By Danny Waldo
It’s an age-old adage that practices should be harder than games. Maybe one can then understand the thinking behind the MSU men’s basketball team’s preseason (practice) schedule, playing high-quality opponents to prepare a fairly inexperienced group of newcomers to the rigors of Big Sky Conference play. The Bobcat men recently wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule with an 82-60 loss to perennial power Syracuse before the holiday break, and while the score does not look all that promising, the result was a step in the right direction for second-year head coach Brian Fish. “We had some chances to get (the deficit) under 10 in the second half,” said Bobcat coach Brian Fish, “but we couldn’t make shots. I was concerned about playing in the dome and playing passive, and I thought (MSU) were rushed in the first half. There were four or five balls that slipped through our hands because they just were rushed. But I was happy with how hard they played and how hard they competed in the second half. They got after it.” Fish reportedly stated earlier in the season that if a Big Sky Conference team could go .500 in the preseason, then they would have had a successful non-conference given the level of teams the Big Sky were playing. Montana played both Gonzaga and Kansas, two top 25 teams, North Dakota took on Wisconsin, a Final Four participant last season, and Northern Arizona took on both Gonzaga and Arizona of the PAC-12 as well, just to name a few. Although the Bobcats aren’t quite .500 (5-7), they are a much improved team from a season ago, a year that saw the ‘Cats win seven games total.
The biggest reason for MSU’s improvements this season has been the play of senior point guard Marcus Colbert and true freshman Tyler Hall. Colbert, a four-year starter, has improved his scoring this season, leading the team at over 17 ppg heading into the break, while the freshman Hall has been right on his heels, averaging over 16 ppg. Both players have shown an ability to create their own shots, something MSU has been missing for the better part of a decade. But they are not a two-man show. Fish has done a nice job of surrounding his guards with additional talent, giving the ‘Cats the ability to spread the floor and force defenses to honor all five positions. The Bobcats were able to pick up the first two true non-conference road wins of Brian Fish’s tenure in Bozeman, as well as an impressive victory over a talented Wyoming team in the renewed Border War during this year’s preseason. Not to mention strong showings at North Dakota State, an NCAA participant last year, Buffalo, a probable NCAA participant this year, and the aforementioned Syracuse Orange. In all likelihood, those challenges will have prepared MSU to be in the thick of the battle for the Big Sky Conference title when league play gets underway beginning on New Year’s Eve at Southern Utah. The ‘Cats conclude the back-end of their league-opening road swing at NAU on Saturday, January 2nd before returning home to open the home portion of conference play versus Sacramento State on January 7th and Portland State on January 9th. For a complete schedule of all Bobcat men’s basketball games, log onto http://www.msubobcats.com. •
