• Hi Guest,

    We've updated the site to combine all the forums that were part of the Big Sky Fans Network into one location. This will make it easier to navigate and participate in all the discussions for each school without having to have multiple accounts, etc. We are still working out some tweaks but please let us know if you notice anything.

    With the migration, in some circumstances, your username could have been merged with one of your other usernames from the other forums. If this is the case, you can request to change your username in your account details page of your profile.
  • Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
  • Guest, do want an ad free experience on BigSkyFans.com among other benefits? Upgrade your account today!

    Simply click your profile name > account upgrades > BigSky Club > choose between the year long subscription (two free months) or month to month

    Thanks for the continued support. Cheers!

Tuesday Home Game

4 guard set coach said, wonder how we combat that?

this might be the toughest game so far, these guys know HOW to play together, they have a sound offensive strategy and defense is good enough, I think we will be able to slow the game down and force them into more of a 1/2 court game, but will we capitalize ourselves?

I sure hope so, gosh we have have some really good players and if we can get some movement on offense, get a couple players going early and KEEP GUYS ON THE FLOOR, we may get our second win!

GBG, Skippy, Bengalcub, Clayton, RollingRock any thoughts?

the last 2 games, which we should have won, have been tough to take and I give a pass early to not being prepared, both players and coaches, but we are in our 4th game and it gets REALLY tough from here on out, what will we do?

will it be more of the same, or do we see a change
 
I agree with protege that all the pieces are there for the Bengals to be VERY successful.

However, this team is not playing to its potential right now.

It has been frustrating to watch! As other posters have pointed out, why is there not more movement on offense? Why aren't we doing basic things like setting screens and sharing the ball?

David Busma is an aircraft carrier! The kid should be ATTACKING the basket instead of moving away from it when he gets the ball. We need to set screens for him so that he can find a gap and cut to the basket, and then GET HIM THE BALL. He would be UNSTOPPABLE!

Amorrow Morgan is a great player, but when he brings the ball down court it tends to become 1 vs. 5. I would prefer to see Bay setting up the offense, with Morrow off the ball on the wing. SPREAD THE FLOOR and set screens for one another, MOVE and SHARE THE BALL.

Morgan attacking from the wing or a pass down low to Busma. If it's not there, Bay can shoot the three or keep working for another look. Obviously Meech is at the 4 spot, who will play the 3? Stucki may be in the doghouse, but you still have to start the kid in my view.

And we need to REBOUND better! I hope Caspari gets some tick in the next game as we need someone besides Meech to step up!

Good Luck and GO BENGALS !!
 
The only contest I was able to watch was the exhibition v. Rocky Mtn College...so I preface my comments based on what I've read so far, and what I've heard in conversation who have watched them play.

A couple of items are already surfacing that I alluded to in one of my previous posts (I don't remember the actual thread...I'll include the link here if/when I find it), namely the concerns such as:

1. ISU big men have to play like BIG MEN - It is still early in the season, but it seems like the LS et al. are not presenting much of a low post threat on a consistent basis. DM has been a pleasant surprise, but the others need to step up and control the paint.

2. Chemistry (pocatato mentioned this) and mixing in the newbies with the returners - hopefully by the end of the OOC schedule, the team should be better at this.

3. Leadership - AM seems like he's assumed that role, particularly in late game situations. Whether it's by design or by default, at least he's taking the initiative of "team, get on my back." Hopefully others (i.e. MS, DC) can step up and pick up the slack when other teams force the ball out of AM's hands

4. Playing tentative - because Coach OB dips into the bench a lot, are players "afraid" to make an aggressive move or an error on a position.

5. Offense sets - this has been hashed to death, but it will be interesting to see what, if any, adjustments a) the players make to the schemes and/or b)the coaches make to match the players' skill sets. As for the poor FG% (39.3%) - is it a function of a "dysfunctional" offense or good looks not going down? The assist to TO ratio is awful...again is it a by-product of the offense sets ISU runs?

