So what does the number of games a coach wins have to do with whether they are successful or not.

It is Christmas week when few Big Sky Conference teams are in action and only a single league game - Northern Colorado at Southern Utah - will be contested.

The Grizzlies have returned to the practice floor in advance of next week's home league opener Thursday against 1 and 1 Eastern Washington who was picked to finish in the middle of the league pack.

The league pointed out this week that Weber State's Randy Rahe has moved into the top 10 in overall wins (126) since joining the conference seven years ago and is the seventh winning coach in circuit history with 76 victories.

Montana's Wayne Tinkle, also in his seventh season at the helm in Missoula, stands 11th just four overall victories behind Rahe and with 68 wins trails Rahe by just eight league victories and is just two wins back of Blaine Taylor.

And while Tinks should well move past Mike Montgomery to become the school's all-time leader in conference victories (73), what is even more impressive is that he will do so in one less season at the helm.

Counting overall victories, whether conference or season total, to me seems mindless since of course the longer a coach is at the helm he's bound to acquire more wins when in fact the winning percentage is the way to measure apples to apples and not to oranges.

For example, Rahe has a conference winning percentage of .775, which impressively stands third behind the Wildcat's three-year coach Phil Johnson and Idaho's Kermit Davis who only remained at the helm in Moscow for two seasons.

Tinks meanwhile has won 69.4 percent of his conference matchups which also impressively stands eighth all-time.

During his tenure Montana has advanced to the NCAA's twice while Rahe's teams have made a single appearance.

Let's face it: Winning the league tournament and advancing to the next level, not total season wins, is a coach's true barometer.

And additionally as you glance down the list of coaches with the most victories, both in and out of league, it is interesting to note that many of them eventually were fired.

So what have you done for me lately?

Just how effective has the Grizzlies basketball lineup been from the charity stripe this season?

A glance at the Big Sky Conference compilations after all but Northern Colorado and Southern Utah have played two games with those teams meeting up in Cedar City Saturday night:

With just a quartet of teams making it through the tipoff of league play unbeaten and just Weber State and Montana picking up a pair of road wins, the league looks to be as balanced as ever with home teams holding serve in every case except against the two league leaders.

But a single stat that bodes well for Montana, which paces the circuit from the foul line (75.9 percent for 24th in the nation) is the accuracy comes from throughout the lineup.

Sophomore Jordan Gregory leads the team missing just three of 23 shots (87 percent) but does not have the required number of attempts to qualify for official stats which leaves senior Mathias Ward (.778) as the team leader.

That percentage only stands 13th in the league while as a team the Grizzlies shoot about a percentage point better than Portland State and far outdistance Sacramento State and North Dakota who round out the league's top four which are the only BSC teams shooting better than 70 percent.

The top nine players led by Idaho State's Tomas Sanchez (27 of 29 for .931) all connect on at least eight of 10 attempts with both Sacramento State and the Bengals sporting two each of the top nine.

It also is rare to see the Grizzlies leading the league in three-point percentage (40.7) which stand 13th in the country yet it is quite a selective percentage since they trail league leader Eastern Washington in makes per game (9.8 to 7.7)

With just a 3-9 season mark, the Eagles are second in the nation in made treys while in 12 games shooting 121 more than any other league team (117 of 337).

That means 41 percent of their scoring comes from outside the arc where the Grizzlies get just 34 percent of their offense.

Meanwhile the Wildcats of Weber State, who lead the league in scoring (73.7) and field goal percentage (.476) also set the pace in defense (.396) and scoring D (60.3).

But the Grizzlies are right there defensively, trailing Weber in scoring defense (65.9) and field goal D (.410) but rank a bit back in offense (67.6) and field goal percentage (.432).

It is certainly early but won't if be fun to see who blinks first?

It's a few days break from the rigors of practice and quite a sojourn between games for the Montana Grizzlies who after a pair of conference road victories join Weber State at the top of the Big Sky Conference heap.

I hope your Christmas day was everything you hoped for and you were able to have time with loved ones to relish our blessings.

It's a day short of a two-week break between games for Montana and while it comes at an advantageous time for the injured Keron DeShields and precedes home games with eastern Washington and Portland State before heading back on the road, such a break always is a double-edge sword.

Coming off a seventh straight conference road win and 15th overall circuit victory, ridding themselves of bitter feelings after letting one get away against South Dakota State, the Grizzlies have some opening-league season momentum.

You can bet when they get back to Missoula for practice on December 27, there will be a concerted effort by the coaching staff to first blow out the pipes but also make sure this team is full well aware they have accomplished little with victories in six of their first 10 games.

There are nine league games in the month of January and six come on the road.

And a key home-matchup with Weber State will mark the halfway mark of the league season the last week of January.

With just five league contests and a Bracket Buster game in February leaving four in March to wrap up the league season, one easily can see the importance of the first month in the league standings.

Congrats are certainly in order for Big Sky Conference Co-Player of the Week Mathias Ward.

