ND-fan

I have been watching women's basketball program having difficult time trying to figure out what is the next step for the program. Brewster I have been very critical in the past because he has hard time getting performance out the girls he has recruited. His ability to recruit and find good players is not question but for me the question is after this he seems to have hard time developing these players to next level for the program. This is my analysis as watching from outside in. Lately the style of basketball were trying to play it seems were trying to go to fast instead of taking advantages of the talent we have put them in good positions to win a few of these match ups. Also this leads us to playing poor basketball. Second is this current team is loaded with talent but we need one or two players that are in charge of this team. But with 10 person rotation there is nobody who is leader of this team and it show when we get into crunch times. In the past when we had players stepping up to this they seemed to be squashed or eventually left to play some where else. Example of this was Freije girl who left for Montana State where she is playing right now and is inline to be Big Sky MVP candidate. She has good season and on team that could reach NCAA this year. But getting back to UND is there something I not seeing and I know this is young team but I feel we haven't made any improvements in last couple of weeks if anything we have gone a little backwards. I look to NDSU with there team and they don't have near the talent we have but I look at there team and they are making improvement as the season is going along. I think right now UND will have hard time to beat them at home now. This brings us back to Brew and I wonder if we don't need a change or can he turn things around .

I have no doubt Selland is missed but your team is experienced team with number of seniors on this team plus sophomores and juniors with a lot of game experience. Und lost Leet not stand out player but experienced player plus area where they lacking a lot of experienced depth. The thing Leet brings to team is dominating size and presence when she plays defense and on offense was she was 6' 5" where she could pick up scrap buckets inside but something unique in that she could move out past 3 point line and hit that shot if she was not covered which meant that opened up the lane when she moved outside to feed ball to other players. This has changed our offense for our guards now and I believe its why were struggling to shoot the ball and they are going to have to get used to shooting with more pressure on them and in more crowed in the paint. This UND team is very young team with only one senior and couple of juniors on this team and even these players were first time seeing major minutes for this team. I do believe this UND team is going to be a presence by time tournament times rolls around because freshman are learning

Our freshman are getting taught lesson from South Dakota tonight but I would get to discouraged yet I got a feeling before season is over somebody going to see the other side of this team. It really hurts to have Leet lost for the conference season. My guess is that she will be non factor for rest of the season can't miss 8 weeks expect to be ready to play at the end. What has happen to Jaclyn Jarnot she just is not playing same as at the beginning of the season is she nursing injury we don't know about. But with Leet out it takes that open look that our guards were getting when she played there and also how it opened up the middle for driving because she could hit that outside shot requiring post players to follow her out. Our girls need to have game where they start hitting some of their shots. Got give South Dakota credit though they do play good defense. It will be much different game here I believe and I am waiting for couple of these girls to step forward in next couple of games to lead this team.

This kind of performance is kinda expected with what has happened in last few days. They lost one of their key players in Leet in that they are not deep at front line this year especially with young team. Also Reinke was just coming back which is needed but it also changes rotations of their guards so it has effects on performance and their offense. Then add in that they are playing there third game in week and being on the road to finish this week has effects on these young players. I think it will be positive for them on learning how to win and what they need to work on. A loss on the road is not unexpected but loosing at home hurts the most. They already have one road win and have held serve on their home court. They are in good position yet to be one of the top 3 teams in the conference. If they could steal win in South Dakota it would put them in very good position going forward but this going to be difficult task with loss of Leet. This is going be area where they will have hardest time matching up with South Dakota state because lack of depth and experience. I still think if we are shooting ball well and pressuring the basketball it should be good game.

