Marcus Colbert drives against Syracuse
Photo by: Schmitt Shoots Photography
Big Sky Play Brings Different Feeling to Bobcat Men's Basketball Squad
12/31/2015 8:49:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Cats open at Southern Utah on Thursday afternoon
The shift is subtle, but significant.
Montana State changes gears Thursday, transitioning into Big Sky Conference play when the Bobcats visit Southern Utah for a 4:05 pm contest. And while that may mean nothing more than an asterisk next to the opponent on the team's schedule to most fans, second-year MSU coach Brian Fish knows that the second segment of each team's season is crucial.
"The first segment is the non-conference schedule," Fish says, "and the second is the conference schedule. In a league likely to get just one bid (to the NCAA Tournament) it's important for the non-league schedule to get teams ready for conference games. Then the third part of the season is the conference tournament, and that's obviously the most important."
The Big Sky Tournament, which begins March 8 in Reno, Nev., this season, is determines the conference's representative in the NCAA tourney, but much work lies ahead between then and Thursday's league opener. The league portion of the schedule offers its own unique challenges.
"I think one of the toughest things to adjust to is the Thursday-Saturday turnaround," said senior forward Danny Robison, "and those Saturday games come quick when they're at 2:00. It's a grind every week. I think those new guys will learn it, and we've had so many games with a day or two in between during the preseason so far that I think we've prepared them a little bit for it, but everyone's got to be ready to go."
Montana State enters the new league campaign with eight new players, a fact not lost on Fish, who is making his first trip to Cedar City and Flagstaff this weekend as the Cats didn't play those two schools on the road last year. "You can talk about it all you want, but you can't understand the intensity of conference play until you experience it."
Still, senior guard Marcus Colbert said the team is well aware of the challenges immediately ahead. "Coach has always stressed the start of league and just trying to keep the guys going," he said. "The non-conference season was a grind, but these next 18 games is a routine. It's hectic on your body so it's just trying to get guys to stay focuses, stay in the gym, stay rehabbing."
Thursday's game is Montana State's sixth straight on the road. When the team takes the floor in Worthington Arena again on January 7 more than a full month will have elapsed since its most recent home game. But the vagabond routine has a positive side effect, Robison said. "We've had so many road games that playing on the road will be easy now, it'll just be another game. I don't think anyone's nervous or anything like that. I definitely think playing Syracuse and Buffalo has prepared us well because they're so athletic, but we'll still have to bring it every night."
Even with the grueling 11-day, 5,000-mile road trip MSU survived before Christmas, Colbert said the brief three-day respite for Christmas was a nice tap of the reset button. "The time out of school and the two or three days to go home and get away from everything was good," he said. "I think everyone was excited to come back and get back to practicing and get ready for the road."
Sophomore forward Zach Green says that the type of non-league schedule MSU fought through provides a benefit at the dawn of the Big Sky season. "The biggest thing about league play that is different is that everyone looks the same. We're not playing someone like Syracuse that has three guys over 6-8 in their starting lineup."
For Colbert, Thursday's game marks his fourth Big Sky opener in the Blue and Gold. He said MSU's practice environment was noticeably more intense in the days leading to the SUU contest. "We've always had pretty solid talk in practice but this week we've started to pick it up, knowing that this week really means a lot to our season."
Watch Thursday's 4 pm game, and Saturday's noon contest at Northern Arizona, on WatchBigSky.com.
Montana State changes gears Thursday, transitioning into Big Sky Conference play when the Bobcats visit Southern Utah for a 4:05 pm contest. And while that may mean nothing more than an asterisk next to the opponent on the team's schedule to most fans, second-year MSU coach Brian Fish knows that the second segment of each team's season is crucial.
"The first segment is the non-conference schedule," Fish says, "and the second is the conference schedule. In a league likely to get just one bid (to the NCAA Tournament) it's important for the non-league schedule to get teams ready for conference games. Then the third part of the season is the conference tournament, and that's obviously the most important."
The Big Sky Tournament, which begins March 8 in Reno, Nev., this season, is determines the conference's representative in the NCAA tourney, but much work lies ahead between then and Thursday's league opener. The league portion of the schedule offers its own unique challenges.
"I think one of the toughest things to adjust to is the Thursday-Saturday turnaround," said senior forward Danny Robison, "and those Saturday games come quick when they're at 2:00. It's a grind every week. I think those new guys will learn it, and we've had so many games with a day or two in between during the preseason so far that I think we've prepared them a little bit for it, but everyone's got to be ready to go."
Montana State enters the new league campaign with eight new players, a fact not lost on Fish, who is making his first trip to Cedar City and Flagstaff this weekend as the Cats didn't play those two schools on the road last year. "You can talk about it all you want, but you can't understand the intensity of conference play until you experience it."
Still, senior guard Marcus Colbert said the team is well aware of the challenges immediately ahead. "Coach has always stressed the start of league and just trying to keep the guys going," he said. "The non-conference season was a grind, but these next 18 games is a routine. It's hectic on your body so it's just trying to get guys to stay focuses, stay in the gym, stay rehabbing."
Thursday's game is Montana State's sixth straight on the road. When the team takes the floor in Worthington Arena again on January 7 more than a full month will have elapsed since its most recent home game. But the vagabond routine has a positive side effect, Robison said. "We've had so many road games that playing on the road will be easy now, it'll just be another game. I don't think anyone's nervous or anything like that. I definitely think playing Syracuse and Buffalo has prepared us well because they're so athletic, but we'll still have to bring it every night."
Even with the grueling 11-day, 5,000-mile road trip MSU survived before Christmas, Colbert said the brief three-day respite for Christmas was a nice tap of the reset button. "The time out of school and the two or three days to go home and get away from everything was good," he said. "I think everyone was excited to come back and get back to practicing and get ready for the road."
Sophomore forward Zach Green says that the type of non-league schedule MSU fought through provides a benefit at the dawn of the Big Sky season. "The biggest thing about league play that is different is that everyone looks the same. We're not playing someone like Syracuse that has three guys over 6-8 in their starting lineup."
For Colbert, Thursday's game marks his fourth Big Sky opener in the Blue and Gold. He said MSU's practice environment was noticeably more intense in the days leading to the SUU contest. "We've always had pretty solid talk in practice but this week we've started to pick it up, knowing that this week really means a lot to our season."
Watch Thursday's 4 pm game, and Saturday's noon contest at Northern Arizona, on WatchBigSky.com.
Players Mentioned
Thursday, March 03
Friday, November 05
Monday, November 01
Sunday, October 31
