Corella

There is enough money left to fill needs with impact players. Koenig's surgery is said to have gone extremely well. Fans are really going to enjoy watching Travis Bledsoe who plays with fire, compassion, and skill.

These 2 wins are great for UND's confidence, and a win against USD really puts UND in a great position, but I won't get ahead of myself. The reasons for the improved play these past 2 games are really 2 fold IMO. 1) The rotation has really been cut down to 8 players, with the starters and Gutter, Harkins, and Wills off the bench. That really simplifies things on the court. 2) The play of Jimmy Hoy, Andy Wills, and Mike Gutter. Anyone who guards Hoy is frustrated because he is in constant motion and gets UND easy baskets on his cuts. Not only that, but he goes to the boards extremely hard, something that this team needs, and he has a good mid-range game despite his poor shooting the first 10 game sof the year. Wills has improved leaps and bounds since the start of the year IMO, and he is not afraid to do the dirty work which every team needs. And Mike Gutter has developed a better inside game. Early in the year it was all catch and shoot a turnaround. Now he is using countering moves on the block, taking the move the the defense gives him, and his FT% has really improved the past 6 games as he was below 50% earlier and is now at 63% His inside toughness has been better the past 2 games also, at least it sounded that way on the radio last night. One can only hope this play continues.

The thing that some may not realize are that today, junior college players and D1 transfers are essential in D2 basketball, especially way up here. In D2 basketball, there are players recruited according to potential, what they could be. Yes, those some players are taken by D1 schools as well. But, if that player does not pan out after 2 years at the D1 level it is not so large of a problem based on the scholarship difference. In D2, if someone does not pan out, that creates a large gap that often requires a JUCO player, someone with experience, to come in and play at a position that would, because the player of potential has not progressed, would otherwise be left to a perhaps even less talented player. These D2 players are a lot fo the time fantastic athletes, something that is few and far between in the ND and MN high school ranks. More times that not, the JUCO player that is brought in is a D1 caliber of player, but he did not graduate from his junior college so he has to go D2, or his clock is ticking and he only would have 1 year of eligibility and D1 schools aren't interested in a 1 year JUCO guy. Sure, JUCO players may be more risky, but in every instance they bring different elements and potential to the team that cannot be matched by the few "local" kids who are actually worthy of playing at this level. There simply aren't enough 6-9 PF/C's in the area and available to play at this level, and the same thing can be said about every other position. And if some want the local JUCO players who are perhaps perceived as being less risky, Thomas Dryburgh down at NDSCS is doing well right now and will hopefully be in a Sioux uni next year despite immanent D1 offers.

What is your point. If there were Native athletes who were capable of playing at UND's level there would be every effort in the world to make sure they were here. Facts are, there haven't been terribly many that are good enough. To suggest otherwise is assinine. Is UND supposed to bring down it's teams and take Native Americans for the sake of them being Native Americans, whether they can play or not??? What is your point?

Add me to the list that can vouge for the validity of this. Not a rumor, but true.

They did not say. Your guess would probably be right though, unless there is a reservation that I am forgetting.

Per WDAZ last night, the 5 tribes in attendence voted 3-2 against the nickname, with the Turtle Mountain Chippewas and the Spirit Lake Tribe voting pro-nickname. Interestnig.

Once again, as teamsioux asked, if this place (UND, Grand Forks) is so bad, so full of hatred and racism that apparently I am blind to, why in the hell would any Native American come here??? It only seems obvious that if there is someone/something that causes a person that much trouble, that much pain and anguish, that person/place/thing would be the last thing in the world I would want to be near. Why attend a university that bares such a "false representation" to what I am, where I am from, everything that I have been taught of my people?? If I believe strongly enough in something, I am going to see it everywhere, whether it is there or not.

A few things to keep in mind here; 1) Getting those teams from the RMAC to come up here last year was a miracle, and the same can be said for this year. Those schools WILL NOT travel. Having them in the region really hurts because of their unwillingness to travel. Reports indicate that visiting schools really take it up the rear from the refs when they travel to RAC schools also. 2) I do not mind seeing the few DAC-10 teams on the schedule early. They should be easy wins for a team that will be heavy in newcomers that will likely see heavy court time including Koenig, Harkins, Phillips, Gutter, Miller, and most likely Blackwell. There are benefits to them as long as we don't see a schedule full of them like.......... 3) USD. See, it could be a lot worse. In basketball every single year their non-conference schedule is made up of a 1/3 of the DAC-10 and half of the GPAC. Yet they always seem to be near the top of D2 in attendence. Then their football goes and does nearly the same thing. I think it has a lot to do with us being a bit spoiled as fans.

