USD @ UND

[The Sicatoka]

I saw one wide-angle camera shot (going to a break).

I was surprised at how full the lower bowl looked. I was expecting much worse.

[UND92,96]

I saw one wide-angle camera shot (going to a break).

I was surprised at how full the lower bowl looked. I was expecting much worse.

I was there, and while the announced attendance was probably a big stretch, the crowd wasn't bad all things considered. Unfortunately, the play by the home teams was another story...

[UND92,96]

IF there are players reading this message board, and IF they are a part of a 3-16 bball team, and IF they haven't figured out that they aren't very good, well, then there isn't much left to say.

You will always find 1 or 2 players with good numbers on any team you follow. That doesn't mean there is enough talent for this team to compete at the DI level. Seriously, you can pull for them all you want and be a loyal fan, but how can you watch this team and say in 2 years they'll be better based on what you've watched? Who in the freshman class has stepped up, opened our eyes and made us say, "Wow, we got a steal in that kid!"

If the truth hurts, ask yourself if you know the truth or if you're just blindly following the program. Nothing said on here, as near as I can tell, has been untrue regarding their play or their abilities.

I saw one player who fits that description last night. Unfortunately, he plays for USD and his name is Jake Thomas. And he's a true freshman.

[coach daddy]

I saw one player who fits that description last night. Unfortunately, he plays for USD and his name is Jake Thomas. And he's a true freshman.

Good one. Hope no one gets offended by that.

[Shawn-O]

Good one. Hope no one gets offended by that.

I was certainly offended by what I saw on the court last night.

[sioux2013]

I will say it again next year will be a huge change. Mitchell will be a junior with Benter and Clausen seniors. Joined by a full years experience of Hagen, Goodman,Archer, Allard and Wilmer. Joined by this years red shirt Schuler and Brekke. A true point guard and a very athletic 6'5 recruit. I see a 500 record next year and then only better things in the years to come. Give it time.

[coach daddy]

I will say it again next year will be a huge change. Mitchell will be a junior with Benter and Clausen seniors. Joined by a full years experience of Hagen, Goodman,Archer, Allard and Wilmer. Joined by this years red shirt Schuler and Brekke. A true point guard and a very athletic 6'5 recruit. I see a 500 record next year and then only better things in the years to come. Give it time.

Someone bookmark this spot right here. How you have seen anything from Benter to believe he'll be a good senior I don't understand. For anyone to think Brekke will make anymore plays next year than this years group of redshirt's is not realistic. I'll give you Mitchell as a good player but beyond that, I don't see anything that makes this team better 10 wins at best next year.

[Ole in MSP]

Well said, this team is just not athletic enough to play at the D1 level and won't be without adding about 7 different players.

[bincitysioux]

I will say it again next year will be a huge change. Mitchell will be a junior with Benter and Clausen seniors. Joined by a full years experience of Hagen, Goodman,Archer, Allard and Wilmer. Joined by this years red shirt Schuler and Brekke. A true point guard and a very athletic 6'5 recruit. I see a 500 record next year and then only better things in the years to come. Give it time.

I will jump on board and am optimistic that next year could be better. It will be difficult to replace Bledsoe and Mertens (Travis B. can be explosive and Travis M. may be turnover prone, but has been a consistent player as a Sioux). Goodman, Haugen, and Archer all give me reason for optimism. I'm hoping Wilmer can progress into a good player, his size is just so appealing. Troy Huff especially looks to be a good looking recruit.

Someone bookmark this spot right here. How you have seen anything from Benter to believe he'll be a good senior I don't understand. For anyone to think Brekke will make anymore plays next year than this years group of redshirt's is not realistic. I'll give you Mitchell as a good player but beyond that, I don't see anything that makes this team better 10 wins at best next year.

Personally, I think Mitchell has been disappointing this season. He looked great at times last year as a freshman, but has struggled alot this season. He's shooting around 33% for the year. That won't cut it either from beyond or inside of the arc. He needs to step it up if this team is to succeed over the next 2+ years.

As someone who has been a staunch supporter of Jones (I admit I was pretty emotional after the Mayville game), I feel next year needs to yield some improvement or a change would be justified.

[UND92,96]

As someone who has been a staunch supporter of Jones (I admit I was pretty emotional after the Mayville game), I feel next year needs to yield some improvement or a change would be justified.

While I believe Jones to be a nice person and is undoubtedly working as hard as he can, when you look at the body of work through nearly four full seasons, there simply isn't much reason to expect that things will get better. Let's look at his two best seasons so far:

2007-08 (15-15)

10 of the 15 wins were against:

Dickinson St., Minot St., Mayville St., Jamestown, Bemidji St., UMC, Mary (twice) and Upper Iowa (twice). And this was a team that had two or three legitimate dI-caliber players in Little, Youmans and probably Harrison.

2008-09 (16-12)

11 of the 16 wins were against:

Bemidji St., Illinois Tech, Wisconsin-Parkside, Valley City St., Dickinson St., UMC, Minot St., Mary, Mayville St., Upper Iowa and Hamline.

Prior to this year, about the best thing that could be said about Jones is that he managed to beat the teams he was supposed to beat. Now that we're playing far more challenging schedules, and are probably less athletic than most of our dII years, I just don't see any reason to think more success is on the horizon compared to what we're currently seeing. I hope I'm wrong.