6. Defense, defense - I'd have to look at the stats, but I think ISU DEF FG% is hovering the 40% mark. Hopefully this will continue.

It is still early and ISU has lost two OT games on the road where they had leads at the half and late into the 2nd half. As disappointing those losses are, better it be OOC than in BSC play.

The Long Beach St. game will be a good contest to see what ISU is made of. After Long Beach, ISU's schedule is brutal until the home game v. Idaho on 12/29. Unless ISU shows improvement and people other than AM and DM step up their level of play, I wouldn't be surprised if ISU puts up an "0-fer" between the Long Beach and Idaho games.

From the baseline, this is John Clayton, BengalDen.com :D
 
Let me rewind a bit--because I have jumped on the limit the rotation and offensive set bandwagon the last few days.

I have watched all the games on Big Sky TV or on the regular tube. ISU is missing a ton and I mean a ton of point blank shots. Over the last two games--I would say they are missing between 5-10 gimmies per game.

If they make 3-5 more shots--ISU is 3-0. Simple as that. This team is not finished--they are searching for an identity. That is all.

I will say this the ISU bigs are probably not going to be great back to the basket players. If they were great low post kids--ISU would not have gotten them. They are both look more comfortable facing the basket. Still, if Steijn and Busma can score 15-20 points combined and get 12-15 boards--that would be HUGE.

I don't understand why O'Brien has burned the redshirt years on all of these kids. Lacy, Baldwin and possibly one other could have saved a year of eligibility and this team would not miss a beat.

Stucki, Morgan, Kilpatrick and Bay are shooting very poorly from the floor. I am excited to see Bay at the point, but he needs to play smarter and play tougher defense. Carson is standing around as stated by O'Brien and he seems awfully content being passive. Stucki is being forced to drive because he is a step slow. Killpatrick has missed something like his first 20 shots. These guys will not struggle as a group the whole season--we can take that to the bank.

O'Brien will win with defense first--that is what it is. Expect ISU to win slug fests not track meets. This teams identity is tough scrappy defense. If they can score a meger 8-10 points more per game compared to last year--this team will be very good in the BSC.

I am not saying that ISU cannot win in the preseason, but c'mon...this is a tough schedule with very few games that the Bengals will be favored to win.

I cannot remember a coach that has had a better conference record in the past two years. For that matter a coach that has taken ISU to the conference tournament in his first two seasons. It may have happened--I just don't remember it.

We need to relax a little and be patient and not panic unless ISU stinks it up in conference. This team is real close, they need some games to gel and find a grove. Coaching and the contributions from players on the court need to improve--no doubt. But I really think this team is closer than they most of us believe right now.

O'Brien is the coach to get it done. He may be an ass--he may be bull headed, but so far he has delivered a competitive Big Sky team in his first two seasons. Remember two years ago? Most of us thought that the kids that he brought in were not D-1 players. Now--without the benefits of RS years--that class appears to be very solid. I remember most saying that he could only win because he had the players brought in by Doug Oliver and that he could not recruit. I mean no disrespect to anyone, but man were all wrong.

I like the direction this program is going and until O'Brien shits a losing BSC season or punches a fan--I am a fan of the guy and I believe in what he brings to the table.

Seriously friends, think about it for a sec. They are going to be fine--they just won't have a winning non-conference record, but how many other teams in the BSC would--considering the difficulty of the schedule?
 
This has been said before but it needs repeating.. ISU will no doubt limp through the non-conference portion of their schedule. I mean, how could they not? Name me a handful of games where they would be favored... shoot, even Idaho has better facilities and money than ISU. in fact, Syracuse would consider this a hard schedule. With that said, by February we will all be firmly riding the ISU bandwaggon. I can't wait.
 
good post Bengal, I think the substitutions are hurting us, I made the BSU game and what I heard behind the bench had me scared to shoot!

look we need an offense, we are holding good teams on their home courts to LOW scores during regulation, our defense is excellent! and Bay is playing fine, last game he was NEVER beat not once, but we still need someone to make 1 more basket than the opposing team, if we had to inbound the ball for 1 play to score - WE LOSE! we dont have that play, heck we dont have ANY offense except for the one that gives it to Amorrow, I take that back, I have seen 1 other set, that is where WHOEVER is PG passes to the wing, runs underneath the receiving wing and stands waiting, meanwhile with NO screens we pass to the opposite wing and then attempt an entry to the POST - if its not there we put it back at the top or skip it to the PG opposite wing. THATS IT!

