Bengals to Face Vikings Shorthanded

It's not bad enough that Portland State has dominated Idaho State in men's basketball of late, and that the Bengals are desperate for a win to end a four-game losing streak. To further compound matters, it will be a short-handed ISU that hosts the Vikings in Holt Arena Thursday night.

Bengal Coach Joe O'Brien (above) said on our coaches show last night that he does not expect forward Demetrius Monroe to be available for the Vikings Thursday night, and there is a possibility the Bengals' leading rebounder could be sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The ISU medical staff is in the process of scheduling an MRI, but O'Brien said Monroe's recovery from the injury, which he suffered in practice early last week, has not been good. He had a lot of swelling on the flight to Greeley last week, and was unable to practice at all on Monday.

In addition, guard Kal Bay (broken bone in his shooting hand) is still not ready to take the floor, and the Bengals' leading scorer, Amorrow Morgan, remains in Memphis tending to his ailing father. O'Brien is hopeful Morgan will make it back to Pocatello for the Portland State game, but that all depends on his father's situation.

So expect to see a lot more of freshman PG Sherrod Baldwin, who played capably in 30 minutes against Northern Colorado on Saturday, and SG Austin Kilpatrick, who emerged from his slump to drill four three-pointers against the Bears. Portland State causes all kinds of match-up problems for the Bengals with their quickness, and O'Brien said he'll likely use a lot more of the four-guard lineup he put on the floor against UNC. The Vikings scored 30 points off Bengal turnovers the first time they played this season, so taking care of the basketball will be at a premium for ISU Thursday night. That probably means more minutes for guards and small forwards, and less for the "bigs."

That quickness matchup issue has been bothering the Bengals all season, and O'Brien said on the coaches show last night that he's looking to tweak the ISU roster prior to next season to try to address it. O'Brien said he was on the road last week, looking at a junior college point guard who might be a partial solution. O'Brien emphasized that he believes strongly in Baldwin's long-term potential at the position, but he wants to bring in another "true PG" to help next year.

O'Brien's problem is that he may not have a scholarship to offer the junior college PG. ISU loses only two seniors after this year, they signed high school SG Eric Segert last fall, and they have promised a scholarship to F Rolando Little, a junior college transfer, IF he gets academically eligible by next fall. But O'Brien said he's approached the JC guard about the potential of walking on; he also said there is the possibility that a current Bengal might choose to leave the team in search of more playing time elsewhere. Stay tuned.

Big Couple of Weeks for the Vikings

While the Bengals are trying to stay alive for a post-season playoff berth, Portland State is trying to maintain its feint hopes of winning the BSC regular season title and hosting the conference tournament. Here's hoping PSU considers its seven straight wins over Idaho State and looks ahead instead to its big rematch with Weber State in Ogden Saturday night.

The Wildcats have a game-and-a-half lead over PSU and Montana in the standings, and the advantage of having beaten PSU already on the Vikings' home floor. Weber also has a potential tiebreaker in its favor in having beaten Montana in Ogden, while the Vikings split their season series with the Griz. If Weber and PSU would happen to tie for first and split their two meetings, the next tiebreaker is how they finished against the third place-team head to head. Weber still has to play in Missoula, but at least they have an opportunity to claim that tiebreaker with a win there.

Portland State has announced if it does slip into the conference host role, the tourney would be played at Memorial Coliseum. Conference rules prohibit PSU from hosting the tourney in the cozy Stott Center on campus (capacity: 1,500), and the Rose Garden, where the Vikings hosted the tourney last year, is already booked for a Trailblazers game.

The Vikings are going to use the Stott Center for a nationally (kinda) televised game with Boise State Feb. 21 as part of ESPN's Bracketbusters event. The game will be televised on ESPNU, which has a much smaller audience than the normal ESPN and ESPN2 outlets. It will be interesting to see if the Vikings, who have averaged 1,066 fans for their home games, can fill tiny Stott for the ESPNU cameras.

--Brad B.

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

This Bengal Deserves All-BSC

Michelle Grohs (right) has always been a member of the supporting cast -- it was always Natalie Doma and Andrea Lightfoot who got the headlines on Idaho State's outstanding women's basketball teams. Grohs, a 6-foot senior from Salmon, has always been a nice complement, shooting the three well and blocking shots as a good weak side defender. But with Lightfoot and Doma around, she was never going to get star billing.

This year, with both Doma and Lightfoot out of eligibility and injuries and attrition reducing the Bengal roster to a bare minimum, Grohs has had more than an ample opportunity to shine. She is taking full advantage of that opportunity.

In a crucial game on Saturday against Northern Colorado, Grohs poured in a career high 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Idaho State to a harrowing 63-58 win over the Bears. She drained three line-drive treys, and demonstrated her athleticism with a couple of nifty catch-and-shoots from inside the arc. And while Grohs is not your traditional post-up, back-to-the basket forward, she even dropped in a couple of turnaround jumpers from the baseline. A daunting finishing schedule and the Bengals' bare-bones roster will still make it an uphill climb for Idaho State to make the Big Sky post-season tournament. But if the Bengals do make it, there's no question that Grohs will be a key contributor.

