Popular Post SWSiouxMN Posted March 16, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2017 You guys wanted it? You got it In a game that can be best described as Never Say Die, UND stormed back from deficits again and again to force OT. UND finally gained the upper hand in the OT session to bring the school a Big Sky Tournament Championship to go along with its Regular Season Title. More importantly, it punched their ticket to the Big Dance for the 1st time in school history. Their reward was a 15 seed in the West Regional and a matchup with perennial PAC-12 and National power Arizona. Before diving into the meat of the preview: I tip my hat to the coaches and players of this team for their season so far. They have accomplished a lot this season and while some of it was a bit rough at times, they did put it all together at the end when the chips were down. From the head coach on down, congratulations on a fantastic season. Of course, they aren't happy just being in SLC, they want to be the 9th team in NCAA Tournament history to knock off a 2 seed. Arizona is coached by Sean Miller, who's brother Archie Miller is the coach over at Dayton. Its another banner year for Wildcat Basketball, capturing their 4th Regular Season title under Miller, which they tied Oregon for, and took the Tournament crown as well. Since taking over in the 2009-10 season for the retiring Hall of Fame coach and Mayville-born Lute Olson, every time that they have won a share or the outright regular season title, it has translated to an Elite 8 appearance. Despite the success, two things currently hound this Arizona program. #1 They want to get the bad taste of being upset last year out of their mouths and make a run #2 Despite the Elite 8 appearances, the last time Zona made it all the way to the Final 4 was in 2000-01, where they made it all the way to the championship game before falling to a well coached and talented Duke team. Its been a long time and it is also the one thing that Miller hasn't done with Arizona yet. Could this be the breakthrough year? The Wildcats are deeply talented and are lead by the big Fin Lauri Markkanen. The comparisons to Frank the Tank of Wisconsin is very comparable, as he can hurt teams both inside and out. The 7 footer is shooting 43.2 percent from downtown, around 50% overall and shoots a good clip from the line. Potential Top 10 pick in this years NBA draft. The other big cog is Allonzo Trier, a 6'5 Sophomore guard. Out for the first half of the season due to PEDs (yeah, seriously). Trier has made up for lost time in a big way and has really torn it up in late February and into the Pac-12 tournament. Sneaky rebounder and he can shoot it very well. Geno, he is all yours. Zona also has another 7 foot big from Serbia in Dusan Ristic, who is more of your traditional post player. They can do just as much Around the Big Sky: -Weber, Idaho and EWU all made postseason tournaments. Weber and Idaho in the CIT and EWU in CBI -PSU announced that Gelving will not be returning next year How UND can do the unthinkable: 1) Win every 50/50 ball. When teams pull upsets, they do every little thing right. They dive for loose balls, save balls from going out, force jump balls. 2) Bring what got you to the dance Sometimes you just have to go with what got you here at this point. It might be tempting to try something funky, but sometimes you might have your greatest success with the normal game plan... with a tweak or two. Strong guard play got us here, strong guard play is going to be needed. 3) A senior guard who can shoot Hey Q, your time to shine. Small schools who pull upsets traditionally have that one guard that can fill it up and give their team a chance. 3) UND Bigs: play the best game of your life You have a potential top 10 NBA pick, find a way to slow him down. Carson Shanks... play the best you ever have. 4) Don't be afraid to throw the first punch and take their best punch without panicking Come out swinging, Mike Tyson once said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Rock Arizona to start the game, get those jitters out of the way. On the reverse side of the coin, if they come out hot. Do not panic, take their best blows and come back. Let them know you are not going away Prediction: The key word today is Pressure: How much of it can UND force upon Arizona on the court and in their heads. Its house money for UND, so they can play as loose as a goose. Can they get to the final media timeout within legit striking distance. If they do, all bets are off. I think they do within the first half before the Finnish Frank the Tank becomes too much in the 2nd half. Hooker and company do provide one shining moment for the UND faithful. I hope I am wrong but I think Arizona wins by 12. Zona 84-72 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux24/7 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMSioux Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I remember seeing a story a few years ago that showed that the teams that create upsets are those driven by their guards and hot shooting. Nice MO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxstudent Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 86-66 AZ unfortunately is my guess, hope I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxFan100 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I admit that there are times I am a half empty type of guy. Sorry but I am afraid we get behind by 25 and lose by 15. One thing to drive the basket (like we do so well) against one 6"10" player - complete another thing to drive to meet a couple seven footers. Hopefully the refs are calling fouls. We should be able to beat them down the court though. It would be fun to come out blazing and make 8 threes in the first half. Go Hawks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNDBIZ Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teeder11 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Part of me does not want this game to happen so fast so we can bask in this good feeling a bit longer.... oh well, here's to shocking the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Thank You again SWSiouxMN, you really do a great job! Go Hawks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandalay Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I'm here. No band. No cheerleaders. Even the Jacks have band and cheerleaders. This may seem trivial but their absence to me is unacceptable. Implies that no one thought this through or some dumb people are making some decisions. A trip to NCAA basketball tournament is a wonderful marketing opportunity to showcase your university. Now, we will be the school that has fight song being played over PA. All the bands and cheerleaders were even at respective practice/media sessions yesterday. Weak damn sauce! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdub27 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 12 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: I'm here. No band. No cheerleaders. Even the Jacks have band and cheerleaders. This may seem trivial but their absence to me is unacceptable. Implies that no one thought this through or some dumb people are making some decisions. A trip to NCAA basketball tournament is a wonderful marketing opportunity to showcase your university. Now, we will be the school that has fight song being played over PA. All the bands and cheerleaders were even at respective practice/media sessions yesterday. Weak damn sauce! It'd be my preference if UND has some extra representation but honest question: Was it even possible to get a respectable group of either put together with spring break this week? Can't exactly force kids to put their spring break plans on hold for something that may or may not happen and even then you have to get enough to make it respectable. Could be a pretty reasonable explanation. It looks like SDSU's spring break was March 6-10th. