bincitysioux

Some familiar names being thrown around for the Portland St. vacancy. June Jones of NFL, SMU, and Hawaii fame; Tim Walsh the current head coach at Cal Poly and former PSU head coach; Robin Pflugrad the embattled former Griz coach and UND applicant who was a fan favorite here during the coaching search. He is also a PSU alum. Portland Tribune

You know that we have only been eligible for either for two seasons coming into this year right? If things don't ever go in cycles, then surely Michigan is a favorite to win the National Championship in football this year.

I would argue a big part of that is because they win quite a lot. UND hockey has great fan support. Football had great fan support in the last decade of DII, when they were a national power. In the early 2000's UND basketball was drawing over 3,000 a game. In the early 90's when they were going far into the National Tournament they were drawing over 4,000 per game. I guess it is a chicken and egg type thing. Does a team win because it has great fan support, or does a team get great fan support because it wins? Personally, I think it is the latter. The crowds at the Alerus didn't start to dwindle until the product on the field declined. Same goes for basketball.

North Dakota (2-4,0-0 Big Sky) vs. Drake (1-5, 0-0 Missouri Valley) Saturday, Dec. 6, 2:00 p.m. Game Notes Drake Website Drake Message Board North Dakota Audio This is a golden opportunity for North Dakota to pick up the all too elusive road victory. Bulldogs have a new coach this year, former NDSU and Utah coach Ray Giacoletti. Drake was picked 9th in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. IMO, if UND is going to get a road non conference win this year, this is the best chance. I believe if you subscribe to UNDInsider, you will have access to video for this game.

As I've said before, I don't feel all that strongly one way or the other regarding Jones. I disagree that a 15 degree temperature difference gives a school like UM a significant advantage. Yes, they have been DI much longer, and that is one of the main reasons that their coaches are paid so much higher. I don't think there is a much larger pool of talented basketball players in Montana than there are in North Dakota. If there were, the Griz would have more than 3 Montanans on their roster. Our basketball facility is just as good or better than every other Big Sky schools, except for Weber St. and maybe Montana's. One the main factors that we've had a lot of success early on in the Big Sky relative to all those schools you mentioned is, in addition to a solid team put together by Jones, is the fact that our athletic department is just flat out better all around than most of those schools. There are 11 other Big Sky schools, but really only 3 or 4 of them are true peers with North Dakota. That is why we should ALWAYS be one of the top teams in the conference year in and year out. So far so good. I just maintain that we should also be able to have a lot more success in non conference play as well. Weber is the only Big Sky school that has an inherent advantage in basketball to the rest of the schools.

What inherent advantage does a school like Montana have in the Big Sky Conference? They are a similarly sized school, with similar support, in a similar market, and are also somewhat remotely located geographically speaking. Yet they are nearly always one of the top 3 teams in the league. This is what I expect of North Dakota. If we were a perennial mid-level Big Sky team, that would be very disappointing in my eyes. A second and third place finish in our first two years in the league is fantastic, and exactly what I want to see from this team. However I am of the opinion that the non-conference season is just as important as the Big Sky season. I want to win every game. I feel the season starts in November, not January.

Boy, we have gotten really spoiled as North Dakota fans if we are viewing the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as a detriment to the program.

I would like to see USD back on the schedule as well. But I highly doubt they are choosing DII's over USD. I would guess it just hasn't worked out yet. It would be ideal IMO to have USD & SDSU at home on the years that we play NDSU in Fargo.

I agree with UND92,96. I don't think it does anybody any good to say the Big Sky season/tournament is all that matters. UND is a program that should be competitive during the OOC season as well. It is important to build that RPI, not only for tournament seeding, but the higher your RPI, the better money games you get as well. I am not saying I expected to beat Utah the other night, but I certainly didn't expect to get run out of the gym by Texas-PanAm. This upcoming weekend is a great example of a game where we SHOULD have a chance to get a road win against lower level Missouri Valley team. Drake is not head and shoulders above our program, but Jones' history in road games means that if we did come out with a victory, it would be a monumental upset, and it should not be.

I continue to have mixed feelings about Jones. On one hand, he seems like a pretty darn good recruiter. He seems to always have his team playing its best basketball at the end of the season, and that is so important. His teams have been doing that for a long time. To step into the Big Sky Conference and be one of the top 3 teams in their first two seasons is impressive. I'm in the camp that the teams he had that were built around Huff, Anderson, and Webb were some of the most talented UND has had in years and years. The amount of injuries that the team dealt with the past 4 years was borderline ridiculous. On the other hand, the Jeckyl & Hyde nature of his teams is tough to watch at times. The second half collapses that have been going on for years are frustrating. Makes me wonder if he is A) capable of making halftime adjustments, and B) capable of keeping his team motivated. I've never really seen any sort of offensive philosophy from his teams. It seems the strategy is far to often to go out there, hand the ball to our most athletic player and hope for the best. The lack of fundamental displayed by his teams at times is down right irritating. It seems as though Jones always does enough to keep his seat from getting too warm. I'm guessing if he would have won a few CIT games and gotten into the NCAA's one of the last two years, this thread would not exist. It seems like he is alway one or two wins from being revered, and one or two losses from being despised. I do know one thing, and that is that I don't like the idea that some feel simply making the Big Sky tournament would be exceeding expectations. Sure, as far as preseason polls go, but my expectations are a lot higher than that for Sioux Basketball, and everyone elses should be too.

73% 21 non-conference home games against DI opponents. Record of 12-9 at home. 58 non-confernece away games against DI opponents, including tournaments. Record of 5-53 on the road.

North Dakota in the Division I Era............. 93-99: Overall record 43-31: Record in Great West & Big Sky conference games 8-3: Record in conference tournament play 66-49: Record in the months of January, February, and March 27-50: Record in November and December 68-96: Overall record vs. DI opponents 17-62: Record in non-conference play vs DI opponents 17-39: Non conference record vs "Like" DI opponents 0-4: In the CIT *"Like" opponents defined as schools NOT from the Power 5 conferneces, Mountain West, Missouri Valley, West Coast, Big East

Do you think giving the current staff a raise would produce better results?

20+ win seasons, annual conference titles, trips to the dance, and a packed Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Tonight was an ugly loss to a terrible program. That should be a goal. Another goal should be to not be terrible against non-Big Sky teams.

SDSU is not a good matchup for the Cats. Anyone hear if Prukop is playing today? They looked horrible against the Griz. Cant believe what different draws those two teams got. UM should smoke San Diego.....

Utes up 84-47 with 3 minutes left. Good night.......................

Down 19 late in the game.....

Not shooting very well again tonight....

Hooker and de Rouen both starting.....

I can't believe DirecTV can't come to terms with the Pac 12 when every other significant provider can. That and ESPN3. It is ridiculous. Radio for me again tonight......

Just 6 turnovers for North Dakota last night, that is great. Shot under 40% from the field though.

Bottom line is North Dakota finished in 8th place in the Big Sky with a losing record. They didn't beat any of the "Big Sky Big 3". Nobody that chooses these teams got to see us play on ROOT Sports. If we have an Idaho St. type turnaround next season, the individual accolades will come. I doubt any of the players or coaches are losing sleep over the fact that there weren't many individual honors handed out.

Personally, I think it comes down to coaching. Teams seem to be making adjustments at halftime, and we've been unable to adapt so far. This isn't the first season that this has been happening.

I went to the Milwaukee game. They looked real good. Lloyd could be the best player in the Big Sky. Bailey Strand is a youngster that looks like she may develop into special player during her career.

Yeah, this team needs to develop a killer instinct and learn how to close out games.