the green team

Aren't you giving him a little too much credit? Putting him on the 4th line? I was thinking a more accurate description would be A Heathly Scratch, who talks a big game, but doesn't have what it takes to make the line up card.

The entire tournament was decided by eleven total points in all games last year. In the 3 North Dakota games last season the total margin of victory was 4. It's tournament basketball. Physically, its whatever you have left at the end of a long season campaign. But more mental toughness to not get rattled by a run or know how valuable each possesion is in late game situations. But your right, in today's only men's game it was another close one.

Two more entertaining finishes last night with Western Kentucky- firing their coach midway through their season winning 4 games in 4 days and beating North Texas to get to the tournament. ESPN had a great stat last night on just how many times a Sunbelt team has managed to win in the opening round of the tournament. Don't count out the Toppers despite their record. How about Western Illinois? They nearly pulled it off in that hostile atmosphere. Congrats to the Jacks. Hopefully, that can be our fanbase running onto the floor dancing sometime soon. I think we all found out that WIU was a pretty good basketball team this year. They don't care if they miss shots, they don't even try to rebound misses. As long as they use most of the clock that works for them and then they go defend and defend they do...and it nearly worked for them again. If the Jacks can get to the tournament, we can too someday...but we have to get better.

I have to say last night was a perfect example of why I love this time of year and my wife loathes it. Just kiddin hon- sort of. As I am passionate about the game of basketball. Last night was a perfect example of what I love about this time of year. I turn to one channel- and watch Western Illinois yet again, surprise another team and beat Oral Roberts. Then I flip and watch the pro-ranks and see the Twolves (yes, the Twolves) play a very entertaining game with the CP3, Blake Griffinized Clippers and beat them yet again this season. (that's just crazy-right?) Then I'm over watching ESPN in which it is an absolute slugfest for the West Coast Conference title between 2 teams that could make some noise in The Dance this year with Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Neither team gave one inch. It goes to OT. Then while your watching that you flip between that & ESPN 2 where the darling of a few years ago Davidson, had become the Big Bad Wolf, as they are in a double overtime thriller with Western Carolina, a darling, trying to sneak their way in and are just making play after play, with the winner going to the tournament- unfortunately their slipper shattered at the end, but it doesn't take away from the pure joy of what I was witnessing. And if you had time- you saw Wolters from SDSU literally put it in overdrive to put the Jacks in the Summit final v. WIU. What a night! and we haven't even made it to the Big Dance yet. This is why I'm glad UND has gone D1. There's always a chance for that "One shining moment" And I for one will be sure to be watching when it happens.

Have you ever tried to recruit at the D1 level? Everyone is trying to get impact bigs out of the JUCO's. It will be a battle. Do you really think that we are not trying to get impact Bigs as we speak. My goodness you seem to imply that our coaches never leave GF. Uh, I have a pretty good feeling that they are crisscrossing the country trying to find that guy or guys. They seem to be a passionate bunch on trying to find players who can make this team better. One would have to be pretty dense to think that after having gone through the entire pain of the D1 transition only to get content and then just shrug your shoulders and go "well we're good where we're at" Besides- please also consider... a little bird told me that, we had the inside track on a 6'9-10 JUCO who was an impact player- unfortunately he has since backed off on his interest...because as it was told to me. Another school from the Big Sky gave the impression to the young guy that there was no guarantee that he would have a chance to compete for the NCAA for both years, because there was no guarantee that UND would remain in the Big Sky. (yes, the nickname issue) If that is true...then that is not good. It means that indeed other schools are indeed using it as ammunition in the current recruiting battles. Do we really need to be having to climb that mountain as well?

There are some small schools involved. Maybe not to the degree of Epping. But still plenty small. Grenora had 26 students enrolled this year, but they're still waiting for the next Hunter Berg to come along- so I don't think there going to qualify for some time yet. But Berthold has only 86 students and Divide Co. 96--those are plenty small in my book. And they are in the tournament, so I'm puzzled as to why you choose Big Beulah? Just Kidding . Actually I see that Beulah is in the low 200's for 9-12 enrollment- they used to be at least 100 students or so more 15-20 years ago. What's with the decline in enrollment there?

