the green team

I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the win? Good grief, even when we win...its not good enough. You must all be delights to be around. I could see you win the lottery but find something wrong with it. When I was at the game, I turned to my seat neighbor and said you watch, people will be upset about slowing it down at the end, but if they played fast at the end and didnt use the clock and ended up taking a bad shot, people would be complaining then as well. I guess life is pretty easy when you can have both sides of the argument. Antwi, has earned his time. The thing I've noticed with him since he's been here before his ability to hit a shot is that he is first a strong and quick on ball defender. Webb had some tough turnovers today, no getting around it, but he was in there because he is strong enough to battle Jamar, grab a rebound and he also had 2 blocks. Steffan and Schuler were in for the ability to hit a foul shot, they just didn't have the ball when Montana fouled. Rare is a game going to be perfect with this bunch...I'm surprised after four years that it surprises anyone. Its a very simple formula when this team wins, and it has nothing to do with our offense, who is scoring, or we play against the zone. It's all about whether we hold a team under 70 points- if we defend and hold a team under 70, this team always has a good chance to win. I think somebody mentioned in the Idaho State thread that Nash should never play when a team zones us. But I guess people's memories are short because he scored 21 against that same ISU zone when they played in GF and he had most of his baskets today when??? That's right, when Montana was in a zone. Also we didn't beat this D today because we could shoot- we were just 2 of 12 from 3, but because we kept attcking the basket whether Montana was a zone or man.

Again, I happen to think that we have very good talent to compete at this level. But right now I'm not sure we have the requisite leaders on the team to get us where we need to go. If you watch our coaching staff during the game- it's no wonder they are waving their arms, stomping their feet, and yelling to players. Coming out of timeouts when we want to set up a press or guarding the in-bounds, we've got guys looking around not knowing what they are doing when you know full well that the staff just went over that in the timeout. That's where a team leader grabs a player by the jersey and says "pay attention, get in the game or get off the floor"--unfortunately it's the opposite we've got 4 to 5 guys that are looking around dazed in those situations...when we all know it only takes one guy breaking down to lead to a basket- let alone having 4 or 5 guys not know what we are in or what to do. It's got to be maddening if you're a coach as it seems all our players have some sort of A.D.D. If we are pressing after made baskets then press after made baskets but with all 5 guys on the same page. Not 2 or 3 out of the 5, with the other 2 running back down the floor. I'm sorry but the coach can't go out and hold your hand and get you in position in that situation. As a player you have to use your brain and know what to do. At some point with this veteran group the responsibility should be on the players. If there was one comment during the post-game last night that summed it up for me last night was "in recent games when we've carried out the game plan, we've done really well, when we didn't- like the first half tonight, well you saw what happened." That's not verbatim but the gist. On here we see a first half like we saw last night and think that's a Coach's problem, but in reality just a few day's prior the coach's had what seemed to be an effective blueprint against a zone, that the players carried out, and guess what....we won the game. The players last night showed no interest in the first half of trying to attack the zone the same way. Also, make a shot- how many wide open looks, at home did we miss? This is our building, I really don't think we should be getting out shot in our building. Players, need to take responsibility- this is a veteran group. They should be able to figure it out.

I do believe there are 7 conference games left so...no...its not.

The question I have with this team is... who is its leader or leaders? I'm not saying by scoring...that's Huff, but who is the guy that gets these guys attention on the court, bench etc? I just can't identify who that is. I know they have captains, and those players are talented, but are they leaders? The coaching staff can't just get someone to be a leader- someone or a group of guys have to step forward and want to take that role. If the coaching staff does it, it's not going to work, because then it's forced. My concern is there isn't strong leadership, or "leader type" personalities on this team. The leader doesn't have to be the leading scorer or even a senior...but right now watching I can't for the life of me determine if they have one right now. I really think they could use one. But I don't go to practice and am not in the locker room so maybe I'm wrong. This was a tough loss to swallow....but this is not over yet.

I know what you'll say- that Anderson for Schuler is a wash in regards to rebounding and you keep Huff on the court at the 3. But can you give more minutes to Schuler over Anderson right now? The numbers and performance say no.

So who's going to rebound when Schuler is in the game for Huff or Anderson?