"Steady Eddie" is working on a second Masters Degree, having not redshirted and coming to Missoula with a couple of years of college credits gained in high school.

The Gig Harbor, Wash., product, who has been far more vocal in this his senior season, enjoyed an outstanding opening league week.

He is shooting 55 percent from the floor for the season but started league play 10 of 15 from the field (,.667) and was seven of eight from the charity stripe including four straight, two in the crunch, against Sacramento State.

He has now missed just eight of 36 free throw opportunities (.7780 and leads an outstanding free throw shooting team (.756).

Ward also pulled down 11 rebounds and dished off three assists and now also leads the team in scoring (14.7).

With a 10-day break between games and now riding a 15-game conference win streak, the Grizzlies open defense of last year's dominating league title run with road victories in two of the eight states Big Sky Conference schools occupy.

It was a rigorous 3,000 mile opening league season journey to Flagstaff and Sacramento.

And while no travel can be described as inconsequential, given the length of the five-dayer, the road wars were certainly tiring but enjoyable and rewarding.

But now with six of eight at home through January, the road sweep provides this Montana team a Dahlberg Arena opportunity to get some of the league teams in their rear-view mirror.

While with a one-point cliffhanger win the Grizzlies now have defeated Sacramento State a dozen straight times, this is a vastly improved Hornet team that coming into the game had matched their best season start since becoming a Division-1 program.

Halfway through the second stanza Montana enjoyed a Baker's Dozen advantage but Sac State just wouldn't go away and while attendance at the game was paltry (a generous 612), the Hornets showed a lot of gumption to make a run and additionally mastery of the clock especially in the last 90 seconds to draw even on a Dylan Garrity moon-shot trey from the deep right corner.

Spurning a time out, Montana played basketball in the last 6.1 seconds as Will Cherry took command off a Jordan Gregory pass at midcourt and charged straight up the court where he drew a blocking call on Garrity with 2.5 seconds remaining.

Cherry's clutch free throw wasn't exactly pure but slipped through the net while the second bounded off and a desperation three-quarter court shot came after the buzzer sending the defending league champion Grizzlies to the locker room for the holidays with a 2-0 circuit record.

That they blew a 13-point lead at the halfway mark of the second half is concerning but that they had game winning instincts to win their second one-pointer of the season to go along with a double-overtime one point loss is encouraging.

That is especially true with South Dakota State's victory over previously undefeated New Mexico at the Pit after a 1,200 mile bus ride.

The champ is thus far still the champ - Merry Christmas everyone.

After methodically rebounding from a 9 point deficit and a Northern Arizona four point halftime lead the Griz successfully opened the rigorous BSC road wars by maintaining its mastery over the Lumberjacks.

In one of the more offensively balanced outings of the young hoop season Montana put an entire quintet in balanced double figures to upend the Jacks before a meager crowd in Flagstaff.

Bur it was by no means an easy proposition but improved offense and dominance in the paint after the intermission proved the difference as Montana successfully opened defense of its Big Sky Conference title.

The Grizzlies have won four of five games in which they shot 45 percent or better and with an improved second stanza they fell just slightly short of that mark for the game and additionally controlled the boards to advance their season mark to 5-4 before some 664 Lumberjack faithful.

The lead changed hands but twice-when the Lumberjacks made up Montana's 3-0 initial advantage and when the Griz after five ties finally made it to the forefront in the second half, outscoring NAU by 10 in the second half to put this one away by 6.

Now it is an improved Sacramento State team who sent the Bobcats packing.

Picked seventh by coaches and eighth by media the Hornets start league play as one of two league teams with a winning record.

Sac is the highest scoring team in the league (75.8) and is 56^th in the country while trailing just Montana in three-point percentage (37.2).

They lead the circuit in fewest turnovers (11.1) and trail just Montana State in turnover margin (3.5).

After defeating MSU, the Hornets have won four of five at home and stand second behind Weber State in scoring margin.

Senior John Dickson leads the league in scoring while sophomore Dylan Garrity is in the top 10 at 14 a game and sophomore Mitch McKinney also averages in double figures.

Garrity and Konner Veteto both hit better than 50 percent from the field while Garrity is second in the league in assists and free throw shooting.

Sac State is vastly improved and prime for a sweep of the Montana schools. Game time is 8 p.m. Mountain.

There was a commonality with last season's opener when Northern Arizona defeated Montana State but the Lumberjacks are hoping the scenario is not repeated.

In defeating Montana State 87-80 Monday night, NAU did exactly what they did last year - win their conference opener.

But that victory over Sacramento State proved to be the sole Lumberjack league conquest as they dropped the next 15 games.

But they put that losing skein to the wayside with the convincing effort over the Bobcats by shooting 55 percent and claiming a resounding edge off the glass (40-28).

NAU claimed the victory with all five starters in double figures while being led by junior Max Jacobson who dropped in 22 and true freshman DeWayne Russell who netted 16 while pulling down eight rebounds.

