WildcatGuest

UND's backcourt 3 could easily play in a high major conference. I think AZ Coach Miller said great guards are not that uncommon in midmajors. There was more than some talk on Arizona forums about trying to get our paws on Hooker (yeah he's a senior). Midmajors recruiting players above 6'6 that have that combo of talent and size, is more of the challenge.

I would say I was stunned at how the Fighting Hawks didn't give up, but I knew from my readings ya'll wouldn't. The guards were as great as advertised and the frontline didn't back down. Hooker in particular, is legit and Berstine surprised me significantly. It was an incredibly class move to put your bench in at the end of the game. The future is looking very bright for this program, very fundamentally sound and with the tourney exposure, I think there will be an increase in the level of recruits for UND!

ha that is old school. I had no idea Lute had such connections to North Dakota. I'm looking forward to a smooth, high scoring, game tomorrow. I personally defense may go uut the door and it will be a shoot out, Here is an article about our end about how the Hawks will try to upset high praise to your backcourt http://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball/2017/3/15/14941338/arizona-wildcats-basketball-north-dakota-fighting-hawks-backcourt-ncaa-tournament-hooker-crandall http://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball/2017/3/15/14941802/ncaa-tournament-north-dakota-to-rebound-value-basketball-zone-upset-arizona-time-tv-preview looks like the zone won't happen

Yeah I figure the realistic strategy for the Hawks would be for the guards to hit the three and slash to the hoop, while limiting touches for the Cats down low. We play your Big Sky mates NAU every other year or so. The times they've come close is with a slow, guard dominated, low possession game, shooting 3s and running a zone. But the fast tempo is what both schools seem to want. Many programs that don't normally run zones have tried it. No matter level of opponent, it usually causes about 4-5 plays of bricks and confusion for the Cats, before adjustments happen. We have no idea why the zone confuses even temporarily. The guard play could be a draw, but unless fouls are called oddly, the bigs will be UND's critical weakness I don't think they'll be overcoming, unless Bernstine and Avants really come of age. Players like Shanks are usually eaten alive, and as stated more of a liability as a foul magnet. Defensively, if you haven't seen Arizona play much, there is really no single defensive super stopper (Kadeem Allen at 2 is the closest). Taken individually the front line isn't that dominant defensively, but the packline defense is very much a system and team effort. A few school cultural questions: Who is your arch rival? I notice a sudden upswing the past few years in all the Dakota schools regarding basketball. Do you normally refer to yourselves as the Fighting Hawks? Other fans tend to refer to us as Zona, which is fine and liked, but the vast majority of our own find it awkward to call ourselves Zona. Thanks for the welcome. I normally am not a "opposing board visitor" except during tourney time. I notice non-conf visitors on boards are always greeted warmly, but I am likely to get glib comments and slights on another Pac-12 board.

Just wanted to say friendly hello and gain some more info on your team. Other than random threads, the only info we seem to have is this http://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball/2017/3/13/14902182/ncaa-tournament-in-depth-look-analysis-arizona-wildcats-first-round-matchup-north-dakota-bracket Would you say this is pretty accurate? Will Fighting Hawks utilize a zone? Arizona's offense looks confused and constipated for a good few minutes when even a simple zone is implemented. Our 7'0 Serbian center Ristic actually does worse against smaller athletic 4s than traditional bigs. How athletic is your smaller front line? How deep does your bench run? Arizona will try to wear down as teams can go 8-9 deep depending on opponent. No one in the tourney is to be overlooked, but I'm interested to see how the low post size difference is compensated for. Wichita State cut us off at the knees last year, by completely shutting down our guards which starved our much bigger and stronger frontline. Though, Arizona's has a 15 seed loss in history, I believe it took a certain Steve Nash to accomplish that task. Regardless, I look forward to watching the game. From my reading of his style of play, I expect at least Hooker to go off. Thank you for allowing me to post on your forum.