Curious thing. When the Viks took the lead in the second half, did they not look indomitable? They seemed to even be toying with Montana State. They were playing at a higher level. Then they "stopped" with 11:00+ minutes to go.
Could they possibly have been signaling how good they were, how talented they were as individuals and as a team, and then decided to let MSU back in the game in order to "chess-match" them at the end? I wonder. Because they played with such mastery for the first 8:00+ minutes of the second half.
Keep in mind that standings mean almost nothing come tournament time (sans bottom three). First and Second Place have the luxury of fewer games to play, and First Place has the luxury of venue, but that is about it. Maybe the odd combinations, lack of rebounds, etc. were purposely staged to artificially create team weaknesses and then the team uses these to expose what result from these weaknesses (e.g. providing a lane, allowing two to team up under the basket) and use these as canon fodder in practice?
If (big if) this is the case, our coaching staff is quite brilliant and certainly worthy of being retained. What are the odds? Last season was almost entirely like that. Look how far they've come since then. The only prize at this level is going to the Dance with the opportunity to face down the big dogs. Games can be used as "practices," if you will, to build muscle in remaining areas of relative weakness. The Tourney and the Tournament are the sole rewards and measures of success.
