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2006 Men's BB


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Great effort by the Sioux, but the reality of the situation is that to win with five scholarship players and three walk-ons is extremely difficult. I just hope Youmans has learned a valuable lesson. His absence has likely caused two losses, as I'm quite confident the Sioux would have beaten both UMD and USD had he played.

Does anybody know why Doyle wasn't on the bench last night?

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I have been very impressed with the men's basketball team this year. With an over abundance of having to play with very limited numbers of players they have been very competitive. I have been very impressed with the new coach. He has made mistakes but he is a first year coach and has overall done a fine job. The future of Sioux Men's basketball looks very bright. I particularly like the integrity he seems to have for the team and the game. He is not afraid to make the tough decision. Go Sioux.

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I just hope Youmans has learned a valuable lesson. His absence has likely caused two losses, as I'm quite confident the Sioux would have beaten both UMD and USD had he played.

Is Youmens still not playing because of suspension? On the coaches' show this week, Jones said he hoped that Youmens would be available this week. But he never mentioned anything about injury. Obviously I don't know the circumstances behind the altercation that caused Youmens and Lenhertz to be suspended, but if Lenhertz is playing, why isn't Youmens? I hope it is not just because Lenhertz is a big guy and we are desperately short-handed down low. I don't think Youmens' absence was the cause of either loss, although having him contribute would have surely helped. The USD game was vintage Sioux basketball of the 2006-07 season: control play throughout the game and then give it away in the final 7-8 minutes. That has to stop, and time is running out. The UMD game was just a bad game against a bad team, it was the entire team's fault. UND is a much better and more talented team than the Bulldogs, even if they were shorthanded. This team could just as easily be in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the leauge. Before the final homestand started last week, we were in perfect position to get fourth place and get a home game in the NCC tourney. Now the chances are slim and none, and after last night slim may have left the building. Except for the game in Vermillion, UND has had the opportunity to beat the top 3 teams in the leauge, narrowly losing to Minnestoa St. twice, USD once, SCSU once (and beating them once). If we could have gotten that first round home game, I would have liked UND's chances of getting into the NCC final four and having a serious chance to win it.

On a positive note, Travis Bledsoe has really stepped up since being inserted into the starting lineup, not only being effective, but being effective in pressure situations as he was last night when he hit two 3-pointers in the final minute. It will be alot of fun to watch him play for the Sioux over the next 3 years.

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Is Youmens still not playing because of suspension? On the coaches' show this week, Jones said he hoped that Youmens would be available this week. But he never mentioned anything about injury. Obviously I don't know the circumstances behind the altercation that caused Youmens and Lenhertz to be suspended, but if Lenhertz is playing, why isn't Youmens? I hope it is not just because Lenhertz is a big guy and we are desperately short-handed down low. I don't think Youmens' absence was the cause of either loss, although having him contribute would have surely helped. The USD game was vintage Sioux basketball of the 2006-07 season: control play throughout the game and then give it away in the final 7-8 minutes. That has to stop, and time is running out. The UMD game was just a bad game against a bad team, it was the entire team's fault. UND is a much better and more talented team than the Bulldogs, even if they were shorthanded. This team could just as easily be in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the leauge. Before the final homestand started last week, we were in perfect position to get fourth place and get a home game in the NCC tourney. Now the chances are slim and none, and after last night slim may have left the building. Except for the game in Vermillion, UND has had the opportunity to beat the top 3 teams in the leauge, narrowly losing to Minnestoa St. twice, USD once, SCSU once (and beating them once). If we could have gotten that first round home game, I would have liked UND's chances of getting into the NCC final four and having a serious chance to win it.

On a positive note, Travis Bledsoe has really stepped up since being inserted into the starting lineup, not only being effective, but being effective in pressure situations as he was last night when he hit two 3-pointers in the final minute. It will be alot of fun to watch him play for the Sioux over the next 3 years.

The reason I feel Youmans' absence has essentially caused the two losses is because what the team desperately misses is the ability to bring somebody off the bench who can be a scoring threat. All of the starters now have to play 30-plus minutes per game, and that takes its toll by late in the game. Assuming the starting lineup would stay the same, and it probably should, the ability to bring Youmans' offensive game off the bench would be a huge lift. At least enough of a difference to account for the few extra points needed to have beaten UMD and USD. It's not that Hoy and Porter aren't giving it their all, but neither is a scoring threat. Youmans is. Having both Youmans and Bledsoe on the court at the same time late in a game would be huge.

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So what is the status of everyone else? How bad is Koenig? How long before Dryburgh can resume contact?

Coach Jones said on the coach's show this week that Koenig is day-to-day with cracked ribs. I don't know about Dryburgh, but a puncured lung sounds pretty serious. Can we realistically expect him to participate in practice or games again at all this season?

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That is assuming that they would share the basketball, I have been impressed with the ball movement with Bledsoe at the point.

Visiting with Gary Holquist UMD Coach before the game he felt UND may be tougher to play against when they play more controlled BBall rather than creating offense like Youmans did...?

But I agree with you 92,96 the Sioux needed the depth and could have very well won both UMD and USD with more players availability...

