Sioux-KU

[Matt]

We all know that NDSU would have beaten them in the big dance, right?

Oh, wait. That didn't happen!

http://espn.go.com/n...ameId=294000055

But, I will give them credit. They did make a game of it!

That was also a far better Kansas team than the one I watched today.

[sioux2013]

I thought our guys played a very good game against one of the best teams in the country in an unbelievable atmosphere and on espn. They played under control and limited bad shots this game. I thought it was probably one of there better road games as far as staying under control and taking good shots. We still had players taking shots they should not be taking but I was very pleased with the effort. Go Sioux

[Big Lubowski]

Final Score?

[darell1976]

Final Score?

84-58

attendance: 16,300

[darell1976]

Kansas beat:

(home wins)

Howard by 55

Ohio State by 11

Long Beach St by 8

South Florida by 28

Florida Atlantic by 23

Towson by 46

North Dakota by 26.....not the worst beating KU has put on a team.

[207Sioux]

Nice article about the game and he Sioux nickname from KUsports.com http://www2.kusports.com/news/2011/dec/31/north-dakota-drops-game-nickname/

[MoSiouxFan]

I was at the game and was, overall, pleased and proud of how the Sioux played. I felt that the Sioux, for the most part, played hard on defense and made them earn everything they got on offense, despite the fact that they scored 84 (they are, after all, one of the top teams in the country and played their big dogs for virtually the whole game). Robinson was just unstoppable today. It's an intimidating atmosphere to play in and the jitters were evident the first 8-10 minutes when we missed 3-4 layups and were guilty of offensive goaltending that cost us a bucket. Were it not for that, it would have been an 8-10 pt. ballgame at halftime. I thought Jones showed class by allowing all 12 or 13 players who were dressed to get some PT and experience the big-time setting first-hand. KU, on the other hand, kept their big dogs in until the last 2:45 of the game, which gave me the impression that they were tryng to run up the score, which they were never really able to do. It is hard for me to see why Robinson was left in for 34 minutes in a nonconference game that KU had well in hand by about 8 minutes or so into the second half. I will say that KU doesn't appear to have near the bench that they've had in the past, so maybe that's why they didn't pull their big dogs until 2:45 left to play. I was impressed with the fact that the Sioux never seemed to lose their poise, even in the face of KU's runs, and played very disciplined basketball on offense, for the most part. I left encouraged that we're going to have a good second half of the season.

[sioux2013]

I was at the game and was, overall, pleased and proud of how the Sioux played. I felt that the Sioux, for the most part, played hard on defense and made them earn everything they got on offense, despite the fact that they scored 84 (they are, after all, one of the top teams in the country and played their big dogs for virtually the whole game). Robinson was just unstoppable today. It's an intimidating atmosphere to play in and the jitters were evident the first 8-10 minutes when we missed 3-4 layups and were guilty of offensive goaltending that cost us a bucket. Were it not for that, it would have been an 8-10 pt. ballgame at halftime. I thought Jones showed class by allowing all 12 or 13 players who were dressed to get some PT and experience the big-time setting first-hand. KU, on the other hand, kept their big dogs in until the last 2:45 of the game, which gave me the impression that they were tryng to run up the score, which they were never really able to do. It is hard for me to see why Robinson was left in for 34 minutes in a nonconference game that KU had well in hand by about 8 minutes or so into the second half. I will say that KU doesn't appear to have near the bench that they've had in the past, so maybe that's why they didn't pull their big dogs until 2:45 left to play. I was impressed with the fact that the Sioux never seemed to lose their poise, even in the face of KU's runs, and played very disciplined basketball on offense, for the most part. I left encouraged that we're going to have a good second half of the season.

Kansas had 5 players play 29+ minutes and no one else on the team played double digit minutes. Thought that was very strange and agree they must not have much of a bench. Maybe the refs realized this and hardly ever called a foul against them. It was obvious Self was not happy calling several timeouts late when we cut into their lead. Its obvious he wanted a 40+ point win that he did not get. The sioux remained poised after the first several minutes and I was also impressed with their gutty performance. Now they must learn from this game and continue to improve on what they did and they will be fine. Go Sioux

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Kansas had 5 players play 29+ minutes and no one else on the team played double digit minutes. Thought that was very strange and agree they must not have much of a bench. Maybe the refs realized this and hardly ever called a foul against them. It was obvious Self was not happy calling several timeouts late when we cut into their lead. Its obvious he wanted a 40+ point win that he did not get. The sioux remained poised after the first several minutes and I was also impressed with their gutty performance. Now they must learn from this game and continue to improve on what they did and they will be fine. Go Sioux

Self came off as a real D bag in my opinion, berating a player at every timeout it seemed.

