the green team

Not taking credit for this one at all, as our good friend that maintains his own Big Sky Basketball site, has it there. But it sounds like Will Cherry and Keron Deshields from Montana got into trouble a little bit the other night. Not such a big deal for our purposes regarding Cherry, because he's done. But Deshields should be counted upon for them next year. Granted even if there is a game or 2 suspension, it will have been served by the time he gets to conference play. Interesting to see that both Garnica and Ado are leaving Northern Colorado. I though Garnica was a serviceable guard for the Bears. Also, the site says that Brad Huse has gotten an extension at Montana State. I, like Jon, am a little surprised by this as well as I think the fan base has been a little uneasy the last couple of seasons.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130401/pat-haden-ed-obannon-ncaa/

It definitely depends on what side of the issue of how long you think an entity has the rights to your likeness, you come down on. Its a dirty little secret that when you sign all the material when you start school as an athlete, there is one document at the heart of that case that basically says the NCAA owns your likeness in perpetuity. I watch way too much Real Sports with Bryant Gumble. It was an interesting story. It wouldn't surprise me that EA, slowed everything way down because of this, because they may end up being on the hook for paying out to all athletes likeness they used. Past and present. It goes all the way to box cover art etc. I'm sure they want to see this court case play out, because licensing could get real complicated moving forward.

I know that former UCLA Bruin Ed Obannon is leading a class action lawsuit of a number of former college players, who felt that their likenesses were being used well after they were out of college- without receiving compensation. When EA Sports had their March Madness game, you could go back and play as that team and sure enough the player did look like Ed Obannon and others. I'm wondering if that has tempered things for EA, for the time being? At least until all the legalities get worked out.

#2- These schools are the NCAA- they would be creating their own super division- all they would have to do is decide amongst themselves that they want to raise scholarships from 85 to 105 and boom...you have a new Division of NCAA Football, and maybe unfortunately basketball...just what the Big 10 and SEC have always wanted. It really isn't going to take much for schools in the Big Conferences to get behind that idea, even the bottom ones in the conference. I think it's a reality that is coming. Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama etc are growing tired of the Bowling Greens and the Western Kentucky's having any votes that may affect them, in any venue...this is a realistic solution for the Big Schools. Besides they could decide to have 120 Football Scholarships if they wanted. If and when they do this...and they won't have to apologize to anyone to do so. Of course...there is Title 9, but none of those schools fear starting more women's sports, as long as you can corner the market in football talent.

I think all those that omitted the Lamoureax's from post season honors whether it be 1st Team All Conference, Katzmier finalists, etc... should absolutely have their names publicized for purposely omitting the twins and maliciously withholding votes for them for postseason awards. As the World Tournament is proving they are arguably the 2 best players in the world. Of course, we already knew that after seeing just how good they were this season, even when teams were specifically designing their systems to stop them. Unfortunately, I believe they weren't given their due with post season accolades (not that the twins care about individual awards) as it appears that some people hold a grudge against them. It's unfortunately an injustice that can't be rectified- but this current tournament, is once again proving, and removing any doubt that the Lamoureax's are two of the top players in the world.

Having a child who has attended Minnesota, I can tell you that student tickets are far more difficult to get for Men's Basketball than Men's Hockey. I remember buying the student season tickets, they told me at the window that if my kid wanted to go to basketball during the season, they had better get season tix or they my not get in for many games while we could by hockey tickets by the game as they are nearly always available. True story, and even raised my eyebrows. Don't get me wrong hockey is big in Minnesota, but basketball is bigger, as every little town has a basketball team, not all have hockey teams. Certainly, the State High School Hockey tournament has a certain pinache, but when the Gopher basketball team is remotely decent the state really latches on.

