NODAK13

Just watched NDSU play of fox sports against Oral Roberts. NDSU has a very impressive motion offense. All players on offense are constantly moving and not a single player stands in one spot for more than a second. NDSU shot 68% from the field and over 70% from three on the road and lost. We had better put on our track shoes to stay up with this motion offense. I was very impressed. We have our work cut out for us against NDSU.

I have to agree. When Huff plays as a team we do very well. He has the talent to penetrate and get everyone involved if he chooses to pass. He however tends to get out of control at some point in every game and when this happens the team goes downhill. Once Huff learns to be a good basketball player as you described the Sioux will be very good. I hope this happens sooner than later. Huff also definately needs to work on his defense. It is not good at all. He does not fight around screens at all. In fact most of our guards are very lacking in defense.

Take out Anderson and Schuler and the team is only shooting 62% from the line. Anderson and Schuler are at 78%. Did not make it out to the girls game last night but the men should just watch the highlight video and watch how many open shots they got from passing the ball inside and then out for wide open shots. Its like bincitysioux stated that we just need to play basic basketball. Box out, take good shots, protect the ball and have an inside out game and make free throws. Seems simple but we have trouble with most of this.

That is a very good point, seeing the floor. Once the ball goes down low we never look opposite. Guys are always wide open opposite side. That would give Anderson, Mitchell and Schuler with wide open threes. Always thought we have no inside out game.

Out rebounded almost 2 to 1 by Sac State. Brekke was really missed tonight but that just shows Jones and company had better get a big or two for next year. Again poor shot selection and poor rebounding on the road = LOSS. Next road game against Western Illinois will also be extremely tough without Brekke and Webb. A road win needs to happen sooner or later. If its not against Western Illinois then I doubt it will come against Kansas or New Mexico. Only gets more difficult.

I wasn't expecting a large student crowd last night because of the holidays but in general there are very few students that attend. There must be a way to get more interest. Maybe they dont realize we have a basketball team and they are already paying for it.

If we had some students show up the attendence would not be that bad. Its absolutely horrible the lack of students. I talked to a student a couple of games ago and this student did not even realize they were paying for sporting events in the tuition cost (less hockey of course). They think it is just free, wrong they are paying for it and not even attending. The only times I see student attendence is when they are giving away free tuition and pizza on one given game. How can we get students to attend?

That is silly I agree. Will keep those comments to myself in the future. From what I understand Anderson has put in alot of extra time and effort and it definately shows in his performance and shot selection. Hopefully, others are putting in extra time as well to bring us out of this funk we are in.

From what I have heard is that Oliver is only showing attention to those 2 players and that is causing issues with the others. Chemistry is definately not there between the players right now, I dont care what Jones is saying in interviews. There is definately friction that has to be sorted out cause they are not playing as a team. Look at the boxscore - 6 assists for the entire game. Might be time if this continues to change the starting lineup around and shake things up.

Dont think its time to fire anybody. We have to give Jones time with this sophomore class. Once they are seniors and no additional help has been brought in for this class then a discussion can be made. This class has the talent and if nothing is done or they dont improve by the time they are done, then lets talk. They do however need to improve in several areas and that is what will fall on Jones if its not accomplished. One area I'm not sure on is, what exactly do the new assistant coaches do? Don't really see them doing anything on the sidelines. Not impressed with them at all actually.

Webb and Anderson are really quick on offense and do excellent things on our offense but it looks as if they wear cement shoes on defense. They cannot guard or contain anybody. What is up with that?

Just read on the game notes for the South Dakota State game about the sophomores. Last year as freshmen they accounted for 64.4% of our scoring and this year it is up to 73.4% of our scoring. WOW It sais volumes about this class and what they are accomplishing. Hope the shelf is not bare when they all graduate. Amazing stat I thought.

I dont think its close to being at that point. Jones did bring in these 5 sophomores so lets give him more time with these players. But control and discipline has to be enforced even if it means benching a player. Whats the latest on Goodman? Once Goodman is back he can play minutes for Huff, especially when Huff gets out of control. I dont really think the coaches have anybody right now they can put in the 3 position as a back up. They use Gentry only a few minutes a game. Gentry can be a fine player, only wish they would have red-shirted him like they discussed prior to the season.