[coach daddy]

When you watch us run that horrible screen/roll offense against a team that would switch their 4's and 5's onto our 1's and 2's, you saw how far we are away from being a legit DI bball team. Now, I realize we'll NEVER be a team that beats the best in the Big 12 but the difference is athleticism was mind boggling. We could not get the dribble inside the 3-point line.

Our posts are not very good. I know Robinson is an All-American and a lottery pick but it would be nice if every once in a while we could throw the ball into the block and make a 6 or 8 foot shot. Our guards shoot way to much.

[UNDsportsFANATIC]

Coach daddy? You just contradicted yourself. You said are bigs are basically terrible, in so many words, so don't out guards have to shoot in order to get a point scored? Mitchell, Huff, Webb, and Anderson have to shoot the ball, face it. That's just the truth of the matter. Unless u think, Wilmer and Archer can get us points : /

[sioux2013]

Coach daddy? You just contradicted yourself. You said are bigs are basically terrible, in so many words, so don't out guards have to shoot in order to get a point scored? Mitchell, Huff, Webb, and Anderson have to shoot the ball, face it. That's just the truth of the matter. Unless u think, Wilmer and Archer can get us points : /

Agree, Wilmer, Archer and Mathison have only scored maybe 100 pts combined in their 3 year career. Brekke is the only post player that can score and that usually happens when he goes against someone his size. So with that being said we only have Webb, Anderson, Huff, Schuler, and Mitchell that can score on a consistant basis. In my opinion those are all guards so we need the guards to shoot. No other real option.

[coach daddy]

I didn't mean for it to be contradictory, when I said it would be nice to be able to throw the ball into the post and shoot 6-8 footers every now and then, I meant that right now, we can't; we truly need some post play. In trying to keep my post short, I could have omitted some key vocabulary, sorry.

That being said, these guards don't shoot very well either. I am also not a fan of all the ball screen stuff. It is my belief that to run the ball screen action, you need your screen guys (for us it is our 4's and 5's) to be able to shoot the ball on the perimeter. There is a lot of switching and doubling off the screen action that creates open shots for the person who set the screen. Our 4's and 5's can't shoot 8 footers let alone 17-20 foot shots. To me, the offense only works for us against teams that are less athletic than we are; not many of them around.

[UNDsportsFANATIC]

I totally agree with that! Our offense, in so many words, SUCKS! I don't get why they stick the 2 and 3 in the corner and let the bigs and point guard do a horrible pick and role offense, that never works. So it basically makes it 3 against 5, which allows the guys defending the 2 and 3 to utilize help defense. It needs to be an offense where the guards are active. Unfortunately we can't add post plays, for example high low, etc...I don't get it. There hundreds of junior colleges and thousands of high schools who all have bigs, fricken go get some! And leave the Archers, Wilmers, and Stockdales, at home; not to mention Haugen. And it's nothing against them, we just need quality players in order to compete...especially in the big sky

[fightingsioux4life]

I totally agree with that! Our offense, in so many words, SUCKS! I don't get why they stick the 2 and 3 in the corner and let the bigs and point guard do a horrible pick and role offense, that never works. So it basically makes it 3 against 5, which allows the guys defending the 2 and 3 to utilize help defense. It needs to be an offense where the guards are active. Unfortunately we can't add post plays, for example high low, etc...I don't get it. There hundreds of junior colleges and thousands of high schools who all have bigs, fricken go get some! And leave the Archers, Wilmers, and Stockdales, at home; not to mention Haugen. And it's nothing against them, we just need quality players in order to compete...especially in the big sky

This is the excuse Rich Glas would use; there just aren't any big men we can get. Then Augustana would come to town with a big man in the middle. This definitely needs to be addressed.

[sioux2013]

I didn't mean for it to be contradictory, when I said it would be nice to be able to throw the ball into the post and shoot 6-8 footers every now and then, I meant that right now, we can't; we truly need some post play. In trying to keep my post short, I could have omitted some key vocabulary, sorry.