I'd just like to take the time to welcome all the teams and fans to Grand Forks. We hope they have a great time at the tournament. Unfortunately, I believe Mr Schnepf who writes for Forum Co. had it wrong- His article today says the last time it was here it was 71 when Wyndmere won it. He equates that to 31 years ago. I'm not great at math....but isn't that 40 plus years ago? I'm looking forward to the B being here. I used to go all the time, and haven't had a chance in over a decade. But I intend to take in some games this week. I'm going to try duck out of work tomorrow afternoon so I can watch the Grafton/NorthStar game. I think it has the potential to be a good one. Again, for those of us in Grand Forks- we are going to see a lot of people hopefully from out of town. Let's try make them feel welcome and that we are happy to have the Crown Jewel of State Tournaments within our city. Go out and support it if you have time. Adopt a school to cheer for if you would like. Just think of this... Grafton Spoiled GFRR's hockey game win streak here in GF last weekend, wouldn't it be quite a story if they spoiled another long winning streak only a week later in a different sport- but in the same city. Should be a lot of fun!

Having missed the home game on Saturday, I haven't had a lot to say. First, great game by this team. UTPA, to be honest, I think looks like a decent team, unfortunately for them we avalanched them early and often. Which is nice to see for a change. Of note. Jamal Webb, is just the kind of player I love, because you can honestly see that it's always about "WE" and not about "ME" when he plays the game. Last night he nearly earned a triple double- he even had a blocked shot. Way to go Jamal! Fantastic Game. Also, this will get lost in the win, but Brekke, made 3 great decisions with the ball that led to 3 assists in the first half...yes when he gets the ball down low I want him to score, but it was good to see him use vision to find the open man. Antwi, you can tell this was just a young man looking for confidence, try to get acclimated to the college game. It looks like he's starting to get there, and he is a nice addition to this team. I think the more confident he gets, watch out, because I feel he can really shoot it. Now to the point about Huff, I've tried to defend the young man on here. Because I believe everyone deserves a chance and college players don't deserve to have constant criticism to be rained down on them. But what I saw last night was truly disappointing. His behavior would indicate that he has not matured one bit. And that is a sad thing. One of the things that college sports should provide is people development...and I think for the most part all of our players are maturing as people while here. This incident, would indicate that he just refuses to mature. I thought the NDSU game where he may have sacrificed some offense by playing outstanding D- was an indication that he was starting to get it-- and he realized he could contribute in every game- not just as a scorer- but be a factor in different facets if his shot was not falling, and I thought that was a sign of maturity. I guess consider me fooled. Because after seeing what I saw last night. It would appear that he has grown up very little...and this is the tail end of his sophmore year. That is hard to understand. I hope that he doesn't transfer, but I also hope that he decides to handle things in a more positive manner, and accepts that he is part of a team, and that W's are far more important than how many points or dunks he has. This is what growing up is all about. Lets face it, at least last night- we were better as a collective unit with him off the floor. And considering what I mentioned above, he may be oblivious to that. If he isn't and he actually realizes it, maybe that opens his eyes a little bit- and he finally starts to grow as the player we all feel that he can truly be.