I have a feeling many of you are going to disagree with me, but upon further review- what has Josh Schuler done in the last 10 games that has warranted more playing time? . I don't always disagree with the criticism of Huff or Nash or Webb but all of them have earned some deserved criticism at times. But let's look at the Schuler situation more carefully. He is shooting around 36% from the field, near 26% from 3- that's less than Webb is and he is a shooter and Webb is not. Now let's look at the line up. Obviously, he is not a point guard, and believe it or not in recent games for the most part both Hooker and Webb have managed that role pretty well in both scoring and managing the game. Now, I will give everyone this point that Schuler is a capable 2, but he is not playing at Aaron Anderson's level right now- even though Anderson has been up and down this season. Now, you can say he should be playing the 3 over Huff, because Huff is selfish and turns it over, and play's reckless defense (meaning he gambles). That may be at times, but he doesn't score and create like Huff does and perhaps this is where Schuler is going to lose this argument in a big way...Huff rebounds. For a team that can't get any meaningful rebounding contributions from it's bigs it desperately needs it's guards/small forwards to rebound. Last night Troy had 10 boards. Schuler is averaging 1 a game this year. Last night there was a play in the first half where Schuler who was playing the 4, got switched defensively to guard the 3 (like player) along the baseline- to his credit he was in position on the block out but the guy he was guarding was too athletic and got an offensive rebound over him and the ensuing possession resulted in a made 3 lfor Weber State. That's a problem- he actually was in the right position but due to limitations couldn't come down with the rebound. Huff rebounds. Schuler, has the ability to head fake, pass fake, shot fake a defender to get them leaning, however right now I think he's doing it to the point of his own detriment. Last night Nash came in at the 4 for Schuler and scored 27 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Nash both realized that despite Bolumboy being bigger, he could attack him repeatedly with speed and quickness and athleticism. That's why they kept Nash on the floor last night. He was getting it done. I hope at the very least Schuler gets some shots to fall and he starts to get his confidence back but this shouting about how he needs to play more- I don't get it. Jamal Webb lost his starting role to Hooker and for a while there was hemorrhagging minutes- for a guy that was accustomed in recent seasons to playing upwards of 35 minutes a game, I'm sure it came as a bit of a shock. But what has he done in recent games? He's played better...and he's playing more minutes. Last night, Nash was playing better, Huff was at the very least rebounding and Anderson was at least on the attack getting multiple defenders to commit. If Schuler really plays well for 5 minutes, he'll get 10. If he plays well for 10 minutes he'll play 20. It's almost if some of you are insinuating that this coaching staff, would not play a player who's playing well even if it's to the teams detriment. I refuse to believe that. I believe they desperately want to win and are going to go with the guys on any given night that they feel will give them the best chance to get it done. Right now Schuler, in recent weeks does not pass the eye test or the numbers test. Again, I'm a huge fan of Josh Schuler, I believe he will get back into the mix. He has too much talent not to. Anderson has shown the ability to bounce back, Webb too, just like Schuler can and I hope will.

Montana moves to 5 and 5 and Montana St falls to 5 and 5 tonight with Montana win over the Cats.

Montana beat Montana State in overtime.

You are correct. This past Friday night was a perfect example, I was east of Moorhead and was able to listen to the Women's Hockey game on WDAY. Years ago when UND had their agreement with KFGO, the only things they ran was Men's Hockey and Football. This year when I've been off working I've heard Volleyball, a number of basketball games and some women's hockey in addition to Men's Hockey and Football. To me WDAY has been a far better partner as far as exposure is concerned. Couple of things to clarify... The Minot and Dickinson markets as well as the Bismarck market are all on Clear Channel stations. I will slightly disagree with you affinity for KNOX. I actually enjoy listening to games in FM Stereo on 96.1 FM and 100.3 FM. I think it sounds good. I'm pretty sure UND now, sells all of their radio as well as builds it's affiliates. I believe they made this change a few years ago, just can't remember when. I guess the only other question I would like to pose is, I know UND has an affiliate in Fargo (WDAY)- I know that some on here are upset that they are upset that Dom Izzo is in love with that team down there. But it is what it is, I can understand why they do what they do because as a business they have to compete in that market and unfortunately they are a story in that market and that would be a stupid business decision to ignore that....but who is the Grand Forks affiliate for NDSU? Do they have one? While we have at the very least a great deal of broadcasts on a Fargo station- what kind of coverage does NDSU get in Grand Forks?