That being said, these guards don't shoot very well either. I am also not a fan of all the ball screen stuff. It is my belief that to run the ball screen action, you need your screen guys (for us it is our 4's and 5's) to be able to shoot the ball on the perimeter. There is a lot of switching and doubling off the screen action that creates open shots for the person who set the screen. Our 4's and 5's can't shoot 8 footers let alone 17-20 foot shots. To me, the offense only works for us against teams that are less athletic than we are; not many of them around.

Have to disagree with you on our guards dont shoot very well. Anderson is probably one of the best shooting guards in the country. He is shooting over 50% from three and over 50 percent from the floor. Schuler is shooting over 40% from three also which is excellent. Goodman is also showing a very nice stroke in his 2 games so far. The problem is we dont get these guys enough shots. I watch game after game and we never have an inside out game to the wide open shooters. We also never look opposite to the wide open guy. This is basic basketball 101 which these players dont understand. I do agree this offense needs adjustments because having guys like Anderson, Schuler and Goodman standing in the corners for most of the sets is not very good. I guess its suppose to be penetrate and dish but most of the time its penetrate and throw up a bad shot and hardly ever a dish. We do have some good shooters just too many guys missing the open shooter and taking horrible shots. Also, we do need some more bigs in the worst way possible. Tough decisions are to be made in a couple of months.

[coach daddy]

I believe Coach Jones has hitched his Big Sky star to Webb, Huff, and Anderson. The first 2 years of conference play will be interesting.

As a person who "coached" for many years I understand how easy it is to get guards but with 12 full scholarships and a roster that has kids from all over North America, there is no reason to say that posts are "hard to get." It has to be a priority in recruiting every year. They watch enough AAU ball all summer to know they're out there.

[sioux2013]

I believe Coach Jones has hitched his Big Sky star to Webb, Huff, and Anderson. The first 2 years of conference play will be interesting.

As a person who "coached" for many years I understand how easy it is to get guards but with 12 full scholarships and a roster that has kids from all over North America, there is no reason to say that posts are "hard to get." It has to be a priority in recruiting every year. They watch enough AAU ball all summer to know they're out there.

I do agree with you on this one. Right now the best of the 3 you mentioned is Anderson. He is not forcing anything and taking very good shots. He has improved so much over last year. Huff and Webb still have alot of improving to do but have the potential to be very good in the Big Sky. They both should shoot less from the outside and penetrate and if the lane is not open dish. My main concern in the Big Sky for the next 2 years with this sophomore class will be the loss of MItchell. We have nobody at this point that will even come close to replacing him and no scholarships available. That is a huge hole and if we dont find somebody quick we will be alot worse in the final 2 years for this class which will be a shame.

[UNDsportsFANATIC]

Sioux2013, I'm sorry to say this; just because we have been getting along lately; but honestly, Nothing against Anderson, but he is not the best talent out the 3 guards. Huff is the best "talent", just is having a bit of a rough first half of the season. And then I think Webb is next. Anderson is a good player, who is happening to shoot better from the field and 3point percentage. And I'm not saying that because, Huff is my "boy" as u call it, but any coach would pick Huff over Snderson, because of the different aspects of his game. Webb is a scoring point guard who can finish with contact. I love all 3, and they will all compliment each other over the years. And yes, replacing Mitchell will be tough. Was hoping Allard would fill that void. : /

[the green team]

I haven't replied to a basketball thread for about a week or so. Simply because it just has the propensity to go negative so quickly. We have so few fans as opposed to hockey that I argue is it necessary to be so negative. I can understand being critical, and constructively so but lets look at some of the evidence---shall we.

First it appears that Coachdaddy & UNDsportsFanatic don't like the offense. Which is a perimeter ball screening offense- that is meant to free up guards and let the get downhill towards the basket. I'll revert to what I've heard about this from the coach's this year from the pre-game & post-game interviews. Didn't you guys not like the Princeton a few years ago? What offense would make you happy? Why don't you just call over to the basketball offices and tell them which offense they need to be running. Apparently, it's not the right one, again.

-If the post player is unable to hold his position or if the ball apparently is not coming into them- they are indeed to go out and screen. This relationship is a 2 way street- sometimes the guards need to do a better job of getting the ball in and others the big needs to post up better. My opinion: The ball rarely goes in- so why when it goes in so few times would it come out on reversal? Once one of our posts gets it down there- it's got to be a feeling of "well I finally got it so I had better do something with it" type of mentality- which, can you blame them?

