Round 3: North Dakota vs. Weber State

[JohnboyND7]

The truth hurts! NDSU is a garbage institution. You'll figure that out the hard way if you ever leave the state of ND.

I'd love to see the proof of this.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

your butt hurt a little?

Huge win for ndsu. Congrats.

[ndsubison1]

Huge win for ndsu. Congrats.

thanks

[sioux2013]

I totally understand what you are saying, but I think we'll get off our arses and get with the program in FB and MBB soon. Bubba will get FB turned around. Jones should be on the hot seat after this year's MBB team underachieved and slow-walked thru game after game this season. The plain and simple truth is we have no choice but to fix the programs that are not working. We are Division I in all sports now and running all non-hockey sports on shoestring budgets cannot continue. Better days are ahead.

Honestly the men's basketball game didn't truly underachieve. We were picked 2nd and 3rd in the conference and got the 2 seed. We made it to the championship game and lost to a better Weber State team down 2 of our best 6 players. Injuries continued to be problematic for this team and the biggest blow was no Brekke the entire year and our best bench player missing a lot of games due to injury. Yes, this team was inconsistent with the selfish play of a few but overall we did exactly what was predicted.

[MafiaMan]

Honestly the men's basketball game didn't truly underachieve. We were picked 2nd and 3rd in the conference and got the 2 seed. We made it to the championship game and lost to a better Weber State team down 2 of our best 6 players. Injuries continued to be problematic for this team and the biggest blow was no Brekke the entire year and our best bench player missing a lot of games due to injury. Yes, this team was inconsistent with the selfish play of a few but overall we did exactly what was predicted.

You predicted a .500 regular season? C'mon...

[UND-1]

You predicted a .500 regular season? C'mon...

He is talking Big Sky expectations. However, you are correct with overall record - absolutely unacceptable to lose all but one non-conference game. As many have stated before, this program does not seem to be getting a whole lot better, even as the players got older and more experienced. They had the same success 4 years ago that they had this year (schedules were different, yes).

[siouxfan512]

The truth hurts! NDSU is a garbage institution. You'll figure that out the hard way if you ever leave the state of ND.

Sorry, this is a dumb statement, both universities are fine schools. Sounds like some Sioux fans (rightfully so) have some sour grapes over lack of success in UND basketball and UND football over the past few years. I know I'm ready to see some consistency and success, and it doesn't help that in this slump, NDSU has won 3 football championship and already been dancing twice, and has had quite a bit of national attention. We'll get there though, it just take time and a combo of the right players and coaches. The girls are dancing, hockey has been one of the most dominant programs over the past decade (though missing a championship to go with it). But we'll get there ...

Congrats to NDSU on the big win, they looks like a improved team over the one we saw in Grand Forks, though if UND had played like that all season, I think we would be dancing too. Good luck to the Bison in the next round.

[darell1976]

Sorry, this is a dumb statement, both universities are fine schools. Sounds like some Sioux fans (rightfully so) have some sour grapes over lack of success in UND basketball and UND football over the past few years. I know I'm ready to see some consistency and success, and it doesn't help that in this slump, NDSU has won 3 football championship and already been dancing twice, and has had quite a bit of national attention. We'll get there though, it just take time and a combo of the right players and coaches. The girls are dancing, hockey has been one of the most dominant programs over the past decade (though missing a championship to go with it). But we'll get there ...

Congrats to NDSU on the big win, they looks like a improved team over the one we saw in Grand Forks, though if UND had played like that all season, I think we would be dancing too. Good luck to the Bison in the next round.

I agree. We may disagree in sports, but academically NDSU is as fine a school as UND. I have friends and relatives that went to both schools, and when it comes to academics I wouldn't bash NDSU. Their men's programs are still ahead of us overall, football obviously with their titles, basketall with going to the dance twice in 6 years while UND is hopefully going to turn the football team around, and as for men's basketball, I think everyone knows my thoughts on Brian Jones. It was a hard fought win last night by NDSU and I wish them luck in the next round.

