USD @ UND

[the green team]

Most ensuing classes will have a maximum of 3 players. I doubt highly that we will see too many more 4 plus classes. The key will be to try get 1 to 2 players that will make significant impact during their careers in each class. I don't deny that the sophmore class has been a disappointment, but look at the injuries.

Spencer Goodman was injured off and on last year, he's out for the year this year, 10 games in.

Wilmer was injured throughout the year last year, was knicked up to start the year this year...has a breakout game against the Bison but injures himself during it, and most likely out for the season.

Allard, broke a weird bone in his foot his redshirt season, then last year breaks the same bone in the other foot-midway through the season, Plus he started the year with a broken shooting hand, breaking it in practice.

Doug Archer actually was playing well last year...blows out his knee, this month is a marks a full year after the injury, most say you don't even get close to getting back until a full year has gone by, barring any setbacks.

And Nick Haugen- who at times showed a little something last year has been healthy for all of 5 minutes this season. Rolls an ankle, comes back does something else- and suffers another setback.

This class has been a MASH unit. I can't really say from a playing standpoint if its a failure, bcause I haven't seen enough of the class play on a regular basis to make that type of opinion. Now from the standpoint that they haven't played because they are fragile, that may be a failure. But I don't think anyone could have predicted the number of injuries this class was going to be faced with and to what degree, and how severe the injuries would be.

[UND92,96]

Most ensuing classes will have a maximum of 3 players. I doubt highly that we will ever see 4 per class. The key will be to try get 1 to 2 players that will make significant impact during their careers. I don't deny that the sophmore class has been a disappointment, but look at the injuries.

Spencer Goodman was injured off and on last year, he's out for the year this year, 10 games in.

Wilmer was injured throughout the year last year, was knicked up to start the year this year...has a breakout game against the Bison but injures himself during it, and most likely out for the season.

Allard, broke a weird bone in his foot his redshirt season, then last year breaks the same bone in the other foot-midway through the season, Plus he started the year with a broken shooting hand, breaking it in practice.

Doug Archer actually was playing well last year...blows out his knee, this month is a marks a full year after the injury, most say you don't even get close to getting back until a full year has gone by, barring any setbacks.

And Nick Haugen- who at times showed a little something last year has been healthy for all of 5 minutes this season. Rolls an ankle, comes back does something else- and suffers another setback.

This class has been a MASH unit. I can't really say from a playing standpoint if its a failure, bcause I haven't seen enough of the class play on a regular basis to make that type of opinion. Now from the standpoint that they haven't played because they are fragile, that may be a failure. But I don't think anyone could have predicted the number of injuries this class was going to be faced with and to what degree, and how severe the injuries would be.

No question the sophomore class has suffered a ridiculous number of serious injuries. However, I think it's fairly safe to say that Webb, Huff, Anderson, Schuler and Brekke have all looked better as freshmen--whether true or red-shirt--than any of the sophomores looked last year as red-shirt freshmen. Unless the next group of newcomers doesn't pan out, or there are defections from the current group of freshmen, it's a little difficult for me to foresee any of the sophomores other than Allard and Wilmer ever becoming significant on-court contributors, even if they fully recover from their injury problems. I suspect the five current freshmen, Mitchell, Allard and Wilmer, plus maybe a juco transfer interior player if that's the route Jones goes with the last remaining scholarship, will get the vast majority of the minutes next year.

[star2city]

Most ensuing classes will have a maximum of 3 players. I doubt highly that we will see too many more 4 plus classes. The key will be to try get 1 to 2 players that will make significant impact during their careers in each class. I don't deny that the sophmore class has been a disappointment, but look at the injuries.

Spencer Goodman was injured off and on last year, he's out for the year this year, 10 games in.

Wilmer was injured throughout the year last year, was knicked up to start the year this year...has a breakout game against the Bison but injures himself during it, and most likely out for the season.

Allard, broke a weird bone in his foot his redshirt season, then last year breaks the same bone in the other foot-midway through the season, Plus he started the year with a broken shooting hand, breaking it in practice.

Doug Archer actually was playing well last year...blows out his knee, this month is a marks a full year after the injury, most say you don't even get close to getting back until a full year has gone by, barring any setbacks.

And Nick Haugen- who at times showed a little something last year has been healthy for all of 5 minutes this season. Rolls an ankle, comes back does something else- and suffers another setback.

This class has been a MASH unit. I can't really say from a playing standpoint if its a failure, bcause I haven't seen enough of the class play on a regular basis to make that type of opinion. Now from the standpoint that they haven't played because they are fragile, that may be a failure. But I don't think anyone could have predicted the number of injuries this class was going to be faced with and to what degree, and how severe the injuries would be.

No one is arguing that most of the sophomores haven't had bad breaks. No one is arguing that they don't have a players heart. But, how many of them can reasonably be expected to become a starter in on a competitive Big Sky team in two years? That's the bottom line. Without the freshmen class, the prognosis for men's basketball would have been dire.

These players all wanted a shot at DI when nobody else would offer that, and they were given the opportunity. Nothing is ever guaranteed.

[UND Fan]

I agree that the five freshmen we have playing are contributing well already and I am sure pleased that we have them. However, I think they will need a lot of help for us to be fully competitive in the Big Sky and at the DI level in general. We need some size (both height and mass) to compete with many of these teams. As we saw earlier in the year, we have a tough time competing against "size" - when you combine that with a lot of outside quickness, we will have problems.

Don't take the above comments as negative. I really like our new kids and I think we will compete pretty well in the Great West but we better not feel that we are ready for the Big Sky just because we finish the season strong. I realize we have one more year to prepare for the Big Sky.

[dakotadan]

GFH UND basketball commentary: UND hoops was at its best