Brewster named new Women's BB Coach

[zonadub]

When does Brewster’s contract conclude? Is Mallory Bernhard ready to take the helm? 50 - 4, even at the high school level, sounds pretty impressive. 

[SiouxVolley]

1 hour ago, zonadub said:

When does Brewster’s contract conclude? Is Mallory Bernhard ready to take the helm? 50 - 4, even at the high school level, sounds pretty impressive. 

She'd have to get college credentials.

[RogerRoger12]

So should we stop talking about brewsters contract and when it ends yet?? Orrrr are we still fixated on calling for a really good coaches job? 10-4 1-0 in summit, playing with a lot of freshman, and 2 winnable games at home coming up... trolls should go hide now haha .. Go Hawks, this is fun! 

[UND1983]

32 minutes ago, RogerRoger12 said:

So should we stop talking about brewsters contract and when it ends yet?? Orrrr are we still fixated on calling for a really good coaches job? 10-4 1-0 in summit, playing with a lot of freshman, and 2 winnable games at home coming up... trolls should go hide now haha .. Go Hawks, this is fun! 

UND was 12-19 last year.  Two years ago they were 12-18.  We all want them to win and be great but slow it down a bit on the parade planning.  

[jdub27]

3 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

UND was 12-19 last year.  Two years ago they were 12-18.  We all want them to win and be great but slow it down a bit on the parade planning.  

And those two years were preceded by early flameouts in the conference tournament (1 win in 3 years). The 2014 NCAA berth was a long time ago, hopefully the team can get back to where they were then. Will be interesting to see how they stack up with the SD schools. 

[SWSiouxMN]

1 hour ago, jdub27 said:

And those two years were preceded by early flameouts in the conference tournament (1 win in 3 years). The 2014 NCAA berth was a long time ago, hopefully the team can get back to where they were then. Will be interesting to see how they stack up with the SD schools. 

SDSU is beatable this year (injuries to their 2 best players) but still be tough, USD will be a tall task. 

[ND-fan]

Brewster is back this year since the 2014  when he made the dance. I think he kind of woke up last year that he needed to work at recruiting and if he wanted his contract renewed he had to step up. I think Brewster has the abilities to be very good coach but I also think his ego gets in his way from reaching the next level. I think he thought should have been ready to move to next level but didn't get opportunity which frustrated him and it showed on his coaching and whole program. I also believe he's in that tough stage of life with kids and family so he is torn in different directions. I have been very critical of him in past because I thought he should have been doing better than he was. Also I wonder if last years team of seniors never meshed as team and had been going on for number of years. This was on him because he was one that chose this group and only one he lost was Frieje and nothing improved after that so it had to be in group remaining. This group looks like it could become very good team but South Dakota is monster this year so it will probably playing for one of the other tournaments at year end.

[SWSiouxMN]

3 minutes ago, ND-fan said:

Brewster is back this year since the 2014  when he made the dance. I think he kind of woke up last year that he needed to work at recruiting and if he wanted his contract renewed he had to step up. I think Brewster has the abilities to be very good coach but I also think his ego gets in his way from reaching the next level. I think he thought should have been ready to move to next level but didn't get opportunity which frustrated him and it showed on his coaching and whole program. I also believe he's in that tough stage of life with kids and family so he is torn in different directions. I have been very critical of him in past because I thought he should have been doing better than he was. Also I wonder if last years team of seniors never meshed as team and had been going on for number of years. This was on him because he was one that chose this group and only one he lost was Frieje and nothing improved after that so it had to be in group remaining. This group looks like it could become very good team but South Dakota is monster this year so it will probably playing for one of the other tournaments at year end.

I wonder how much his back played a role in this.... 