Having not seen any of the games on the road except 1 in person, and 1 on tv. I can't say that I have the whole picture. Frustration has got to be the word of the day right now, it's quite evident here. I would be shocked if the players and coaches are also frustrated. I am also frustrated. The one thing I look at is that we've been in position to win road games at the half this season. That means the team is being put in a position by the staff going into games to win. The disconnect is happening in the 2nd half of most of these losses. That I have to unfortunately put at the feet of the players. They have to be the ones to accept the responsibility of going out and collecting a win. They've obviously been given the tools to put themselves into position. At the break, nothing changes I believe they have to be the ones to go get the W in the 2nd half. Defensive breakdowns is on the players, offensive execution and making shots- from what I see and hear they are getting good looks...that's again on the players. I guess what did you expect our road record to really be during these trasitional years? Honestly? I knew it was going to putrid. Listen when you talk about the ridiculously stupid amount of time they spent on the road. They certainly didn't have the necessary talent to compete very well coming out of D2 into the first few years of D1 transition. Look at this year. All but one game was played on the road in December...does that seem normal? No. As a lower end D1, in a legit conference you may have a few more road games to home games in a month but not 6-7 or 8 to 1. That's just silly. Doesn't excuse they're road record this year as they are more than capable to beat Sac St., UMKC, The 2 recent Texas Schools...but they didn't. I will say this that Idaho St. has really gotten their stuff together since they've gotten the win at home against us. Last I looked they were near .500 in the Sky and nearing a top half position. That brings up my other point... What do we really know about our opponents and how good they are? Honestly, do we know that Chicago State's record is absolutely horrible, but they have played all sorts of major D1's so they can make their athletic budget. So for 15 games or so to start the season Chicago State serves as a pound toy for all sorts of teams. How can you evaluate that team...by record, I think not? Or even UMKC, they had Oral Roberts who has yet to lose in The Summit...dead to rights. and yet peed it down their legs like we do so often on the road. So if UMKC is capable of nearly knocking off a Oral Roberts...are they also not only capable but worthy of beating us? It proves the whole point is that I don't know if we have a whole lot of respect for opponents of D1, because we have a limited track record of following and understanding those teams. The whole point is...at the this level of D1, if you are just slightly off your game- especially on the road, it's over, you've got no chance. And you have to expect that you are going to get homered by the officials from time to time too. I say that, because look at the Great West Conference. There are no regular conference officials, no grading- no responsibility. These guys are just contracted out. If you're in a league like the Sky, my understanding is you see regular officials. I think in that scenario, the system works better. Finally, about attacking Huff for the shots he takes. There is some validity to that criticism and there is some going overboard. If he doesn't make those early 3's against Utah Valley, we probably aren't even there with a chance to win late in that one. So it goes both ways. In fact to point out just how silly this is... I'm going to make some outlandish criticisms of my own. Aaron Anderson was 2-10 from the field against UTPA and only 4-15 for the weekend in Texas. He should never shoot again. In fact I also claim that because he is so much poorer from the FT line from last year to this year that he should stop driving and drawing fouls because he's not converting from the line at a high enough clip. Patrick Mitchell, shouldn't shoot 3's anymore. What's he at 35% for the season? That's embarrassing low for a proclaimed shooter who is a senior. It's the senior year, if your not at 40-45% and that's supposed to be your shot. You shouldn't shoot it. It's a waste. If Huff shouldn't shoot it cause he's bad- then Mitchell shouldn't either because he's suppose to be good and the numbers reflect he's been mostly bad. Do you see the absurdity of it all. It's pointless really to debate stuff like that. My only observation of the team is this. When a player misses a shot on this team- whether it be Huff, Mitchell, etc...they allow that miss to eat at them far easier than it seems players for other teams. Then the whole situation compounds itself and we go for 6 minute stretches without a field goal. Even if we are playing good D during that period, that's too much to ask of it. They have got to embrace getting mentally tougher. To be honest, when I watch us play- we have been put in positions to win by this staff- and it's evidident in wins over pretty good teams like Montana, SDSU, and NDSU. But I believe some players have got to get out of their heads during times of adversity (missed shots, foul trouble...) buck up and tough it out for wins. Well this went. way way too long. Let's get 2 Wins this week.

Why are you only naming Huff in this. Why not name Schuler, Anderson, or Webb as well. Just seems a little strange. What's your angle there? Why not talk about the times when Mitchell has jacked up a 3 way too early in a posession. Isn't that as much as a forced shot as you seem to be talking about? They all have forced shots at times this season. Maybe Huff has a bit more at times, but I think he's learning. I've been impressed especially of late with what he has done to committing more to defense and to looking to make a pass. That's a sign that a player is growing. In fact, I think they are all learning & growing. Look how much more Mitchell looked to score recently for 5 to 15 feet on turnarounds. (and he's been effective doing it) Nearly as much as he was looking for the 3. Again the point is they all need to continue to get better in recognizing things. But I think-- with what I see with this team...they are. In today's D1 game what's the number of 3's a team should look to shoot in a game? Honestly, I don't have an answer for this, I'm just wondering. Personally, I think if we get up about 15 to 20 attempts of 3's per game... that's me personally is close to the right amount- not sure if that is a good number or not. Over 20 seems too many, under 15 and we're probably under utilizing that scoring area. I saw we shot 18 v. NJIT, only 8 at Utah Valley, 14 v. NDSU, 13 v. VCSU---of which we made only 2. Against Montana we took 12- made 5 and won. Against SDSU at The Betty, we took 19 made 9 and won. But in losses at Sac State and W. Illinois we took 26 and 15 respectively and lost. Just curious how many 3's should this team attempt per game, to be at it's most effective?