Rough night tonight especially on way they called the game it made it hard for us to match up with them they were just more physical and effected us on the offensive end of the game. I was impressed that we came back several times on them and I like this in this team. Also there guards hit some very big shots on outside in first half late that opened up game for them which in end was the difference in the game. We sure could use another physical guard to help match up with Omaha but we don't and when we sit Marlon Stuart it really shows up out on the court. I think if outside shooting would have had been better in the second half we could have beat this team it will be interesting second time around to see how coaching staff prepares for the game I have feeling its going to be very competitive game on the road. Both Walter and Rebraca had horrible night shooting the basketball with both getting shots that should have been made they couldn't buy shot last night. I was impressed though they controlled turnovers last night without that this game would have been a blow out for Omaha. I still think if they continue improve controlling basketball and do what they are capable of they have chance to beat anyone in this conference. I also believe this coaching staff is going to better prepare them and have game plans improve as they learn this conference this year. I believe by end of year nobody will want to play these guys in the tournament because they could be dangerous team by then.

I watched him today he's coaching like he did in 2014 to 2016 his whole attitude is different than it has been last couple of years. I don't know the reason for the change but I am happy to see it because when he coaches like he can he is very successful. I think somebody has had heart to heart with him because you can see his demeanor with his players is better and he's more involved in the game. Yes winning helps but more things than that have changed you see how he is different with his players and how his players are responding this year. Maybe somebody has inside scoop on the change this year. This team is fun to watch again with the way they play game. They make a lot of mistakes and turn ball over to much but they also get other team to turn ball over and they look like they where the opponents down. These kids this year can shoot the ball and overall play good defense. This freshman class has already 4 girls that are making presence on the floor and there looks to be other freshman that will contribute in the future. We will see how far along we are when we play the South Dakota schools but I think we are better than rest of Summit schools right now not saying we can't get beat on the road against some of them. This will be fun season in the Summit for us.

Brewster is back this year since the 2014 when he made the dance. I think he kind of woke up last year that he needed to work at recruiting and if he wanted his contract renewed he had to step up. I think Brewster has the abilities to be very good coach but I also think his ego gets in his way from reaching the next level. I think he thought should have been ready to move to next level but didn't get opportunity which frustrated him and it showed on his coaching and whole program. I also believe he's in that tough stage of life with kids and family so he is torn in different directions. I have been very critical of him in past because I thought he should have been doing better than he was. Also I wonder if last years team of seniors never meshed as team and had been going on for number of years. This was on him because he was one that chose this group and only one he lost was Frieje and nothing improved after that so it had to be in group remaining. This group looks like it could become very good team but South Dakota is monster this year so it will probably playing for one of the other tournaments at year end.

Just reviewing the stats again the turnover bug is still problem. Oregon had 16 more points of turnovers. I thought we were getting better here again ball security is biting us again. My guess now is this is going to be the story of the season. we will continue to turn over the ball loose basketball games. I don't know why this can't be corrected and this is just fundamental basketball. You can't improve until they solve this problem and this is direct result in coaching I hate to say it but it is. Sather said they were going to work on it but I just don't see where its improving and if this doesn't improve were looking at very few wins in the conference.

I would like to see what the budget is for UND compared to other Missouri Valley and Big Sky schools in football. Also are we playing FBS programs to get enough money to compensate for needs in the budget but what does it do to the program when we get banged up early in the football season with team that lacks depth in players. Another thing I see is elite teams like NDSU and James Madison that get these deep runs into playoffs and with this they get extra month practice with their full teams developing players for the next season. This extra practice time has got to be significant positive factor in developing players year in year out. I look at NDSU the past 8 years they have gotten 6 weeks longer practice time than most of the other conference teams its like getting two Spring practice seasons every year. But getting back I would like to see the difference in programs on what is spent for football between various schools. Then how each school has for facilities, how they travel, and what things they pick up for student athletes they can pay for the athletes. All these things I have mentioned above comes into play in recruiting and developing players for the program. Also another thing that has hurt UND is media attention it receives and since Fargo has seized control of media markets I have seen significant change in who is getting attention and information to the public. On sports front NDSU is center stage and all other sports in NOrth Dakota have received less attention or none. This reflects back on recruiting and donor support and fan support. All these things have had impact on building a program.

