Coach Jones?

[sioux24/7]

I clearly would not mind Jones getting the boot but I do not believe that it will happen this year unless we finish in the bottom half of the Big Sky and miss the tournament. Even then I don't really think Faison would jump on firing him although he should. I am just curious as to who the possible replacements for him would be? The only person I can even think of is Moody but that seems like a big jump from him. I would not want anyone on the current staff to be promoted either.

[bincitysioux]

Jones isn't in danger of losing his job any time soon.

What really bothers me though is the schizophrenic nature of his teams.

I was a huge Rich Glas supporter for about 15 years, then I wanted him gone badly for the last 5 years or so.

What is the biggest difference between Glas' teams toward the end of his tenure and Jones' teams? The answer is fundamentals. IMO, Glas got lazy as a recruiter toward the end of his run. His teams lacked talent the last few years. But they played hard, they knew their roles, and they did the little things to remain competetive. Jones' teams are a polar opposite. They have oodles of talent and athleticism, but they are undisciplined, unfocused, and seem unwilling to do the little things that won't provide highlights on the nightly sports clips.

I grew tired of the Rich Glas era because I was sick of .500 basketball year in and year out. 8 years later we are still watching .500 basketball.

[jdub27]

What really bothers me though is the schizophrenic nature of his teams.

I couldn't agree more, drives me absolutely bonkers. And its not even from game to game. They play the whole game like they played the majority of the second half last night and they run MSU out of the gym. But they don't.

[bincitysioux]

It has now been 19 years since this program last won a regular season conference championship, the longest drought by a WIDE margin for what was once a storied basketball program.

[the green team]

Again, I happen to think that we have very good talent to compete at this level. But right now I'm not sure we have the requisite leaders on the team to get us where we need to go. If you watch our coaching staff during the game- it's no wonder they are waving their arms, stomping their feet, and yelling to players. Coming out of timeouts when we want to set up a press or guarding the in-bounds, we've got guys looking around not knowing what they are doing when you know full well that the staff just went over that in the timeout. That's where a team leader grabs a player by the jersey and says "pay attention, get in the game or get off the floor"--unfortunately it's the opposite we've got 4 to 5 guys that are looking around dazed in those situations...when we all know it only takes one guy breaking down to lead to a basket- let alone having 4 or 5 guys not know what we are in or what to do. It's got to be maddening if you're a coach as it seems all our players have some sort of A.D.D.

If we are pressing after made baskets then press after made baskets but with all 5 guys on the same page. Not 2 or 3 out of the 5, with the other 2 running back down the floor. I'm sorry but the coach can't go out and hold your hand and get you in position in that situation. As a player you have to use your brain and know what to do. At some point with this veteran group the responsibility should be on the players. If there was one comment during the post-game last night that summed it up for me last night was "in recent games when we've carried out the game plan, we've done really well, when we didn't- like the first half tonight, well you saw what happened." That's not verbatim but the gist.

On here we see a first half like we saw last night and think that's a Coach's problem, but in reality just a few day's prior the coach's had what seemed to be an effective blueprint against a zone, that the players carried out, and guess what....we won the game. The players last night showed no interest in the first half of trying to attack the zone the same way. Also, make a shot- how many wide open looks, at home did we miss? This is our building, I really don't think we should be getting out shot in our building.

Players, need to take responsibility- this is a veteran group. They should be able to figure it out.

[darell1976]

Next season isn't going to get easier for Jones (if he is still here), UND loses their seniors but they also travel to NDSU, and SDSU. I don't know what our pipeline is for recruting players but these games need to be won to impress the local talent, and a UND team led by Jones has a horrible track record when it comes to winning road games.

[sioux24/7]

Next season isn't going to get easier for Jones (if he is still here), UND loses their seniors but they also travel to NDSU, and SDSU. I don't know what our pipeline is for recruting players but these games need to be won to impress the local talent, and a UND team led by Jones has a horrible track record when it comes to winning road games.

I agree it's going to be tough but I actually like what our lineup could look like next year or at least I don't think we are going to be in complete rebuild.

[jdub27]

Next season isn't going to get easier for Jones (if he is still here), UND loses their seniors but they also travel to NDSU, and SDSU. I don't know what our pipeline is for recruting players but these games need to be won to impress the local talent, and a UND team led by Jones has a horrible track record when it comes to winning road games.

Jones will still be here, so you can drop that part of it. UND loses a lot next year but the cupboard is by no means empty.

PG - Tyler/Hooker

SG/SF - Antwi/Stefan/Benton

PF/C - Calcaterra/Salmonson/Shanks

Haven't seen enough of Blake or Hobaugh to know what they can bring to the table. Would think that Crandall will redshirt, might need Cashman to play. Need to replace a lot of scoring but our guard play along with Stefan's shooting will be OK. Watched Tyler play a few times when he was at UMKC, he's going to fill in nicely. Expecting to see at least 1 if not 2 JuCo's though. Probably a slasher and a big.

[Oxbow6]

Rebounding and defense have more to do with effort and hard work than talent. From a handful of games I have watched effort in those 2 categories for an entire game has been a major issue. If a coach at any level can not get consistent effort from his/her players IMO that's a big issue.

[darell1976]

Jones will still be here, so you can drop that part of it. UND loses a lot next year but the cupboard is by no means empty.