Really, you want to have a guy that is directly underneath the basket and swing it out to a shooter? Listen our perimeter shooting has been sketchy this season at best. Yes, the reality right now is that t much of the team and especially Huff right now are not getting their close shots to go in. Don't know why, I sure wish there was an answer. But the reality is, it's a close shot and if you looked at ones that were missed in the last 2 home games-- most were not that tough of shots- they just missed them. Why would you want to increase the degree of difficulty by taking a shot farther away from the basket? The solution is for our guys to make the bunnies. Not start throwin it out every time we get close to the basket. There are times that a drive and a pass does work...and you know what I'm seeing more of that now- especially these last few games. But let's not be passing it out for passing it out sake. The reality is we have to make the bunnies...most that I've seen missed were by far the right shot and were makeable. The last thing I would ever want to do is to dissuade guys like Anderson, Webb, Huff and even Schuler from driving and taking shots. Those opportunities get the opposing team in foul trouble, and we need to do that.

I believe the reason that Antwi is getting playing time is that when he has come off the bench in the last 5 games he has been a good defender- first and foremost. And yes his FG% for the season is nothing to write home about but since he played against Valley State- he's been fairly efficient with the shots he's taken... VCSU- 2-4 NDSU- 0-0 Utah Valley- 1-1 NJIT- 1-2 Chi St- 1-3 Not the end of the world type stuff- as you allude to- especially recently. We have plenty of guys that can score, I believe as that young guy gains more confidence he will evolve into a more balanced scorer than say Haugen.. as I think he has the potential to hit the outside shot as he has shown just a fraction more in recent games and also, get to the basket a little bit. I like Haugen, but this situation of Haugen needing to play more than Antwi to me is one that probably the coaches have the best information of practice and recent performances to make the best decisions.

Correction looking at the stats, Lenny already hit one this season. I don't remember where that was... but I guess good job Lenny for hitting your second 3 of the season.

A quick note on the roster. It was reported on the pre-game show last night on the radio, that UND will be without the services of Spencer Goodman. He will have to yet again undergo surgery on his shoulder- same injury and will be recovering for a period of roughly 6 months. That's a bummer. I've always liked Goodman. Here's to a speedy recovery. Also, to note Lenny Antwi, hit his 1st 3 last night in a white and green uniform. Good to see him get some confidence.. here's hoping there are many more in his future.

Wow! what a night for North Dakota. In order for this to be to really have the old rivalry feel to it, I felt that it was important for us to win either this one or one in the very near future, as it serves notice to fans on both sides that in game between the schools anything can and usually does happen. I've seen this game played many times and for those who say the game was not well played- maybe so, but that often happens in rivalry games. Players are so amped up, so determined to stop the other team that it often evolves down to survival. This wasn't the first UND-NDSU game like that and it certainly won't be the last. Player wise- obviously Brekke had the most points and was simply awesome- but I really hope we as fans don't overlook some things here. Huff, before being going out with what I believe to be cramps was tremendous on the defensive end in the first half. They matched him up on NDSU's leading score Braun and let him go to work and by goodness- he did a heck of a job & In fact I believe that the incident between Braun & Mitchell was in part frustration by Braun, because he was their leading scorer and he for the entire first half was shut down...due in large part to Huff's effort. Jamal Webb, 3 points oh well, he just found ways to do it other ways didn't he? Early he made some absolute great deliveries to get Brekket the ball. He finished 5 assists to 1 turnover- 3 steals and 5 rebounds. You want to talk about a player that is never worried about how many points he has, but only looks at what he has to do to get the win...put up his picture. He is that guy. Plus when he had to guard Alexander who is a very good ball player- he made that guy work for everything. Overall just really well done. Now onto other observations. Officiating, really NDSU fans really want to go there. I'll give you that North Dakota won the foul disparity battle in the first half like something 9 to 5 but at one point in the 2nd half it was 7 fouls against UND and 2 against NDSU. In fact with about a minute to play- NDSU still had fouls to give just to get UND to the bonus. Let it go. Our students. Yes Basketball can be fun can't it? Thanks for being there. Hopefully you discovered something and will continue to come out to more games. Hey it's ok to boo the other team when they take the court. Maybe I missed it, but every time our team came out of the tunnel last year and onto the floor of the FargoDome it rained down boos upon them. I didn't hear much when they came onto the court, it's almost as if our student body doesn't know what to do at times because they never have come out in mass to a game recently- meaning the the last 5 to 9 years. Keep coming develop your traditions. Loved the Ron Burgandy Head- how does it relate to Sioux basketball- doesn't matter- hilarious. When leaving the Ralph I flipped between the Post-Game Shows on the radio-on the other guys post-game, needless to say I was a little disappointed. Scott Miller was fine- in fact he does a good job. But the guy with him was going on and on about how this game has to mean more to UND-this is their Super Bowl blah blah blah. "Their fans ran onto the floor" kind of tongue in cheek way of not giving credit basically. Same excuses that many of the fans at mooville dot com are using. Don't you realize that just makes you look small? So I flip over to our guy- and he's certainly having a great time with the win, can't deny that- but at the same time he pauses and says, NDSU battled and played hard- and will most likely do very well going forward. Didn't diminish anything at all I guess it's easy to be gracious in victory, but at the same time I remember last year after the loss, he went onto say afterwards what a good team they were, and how they made good adjustments etc... To me it's just night and day how they handle their tough times compared to us- even their color guy can't even just man up and tip his cap. Just... come on man All in all just a great night. The wife said this morning I slept all night with a smile on my face. Hey Hey...I know where you guys are going to go with that phrase-but just remember--- I'm married. That means that only happens on birthday's and anniversaries and that's only if I've been good that year. It's Utah Valley next- and their not messing around. They are a good team. Should be a great match up Saturday.