This past weekend I watched the games with Montana and Easter Washington this team should have beat both of these teams but it comes down to ball security. There is no way were going to win many games giving up 15+ turnovers a game. In both of these games turnovers was major difference in the game. It was led to a lot of fast break points and fouls the other way. I have been hoping to see improvement in our ball security but it appears were making same mistakes over and over again. I don't know if its because of new style offense or inexperience of this young team but if were going to have any success this has to improve. also other things I have noticed is that Billy Brown has lost all confidence in taking outside shot if were going to have any success he's going to have to step up be able to hit those shots when he has opportunity. Marlon Stuart play has picked up and Rebraca I think right now is trying to do to much but he is going to be force in next few years. I wonder how long Moody is going to be out. Postives are for this team is they do control rebounds but the turnover situation just negates this positive. I guess I am getting worried now because this preconference season is coming to end and were not ready for the Summit schedule. I guess I am thinking now were going to be one of the two bottom teams not way to build enthusiasm for the program. The type of basketball Sather wants to play is going to take heck of recruiting year because type of players he has is for whole different style of basketball. These players were recruited to play with two star basketball team and to work hard on playing defense and now we have concept of more balanced attack starting inside either by driving or having your big man back into the basket put up 4 to 6 footer inside and if not kick to guard driving or spotted to hit a shot. The problem we have is that we have only one definite star type scorer in Stuart and Rebraca isn't quite there. I think thought was from previous regime there hope was that Walter or Rebraca would develop into this to other go type player and eventual hope was that eikens would become star of the future as season progresses. This has not happened and were looking at team that struggles to produce consistent offense. I guess I just got to watch and hope they make big turn around by end of the season.

I guess I get tired of a lot of same people wanting change for sake of change because the grass is greener on the other side if we just had right coach or athletic director we could become absolute number one team. The facts are UND has been making gradual improvement in division I football not to level where we are top tier school year in year out but were getting closer. NDSU is the program we are compared too and yes were not in there league right now I wonder if we will ever be in football again. They are in perfect world right now in that they put together winning program where top athletes in the state for football is there first choice, second because of program success they are winning a lot of recruit battles with other schools, and finally they becoming choice FBS player drop downs because of recognition they are getting winning national championships. UND is in the tier of a lot FCS schools and that is reason there is FCS division because of size and amount of resources these schools have is limited resources to fund athletic programs. I guess I don't get it so many people think UND here on this sight has superior resources that we should be cut above the other FCS teams and the fact is we are a lot better than some but by no degree are we far superior to other FCS schools. Right now I would guess NDSU would be clear cut winner in that department in football I don't have the figures but my guess is football is commanding major portion of their athletic budget, Getting back to UND football when Bubba took over program we were in bottom tier of Big Sky Conference and cupboard was getting pretty bare. Yes Bubba is far from perfect coach but he has improved UND football and football team has played better and we have number of highly outstanding athletes and students that have represented North Dakota well. When programs get down its never easy to get back to elite program. Also football for UND is not number one sport which makes it even more difficult to get resources and attention needed to build elite program. Even the large FBS schools its hard for them to have elite programs in more than one sport and most do not have that happen. The conference were in the Summit reflects this in membership with only 5 of schools having football programs and Und only school to have Football and Hockey programs. The hockey schools in the conference dropped football because of costs to maintain both programs and UND did not instead eliminated a lot of the other sports and kept football. The bottom line if football is going to be successful at UND its going to take support of fans and financial help if it is to be elite group of football schools.

I have to agree this happy day for UND football and positive day for everyone involved with the program. I don' t understand how we have to be so negative about the program. The one thing is we need no talk of NDSU game because we first need to win the first one. This will be difficult enough because like everyone knows it hard to win on the road. Even the mighty Bison would not like going on the road in playoffs. Und has made first step in FCS football by making the playoffs and next step is to win a playoff game. In the future we need to get to where we have bye and homefield advantage in the playoffs. Were one top 24 teams in FCS and if we win our first game we will be one of 16 top teams in FCS football. Building a winning program is never easy and we should be happy that things are heading in right direction.