Just two little things that need to be corrected there. Andy Miller is getting money and is not a walk-on. UND initiated the contact there, and it is felt that he could be a steal. He chose to come to UND over going to other programs which would have given him a ton more $$. There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the program about, amongst other things, a lack of shooting. Andy Miller is a shooter who went from being a All-State ND Class A player who had few opportunities out of high school to one who worked himself into a scholarship at UND. That tells me he is a tireless worker who will do what it takes to get better, and you can never have enough of those guys, not to mention the gaudy numbers from behind the arc. The other thing that needs to be said is that Gutter is not a troubled kid, a rap that some may have put on him. He is a balls-to-the-wall guy who has a Chad Mustard type of toughness to him, just without the relative emotional rollercoaster that we sometimes saw Mustard go on. The odds of him being a distraction are not very good for a few reasons. Sacrificing like he did in high school says something about his character. He could have averaged 20 a game, but instead played the team game with no gripes and averaged 7 for one of the top teams in the country, while doing the dirty work inside rebounding, screening, and defending. There are still a few players on the radar. This has been a fantastic class IMO, filling needs all with big SGs to big and physical 4s and 5s, to shooters, and is not yet complete. Sioux fans should be proud of the staff on what they have brought in.

To expand even further, Andy Miller goes 117/317 on 3's last year, just under 37%. To put it into comparison, JJ Redick goes 121/300 for just over 40%. Not to say that Andy Miller is going to have a Redickesque impact, just showing how phenominal his statistics from behind the arc are. Fantastic shooters can change a game, and Miller is a player I am glad will be in a Sioux uni.

Everyone knows about Koenig. After that there should be 2 signings tommorrow, if not Wed then Thurs. UND Fan had been talking about the interesting story, I am assuming he is talking Mike Gutter, who is coming back and will be signing probably tommorrow. He was extremely homesick last year, that is the main reason he left. He said he really got fire back and was playing at a JUCO in Wisc the second semester, and put up some impressive numbers there. That takes care of what some perceived has been a problem of late, he is one tough SOB who is not afraid to mix it up and do the dirty work. The other is Andy Miller, a 2-guard from Bismarck High who has been tearing it up at Bismarck State the last 2 years. He is a great shooter and was near the top of D1 jucos in scoring the past 2 years despite some injuries last year. Some of the performances had from behind the arc are amazing. There were some D1s after him, so UND is lucky to get him. They still have 1 wing spot open that they hope to fill in the next few weeks. There have definately been some perceived holes filled with these two, and along with Koenig, the staff has, IMO, really gotten it done with these 3.

April Fools huh! Ewing Jr. was recruted by kansas, depaul, georgtown, loiusville, miami, texas, tennesee, NORTH DAKOTA YEAH RIGHT i highly doubt he was at the betty today, but funny joke

First off the prevailing feeling of being looked down upon has a lot to do with one's perception of things. If I feel that people think I am fat, I am going to find ways to justify that whether I am or not, whether that feeling is even out there or not. If I feel I am ugly, same thing, I can find ways to justify that I am by looking around and seeing people looking at me, whether they are looking at me or not for whatever the reason, maybe they like my shirt, I am going to think they think I am ugly. If you look hard enough for something, you are going to find it. Why would a tipi be the last thing people want to see if the nickname is changed?? Fairly simple, and there are a number of reasons. Some will feel they are being taunted, whether they are or not. People love the Fighting Sioux nickname. If you have ever lost a girlfriend who broke your heart and then see her out, how do you feel. Pretty steamed to say the least. In the case of the topic at hand it would be no different. The vast majority of tailgaters are alumni who swear by the UND Fighting Sioux. These folks would most likely not take kindly to all of a sudden having a tipi show up prior to an event. Are these things justified, in some cases yes and in some no, but these are what the feelings would be.

2 things. 1. Changing the nickname will not unite the campus and alumni, it will have the exact opposite effect. 2. If the nickname is changed, a tipi is the last thing that anyone would want to see during tailgating. Not a flame or justifiable reaction, just the truth.

Anybody else think St Cloud got jobbed pretty good here?? They go from being #7 last week to being out of the playoffs because Northern got the autobid from the Northern Sun, as they beat Winona in the title game, yet Winona moves up to #7??? I feel for the St Cloud players.

New regional rankings North Central 1 Metropolitan State 15-2 20-2 2 Nebraska-Omaha 12-3 20-4 3 Minnesota State Mankato 13-4 19-5 4 Fort Lewis 12-3 17-4 5 North Dakota 13-5 20-6 6 Nebraska-Kearney 14-5 18-5 7 South Dakota 10-5 19-5 8 St. Cloud State 13-5 18-6 9 Colorado Christian 13-5 18-5 10 Winona State 10-4 17-9 Sioux move up 1. Mankato does not move despite losing 2 this past weekend?? It will be tough for the Sioux to move ahead of Ft. Lewis in the region, the 4 teams they have left have won a combined 21 games this year, including winless Colorado-Colorado Springs and 2-win Adams St. They play in the half of the RMAC that is an absolute joke.