[UND Fan]

Honestly the men's basketball game didn't truly underachieve. We were picked 2nd and 3rd in the conference and got the 2 seed. We made it to the championship game and lost to a better Weber State team down 2 of our best 6 players. Injuries continued to be problematic for this team and the biggest blow was no Brekke the entire year and our best bench player missing a lot of games due to injury. Yes, this team was inconsistent with the selfish play of a few but overall we did exactly what was predicted.

I posted the following on a separate thread last night but will move it here as it addresses your comments above. I won't repeat myself but if selfish, undisciplined and, at times, embarrassing play is what you expected - I have a real problem with that. I realize that you were talking about where we were predicted to finish in the conference but with this team's talent, I am not proud of our record or how looked on the floor at many times this season.

Posted Yesterday, 10:40 PM

I have had this ready for 2-3 weeks but didn’t want to post it until the season was complete. Had we made the “Dance”, I would have been elated, excited and proud but my comments would not have changed much! Last night’s embarrassing performance also hasn’t changed this much. Comment – had we been going to the Dance the last 10 years, I still wouldn’t understand why we wouldn’t want to play hard, play smart and show some heart when playing a former NCC foe. I don’t buy the travel and disappointment in not winning the BSC title as legitimate reasons not to play with some pride and passion in a CIT game. I do realize we were playing shorthanded due to injuries.

What Could Have Been

• "Should have/could haves” don’t get you anywhere but last year had: 1) Brekke not been hurt, 2) Traylor remained eligible, 3) Nash been cleared to play and 4) Huff not missed a few games due to injury – it could have been a special season
  
• This year missing Brekke has hurt a ton. He knew how to box out – this would have made a great deal of difference on the defensive boards where we were quite inept. He would have also provided some inside scoring and, very importantly, leadership which wasn’t provided by the other seniors (other than Schuler when he was able to play). Had Traylor and Nash played last year, I think they would have both been bigger contributors this year. Schuler’s injury issues certainly hampered the team as well.
  
  • Winning the Great West tourney twice and finishing rather strong the last two years was good and the team got the reputation of being “strong finishers” each year. That may have been the case to some degree when this group was freshmen and sophomores. However, in my opinion, the team underperformed each year and then played closer to their abilities as the season progressed. Some feel this was the best class of players UND has ever had. Talent-wise I suppose that may be correct, but with season records of 19-15, 17-15, 16-17 & 17-17 (69-64) and no signature wins, it is scary what DI may hold for us if this was one of our best teams ever.
    
  • As I mentioned above, this group lacked leadership. I think Brekke would have provided this to a significant degree as well as Schuler but it was difficult for him without him seeing a great deal of playing time. The lack of “heart” (last night was a good example) was very disappointing.
    
    • I am not going to spend much time on coaching. I will simply say the team underperformed, fared poorly on the road, didn’t improve their rebounding efforts throughout this year, didn’t play as a team much of the time and had no signature wins (the SU game was certainly a positive, of course). See recruiting below.
      
      • To me, this has been very concerning. Although the seniors who were with us for the 4 or 5 years were not heavily recruited, we saw that they had talent and signed them. However, since Brekke signed in 2009, we had not landed a HS recruit taller than 6’4” – until the 6’10” Cashman this year. That is four years without signing a HS forward or center. I don’t know how you can build a program without signing any freshman size for so long. You will notice that a total of one HS senior was signed in 2012 and 2013 – that is a major reason we had 7 seniors this year.
        
      • A look at who was signed during the last six years:
        

      2009 - Brekke, Schuler - good talent but received limited interest from DI schools

      2010 - Anderson, Huff, Webb - good talent but limited interest from DI schools

      2011 - Antwi, Benton, Gentry - all guards, none highly recruited. I believe both Benton & Gentry were recruited walk-ons

      2012 - No freshmen recruited. Nash, Salmonson, Traylor & Hobaugh (not recruited) transfered in

      2013 - Hooker (guard) – only HS recruit but a great get. I think many of us expected more from him but I expect him

      to become a very good player for us. Transfers included Calcaterra, Stefan and Tyler.

