Analysis

DeCuire hopes to continue legacy of star guards at Montana

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Travis DeCuire is already part of the legacy. The Montana head coach knows he will have to add to it in order to have success at his alma mater.

DeCuire was an All-Big Sky Conference guard for Blaine Taylor’s Grizzlies in 1993 and 1994, finishing his career as UM’s all-time leader in assists. DeCuire is part of a long line of legendary guards at Montana, a legacy of success that includes Big Sky Conference all-timers like Michael Ray Richardson, J.R. Camel, David Bell and Kevin Criswell.

UM head coach Travis Decuire talking with guard Walter Wright and forward Martin Breunig

UM head coach Travis Decuire talking with guard Walter Wright and forward Martin Breunig

More recently, Montana employed star guards like Anthony Johnson, Will Cherry, Kareem Jamar and Jordan Gregory during Wayne Tinkle’s best seasons, helping propel the Griz to the NCAA Tournament three different times before Tinkle jumped ship for Oregon State.

DeCuire took over at his alma mater and quickly went to work searching for someone to replace the recent collection of star Griz guards. Gregory, a senior on DeCuire’s first Griz squad last winter, averaged 17 points per game in his final season and scored more than 1,200 points, leaving him 14th in school history. Jamar graduated two seasons ago, leaving Montana as the school’s fourth all-time leading scorer. Cherry was a senior three seasons ago, earning two Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors and scoring more than 1,400 points, the eighth-most in Griz history.

Despite the recent losses, Montana’s backcourt has not skipped a beat. Mario Dunn, a starter next to Gregory during UM’s Big Sky regular-season title run last season, broke his hand in the off-season and has been slow to return to the lineup. But DeCuire has unleashed a pair of his own stud guards on the league, trying to etch his signature on the program in the process.

“I’m trying to stamp it but I haven’t been here long enough to put a stamp on much,” DeCuire said last week. “There have been a lot of good guards ahead of these guys. We have a long, long way to go to see their names mentioned along with some of the guys in the past.”

UM guard Walter Wright rises up over MSU guard Marcus Colbert

UM guard Walter Wright rises up over MSU guard Marcus Colbert

DeCuire’s second season is only half finished, but junior point guard Walter Wright and freshman Michael Oguine have already turned heads, entering the argument as the best backcourt in the Big Sky in the process. Montana takes an 8-1 record and a place atop the Big Sky standings into this weekends road trip with Sacramento State and Portland State.

“Walter has had some memorable games already that people will talk about for a long time and Mike as a freshman has done the same,” DeCuire said. “They are headed in the right direction. But never this early in the season would I give those guys at thumbs up. We have a lot of work to do.”

Wright’s prowess has been on full display during Big Sky Conference play, particularly the last two games. Behind 25 points and six assists from Wright, Montana bounced back from its first conference loss with a 74-69 win over defending league champion Eastern Washington. In an 80-72 win over rival Montana State in front of a near sellout crowd in Bozeman last Saturday, Wright scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading UM down the stretch by scoring 12 points in the game’s final nine minutes.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder came to Montana as a transfer from Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. His last year at Snow, Wright averaged 21.8 points and 6.0 assists per game. He is averaging 15.4 points and six assists during Big Sky Conference play while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor. The Waterbury, Connecticut product may have only been on Montana’s roster a short time, but he was well aware of the legacy of star guards that came before him in Missoula.

UM guard Michael Oguine/by UM Athletics

UM guard Michael Oguine/by UM Athletics

“I knew coming here you were following in the footsteps of the greats,” Wright said. “Right when I got here, I heard about Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar and I know Coach was a great player here,” Wright said. “I feel a lot of pressure from Coach because he was a really great guard himself and he wants me to be a perfect point guard. That’s what I work for.”

Although Wright dominated the rival Bobcats down the stretch, getting in the lane whenever he pleased, his first rivalry game got off to a rough start. On Montana State’s first offensive possession, Wright had a miscommunication and lost his man. Montana State junior Quinton Everett soared from the baseline for a two-handed dunk. DeCuire immediately pulled his starting point guard from the game, undressing him on the sidelines with words Wright said he could not repeat.

“That’s what we do,” DeCuire said. “It’s a little tough love between him and I. He responds to it. When I recruited him, he and I talked about what he wanted to get out of this and what I needed from a point guard. Our backgrounds are a little similar coming out of high school. I felt I can relate to him very well. Coming into this thing, he knew I was going to be hard on him. He responds. He plays better angry.”

While DeCuire recruited Wright to play right away, Oguine’s minutes were less certain before Dunn’s injury. But the 6-foot-2, 175-pounder from Chaminade Prep in Chatsworth, California broke into the starting lineup three games into his first season and hasn’t looked back.

UM guard Michael Oguine attacks the basket

UM guard Michael Oguine attacks the basket

During last weekend’s rivalry game — a matchup billed as a battle between two of the backcourts in the league considering the prolific play of MSU’s Marcus Colbert and Tyler Hall thus far — Oguine proved to be the X-factor. Defensively, he flustered Hall, Montana State’s leading scorer, all evening. On offense, Oguine rose to the occasion on multiple times.

With Montana clinging to a one-point lead with three minutes, 10 seconds to play, Oguine converted an acrobatic reverse layup. With Montana leading 72-69 with 1:08 left, Oguine drilled a dagger 3-pointer from the corner to bury the Bobcats.

“I heard about Tyler Hall and I did take that as a challenge,” Oguine said during the post-game press conference. “My coaches, they definitely challenged me and my teammates too to guard him and to play my game at the same time. At the end of the day, we wanted to win but yes, I did take it as a challenge.”

Oguine scored 21 points against Montana State. He is averaging 11.5 points per game during conference play. But it’s been his aggressiveness, competitiveness and prowess on the defensive end that has thrust him into the Freshman of the Year conversation.

 “It’s not typical at this level that you get freshmen in the Big Sky who are ready to perform like that on that stage,” DeCuire said of Oguine. “We are lucky to have him in our program. He’s a typical freshman, up and down offensively but he’s always been a good defender. It allows him to remain on the floor. And I haven’t had a freshman who attacks the rim like him. Ever.”

 “I think Michael compliments my game so much because he’s a slasher, another guard who is aggressive that can get off his own shot,” Wright said. “He can create shots for me. That’s another thing I’ve never had in the past is a guard who can play off of me.”

UM guard Walter Wright defends MSU guard Najhee Matlock

UM guard Walter Wright defends MSU guard Najhee Matlock

Dunn returned to the rotation to make a trio of acrobatic shots in UM’s win over EWU. But he did not play a single minute against Montana. In what is becoming a trademark of his coaching style, DeCuire has been playing his starting backcourt almost unwaveringly.

Wright is averaging 37.2 minutes per game in conference play. Oguine is playing nearly 35 minutes per night.

“Jordan (Gregory) was playing those kind of minutes last year and he finished strong,” DeCuire said. “It can happen but we have to do a good job of managing after practice, before practice, after games the treatment of our body, ice baths and things like that. Those guys are doing a good job taking care of themselves.

“But they are too competitive to not have on the floor.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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