close losses= what....??

[lakesbison]

Ok, time to cut a vein...

this SUCKS!! 3 losses by 2pts to Col St, K State, Tex Tech.. hurts big time.

NIT = gone.

What happens now? How can these boys bounce back. Iowa State is a MUST WIN for me to consider this a STEP UP from last year..


Marquette win = Wisconsin Win.

granted 16-12 will be 18-10 or 19-9 this year. * no i didnt do the math yet *


I'd really hope that KILLER instinct comes next year for 1st year of Mid Con.


I DONT like the fact that we missed a HUGE opportunity this year with 2-3 more wins vs those teams.

A chance to get a HUGE bandwagon was missed.

So Lets find a 6 8 255 JUCO that can throw some bodies around, and clear the lane for Woody and Nelly and lets PLAY In 07-08

[TaTonka_31]

These close losses are tough to take and their are no moral victories but there is a lot of progress with this team this year over last season. *Early in the season last year we were losing close games to UWGB, Drake, Manhattan, UTVS, Idaho State, and Idaho and getting blown out by K-State. *

This year we are beating teams of that calibur and are competeing but losing close games to high majors like Texas Tech, K-State and CSU while beating a very good Princeton team and beating the #8 team in the country in Marquette. Does anyone think we won't be able to improve again next season and maybe beat some more high majors? *I don't think there is any doubt in that.

This team is doing fantastic. *Go Bison!

Note: The NIT was a great carrot for this team but there has never been an at large bid for an independent. The loss at Minnesota may have sealed our fate early on the at large hope. Next year we will have a chance at the automaticbid which is a much more realistic carrot to try to grab.

[99Bison]

Close losses = young team.

With these experiences, each year the team can progress and learn how to really win. We see much improvment this year, as will the following two...

[WYOBISONMAN]

This team is still very young. They need to learn how to win on a consistant basis against big name teams, but I suspect that will come with increased depth. I am looking for a win at Ames, IA!

[TaTonka_31]

Our depth is starting to show up with Pennick and Riley. I wish I could have seen the game. It sounded like those two guys were right in the middle of it tonight on both ends of the floor. Miles can really work with and do some things with 7 guys. It is great to see.

[lakesbison]

Well.. I was venting.

but still, NDSU totally has missed 3 opportunities for this program to be mentioned on the AP top 25.

and thats a fact!!

9-1 with wins over marquette, tex Tech, Col St and K State would be just amazing!!!

I can only imagine!!


There's nothing we can do to improve on this season . cept winning out.

I will be disappointed in 2 more losses, honestly.

[TheDoctor]

Our depth is starting to show up with Pennick and Riley. *I wish I could have seen the game. *It sounded like those two guys were right in the middle of it tonight on both ends of the floor. *Miles can really work with and do some things with 7 guys. *It is great to see.

Pennick hammered while dunking, finishes the dunk and heads to the line to try and finish the old fashioned three. NOW I WISH I HAD SEEN THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D :o ;D :o ;D :o ;D :o ;D :o ;D :o

[Bison13]

Ok, time to cut a vein...

this SUCKS!! * 3 losses by 2pts to Col St, K State, Tex Tech.. *hurts big time.

NIT = gone.

What happens now? *How can these boys bounce back. Iowa State is a MUST WIN for me to consider this a STEP UP from last year..


Marquette win = Wisconsin Win.

granted 16-12 will be 18-10 or 19-9 this year. * no i didnt do the math yet *


I'd really hope that KILLER instinct comes next year for 1st year of Mid Con.


I DONT like the fact that we missed a HUGE opportunity this year with 2-3 more wins vs those teams.

A chance to get a HUGE bandwagon was missed.

So Lets find a 6 8 255 *JUCO that can throw some bodies around, and clear the lane for Woody and Nelly and lets PLAY In 07-08

I agree. Even though some people may state that they dont want people to jump on the bandwagon since they arnt really fans but I think that most of them would turn into fans. This team is very fun to watch and I am still expecting big things. Its just too bad that it takes insane accomplishments for people to even realize that we have a basketball team worthy of sell-out crowds. I really hope this conference thing helps with attendance. If not, a lot of people are missing out on something great.