I guess I hadn't followed this thread in awhile. Very disappoining to hear poison instead of being grateful. I don't know if there are employees or owners, or families of employees who view conversations here from Dahlstrom Motors or PS Doors. But let me be the first to say, and I don't think I'm alone in this. I appreciate your support of UND Sports especially UND TV and Radio broadcasts, because I realize that without you both making a commitment to do so, we may not be so fortunate to have the ability to watch and hear our favorite teams play. Both, companies are local and successful and have been important anchors of our region for a long time. Actually, believe it or not Ole- PS Doors is a national company from the standpoint they do business all over the country, they just happen to be based here. Again, I have been a customer of both and have been completely satisfied with the service they have provided, and I am thankful when they choose to re-invest those dollars in marketing their businesses, that they choose to do so here and with the sports programs I love to follow. Thanks again Dahlstrom Motors & PS Doors- specifically the both of you since you unfortuanately specifically targeted here, but to all the businesses that choose to utilize FSSN as an avenue of your marketing. I appreciate it.

I was thinking about some of the other things I heard following the game last night. One thing Coach Jones alluded to was how important and good it was going to be to be able to have a stretch of days to get into the gym and practice. I was thinking and hoping there is a lot to that, because if you look at our best performance of the year it was when we actually got to be home for a stretch of 3 or 4 days and were able to have practices- and that was against South Dakota State. Which I think we can all agree- the team was operating at a special level that night. As Coach has mentioned multiple times on the Coaches Show and during interviews one of the toughest things about December is that they would maybe get one practice and have to pack the next day and hit the road. If the lead up to SDSU was any indicator, the team responds well given time to practice. I hope that holds true- as we have a stretch of days to get some practices in before the next game.

Geaux, You know I've always liked you because you're always very reasonable and really a true and dedicated fan. But I think they shot 48.5% from the field- I would say that's pretty close to 50% which I will take with this team at home. Yes, need to shoot the 3 better. That we both can agree on. I do think of the 3 DAC teams we saw, Valley City was by far the best team, and actually it was a game out of the 3 that I thought we were best throughout in. Once we got a double digit lead, I never really felt like we were in danger of giving it up. Yes we missed some layups. That unfortunately is the most worrisome item for me moving forward because that has been a theme the last 3 games. The score would have been different against Kansas if we hadn't blown 8+ layups and it would have been different against New Mexico as well. Knowing what I heard from the broadcast, with Goodman out again, Schuler & Huff really just merely shells of themselves having been sick all the way to the lead up to the game. I could really tell, Schuler had not been feeling well as it seemed like he was having a hard time getting his legs into his shot, and I felt it was evident with Huff too early, as he almost seemed like he was out of it. I would say we played ok. Not great but ok. I think the most important thing that will help us is just getting the guys healthy and feeling 100%. I think that will go a long way to making our performances better. I guess we agree for the most part yet again-except the 50% part where 48.5% is close enough for me. Of course I was always the one in school hoping they graded on a curve Geaux Sioux! Finally, a note about last night in the 2nd Half that sequence of Webb, to Huff & Huff to Brekke for the transition dunk was awesome. That was good unselfish basketball shown by Troy. Hopefully, it's a sign he's maturing. The Webb to Mitchell alley oop play was really spectacular as well. If anything a person definitely can't say they don't get their money's worth when they come out to The Betty. Those plays right there made it worth my price of admission.

