UND-FB-FAN

Absolutely

Excited about hosting a CIT game. UC Irvine is quality opponent to bring into the Betty. Jones needs to prepare his team to win, no excuses. UND is at home.

My first two posts centered around a single theme; re-read if you didn't catch that. UND can't rely on purely talent if they want to consistently compete for the Big Sky Conference championship. Rather, they need to be able to develop some kids who are perhaps devoid of Big 10 talent but more than capable in the areas of work ethic and character.

I'll help you out. Bottom-line: I believe that Brian Jones does not have the ability to teach the level of fundamentals necessary for UND men's basketball to be a top Big Sky Conference team. Maybe he can rely on talent and that will help with a season here and there, but consistently, UND won't be a top BSC team. After 2016-2017, when Hooker is done, UND will likely be right back in the hole if more players aren't developed.

How many draft picks did Bo Ryan have over his 15 seasons (364–130) at Wisconsin? http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2015/story/_/id/12594145/wisconsin-badgers-coach-bo-ryan-ability-develop-players-transcends-all-teams Quite a few seem to disagree with you; that is, if you're implying Bo Ryan's Wisconsin program wasn't disciplined and focused on fundamentals. He also worked with very few high-end draft picks, although some certainly were present. Read the article I posted above; that level of discipline and old-school fundamentals is non-existent with Brian Jones. UND needs someone who can mold young men, not someone who needs "pre-developed talent" in order to win. And before you claim UND can't just hire a "Bo Ryan", look at what NDSU did in hiring someone familiar with those tactics. I would want my kid playing for someone who preaches discipline, hard work, and constant improvement, not someone who only looks for the easy way out by recruiting the prima donnas who think they've already arrived. If that's what Brian Jones really needs, then UND will not win big with Jones at the helm. Don't get me wrong, UND basketball has some great kids in the program. For example, who isn't impressed with the character of Quinton Hooker? An absolutely great kid, and that's what makes him great for UND. UND needs more kids like Quinton Hooker - talented but even more so with his character/mental make-up. You win with kids like that, not the kids who can jump out of the gym but don't know how to show up for class or play as a team.

Talent is only part of the issue (nevertheless, Jones is the one who recruited that 'talent'). Some of the best college basketball teams in recent years, such as Bo Ryan's Wisconsin teams, were not filled with talent but rather played together as a team and played fundamental defense. Saul Phillips - who came from that same Bo Ryan coaching tree - implemented fundamental, disciplined basketball at NDSU and look at the results they had (big wins [Wisconsin, Notre Dame], 2x NCAA tournament appearances, win vs. Oklahoma in NCAA tournament, etc.). UND needs someone who is more fundamentally-sound in terms of coaching. That is not Jones. Jones does not scream discipline; in fact, he could use some discipline himself with his embarrassing sideline antics. At UND's level of football and basketball, coaches need to be able to DEVELOP TALENT, because UND is not going to get top talent. Those midwest players go to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, etc. Instead, you need kids who have moderate to above average talent with GREAT WORK-ETHIC and then you mold those kids into winners which can eventually overcome those aforementioned BIG 10 recruits. Jones doesn't appear to be able to do that. He hasn't showed it yet, because everyone who has supported Jones defends him with the deficient talent argument; however, that is counter-intuitive when it comes to low-major DI basketball here at UND. The budget situation is certainly unfortunate, and for that reason, Jones will get to coach for UND during the 2016-2017 campaign; however, I do not think he should be given a blind extension. Let him earn that extension next season with all that 'talent' he will have. In fact, I'm more interested in how this team DEVELOPS or doesn't develop over the off-season; the status quo should not be acceptable. Many players this season were freshmen playing their first season of college basketball - those players SHOULD improve if provided the proper teaching.

Jones deserves an opportunity to coach UND's roster next year, but there shouldn't be an extension. There's too much uncertainty with Jones' ability to coach against non-Big Sky teams and the top Big Sky teams (Weber State and Montana), and his overall record since joining the Big Sky Conference is below 0.500; let him coach 2016-2017 but with no extension. Make him earn the darn thing, plus the athletic department doesn't have the money nor the affinity to Jones to just hand him a nice contract extension. I honestly think Faison has learned from his previous contract extensions, which were mistimed in the case of Mussman and Jones.