[Spuds]

This team has been a fan and media darling that is viewed as a nice "little engine that could" type of team. *All that is nice, but I wonder when the point will come when giving good teams a tough game won't be enough anymore and a close loss will just be another loss.

[NDSUFREAK10]

young team or not, this team should have won the game. you cant blame experience on this because they have already beaten 2 top 25 teams in the past year.

[NDSUguy]

Let's not be disappointed by our guys. They played hard and have lost several close games. The wins will come and let's hope we can steal a win against ISU.

[BBJunkie]

I think we need to stop referring to this as a young team. *I have heard Coach Miles on the radio talk about the total number of games these kids have played, and it still seems minimal on the grand scale, however, remember that the "fab-5" are in their third full year with the program. *Several years ago, in the D-II days, this would be a team of Soph, Jr., and one Sr., rather than our current makeup of R-Fr., Soph., and one Sr. *All I am saying is, these guys are not as young as many may want to continue to say. *Simply, we are playing better competition. *I do agree that "close losses" will stop counting as improvement as some point, however, we are playing teams that have legit NBA prospects. *How many of those play for the Bison. *Remember, even as GREAT as these kids are, they got passed over by teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Marquette, etc. *We got these kids to come here because they could have an immediate impact, build a program from the ground up, and . . . . at best they could walk on at some mid-to-high majors. *That is not to take ANYTHING away from where they are today. *Many of these kids would be welcome at the programs that once turned them away, but they are and where then, a step below what many higher programs would take. *I say all this to get people to understand, Coach Miles and NDSU is, and has gotten, the best out of the talent we have, and continues to grow a program by playing the best competition we can schedule. *There will be bumps in the road, meaning losses that are heartbreaking, but who wins every night against teams that are better on paper???? *Duke, UNC, Kansas??????? *The answer is, nobody. *Stay the course, and realize that 3 years ago, we are playing Mankato, Omaha, and St. Cloud, and at times . . . .losing. *Now we are playing Texas Tech., Minnesota, Marquette, Kansas State . . . . . . this is a different level. *Stay patient. *This is a GREAT Bison team, but lets not get ahead of ourselves with expectations just because we have pulled some major upsets. *Remember this, as of now, we have won all the games we are "suppose" to win, and won some that we "are not suppose" to win, to date, we are not loosing game that we are "suppose" to win. *This is long-term recipe for success.

[NDSUguy]

I think we need to stop referring to this as a young team. *I have heard Coach Miles on the radio talk about the total number of games these kids have played, and it still seems minimal on the grand scale, however, remember that the "fab-5" are in their third full year with the program. *Several years ago, in the D-II days, this would be a team of Soph, Jr., and one Sr., rather than our current makeup of R-Fr., Soph., and one Sr. *All I am saying is, these guys are not as young as many may want to continue to say. *Simply, we are playing better competition. *I do agree that "close losses" will stop counting as improvement as some point, however, we are playing teams that have legit NBA prospects. *How many of those play for the Bison. *Remember, even as GREAT as these kids are, they got passed over by teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Marquette, etc. *We got these kids to come here because they could have an immediate impact, build a program from the ground up, and . . . . at best they could walk on at some mid-to-high majors. *That is not to take ANYTHING away from where they are today. *Many of these kids would be welcome at the programs that once turned them away, but they are and where then, a step below what many higher programs would take. *I say all this to get people to understand, Coach Miles and NDSU is, and has gotten, the best out of the talent we have, and continues to grow a program by playing the best competition we can schedule. *There will be bumps in the road, meaning losses that are heartbreaking, but who wins every night against teams that are better on paper???? *Duke, UNC, Kansas??????? *The answer is, nobody. *Stay the course, and realize that 3 years ago, we are playing Mankato, Omaha, and St. Cloud, and at times . . . .losing. *Now we are playing Texas Tech., Minnesota, Marquette, Kansas State . . . . . . this is a different level. *Stay patient. *This is a GREAT Bison team, but lets not get ahead of ourselves with expectations just because we have pulled some major upsets. *Remember this, as of now, we have won all the games we are "suppose" to win, and won some that we "are not suppose" to win, to date, we are not loosing game that we are "suppose" to win. *This is long-term recipe for success.