You may not understand the coaching, but again that's why I listen to the Coach's interviews. First thing after saying that both Huff & Schuler had gotten sick with this illness that seems to going around when they got back from New Mexico and that they weren't 100%, probably played a large role in how many minutes they were going to get. They had use the bench personel. I'm still fighting off a month long cold, I wish someone was able to give minutes for me, as I know I'm not 100%. Also, Coach Jones also pointed out during his post-game comments because he was specifically asked about Antwi's playing time, and he said "that Antwi, had 2 very good days of practice coming into the game and had earned that time." To be honest with the way he played last night, he took advantage of the time he was given. He played well. You see, there is the things we don't see, You or I, never are at practices we never get to see the players earning minutes. Secondly about the game suspension earlier in the season for Antwi and Gentry. I don't know what it was for, but young players make mistakes and then the staff set out the repercussions and then you move on. You don't hold it over the head of the player for rest of the year or his entire career. Do you? The most important thing is that they learn and become better people. If I let held a grudge against my kids because they were horsing around and broke something in the house- and then I was mad for the year or the rest of their lives. I don't think life would be very easy. Was I mad at the time...yes. Were they punished at the time...you better believe it. But you hope they learn and we move on as a family. I like Haugen good kid, nice player. But I don't think we know what the staff sees in their day to day evaluations to dictate who gets playing time. Secondly, Antwi didn't disappoint last night hopefully he'll gain a little more confidence now- which I think is a big factor for him. You could tell he was getting more confident as he hit a 3 then a short time later as he took a shot a little too quickly in the offense. He came off and heard about it and hopefully learned. Isn't that suppose to be the way it works?

You obviously haven't been over to the Hyslop in quite some time. I have- kids swimming. There are no longer bleachers in the arena. There is still the upper level stands. Because that's concrete- but the old bleachers that used to come down to form up around the floor- have been long since gone.

Why? It's not as if you play every single one of the teams during the regular season or playoffs to have to win the National Championship in FCS football. Reality is when the season begins only 15 to 25 teams at most have a legitimate chance at an FCS title. Even though there are less D1 hockey teams- there's problem 15 or so that could win a national championship at the start of the year. But again, you don't have to play every single team so just because there's more- 120 FCS schools doesn't make it any harder. Yes if you had to play every single one to win the championship-then yes...it would be definitively harder- but you don't. That's got to be Ag School reasoning on this. In FCS playoffs- you can receive a bye, and home field advantage. None of those are available once the D1 hockey playoffs begin. Those that argue that because they don't play D1 hockey in Florida or Texas is a reason to diminish hockey championships. Well the FCS doesn't have schools in a lot of places either. Let's face it- both are difficult to win. There is no adequate way to settle the argument of which championship is more difficult to attain or who has the right to be prouder of their championship. We'll be proud of our championships. You be proud of yours.

I don't think it's any surprise that NDSU should be favored. They have earned it with their consistent play. I would think in a rivalry on your home floor you always have a chance. Only this isn't on our home floor. It's on a neutral floor. That gives a far more significant edge to our southern neighbors, unfortunately. I was told that we get 1 practice in thee before game day. The reason this concerns me is we really haven't shot the ball well to begin with this year, but the few times we have has been in the Betty. This is not shooting in the Betty and with limited time to work in there, it's going to take a minor miracle for us to get comfortable shooting in that cavern. The point should be made that NDSU hasn't shot in there either. But it would be nice to have that home-court advantage in regards to our shooting. I'm pegging attendance at about 7500 and I hope there would be over 6000 lunatic Sioux fans in attendance to help make up the difference.

