Can't take it anymore

[SiouxDude12]

What is happening on the court this year is just unfair. It's unfair to the students who have fees built into their tuition which include ticket fees so they can go to games for "free", it's unfair to the long time ticket holders, it's unfair to the alumni, it's unfair to the players who have worn a UND basketball jersey in the past, and it's unfair to the entire state of North Dakota. When the decision was made to go division 1 we immediately committed to being a nationally recognized program. Our scores show up on the bottom line of the ESPN ticker every night and quite frankly it's horribly embarassing to think that some potential recruit in North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, or Texas is watching a Tar Heels game and sees North Dakota 61 MAYVILLE 73 or North Dakota 41 Texas A&M 82. I know when I see scores like that on the bottom line I usually just assume that it's some D2 school getting wrecked by a large state school because that's the only time that should ever happen. Oh wait LeMoyne BEAT SYRACUSE this year in an exhibition. If we are going to commit to becomming D1 I don't think it's acceptable for any of us to be satisified with what is happening this year. Division 1 programs don't just sit back and say "ahhh shucks, give it some time." I mean we could do that, but I typically think that programs who do that never figure it out and play D1 for all of the wrong reasons. So what I'm trying to say is if you're pissed off about how this year is going, you have every right to be, and don't feel bad about it because as a stakeholder in the program you are entitled to see a respectable product on the floor.

That being said, I don't think that we should be beating the Texas A&M's of the world yet, but we should be competing. Maybe score 60 points against an above average team every now and then. Maybe not get doubled up? The worst part of all of this is that I'm fairly convinced that there are at least 10 guys walking around the campus that could beat the varsity this year. So how can this be fixed? When I found out we were going D1 I thought that all of our sports would be okay, and our toughest time would be men's basketball just based on the fact that there aren't division 1 basketball players in the region and our recruiting base will have to change drastically if we ever want to find players who can compete at that level. D1 players are athletes, we don't have any athletes. The easy fix is to at least recruit athletes who can match up against the guy across from them at least physically. Give them a chance, I really don't blame the players on this years team for what is happening this year. It's not their fault that recruited them to play D1 basketball when they have the skill set of a mediocre D2 basketball player. I mean that's like having some coach come up to you when you're in high school averaging 20 ppg at some horrible Class B school and telling you that they think you're a D1 basketball player. I don't blame them for thinking "holy crap, I can play D1 ball" when someone who should know what a D1 player looks like is telling them that. That's obviously easier said that done, but it can be done. We were able to recruit guys who could compete before (a certain center who outplayed Drew Gooden comes to mind) and now we have more incentive to get players like that to show up. If Bryan Jones isn't out looking at some JUCO players to fix this problem by next year something is wrong. Because there are athletes in those JUCO programs who are of D1 ability and who will be servicable until we can get our own guys coming through here from the start. It worked for NDSU (Andre Smith from NDSCS) and people around here aren't going to wait around for 4 years, and quite frankly they shouldn't have to.

Look at the Betty, just a beauitful basketball facility. Look at our alumni base, way way way way way bigger than a lot of D1 schools. Look at our exposure, FCS, FSSN, and one of only 2 D1 schools in the entire state. Look at our status, we are a state school not a tiny private school that has 1500 students like many of the inner city D1's are, in addition we have a medical and law school, that should mean that we should have an alumni base which is capable of pumping money back into the program. So is there an excuse to be one of the worst men's basketball programs in the country? NO absolutely not. This can work, but it starts at the top. We need to find the right coach who can recruit guys to come to this school who can play at the D1 level.

[sioux2013]

^^^ 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.

[star2city]

^^^ 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.

Didn't NDSU beat Wisconsin mostly freshman? Granted, nobody is expecting that, but beating Mayville State should be a given. Mayville State is better than us and has more talent, and they are NAIA DII.

Last year, UND was competitive with Texas A&M with DII talent. Now they get blown out.

Next year will likely actually be worse: Bledsoe and Mertens will be gone next year and there really doesn't appear to be anyone on the horizon that will replace their scoring or leadership. Maybe one or two of the freshman will actually develop, but there is little indication yet that they will. Jones selected them and Jones coached them. This team is truly Jones', and that's where the buck stops.

[mizzou/sioux]

What is happening on the court this year is just unfair. It's unfair to the students who have fees built into their tuition which include ticket fees so they can go to games for "free", it's unfair to the long time ticket holders, it's unfair to the alumni, it's unfair to the players who have worn a UND basketball jersey in the past, and it's unfair to the entire state of North Dakota. When the decision was made to go division 1 we immediately committed to being a nationally recognized program. Our scores show up on the bottom line of the ESPN ticker every night and quite frankly it's horribly embarassing to think that some potential recruit in North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, or Texas is watching a Tar Heels game and sees North Dakota 61 MAYVILLE 73 or North Dakota 41 Texas A&M 82. I know when I see scores like that on the bottom line I usually just assume that it's some D2 school getting wrecked by a large state school because that's the only time that should ever happen. Oh wait LeMoyne BEAT SYRACUSE this year in an exhibition. If we are going to commit to becomming D1 I don't think it's acceptable for any of us to be satisified with what is happening this year. Division 1 programs don't just sit back and say "ahhh shucks, give it some time." I mean we could do that, but I typically think that programs who do that never figure it out and play D1 for all of the wrong reasons. So what I'm trying to say is if you're pissed off about how this year is going, you have every right to be, and don't feel bad about it because as a stakeholder in the program you are entitled to see a respectable product on the floor.