You are correct when you talk about effeciencies with their shots. Here are the stats as far as points/shot. Brekke averages 1.8 points/shot. Anderson averages 1.762 points/shot. Schuler averages 1.526 points/shot. Webb averages 1.323 points per/shot. Mitchell averages 1.129 points/shot and Huff averages 1.123 points/shot. Someone mentioned Huff taking threes. Agree he is not a 3 point shooter at all. In fact if you chart his shots outside 10' it has to be a horrible percentage. Most of his made shots are dunks or lay ups. He needs to penetrate and if the lane is open finish like he does so well or if not open he draws alot of denfenders and dish to wide open shooters. I see Anderson, Mitchell and Schuler so wide open on the wings when so many horrible shots are taken. Our inside out game is horrible at this point. We have the talent but dont have the dicipline at this point. Hopefully it will come. Go Sioux

Its a shame this has to be discussed but cutting scholarships happens every year at every program. I have talked many times to all of our players and they are very nice young men that work extremely hard for this university. Unfortunately there are only so many minutes that can be played in a game and not everyone will see alot of minutes. This team needs a few more pieces of the puzzle to make it competitive in the coming years in the Big Sky and tough decisions will need to be made. The class in question has already gotten 4 years of free college so if a cut is made they still made out pretty well. I wish my kids got 4 years paid for.

We need to stop playing on Saturday's. All our loses are on Saturdays. MMMMMMMMM Poor shooting, poor rebounding and poor shot selections = LOSS.

Hopefully they are not figuring out how to defend him. He is so quick and i agree he needs to penetrate and create problems for the defense.

Just posted on the other thread NDSU only scored 51 points against Western Illinois. Yes their defense is good and maybe we didnt play as bad as everyone thought.

Western Illinois just handed North Dakota State its first loss of the season 55 - 51. I'd say Western Illinois has a pretty darn good defense. We scored more against them than Michigan and NDSU. Maybe it was not that bad of a loss anyway. We still should have won the game but maybe they are better than people think.

Cant recall Schuler ever taking a bad shot as you mentioned. He either takes a great shot or finds the open man for a shot. You over exagerate how slow he is. If he was that slow dribbling or shooting he would have alot of turnovers. He has hardly any turnovers and has the highest assist to turnover ratio of anyone for the past 2 years. He does need to be more aggressive with his penetration. Would like to know what Huff's shooting percentage is from outside 10' since most of his points are layups and dunks. His dunks are awesome by the way. Freshmen are going to have a hard time scoring or getting playing time with the class ahead of them. Those 5 sophomores are awful special class and UND is lucky to have them together. I'm sure by the time they are done will be one of the top classes UND has had.

Agree Webb needs to cut down on the turnovers. He has way to many and most of his turnovers are just bad decisions. We hardly ever kick the ball out once it goes down deep. You watch good teams and the inside out game is the key, we dont do this much. Anderson has improved alot over last year in his shot selection and rarely forcing bad shots, but he has only scored 6 total points in the last 2 games. Coaches keep talking about taking good shots but I continue to see horrible shots taken by several players. We can get wide open shots with one more pass but yet we still force 6-10 shots a game. Season still young with alot of time to improve. Guess expectations after last year are so high this year.

Agree Schuler needs to shoot more. Checked his stats for the last 3 games and he has only taken 11 shots total but has scored 38 points in those 3 games. Also, ball needs to be in only Andersons and Schulers hands at the end of a game when teams are fouling. These are the only guys consistantly knocking down free throws.

Wasn't pretty but it was a win. Huff, Mitchell, Schuler in double figures. Have not got any scoring from all the post players in recent games. This is a major concern as we play some stiff competition in the next month. Also, got out rebounded tonight by double digits.

Next year losing MItchell is gong to be huge because we are going to have the exact same team next year entering the Big Sky less Mitchell. There are no more scholarships as has been discussed in other threads unless UND makes a few roster changes and brings in a JUCO player. Most teams dont play a zone so hopefully this wont happen very often but currently we have Mitchell, Schuler and Anderson that can effectively make the 3's. The problem with beating a zone is penetration by the guards and a dish out for a wide open three and we did not do this against Montana. Another way to attack is bring Brekke out top and drop the pass down to him and he can dish to his left or right for an open look. I'm sure after the Montana game the boys have worked on a few things. We have the shooters as Webb, Anderson and Schuler are all shooting over 40% from three which is excellent and Mitchell is always a threat from 3. The next month will be a very tough strech for the mens team.

Have to disagree with you on not strong enough or cant pass off the dribble. He was 2nd on the team last year in assists and had the best assist/turnover ratio on the team That in its self makes your comment incorrect. He is also one of our best defenders. Not starting because Anderson is the best player on the team right now. He rarely ever turns the ball over and always makes the right pass or feed. Enjoy watching this kid play and just wished he would shoot it more. You are also the poster that called Schuler a bust his freshman year before he became a 2 time player of the week and the 10th all time scorer in freshman history. You can definately judge basketball talent.