By Danny Waldo
You will get little argument from coaches around the Big Sky Conference in regards to Tyler Hall being one of the league’s premier players. Hall, the sophomore from Rock Island, Illinois is the league’s reigning Freshman of the Year, and through nine games this season is averaging better than 25 points per game, with a career-high of 42 versus Milwaukee on December 5th.
But more exciting for head coach Brian Fish and the Bobcat faithful is the development of a reliable supporting cast, taking some of the scoring pressure off of Hall, and forcing defenses to account for more than just the hot-shooting sophomore
Two players who have improved their production from a year ago are senior Quinton Everett and junior Zach Green. Everett, a Juco transfer from Little Big Horn Community College has upped his scoring production to 10.2 points per game, while Green, one of Fish’s first recruits when he took the job in Bozeman, has steadily increased his performance and now second on the team in scoring, dropping in 13.3 points per game.
Fish has preached the importance of playing a tough non-conference schedule to prepare his Bobcats for the rigors of league play. As a result, the ‘Cats have played one of their more difficult schedules in years past, with a good deal of success to hang their hats on, including a win or perennial mid-major power James Madison, and a single-digit loss at Utah.
Everett, Green and true freshman Harald Frey all performed well in the most difficult of situations, providing a glimpse of how talented this squad could be come conference play later this month.