Although picked last by scribes and coaches in the pre-season poll, the Lumberjacks under first-year head coach Jack Murphy seemed to have turned the corner a bit.

They erased an 18-point deficit in losing in OT to Loyola Marymount after defeating Sam Houston State in a December tournament and now are four and five on the season but after road losses at Arizona, Oregon and No. 16 UNLV.

The Lumberjacks earlier snapped an 18-game losing streak when they defeated UC-Davis.

NAU is not scoring at their usual three-point clip (33 percent) and the 87 points they posted against Montana State was a season high as they average just 67.9.

And much like Montana the Lumberjacks are being whipped badly in rebounding (-5.5) but some of that can be contributed to the difficulty of their schedule.

They also are not as effective as usual from the charity stripe (.694) and are surrendering 45 percent while shooting just 43.5 percent.

They field a three-guard lineup and don't list a center although Jacobson checks in at 6-foot 8.

That may prompt the Grizzlies to start a three-guard lineup featuring sophomore Keron DeShields, Kareem Jamar and Jordan Gregory with Will Cherry's minutes no doubt substantially increasing.

If Monday's attendance is any indication, it will be up to Montana to create its own atmosphere since few fans were in attendance for the Montana State game.

Remember tip off at 6:30 p.m. with pre-game at 6.

While I am relatively certain I previously have called a basketball game with as many lead changes and ties as Saturday night's thriller against South Dakota State with a swing of 11 points in either team's direction, I'm here to tell you win or lose that was just plain fun and entertaining.

And I am headed on the trek Tuesday morning for Phoenix, then Flagstaff, and on to Sacramento for the opening of the 50th Big Sky Conference men's basketball season.

There was several times Saturday night when I thought the Grizzlies would protect home court and extend their Dahlberg Arena winning streak to 16 games.

And while the Jacks proved the aggressor in the game's first 10 minutes in building their largest lead of six, when sophomore wing Mike Weisner tickled the twine for the first of his career-high quartet of three pointers and Will Cherry returned and went the floor's distance for a highly-contested layup and a one-point Montana lead for some reason for so early on I felt pretty confident.

But at the half with both teams shooting less than 40 percent and SDSU holding a three-point advantage after the lead changed hands seven times in the first 20 and the score was tied an additional three times, it already had started to feel like a last-possession kind of affair.

Montana usually is successful if they shoot 40 percent and I guess I'm just getting used to this team being outrebounded especially on the offensive end but the one for eight from long range and the fact the Jacks were leading with zero scoring from their All-American candidate guard was of concern.

But Nate Wolters scored the first five SDSU's points after the intermission countered by Mathias Ward who drained five of his own in the first two minutes.

But while Kareem Jamar "J" handed Montana its largest lead of five points five minutes in, from there the spread for either team mostly was a bucket you kind of knew that regulation wasn't going to be enough time to determine an outcome.

Weisner had an opportunity to end it all in regulation but missed the first of a pair of throws as did Jamar at the end of the first extra session and it just wasn't to be as the Jackrabbits claimed the W for their eighth win in the last nine games and their first road victory in the initial game of a six-game road swing.

Balanced with a 4-4 mark, the price of poker escalates Wednesday night in Flagstaff with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m.

In the wake of the unthinkable tragedy in Connecticut, the results of a basketball game seems trivial and frivolous.

But as what so happens with sports, it in some ways seems as a diversion and while serving as a kaleidoscope of life provides some normalcy in such a horrific time in our country.

Our thoughts and prayers join certainly yours for all the victims of the worst elementary school shooting in U.S. History.

As in other scenarios around the country, Saturday's game was preceded first with an eloquent statement from Athletic Director Kent Haslam, himself the father of several young children, and a moment of silence before the National Anthem at Dahlberg Arena.

A prelude to the conference season for a pair of league champions and NCAA second-round participants, the matchup between South Dakota State and Montana sure lived up to its hype and required every bit of the 10 extra minutes to decide the outcome.

Neither the Jacks nor the Grizzlies led by more than six points in a contest in which the score was tied a dozen times and there were 19 lead changes.

And even when the Grizzlies looked to have given up the ghost by surrendering six unanswered at the start of overtime, Montana answered with a clutch Mike Weisner trey, a Mathias Ward drive, and a Kareem Jamar free throw to forge a tie with five seconds remaining.

But Jamar's second attempt rimmed out and while he tipped the ball for a desperation attempt for the win by Keron DeShields, the two teams remained tied at 59 after 45 minutes of play.

Jordan Gregory's pair of throws gave the Grizzlies a seemingly secure four-point second-OT lead with a bit more than two to go in the second extra period.

And even after SDSU answered with a trey to cut it to one, Weisner again answered for the last of his career high four treys to again build a four-point advantage.

But three final turnovers after leading by one with a buck and a half remaining and a pair of clinching free throws from the less than 60 percent free throw shooter and the Jackrabbits claimed the W.