I am disappointed that folks would say the players arent giving their all, I think they are playing their ASSES off, they are just NOT in spots to succeed, heck if we have 1 tip go our way, 1 loose ball, 1 shot fall, both of these last games are different! but we dont have that in our wheel house, we still run NO screens on inbound plays on the opponent baseline and under our basket we simply throw it out to the top, A RECIPE FOR STEAL from a good team, these are basic things yet we DONT HAVE them!

I too am disappointed in the burning of redshirts, "going deep" into the line up does not prove your coaching, nor does the offense defense thing, except for the uninformed or journalist, BTW Bay had 10 points, 4 assists in that last game and only 1 T/O kept us in rhythm several times, notice obrien relied on him at the end each time, the kid is fine, he like Stucki and others will come around, they just need time and trust!

I believe as I said earlier we can do this and I think the staff will pull this out, but they must start with the basics, tomorrow is going to be tough, I will be there cheering my ASS off, well cheering anyway!
 
Expect Morgan to stay at the point and Baldwin to play more coming up this week. Not saying Bay won't play point--just not very often.

I just finished listening to Coach O'Brien on the coaches show and he stated as much. He said Kal Bay is not a true point guard in his offense--he is a scorer and spot up shooter. They are working on ways to create more open looks for Bay because they want to capitalize on his quick release and scoring range. O'Brien believes that Bay is a good passer from the wing--but is MORE of a great long range shooter--which is why they recruited him. He said that Kal struggles at the point, mostly because he isn't the fastest or the strongest player and they like the strength, penetration and scoring that Morgan brings from the point.

He also stated that Baldwin will be playing more this week as well.

I am not trying to debate your opinion--I am only relaying what O'Brien said. Either way--I bet he starts at the two tomorrow night--and I will bet he plays well.
 
I am sure Obrien means what he says, hope it all works out for us, I know going into the BSU game he said the same thing and Bay ended up at PG.

this is why we struggle with an offensive set, Amorrow does NOT want to be PG, he is a 1 on 1 player, yet the staff will put him there, Kal may shoot very well, but if we dont have screens for him or ANYONE we will fail, if the bigs do not rebound and "go to the basket" we will fail, Bay did just fine against BSU and is well on his way, yet we will move him to a position that requires someone else to get you open, ie a screen which we dont use and we put Amorrow at the PG which he simply wants to score. NO crime in that! just not smart basketball, how is Detroit doing with Allen Iverson?

I said earlier in the LONG thread, Glasser is NO high major PG yet ASU plays him in that spot because the TEAM is better with him there then with Nate McMillans kid, yesterday against Pepperdine he only had 1 point, but was never in trouble with coach that I saw. playing Bay at the 2 takes time from other players as well, where if you put him at the 1 you dont have that problem, I didnt see any issues with Kal vs BSU last night, oh well thats why I am on the message board

I hope we win and I hope the players get some credit, bengal, did you read the rest of my post or just settle on Bay, seems sort of odd, I have seen you argue with others over Bay, not sure why, I am NOT pimping Bay, just observed as you did that (along with ESPN announcers) the team is more fluid, calm and efficient when he is on the floor, if it was Baldwin, Stucki, Carson anyone I would say the same thing, I just want the best performing group in the BEST SPOTS to succeed.
 
No, I did not single out the Bay comment to get at you at all. O'Brien basically stated that Carson and Steijn lost their starting rolls Saturday night. He said that Bay would start--I assumed he meant at the point and so did others. Now we know that he will be playing at the two and Carson will be coming off the bench in more of a sixth man roll.

