sioux2013

Sometimes I just have to agree with you and this is one of them. The 5 returning juniors have won 2 championships and played alot of minutes and been thru alot. This experience alone they should understand what needs to be done and what improvements they must make. Now bring in the 2 JUCO players and the transfer to fill the gaps that have been needed for the last 2 years and we definately have something special going on. I'm not sure on the dancing part but it is definately a possibility and would be a great story. Montana and Weber will be extremely difficult to unseed in this conference and we must win the road also. The following year yes. I am also looking forward and excited for this year and beyound.

Excellent post. 5 average players playing as 1 will generally beat 5 great players playing as individuals. We will be very solid no matter what happens with the addition of the new players and the experience and talent of the 5 soon to be juniors.

Agree 100%. In fact our second team could look like this. Antwi at the 1, Schuler at the 2, Nash at the 3, Traylor or Allard at the 4 and Salmonson at the 5. This team can give the starters all they want and even possibly beat them. Depth will not be an issue at all this year. It will be a difficult task for the coaches to make everyone happy with playing time. Should be interesting.

I believe the difference between this upcoming year and the past couple of years is we will now have solid backups in every position. If a player gets out of control it will be very easy for the coaches to go to the bench and bring in someone just as talented as the starters. This is a luxory we have not had. Once this starts happening the message will clearly be sent to the player as he sits on the bench and watches the others play as a team.

Aviation is a great reason to come to UND, but his basketball numbers do not look very good. We dont have any scholarships for next year, unless someone else is leaving the program we dont know about and we will only have 3 scholarships available the following year and I dont see him playing much at all that year either. His numbers last year were 32% fg and only 20% from 3 and 67% from the line and only 8 assists and 18 turnovers. He was 10th in minutes on a team that was not very good, winning only 10 games. I would hope one of our 3 scholarships after next year would go to somebody better. Maybe he will just be a 2 year walk-on. Maybe he will turn out fine and I hope I am wrong but now being in the Big Sky we need to build and recruit players better than what we got and I dont see this with him. He scored 2 pts against us in 2 games.

The old floor's lettering faced the exact same direction for both sides. " Betty Engelstad" was in the upper left hand corner and the "Sioux Center" was in the lower right hand corner facing the press box and tv camera's. It is strange being that both sides say the same thing that it faces the same direction on the new floor.

Agree. I am really optomistic about the team we will have the next 2 years but at the same time concerned what happens after that. It seems like a huge hole to fill after this class graduates but I'm sure it can be done with some JUCO players and new high school players. It will have to be a strong mix of the 2.

2013-2014 and 2014-15 we will have alot of available scholarships. If my math is correct we will need to fill 11 of our 13 scholarhips in these 2 years.

I think Traylor looks the best. I know Shaw comes from a bigger program in Texas Tech but his numbers are not that great. I believe Traylor with is size is going to be a beast underneath. We no doubt got what we needed and I'm sure all will contribute in a big way and push us towards the top of the Big Sky.

Ok, what I should have said is from the 2 spot you need someone that shoots well from the outside, looks for the open man because he is a guard and thats his responsibility and does not turn the ball over alot (good assist to turnover ratio). Anderson shoots the ball very well, takes good shots and in his career has 157 assists and 108 turnovers (not bad) and stays under control. Huff has 99 assists and 151 turnovers for his career and we all know he gets out of control alot and cant shoot consistantly from beyound 5'. All I was saying to your comment about Huff playing the 2 is that he is not a 2 in anyway shape or form compared to Anderson. Yes he does make some nice passes at times but actually should make more passes at other times. Huff is a very sold 3. Nothing negative towards him he is just a 3 or 4. You have a very solid 2 in Anderson, Schuler and Antwi( if he is not playing the point). It will be very interesting what shakes out with the lineups but this Texas Tech transfer and Traylor obviously cant shoot from the outside and we are used to the 4 shooting from the outside as well as inside (Mitchell). None of the new players made a three last year so our guards will probably take more threes than the last 3-4 years or we attack more inside with all the bigs. Like I said we are very solid now in every position with starters and backups and the coaches will have a hard time finding enough playing time for all these players. Not sure where Allard and Benton fit in know and it looks as if Wilmer and Archers are way on the outside looking in. It will be a very interesting and exciting first year in the Big Sky.