      2014 - Cashman (6’10” center), Crandall (6’1” guard) signed so far. As noted below, we are undersized. Neither

      Cashman nor Crandall will help that situation – although I would assume Cashman can put on significant

      weight. I don’t know for sure but it would appear we still have three available scholarships. As one who

      follows recruiting very closely, I am disappointed I haven’t heard more about who we might be after – but

      we certainly may have a line on some good talent.

      [*]The following is not a good comparison as it includes all players on some of the BSC teams – including those who seldom see the floor, but we are quite undersized at the 3, 4 and 5. This can’t be addressed overnight but we need bigger (meaning heavier/stronger) players to compete in DI. This is based on the positions noted on each team’s roster. Don’t spend a great deal of time on this but it does tell a bit of a story. A better story would be the comparison of each teams’ starters.

      School Guard-Ht/WtForward-Ht/WtCenter-Ht/Wt

      UND 6’1.8”/183 6’5.7”/204 6’9.0”/223

      Weber 6’3.4”/178 6’7.3”/ 221 6’10.0”/245

      NAU 6’2.4”/185 6’7.2”/218 6’8.5”/248

      UNC 6’0.0”/179 6’6.3"/219 6’9.0”/253

      UM 6’2.7”/188 6’6.4”/212 6’9.7”/227

      EWU 6’1.6”/179 6’6.0”/214 6’11.5”/263

      PSU 6’1.5”/184 6’6.3”/222 6’10.0”/280

      Sac 6’2.1”/179 6'7.0"/223 6'8.5"/238

      MSU 6'0.8"/177 6'6.5"/215 6'7.0"/250

      [*]Despite all of my above thoughts, it should be pointed out that it is difficult to recruit kids to Grand Forks. The weather doesn’t help but the biggest issue is that, in the vast majority of situations, there are numerous DI schools closer to the Midwest recruit than is Grand Forks. A kid from southern MN, WI, IA, NE, etc. has many options to play nearer home where family and girlfriends can see them play more often. Although I am pleased to be in the Big Sky, I would guess to works to our disadvantage more than to our advantage for kids from the Midwest.

      Next Year

      [*]We should be in pretty good shape at guard but it is pretty scary at all the other positions. While I am happy as heck that Shanks has joined the team, I am not sure how much we can expect from him early on. He will not have played a game for more than a year and he still needs to put on some pounds to be able to handle some of the big bodies in the league. At the 3 and the 4, we need to find some power, rebounding and some scoring!

      [*]While this year’s team had talent, I think they were very likely difficult to coach. Next year will be a good test for Jones. Hopefully, he will have a bunch of kids who want to play together as a team, work hard, have fun and win. It sure appears that we won’t have the same level of talent next year. If we play games without passion and heart again next year, I would think a coaching change would be warranted.

      I would guess that a couple of my facts may not be exactly correct and I don’t really care to debate any of my points – just expressing my thoughts/concerns.

[Sodbuster]

It's maybe been stated here earlier, but I came away with one observation...........Taylor Braun had an awful game.

[sioux2013]

It's maybe been stated here earlier, but I came away with one observation...........Taylor Braun had an awful game.

What about the gash on Braun's arm. Looked as if he needed stiches and someone needs their fingernails clipped.

[Matt]

It's maybe been stated here earlier, but I came away with one observation...........Taylor Braun had an awful game.

He had 9 pts with 30 seconds to play. If you told me that before the game I would have said the ac had no shot to win.

Looks like they developed some depth during the season. Someone should let Coach Jones and his staff know there's no law prohibiting that.

[darell1976]

He had 9 pts with 30 seconds to play. If you told me that before the game I would have said the ac had no shot to win.