[Siouxperman8]

2 hours ago, ND-fan said:

Brewster is back this year since the 2014  when he made the dance. I think he kind of woke up last year that he needed to work at recruiting and if he wanted his contract renewed he had to step up. I think Brewster has the abilities to be very good coach but I also think his ego gets in his way from reaching the next level. I think he thought should have been ready to move to next level but didn't get opportunity which frustrated him and it showed on his coaching and whole program. I also believe he's in that tough stage of life with kids and family so he is torn in different directions. I have been very critical of him in past because I thought he should have been doing better than he was. Also I wonder if last years team of seniors never meshed as team and had been going on for number of years. This was on him because he was one that chose this group and only one he lost was Frieje and nothing improved after that so it had to be in group remaining. This group looks like it could become very good team but South Dakota is monster this year so it will probably playing for one of the other tournaments at year end.

I haven't followed the program religiously recently but didn't he have a pretty high number of of players transfer out the last few years?

I heard from a mother of a player on another Big Sky team that the players she knew said he was pretty negative and hard to be around recently.   If that's true I hope he's turned it around.

 

[RogerRoger12]

I love that everyone forgets about the 20 win season, Co - Big Sky championship(15-3 in the league) and WNIT berth.. that was in 16-17 .. so to say he hasn’t done anything since 2014 is crazy!  Another win today by the way ! 11-4 2-0

[Oxbow6]

14 minutes ago, RogerRoger12 said:

I love that everyone forgets about the 20 win season, Co - Big Sky championship(15-3 in the league) and WNIT berth.. that was in 16-17 .. so to say he hasn’t done anything since 2014 is crazy!  Another win today by the way ! 11-4 2-0

......and he's winning right now with mostly 18-19 year olds. 

[ND-fan]

I watched him today he's coaching like he did in 2014 to 2016 his whole attitude is different than it has been last couple of years. I don't know the reason for the change but I am happy to see it because when he coaches like he can he is very successful. I think somebody has had heart to heart with him because you can see his demeanor with his players is better and he's more involved in the game. Yes winning helps but more things than that have changed you see how he is different with his players and how his players are responding this year. Maybe somebody has inside scoop on the change this year.

This team is fun to watch again with the way they play game. They make a lot of mistakes and turn ball over to much but they also get other team to turn ball over and they look like they where the opponents down. These kids this year can shoot the ball and overall play good defense. This freshman class has already 4 girls that are making presence on the floor and there looks to be other freshman that will contribute in the future. We will see how far along we are when we play the South Dakota schools but I think we are better than rest of Summit schools right now not saying we can't get beat on the road against some of them. This will be fun season in the Summit for us.

[UND1983]

They are fun to watch, no doubt about it!  Scoring some points.

[Nodak78]

Confident freshman players.  They could be pretty tough by tournament time

 

[Teeder11]

Keplin is a player!  Love her motor and her tenacity. 

[kiyoat]

15 hours ago, ND-fan said:

I watched him today he's coaching like he did in 2014 to 2016 his whole attitude is different than it has been last couple of years. I don't know the reason for the change but I am happy to see it because when he coaches like he can he is very successful. I think somebody has had heart to heart with him because you can see his demeanor with his players is better and he's more involved in the game. Yes winning helps but more things than that have changed you see how he is different with his players and how his players are responding this year. Maybe somebody has inside scoop on the change this year.

This team is fun to watch again with the way they play game. They make a lot of mistakes and turn ball over to much but they also get other team to turn ball over and they look like they where the opponents down. These kids this year can shoot the ball and overall play good defense. This freshman class has already 4 girls that are making presence on the floor and there looks to be other freshman that will contribute in the future. We will see how far along we are when we play the South Dakota schools but I think we are better than rest of Summit schools right now not saying we can't get beat on the road against some of them. This will be fun season in the Summit for us.

Thanks for your insights (this and the previous post).  I had been wondering about this ND team, and why they had been doing so well this season.  I'll have to admit I hadn't had a very positive view of your coach from what I had seen in the last couple of years.  The bruising, foul-happy team from last year especially put a bad taste in my mouth.  Coach Brew (in the past, anyway) doesn't interview well, either.  But I guess that has zero to do with his coaching ability.

I knew the team this year was a bit of a wildcard, as far as Summit ranking.  I had withheld judgement, due to the weakness of the non-conference record.  It's pretty obvious now that this is a much-improved team.  Your posts have given me a better perspective on possibly why they are better.  A fresh new group of players with a fresh new attitude from the coach.  Whatever it is, it seems to be working.  Tip of the cap to the Hawks and Coach Brew.

