The ol’ blog had some problems today getting stuff to stick, so I know what the Bison men’s basketball team went through last night. A few thoughts from the 90-84 loss to Minnesota State Moorhead — and they’re not pretty.
- Defense. Specifically perimeter defense. Dragon guard D.J. Hamilton scored 32 points and although some of those were of the major college variety, still, there was nobody who could shut him down out front. The only Hamilton the Bison play who should be capable of scoring 32 would be Oakland guard Reggie Hamilton.
- Effort. I mentioned this to fellow scribe Eric Peterson, who wrote the story for The Forum, but the Bison players had blank-like looks to them at times. Maybe that goes back to effort on defense, but an exhibition game is not practice.
- Leadership. Maybe it’s been good in practice and maybe it was good in the Canadian Tour in August, but there wasn’t much evidence of it against the Dragons. NDSU needs to find somebody to take the reigns from Freddy Coleman and Michael Tveidt.
- Don’t overreact. It was an exhibition game, and this team is young. On the positive side, it was a lesson learned despite it not counting on the won-loss record.
How did TrayVonn get most of his baskets (he had plenty of them)? Was he largely working in the 5-foot area around the basket, or did he knock down a few jumpers?
Exhibition or not, it is still an embarassment to lose to Moorhead State.
If the Bison can’t be a division II team in Moorhead State how are they going to compete in the Summit League? Even without a game plan a division I team ought to be able to play one on one and dominate a division II team. I thought last year was a tough year but this will be a rough one. Looks like the coaches were wrong in picking this team 5th. Maybe the Bison will take Centenary’s spot with one win at the bottom of the conference but I don’t know who they will beat.
I guess NDSU has returned to where it was in the division II days with a dominant football team and a terrible basketball team.
no reason to panic, they run players in left and right during these and msum was 86% shooting from 3pt land. But Until we start recruiting inner city kids from twin cities, chicago, milwaukee we wont have any big guys with intensity that want to push and bully under the rim.
Love marshall and braun, but everyone else better step up there game quickly!! Lots of 1 trick ponys im seeing in Tray dunking, felt 3pt shots..etc etc.
That is the point. A division II team shouldn’t be able to shoot 86% from 3 point land. The division I defenders shouldn’t give them a good look. If the Bison can’t guard a division II player wait until the players in the Summit League light them up like they are playing horse with nobody in front of them because of the poor defense.
The question is how bad will Concordia beat the Bison in the next exhibition game. If the Bison can’t guard 3 point shooters and the Cobbers have one or two they might blow the Bison out of the BSA.
really? this is a dumb post.^. it’s a freakin exhibition game. butler lost to northern. we may be middle of the pack this season but we’re young and still a year away from contending for the conference title in my eyes. we start 4 so/fr
How many years are you going to keep using that excuse?
Agreed.
Same excuse since Woody and crew left.
I would be surprised if we even reach .500.
We’ll see.
Any reason why some of the other kids (Lindberg, Kading) didn’t play? It WAS an exhibition game.
This was a bad loss, but it’s not the end of the world. There’s so much parity in college basketball (and football) that if you don’t come to play you’ll get beat, and the Bison didn’t come to play. That’s how NDSU beat Wisconsin in Madison, that’s how the Bison beat Marquette, and that’s how a Bison football team who was shutout by a bad Missouri St. team beat Montana St. 42-17 in Bozeman. We saw an inexperienced Bison basketball team come out flat in a game they thought they had in the bag, and they got beat. We’ll see a better product come January.
You might be over doing it here. The Wisconsin game was a classic example of that(I think they shot something like 20% in that game) but the other games you mentioned probably not so much.
This might be a blessing in disguise. Now when Saul tells the boys to listen up and get serious they will understand why. Some credit to the Dragons, not only did they show up with the attitude and desire to win they brought the talent too. There just might be some good college basketball teams in F-M this year! Congrats Dragons! Go Bison!
I thought this was an exhibition game.
As a fan of the Bison I was not embarassed, in fact I didn’t even know there was an exhibition game until today.
I know two facts, the NDSU men’s basketball record is 0 & 0 and the regular season has not started!
It’s quite simple, really. When NDSU beats an opponent, the opponent gave it their best shot and played a great game. And when NDSU loses to a lesser division, excuses abound. comprende?
Comprende. NDSU’s fans are the only ones who brag, whine, complain, and rationalize about their team on their own blog. It is shameful.
Better put Valley City State and Presentation College back on the schedule
Well I see the Dragons gave SDSU a game I guess maybe them beating the Bison wasn’t as big an upset as people thought. Like I said give credit to the Dragons it looks like they have a pretty good team. We’ve been to the NCAA tourney no need for excuses here! On the bright side we are the number one team in FCS football and play a very good Indiana State team tomorrow. It is hard to believe we are undefeated with the tough schedule we have played not a bunch of NAIA or D-2 schools. But if we did I know we would never lose a football game to a school from a lesser division. That is why we only play FCS schools and FBS schools! Comprende? Go Bison!