Lisa Tinkle and Kelly Huse will get to catch up face-to-face, rather than over the phone like they usually do.
Tres Tinkle will pal around with Adam and Drew Huse, just like the three youngsters did for the previous two seasons as Griz ballboys.
Last year at this time, Tinkle and Huse were on the same bench as assistants to Griz coach Larry Krystkowiak.
Saturday, Krystkowiak, an assistant coach for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, will be in the Bradley Center, where the Bucks host the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Huse will be on the visitors' bench at Dahlberg Arena as head coach of the Montana State Bobcats. And Tinkle will be guiding the Griz against his alma mater's biggest rival for the first time.
“It's going to be interesting,” Montana junior center Andrew Strait said. “It's going to be kind of awkward to have (Huse) back here in this gym after all the practices we've been through. I think it'll be fun.”
Fun? That's one word none of the central characters used to describe it.
“There's lots of emotion involved,” said Huse, who compiled a record of 184-60 in eight seasons as head coach of NAIA Jamestown (N.D.) College before joining the Griz staff in 2004. “There were a lot of relationships developed - good friendships - and those things don't get cut off. Those things mean a lot to me and my family and that won't go away.
“I'm not looking forward to the challenge of what goes into trying to be successful (in Missoula). I know the quality of the team that's there, obviously, and the job that Wayne and the staff are doing. It's going to be an interesting weekend, but we have to do it.”
Once the game tips off at 7:05 p.m., friendships will be set aside, but only for a couple of hours.
“He's every bit as competitive as I am, so it's going to be interesting come Saturday night,” Tinkle said. “I think he and I are both mature enough to remove any of that stuff as far as our relationship and friendship, and try to get the win because it's the best thing for our programs.”
Neither of the first-year coaches has had a particularly easy go of it so far, although Huse has had the worst of it.
Huse, an MSU assistant from 1994-96, took over the Bobcat program after Mick Durham stepped down last March after 16 seasons as head coach at his alma mater. The Bobcats were coming off a disappointing 15-15 season in which they were picked to win the league.
The Bobcats were hit hard by graduation and defections - only five players on this year's roster were at MSU last season - and Huse had to hit the recruiting trail to rebuild the roster.
Just two months into the job, news broke that former Bobcat basketball player Branden Miller was one of two former MSU athletes charged with murder in the death of a suspected drug dealer. That certainly couldn't have made recruiting any easier.
Come fall, the Cats got off to a horrendous start, winning just three times in their first 13 games.
In mid-December came the tragic news that Al Beye had died in a car wreck near Dillon, where he was visiting his brother. The ebullient Beye was the popular Senegalese center for the Cats for the previous two seasons.
“It's been a complete rollercoaster ride,” Huse said. “The excitement of having the job and the challenges that go with it have kind of offset each other. It's been rewarding, I've really enjoyed it. We've jumped in with both feet and there's been some big challenges along the way.
“There's a lot that goes into these jobs, everything from moving your family, establishing your staff, putting a roster together, and there's no formula. I think I've learned a lot along the way and will continue to learn as we try to stabilize this program.”
Tinkle has felt Huse's pain.
“If it were somebody else in the league that maybe you weren't as close to, you'd say, ‘Boy, I feel sorry for the guy,' ” Tinkle said. “But you don't really hurt for him.
“I know Brad had so much excitement going over there, getting back into the head coaching chair at the Division I level, at the school he wanted to be at. Then to see the rug pulled from under him, I felt for him. I'm just glad for Montana State University that he's the one they have there. With a lot of other guys, it could've really turned into a mess. He's dealt with adversity in the past and done a good job holding that whole thing together.”
It's that characteristic that made Huse an attractive choice as an assistant for Krystkowiak.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, what he's gone through and how he goes about his business,” Krystkowiak said. “He's one of those people you can tell he's constantly observing and assessing. He's not full of a lot of talk. Ask Brad about a team and he wasn't going to overwhelm you with 10 bullet points. He'd have it narrowed down to two, maybe three things. With as many things as you have on your plate as a head coach, that was valuable to me.
“He gets the big picture.”
Tinkle's burden, on the other hand, has been one of expectations. After back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament in Krystkowiak's two years at the helm, Tinkle took over a team that had suffered just two losses to graduation.
The Griz were tabbed as co-favorites to win the Big Sky Conference along with Northern Arizona. Then they struggled to a sub-.500 record through a tough nonconference slate.
“There are a lot of challenges for Wayne, taking over at this point,” Huse said. “The expectations are obviously really, really high, certainly different than what I've had to deal with. There's a lot of talent on that roster and some challenges probably with dialing in the rotations.
“I don't know that I would characterize it as being major struggles. They're a very talented team. From the inside out, they're complete.”
While Huse came to MSU as a relative outsider, Tinkle merely had to change hats. That's been a challenge, too.
“As an assistant coach, you're always kind of the good cop,” Tinkle said. “You can bring players into your office and counsel them. As a head coach, you've kinda got to do that with your assistant coaches and all the players. It can be draining at times.
“My personality is to deal with all those things, at times individually, at times in a group, where some coaches would ignore those kinds of things. That's been the interesting thing for me. Maybe it's a fault, I don't know, having to worry too much. I've got a good heart and I'm very, very competitive; sometimes those two things can be a conflict.”
Krystkowiak used the the same analogy in describing Tinkle.
“He'd probably be the first to tell you we had a good cop-bad cop thing going on,” Krystkowiak said. “I didn't have to be a nice guy. A certain amount of fear has to be instilled in the players. Wayne will differ from me in that way, but he may actually harden over time. I don't know too many head coaches who are good cops.
“That's the way I did it, but just because I did it that way doesn't make it right. He could probably do a great job being a nice guy too.”
If you're thinking the Tinkle-Huse friendship will take the edge off the 275th edition of the Cat-Griz rivalry, forget it. The rivalry is between the schools, not the coaches.
“It's kind of like practice,” Strait said. “All the guys on the team are my friends, but when you get on the court you have to turn that off and put it aside. As a basketball player, the competitive drive inside you allows you to do that. I know a lot of players in this conference and it's fun to play against them, but at the same time you're playing for this program and you want to be the one to win.”
“The rivalry's a lot bigger than anything I have with the University of Montana or they have with me,” Huse agreed. “The rivalry's lived a long time and will continue to live a long time, that's what makes it exciting.”
The Bucks' game with the Hornets on Saturday should end at about the time the Griz and Cats enter crunch time. So which one of his former understudies will Krystkowiak be pulling for?
“Are you kidding me?” the former Griz playing great asked while planting his tongue firmly in cheek. “It's just like if I was there, no different. It's a big game. This is a great opportunity to provide Brad with reasons for what a bad decision he made. I'd like him to give me a call on the bus ride back to Bozeman when he's wondering why the hell he went there.”
Yes, it's still Cat-Griz week.
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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