The Big Sky: It's All About the Guards

If you follow Big Sky basketball at all, you've probably heard it said more than once: "The Big Sky is a guard's league." But what does that mean? Well, you could have seen no better object lesson than the Weber State-Idaho State series completed last weekend. The Wildcats won both games with great guard play. Exhibit A:


Kellen McCoy, 5-foot-4 inches tall (above), had 14 rebounds in the two games for the Wildcats. David Busma, 7-feet-tall, and Lucas Steijn, 6-foot-11, combined for seven rebounds for the Bengals.

McCoy best embodied the athleticism, quickness and mental toughness that gave Weber State the advantage over the Bengals from the beginning of the second half of game one all the way through game two of the series. The little junior college transfer from Norman, Okla. executed the two signature plays of each game. In the first, he stole a potential offensive rebound from Demetrius Monroe that could have resulted in a tied game in overtime, and led a fast-break the other way to give the Wildcats a two-possession lead that broke ISU's will. In game two, with ISU having clawed back into the game and down by three with four minutes to go, McCoy rose up over two Bengal defenders to drain a three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring. That led Weber on a 20-point run that put the game away.

In addition to those 14 rebounds, McCoy accumulated 26 points, 6 assists and 6 steals in the two games, while he and his fellow Weber guard mates drove their Bengal counterparts crazy with their aggressive, in your face defense. Damian Lillard, a true freshman, finished the two-game set with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Daviian Davis, the jumping-jack small forward/off guard, came off the bench to combine for 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

The Weber double-dip simply reinforced what most Big Sky basketball observers have known for years -- it's great to recruit the occasional "impact" big man if you can find one, but guards win games in the Big Sky Conference.

You probably all remember last year when the Bengal coaching staff talked about the need to get a "true center" -- and then went out and got the 7-foot Busma. The coaches even talked about the possibility of playing both Busma and Steijn together at times, creating a real "twin towers" set-up. But here the Bengals were in the final minutes of regulation and overtime against Weber State Thursday night, and who was on the floor? Felix Caspari and Monroe, two 6-6 small forwards, and three guards. Busma had been banished since the three minute mark of the first half and Steijn was once again a victim of foul problems.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, were getting big plays from their three guards/wings and Kyle Bullinger, a 6-6 SF.

College basketball has long been a "guard's game," but nowhere is that more in evidence than in the Big Sky. Take a look at the top 10 scorers in the league -- eight of them are guards or small forwards. Who was last year's Most Valuable Player? That would be 5-foot-6 Jeremiah Dominguez of Portland State. Who will likely be this year's MVP? My early bet is the diminutive McCoy, who tops the league-leading Wildcats in scoring and ranks in the top 10 in the league in scoring, assists and steals.

Even the best "big men" in the league are players like Divaldo Mbunga of Montana State and Jabril Banks of Northern Colorado, two post players in the athletic, 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-8 mold. And a team like Idaho State, which actually has some size at its disposal, hasn't found a way to fully utilize it. Busma, who has made 58 percent of his field goal attempts, has attempted only 90 shots -- which ranks him sixth on the team, behind four guards and Monroe. Steijn, who is shooting 50 percent from the floor, has attempted only 68 shots.

When I talk to the opposing coaches in the league, they all marvel over Idaho State's "length" and "size." But ask them who they are going to focus their defense on, and it's two guards -- Amorrow Morgan and Matt Stucki. It's true, their 6-5 and 6-6 size gives them a decided advantage over many of the guards in the league, but even with Idaho State, it all starts at the guard line.

--Brad B.


And thanks for being a Bengal fan, it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

It's Gut-check Time for Bengals

Saturday night will be the real heart-test for Idaho State basketball. Can the Bengals bounce back from that awful second-half and overtime performance vs. Weber State on Thursday night when ISU takes on the Wildcats in the rematch in Dee Events Center?

All of the Bengals, even Matt Stucki and Felix Caspari who played so valiently on Thursday, have a lot to prove -- specifically, they need to come out and COMPETE Saturday night, in an attempt to overcome the half-hearted effort that cost them a critical overtime loss on Thursday night. David Busma and Chron Tatum have to try to extricate themselves from Coach Joe O'Brien's doghouse -- the Bengals two big men saw a combined total of 8 minutes of PT Thursday night and, while Coach OB wasn't using names on our post-game show, he was obviously irritated with a lack of effort on the parts of the two Bengal bigs. So irritated he didn't put either in late in the game, when the Bengals were desperate for offense from someone other than Stucki, who took 13 of ISU's 19 second-half shots from the field.

Demetrious Monroe, who started out on fire in the first five minutes of the game Thursday night, and then completely disappeared over the final 35 minutes he played also needs to redeem himself; especially after little Kellen McCoy made the play of the game when he swiped what should have been an offensive rebound out of Monroe's hands in overtime. Instead of Monroe getting a putback to keep the Bengals tied, McCoy sprinted off for a fast break bucket on the other end of the floor that led to the end for ISU.