Good luck this year.  We need more successful programs to raise the league profile.  

[UNDBIZ]

On 1/2/2020 at 4:25 PM, SWSiouxMN said:

I wonder how much his back played a role in this.... 

I'm starting to think getting that fixed has played a big part.  Tough to be upbeat and supportive when you're in constant pain...

[SWSiouxMN]

In case anyone needs a refresher: https://www.inforum.com/lifestyle/health/4806612-UND-basketball-coach-gets-relief-from-crippling-back-pain-through-pioneering-surgery

[the green team]

I was just curious to see how the teams that North Dakota Women have played, have fared with the rest of their games.  If you throw out the non-d1's, and the game against Arizona 13-1.   I think the record Women's Basketball opponents is close to 50wins against 75 losses.  Including getting 2 wins against 2 teams with only 2 wins.  South Carolina State and Charleston Southern.  Now one of their losses was to a very good 10 and 3 Illinois State team, and to their credit, I thought that actually was one of the Fighting Hawks best games even in a loss. 

Honestly, you can only play who you have scheduled.  But I will have to say this staff, has set its schedule up very well this year, with some of the opponents it went out and got.  It may be for the innocuous reason that they knew they had a lot of young and youthful players on the roster that were going to need some seasoning, but a person can hypothesize that there may have been a little bit of.. lets go out at get a good non-league record".  It certainly can't hurt.  I can't really blame them...I would do the same thing.  But I'm also keeping things in perspective.

That's why it's always so difficult to compare the Women's and Men's Programs because, most years the Men, from my understanding usually take on 3 to 4 money games. Even though they won, one this year (Nebraska).  You don't often count on it.   I believe the Arizona game was a money game for the Women, but I can't imagine it was anywhere near the amounts the Men pulled in from even say Valpo, let alone an Oregon St/Minnesota or Nebraska.  Of course I could be wrong, as someone may have more definitive knowledge.

Bottom line, this freshman class has some very nice pieces, local at that, which I enjoy, and I hope they can continue to thrive and grow.

I was not even going to begin to respond to the Kiyoat fan above who claimed we were a hack fest last year... but I just can't let it go unchecked so allow me to retort.  USD has a reputation from several in the conference for their tendency to flop and make more out of contact that what there actually is.  Credit it to them, as they seem to have a lot of the officiating crews snowed into responding to the often time overreactions.  Our players don't goon anybody.  Certainly not this year, not last year or any year prior to that.  That has long been the USD "company fan line" any time one of their players get bumped, going all the way back to the NCC days.

[fightingsioux4life]

On 1/5/2020 at 4:08 PM, RogerRoger12 said:

I love that everyone forgets about the 20 win season, Co - Big Sky championship(15-3 in the league) and WNIT berth.. that was in 16-17 .. so to say he hasn’t done anything since 2014 is crazy!  Another win today by the way ! 11-4 2-0

The last two seasons were brutal. I am very happy about their performance so far, but the criticism Brewster was facing before this season was justified.

[the green team]

Actually, I will add to my Coyote criticism.  Perhaps the reason we fouled more last year, was that USD actually had the far better squad.  I can admit that. USD had a incredibly talented squad last year and they do again. There, I just paid a USD team a compliment.  I have been following UND Womens & Men's Basketball since the 70's and not once have I ever heard a USD fan give  one of our teams a compliment..so already I'm ahead in that category.   Usually, if a team is over matched they have a tendency to commit more fouls, that's just a reality.   But the fact that you insinuate that we a "bruising team"That's insinuating that we were in a sense "dirty".  I don't like it, but it doesn't surprise me, coming from the Coyote faithful. Toughen up a little. I'll put it this way. For example, Lexi Klabo, was never going to try avoid contact in her career.  Why should she?  She was very good finishing through contact.