-The ball screen offense- and this has been mentioned several times is not intended to work on the first screen up top. Its usually the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time that it will work. Like all offense- even the motion- you have to get the right action from the defense to exploit it. Usually, most college defenses defend really well early in the clock--the perfect example of great early clock defense is... us.

- I submit that the ball screen offense is a great offense for this team, why? Where is the majority of the talent? at the guard spots. Where is our talent most effective at doing? Getting to and finishing at the basket. Perfect example of this was the Kansas game- were some of you watching the same game I was? When our offense was most successful was when we got our guards going to the basket off ballscreens up top. In fact Kansas had a great deal of difficulty defending us closely...because when they did- we would blow by- and get to the lane. Consider I counted 10 missed short shots or layups- that didn't go in or were blown, all created by ball screens and drives. Mind you it's against a team like Kansas who hang their hat on on-ball defensive pressure. We were getting the looks- If there is a criticism it should be... stop being so nervous and make the darn lay up. But the offense is working. These 10 missed layins were not even that challenged we just didn't make them. I also submit that the offense is not only good for the obvious...Huff, Anderson, & Webb, but also for Schuler who actually looks almost the best of the 4 on how to use a screen rub off a defender get to 10 or 15 feet and shoot a pull up- they just need to go down more often. 10 layins missed- that's 20 points. The offense to me is working.

- One of the craziest statistics I heard on Saturday was the road record of the Great West Conference- Going into Saturday it was 1 and 41. The 1 win was NJIT by 1 at Army. I desperately want us to win on the road, but realize it's incredibly difficult at this level. That does not take away the 2 most dissapointing losses on the road & of the season in my book- at UMKC and at Sac St. Both had leads at the half both were implosions of epic nature in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd halfs. But those are in the rear view mirror. And now we move on. For those who think last years team was better- I disagree, not from what I've seen. What they accomplished they accomplished at the end, we won't know how to judge this team until the end of the season either. Does anyone remember when we first won on the road last year? Beating E. Mich at Idaho was a neutral court game- to my knowledge we didn't win on the road unitl conference season.

- Just a couple of notes on the Kansas game- we played hard. That was good. Thomas Robinson is just amazing. Travis Releford & Tyshawn Taylor are maybe the best on-ball defenders I have ever seen in a college game-they are really really good. Jamal Webb- despite a tough shooting day but had 6 assists to 3 turnovers (2:1 ratio) against a team that tries to do everything they can to force you into perimeter mistakes (1 was just a great play by a KU defender, the other 2 were forced passes, but I submit that at least he was trying to make a play). Mitch Wilmer needs to learn to use his body to play a lot bigger. He will have far more success if he's able to learn that.

-Can we get better- most certainly yes. We have too. Is it the end of the world? No. Do we need to go out and find some Bigs?- Yes. That goes without saying but I would be shocked if the coaching staff doesn't know that-- and aren't scouring the country trying find a player or players that can help in that area. Do you honestly think they are not?

Our players represented North Dakota proudly on Saturday. It's officially the 2nd half of the year. Let's see what they do the rest of the way. Go UND!

[sioux2013]

I haven't replied to a basketball thread for about a week or so. Simply because it just has the propensity to go negative so quickly. We have so few fans as opposed to hockey that I argue is it necessary to be so negative. I can understand being critical, and constructively so but lets look at some of the evidence---shall we.

First it appears that Coachdaddy & UNDsportsFanatic don't like the offense. Which is a perimeter ball screening offense- that is meant to free up guards and let the get downhill towards the basket. I'll revert to what I've heard about this from the coach's this year from the pre-game & post-game interviews. Didn't you guys not like the Princeton a few years ago? What offense would make you happy? Why don't you just call over to the basketball offices and tell them which offense they need to be running. Apparently, it's not the right one, again.

-If the post player is unable to hold his position or if the ball apparently is not coming into them- they are indeed to go out and screen. This relationship is a 2 way street- sometimes the guards need to do a better job of getting the ball in and others the big needs to post up better. My opinion: The ball rarely goes in- so why when it goes in so few times would it come out on reversal? Once one of our posts gets it down there- it's got to be a feeling of "well I finally got it so I had better do something with it" type of mentality- which, can you blame them?