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........I have been impressed with the ball movement with Bledsoe at the point.

But is that because Bledsoe is more willing to distribute the ball than Youmens, or is it because Youmens was being asked to play the point whereas Boyce has actually been playing the point since Bledsoe has been starting? Both Bledsoe and Youmens obviously have a scorer's mentality. I would guess a true point guard will be on the top of the recruiting list for next year.

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It is my feeling that Bledsoe and Boyce at the point , we have had much better ball movement than Youmens.

Youmens may be a better player, but "TEAM" is the name of the game in this sport...

I wasn't arguing that and I don't know that Youmens is a better player. I think that Bledsoe and Youmens are extremely similar players in almost every way. They are both shooters and scorers. They both think score first, pass second. But I think all season long, Youmens has been asked to be the "quarterback" of the offense. Despite being almost a mirror image of Youmens, Bledsoe has not been asked to do as much in his starting role as Youmens was, Coach Jones adjusted and started splitting point duties with Boyce. It is probably because Bledsoe is a freshman and Youmens is a more seasoned junior. Personally, I think Youmens has been one of the most unselfish players all season long. He was used to scoring 25+ points per game in JC, but has worked hard to adjust to playing the point and getting more players involved. Despite Bledsoe's wonderful effectiveness over the last 3 or 4 games and the promise he has shown since being inserted into the starting lineup, he needs to do more to involove the rest of the TEAM.

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Bledsoe is playing REALLY well right now. He seems to be able to carry the team, and step up when big plays are needed. It will be great to have Youmans back, but since Bledsoe has stepped in, will that alter the cohesiveness we're seeing in the team lately? Although Porter doesn't get much playing time, he has made some significant plays as well, would be nice to see him get more time down the stretch. Kruse is another player who comes to play every game, and gives it his all, I love watching him play. It pains me to watch Boyce, he is such a talented player if he would just cut the antics on the court, and play ball instead of worrying about how he looks, or getting the fans going. Right now we need all the concentration we can get, and he sometimes just lacks it. It is very obvious how much the team is missing Koenig and Doyle right now, with them in the lineup a lot of the recent scores could be very different. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight.

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I'm not sure this really means anything, but for whatever it's worth, today's loss ensures that UND will have a worse conference record than last year, as the Sioux finished 5 and 7 last season in the NCC. Obviously, the record could easily be much better this year due to all the very close losses, but it is what it is. I think the expectations for this year were quite modest, but with the extremely veteran team expected to return next year, I believe it's reasonable to expect that at a minimum, UND will finish in the top three in the conference, and challenge for a regional berth.

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Uugggghhh!!!! Having listening to and watching virtually every game this season, and attending as many in person as I could, it is very frustrating to me know that this team is probably going to finish dead last in the NCC this season. They are so athletic and have so much potential it is very disappointing. Even going into this past weekend, we still had an outside chance at fourth place and getting a home NCC Tourney game. Ain't gonna happen now, and it ticks me off because this team which is 3-8 in the NCC could just as easily be 10-1. That's right, the only game that we've been out of was the one down in Vermillion. Now, it looks like we're gonna see the Coyotes for a third time this season as they'll most likely be hosting us in the first round of the tournament. So here is what we need to do. We need to take care of business this week in Duluth. What is sad is that I feel that UMD is by far the weakest team in the leauge, yet they still beat us on our home court. If we can head into the tourney, most likely at South Dakota, on a winning note (hopefully a convincing winning note) then I still feel a slight glimmer of hope that the way these kids have played this year that they can maybe make a little noise in the tourney. It is a long shot, but they've shown potential all year. It would be nice to see them cultivate that potential into success.

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Listened to the game, and it sounded like the guys played horrible. Emmanuel seemed to have a good game, but that was about it. They just couldn't shut down Boudrey, not one of our bigger guys could step up and keep him contained. Travis was out for awhile with his knee, and the guys kept missing key 3's. During the half time interviews the coach said that Boyce was bringing it down the court too slowly, and they needed him to step up, lead the team into a faster game, but clearly that didn't happen. Kruse also, didn't seem to exsist on the court tonight. It's a shame, but it looks like we'll be heading back there on Wednesday, hopefully they'll change some key strategies.

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The men definately did not play well today. Unfortunate way to end the season, but hopefully they'll get things together when they face off on Wednesday. This team is very talented, and it's frustrating as a fan to not come out with the W, so I can't imagine what it would feel like for the players. It seemed like most of the players today gave up before the game even started. If Vaudreuil, I think siouxfan44 was meaning him instead of Boudray as that's what it sounded like on the radio, had of been shut down I think the outcome could have been very different. Our larger players needed to step up, but the commentators said that Koenig was still nursing his ribs, Gutter was not feeling well, and Thomas was still injured. Little did a great job today, and gave a full effort. It's good to see Porter getting more time on the court, as he seems to be making key plays, and it is very good to have Youmans back. As siouxfan44 mentioned the play was too slow, and the coach commented that Boyce needed to step up his game, and lead the team by turning up the tempo. All in all, it was not a great game, but hopefully Wednesday will be better. Go Sioux.

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