TexasTerror
December 18th, 2005, 05:41 PM
Montana got some love in a nice mid-major column on ESPN by someone who won't butcher things. You guys are getting quite a bit of love outside of football there in Missoula, which I bet you all love. You guys are going to have to stop by http://www.KatFans.com and talk some basketball on top of the normal football at this rate!
---------
Montana (7-1): When the Griz beat Stanford 88-69 in Missoula, Mont., on Dec. 2, the win quickly was discounted. The Cardinal lost to UC-Davis two days later, making "beating Stanford" so common that teenage boys all across America were doing it.
But Montana followed up that win with a completion of an in-season home-and-home sweep of Loyola Marymount. Then the Grizzlies earned a cheapie championship on the road in the Drake Regency Challenge. Their weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, was capped by a scrappy, hard-fought overtime win over host Drake to earn their seventh straight victory.
And while "Coach K West" (Montana grad and second-year sideline pacer Larry Krystkowiak) lost star forward Kamaar Davis (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) from his 2005 Big Sky champion squad, he's been getting a lot of output from a previously unknown X-factor, due to injuries to proven frontcourt commodities.
Andrew Strait, a 6-8, 250-pound sophomore, has been a revelation in maroon and silver. Strait only started four games as a freshman in 2004-05, but he's logged minutes aplenty on the way to a 15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg season line so far. Strait has led his team in scoring four times and rebounding five times during the winning streak -- not bad for a player who was projected to be a bench dude this past summer.
And don't forget that Montana refused to let Washington run away and hide in the Dance last March -- the Grizzlies scored 77 points and lost by only 11 in a No. 1 vs. No. 16 matchup that routinely produces 30-point blowouts. So, with all due respect to those who picked Montana State and Sacramento State ahead of the Griz in the preseason polls, you may want to check your radar screens again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=2259284
---------
Montana (7-1): When the Griz beat Stanford 88-69 in Missoula, Mont., on Dec. 2, the win quickly was discounted. The Cardinal lost to UC-Davis two days later, making "beating Stanford" so common that teenage boys all across America were doing it.
But Montana followed up that win with a completion of an in-season home-and-home sweep of Loyola Marymount. Then the Grizzlies earned a cheapie championship on the road in the Drake Regency Challenge. Their weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, was capped by a scrappy, hard-fought overtime win over host Drake to earn their seventh straight victory.
And while "Coach K West" (Montana grad and second-year sideline pacer Larry Krystkowiak) lost star forward Kamaar Davis (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) from his 2005 Big Sky champion squad, he's been getting a lot of output from a previously unknown X-factor, due to injuries to proven frontcourt commodities.
Andrew Strait, a 6-8, 250-pound sophomore, has been a revelation in maroon and silver. Strait only started four games as a freshman in 2004-05, but he's logged minutes aplenty on the way to a 15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg season line so far. Strait has led his team in scoring four times and rebounding five times during the winning streak -- not bad for a player who was projected to be a bench dude this past summer.
And don't forget that Montana refused to let Washington run away and hide in the Dance last March -- the Grizzlies scored 77 points and lost by only 11 in a No. 1 vs. No. 16 matchup that routinely produces 30-point blowouts. So, with all due respect to those who picked Montana State and Sacramento State ahead of the Griz in the preseason polls, you may want to check your radar screens again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=2259284