UND got outcoached at the end there. Nevertheless, good game but a damn shame they couldnt finish and win it. Geno Crandall needed to make his free throws. Officials made plenty of horrible calls, too.

Damn... who wants to be clutch for UND?

C'mon defense!

"point forward" sloppiness

these amateur announcers keep saying "north dakota state"..... absolutely ridiculous...could find some people off the street who could call a better game

I take that back for now...nice shot

Shanks has no offensive touch whatsoever...absolutely horrible offensive player

Nothing official, but I would imagine not too many. You would have to be fairly certain UND would be playing more than a game or two to go there, in my opinion, and the way UND finished the regular season did not suggest that. I could see a good sized UND contingent if UND had a superb season and ended up with the #1 or #2 seed. Nevertheless, it always enjoyable to take a trip to Nevada so there's that pull factor to consider as well.

Again, no statistics or facts to support your claim. For the most part, you simply provided your routine personal attacks. Jones and UND men's basketball have a crucial game tonight: if they defeat Weber State then I will give Jones some credit for exceeding expectations; otherwise, not sure how defeating Southern Utah and Idaho State - two teams that UND swept in the regular season - classifies as a great post-season accomplishment.

Then actually provide some facts rather than just saying you are objective while spewing your own negative opinions. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Good points; however, that group of Huff, Webb, Anderson, Nash, Brekke, etc. could never beat Weber State, home or away. For that reason, regardless of health, UND was not going to make the dance.

With the high # of starters returning and the relatively non-difficult conference schedule, anything less than 8 wins would be a disappointment for me. 8-3 gets UND into the playoffs but 9-2 could possibly win UND the conference. Leave no doubt and go for the Big Sky crown!!

Oh, UND got "lucky" that Idaho State was shooting so poorly, right? Jones lucked out, huh?

Although there is a bunch of potential there, let's remember what happened with all the hype after the 2012-2013 season. In 2012-2013, UND had a team loaded with very good juniors (Huff, Webb, Anderson, Nash, etc.). They made it to the Big Sky Conference tournament semi-finals vs. Weber State (no different than what is happening today for UND MBB) and nearly won. The season was an average one at 16-17 (12-8), but the hope was the team would be that much better in 2013-2014. Never happened. That 2013-2014 senior-laden team went 17-17 (12-8) again and showed very little to no signs of improvement. For that reason (history tends to repeat itself), I'm holding off on the "next year will be so much better" talk. Jones didn't improve that team when, theoretically, it should've been better. UND needs to focus on the present, because there's no guarantee that next year will be any easier or any better.

While I agree with you that there are some horrid designs out there, you have to look at the big picture. Its not all about how pretty they look; an department-wide deal would supply UND with more uniform options, gear, and team apparel, Right now, very little is supplied to the basketball team due to a lack of agreement (UND men's basketball has no deal with Nike). The recruiting and branding capabilities of a program is ENHANCED with apparel contracts. Ignoring this is pretty short-sighted. As for Adidas and poor-looking designs, the photos below are from a few Adidas-sponsored small schools (like what UND would be) that wear what I would call very clean cut, classic uniforms (Sacramento State, Eastern Michigan, South Dakota). An overall apparel deal is the way UND needs to go. Brian Faison needs to recognize this and capitalize.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article65167647.html WR coach Danny Freund of UND football posted the above link on Twitter; he also mentioned how apparel deals have an impact on branding and recruiting, as you would imagine. I still strongly think the entire UND athletics department should be under contract with a single supplier to maximize benefits. Unfortunate that UND MBB doesn't see it this way; Faison may need to interject.

Between UND's thumping of Idaho State and Weber State's narrow escape from Portland State, Jones best have his team convinced they can win tomorrow.

it'll be all weber state talk..tradition and greatness and player of the year and randy rahe and all that... doubtful many und mentions coming from this bunch...