Dancin Shoes

[WeAreNorthDakota]

I think it just hit me that we're 3 wins away from the NCAA FREAKING TOURNAMENT! MARCH MADNESS! ONE OF THE BIGGEST EVENTS IN SPORTS!!!!

Now, I know we're a pretty big long shot but this is finally D1. This is what it was all about. This is why the god awful transition, the disaster that was the Great West, the lackluster attendance and excitement about the basketball program, the losses to Mayville freaking State. This is about as excited as I've ever been for UND basketball, and pretty close to as excited as I've ever been for UND sports in general.

GO UND!

[GeauxSioux]

Time to Dance.

GO Sioux!!

[sioux2013]

I think it just hit me that we're 3 wins away from the NCAA FREAKING TOURNAMENT! MARCH MADNESS! ONE OF THE BIGGEST EVENTS IN SPORTS!!!!

Now, I know we're a pretty big long shot but this is finally D1. This is what it was all about. This is why the god awful transition, the disaster that was the Great West, the lackluster attendance and excitement about the basketball program, the losses to Mayville freaking State. This is about as excited as I've ever been for UND basketball, and pretty close to as excited as I've ever been for UND sports in general.

GO UND!

Nice post, got me excited also. Let's go do this in our first year. Go Sioux

[GeauxSioux]

What is health status of the team? Brekke? Schuler?

[sioux2013]

What is health status of the team? Brekke? Schuler?

I don't believe either is 100% but Schuler did score 16 points in his first game back so that is a great sign. Anderson is still also a question because I heard he did not practice yesterday.

[Siouxperfan7]

3 wins. That's all we need. Should be able to get past S. Utah. We played awful last Saturday vs. Southern Utah and we still beat them. Play a decent game and we move on easily. The road to title town does thru Weber and Montana. If we play like we did Saturday we will get blown out of the gym. Need to play our best games of the year. Hopefully we will have everyone back. Definitely missed Anderson at the point Saturday. Huff needs to get more involved in the game and make better decisions. Can't just drive the lane every time. Schuler is back and he will play a huge role this weekend. Its gonna come down to other players besides Schuler, Huff, and Anderson making all the plays if we expect to play on Saturday for the title. This team has peaked the last 2 years at tournament time. Lets do it again!!

[siouxfan512]

I don't believe either is 100% but Schuler did score 16 points in his first game back so that is a great sign. Anderson is still also a question because I heard he did not practice yesterday.

Anderson did say he is feeling great and plans to play on Thursday. I don't know if he has been medically cleared, but we'll have to wait and see for sure.

[siouxfan512]

3 wins. That's all we need. Should be able to get past S. Utah. We played awful last Saturday vs. Southern Utah and we still beat them. Play a decent game and we move on easily. The road to title town does thru Weber and Montana. If we play like we did Saturday we will get blown out of the gym. Need to play our best games of the year. Hopefully we will have everyone back. Definitely missed Anderson at the point Saturday. Huff needs to get more involved in the game and make better decisions. Can't just drive the lane every time. Schuler is back and he will play a huge role this weekend. Its gonna come down to other players besides Schuler, Huff, and Anderson making all the plays if we expect to play on Saturday for the title. This team has peaked the last 2 years at tournament time. Lets do it again!!

It would be great to see Montana and/or Weber get knocked out early, but probably won't happen. Do we know the health status of both teams? I know MT had a few big names that were injured; any updates?

[jodcon]

It would be great to see Montana and/or Weber get knocked out early, but probably won't happen. Do we know the health status of both teams? I know MT had a few big names that were injured; any updates?

Cherry will play, Ward had surgery and is done.

[NODAK13]

3 wins. That's all we need. Should be able to get past S. Utah. We played awful last Saturday vs. Southern Utah and we still beat them. Play a decent game and we move on easily. The road to title town does thru Weber and Montana. If we play like we did Saturday we will get blown out of the gym. Need to play our best games of the year. Hopefully we will have everyone back. Definitely missed Anderson at the point Saturday. Huff needs to get more involved in the game and make better decisions. Can't just drive the lane every time. Schuler is back and he will play a huge role this weekend. Its gonna come down to other players besides Schuler, Huff, and Anderson making all the plays if we expect to play on Saturday for the title. This team has peaked the last 2 years at tournament time. Lets do it again!!

Agree totally. We did not play all that well Saturday but I think alot of this had to do with our shot selection. When we take poor shots its when we can be blown out by anybody. Thought Huff was really forcing things Saturday and it may have been cause he was chasing the scoring title but thats no excuse for the shots he was taking. Huff has had zero assists in the last 3 games and he needs to get his teammates involved when he drives cause they are collapsing on him and shooters are open. Having Schuler back was huge and we need equal play from Brekke this week cause he has not played up to his potential lately. First game is not going to be easy and if we lose focus and play poorly it will be one and done.

[NODAK13]

Anderson did say he is feeling great and plans to play on Thursday. I don't know if he has been medically cleared, but we'll have to wait and see for sure.

Was not cleared yesterday but things could change today. If he does play as physical as SUU is I wouldn't be surprised to see a few cheap shots at Anderson during the game cause I am sure it wont take much of a hit to ring his bell again.