-The ball screen offense- and this has been mentioned several times is not intended to work on the first screen up top. Its usually the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time that it will work. Like all offense- even the motion- you have to get the right action from the defense to exploit it. Usually, most college defenses defend really well early in the clock--the perfect example of great early clock defense is... us.

- I submit that the ball screen offense is a great offense for this team, why? Where is the majority of the talent? at the guard spots. Where is our talent most effective at doing? Getting to and finishing at the basket. Perfect example of this was the Kansas game- were some of you watching the same game I was? When our offense was most successful was when we got our guards going to the basket off ballscreens up top. In fact Kansas had a great deal of difficulty defending us closely...because when they did- we would blow by- and get to the lane. Consider I counted 10 missed short shots or layups- that didn't go in or were blown, all created by ball screens and drives. Mind you it's against a team like Kansas who hang their hat on on-ball defensive pressure. We were getting the looks- If there is a criticism it should be... stop being so nervous and make the darn lay up. But the offense is working. These 10 missed layins were not even that challenged we just didn't make them. I also submit that the offense is not only good for the obvious...Huff, Anderson, & Webb, but also for Schuler who actually looks almost the best of the 4 on how to use a screen rub off a defender get to 10 or 15 feet and shoot a pull up- they just need to go down more often. 10 layins missed- that's 20 points. The offense to me is working.

- One of the craziest statistics I heard on Saturday was the road record of the Great West Conference- Going into Saturday it was 1 and 41. The 1 win was NJIT by 1 at Army. I desperately want us to win on the road, but realize it's incredibly difficult at this level. That does not take away the 2 most dissapointing losses on the road & of the season in my book- at UMKC and at Sac St. Both had leads at the half both were implosions of epic nature in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd halfs. But those are in the rear view mirror. And now we move on. For those who think last years team was better- I disagree, not from what I've seen. What they accomplished they accomplished at the end, we won't know how to judge this team until the end of the season either. Does anyone remember when we first won on the road last year? Beating E. Mich at Idaho was a neutral court game- to my knowledge we didn't win on the road unitl conference season.

- Just a couple of notes on the Kansas game- we played hard. That was good. Thomas Robinson is just amazing. Travis Releford & Tyshawn Taylor are maybe the best on-ball defenders I have ever seen in a college game-they are really really good. Jamal Webb- despite a tough shooting day but had 6 assists to 3 turnovers (2:1 ratio) against a team that tries to do everything they can to force you into perimeter mistakes (1 was just a great play by a KU defender, the other 2 were forced passes, but I submit that at least he was trying to make a play). Mitch Wilmer needs to learn to use his body to play a lot bigger. He will have far more success if he's able to learn that.

-Can we get better- most certainly yes. We have too. Is it the end of the world? No. Do we need to go out and find some Bigs?- Yes. That goes without saying but I would be shocked if the coaching staff doesn't know that-- and aren't scouring the country trying find a player or players that can help in that area. Do you honestly think they are not?

Our players represented North Dakota proudly on Saturday. It's officially the 2nd half of the year. Let's see what they do the rest of the way. Go UND!

No doubt you are correct that this offense is so much better than the princeton 2 years ago. I even hate to think about that offense. The one thing i disagree on this offense is 2 guys standing in the corner too much. I would like to see the bigs screen these 2 guys and have them come off the screens for a 10-15 foot pull up. The only true screens are 30 foot from the basket. Why not set the wings in motion and come off a screen somewhere in the middle for pull ups. It is a motion offense but most of the time only 3 are in motion. It can be adjusted to get just alittle more movement. I agree with you that Schuler is probably the best at the mid range pull up. He needs to do this more cause it is always there. UNDsportsmatic, At this point in the season Anderson if by far our best player. He takes great shots, doesnt force anything, and his percentages are off the charts. If he took as many shots as Huff he would be averaging 20+ points/game. Huff is by far our most athletic player but makes alot of poor decisions. If he ever learns what a good shot is for him and a bad shot he will be our best player. He doesnt understand this yet. I hope he does cause he is such a threat and we need him.

[MoSiouxFan]

I haven't replied to a basketball thread for about a week or so. Simply because it just has the propensity to go negative so quickly. We have so few fans as opposed to hockey that I argue is it necessary to be so negative. I can understand being critical, and constructively so but lets look at some of the evidence---shall we.

