The floaters arced high into the air and dropped straight through the net. One after another Michael Oguine sent them up off his left hand while his right, protected by a soft, off-white cast, remained near his waist protected from any possible danger, just at it will be for the foreseeable future.
Oguine, weeks away from a highly anticipated sophomore season, broke the third metacarpal in his right hand during an early October scrimmage when he reached in for a steal. He has since been sidelined with the soft cast that will remain on his hand and wrist for two more weeks, when he is schedule for x-rays.
If the scans come back positive, Oguine could return for Montana’s season opener against USC on Nov. 11. No time table has been set as Griz coaches and trainers take a wait-see-approach to how the bone in Oguine’s shooting hand recovers.
Montana sophomore Michael Oguine/ by Brooks Nuanez
“If Mike is not at risk of re-breaking, re-fracturing that hand, there is a lot of things he can bring to the table other than shooting the ball,” Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said Monday evening. “For me, I’d leave it open and say let’s get him back as quickly as possible without jeopardizing his career.”
The opener in Los Angeles was not only scheduled to present Montana an early season test against a Power 5 opponent, but also to give Oguine a chance to return home and play in front of friends and family. Oguine played his high school ball for Chatsworth’s Chaminade Prep in northwestern Los Angeles, where he led his team to the semifinals of the Southern California Division IV regional tournament his senior year.
Montana returns home Nov. 14 for its home opener against Wyoming before setting out for the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Paradise Jam, a tournament guaranteeing Montana three games, including its first-round tilt with North Carolina State.
DeCuire said the worst case scenario is to have his sophomore guard back Nov. 24 when the Griz return stateside for a contest with Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.
“If he can get that cast off the third or fourth of November, maybe he is ready to play in a week,” DeCuire said. “They say it takes two weeks — 10 days or two weeks — to get the wrist mobility back, strength and all those things.
“It’s glass half full with Mike in everything that happens. That’s why he’s a special player, that’s why he’s a special student, that’s why he’s a special person. He’s doing everything he can to continue to improve as a basketball player right now.”
Oguine burst onto the scene in his first game, scoring 17 points in Montana’s season-opening 74-72 win over Boise State. Oguine led a come-from-behind win, scoring 12 of his points in the second half.
Montana sophomore Michael Oguine guarding Montana State’s Tyler Hall, last season’s Big Sky Freshman of the Year/by Brooks Nuanez
Oguine was then inserted into the starting lineup halfway through Montana’s loss to San Jose State and remained there for 30 of the Grizzlies’ next 31 games. Oguine finished his freshman season averaging 11 points, the second-best total in school history, and routinely drew the assignment of slowing down the opposition’s best perimeter player.
Given the success of his only season in Missoula, his play during the summer that followed and Montana’s shift toward a more up-tempo, guard-oriented attack, Oguine was expected to join senior Walter Wright and sophomore Ahmaad Rorie in the starting backcourt.
That plan is now under reconsideration.
At full strength, the Grizzlies would have platooned Oguine, Rorie and Wright with senior Mario Dunn and freshman Sayeed Pridgett in a versatile lineup that would allow DeCuire certain luxuries he didn’t have last year.
Montana’s third-year coach has discussed his plans to speed up the team’s pace of play with lineups that would create opportunities for the Grizzlies to be more aggressive on both sides of the ball.
“The biggest thing for me: versatility allows you to adjust to what your defense is doing,” DeCuire said during Montana’s media day. “The team against us if they want to take something away, we can attack another way, whether that is pounding the ball inside or spreading the floor.
“ … There’s a lot of different things you can do. With versatility you have depth and the ability to compete when you’ve got guys out.”
Who will fill in for Oguine during his short absence is yet to be determined just 24 hours before the Grizzlies play in front of a public audience for the first time during their annual Maroon/Silver scrimmage set to tip off 7 p.m. Tuesday at Dahlberg Arena.
DeCuire has plenty of options. He could bring in Dunn, who adds a defensive toughness Oguine showed last season. Or the coach could bring in Pridgett, sophomore wing Bobby Moorehead or senior sharpshooter Brandon Gfeller. Following Monday’s practice, DeCuire said he and his coaches have considered every option.
Even then it will likely come down to the matchups each opponent presents.
“All four of those guys bring different things,” DeCuire said. “It’s going to depend basically on how they perform over the next two weeks, to be honest. We’ll just keep it competitive. I don’t know that I’d want to start super small at USC, but there are some games down the road where we could play small or start a game that way.”