I have watched parts of last three games UND has played and I guess I having hard time to figure out what were doing and second I have seen no improvement in the team ball security. Maybe somebody can tell me what kind of offense were running to me its looks like what you get when you get a pickup game or all star game where players are trying to create there own offense instead of team offense where ball moved around the half court to get the shot your looking for. This style offense is going to take above average offensive players and I just don't see where were going to be able to recruit enough talent to run this offense. If we play this style of basketball I just don't see us winning many division I games or at all. Also it very hard to watch us play right now. I would like to hear what other people think but I don't see how this style of basketball is going to work in division I at this level to hard to beat players one on one and then your likely to going see help if you do beat a individual player. I also wonder about playing so many different players your not getting players used to playing with each other and again its increasing the number of turnovers. Most basketball teams usually get themselves down to about 8 man rotational with other people just fulfilling different type of roles. I guess I can see coach trying to figure out what he's got but at some point you got to start playing seriously to win and teach your players the formula you have for winning. Again I would like to hear some other thoughts about what's going on and if I am missing something I sure like to hear it. Also I don't want to hear how bare the cupboard there is enough talent on this to compete I believe win.

The question I have about Sather is can he coach this group of players and get them to winning or at least the potential to win a game. If not were going to see massive changes next year and total rebuild of personnel which may lead to several years of loosing. The problem with that is can UND keep the program viable and attract players and fans back to the game. I think Sather is old school basketball but problem with that is now at division I basketball we have moved to the newer school of basketball where game starts from outside to develop the inside game. What I hear from him is the opposite which concerns me because the talent pool good division I players for small mid majors is the new school. I think Sather can be good coach but I believe he's on shorter leash than previous UND coaches because of need to get program rebuilt quicker to compete in the Summit conference. I also got to believe he's on learning curve to moving up division in basketball. I believe he can do this because he's been successful where he's been in the past. I sure hope they can give the resources that he will need to build successful program. Also getting back to coach Jones for all his naysayers you may find he was doing a lot better job keeping this program together will less resources and the job he did will begin to appreciate in the future.

I was going to let your remark go then and then against my better judgement I going to respond. yes she had higher turner over rate than I would have like to see but when you ask a person to play out position because your guards can't bring the ball up against a press your going to have extra turn overs. Look at Klabo last year she was asked to do same thing to help bring the ball up court and look at her turn over rate she had over 100 turn overs last year. This has been problem since Dyer and Szabal graduated we haven't had guards that were quick enough and had ball handling skills to bring the ball up court. This has been one of my big complaints with Brewster his recruiting of guards has been anything but stellar and I don't see a lot of development in our guards even when they get here. We have had guards who had poor ball skills and sure couldn't shoot from outside. This coming year I have no idea if we have addressed this problem and my guess will be maybe. Brewster sure didn't learn from Roebuck that you needed girl or several girls to hit outside shot to make your post players that much more effective. Our only NCAA team had that in Madi Buck something he inherited from Roebuck. Also getting back To Fallyn her turn overs were in same area as Klabo's and Miller's from SDSU but we never heard of them being turn over machines. We are going to ask a lot from group of freshman to step forward and compete at division one level and that is why I believe we are going to really struggle for good part of the season. I will be glad to listen to other peoples train of thought for the coming season but maybe we will have better chemistry and hopefully some of girls that have been in program take a step forward this year.

I wouldn't have said she had mixed results for UND but she was solid player that improved every year she was here with the school. She had total career pts of 838 in three seasons and would have gone over thousand career points if she would have finished here at UND. Her last year here she had 13.2 scoring average, 7.7 rebounds a game, and played four different positions for UND. This was done playing with Klabo the go to girl first for UND the last year and previous to that having Loyd and Dyer in the previous years ahead of her. I believe if she would have been on team last year and healthy they could have been in the mix at tournament time and if Brewster would have found point guard that could have shot from the outside. I believe she will have success out there may make NCAA tournament in her final year of eligibility if things go as predicted out there.