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teeder11 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: I'm here. No band. No cheerleaders. Even the Jacks have band and cheerleaders. This may seem trivial but their absence to me is unacceptable. Implies that no one thought this through or some dumb people are making some decisions. A trip to NCAA basketball tournament is a wonderful marketing opportunity to showcase your university. Now, we will be the school that has fight song being played over PA. All the bands and cheerleaders were even at respective practice/media sessions yesterday. Weak damn sauce! Band is on spring break and they were already gone on their separate ways before we knew we were going to be in the Dance, so kind of hard to plan for that. How do you even do that? Band director: "Ok, I know we are all going on spring break back to our hometowns, Cancun, Daytona, etc. etc. etc. but there is a chance that our Basketball Team might make it to the NCAAs for the first time ever, so if you can stick around until we know more -- that would be greeaat, or if you must go, please consider getting back here early so we can take a bus to wherever we are scheduled to play, if we can get hotel rooms and all that logistical nonsense. Sound good... great!" You might get a handful to do it.... but it would look even lamer to have a small number than none at all IMHO. That said, thanks for making the trip and showing your support... now go Hawks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNDColorado Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 13 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: I'm here. No band. No cheerleaders. Even the Jacks have band and cheerleaders. This may seem trivial but their absence to me is unacceptable. Implies that no one thought this through or some dumb people are making some decisions. A trip to NCAA basketball tournament is a wonderful marketing opportunity to showcase your university. Now, we will be the school that has fight song being played over PA. All the bands and cheerleaders were even at respective practice/media sessions yesterday. Weak damn sauce! Also, SDSU does not have an eight time national champion hockey team playing this weekend with the national tournament on the line. It is safe to say we have a bit more going on than they do right now. Some of you need to take a step back from the ledge and pop a xanex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmksioux Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I agree that it looks bad not having a band or cheerleaders. Simple fix is move spring break to a weak earlier to avoid potential conflicts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandalay Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 11 minutes ago, UNDColorado said: Also, SDSU does not have an eight time national champion hockey team playing this weekend with the national tournament on the line. It is safe to say we have a bit more going on than they do right now. Some of you need to take a step back from the ledge and pop a xanex. Haha. Who gives a sh&t. It's a tertiary sport. No one cares. Make some moves. Get the band here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxFan100 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 26 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: I'm here. No band. No cheerleaders. Even the Jacks have band and cheerleaders. This may seem trivial but their absence to me is unacceptable. Implies that no one thought this through or some dumb people are making some decisions. A trip to NCAA basketball tournament is a wonderful marketing opportunity to showcase your university. Now, we will be the school that has fight song being played over PA. All the bands and cheerleaders were even at respective practice/media sessions yesterday. Weak damn sauce! I agree that it is unfortunate that we won't have the band and cheerleaders. Sometimes things just don't turn out. Any chance if you are willing to wear a skirt and wave pompoms Art? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, dmksioux said: I agree that it looks bad not having a band or cheerleaders. Simple fix is move spring break to a weak earlier to avoid potential conflicts. Sounds simple until you realize spring break is set not by UND but by the NDUS. You ever tried herding cats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNDColorado Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 4 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: Haha. Who gives a sh&t. It's a tertiary sport. No one cares. Make some moves. Get the band here! Haha okay guy. This "tertiary" sport had 20 active alums playing in the NHL this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandalay Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Just now, UNDColorado said: Haha okay guy. This "tertiary" sport had 20 active alums playing in the NHL this season. How many people will watch the game on TBS tonight and how many will watch the hockey game? How many people will watch the NCAA national championship basketball game vs hockey game? Tertiary. Nice little sport for some folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdub27 Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 It has nothing to do with hockey and everything to do with spring break. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Two predictions of interest from Massey: Team Pred %Win Margin Total Gonzaga 90 98% -25.5 153.5 SDSU 64 2% Arizona 82 94% -16.5 147.5 North Dakota 65 6% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightingsioux4life Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 21 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: How many people will watch the game on TBS tonight and how many will watch the hockey game? How many people will watch the NCAA national championship basketball game vs hockey game? Tertiary. Nice little sport for some folks. Let's not have this deteriorate into a hockey vs. everything else argument. Let's just enjoy the success our teams are having. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNDColorado Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, ArtVandalay said: How many people will watch the game on TBS tonight and how many will watch the hockey game? How many people will watch the NCAA national championship basketball game vs hockey game? Tertiary. Nice little sport for some folks. I get that you don't like hockey but don't try to compare the big dance to a conference tournament. You also missed my point that regardless of spring break, the athletic has more going on than most schools right now so I imagine they are stretched thin. Basketball has over 300 D1 programs so yeah, it is more popular. Also a lot cheaper to play. Just keep on complaining about things you cant control. Go Hawks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Siouxperfan7 Posted March 16, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2017 #sHAWKtheworld 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 MBB in the big dance WBB in the WNIT. MIH at the conference tournament. And spring seasons kicking off. Oh, and having to work on budget issues. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonadub Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Would think that the cheerleaders would make the trip... It's their opportunity to be on national tv, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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