[bincitysioux]

One of the things that has impressed me about Jones is the fact that he seems to always have his teams playing their best basketball at the end of the season. Halfway through 2007-08 season, things looked pretty bleak, but they ended up in the NCC title game. They again played well toward the end of last year against mainly other DI transitionals.

What concerns me is the apparent change in recruiting philosophy. I don't know if it is recruiting to the Princeton offense, or just can't get immediate impact guys, but I was quite impressed with his first recruits like Little, Youmens, Harrison, and even Joseph. Haven't seen any guys like that the last two years. Mertens and Clausen are nice players, but not athletic difference-makers like Little especially was.

[UND92,96]

One of the things that has impressed me about Jones is the fact that he seems to always have his teams playing their best basketball at the end of the season. Halfway through 2007-08 season, things looked pretty bleak, but they ended up in the NCC title game. They again played well toward the end of last year against mainly other DI transitionals.

What concerns me is the apparent change in recruiting philosophy. I don't know if it is recruiting to the Princeton offense, or just can't get immediate impact guys, but I was quite impressed with his first recruits like Little, Youmens, Harrison, and even Joseph. Haven't seen any guys like that the last two years. Mertens and Clausen are nice players, but not athletic difference-makers like Little especially was.

That brings up a point that's bothered me for several years. You need to go all the way back to Jeff Brandt in the 2000-01 season to find the last time UND has had a freshman--whether true or red-shirt--step in and be a double-figure scorer. It seems like that should happen more often than once a decade. The women have gone through a similar drought, albeit shorter, as they haven't had an immediate impact freshman since the back-to-back years where Langen and Kimbrough came in.

[sioux2013]

I guess alot of you believe in miracles.. It happened in 1980 with the USA hockey team so I guess you all can believe in it. NO conference, NO NCAA opportunites. Until these two main affiliations are met you will not get extremely high calibur players and then it will still be tough with being in North Dakota. Next year two very athletic kids which you all rave we dont have will be joining the team. The co player of the year from Ohio will be playing and Ohio is one of the best states in the union for basketball and Im sure a few will step it up from this red shirt class, and thats all it will take. It only takes a few players from each class and a few years to make something happen. I will remain optomistic and I will say "I told you so in a few years."

[star2city]

I guess alot of you believe in miracles.. It happened in 1980 with the USA hockey team so I guess you all can believe in it. NO conference, NO NCAA opportunites. Until these two main affiliations are met you will not get extremely high calibur players and then it will still be tough with being in North Dakota. Next year two very athletic kids which you all rave we dont have will be joining the team. The co player of the year from Ohio will be playing and Ohio is one of the best states in the union for basketball and Im sure a few will step it up from this red shirt class, and thats all it will take. It only takes a few players from each class and a few years to make something happen. I will remain optomistic and I will say "I told you so in a few years."

Jones biggest mistake is telling fans things like: "We look like a DI team now" early in the season. This team has dropped 50 points in the RPI rankings from last year.

A "miracle" happened at NDSU without a conference to recruit into: Miles sold the Fab Five that they would compete in the Big Sky.

Look at Seattle, which is in the same year of transition:

"From an outside exposure perspective and even from a wins perspective, we are way ahead of what I thought," Dollar said. "I knew we'd compete. I knew we'd fight and claw. But I never put a number of wins on it. I wouldn't say I thought we were going to lose 20 games, either. But I think from the outside, the exposure, the amount of attention, and then the response to some of our success, has been more than I thought it would be this early."

Seattle U. athletic director Bill Hogan concurs that so far, so good on the transition to D-I.

The team is averaging 3,294 in nine home games at KeyArena (last year's average was 966) and Hogan said 2,800 season tickets have been sold.

He said the numbers might have been higher had the Redhawks had more time to sell tickets

[UND92,96]

Personally, I think Mitchell has been disappointing this season. He looked great at times last year as a freshman, but has struggled alot this season. He's shooting around 33% for the year. That won't cut it either from beyond or inside of the arc. He needs to step it up if this team is to succeed over the next 2+ years.

IMO, Mitchell needs to be playing inside. He's 6'7", 240 pounds and has above-average athletic ability. Benter and Archer are nice role players, but neither is going to produce many points from the low block. Mitchell has that ability. While he can knock down 3's when he's on, there should be enough other wing players who can also fill that role.

[bincitysioux]

IMO, Mitchell needs to be playing inside. He's 6'7", 240 pounds and has above-average athletic ability. Benter and Archer are nice role players, but neither is going to produce many points from the low block. Mitchell has that ability. While he can knock down 3's when he's on, there should be enough other wing players who can also fill that role.

I agree he could probably be more helpful in that role, although he seems to have the shooter's mentality. He's attempted nearly twice as many 3 pointers as two point FGs in his career. He shot from 3 at a pretty good clip last year around 38%. This year he's dropped off to 32%. IMO, Mitchell will be a key factor if this team is to improve over the next two years.

[sioux2013]

Agree, Mitchell is key for this teams improvement. Basically he has had the sophomore jink. Seems to me he spends way too much time on the bench. I still believe the top players need more time on the court, somewhere in the 32-34 minutes/game. Almost everyone just plays 20-24 minutes which I just dont think anyone gets into a groove. Pick your best 8-9 players and play them and not play 10-11 players equally. Also, I would like to see Wilmer play alittle more. With his size he seems to have alot of mobility but does not see the floor that often, he needs the experience now.