sioux2013

One thing that is certain about basketball today is that no lead is safe until the buzzer sounds. The three point shot and shot clock has added excitement but as we saw last night can change a game in a hurry. We were trading one or no points for 3 during all the crucial stretches. Earlier poster stated NDSU had an 18 point lead last night with a senior laden team and lost. It happens one time or another to everyone. Just hope they learned and move forward. We have played the highest 2 rated (rpi) teams in this conference and beat one and you know what happened to the other. So, with that sad we can play with anybody in this conference and still win the conference and the tournament. Go Sioux

One thing for certain, this game and its outcome has brought alot of discussion to this thread. In fact, alot of new names and opinions which are nice. One of coaches on the bench is the one responsible for the timeouts. He informs the head coach of the situation and how many there are. Maybe Webb was aware and a demon inside made him call time out. Only the guys on the bench know the answer. If it was not brought up then the coach responsible didnt sleep much last night either. I'm still not sleeping and hopefully tonight I will be able to.

None of the above. With everything involved in the whole process of the transition you've got to give the staff a chance. Trying to recruit a kid to no where land where its freezing cold with no shot at the ncaa or even a conference affiliation is almost impossible. With that said I believe the coaches have done a fine job and given more time could definately make an impact in the big sky with this group of kids they have now. Getting rid of the coaches would then again take 4-5 years to rebuild.

Dont know how you can pin this one on the coaches. We have one bad game and its the coaches fault. We were in a position to win the game at every stanza. The coaches did not miss 22 free throws. Brekke who had a great game inside was 2-9 from the line, Webb was 3-8 and Allard was 0-2. Each miss was a difference maker. I dont think anybody shot well from the floor either. The one thing I must say and been saying all year is the shot selection of Huff and Anderson. They take horrible shots and if there is one thing the coaches can do is fix this. Good penetration and never a kick out when the enter the land of the trees. Anderson gets bailed out alot of the times but has no business trying to shoot over anybody, kick it out. Huff took several shots in overtime when he just threw it up and hit nothing. Every possession is critical in close games and we waste probably 10-15 possessions a game. Im sure the coaches harp on this but a few players still think its about themselves in too many situations. This is the main area the coaches must fix.

Agree alot with what was said. The 5 freshmen that had been carrying us made alot of crucial mistakes tonight (all of them). Alot of very and I mean very poor shot selections during the middle of the second half. They seemed not to run their offense for a stretch of 5-6 minutes and were coming down and throwing up rediculous shots. It was a game that both teams had won numerous time. Poor shooting and OMG the free throws. Webb has got to know the timeout situation and get it in. Several players were open and if we get the inbounds to someone the game is over. How people were thinking about the three at the end of the fist half when it went into overtime again and again and again? Fans want excitement and if you were at the game last night you saw everyhing. This could have been a very good lesson for our youth and hopefully they will learn from it.

You mention Lindahl is horrible on defense. At this level you must be able to play defense. If you give up more than you score what good are you. Dont know anything about either one of these players but your comment about defense would worry me about Lindahl.

Good points. Like the scale you provided but feel the system is still highly biased based on AAU teams the player plays for. Brekke and Webb were obviously a major steal. Does anyone know how the coaches found Webb way on the east coast? Go Sioux

Its obvious this grading scale is like most types of evaluating services, a joke. The grading scale only goes as low as a 40 and most of the evaluation is done thru AAU. If you are not on a high profile AAU team you dont get a grade or its very low. Obviously Brekke nor Webb played on an AAU team that traveled. I dont believe Huff's, Bentons , Andersons or Gentry awards or numbers were anything close to Schuler in high school but all graded higher. It just amazes me how they can put a grade on kids that they dont ever see. I guess its just a good topic for conversation and message boards.

Thank you for your comments. I truly hope you are correct. This freshman class just needs to keep improving and with additional help from current and future players they could definately make an immediate impact in the Big Sky. Alot of doubt has turned into great promise since the year has started. Go Sioux

Agree also. I think the key now will be Wilmer. Our main weakness has been a lack of scoring in the post. Brekke has given us the scoring we need and if Wilmer can come along we will have a big backup at this position and we could go big with both of them at times. Go Sioux

Great TEAM win. Webb 15, Mitchell 13, Schuler 13,Brekke 11 and Huff 9, Allard 8. Thats a balanced scoring that any coach would be proud of. 75 points with almost every point coming in the half court offense. Only 10 turnovers. These young players are coming together and seems as if they are starting to know each others games and where they are going to be. The freshmen of Webb,Huff, Schuler and Brekke are all averaging double digit points in the last 3-4 games. Schuler has had 10 assists in the last 2 games and only one turnover with 4 straight double digit scoring games. Brekke is becoming a beast underneath and Webb is under complete control at point scoring and dishing the rock. Huff is so talented and still must continue to improve on his shot selection. If Allard can play more like last night it will definately add another dimension to this team. Some one in this sophomore class needs to pick it up the last half of the season. Go Sioux

Last year USD lit it up from the outside. We must not allow wide open shots from the outside and lets run with them. Lets pack the Ralph and lets go Sioux.