Heading into Saturday's game, Grohs was ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky in three-point shooting and blocked shots, and would have ranked No. 1 in free throw shooting if she'd had enough attempts to qualify. She leads Idaho State in both scoring and rebounding. No matter where the Bengals finish in the Big Sky playoff race, Grohs' production deserves first-team all-conference recognition.

What Is Proper Message Board Etiquette?

I have been reading the debate on the Bengal message board involving my partner in this blog, ISU SID Frank Mercogliano, over proper message board etiquette. Frank took exception to a post noting that Bengal leading scorer Amorrow Morgan would not play in Saturday night's game at Northern Colorado because of a family emergency. (And let me say that my family's thoughts and prayers are with Amorrow and his family).

The debate then continued into whether athletic department employees, including coaches, administrators and SIDS, should be posting on messages boards, or reading and reacting to posts on those boards. There were are lot of differing opinions offered on the topic, and I'm not going to jump into the debate here.

What I would note is that the evoluation of cyber space has created a new set of communciations challenges for a whole range of "establishment" organizations like academia, business, government --and athletic departments. When I started in the newspaper business in the late 1970s, there were a few outlets where people could go for news and comment about these "establishment" organizations. The organizations only had to monitor those few news outlets -- the local newspaper, three or four television stations, and a few local radio stations, and know what was being said about them.

If they disagreed with what was being reported or with the commentary about their organization, they could call the reporter or editor and complain, or write a letter to the editor. In extreme instances, they could simply refuse to cooperate with a specific reporter or news organization in the future.

With the rise of the Internet, however, there are message boards and blogs, and the ability to post commentary on traditional news stories posted on the web sites of more traditional media like newspapers and television stations. For the most part, posters can say just about anything they want, with no standard of accuracy or fairness, and they can do so anonymously. Organizations like athletic departments have to decide if they are going to allow ongoing public comment on their operations without any accountability.

Because I'm in the communications business, I've taken several seminars on the so-called "new media," and I can tell you, business is not sitting back and allowing cyber space to control how they are being perceived. Southwest Airlines, for example, has full-time employees who do nothing but monitor the web for references to their company in blogs and on message boards, and then respond to comment they feel is inaccurate or needs some sort of a response.

I recently took a seminar from a gentleman who writes a travel blog. After a particularly disagreeable experience with a rental car agency that left him standing out in the rain at an airport for an extended period of time, he wrote a blistering review of the company's customer service practices on his blog. The very same day, he was contacted by a secretary who works for the company who asked him if she could provide him with vouchers for a free rental in the future. He was duly impressed.

I know there is an ongoing debate within athletic departments about whether they should monitor message boards and blogs, and if so, who should do it, and how they should respond to criticism, rumors and suggestions. I don't think anybody has developed the "perfect" philosophy, but I would suggest that in this day and age, athletic departments ignore cyber space at their own peril. And I think it's incredibly naive of message board posters to think that coaches, athletes, administrators and their families don't pay attention to what is posted, or that they shouldn't react to it.

Finally, I would suggest posters at least consider the Mark Schlereth policy of cyber posting. The former Denver Bronco and current ESPN analyst says he gets a ton of email and comments on his web postings, and he asks the posters to apply this approach to their posts -- if you wouldn't say it to my face, don't post it anonymously and ask me to take it seriously. I must say, I've done my fare share of anonymous posting over the years, and some of it would not fit Schlereth's standard. But in the future, I will try to live up to that standard. I think it would help contribute to a more civil and intelligent cyber universe. That doesn't mean people should censor their criticisms of coaches, players or administrators -- but offer that criticism in a civil and thoughtful fashion. And take accountability for it -- don't be surprised if a coach or athlete takes exception to your thoughts, even if you think they are "anonymous."

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

--Brad B.

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

Getting Out Our Crystal Ball

Okay, so I stole this photo from the Northwestern Rivals site, but it still fits: here's what I think we think we know about the state of the Idaho State football program as of Feb. 5, 2009.

First, you get all the disclaimers: 1) I haven't seen ONE of Idaho State's recruits play, so I really can offer nothing about their potential abilities. 2) A fair number of the athletes who signed letters of intent or scholarship agreements Wednesday will never see the field as Bengals. 3) There will be changes between now and the kickoff of the Western Montana game -- new players that no one knows yet will arrive; and there will be players who ended last season as contributors, or who signed with ISU yesterday, who will not show up for fall practice next August, and may never step foot in Pocatello again.

How do I know this? Paul Nix, Peter Anderson, Cody Clark, Travis DeRaad, Taylor Kerbs, Darin McDonald, Kevin Nelson, Dane Edmunson, Craig Garnett, Kenny Helmandollar, Scott Jossis, Wiliam Liebert, Ernie Pierce, Pete Richter, Colby Robison, Matt Johnson, Tyrus Beckwith, Eric Bullen, Devin Clark, Ryan Hunt, Bruce Minnett, John Morales, Todd Parker, Jimmy Recourt, Morris Wooten: these are all players who signed with Idaho State over the last five years who made virtually no impact on the playing field.

