sioux2013

Very nice analysis. They are better than their record and hopefully so are we. We will be so much quicker than them but we must continue to improve on playing unselfish and make the extra pass or otherwise they will outplay us as a team. I predict we will by 4-6 points is all, a real close one throughout.

Belmont beat North Carolina a couple of weeks ago so I'd say Belmont is descent.

Thanks. Had not heard that but makes sense.

Why are there less conference games next year? I thought we are adding another team to the conference so there would be more conference games.

His blog hit the nail right on the head on several issues. First we have no offensive or defensive presence from our post players. They seem totally lost on offense and defense and do not know how to box out. The only player that boxes his *ss off is Schuler and he is about 6" too short down low. Next he mentioned ball movement which in most of our offensive sets when one or several players get the ball there is no longer any movement except to the rim with 2-3 guys guarding that player. With the lack of anything from our post players Jones needs to go with the small team cause in the Big Sky we won't face the size we have so far this year and the 4 guard offense should work just fine cause we have the players and talent to play with anybody in the Big Sky. The outside shooting woes should disappear with Anderson, Stefen and Schuler hopefully taking most of the outside shots. To date we have played the 7th toughest schedule in the nation and have been very competitive for 2/3 of most of the games we just have 4-5 minute lapses in each that destroy us, fix these and we were in every game with no post play.

According to CBS sports our current RPI is 143 and our strength of schedule is the 7th toughest in the nation to date.

We have gotten way off on the topic of UND against Bowling Green. I agree that the line up needs changed due to the inability of our post players to play at either end. Hopefully Jones will change the lineup and start Webb, Anderson, Huff, Schuler and Nash. No way should Calcaterra nor Salmonson start or play unless Nash and Traylor get into foul trouble. I agree with nodak to bring Traylor, Hooker, Benton and Stefen off the bench and basically that's all. Everyone has had their chances to make their marks and it's now time to weed down the lineup and go after the Big Sky title. We have the ability if for once they realize they must play as a team. Again too many shots were taken at Bowling Green with 2-3 defenders on them with shooters wide open. It's a broken record that must be fixed. 2-3 selfish players are hurting this team over and over.

Teamwork. Teamwork. Teamwork. That is still what we need. We are getting dominated underneath and that is the bottom line. Our guards outplayed their guards but when u don't have a big man that can't do anything it makes things difficult. We will be fine in the big sky.

The last part of your statement I do agree with. The coaches and players should know by now what is a good shot for a player and not a good shot. After 4 years they should also know when they are double teamed that a team mate is wide open and find that person. Those are the things that upset me the most and that is the main things this group of seniors have not gotten better at which in turn is why they lose games they should be winning. I keep hoping things will change with some of the players in this group but they are running out of time to make these improvements. Once they decide to drive to the basket it doesn't matter how many guys drop off on them they are shooting. I am not disappointed yet but if this continues thru conference play then we will lose many games that we shouldn't and then I will be disappointed. It's all about the conference and the big dance.

I don't think its been disappointing. we are 2-5 and we were major underdogs against Wisconsin, Oregon, Butler and Pacific. I expected us to lose to all those teams. Losing by 15 to each of those teams is not bad at all because they will beat teams in their highly rated conferences by that margin on their home courts. The only disappointing game so far is against Cal Poly and even in that game we were the underdogs. If we win these last 3 games it is exactly what I expected our record to be thru non conference this year. We run basically a 4 guard offense and that fits very well in the Big Sky but does not fit against these big conference teams. I expect what we have been thru to benefit us in the Big Sky.

I have watched Bowling Green twice on TV this year just to see what kind of team they have knowing we were playing them. They are extremely fast and athletic. They are very long and athletic at the post/forward positions that will give us problems. Don't think they will zone us cause they like to get out and run like us. They are equally as athletic as us and maybe more so and with their ability to score in bunches down low and on their home court this game could be very difficult for us. If we don't finally learn how to hit the open man and if we don't make the extra pass then we are in trouble again, we won't be able to stop them down low. Our shooters will have to be spot on in the game and I believe they are all due.