It's just one of those fluke things, you add those to injuries and everything else- it not only can mess with what you have to work with in a game- but what a team can do in practice and in their prep. Yes from Wilmer early in the season to Anderson this past weekend, they have not had much luck with health. As my mother always stressed..."wash your hands!"

Also, it seems that Huff seems to be the primary target for strong criticism. I do believe Huff deserves scrutiny at times for some of the shots he takes, he also is not the only person on the team. When the offense has trouble in spurts it's on everyone. Because Huff has made some silly plays, he has also made some ridiculously wonderful plays- We can just hope as he continues to progress in his UND career that he will become better at discerning the time to force it and when not to. I actually believe sometimes he has to force it. He is a scorer and when the team isn't scoring I would want the guy that has the capibility of making a tough basket to try be the guy that gets us going. Now that doesn't mean I want him forcing it all the time and it certainly doesn't mean that I don't want him to get better in the area of shot selection. I'm just trying to point out that he too is growing & maturing, I'm not going to avalanche the young guy with constant criticism. Huff was good at New Mexico- attacking, he even hit from the perimeter. One area that I will definitely find myself at the opposite end of the argument is that many here feel that Troy should stop shooting 3's. I completely disagree. He needs to shoot the 3 sometimes- not a lot- but some, we just need him to start making some, because if he's going to continue to score at the basket, he's going need guys to come out and guard him for the shot. Once he becomes one dimensional, he becomes easier to guard. Actually, of the 3's I've seen him take at home games- very few have been forced (challenged with a hand in his face) he just needs to knock down the 3's when he takes them and when he hits a couple in a game- he's going to have 20 plus points because they will have to come out and guard and then it's green light for the blow by.

To answer your question- yes believe it or not this team has improved. Although, it's hard to say just how much- when it seems that we always are constantly battling players out of the line-up due to injury or illness. They still need to improve a lot more in my eyes. But compared to when they won the post season tournament title last year-- they are better- if only slightly so. It would appear that your expectations of this team are different than mine in that you set your hopes that this team would be at a different level because they won that post-season title. The reality was- they won the GWC post season title- nothing more. But, in my mind- we are improving. We have shown the ability to play with some pretty good basketball teams at HOME. That is a start. I submit- that we would have been stomped even at home previous years & even last year by the likes of SDSU, Montana & Western Illinois(who it appears, is actually a pretty good basketball team this year) So we are getting better. Being able to compete on the road in D1 college basketball is another thing this team will have to learn. But I'm not going to doubt that they won't eventually figure it out- because they are starting to figure out how to play to protect the home floor in big games-there's no reason to suggest that they aren't smart enought to figure out how to get some road wins eventually. I don't get to see every road game- in fact I get to see very few, but from what I gather it seems that no matter who it is...it seems we hang around for a good portion or even lead but always have a bad stretch of 6 to 8 minutes where it all blows up. No offense but that's on the players- whether it's nerves, or focus issues. They've got to be the ones that properly compartmentalize everything and get the job done. Finally, how can you possibly be a good road team when all you do is travel during this D1 transition? I'm sorry but if you look at the month of December and you see just how little time the team got at home to practice. You can see why guys get tired or lose focus. The schedule isn't anything close to normal or balanced as compared to being in a decent conference with at least 8 to 10 schools. In order to get a full schedule of games they have to front load the schedule so much -most of the time with road contests- it quickly becomes survival when you get home from a 4 day road trip and then have 24 hours before having to depart on the next one. Honestly, looking at our December schedule I know I wouldn't be performing at my best level having to slog through all those road trips. It's just a fact of life. Do you remember how sharp you were when you were getting a wake up call at 330am to go to the airport when you were a college student? I can only imagine that it is a challenge at the very minimum. Our women's program to my knowledge has struggled mightily with this over their 5 year transition period too. I really despise excuses, because it appears to be what this is...but if you look at the facts, can you blame us for being crappy on the road. So again, when i see us at home- yes as compared to previous years to me we are improved. Do we have to get better? yes. Do you think our players or staff are satisfied? I imagine no- if you answer yes- then I would be shocked and that would be bad. It appears to me that this D1 transition is beginning to wear on the patience of fans. But what can anyone really expect through this transition when you have periods on the road for a month at time. Look at Minot States D2 transition- they get 5 home games this year- 2 are on the same weekend. The rest of the time they are on the road- & the road is hard especially when you spend prolonged periods on it.