What Sioux fans and NCC backers should be worried about right now is having C-SP at #7 right behind the Sioux. They have 4 of their last 6 at home, with Moorhead and UMC both going to St. Paul. If they should win out in both league play and in the conference tourney, I'd fully expect them to be in the top 3 of the region in the end, their coach is on the regional committee and despite what was proven at the regional last year, in D2 injustices like this seem to happen all too often.

It is interesting and also important IMO to monitor how NDSU and SDSU are doing in most of their sports this year, as it gives a glimpse of what to and not to expect, what to and not to do in the future if the move up that so many of us expect, right or wrong, in the not so distant future does occur. A strong, and I say strong in relative terms, start is so important because it sets the table for the next 10 years. Al ot does depend on the team that is in place when the move is made. SDSU, for instance, has been a very old, veteran ball club for the past 5-10 years. They may be a case where they announced their moving intentions at a bad time for their basketball program, a year in which they were going to be in flux and thus may have thrown things off for an unfortunate number of years.

The thing that I find most interesting is the drop in basketball attendence for SDSU, and to a lesser extent NDSU. SDSU's attendence has been more then cut in half, from 3375 to 1617, while NDSU is down from 2440 to 1280, although their figure this year will end up a few hundred higher then that with SDSU in Fargo in a few weeks. You would expect there to be a dip this year for the 2 clubs, but for SDSU to lose that amount, WOW. That is supposed to be what they do down there. And realistically, an impact player is needed pronto, but I can't see it happening based on the differences between being D1 and D2. If SDSU was still a D2 program, they could get a D1 transfer or wait until May or July when some of the most talented JUCO players in the country end up not graduating and are forced to go D2. But, being D1, the odds of a transfer coming in are not good at all due to having to sit out, and getting an impact JUCO player would mean out-recruiting big time schhols. I think SDSU is in a pretty big hole for a few years, in a much worse place then NDSU will be in a few years.

He is playing mostly the 5, but Green Bay doesn't list a center on their roster. He is used in their offense a lot as a screener and passer on the perimeter, so it may seem like he is playing the wing. Looking at their stats, 4 of their top 6 scorers are guards and wing guys, and their top scorer starts at the 4 but is used a lot like a 3. Bottom line is that Koenig really isn't utilized by Green Bay and UND and NDSU would love to get him back in state.

You can't make this stuff up. Let's see, would I rather have 2 redshirt FR boys who each weigh 210 soaking wet and last saw competition in ND Class A and Minnesota Class A ball, or a 6-8 235 pound man who has started 75% of his games as a collegian in a league that plays very good basketball. There is no question in my mind I'd take the latter. To take it even further, those 2 redshirt FR big guys will likely be taking the floor with 2-3 other FR. Before Koenig is labeled a D1 flop, consider that he plays on a team and in an offense that is high tempo and orientated completely for guard and wing play. He rarely has anything run for him despite the fact that he shot at least 55% last year and the last time I checked he was doing the same this year. You can be rest assured that both UND and NDSU would take him in a heartbeat and plug him into the lineup next year. To suggest otherwise is moronic.

Am I the only one looking at this newest top 25 and absolutly laughing at it?? UND is 4-1 against the top 25 and 18-4 overall. Metro loses to Colo Mines last week and drops 1 spot to #2. The Sioux have beaten Mankato, now at #4 (and how do they only drop 1 spot after losing to UND??), Florida Gulf Coast, which checks in at #18 with a 15-4 record, and Omaha, which is at #20 I believe, 2 times. Oddly enough, USD, which was at #18 last week and plays the softest schedule chalk full of NAIAs every single year, only slips 4 spots to #22 this week despite losing 2 games. Weird. Guess who does the voting for the top 25 from our region......you guessed it, none other then USD's Dave Boots. Granted USD did beat UND by 20, but give me a break. UND has played one of the toughest D2 schedules in the country. They are on top of a revived NCC right now despite being scheduled a ridiculously, almost unfair first 5 league games, playing each of the 4 so called "haves". This new poll is ridiculous. I realize it is the national poll so it really doesn't mean much, but WOW. Hopefully the regional poll is a bit more representative of the way things are. If the Sioux aren't minimum #4 there (after Ft Lewis for sure, Metro, and maybe Mankato) something is horribly wrong. UND is now 6-1 vs last weeks regional top 10.