sioux2013

Just looked at the Pomeroy College Ratings (similar to RPI) and it lists each teams non-conference strengh of schedule. UND non conference SOS is listed as the 138th toughest. Whats interesting is that Duke is 136 and Kansas is 141. In other words UND's non conference schedule was rated equal to Duke's and Kansas. Thats fairly impressive being a first year D1 school. They obviously did not take the easy road when they made out the schedule. It will only help down the road in a few years.

There's alot of debate as to what next year will bring. Will the team improve and whats expected. A look into next years team will consist on 2 seniors (Benter,Clausen), 2 juniors (Mathison,Mitchell), 6 red-shirt sophomores(Allard,Archer,Goodman,Haugen,Stockdale,Wilmer) , 2 red-shirt freshman( Schuler, Brekke) and so far 2 freshmen in Aaron Anderson and Troy Huff. The starting lineup may be true freshman pt guard Aaron Anderson, Benter at center,Mitchell and Clausen at wings and either Haugen or Schuler at off guard. Of couse Goodman could easily start in place of Clausen but Goodmans shooting numbers are not very good this year. I think the keys will be Mitchell , how good this freshman pt guard is and the development of players like Wilmer and a few other red shirt sophomores. Also, will Jones hold true to the past and red shirt the new recruits. I dont think he will have that luxury with the pt guard. Also, he has one scholarship left and if he can get a big impact JC player it could make a huge difference. What is everyone elses opinion on starting lineups or success.

Agree, Mitchell is key for this teams improvement. Basically he has had the sophomore jink. Seems to me he spends way too much time on the bench. I still believe the top players need more time on the court, somewhere in the 32-34 minutes/game. Almost everyone just plays 20-24 minutes which I just dont think anyone gets into a groove. Pick your best 8-9 players and play them and not play 10-11 players equally. Also, I would like to see Wilmer play alittle more. With his size he seems to have alot of mobility but does not see the floor that often, he needs the experience now.

Looks like a good chance to move up the RPI for UND.

I guess alot of you believe in miracles.. It happened in 1980 with the USA hockey team so I guess you all can believe in it. NO conference, NO NCAA opportunites. Until these two main affiliations are met you will not get extremely high calibur players and then it will still be tough with being in North Dakota. Next year two very athletic kids which you all rave we dont have will be joining the team. The co player of the year from Ohio will be playing and Ohio is one of the best states in the union for basketball and Im sure a few will step it up from this red shirt class, and thats all it will take. It only takes a few players from each class and a few years to make something happen. I will remain optomistic and I will say "I told you so in a few years."

I will say it again next year will be a huge change. Mitchell will be a junior with Benter and Clausen seniors. Joined by a full years experience of Hagen, Goodman,Archer, Allard and Wilmer. Joined by this years red shirt Schuler and Brekke. A true point guard and a very athletic 6'5 recruit. I see a 500 record next year and then only better things in the years to come. Give it time.

I really hope these players dont read all the posts by all you experts who say they have no talent. They will be better next year and even better the next once these young players become more experienced and the addition of the new red shirts and new recruits. No one understands you have to start somewhere and when you move into D1 you start at the bottom. Give these players some credit for their efforts and hard work. They do have talent the move is just not as easy as all of you would want or think it should be. The hockey team is suppose to be so GREAT and they have only won half of their games ( 12 of 24)so maybe we should fire the hockey coach.

31 pt differiential on free throws made. Was this a homer job?

Did UND run the same offense or change things up a bit? Congrats on a much needed win.

star2city, next year the 2 new recruits will add some much needed quickness and athleticism and the Ohio kid ( ohio player of the year) will be in the lineup. Add these 3 with the experience the red shirts have gotten this year and if only a few of them step up their game it will make a huge difference, dont you agree. And i dont know how next year could be worse because Mertins and Bledshoe are gone. Bledshoe as a senior has done nothing but get worse from last year, look at his numbers. Mertins is only scoring 10/game and almost leads the nation in turnovers. So yes it can get better.

Agree it is not like any princeton I have ever seen. Have not seen one back door layup yet this year and Ive seen 6-7 games. Princeton lives on back door layups. Either the players are not cutting or screens are not being set.