So given all those unknowns, here's what we can deduce at this point, anyway. First, I believe it's obvious that ISU Coach John Zamberlain and his staff have been given the backing of the administration to rebuild this program the right way. That's not to be naive, and conclude the Bengal coaching staff didn't work hard to find some immediate help for their 1-11 team through the junior college ranks. Hopefully, the handful of JC offensive and defensive linemen they signed Thursday will be able to step right in and fill the most gaping holes -- at left tackle on the offfensive line, and just about anywhere on the d-line. I can almost guarantee you that Jarrid Nash, the 245-pound inside linebacker, will be on the field just about every down the Bengals go with three linebackers.

If Nash's fellow JC recruits on the defensive side of the ball don't pan out, well Bengal fans can at least take heart in the sheer numbers of defensive linemen -- nine -- who signed on the dotted line Wednesday. I hope that Zamberlin and defensive coordinator Brian Strandley are not shy about putting true freshmen on the field at the beginning of the season, and allowing them to take their lumps and get beneficial experience. The Bengals gave a few true freshmen, most notably linemen Braeden Clayson and Kevin and Kyle Whimpey, only tastes of action last fall -- just enough to use a year of eligibility, but not enough to qualify as a real growth experience. Hopefully this fall, the coaching staff will make early decisions about which of the freshmen will see the field, and then let them get their feet wet.

Defensive line is a good place to execute that policy -- typically, the Bengals will play eight different linemen in a game, so theoretically you won't be over-exposing freshmen who may not be physically or mentally mature enough to be on the field for 40 plays. ISU can mix in the most mature freshmen linemen with the two JC transfers and holdovers like Jake Rouser, Jeff Tuua, Sean Rutten, Mykel Durr, David Tyler and Jason Jones.

At linebacker, Nash joins holdovers Nic Edgson and J.T. Albers in competition for playing time at the inside position; Philip Arias, who started most of last season, Jeremy Gibson and Daniel Urias return on the outside. I can see a position change or two coming to upgrade the depth here, perhaps Keith Goins moving up from the secondary. I can also see some late recruiting additions at this position.

The secondary is another place where I'm pretty sure the coaching staff would have liked to add some experienced depth, but they wound up with only one nominal DB recruit: freshman Cameron Gupton. That leaves Michael Wright, Kelvin Miller, A.J. Storms and Chris Holmesly as the likley starters, with redshirt freshman Phillip Pleasant a highly-regarded candidate for playing time, and a bunch of role players and other redshirts left to provide the depth (although there is rumor of a D-1 transfer from Nevada rumbling around the message boards.)

So in analyzing the defense, in all honesty, no matter how good this recruiting class turns out to be, it will likely be another tough year for the Bengals. The best they can hope for is that there is a lot of good, young talent among the redshirt freshmen and the incoming recruits. An improvement in speed and athleticism would be a good start, and the young kids can build strength over time.

Offensively, the Bengals needed immediate help in three areas -- at left tackle, in the backfield and at wide receiver. Most importantly, they need to add speed to the program at just about every skilled position.

They signed a couple of JC offensive linemen who, one can surmise, will be in competition to fill that left tackle spot. The other four starting O-line jobs return incumbents, but beyond Clayson and redshirt freshman Kyle McGuire, there's not much depth. But hey, the Bengals are used to playing five or six offensive linemen for an entire game, so this will not be a new experience.

At running back we have been told the Bengals are not done recruiting just yet, so here's hoping they bring in a dynamic JC player who can bring some speed to the position. Holdover Clint Knickhrem and redshirt Ben LaPorta are power back types, and who knows if incoming freshmen Skylar Morgan is ready to contribute? You know the coaches would prefer not to have to find out.

I was pleased to see the Bengals sign several wide receiver candidates who appear to fill two upcoming needs -- tall outside receivers, and speedy slot guys. I'm just going on what I read about the incoming freshmen, of course, but if you can believe numbers and track times, it looks like the Bengals got themselves some playmakers at this position. That is critical given the departure of Eddie Thompson and Kenyon Blue, last season's two most gifted offensive weapons.

Finally, I like the fact ISU brought in two freshmen quarterbacks to cultivate, while Kyle Blum and Russell Hill finish out their careers competing for the starting job. For some reason, ISU has had difficulty "growing their own" QBs over the years, frequently falling back on JC or four-year transfers when their freshmen signees didn't pan out. Here's hoping one of the two incoming freshmen break that trend.

Depending on whether ISU can land that "home run hitter" at tailback, the Bengal offense will likely be at least serviceable next year. A lot will ride on who wins the quarterback competition and how they perform under fire. Overall, this is a team that appears to be on the uptick from a talent perspective. It may not be reflected in the record next year, particularly early on when ISU has to take on Arizona State and Oklahoma, but the goal should be to show marked improvement and real potential as the season goes on. Follow that with another recruiting class like this year's, and you may finally see the program begin the long arc upward.

--Brad B.

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