Just checked Nash's stats from last year. Shot 50% from the field, 27% from the line and only had 2 assists and 20 turnovers. With only 2 assists and 20 turnovers he would appear he should be a 4 or 5. Doesn't appear he likes to pass. Hope he plays team ball cause thats what we need. Time will tell. If he gets approval to play next year we will have 8 scholarship players in the same class. OUCH

I figure Traylor will start and no way Huff plays the 2. Huff has proven not to be a good outside shooter and thats what you need at the 2. Plus at the 2 you need a great ball handler and passer. Again this is not Huff's strength. This Texas Tech transfer shot under 30% from the line and no threes made so its obvious he cant shoot from the outside either. There will definately be a bottle neck at the 4 and 5 spots. Good problem to have entering the Big Sky. Maybe this Texas Tech transfer will play the 3 behind Huff. Not trying to start anything but Anderson is definately solid at the 2 spot. You made the comment about next year not me. Just my opinion that you dont like.

No way Anderson would sit. We brought in 3 bigs so I dont understand why you would mention Anderson. One of the JUCO bigs I would think would start at the 4 and the other 2 new bigs back up the 4 and 5 along with Allard. That leaves Webb, Anderson, Huff and Brekke the other starters with Schuler and Antwi backing up the 1,2, 3 positions. Sounds really strong lineup and supporting cast to me. I also heard Haugen is done playing for UND, nothing official but have heard this.

Last year he was under control and took good shots and his shooting percentages for a guard were off the charts. He also had a great assist to turnover ratio. So, looking back at last year I would say yes. However, if Huff plays under control and plays team basketball he should be the MVP of this team. He brings athletism that is tops and excitement to this team. His attitude toward this team and players must change and involve into a bigger leadership role not only as a scorer but a player the others look up to. This has not happened yet but hopefully he will. So in short, Huff should be the MVP of this team the next couple of years but last year is was indeed Anderson.

Everyone will need to step it up big time not just the ones you mentioned. Players will need to understand what a good shot is for them and work the ball on offense until that shot presents itself. A basketball team to be successful needs all 5 players on the court to play within themselves and understand its a team game. Thats a problem we have had in the past couple of years. I do think the addition of these 2 JUCO players is huge and our bench should be especially strong this year. I am already anxious for this season to begin to see what happens and what improvements will happen with certain players. Hopefully the improvements will be better shooting from the floor and free throws and much less turnovers. If this happens we will be fine.

How about a real scoreboard hanging down from the center. Its very difficult to read our current set up at each end.

Have to agree with you on this. Solid starting lineup and an equally solid bench with Schuler and Antwi filling in at the 1,2 and 3 positions and Allard filling in at the 4 and Salmonson at the 5. This team will have the talent and the experience for the next 2 years in the Big Sky. However, with this much talent they must play as a team and play very unselfish.

I was wondering the exact same thing.

One thing I just noticed from these 2 new recruits is that neither player shot a 3 last year. So between Anderson, Huff, Schuler, Antwi and Webb we will have to find a way to replace Mitchell's 62 3's he made last year. I guess our scoring will come more inside the arc and our offense changed alittle bit cause we had alot of sets for Mitchell to shoot a 3. Maybe we will have more motion instead of a couple of guys standing in the corners watching.

Very good points. Why do you think this class did not make the improvement expected? To seriously compete in the Big Sky alot of changes to need occur. Teamwork is number 1. In games we shared the ball and had equal distribution of shots is when we played our best. Other games a player would take 20 shots and no one else close to double digit shots and we got beat. Finding a way to win on the road is a must. We all know how we have played on the road the last couple of years. Inside/out game. We dont have one and the very few times its happened we make wide open shots. Possessions will even be more critical in the Big Sky so we must take good shots. Various games we have a serious problem with this. With the additon of these 2 new players we definately have the talent to compete, its up to the coaches to make it happen.

Love it. What I think I like the most is Traylor shot 65% from the field and Salmonson shot 55% from the field. Looks like Traylor can be a solid starter at the 4 spot and give us another inside scoring presence. Being the fact he shot 65% I would assume his shots come mostly in the paint. Salmonson can be that solid backup to Brekke with his 6 10 size. Very promising pieces of the puzzle that was missing. This class of now 7 can take us hopefully to the next level.

Didn't say anything nice about us. Lacked improvement and Jones lacks in recruiting. Good Points.

I agree that we need to show marked improvement from all of this class. Each conference game will be much tougher than what we have had in the past. We need a big and we need a player like Mitchell at the 4 spot and most importantly we must play better as a team and good solid shots, which some players have problems with. Coach Calipari for Kentucky had a great quote. : It doesn't matter how young you are its how you play together." Thats what we need, is to play together as a team.

Very sad to hear about Goodman, he was a great young man. Injuries kept him from being a very good player for UND. Gentry looked like he was having fun and loved his movements in the cirlce before each game but on the floor he did not impress me that much. He could definately jump but his shot was too ugly for me. Goodluck to both.

On another forum topic (Sioux Name) you can read more. The topic is already 22 pages in length.