This was my first Big Sky notebook. I'm so grateful that these coaches helped me out.
Winning on the road isn’t something Idaho State’s men’s basketball team has to worry about this week with two home games on the schedule.
Given the struggles the Big Sky has had in that department this year, Bengals’ coach Joe O’Brien is just fine with that opening.
In the nonconference schedule, only Montana, Northern Arizona and Weber State recorded a win in a true road game. The other six Big Sky teams went a combined 0-35 away from home, a mark littered with close losses and not-so-close losses.
“I think there’s a comfort level,” O’Brien said. “Teams are comfortable playing in front of their fans, the familiar surroundings. Everyone in our league has an impressive home record, but Sacramento State has yet to win a road game, Portland State has yet to win a road game, we have yet to win a road game.”
O’Brien said that puts a large emphasis on the home games. Sacramento State coach Brian Katz took a different view.
In his eyes, the Big Sky’s struggles on the road suggest that the league is open for someone to make a move toward the top. His philosophy has always been that good teams win on the road, and the fact that two-thirds of the league haven’t won a road game yet confirms his belief that the league will be parity-driven after the top teams.
“If you can’t win on the road, you’re probably not that good,” Katz said. “We’ve had two that we could have won, but in my opinion, the first thing you look at and judge teams on is their road record. That kind of tells me who they are.”
Northern Arizona coach Mike Adras, whose team has gone on the road and won, attributed most of the league’s struggles to having to play up and how difficult it is to win on the road in general.
He cited a game played on Monday night, when Pittsburgh beat Connecticut by 15 at home. Although the Huskies were undefeated and ranked fourth in the country, they hadn’t yet played a true road game and did not handle the new experience well.
“It’s hard to win on the road in Division I basketball,” Adras said. “All of us in the Big Sky go play road games. In the RPI, it dumbfounds me how you can put the Big West ahead of us when they have teams that haven’t won a thing this year, and Montana’s beaten UCLA and Oregon State.
“It’s a little misleading as to how good our teams are. I think Idaho State would be much better if they’d played seven home games as opposed to seven road games in nonconference.”
Of course, having experienced success away from Flagstaff, Ariz., Adras admits it’s greatly helped his Lumberjacks.
“I feel good about the fact that we’ve won three road games this year,” he said.
LIFE AFTER LILLARD
Losing all-conference guard Damian Lillard could have been devastating for Weber State, but the Wildcats have found a way to adjust, beating Southwest and playing Brigham Young tough in a loss.
The question is whether Weber State can sustain that progress.
“We’re still trying to find our way a bit, because Damian was such a big part of everything,” Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. “I think they’re adjusting fine. They understand they’ve all got to pick it up a bit. Initially, when you have an injury like Damian’s, everyone rides on emotion, and then it kind of sinks in.”
Guard Scott Bamforth had stepped up well in Lillard’s absence, and Rahe hopes more of his players can similarly elevate their game.
Rahe said that the Wildcats will apply for a medical redshirt for Lillard. Because he played in nine games, the Wildcats would have to play at least 30 games for the junior to be eligible. Two games in the Big Sky tournament would clinch that mark, and Rahe said the Wildcats could add a game to reach 30.
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
With almost its entire roster back, Northern Arizona was a popular pick among the coaches to have a strong season.
So far, the Lumberjacks have lived up to expectations and made their experience a strength. Adras said that’s because his team entered the year prepared after a teaching year.
“A year ago, I’d try to explain things to our guys, and they were looking at me like a deer in headlights,” Adras said. “Now when I talk about things, (they respond), ‘Yeah, I remember that, let’s do what was successful’. That comes through when we prepare for opponents now.”
An example came when the Lumberjacks went to Arizona and played the Wildcats to a five-point loss. Adras said his team was comfortable in a hostile environment because it had been there before.
“It’s a whole different thing when you’re coaching a veteran team as opposed to a young but talented team,” he said. “The talent’s there, but there’s other things you have to be prepared for.”
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