Mon-Tainya Week

The Idaho State Women host the Mon-tainya teams this week, which always make for a lot of fun. If you remember last year, under That Vandal Guy (henceforth abbreviated as TVG), ISU blew an unsuspecting Montana Grizzly team out of the water, 90-77. The game was a showcase of TVG's touted Run-And-Shoot-With-A-12-Gauge-Shotgun Offense, which saw Andrea Lightfoot nailing every 3 in sight. Such will not be seen this weekend, with Sobo, Munger, Holly-kins and Green running the team. No, we will see gritty defense, brute physical play and some great emotions (as in the "YOU CAN'T BE F**KING SERIOUS!!!!" variety). Sadly, this blog author will only see the Thursday night game (and not the ill-timed Saturday afternoon game...by the way, basketball games played when it's still light out don't have that awesome feel that night games do. Come on, what's keeping us from playing night games for the women? It's not like Pocatello is a party town...) as I will be in Ogden to play Weber State in a critical rugby match that determines our playoff standing next fall (we hope).

To complete the home sweep against Mon-tainya, there are a few things that, IMO, must be taken care of:

Free throws: We have lost several games because we couldn't hit our free throws. Just hit those boring, old, fundamental shots and we'll be in great shape to win.

Physical play is a must in this game as well; expect the Griz and the Bobcats to come out pushing and shoving and clawing and whatnot. There is only way to deal with this, and it's not being respectful. We have to respond in kind, let them know we aren't going to tolerate that sort of crap at all.

Now that I mention it, physical play will also be crucial here: NO EASY LAYUPS! I'm not asking to hurt anyone or play dirty. I am BEGGING for some coverage on the posts. Teams have beaten us up all year down there with easy, gliding layups and/or those unbearably annoying end-around kinds. There's really nothing to using your imaginary Hit Stick and giving the other player a good knock. This blog author does it all the time in basketball class (I don't even call fouls, much to my classmates' chagrin). It's not classless and not unsportsmanlike. It's simply making the other team having to earn their points at the line.

Defense is also crucial to winning. We have had no problems in making a statement on defense; we've been doing very well here since TVG left for Moscow State University (TVG never had any love for playing defense, as the run-and-shoot offense prefers to simply outscore other teams).

Rebounding is crucial as well. Rebounding is the unheralded vital component to the motion offense, which in Sobo's world is meant to slow the game down and care for each possession. Rebounding prevents the other team from setting up their offense, obviously keeping the ball in our hands and taking time off the clock (which in turn throws the other team out of whack). And rebounding must be a TEAM effort; if you have a shot at the rebound, go for it! (See: Jenna Brown in all games she's played in. She'll go for the ball without second thought, which is really fun to watch...SIC 'EM JENNA!)

Lastly but probably the most important for the women to get that awesome home sweep is...

Assassination. It's a proven method that has worked time and time again for coaches from Pat Summit to Oda Nobunaga way back in the Sengoku Era of Feudal Japan. Idaho State has some great assassins on the roster, each perfectly capable of engineering death silently and quickly. Andi Blodgett, Andrea Videbeck and Jenna Brown are the perfect assassins because they are quick and really little, thus ideal for carrying out these unsavory (but necessary) missions.

Assassinations will be critical for the home sweep

Montana is coached by Robin Selvig (pictured below). His successes in the Big Sky are phenomenal, turning the Grizzlies into an annual contender for the Big Sky Crown and if not an NCAA appearance, then surely the WNIT. He is The Empire, overpowering all in his path and establishing total hegemony from Missoula to Flagstaff and westward to Sacramento. Only Portland (Sherri Murrell's incredibly successful insurrection remains a major thorn in the side of the Empire) and Greeley (even Darth Selvig doesn't want that backwater). Of course, Pocatello remains a thorn but Montana has more or less owned us (we have a horrible, and I mean horrible record against the Griz in women's basketball...7-52 I think...Frank can correct me). Montana also owns Montana State in everything, but that's not much of a surprise to anyone (they'd own them in soccer too but MSU, looking to avoid further embarrassment, has held off the establishment of a soccer team thus far). Idaho State is more than capable of giving Montana a good fight and of course, I think the MSU game was a fluke; we were unnerved by Chelsea Pickering's injury and I don't think we settled in that game very well. We weren't playing our best ball against Montana; there is so much the Griz haven't seen yet (at least, I think so). In order for ISU to beat Montana, two things must be done, both of which are not easy: cover Mandy Morales and harass Sonya Rogers. Get on both of them like angry, agitated ocelots and do NOT allow Montana anything in the post. Force them outside and keep them there. With a team like Montana, this probably isn't wise but it's a better risk than letting them have their way inside, where they usually dominate teams. Physical play and smart ball play will slow down and beat Montana. (Keep in mind that this is my opinion only; Sobo and Co have a better idea of what's going on and I have faith in them and their crazy, Manhattan Project-sized game plans).

"The ability to destroy the Big Sky is insignificant next to the power of the Force"

Montana State is coached by Tricia Binford, who has done a commendable job in turning the Bobcats around from one of the most laughable (and we're talking LMAO quality here) programs into a program that ranks as one of the conference's most solid. Her turnaround of the Bobcats ranked the 11th best turnaround in the nation last season and it shows no signs of slowing down. Of course, this is the same team that ISU beat last year twice in the regular season, only to lose by 10 (after one of the worst 1st halves in human history...I was always skeptical of the run-and-shoot style, but that offense really did us in that game) in the semis of the Big Sky Tournament. Montana State has some good players on their team, with 6 upperclassmen and some underclassmen that show promise. ISU will need to keep tabs on Erica Perry, she essentially runs the Bobcat offense and she if she heats up on either side of the ball, we can look for a guaranteed hard time.

Montana Week is guaranteed to be a lot of fun and it should be a great time for everyone. Hopefully ISU can get good crowds on Thursday night (I'd beg for Saturday but I'm realistic about it. ISU students are sissies when it comes to the weekends and go home every Friday afternoon instead of putting forth any effort to make campus you know, enjoyable over the weekend. Also, the Saturday afternoon games' attendance is 75% comprised of people who can remember live broadcasts of President Roosevelt's fireside chats. Not that I'm knocking on them or anything; I was merely pointing that out).

Finally...

OH LOOK! AN OCELOT! AAAWWAAHHH!!!