[kiyoat]

4 hours ago, the green team said:

... the Kiyoat fan above who claimed we were a hack fest last year... but I just can't let it go unchecked so allow me to retort.  USD has a reputation ...for their tendency to flop... Our players don't goon anybody.  Certainly not this year, not last year or any year prior to that.  That has long been the USD "company fan line" any time one of their players get bumped, going all the way back to the NCC days.

My words were "the Bruising, foul-happy team last year".  I never called them goons (I assume that is the hockey equivalent of a dirty player?).  They were, in fact, foul-happy.  It is no secret that UND produced the most fouls per game than any team in the conference last year.  This is quantifiable.  They eclipsed 30 fouls seven times, against both good and bad teams. 

This was clearly just they way they were coached to play.  It is a strategy.  Brewster chose to be a physical team, in a way that produces fouls.  It is what it is.  I wasn't a fan of that strategy when I watched the three times we played the Hawks.  I'm not whining about it, or making excuses.  Our young women did just fine against it.  In fact, we have been called thugs by Iowa State and SD State fans in recent years for our physical play, just for playing an aggressive, turnover-creating style of defense.

In the game in Vermillion last year, we won 87-54 in regulation.  UND committed 36 fouls and had three players foul out of the game.  In the game in Fargo is was 33 with one ejection.  To me, that's a little excessive.  Again, I'm not calling them dirty, or goons, or cheap-shot artists.  Just that they played a "bruising foul-happy" style of basketball that I personally was not a fan of.

On flopping:  clearly you have watched a lot of basketball over the years, and you understand that there is a very fine line between offensive vs. defensive fouls, and what is or is not a foul.  Fans tend to "see what they want to see" with basketball fouls, i.e. "the other team is always getting away with stuff".  I won't try to change your mind on that, but if you think your teams don't try to sell contact, you are insane.  To never sell contact is to put yourself at a distinct disadvantage. 

Obviously flopping is a form of selling contact that goes too far.  Some flops are painfully obvious, and some are well disguised.  I actually admired WIU's Emily Clemens with her ability to draw fouls.  Many of those involved "excessive selling", but she was damn good at it.  Our own Monica Arens is very very good at drawing charges.  In her case, she is just really good at getting into position defensively, and holding her ground.  There is probably an element of selling there after contact, but it's pretty clear that hard contact is made.  She takes a beating. 

I've backed up my statement about UND's fouling with facts.  Care to provide me with evidence that USD flops more than anyone else in the conference, or am I to just take your word?  I'd love to see a no-contact flop, ala LeBron.

[kiyoat]

4 hours ago, the green team said:

... There, I just paid a USD team a compliment.  I have been following UND Womens & Men's Basketball since the 70's and not once have I ever heard a USD fan give  one of our teams a compliment..so already I'm ahead in that category.

Wow.  Never once, huh?   That might be a little bit of hyperbole.  Check out my post history on your site, and you will find several compliments about Klabo.  She was a hell of a player for you.  I've complimented your WBB team in the past.  Hell, I did it in this thread.  Keep playing the victim card, though.

   But the fact that you insinuate that we a "bruising team"That's insinuating that we were in a sense "dirty".  I don't like it, but it doesn't surprise me, coming from the Coyote faithful. Toughen up a little...

Sorry if you misinterpreted my post, but I never called them dirty.  I'm actually rooting for UND to have a great season.  (not to beat the Yotes, of course)  We need the conference profile and RPI to rise up, if we want to consistently be a multiple-bid league.  I would hope that would be a goal for all the teams, not just the SD schools.  So far this year we have had a fairly poor showing in non-conference games, as a whole.  The league RPI is lower than in the past this year, but UND's performance has been a bright spot.

I've also complimented your fanbase in the past.  Your fans have proven support for your women's BB and VB teams.  A school like that can uplift the conference's attendance numbers when it's teams are competitive.  So that's another reason I want UND VB and WBB to do well.

 

[petey23]

The old John Thompson at Georgetown or if you want to localize it, the Bob Torgrimson West Fargo teams.

If all 5 of the players on the court are committing some degree of a foul as the game goes on the refs will call less and less and also cringe and question themselves a bit when they look at the scoreboard and see the fouls are 9-2