I disagree with your team ball assessment in regards to Huff. That may have applied to to him the last couple of years, but not last year. I felt he was a team player. His effort is there and he showed numerous times that he was the one willing to take the shot when it was necessary. Sometimes we have guys that defer those opportunities, you also need guys to take those opportunities and not have regrets- make or miss. Why is it every time you give Huff credit, you at the same time have to qualify it with..."well he needs to be a better team player" or "that's great but he should never shoot a 3 point FG" . Can't we just say congratulations and can't wait until next year. Personally, I thought Huffs performance was leaps and bounds better in regards to "team" play this year. I don't know why any of us should doubt that he's not capable of improving going into next year, just as he did into this year. The record speaks for itself, with and without Huff. Personally, I believe we are way better off with him and you know what, sometimes he will quick shoot or try make play...scorer's do that. If he makes the play, and get's him and his team going "that's to be expected" if that time it doesn't work or he doesn't convert..."he's playing too selfishly, and needs to be more of a team, player" well I don't think you can have it both ways. Scorer's sometimes are selfish, always have been in the game of basketball, doesn't mean he is all the time, and I think this last year proved that he is far less that way than he ever was.

Will Cherry is a great player, but that Defensive player of the Year award this year is on his name, and what he has accomplished in the past. What did he play 15 or 16 games? I'm sorry, to me that doesn't do it to be recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year. Injuries can unfortunately and should have an effect on whether you deserve an award. Again, Will Cherry is a fantastic ball player in The Big Sky, and he's a great defender, but I think you have to play in more than 75% if the conference games to qualify for that award, this season. Oh well what does it matter? I've never liked individual awards all that much anyway so, I don't even know why I'm paying any attention.

This is a very true statement.

This is huge news. You'll be able to hear Hennessy all over the state tonight, and not have to search for other network stations. I think this should help basketball with increasing exposure, because even though they run select games, the games they do run, this offers tremendous reach. Used to be that KFGO had the most powerful signal out of Fargo, KFYR Bismarck- had the biggest signal in the state. Now with WDAY increasing power, they crush KFGO, and they give KFYR a good run now too. I'm glad they are our affiliate, and this great news for UND sports.

Is it odd that the 2 players who quit the team just a few days earlier, were at the game on Saturday? I thought it was different. If you wanted to get away from the program that much, that you quit before the final 2 games. Why show up in the stands of the last home game?

If we play good D, and rebound- that hopefully will give us a chance in a road contest. As a road team, you'll most likely have ups and downs on the offensive end, but if you rebound and play D, it can help stem a few of those cold spells.

Even if Schuler and Brekke return, I'm not sure they're in the kind of game shape where they can be on the floor more than 20 minutes a game. At least right now. Being out for an extended period of time, it doesn't take very long for players to get out of shape. And if reports are correct that Schuler was out due to back problems, I doubt that he was even able to get on a stationary bike during that time. I just hope at least in the short term, he can come back and give us a few minutes here and there. I think sticking him on the court as a starter and asking for 25 plus minutes might be too much of an ask, at least this week. But I hope you are right and they are back this week.

Watch out for Eastern Washington. If they run the table they get to 10 & 10. I thought they had some nice pieces when they were in GF, but also were missing some players due to injury. That Jois has got to be Freshman of the year in the conference...in my book. He had a very indifferent first half against us, but boy was he good in the 2nd. Very talented. Portland State is a weird team to me. They had some nice players, maybe not a lot of cohesion at times. I think they play relatively well at home. Basically, we can't let down against any of these teams in front of us. I actually enjoy playing in a league where you don't get an easy game, even if its against a team from the bottom of the standings. It makes each game intense. Heck, Idaho State has pushed a lot of teams this year. We're not a great match up for them, so we got 2 wins, but they've caused plenty of problems for others.