I don't see UND being at the bottom of the league where we had very young team last year in the league and wasn't given any breaks early in league season being a new member to the conference. We return 6 of the top 8 players from last year and will also should get full season marlon Stewart this year. South Dakota state, Omaha, and Fort Wayne lost big time seniors last year. My first thoughts would be would be in the middle of the pack like 4th and we could be one position either direction from there. South Dakota, North Dakota State, and ORU would have been my upper tier picks. UND, South Dakota State, and Omaha would have been in my next tier of teams, and rest would be bottom tier of teams. I don't know reason for us being picked so low but my guess it has something to do with coaching changes and player personnel remaining the same thinking coaching and players won't match up but I think league might be surprised on that front. This team I believe has players if they develop this year has ability to become very good team but big question is will make step to play better defense.

We have seen all these new recruits that will be coming here but I was wondering have we lost a lot of the current roster with the change in coaches. I didn't think we had that many openings on last years roster. I guess I am little out of touch to what is happening.

I still like going to the Speed Way in Grand Forks has pretty good food and if you want you can get drink with your meal. Its always busy but usually can get in .

Yes I heard him on different interviews especially when he wasn't on local or media covering UND and he was bashing the weather and how far north Grand Forks was and my thoughts at time was why would you be so negative about location of school your trying to recruit athletes to. Yes we have harsh winters compared to other parts of the country but we also have beautiful summers and falls compared to a lot of rest of the country. The other thing is we do have winter activities that a lot of people like to take advantage of. I also thought he had critical year coming up in that he had to show that he could win with his recruits and be contender in the Summit. He was given program from previous coach ready to win with lots of talent and developed to win in the Big Sky conference. That being said UND needs coach again that can recruit top talent locally and from our recruiting region. I believe if we get right individual they could build UND into division I mid major program that could contend with top division I schools in the future. We have facility that provides for great atmosphere for volleyball and we built following to make UND exciting place to come and play Volleyball. We need the right person lead and build top quality program here. This is the time to build a program when right person can be compensated here equally to that of large division I programs.

I have question with men's basketball program and the Betty the revenue generated there is there any return to the Men's basketball program. I look at how facilities get additional revenue hosting various events like the high school regionals, and now state basketball tournament. There has to be some profits generated there to be funneled back to basketball programs or is all that funneled through the agreement with Ralph and hockey. I also wonder now with change in conferences the travel expenses have to been reduced adding revenue for the programs. I guess another question is if hockey is generating positive cashflow why is it then other sports are so under funded compared to our other conference rivals. Is it because lack of fund raising or is not generating as much from these sports in control of facilities. My other question is UND management structure top heavy consuming a lot of dollars that takes away from people actually running these programs. Also do the South Dakota schools get more money from their student fees than UND because they are not being split with Hockey program that has lot of student support. I guess my big question is why are we not able to compete with them and if so is revenue generated or are we spending more in administration and other expenses. I would like to see some facts and figures on this so we would know were behind and know what to improve upon.

What did university of South Dakota pay for there new head coach Todd Lee last year that should be comparable for compensation here at UND. I suspect were going to find were at the bottom of pay structure for division I schools in compensation. I got to believe this was part of coach Jones decision and hard to keep quality assistants and to even add additional assistants to lessen their time on the job. I look at this way he could become assistant at larger division I school and make more money than he has been making and be able to spend more time now with his family time he can't recover later. I think we lost quality individual here and we may never know how much he put into this program over the years. I got to believe were going to find out how under funded we have been in men's basketball and my guess several of other sports here too. My guess its going to take a lot more money to get next coach in place here and also the assistant coaches pay structures will need to be addressed.

I hope to we don't get another inter[m run by Ed Schafer the problem I see with this when he gets into power he wants to make all the changes he was prevented from as governor. The last time he was president this what he did and made severe cuts in many of programs at UND in favor of pet programs of his over the years. I do not believe an interim president should be making any long term decision for the university. He is just place holder for the position and new incoming president should be making and setting direction he believes the institution should be heading. Back to Kennedy I wouldn't respond to his email letter on his resignation I would keep quiet on the matter. My response would be to the higher education board asking for them on their input on who should be on next committee to find next president of UND. This would basically signal again to Kennedy that his position at UND is finished and he should prepare himself for what ever the future has coming for him. Yes I would agree there are grounds for firing him with his latest comments and now his desire to find employment elsewhere. The sad part of this is Kennedy would have put his nose to grind stone and worked with legislature, Und staff, Students, and people of North Dakota followed through with his visions and his promise to travel and get to know people of state and how UND could benefit them as well listen to them what concerned them about UnD he could have become one of great presidents of UND. I think when both parties have not gotten what they want its best for both parties to part ways and just call this period a mistake for both parties.