With everyone on this team almost being some sort of wing or guard , some sort of a motion offense with alot of picks and screens would seem to work. The offense is just so bad.

^^^ What were you expecting the first year with mostly freshmen playing? I agree alot needs fixing but as any first year program goes its never good. Yeah we should have won a few more games so far or been alittle closer in some but Jones and company cannot go out onto the floor and shoot the ball for these players. You have to start somewhere and not many players are willing to go to a program knowing they cannot play in the big dance or have a real conference to play in. Its a start with the program and a starting point with the players. Each year as UND enters a conference and as possiblities of the dance come closer then UND will be able to recruit better players. Dont blame it all on the coaches for who they recruited. Who really wants to come to this ice box with no conference and no chance of playing in the NCAA tournament. So relax.

82, very well said. Expectations for some of these young players have not been met. So, you now recruit more talent and if these players dont pick it up, they sit. It takes time to find the right mix of players. Shooting the way these players have shot this year makes for a 2-12 record. It will improve its just a shame so much was put on these red shirts and they are not performing to expectations.

A win is a win. Did not see the game last night. Did the Sioux play man to man or zone again? Since Olaf was lighting it up from three early I have to assume they played zone.

I counted 11 open layups missed and one point blank dunk missed along with many other close shots. Thats at least 20-26 more points that should have been scored. They are at least more aggressive with the ball and driving to the hole for closer shots. But again they are not making them. Sooner or later that has to come. The zone defense is not working at all. Wide open shots from anywhere the other team wants them. Please go to a swithing man to man. This defense will keep any level of team in the game from Naia to D3.

UND took only 36 shots for the game. Looking over stats for other college games and i would say they average shot attempts is near 60 per game, we had 36. Please speed up the offense. It cant hurt we are 1-11. As mentioned above you wont get many recruits when you cant score.

Schuler was on the bench in street clothes. As you all are aware I am very pro the coaches and players. They need time but my patience is running alittle thin with this zone defense. Every team has torched us with wide and I mean wide open threes. This game a kid that averged 2 pts/game made 7 threes for 21 points. Its time to switch to some sort of man to man defense. All these players are about the same size so lets have a switching man to man defense. It will definately not allow wide open threes and that is what is killing this team, besides scoring hardly any points.

My prediction is that the sioux will keep it under 12. Its about time the shots start falling.

With an RPI of 29 this is one of the top teams in the country. Why would people not want to go to this game? I see the sioux getting up for this game and it will be alot closer than you think.

They played hard but again could not make any open shots nor layups. How many layups did they miss, I counted at least 6-7. They played hard for about 28 minutes again and in those other 12 it was the game just like almost every other game. Coaches cant make the layups for them nor make the wide open shots.

Very good points. Another few points I would like to add. Having no conference makes it difficult to bring in top recruits. Players want to play in March madness and being on probation these players are not eligible for another 3 years. The coaches I believe have done a nice job getting quality players in terms of their high school acccomplishments. Its always a crap shoot what kind of players they become as D1 college players. It would be interesting to know what percentage of cant miss players turn into busts. You see it in the pros all the time. The same goes for college. If only a couple of the recruits each year turn into very good D1 players you will have something in 4-5 years that will become a winning program. In a couple of years the coaches will have more to offer the players in terms of what I mentioned above. Bad losses happen to every program during the year. Go Sioux

Did not realize until reading that article that Benter did not play in this last game. Thats a main reason they were out-rebounded so bad. Benter right now is the only post player they have and a very nice one, Mike is not playing much and Mitch has yet to play this year due to injuries. UND has not played one game yet with what I would guess to be their starting five. Mitchell,Bledsoe, Benter are probably still not 100%. Hopefully before long we will see everyone healthy and able to play and then lets see what happens.

Thank you. Just give them all time. They are all good quality players and extremely nice kids that just need experience.

Since you have not seen the players or even have a clue as to who they are and how hard they have worked give them a chance and dont influence the AD with your money. Which from your last few posts is what you are probably trying to do.