That being said, I don't think that we should be beating the Texas A&M's of the world yet, but we should be competing. Maybe score 60 points against an above average team every now and then. Maybe not get doubled up? The worst part of all of this is that I'm fairly convinced that there are at least 10 guys walking around the campus that could beat the varsity this year. So how can this be fixed? When I found out we were going D1 I thought that all of our sports would be okay, and our toughest time would be men's basketball just based on the fact that there aren't division 1 basketball players in the region and our recruiting base will have to change drastically if we ever want to find players who can compete at that level. D1 players are athletes, we don't have any athletes. The easy fix is to at least recruit athletes who can match up against the guy across from them at least physically. Give them a chance, I really don't blame the players on this years team for what is happening this year. It's not their fault that recruited them to play D1 basketball when they have the skill set of a mediocre D2 basketball player. I mean that's like having some coach come up to you when you're in high school averaging 20 ppg at some horrible Class B school and telling you that they think you're a D1 basketball player. I don't blame them for thinking "holy crap, I can play D1 ball" when someone who should know what a D1 player looks like is telling them that. That's obviously easier said that done, but it can be done. We were able to recruit guys who could compete before (a certain center who outplayed Drew Gooden comes to mind) and now we have more incentive to get players like that to show up. If Bryan Jones isn't out looking at some JUCO players to fix this problem by next year something is wrong. Because there are athletes in those JUCO programs who are of D1 ability and who will be servicable until we can get our own guys coming through here from the start. It worked for NDSU (Andre Smith from NDSCS) and people around here aren't going to wait around for 4 years, and quite frankly they shouldn't have to.

Look at the Betty, just a beauitful basketball facility. Look at our alumni base, way way way way way bigger than a lot of D1 schools. Look at our exposure, FCS, FSSN, and one of only 2 D1 schools in the entire state. Look at our status, we are a state school not a tiny private school that has 1500 students like many of the inner city D1's are, in addition we have a medical and law school, that should mean that we should have an alumni base which is capable of pumping money back into the program. So is there an excuse to be one of the worst men's basketball programs in the country? NO absolutely not. This can work, but it starts at the top. We need to find the right coach who can recruit guys to come to this school who can play at the D1 level.

SiouxDude12, not saying this is a complete answer, but check the scores from the previous 2008-09 season, another game for the men against Texas A&M played again at College Station, Texas. It was Texas A&M 76, UND 62. Not sure about you, but I think that's a fairly respectable score. Granted, the Aggies doubled us up just the other night, but we are a transitional program. Many athletes are going to lay off going to transitional teams. It's one of those facts of life.

Now for just a bit of history. You've probably heard of Bill Fitch, head men's basketball coach at UND for five seasons (1962-63 season through the 1966-67 season. Then, of course, he went on to Bowling Green and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities before joining the NBA coaching ranks where he was ultimately named NBA Coach of the Year and later named one of the 10 best coaches in all of NBA history. Pretty impressive, right?

Well, Fitch's first two years at UND were just ordinary, going 24-29 in that two-season span. Then, with an outstanding number of recruiting classes, including Phil Jackson among the recruits, the Sioux went 70-16 over the next three seasons, capturing three consecutive North Central Conference men's basketball championships and earning trips to Evansville, Indiana, for the College Division national championship (later termed the Elite Eight). Fitch's Sioux finished third in the nation in the 1964-65 season and fourth in the nation the following year.

In all, Fitch compiled a sterling 94-45 win-loss record at UND before moving on.

Also, historically, of all the schools in the former Division II, UND's men's basketball team was narrowly edged out of becoming the first Divisiion II men's basketball program to reach the coveted 1,000 win mark. Central Missouri State got there a day or two or so earlier than we did. Nevertheless, we were the second school to do it.

So don't give up on the Sioux men just yet. Yes, this is a trying year. But there have been others. And, regardless what some fans of some other schools might have one think, we have some quality wins over the years over some big-name school competition, including a couple of wins over the Minnesota Gophers. Also over Nebraska (that's Nebraska-Lincoln for all you pardners out there), San Jose State, Creighton, the U.S. Air Force Academy, DePaul, Chicago Loyola, etc., etc.

As much as some of our brethren may like to crow, don't we (UND) still hold a healthy margin in head-to-head competition over as such an unnamed school also located in the Flickertail State? I thought so. I may be getting older, but I'm not blind.

This is not the time to cash in the chips. Mama said there'd be days like this...There'll be days like this, my Mama said...But hold on, persevere, for the Sioux shall rise again.

[sioux2013]

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.