UND-FB-FAN

The "wait and see" game can be a risky one in collegiate athletics, as we found out with UND football and Mussman. There's always a fine line between allowing another season and pulling the trigger, with the negative repercussions being long-term setbacks to the program.

As I mentioned earlier, UND and NDSU are very comparable. Saying that comparing UND to NDSU is like comparing UND to Duke is, well, certainly not true. As for those 75% of Big Sky Conference teams that UND has "outperformed", they should not be the benchmark as they likely will never be in the running for a Big Sky Conference title. UND has the ability to be a top BSC team year in and year out but right now the coaching isn't quite there. To ignore what NDSU has done, because, well, they are in different conferences is quite ignorant considering they are the only two DI schools in North Dakota and were long-time NCC rivals. Lastly, the personal attacks you proclaim do not strengthen your argument. Rather, they make you appear childish and further prove your comments hold no water.

UND's out-of-conference schedule hasn't been any more difficult than NDSU's or Montana's OOC schedule over the past few years. Stop trying to talk around the fact that UND, over the past decade, has considerably under-performed in comparison to rival institutions such as NDSU and Montana.

So, last season (2013-2014), Mr. Jones had a full senior line-up to work with and yet he ended up producing a 17-16 record (12-8 in conference). That's an iffy plateau; in other words, you're saying UND basketball fans should expect a "rebuilding year" after a series of 0.500 record seasons? At best, Jones has brought UND to mediocrity throughout his coaching career at UND (The year before, in 2012-2013, he finished under 0.500 at 16-17). Collegiate athletic programs that expect success do not tolerate mediocre play for nearly a decade; thus, to expect a rebuilding year is only feeble minded. In comparison, NDSU produced a very good season last year (2013-2014) with a senior loaded class; they went 26-6 and 12-2 in their conference. After graduating many contributing senior players, their ongoing "rebuilding season" has them at 18-7 and 10-2 in conference play. Oh, and they also had to replace their head coach. If you feel NDSU men's basketball, which works under the same general principles to recruit to as UND (same climate, not #1 sport at institution, similar facilities, education quality, etc.), is not a compatible comparison to UND men's basketball, then let's look at Big Sky Conference mate Montana. In 2012-2013, The University of Montana went 25-7 and 19-1 in conference play, and they had three players average double digit scoring. After losing two of those three players, they went on to produce a 17-13 record (12-8 BSC) the following season in 2013-2014. Now this season, after losing two of their top three scorers again, they are 13-10 and 9-3 in conference. No rebuilding year there either. My point is, don't give the UND men's basketball program too much cushion. They have been an average ball club at best over the past decade under Jones, and losing seasons definitely shouldn't be tolerated as UND hasn't produced any kind of signature win or season since going DI. Lastly, I guess only "non-morons" are capable of accepting "rebuilding" years. Or perhaps, just maybe, the lack of expectation and ambition by some UND "supporters" is the actual problem.

Heading in a right direction...well that is no longer the case. 8-15 is not in the right direction...

Those 6'4" Big Sky Conference leading rebounders possess toughness and are coached proper rebounding technique.

Recently at UND, under Faison as AD, extensions have been offered as a way to make up for a lack of salary dollars. When Mussman was HC for the football team, he was paid minimally compared to other Big Sky coaches; therefore, an extension was drafted as a compromise. Ultimately, it had to be bought out. Fortunately, I think Faison and the athletic department will not be extending Jones' contract; however, it's too bad they gave him an extension a couple seasons ago. The mindset was applied there as well, as Jones is once again paid minimally compared to other Big Sky men's basketball coaches. In the end, Faison may still end up having to buy out the last year of Jones' contract.

That was not my intent. The basis of my comment was that the stats didnt lie. UND was out rebounded and turned it over more than the opposing team. Both are fundamental and ultimately led to UND losing the game, since both UND and Montana shot similar FT% and field goal %. UND has lacked the ability to successfully out-rebound now for awhile. To say that is not somewhat attributed to something, is well, interesting. In my opinion, it's commonsense to at least keep in mind basics such as rebounding and turnovers before supporting the coaching.