Even if you were pimping Bay, which you are not--fair by me. I put it on here, because it is the thing that struck me most on the O'Brien interview tonight.

Plus, I don't ever remember arguing with anyone about Bay. I argued about being fair with Baldwin and Bay. RR was undressing Baldwin on his DELETED posts--that was all.
 
fair enough - I dont like it it takes away from ALL the other 2 guards and next thing we know we will be playing lacey again by night end, hope thats not the case

we still need an offense, rebounding and the right guys in place to WIN, hoping it happens tomorrow night
 
you watching the Kansas vs Washington game

look at the screens on the perimeter by the bigs, heck by EVERYONE on both teams!, this IS NOT a personnel issue its a COACHING issue, GOD I hope they are working on this stuff, look at even Sherron Collins HE IS GETTING screens no matter he can go by his defender, its about the OFFENSE not the PLAYER.
 
Okay here we go... I guarantee a win tomorrow... Its at our place... Stucki will have a good game... Amorrow will be consistent like he has the past three. I hope our bigs play physical and rebound and get the garbage... If we win tomorrow that would be awesome going into Saturday.. Confidence will be high.. Cougar fans if your out there and i am sure you are..... we haven't had our breakout game where everyone is hitting on all cylinders..... The pressure is on you guys we are just the "Big Sky".... I am not looking over the game tomorrow... LBSU is a very, very good ball club... I am glad we are playing at home on this one.. I hope the chemistry continues to improve offensively... i am not big on our sets but when it comes down to it... the guys just have to play basketball... take what the D gives you and make them pay... We need a leader to emerge tomorrow... I hope its MAtt... he is a senior hes been there done that...
 
Also, Hawaii beat Iowa State last night at home 60-59. Our losses are not bad, but we need to start getting it done, ESPECIALLY at Holt...
 
yeah TOTALLY STOKED for tonight!!

this will not be easy, LBSU is very good, watched some highlights this morning the 4 guard or 4 out 1 in offense is very FLUID, they have 1 stud, but they put everyone in spots to succeed.

I am praying we run some basic stuff tonight that gets everyone involved, we can do this!!

my biggest concern is on the inbound plays under our basket and at theirs, we DO NOT set any screens and that could hurt us just like the game in Hawaii

LETS ROCK HOLT TONIGHT!
 
Three big things for me tonight. One, Stucki, please shoot the ball. He has only taken 23 shots. Bay has 23 shots as well, but with 13 fewer minutes played. We need our SENIOR to step up. Two, anybody seen Kilpatrick? 0-11. That two game suspension not only hurt Kilpatrick but the team. Three, somebody needs to hit a three. Under 30% for the year.
 
good points Heckler!

Stucki hasn’t had many good looks so far, I think its part and parcel of our lack of offensive strategy, if we sent Busma out to set a screen and Stucki and him could play a 2 man game, 1 of them would get something IN RYTHYM on the way to the basket, that I think might help Matt get off!

Bay has taken more shots than Matt, even though Matt has more minutes and I think it goes back to the first point, the offense question, Matt hasn’t been in the lineup too often with players that PASS so he doesn’t get many opportunities to shoot and the ones he gets he is usually working his ASS off to get, we need to set screens on the perimeter, right now we simply pass the ball around the perimeter waiting for the defense to fall down than someone shoots, usually late in the clock, so it ends up being a poor decision, I think Matt has been a victim of that a few times, as have others and in this offense you don’t get many chances that way.

Hopefully Matt can get to the line, that may help him

you make a great point in the Kilpatrick issue, a few folks have made the statements, me included, that yanking the players or benching them for basketball mistakes is hurting the team not just the player, I think sometimes the players lose confidence and then begin to second guess themselves after all if the coach doesn’t believe in you and you know if you make a mistake your going to sit, you begin trying to "coax" your shot in and play much more robotic, than instinctively

we can do this tonight, these players are good, in spite of the challenges they face I can see them rising up and putting LBSU on their heels

LETS ROCK THE PLACE TONIGHT!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top