Siouxfan69

Over the past few years Jones has refused to play big games (NDSU) in the Ralph. The Betty has more "atmosphere", says Coach Jones, makes for a great home court advantage.. Some good that atmosphere did us last year, NDSU laid a 19 point beat down on us. It's time for the coach to put his big boy pants on, we're a DI program, why are we playing games, especially rivalry games, in a glorified high school gym? The hockey team is out of town this weekend, the Ralph is wide open. Both NDSU's men and women bb teams are in-town this Saturday They should have put the games in the Ralph and marketed the heck out of it. Work darn hard to fill the joint, to include getting a big number to come up from Fargo. With the hockey team out of town, and the games on Saturday, they should have no problem pulling 10,000 fans in, if marketed correctly. I think the last time they played NDSU in the Ralph the drew 9,000. Look, 10,000+ fans in the big arena can create an atmosphere that can make the Betty's pale by comparison, just ask the hockey crowd. Coach Fitch, who had those great Phil Jackson era teams, would never have played those big games in the Betty. Now why they built the Betty to hold no more tan 3,000+ is a subject for another day, but was a huge mistake.

I watched this team play Utah Valley on FSN, not impressed. Their offense consists of running a weave out on the top of the perimeter until someone gets open for a 3 point shot, and then chuck the ball up. It had better go in because no one in green and white is anywhere near the bucket for a rebound. The transition offense consists of Geno, or one of the other speed mercahants, crashing down the lane and taking an out of control, awkward, off balance shot. Very undisciplined, this is the area of their game that reminds me of pick-up playground basketball. We are painfully undersized and losing Bernhardt and Shanks to transfers hurt.. Is there any height help on the horizon? Someone, maybe Jones himself mentioned a player named McNaulty(?).

My bad, somehow I knew that.

Why wasn't Nate Ketteringham, the quarterback transfer from Sac St, started. At least he has 2 years of experierance . Are they trying to keep him eligible for 2 more years or what?

The Griz are having a good year. Even though our offense is waking up, our defense will not have enough to prevent a Griz 51-28 thrashing at Washington Grizzley Stadium.

It would be sweet to lay on the Griz....but I don't see it happening. They are starting to look like the Griz of old and are having a good year. Once again we will be facing a hot qtr.back. Our defense is still reeling from injurys, we continue to have mental discipline/focus problems. Even though our offense is starting to show signs of life, it will not be enough to offset the numbers the Griz offense will lay on us. Montana 51-UND 28.

What's the score?

Sof the freshmen and transfers who are the ones to keep an eye on, who will have an immediate impact?

If Bernstine played consistently like he did against Arizona he would be hard to replace.

That's a terrible loss, he was the only experienced "big" man we had coming back. He really played well against Arizona. He could bring the ball up the floor and also play big on the front line. Jones does a good job with our guard play but he really struggles with centers and big forwards. Is there any hope at that 6'8" + size?

I admit to not paying much attention to buckets since we played Arizona last March but I was under the impression Bernstein was a junior last season and would be coming back. Someone on this forum made the comment that they hoped Shanks leaving wouldn't cause Bernstein to jump ship. Apparently he did. Any reason why?

I asked the pa on 1st down question because I wanted to know if we would do the unexpected. It's a little like pitching to Joe Mauer. Everybody, including your gramma and dog, knows that Mauer rarely swings at the first pitch. The pitcher facing him knows that he can safely throw a meatball right down broadway and get an easy strike. Just like the Mauer example, everybody knows UND will run on first down. Throwing off of pa on 1st down, especially to start the game,.may cause a defense not to load up the box.

I didn't have a chance to watch or listen to the game last night. I would like to know if uND threw off play action on first down at any time during the game..

This list does not include running back "Flash" Gordon who was suspended for violating some kind of NCAA polcy.. Supposed to return next season.

Ironically we lost our best cornerback, Harris, while doing a pre-fall camp conditioning program.

For the second year in a row UND gets no bye week till the regular season is over. What's with that?

The one constant throughout the first 3 games has been the backbreaking , undisciplined penaltys. That shows a lack of focus. It's hard to explain. A big part of a coache's job is to have their team ready to play, both game plan wise and mentally prepared. The were not ready at all. Some of that is on the coaches.

Bubba's cupboard wasn't bare when he got here. He had 2 of the best receivers in FCS, Golloway and Jackson, I think Hardin had graduated by then. He also had a decent throwing qb in Mohlberg (sp). Golloway and Jackson left when it was made clear that UND was going to emphasize the running game. Look at Golloway now, the Lions seem to like him. As far as how as how long it takes to turn a program around 4-5 years is in the ballpark and Bubba has done a good job. The South Dakota coach , after 2 years, apparently has turned the 'toes around. I have a theory that says, "show me coach that turns a program around in 1-2 years and I'll show you a coach that's cheating." The easiest way to do that is academically. Recruit good talent that most other schools won't because they have a hard time finding their way to their classrooms.

Take a close look at the photo of the full Hyslop. Those are high school back boards on the standards. That ia a photo of a North Dakota class A high school championship game. It was taken in the mid 50's- early 60's.. Bill Fitch brought in the De Paul Blue Demons of Chicago in 1965-66 coached by the legendary coach Ray Meyer and Chicago Loyola in 1966-67. Loyola won the NCAA Div I title in 1963. These 2 teams were the Gonzaga and Butler of their day.The Field House ( Hyslop ) was just as full for those games and the Sioux won both of them.

The word was that USD jumped off the Big Sky deal with us was because they couldn't afford it. While in the Great West they had to bus their teams to Texas games because they couldn't afford to fly to them , or so the story goes.

Back in the old NCC days the Sioux/Bison game was a true weekend series. The Friday game counted in the NCC standings and the Saturday night game did not. It had a hockey series feel to it, very intense and fun.

When Roy Williams brought the Kansas Jayhawks into the Ralph I believe they drew around 13,000 fans. Does anyone have access to the correct stats for that game?

1. Building a 3000+ seat arena for D I basketball made no sense at all . The junior college at Wahpeton has a facility that seats that many. When Bill Fitch had his Phil Jackson lead teams and Dave Gunther had his program on a roll it was common to have 5,000-6,000+ fans in the old Hyslop. I know, I was in the crowd at many of those games. Those were years when we were in the top 5 in NCAA Div II attendance. 2. Coach Jones wants the cozy confines and atmosphere of the Betty? Come on man, this is D1 basketball. Grow a pair, market your team properly and put thousands of more butts in the seats of the Ralph for your big demand games. NThe extra money that would bring in would be very welcome.

Some years ago, 54 to be exact, a young coach came out of Coe College, Iowa to take over the UND men's bb program. His name was Bill Fitch and he soon had his team recruited and on the floor. Headlined by Phil Jackson attendance at the old Hyslop swelled from about 2,500 to 5,000+, sometimes 6,000+. His team's NCC record from 1964-67 was 34-2. Fitch was just the type of young coach you guys are talking about. He eventually ended up in the NBA coaching at Cleveland, Boston and Houston and ringing up a couple of NBA championships along the way. We would indeed be fortunate to get a young coach like him.

Haven't seen a score from you guys since the end of the first half.