It isn’t hard to see why everybody in the Big Sky believes that Northern Arizona senior Cameron Jones and Northern Colorado senior Devon Beitzel are two of the best players in the conference.
It’s because both are tough players, no matter which coach’s definition is being used.
The coaches differed on what makes a player tough, but every coach named Beitzel and Jones as one of the toughest players in the league, whether using the definition of a hard-nosed player who won’t let his team down or simply a player who is difficult to play against.
“Beitzel, Jones and (Montana guard) Will Cherry are really a handful for us,” Sacramento State coach Brian Katz said. “They give us the most trouble.”
Northern Arizona coach Mike Adras, who has the fortune to coach Jones, said that part of what makes both players so tough is that they are seniors who have been through the league multiple times and know how to handle the pressure.
Besides that, they are well aware of how little time is left before they exhaust their eligibility.
“They know this is it with their careers,” he said. “With each minute that ticks off the clock, it’s ticking off their careers. I think those guys have the mentality that they’re not going down without doing something about it.”
For the season, Beitzel is averaging 20.3 points a game, with Jones a step behind at 19.7 points.
“I think about the guys who are consistent,” Montana State coach Brad Huse said. “Certainly, Beitzel comes to mind because he doesn’t get rattled. He’s been very consistent in terms of his production.”
Several coaches also said they were impressed with Montana center Brian Qvale, who is fourth in the conference in points per game and leads the league in rebounding.
“Qvale is just tough to guard,” Portland State coach Tyler Geving said. “You can double or triple team him, but he’s still going to score. Defensively, he makes up for a lot of their mistakes. You can be more aggressive on the perimeter knowing you have a 6-foot-11 guy back there.”
Other players the league’s coaches considered tough were Cherry, Weber State forward Kyle Bullinger, Montana State forward Bobby Howard, Portland State forward Chehales Tapscott and Idaho State forward Chase Grabau.
ONE-TRACK MIND
Eastern Washington plays both Montana State and Montana this week in its push to make the conference tournament, but don’t try to tell coach Kirk Earlywine that.
As far as he’s concerned, the Eagles need to be thinking only about facing Montana State tonight, rather than worry about Saturday’s game against Montana at the same time. With so little time left in the season, Earlywine said every game is critical.
“We can’t look at it as two games at home and three games left,” Earlywine said. “We’re taking the approach that it’s a one-game deal. We’ve got 100 percent of our focus on Montana State tonight.”
The Eagles and the Bobcats are tied at 5-8, but Montana State currently holds the tiebreaker because it has beaten Eastern Washington once before. If the Eagles win, they could gain the tiebreaker and clinch a bid by beating Weber State next week.
RPI TIEBREAK
With a week left in the Big Sky season, there is nothing to separate Montana and Northern Colorado in the loss column. Both schools have three conference losses, which came against the same teams.
The Big Sky announced today that because the first two tiebreakers would not break the tie if the Grizzlies and Bears each win their remaining games, the RPI on March 3 would be used in that scenario, with the higher-rated team receiving the top seed and the right to host the tournament.
Currently, Montana leads Northern Colorado in that race at 109, while the Bears sit at 121. A loss by either team would enable the second tiebreaker of record against each league foe to break the tie, eliminating the need to use the RPI.
TOO MUCH EMPHASIS
If Weber State coach Randy Rahe had his way, the cliche that the upcoming game is the biggest game of the year would be eliminated.
To him, every game is big because it’s a chance to improve his team’s record. Besides that, he thinks that the saying puts an inaccurate emphasis on one night.
“They’re all important,” Rahe said. “It’s funny, because I listen to guys say that, but what are you going to do if you happen to lose that game? Are you done, because that was the biggest game of the year? ‘No, the next game is (now) the biggest game of the year.’”
No comments:
Post a Comment