You may have been at a different game. UND was -2 in turnovers and -3 in rebounding. When you have more height, you should out rebound a team. Why? Because the only thing left are intangibles such as toughness and technique, which apparently UND bigs are absent of. UND men's basketball teams have been consistently poor at rebounding of late, and that's attributed to mindset and, ultimately, what is emphasized by the coaching. Also, sloppy play last night led to too many turnovers. A big part of that was no organization in the half court versus Montana's zone. Need better execution but also better setup in order to better stress the zone; just passing the ball around the perimeter for 35 seconds and then either shooting a three or turning it over will not work. UND lost the fundamentals last night (rebounding and turnovers) and I'm afraid that is attributed to coaching. The lack of commonsense by some is appalling.

I also agree with this. It's not a sin to be ambitious.

I'd say I mentioned wins, if you would read carefully. In recent years, hockey has contributed to poor crowds to a degree also, whether you like it or not. Bottom line: the leadership of the basketball program is not right.

Absolutely. The guy is not a motivator which is crucial. The guy really needs to be let loose. Faison can find someone way better out there for not much more in terms of salary.

Expanding on this, the attendance/atmosphere was horse !@#$ tonight. UND basketball deserves way better and Grand Forks is very very capable of doing so; however, need wins and less of this hockey-only bullsh*t attitude. No reason vs Montana that the Betty should be like that, oh, other than the fact that this team is underachieving.

That's not a bad idea.

Spot on. And from the optimistic side of things, I do think both offensive line and defensive front 7 will be improved. Both units return a lot of players from last year's group.

Way too early. Let's see how the additions look in spring ball and then how the injury front and freshmen look at fall camp. If everything comes together as expected, with maybe a few pleasant surprises, then UND will have a chance.

Not a bad idea at all.

5'9" 170 lbs. backs are not the prototypical player at that position if you look at successful running games around the country. "Wiggle" is not the preferred characteristic. I commend Garman for what he accomplished last season, but his lack of physicality deprived the offense of something. Guys like Arrington or Olivera can hopefully bring an all-around back type to the offense (a player that can both hit the home run and get tough yards inside).

No reason Arrington or Olivera can't do what Garman did last season.

I guess by lead I meant he was the starting signal caller during those games. Also, Jer did do some good things those last two games, but so did the offensive line. Let's not forget about the main unit that makes a running game go.

Studsrud led an offense that won the last two games of the season versus Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. Now yes, both of those games featured Jer Garman running wild, but the offensive line returns and I truthfully believe Arrington and Olivera can at the least match what Garman did. No reason the offense shouldn't at least be marginally better given the improvements/time to the gel for the offensive line. QBs/RBs/WRs all are quite useless if the offensive line can't produce.

Well that's got to count for something...

By signing an apparel contract, you get discounted items for the required sum of the contract. Essentially, you're getting more items for your money, which is definitely advantageous for the coaches, players, and prospective recruits because they get more gear. It's not a matter of payout, but rather quantity of items, such as shoes/cleats, football gloves, shirts, under-uniform wear, coaches clothing, etc. Its a way to better brand your program.

There's no question this is true, but it's not a deal-breaker. Having an apparel deal is key to programs like football and to limit it because the men's basketball team thinks they have that kind of authority is inconsiderate and laughable. Adidas makes more than one model or 'kind' of shoe, and again, it comes back to the success of Adidas-sponsored programs. As far as basketball, Louisville, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and UCLA all wear Adidas shoes and do just fine. Not to mention, many NBA players wear them too. Yes, it may require some getting use to for those who wear Nike regularly, but they aren't going to suddenly cause injury or deter performance.

Yes, he was, and yet that does not make it excusable. Adidas is worn by many collegiate and professional greats, so really, there is no legitimacy. Carry on.