[WeAreNorthDakota]

Cherry will play, Ward had surgery and is done.

Ward being out is huge if we end up meeting them in the 'ship. He absolutely killed us inside and out in the game in GF.

[jdub27]

Agree totally. We did not play all that well Saturday but I think alot of this had to do with our shot selection. When we take poor shots its when we can be blown out by anybody. Thought Huff was really forcing things Saturday and it may have been cause he was chasing the scoring title but thats no excuse for the shots he was taking. Huff has had zero assists in the last 3 games and he needs to get his teammates involved when he drives cause they are collapsing on him and shooters are open. Having Schuler back was huge and we need equal play from Brekke this week cause he has not played up to his potential lately. First game is not going to be easy and if we lose focus and play poorly it will be one and done.

I thought Huff was forcing a little too but it seemed that part of the reason was Anderson being out and the offense not having the flow it should.

[SiouxVolley]

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/big_sky_log5

Enthusiasm probably needs to be tempered a bit, at least for this year. Next year is another story. UND has not yet proven it can play with either Montana or Weber St. Most likely, UND will need to beat both. Pomeroy gives UND a 1.5% chance of winning the autobid, an 8% chance of being in the final, and a 60% chance of being in the semifinals. (60% chance of winning vs SUU, ~13% chance of winning vs Weber, ~18% of winning vs Montana) Would think UND's chances are are bit higher than this, because it seems Pomeroy's analysis includes games when Huff was injured when UND's record is horrible, but certainly not more than 3-4% chance of winning the entire tournament.

Montana and Weber State have combined to go 64-2 against other Big Sky foes the last two seasons. It shouldn’t be a surprise then that these two teams account for 95% of the possibilities for the conference champion. It might be a bit of surprise, though, that these two teams nearly split those chances even though Montana gets to host the event and they need to play one fewer game to earn the title. Weber State has generally been shredding its opponents worse than Montana and thus is viewed as the better team in this analysis.

[WeAreNorthDakota]

http://kenpom.com/bl...ry/big_sky_log5

Enthusiasm probably needs to be tempered a bit, at least for this year. Next year is another story. UND has not yet proven it can play with either Montana or Weber St. Most likely, UND will need to beat both. Pomeroy gives UND a 1.5% chance of winning the autobid, an 8% chance of being in the final, and a 60% chance of being in the semifinals. (60% chance of winning vs SUU, ~13% chance of winning vs Weber, ~18% of winning vs Montana) Would think UND's chances are are bit higher than this, because it seems Pomeroy's analysis includes games when Huff was injured when UND's record is horrible, but certainly not more than 3-4% chance of winning the entire tournament.

Like I said, I know it's a longshot but even a 1.5% chance is infinitely better than the 0% chance we've had for, oh, the entire history of UND basketball.

[Siouxperfan7]

Like I said, I know it's a longshot but even a 1.5% chance is infinitely better than the 0% chance we've had for, oh, the entire history of UND basketball.

[UND-1]

Montana and Weber State are 1:1 odds to win it. UND is getting 35:1 odds.

Reference the above video clip from Lloyd Christmas for my thoughts on those odds.

[jdub27]

Agree with the long shot odds, but this may be the healthiest the team has been all year assuming Anderson is able to go. Not sure on Brekke's conditioning but he's played 14, 16 and 20 minutes the last 3 games and Schuler looked pretty good Saturday despite his layoff.

[bincitysioux]

I also agree that winning the tournament or even advancing to the championship game is a long shot at best. By virtue of finishing in 3rd place and 4 games above .500 in the conference season, I'd declare this season a success, especially given the make-shift roster that Jones had to work with for much of the season. However, I do think UND has proven that they can play with teams at the level of Weber and Montana. They beat the Griz a year ago. They beat NDSU last year, who is playing for the Summit Championship tonight. That was basically the same team a year ago. They had this year's Summit champ beaten without our best player if not for a missed free throw and a miraculous shot to end the game.

Coach Jones typically has his teams playing their best basketball at the end of the season. This particular group in the Junior class is now 23-13 in the months of February and March. I'm not about to predict that the Sioux will find themselves playing in the championship game come Saturday night, but I certainly would not be at all surprised if they were.

[geaux_sioux]

Well there goes our chance of playing ndsu in the big dance........

[JohnboyND7]

Well there goes our chance of playing ndsu in the big dance........

yeah....wouldn't that be an interesting final four matchup

[darell1976]

3 wins and we are dancing. Anything can happen. Let's just cheer for the team and hope for the best.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

3 wins and we are dancing. Anything can happen. Let's just cheer for the team and hope for the best.

Someone cue the KG clip: anything is possibleeeee!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

[Siouxperfan7]

Someone cue the KG clip: anything is possibleeeee!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

[mizzou/sioux]

All thimgs considered, this has been a terrific season for UND men's basketball. The transition as times has been brutal, but now I think we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. To finish third in the Big Sky behind such traditional powers as Montana and Weber State in the inaugural Big Sky season is nothing to sneeze at. We are making progress. It's always nice to dream, and who knows? It's probably up to the gods. Kudos for an overall uplifting season to give us hope.