Frustrating to drop a game so close on the road. The "Schuler" issue- yes, he should shot it,continued forward and dropped it off, not throwin back, but there were a lot of people unaware of the time on that play, and to be honest the way we played defense and turned it over at times, it seemed that we had some guys either just having a bad game, or didn't prep well enough or not paying attention. The second "Schuler" issue- playing the 4. Should it have mattered? tonight the other teams 4, was the same size. We've just been on a 4 game winninng streak, wasn't he playing the 4 during those games. Honestly, why we worried about that? Does that effect his shooting? The reality right now is that he is not playing well right now. That can happen. He is not shooting a good percentage right now. Can he turn it around? I believe and hope he can, but think it has less to do with him playing the "4" and more to do with he's simply strugggling. Anderson, has had some stinkers this year. Recently, he's played better. Tonight was not one of his better games, but just about everyone had a few plays and or sequence of plays where they weren't very good...and it's sad to say thats all it takes to drop a game on the road. Moving forward it looks like we definitely need at least 1 next week- bare minimum- but now will have to sweep the Montana's when they come to Grand Forks. It doesn't look like too many teams are going to leave Greeley, Portland or for that matter Sacramento with wins this year. Our remaining home schedule takes on extra importance now, and we'll have to try get performances like we got on the road Thursday night at Eastern Washington, to give ouselves even a chance of winning any remaining road games.

There isn't a great player out there that doesn't take a few bad shots every game. Sometimes those shots go in and everyone cheers...and they are remembered as being good shots.

Well Montana gets dropped at EWash tonight and Weber falls to Northern Colorado...UNC might just be the league favorite now. NAU must be far better than I thought, but Idaho State was a far better team tonight than what they were last year.

Because the first thing we have to do against pressure is get the ball in...and he is a good decision maker, a good passer with good fakes which gives us the best chance to get the ball in. Get the ball in first, otherwise everything else doesn't matter.

It is an odd situation, I will give you that. I assume he is a professional and handles it that way, but it is different.... That he does UND Football and does an assortment of Moo U Basketball, I find a bit akward- I don't know him personally, but I enjoy his broadcasts of football. It's probably the only time that I can remember since both schools have had their sports on the radio, that there has been a crossover guy. I could be wrong.

I'm sorry I didn't realize that status today had everything to do with low budget, high budget, mid budget? I guess I don't judge things on how much money they have in their wallet or if they are wearing a rolex.

Now that's a hockey song! The nunchuck microphone is a nice touch. It must be custom made for the lead singer.

You got me. How did you know I was in the band? I'm not sure I understand what makes a person qualified to determine what is and is not a hockey song? Do you have to take a class? Get licensed?

This.

Love the song! Great song.

Sure people talk...but is it always accurate or is it gossip and hearsay? Who is to really know? The only people that can tell the facts is the Athletic department of which actions they took and the process they implemented said process and Coach Hardee, who is under no obligation to say any more than he already has.

I think some things will continue to come out, but at the same time, I'm not sure we'll ever get the whole story because even though the institution is public, there still remains employee privacy protection to a certain degree. So UND may only be able to say so much, unless Coach Hardee says something.

I'll go on record and say that I actually really like the song "Get on Your Feet" from Midco. When I hear it. I'm ready for UND Hockey. I've even called Midco and told them great job on the song and that I think they should lead off every broadcast with it. I think of it as an anthem, when I hear it- I know it's time for North Dakota hockey. I'd like Pat back- honestly nothing against Hammer. Contrary to many on here, I think he does well enough. But I'd gotten used to Pat for so many years and always felt he was "our" guy.

This is one time that I think North Dakota's open record laws really don't help the situation, in the hiring a coach of a major sport. Coach's wait until the very end to apply, and I wonder if the media having all that access isn't detrimental to negotiating with a coach when the time comes? I think on these early lists there are maybe 1 or 2 legitimate candidates but I really do agree that we will only see a majority of the prime candidates close to the deadline.

Maybe we're not quite there, yet. But this somewhat reminds me of the old NCC days when a person would really pay attention to other games and teams across the league. Isn't it nice to be back in a meaningful conference again? I think this is great. Hopefully we'll be having to check the games and standings for the Men's and Women's Basketball seasons too.