Colorado is getting a 62 year old president which means he's probably there at best 4 years until he retires. What Kennedy was looking for was another school where he had potential to grow his salary and live in more populated city and have fresh start with public. Being in much larger city not every move he makes or mistake is going to get front page headlines like it does here in North Dakota. Second is he talks much better game than he plays when it comes to running major university and being in state of North Dakota people do follow the University so it takes small town political skills not Washington DC political skills. Meaning people here do listen and follow what you are doing and if you say one thing and do another people remember here and these kind of actions are not easily forgiven. In Colorado his tenure will be short and if he doesn't rock the boat to much he should be able to finish his career out there unless he choose to move on again for greener pastures. I do get offended when I see people putting down North Dakota people as being small minded and not progressive several of posts have made such references. I think a lot of people here that make those remarks may not know the history of this state or what people have done here in little over 130 years to build a state to where it is today. In that time where there was little to none infrastructure in this state and vast majority of people came here with little money to make a living. While they started with little wealth they built this state and one things they did was invest in educational system to improve next generations chances succeeding in this world. They did this through tough times and harsh weather times where being conservative and having faith in themselves and god got them through these times. The sacrifice many people made to stay and build something here is astounding because a lot of people left to live where is was easier to make a living. But today the state has grown into one of the better states in United States where incomes arein upper one third of all the states and we have developed our state into where large portion of kids want to stay and build life here. We are using our education system to create new industries here in the state and well as provide for ones that are successful. Yes we may do things and look at things differently than other parts of the nation but we have had too if were going to continue succeed here and conquer this land and climate we live in. Also the people of North Dakota put great value on education but they are also practical in that they want return that helps all of the state of North Dakota. This is why they do follow how education system is run and how its being managed but it comes from prospective of how they have lived and had to manage their businesses and jobs here in North Dakota. That is why the next president of UND needs to fit the state of North Dakota because we have had to many presidents that have not been in sink with people of North Dakota. They are not invested in UND and State of North Dakota I think that what people of North Dakota want. It may sound simple but we haven't had president that can communicate and understand the citizens of North Dakota. It seems we have had presidents that are at odds with public, educational system, the legislature, and even within the school itself for number of years. That is why I think next president needs to be looking at UND as more final destination not stepping stone and also young enough that its not last job for retirement. If you get gest of this criteria I think we need somebody that wants to be here and build this institution for long term that whole state of North Dakota can be proud of.

Kennedy was never a fit for UND and sooner the people of higher education come to this realization better we will be. The problem is he was politician at heart and the people of North Dakota don't want a politician leading its top university. They want individual that wants to be leader of institution to build it up over his career and make it better than when he came here. Also they want straight shooter doesn't give politician answer to tough questions but gives a truthful answer. Basically we want another Tom Clifford who did this. He was raised here and had values most North Dakotans respect coming to this job as being job he wanted all his life. Kennedy even last exchanges with press show how different he was than this when no more than 6 weeks ago he said he wasn't looking for another job but truth was he was already looking. To average North Dakotan this is outwardly lying to your face and reason he could never gain much support here in NOrth Dakota. What we have here is elite group of people involved in higher education want leaders for higher education that have values of higher education from elite schools on the coasts of this nation. What we need is person who understands people of North Dakota and values we want present in our education system . I look back at higher education some the best presidents in our schools were North Dakotans. They knew the state, people, and school they were working for where they were to be very successful. Also you will find these presidents could work with our political system because I believe they gained trust of legislature. I am sure hoping we can put together right group of people to hire next president for UND.