First it appears that Coachdaddy & UNDsportsFanatic don't like the offense. Which is a perimeter ball screening offense- that is meant to free up guards and let the get downhill towards the basket. I'll revert to what I've heard about this from the coach's this year from the pre-game & post-game interviews. Didn't you guys not like the Princeton a few years ago? What offense would make you happy? Why don't you just call over to the basketball offices and tell them which offense they need to be running. Apparently, it's not the right one, again.

-If the post player is unable to hold his position or if the ball apparently is not coming into them- they are indeed to go out and screen. This relationship is a 2 way street- sometimes the guards need to do a better job of getting the ball in and others the big needs to post up better. My opinion: The ball rarely goes in- so why when it goes in so few times would it come out on reversal? Once one of our posts gets it down there- it's got to be a feeling of "well I finally got it so I had better do something with it" type of mentality- which, can you blame them?

-The ball screen offense- and this has been mentioned several times is not intended to work on the first screen up top. Its usually the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time that it will work. Like all offense- even the motion- you have to get the right action from the defense to exploit it. Usually, most college defenses defend really well early in the clock--the perfect example of great early clock defense is... us.

- I submit that the ball screen offense is a great offense for this team, why? Where is the majority of the talent? at the guard spots. Where is our talent most effective at doing? Getting to and finishing at the basket. Perfect example of this was the Kansas game- were some of you watching the same game I was? When our offense was most successful was when we got our guards going to the basket off ballscreens up top. In fact Kansas had a great deal of difficulty defending us closely...because when they did- we would blow by- and get to the lane. Consider I counted 10 missed short shots or layups- that didn't go in or were blown, all created by ball screens and drives. Mind you it's against a team like Kansas who hang their hat on on-ball defensive pressure. We were getting the looks- If there is a criticism it should be... stop being so nervous and make the darn lay up. But the offense is working. These 10 missed layins were not even that challenged we just didn't make them. I also submit that the offense is not only good for the obvious...Huff, Anderson, & Webb, but also for Schuler who actually looks almost the best of the 4 on how to use a screen rub off a defender get to 10 or 15 feet and shoot a pull up- they just need to go down more often. 10 layins missed- that's 20 points. The offense to me is working.

- One of the craziest statistics I heard on Saturday was the road record of the Great West Conference- Going into Saturday it was 1 and 41. The 1 win was NJIT by 1 at Army. I desperately want us to win on the road, but realize it's incredibly difficult at this level. That does not take away the 2 most dissapointing losses on the road & of the season in my book- at UMKC and at Sac St. Both had leads at the half both were implosions of epic nature in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd halfs. But those are in the rear view mirror. And now we move on. For those who think last years team was better- I disagree, not from what I've seen. What they accomplished they accomplished at the end, we won't know how to judge this team until the end of the season either. Does anyone remember when we first won on the road last year? Beating E. Mich at Idaho was a neutral court game- to my knowledge we didn't win on the road unitl conference season.

- Just a couple of notes on the Kansas game- we played hard. That was good. Thomas Robinson is just amazing. Travis Releford & Tyshawn Taylor are maybe the best on-ball defenders I have ever seen in a college game-they are really really good. Jamal Webb- despite a tough shooting day but had 6 assists to 3 turnovers (2:1 ratio) against a team that tries to do everything they can to force you into perimeter mistakes (1 was just a great play by a KU defender, the other 2 were forced passes, but I submit that at least he was trying to make a play). Mitch Wilmer needs to learn to use his body to play a lot bigger. He will have far more success if he's able to learn that.

-Can we get better- most certainly yes. We have too. Is it the end of the world? No. Do we need to go out and find some Bigs?- Yes. That goes without saying but I would be shocked if the coaching staff doesn't know that-- and aren't scouring the country trying find a player or players that can help in that area. Do you honestly think they are not?

Our players represented North Dakota proudly on Saturday. It's officially the 2nd half of the year. Let's see what they do the rest of the way. Go UND!

I was at the game and I agree that our offense worked reasonably well, especially when you consider that it was against a team that traditionally is one of the best defensive teams in the country. Had we made just 3 or 4 of the missed layups, we'd have been in the mid-60's against a top-notch defensive team. We got a number of uncontested layups off our offense. I do think, however, that we need to look more consistently for our big man on the roll to the basket after he sets the pick. It seemed like that was open a few times against KU. Then if the help side comes off one of the corners, hit our open shooter in the corner.

