lot of freshman, but the problem is that most won't get more than 15 a game, other than Braxton. So, that is why I have my hopes on Braxton being the conference's FOY. I know it is probably going to be a long shot, but he is the Cats best hope (McKay Cannon, Cody John, and Jeremiah Jefferson all are going to be really good for the Cats in their careers).

 

[Skippy]

Idaho State's Ethan Telfair will be in the discussion for Newcomer of the Year. He'll be the starting PG from the opening tip, average 30 minutes or more a game and will lead the team in assists and steals, and probably average in double figures in scoring.

 

[Webergrad02]

Idaho State's Ethan Telfair will be in the discussion for Newcomer of the Year. He'll be the starting PG from the opening tip, average 30 minutes or more a game and will lead the team in assists and steals, and probably average in double figures in scoring.

That is probably true, but is a player from a team that wins less than 5 games going to get any award consideration? I have heard that ISU may be one of the worst Big Sky teams we have seen.

 

[Skippy]

Idaho State's Ethan Telfair will be in the discussion for Newcomer of the Year. He'll be the starting PG from the opening tip, average 30 minutes or more a game and will lead the team in assists and steals, and probably average in double figures in scoring.

That is probably true, but is a player from a team that wins less than 5 games going to get any award consideration? I have heard that ISU may be one of the worst Big Sky teams we have seen.

We'll see webergrad, that may be true, but I don't think anybody really knows what kind of team Idaho State will be this season because they will put 9 kids on the floor who have never played a minute in the Big Sky Conference. So they may very well be awful, especially early on, but I don't think it will be because they totally lack talent. The Bengals have recruited a lot of guards and wing players with good numbers in JUCO and high school. We'll have to see how that translates to D-1 basketball.

The downside is they have virtually nothing upfront. Evans is talking about playing a lot of four-guard lineups, picking up the tempo and playing 11 or 12 kids a night. He says they are much better shooters and more athletic than last year. Of course, the proof is always in the pudding. But if Telfair averages 10 points, 5 assists and two steals a game, shoots 35 percent from 3 and 80 percent from the FT line (all numbers that appear to be attainable for him based on his JUCO experience), then yes, I think he'd still be an honors candidate, even if he plays for a terrible team. He probably wouldn't win it, but he'd be in the top 5 in votes.

 

[oldrunner]

Not positive, but I believe there are two awards, one for newcomer of the year and one for freshman of the year. It is possible for a player on a bottom team to get such an award. They just have to make a really big splash. They will get some recognition if they are a really big fish in a really small pond. It helps even more if they are a really good player on a really good team.

For Braxton to have a shot at it, he will need to be a 13 point, 10 rebound, 2 blocked shots sort of guy. The rebounding is the most difficult thing on that list. He was a good rebounder in HS. I just don't know if it will translate to D1. I don't think that scoring will be a problem for him. Can he defend and stay out of foul trouble? We will see.

 

[thescout]

Goodman ESPN Big SKY Prediction....1. Weber State
2. Montana
3. Eastern Washington
4. Northern Arizona
5. Portland State
6. Northern Colorado
7. Southern Utah
8. Idaho
9. Sacramento State
10. North Dakota
11. Montana State
12. Idaho State

 

[oldrunner]

I have no argument against that list.

I find it interesting that Weber plays Montana and Eastern only once this year. Montana at home and Eastern on the road. It makes the pressure to win those games even greater. Also, the game with the Eagles is the last game of the regular season.

To me, Eastern is the team that is the most difficult to predict. They have one of the best players in the BSC, but they lost 4 of their top 6 guys from last year. Montana's season is hinging on how Dunn comes back from his injuries and how the JC point guard assimilates. They also have an outstanding big man. Everyone else in the league is counting on a lot of new players or have a bunch of returning mediocre players.

Let the games begin!

 

[SWWeatherCat]

... I find it interesting that Weber plays Montana and Eastern only once this year. Montana at home and Eastern on the road. It makes the pressure to win those games even greater. ...

I don't see any BSC games with more pressure on them to win more than any other for at least the next three years.