PG - Tyler/Hooker

SG/SF - Antwi/Stefan/Benton

PF/C - Calcaterra/Salmonson/Shanks

Haven't seen enough of Blake or Hobaugh to know what they can bring to the table. Would think that Crandall will redshirt, might need Cashman to play. Need to replace a lot of scoring but our guard play along with Stefan's shooting will be OK. Watched Tyler play a few times when he was at UMKC, he's going to fill in nicely. Expecting to see at least 1 if not 2 JuCo's though. Probably a slasher and a big.

People thought that of Muss too.

[jdub27]

People thought that of Muss too.

I disagree. Most people who were saying he wasn't going to be let go were talking about him being fired during the season. I'm 100% confident regardless of how the rest of the season turns out, Jones will not be let go for on the court performance before next season.

[darell1976]

I disagree. Most people who were saying he wasn't going to be let go were talking about him being fired during the season. I'm 100% confident regardless of how the rest of the season turns out, Jones will not be let go for on the court performance before next season.

UND was 10-12 overall and 7-6 in the BSC last year at this time, how can this team with the offseason hype NOT improve? Maybe it's the leadership more than the players, and I think Jones has to be on the hotseat.

[SWSiouxMN]

Maybe Brekke was the leader this whole time

[fightingsioux4life]

UND was 10-12 overall and 7-6 in the BSC last year at this time, how can this team with the offseason hype NOT improve? Maybe it's the leadership more than the players, and I think Jones has to be on the hotseat.

Jones has definitely been here long enough to be held responsible for the current state of the program. As was Mussman. When Brewster can have the women's team contending for a Big Sky regular season title (and with it, home court for the Big Sky postseason tournament) in his second year, that makes the struggles of the men's team look even worse by comparison.

I give him one more year. If it's more of the same tired old crap next season, time for a buyout.

[jdub27]

Maybe Brekke was the leader this whole time

I know injuries happen to almost all teams, but he was 1 of 2 guys on the roster I would single out as creating hole that is tough to fill.

[darell1976]

Jones has definitely been here long enough to be held responsible for the current state of the program. As was Mussman. When Brewster can have the women's team contending for a Big Sky regular season title (and with it, home court for the Big Sky postseason tournament) in his second year, that makes the struggles of the men's team look even worse by comparison.

I give him one more year. If it's more of the same tired old crap next season, time for a buyout.

If Jones gets the team to the tournament and even win a game I will give him another chance next season but miss the tournament and I think Faison should think about change, just like you said about Brewster look at what he did to that team after just his second year of coaching.

[fightingsioux4life]

If Jones gets the team to the tournament and even win a game I will give him another chance next season but miss the tournament and I think Faison should think about change, just like you said about Brewster look at what he did to that team after just his second year of coaching.

I guess I am willing to give Jones one more year based on the fact that his first Division I recruits are seniors now and will be gone next year. I want to see if the next batch of kids work out better for him. But if it's the same old crap next season, then it's time to move on.

[UND-FB-FAN]

I agree it's going to be tough but I actually like what our lineup could look like next year or at least I don't think we are going to be in complete rebuild.

We won't be in a complete rebuild, but when you lose all the seniors that we will, it won't be good.

Look at it this way: If Jones can't consistently produce wins against Big Sky competition with 4th-year players that have been coached their entire career by him, then how will he do it next year with all the youth?

This year had all the pieces in place for a legitimate run at the conference championship; now, however, we're just trying to make the tournament. That's just plain bad. Since I readily support the basketball program, I'm still hoping this team can start rolling come Saturday against Montana, and with a little luck, still end up with the #2 seed in the conference tournament. However, we all know that will be an uphill climb for this team and Jones right now.

I hate to think about Jones being let go because that means this season and next season will both be disappointments. Let it be known, I will continue to support this team and be hopeful, but Jones hasn't convinced me yet. This situation is beginning to look more and more like the Mussman situation, and we all know how that turned out.

[darell1976]

Bump

[jdub27]

Bump

Why? Its not happening this year. The reaction to every single loss for UND athletic teams on this website is embarrassing.

[darell1976]

Why? Its not happening this year. The reaction to every single loss for UND athletic teams on this website is embarassing.

What's embarrassing is UND being up only a half game from the #8 team in the conference..in case you don't remember the top 7 get into the conference tournament.

[jdub27]

What's embarrassing is UND being up only a half game from the #8 team in the conference..in case you don't remember the top 7 get into the conference tournament.

Which is also tied for 3rd in the conference, right in the neighborhood of where they were picked to finish in the conference in the preseason.

[sioux24/7]

Either way this has been a pathetic year for all the hype coming into it. If Jones can barely get us into the conference tourny with this team than what is he going to do with next years? It's not going to be pretty. If UND is serious about basketball Jones would be let go as soon as possible.

[darell1976]

Either way this has been a pathetic year for all the hype coming into it. If Jones can barely get us into the conference tourny with this team than what is he going to do with next years? It's not going to be pretty. If UND is serious about basketball Jones would be let go as soon as possible.

^^^^^^ this!!

[UND1983]

I went back and looked at the last four years of UND's schedule. My point was to look for winning streaks, what was the longest winning streak.

2013 - 4

2012 - 4

2011 - 6

2010 - 6

What I found was that in 2012, 2011, and 2010, the winning streaks listed above all came at the end of the year, including the conference tournament(s). So they essentially play inconsistent, slightly below .500 ball for 90% of the season and then win 4-6 games at the end to finish up with a .500 record (or maybe 1-2 games over).

Its nearly the same thing every year. Consistently inconsistent.

I guess what I am saying is that UND can expect a 4 game run coming up here very shortly.