Looks like they developed some depth during the season. Someone should let Coach Jones and his staff know there's no law prohibiting that.

Its called teamwork. You win as a team, you lose as a team. Jones must not have heard of that.

[UNDBIZ]

He had 9 pts with 30 seconds to play. If you told me that before the game I would have said the ac had no shot to win.

Looks like they developed some depth during the season. Someone should let Coach Jones and his staff know there's no law prohibiting that.

IMO, depth wasn't even top 10 on UND's list of issues this season.

[jdub27]

IMO, depth wasn't even top 10 on UND's list of issues this season.

If they were missing 1 or 2 guys, no. When you're missing 3-4, its a problem on any team.

[UNDBIZ]

If they were missing 1 or 2 guys, no. When you're missing 3-4, its a problem on any team.

Sure, but you can't blame half the team getting injured on Jones not developing team depth.

[UND Fan]

Sure, but you can't blame half the team getting injured on Jones not developing team depth.

I agree with your statement but what about our less-than-stellar play when we were full-strength (other than Brekke, of course).

[UNDBIZ]

I agree with your statement but what about our less-than-stellar play when we were full-strength (other than Brekke, of course).

I was talking strictly about the depth of the team. Lots of problems with defense, rebounding, overall effort, consistency, passing, defense, rebounding, and defense.

[MafiaMan]

It's maybe been stated here earlier, but I came away with one observation...........Taylor Braun had an awful game.

I have a second observation for your observation. Braun had an awful game...and NDSU still won!

[Dagger]

Looking back I would say Weber State represented the Big Sky very well. They played Arizona, who was a 1 seed, to a 9 point game. Very impressive. The Big Sky was a very balanced conference which hurt the RPI of the conference because everyone was beating up on everyone else in the league. All in all it was a very good conference,

[UND92,96]

Looking back I would say Weber State represented the Big Sky very well. They played Arizona, who was a 1 seed, to a 9 point game. Very impressive. The Big Sky was a very balanced conference which hurt the RPI of the conference because everyone was beating up on everyone else in the league. All in all it was a very good conference,

I agree Weber represented the Big Sky well. But most of the rest of the schools need to start winning more non-conference games. The Big Sky's non-conference winning percentage was among the lowest of all division I conferences this year, and obviously we know first-hand how much UND has struggled in that regard.

[Dagger]

Watching the way Arizona dismantled Gonzaga really makes Weber State's performance against Arizona all the more impressive.. Weber State really was a very good team and the Big Sky was indeed a very good conference. Like I said the Big Sky plays a lot of conference games with limited number of non conference games. The conference beats up on each other during the season and therefore it is tough to raise your conference ranking. I highly doubt NDSU or anybody else in the Summit would of stayed within 9 of Arizona.

[JohnboyND7]

Watching the way Arizona dismantled Gonzaga really makes Weber State's performance against Arizona all the more impressive.. Weber State really was a very good team and the Big Sky was indeed a very good conference. Like I said the Big Sky plays a lot of conference games with limited number of non conference games. The conference beats up on each other during the season and therefore it is tough to raise your conference ranking. I highly doubt NDSU or anybody else in the Summit would of stayed within 9 of Arizona.

Kudos to them for keeping it respectable. Looked like it was going to get away from them at one point. Maybe NDSU would have kept within 9. Maybe not. Would Weber have beaten OU? Maybe. Maybe not.

[homer]

I agree Weber represented the Big Sky well. But most of the rest of the schools need to start winning more non-conference games. The Big Sky's non-conference winning percentage was among the lowest of all division I conferences this year, and obviously we know first-hand how much UND has struggled in that regard.

This ^^^^. The difference between being a 16 seed in the tournament between being a 13 or 14 is big. I know this year was a little bit different than years past for the Big Sky but with going to fewer conference games next season, we have to get some out of conference wins. It was pretty bad this year.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I would not be shocked to see Arizona win this thing. But what do I know.........my bracket is all but DEAD!