It doesn't surprise me our record is 2-5 at this point in the season. We have played 2 top 15 teams and Butler is easily a top 25 team here soon. We lost to each by 15-17 points on their own courts which they will beat many teams better than us by those margins. Let's be honest we don't have the talent to beat these kind of teams and may never have those type of players at North Dakota. This team has work to do but games like these will help us thru the Big Sky conference. We just must recognize the double teams and make the extra passes because we still have too many players not wiling to make the extra pass. Hopefully we can straighten up these issues and win these last 3 non conference games. Bowling Green will be a tough game on the road because they are very athletic and will do damage to us on the inside. We should win both our home games after that prior to the first Big Sky game.

Huff is being double teamed everytime he touches it and he needs to find the open man. He is forcing shots. Need to play team ball.

I have watched Butler play a couple of times on TV and even though they are not ranked they should be. They are solid at every position and play together extremely well. On their home court this game could get ugly for us unless we take good shots and are hitting our shots. Outside Montana and Weber this will be our last extremely tough road game. We still have a good shot at finishing our non league schedule at 5-5 and with the competition we have face I'd say that would be very good. In fact, it will be the best I believe Jones has had in the D1 era. I expect us to go around 13-5 to 14-4 in league play this year from last years 10-8 record.

I agree 100%. Get the ball in the middle of the defense and make the defense converge and the find the wide open guy. I would put either Huff or Schuler in the middle cause Huff from that position can get to the rim and Schuler will make the correct pass or have a wide open 15' shot that he will easily make.

One good note from tonight was Webb's scoring but his 5 turnovers were not good. Of course I think all of his points were against man to man defense.

I also think playing Huff, Nash and Anderson for 37+ minutes last night had a huge impact in the 2nd half tonight. Huff and Nash especially looked totally spent in the 2nd half, they could not move on defense and looked like their legs where gone. That was a huge mistake last night. Our defense is also horrible right now. However, we do have time to fix things and missing Schuler was huge against all the zones with his shots and he is very calm and composed on the court.

There are guys shooting three's that should not at this point. Yes they started the year good but in the last 3 games it's not working and Coach Jones the way to beat a zone is penetrate thru the initial line and kick it. We are still setting high screens like they are running man to man. It's not working. I am positive teams will zone us and why shouldn't they, we are killing teams when they play us man to man and getting destroyed when they zone. Oh well we have this week to work on it hopefully with a full team and against Butler we will be a huge underdog.

We don't know how to attack or score against a zone. Zones are killing this team and if they don't figure it out every team will zone us.

You definately nailed a few points. When Webb or the point guard has the ball we stick say Anderson and Schuler in the corners. The post comes out high to set the screen for the point and the first option is pick and roll for the post, if that doesn't happen the point is to penetrate and draw either corner defender which then leaves a shooter wide open for a pass so he can shoot or penetrate in. I dont dislike this offense cause it creates alot of defensive problems and double teams but we do not find the open guys. It's been this way for 4 years with these guys. Anderson many times gets a screen from say Schuler and Anderson is immediately double teamed and never passes back to the wide open Schuler, Antwi, or whoever else it is. These guys are not smart with a double/triple teams at all. With Nash and this bench we should easily compete for the Big Sky and NCAA bid but not if we don't start playing smart and playing unselfish. I believe we have the most athletic team in the Big Sky but just because of this doesn't mean anything if the chemistry is not there. Go Sioux

Huff is no doubt our best player but when he is taking 25 shots and 10 free throws we r not going to win. He is a captain and needs to get everyone involved because everytime he know touches the ball 2 and 3 defenders are collapsing on him and it will continue until he passes and realize others can shoot as good as him. Anderson does the same thing when he is not scoring and tries to get his points. Too many players are wide open when our guards penetrate. We are good but can really take it to the next level if players were alittle more un selfish.

Mild concussion last week during practice. He should be good to go next week when the team travels to his home state. He is definately missed this weekend with both opponents zoning us.

I can easily accept a 15 point loss on the road to the number 14th ranked team in the country. We were short a key shooter which could have helped our ice cold shooting from 3. What i don't like is only 8 assists so again not much passing. Too be successful our key players need to get other players involved cause if they never pass the ball we will be so easy to defend once Big Sky play begins. Huff is playing well and such a weapon but only 3 assists in 5 games is not good. The more he gets players involved the better we will be. Hopefully our touch shows up tomorrow and we can get a win in this tourney.

I would like to see Hooker play more like a point guard and maybe shoot less. It seems he looks for his shot more and more and less for the open guy here lately. Obviously we don't like shooting in the place. Really missing Schuler these games.

Shooting poorly early and down 16-7.