[Ole in MSP]

I haven't replied to a basketball thread for about a week or so. Simply because it just has the propensity to go negative so quickly. We have so few fans as opposed to hockey that I argue is it necessary to be so negative. I can understand being critical, and constructively so but lets look at some of the evidence---shall we.

First it appears that Coachdaddy & UNDsportsFanatic don't like the offense. Which is a perimeter ball screening offense- that is meant to free up guards and let the get downhill towards the basket. I'll revert to what I've heard about this from the coach's this year from the pre-game & post-game interviews. Didn't you guys not like the Princeton a few years ago? What offense would make you happy? Why don't you just call over to the basketball offices and tell them which offense they need to be running. Apparently, it's not the right one, again.

-If the post player is unable to hold his position or if the ball apparently is not coming into them- they are indeed to go out and screen. This relationship is a 2 way street- sometimes the guards need to do a better job of getting the ball in and others the big needs to post up better. My opinion: The ball rarely goes in- so why when it goes in so few times would it come out on reversal? Once one of our posts gets it down there- it's got to be a feeling of "well I finally got it so I had better do something with it" type of mentality- which, can you blame them?

-The ball screen offense- and this has been mentioned several times is not intended to work on the first screen up top. Its usually the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time that it will work. Like all offense- even the motion- you have to get the right action from the defense to exploit it. Usually, most college defenses defend really well early in the clock--the perfect example of great early clock defense is... us.

- I submit that the ball screen offense is a great offense for this team, why? Where is the majority of the talent? at the guard spots. Where is our talent most effective at doing? Getting to and finishing at the basket. Perfect example of this was the Kansas game- were some of you watching the same game I was? When our offense was most successful was when we got our guards going to the basket off ballscreens up top. In fact Kansas had a great deal of difficulty defending us closely...because when they did- we would blow by- and get to the lane. Consider I counted 10 missed short shots or layups- that didn't go in or were blown, all created by ball screens and drives. Mind you it's against a team like Kansas who hang their hat on on-ball defensive pressure. We were getting the looks- If there is a criticism it should be... stop being so nervous and make the darn lay up. But the offense is working. These 10 missed layins were not even that challenged we just didn't make them. I also submit that the offense is not only good for the obvious...Huff, Anderson, & Webb, but also for Schuler who actually looks almost the best of the 4 on how to use a screen rub off a defender get to 10 or 15 feet and shoot a pull up- they just need to go down more often. 10 layins missed- that's 20 points. The offense to me is working.

- One of the craziest statistics I heard on Saturday was the road record of the Great West Conference- Going into Saturday it was 1 and 41. The 1 win was NJIT by 1 at Army. I desperately want us to win on the road, but realize it's incredibly difficult at this level. That does not take away the 2 most dissapointing losses on the road & of the season in my book- at UMKC and at Sac St. Both had leads at the half both were implosions of epic nature in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd halfs. But those are in the rear view mirror. And now we move on. For those who think last years team was better- I disagree, not from what I've seen. What they accomplished they accomplished at the end, we won't know how to judge this team until the end of the season either. Does anyone remember when we first won on the road last year? Beating E. Mich at Idaho was a neutral court game- to my knowledge we didn't win on the road unitl conference season.

- Just a couple of notes on the Kansas game- we played hard. That was good. Thomas Robinson is just amazing. Travis Releford & Tyshawn Taylor are maybe the best on-ball defenders I have ever seen in a college game-they are really really good. Jamal Webb- despite a tough shooting day but had 6 assists to 3 turnovers (2:1 ratio) against a team that tries to do everything they can to force you into perimeter mistakes (1 was just a great play by a KU defender, the other 2 were forced passes, but I submit that at least he was trying to make a play). Mitch Wilmer needs to learn to use his body to play a lot bigger. He will have far more success if he's able to learn that.

-Can we get better- most certainly yes. We have too. Is it the end of the world? No. Do we need to go out and find some Bigs?- Yes. That goes without saying but I would be shocked if the coaching staff doesn't know that-- and aren't scouring the country trying find a player or players that can help in that area. Do you honestly think they are not?

Our players represented North Dakota proudly on Saturday. It's officially the 2nd half of the year. Let's see what they do the rest of the way. Go UND!

But, but, but, can we please, please find some different road uniforms! They are U G L Y!!!

[sioux2013]

But, but, but, can we please, please find some different road uniforms! They are U G L Y!!!

Have you ever seen them in person? They are really not that bad.

[sioux24/7]

I really like the road unis.