Another Bengal who needs to make a statement on Saturday is Amorrow Morgan (above). Weber State has his number. In his last three outings against the Wildcats, Morgan has scored only 21 points and committed 16 turnovers. The quickness and athleticism of the Weber guards seem to really bother Amorrow, and the Wildcats really turned up the defensive intensity in the second half. The Bengals were initiating their offense out by the half-court line, and, unlike in the first half, were unable to get any kind of looks inside the lane. Morgan is going to have to come out with intensity and purpose on Saturday if the Bengals are going to have a shot at stealing a road win.

Even Stucki has something to prove -- he's averaged only 7 points a game in the Bengal road losses in the Big Sky. He needs to show he can take his act out of Holt Arena and still make an impact.

Yes, Saturday night will tell us alot about the competitive will of an upper-class dominated ISU team that allowed two WSU freshmen, Damian Lillard and Kyle Bullinger, to dominate the second half and overtime of Thursday night's game. Here's hoping you join the Bengal caravan to Ogden and provide the same kind of spirited support for ISU that the Weber fans brought to Pocatello Thursday night. The Bengals are going to need all the support they can get. See you all in Ogden.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's (almost) always fun.

The Start of a BIG WEEK

Nothing like three games with Weber State in three days (men Thursday, and then men and women on Saturday) to help get over the men's loss to Sacramento State.

DON'T FORGET TO WEAR WHITE THURSDAY AND SATURDAY!!!!!

By the way, most folks don't know this, but there were some...shenanigans going on in Sacramento on Saturday. None of this is an excuse, but they made Idaho State have a 10 am shoot around for a 7:00 pm game, meaning it was an early start. The reason was they had three alumni games, one at noon, one at 1, and one at 2. Well geez kids....have those a little later maybe? Then, our team has a routine they go through, starting with early shooting, some post drills, and whatnot. Well, our team was locked in the locker room until 6:05 pm, because Sacramento State had their closed walk through from 5:05 pm to 6:05 pm ... and probably the last 20 minutes of that the Hornets were doing nothing but jump shots.

Did it matter? Probably not, but ISU's normal routine was disrupted a little, without a lot of time to prepare for that. Anyone get the feeling that we the Hornets come to Pocatello ISU might have a "closed shootaround" from 5:30 to 6:30 pm? Conference rules say the court has to be available only 30 minutes prior to a game, and that probably needs changed. Just a little gamesmanship there that I thought was interesting.

Of course, the basketball starts tomorrow ... but today is Wednesday, which is always a conflict for me this time of year. I have to record the greatest television show of all-time LOST for my hockey game, which is OK....it'll be a nice way to wind down. Seriously LOST was insane last week.....Mrs. Hawking? Hurley giving himself up? and who are the people Ben knew in the butcher shop? Mind-boggling.....

To get this back to basketball a minute....here's something I was discussing with Kellis and Coach O'Brien separately, and they both agreed with me to a point. I saw if the season ended today, Amorrow Morgan might be the league MVP. Think about it....Portland State spreads stuff out too much to get one guy that award, although Phil Nelson would be the guy. For Weber State, only Kellen McCoy is averaging in double-figures, and he's at 13.6 points per game....is he really an MVP candidate? Doesn't it come down to Morgan and Anthony Johnson of Montana? If Montana finishes higher than ISU, I'd personally go Johnson, and if ISU finishes higher, isn't it Morgan? That MVP race should be interesting, but we are a long ways away from that.

Different Ways To Shoot
Not ISU related, but a cool article on Montana State's Nubia Garcia was in the NCAA's Champions Magazine.

I Suppose This is Good...
Apparently, ISU is one of the top five schools in nuclear engineering, according to Dr. Vailas who is at the State Board meetings...

We Know All About It....
Interesting to see another softball program in Idaho, as the Statesman is working on a report regarding the start of the Boise State program, who ISU will be playing in March.

Leo!
Great article here about former Bengal football coach Leo McKillop....a fascinating read....

Pago-Mania!
It wasn't long after I had this Q&A with Pago Togafau, he of the Super Bowl Bound Arizona Cardinals, that Kelvin Ang caught up with him as well. Speaking of football, Tim Flagstad wants to give credit where credit is due...to Jeff Tingey.

Farewell
Former ISU graduate and a major play in the state of Idaho, and Idaho's history, Harry Magnuson passed away.

Need a High Paying Job?
It would help if you were an attorney, but still....

Incredible Finish....
You gotta see this finish....unfortunately, I can't link to it since it's a high school game, but go to Youtube and type in "Middleton 3 Miracles Floor Level" to see a a three to send a game to overtime, a three to give a team a three-point lead with two seconds left, and then a 3.4 court shot to tie it again, and then a buzzer beater to end it...wild stuff.