That's why they call them free throws.
And yet the Montana Grizzlies shot a better percentage from the 3-point arc (42.9 percent) than they did from the free throw line (40 percent, 26 percent in the second half) in their 77-46 exhibition win over the University of Great Falls last Wednesday night.
“We talked about it and I didn't make it light-hearted,” Tinkle said. “There's no excuse for that, even though we hadn't been in (Dahlberg Arena) for but an hour in 10 days. We still need to shoot it at a better clip than that.
“Lo and behold, (Friday) in practice we shot them pretty good.”
Whitman College, a NCAA Division III school from Walla Walla, Wash., will bring a familiar face back to Dahlberg Arena. The Missionaries' coach is Skip Molitor, a former Griz assistant under Stew Morrill.
“I've known Skip for a long time, he's a great guy,” Tinkle said of Molitor, who has been at Whitman since 1994. “He's a heckuva coach. I don't know very much about his team, but I know he's very disciplined and he's going to come in here and try to sneak one out.”
Tinkle, meanwhile, will be looking for improvement in several areas besides free throw shooting.
The Griz had only a slight advantage in rebounding, 46-41, against Great Falls and they were burned several times in transition.
“It wasn't for a lack of effort, it was a lack of communication,” Tinkle said. “Several times we got hurt when guys were not communicating and they got layups or threes. We keep emphasizing communication out there.
“And I want to see improvement in rebounding. I think that stat was a little misleading because we missed so many free throws, but still ... we got a little bit lazy because of our size advantage.”
Tinkle said he'll also be experimenting with different lineups. In particular, he'll be looking at different players at the small forward position. Sophomore Ryan Staudacher will start there, but Tinkle will use junior Jordan Hasquet and 7-foot freshman Derek Selvig there as well.
“We know it may or may not be the same level of competition we're going to see in a week, but we want to see how those guys respond,” Tinkle said. “We don't want to experiment when the games count.”
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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