How much does the Betty hold? Website states it seats around 3500 but Ive heard around 5000. Does somebody know the true attendence figure for the Betty?

Is this a trap game for UND? All the buildup is for South Dakota on Saturday so I sure hope they do not overlook Minot. Minot just beat Mayville State by 29 and we only beat them by 17. Players need to be focused on the game ahead and not look into the future. Build on the win over Longwood and come out with the same style of play. Go Sioux

It is a shame but you look at attendence figures at the lower D1 schools and they dont draw 1000 per game and they've been established D1 schools for a long time. The attendence will continue to grow as the team continues to improve. Us diehards will see the growth while others will just wait and see the final product. Lets enjoy the growth. Go Sioux

Have you attended any games lately and do you still feel the same?

It takes alittle time to adjust and the coaches were very patient with Schuler. Im very excited and impressed also with how Brekke has been playing. His early season injury really slowed him down to start the season but lately he has been a beast inside. At the midway point I give a very solid A to the freshmen and what they have accomplished so far. The last half we will see how much they improve and the future looks bright. Its time to see if anybody else on the roster is going to pick it up. Go Sioux

I'd say our chances are good. I believe the coaches underestimated our team when they did the pre-season poll because we lost our 2 leading scorers and had 5 freshmen on our roster. Right now I would say its between us and South Dakota and we will know more after we play South Dakota on Saturday. Hopefully the Betty will be packed for this one. Go Sioux

Schuler 21, Huff 15, Mitchell 13 and Brekke 10. Four players in double digit scoring and 3 freshman. Impressive win starting 4 freshmen and playing against a senior laden D1 team.

Great move to start Brekke. 4 freshmen start and all are playing very well. Keep it going the second half. Go Sioux

Sunday's opponent is 6-13 Longwood. Longwood just played and beat South Dakota last night 85-82. Alot of shots were being fired up by both teams with little defense. Looks as if Longwood likes to run and gun with their players. Will be a very good test for our guys with the quickness Longwood has. Tallest player for Longwood is 6'8" and 3 of their top 4 scorers come from the guard position. Go Sioux

That really sucks for Goodman and the team. Did not realize his injury was so severe. Based on the time table they said he wont be back to 100% until October. Speedy recovery for Goodman and hopefully Wilmer will be back before they say. Go Sioux

Losing Goodman and Wilmer will definately hurt. Goodman a starter and always put in solid minutes and played hard and Wilmer showed promise in the NDSU game. Wilmer just needed time on the floor to develop more.

Got destroyed underneath again. We had to sag our guards down low to help out on defense against the bigs and left the guards wide open for shot. I guess we had to choose our poison. They were huge, one guy over 300 lbs and another close. Again I will say, we took some absolutely horrible shots from Huff and Anderson driving down the lane. When are they going to stop taking shots they have no chance of making as they are falling and shooting with their backs to the basket . Its like they are praying for a foul and there is no foul. If we shoot near 40 % we are possibly in this game but it didnt happen. Mitchell, Schuler and Webb in double figures and nothing from any of the others. The rest of the season we should be in every game and hopefully something was learned from this game. Go Sioux

One big JUCO player would work. And when I say big I mean BIG in size (big body) not necessarily 6'10" of bigger. I would take someone 6'9" and about 250+. I dont see anyone quiting the team that is on scholarship. The red shirt sophomore class will be entering their 4th year of academics next year and could graduate with a fully paid education by sticking out one more year. I dont think the coaches with take any of these players off scholarship because the work and time they are putting in. The results may not be showing up on game night nor the playing time but as you watch the games the rotation is down to around 8-9 players. Maybe behind the scene in practice these players are pushing the other players to be better and the coaching staff likes this. I am sure there are better options out there but will the coaches cut someone that has put in 3 years already into the program. I dont think so. I wish they would but that is a very difficult and tough decision to make.