I just want to go on record, and say that Doug Archer was solid last night. Did a lot of little things. A lot of those seniors sometimes they are maligned for not being of the ability of their junior counterparts but they really do a lot of the little things that make us go in the games that we win. For example just a couple of weeks ago, Allard was having a rough go, and then he has a great sequence in the 2nd half that helps us preserve the win vs Idaho St. I think Wilmer has just been outstanding in what he has given us this year. Reality wise, what more can you really expect from him? I have to admit that I was guilty that the current 5th year seniors were going to be a a super class in talent when they arrived on campus. What we ended up with was a bunch of guys that are willing to do just about anything to make this team work. You need those guys too. I hope we go on a run for these seniors. And I guess if we're going to make a run, they are going to have to provide us the required depth and do those little things in order for us to make a run.

I've never went to a college meet before. That would be fantastic if our facility could host the Big Sky Conference Indoors. I can't remember what size track were they talking about for the new facility? I think a facility like the one that is in the works will not only help a program like football, but nearly all our programs.

The two games I think are legitimate that everyone would like to have back are SDSU and UMKC. You change those results to W's despite a roster that has been in flux for the entire season, due to injuries and other things. We could very nearly have a winning record. The coach's and all the players have really had to work hard for everything this year. I still like Benton, I'm not sure what kind of career he will have here. But if he's allowed to move to a 2 or 3 as his career progresses, he might just have a solid career here at UND. One thing for sure, the kid plays so hard, but then again most of our players do. There have been very few times where effort has been an issue with this team this year. If there is any justice in the world at all we'll get as healthy as we can for upcoming games and next year...no significant injuries.

That's a big win. I think that should be close to getting us in- cause if you look at the other teams remaining schedules they will be hard pressed to get beyond 9 wins. But if we can get to 10 or 11 that will give us a great chance at a #3 seed.

keep the updates coming. We are battling on the road. Far from over, but keep battling.

Northern Colorado was well regarded coming into the season, but struggled. They made some unbelievable shots late here at The Betty, to knock us off. This would be a huge win for us if we could get this game, but they are probably playing their best ball of the season after a tough stretch. It's going to have to be blue collar, an us versus the world type of mentality right now with all the injuries we have. Play great D and score off it, will have to be the formula.

Agree for some reason that team is a tough match up for us. I don't like being too critical but...we need Anderson to take more than 4 shots from the floor. Honestly, I'm not sure where he has been at the last 2 games, but he needs to continue to look for his shot. On the other side- say what you will about Allard, but he had 7 rebounds for us in the first half. All of them big. He needs to come to terms that he's not going to be a scorer from outside, but he's been doing alot of little things, he's a very good screener from the post, he keeps possessions alive with rebounding. He'll go to the floor for you. Despite being undersized he will give up a few baskets but he will play is butt off and make that guy work for his basket. Sac St, has become my least favorite team in the league. I will respect them for not deviating from their system to keep the score down, but it can make the game of basketball a little tough to watch. A win is a win. Biggest game for UND Men's Basketball at home in all long time--- coming up tomorrow. With it being one of the final 2 home games, we could really get to control our own destiny in the seeding with a win.

I see in today's pairwise we are 10th. Unfortunately, we could run the table and still have to win the WCHA tournament to get into the national tournament. When the twins arrived I really never envisioned the team to be in this position during the twins senior season. Shows you what I know of women's hockey, apparently there is more depth around the country than I thought. I can honestly say that when the twins arrived I felt with just by getting 2 players of that caliber, a team would automatically be a top 4 national program. I freely admit how wrong I was.

So my question is, with 12 conference games to go, what will our conference record have to be in order to get the 3 seed in the tournament? I think Weber and Montana will have the top 2 seeds, but i think the key in "imaginary world" is you would like to have the 3 seed-to avoid the host team in the semi's. So what record will we need to get to, to get the 3 seed?

After we beat Idaho State, I thought the ladies were poised to put something together. Unfortunately, it's gone the other way. It's not so much the lack of a full strength Wall, as much as it is ball handeling, and holding on to the ball. It's not not just one player it's good portion of the roster and it can vary, from night to night.