Wow what a great college basketball mind!

I totally agree with you BBJunkie! Our expectations are high (as they should be) but lets be careful not to put them on the level where we expect them to compete and beat teams that are "on paper" better than us every time.

[IowaBisonToo]

Close losses = . . . a need for more discipline maybe.?.?.? :-? Reading the article on BisonZone it stated that there were quite a few fouls. Isn't this something that has hurt them in the past? It seems like these close losses can be attributed to # of fouls, # of turnovers, (refs giving it to us in the @ss :o), etc. I think as the year progresses, these types of things will diminish even though I think they should have addressed these things already.

I don't want to discount what's going on now and just look forward a couple of years however, this is the kind of team that could go into the Mid-Con in its first year, hopefully win the conference and "upset" some of these "major" teams in the tourny that would be ranked higher - kind of like Gonzaga did a few years back.

One think I'd like to see Miles do is find a beast akin to these 7-footers CSU had. I wonder how that would change the way the team plays?

[JacksFan06]

At least you guys get to complain about close losses, we have to deal with 40 point losses to sub par teams. >:( :-[ :'(:'( :'(

[IowaBisonToo]

At least you guys get to complain about close losses, we have to deal with 40 point losses to sub par teams. *>:( :-[ :'(:'( :'(
Ouuch! I suppose it would be like bitching because you only make $100,000/year. :-? There's always somebody that's better than you yet you forget to think about the ones that don't have what you have.

[Gamehunter]

NIT is probably out of reach at this point, but you never know. :) Even if we won out that wouldn't say much because who would we have beat? Iowa State....and aside from Colorado, they are basically the laughing stock of the B12 this year. Once we get past Iowa State our RPI will drop quite a bit even if we win out. Hell, our RPI dropped after beating Idaho by 20. Replacing Andre will have to be a top priority for next year or else everyone's improvement will be negated by his departure. Right now there isn't much accomplished when he is not on the floor. You could definately noticed in the CSU game when he went down. A total lack of defense without him. Positives, Penick seems to be improving as is Riley even though he fouled out early. Should be interresting to see if Coleman can step in and contribute consistently next season. We will need it.

[silkamilkamonico]

Well.. I was venting.

but still, * NDSU totally has missed 3 opportunities for this program to be mentioned on the AP top 25.

and thats a fact!!

9-1 with wins over marquette, tex Tech, Col St and K State would be just amazing!!!

I can only imagine!!


There's nothing we can do to improve on this season . cept winning out.

I will be disappointed in 2 more losses, honestly.




I think you expect too much.

If one wants to argue the flipside of the close losses, then I think it's only fair to argue the close wins.

Specifically, Marquette.

This is still a young team, and with some pretty good competition, we have been competitive in pretty much every game except Minny-HaHa.

I will say though, Andre Smith is a 1 in 100 player. That gives us about a 1% chance of finding a replcement for him.

With that being said, we will have a very good team next year, but I don't think we'll be as good as we are this year.

CSU should hae been a clear indication to just how important he is to the Bison this year for those that didn't already know that.

[mikelsch]

Program is making progress to this point

Playing much better on road this year against mid/high-majors (except MN game), and close to being perfect at home

There is a lot of season remaining to prove the progress -- primarily to win games home/away against teams you are supposed to beat, and the game against Iowa State

[TaTonka_31]

Before we start talking about the demise of next years team without Andre, it should be pointed out that we will have four starters back for two more seasons that are contributing over 50 points a game now. You should expect that these returning players will improve each year also.

Most teams lose valuable seniors each year and wonder how they will replace them but few teams can say they have this much scoring and experience coming back for two more seasons. It may take two or three players next season to replace the 18 a game Andre is contributing now but it will be there. Tweidt and Coleman are talented players that should be ready to contribute. Depending on how game ready Carlson is, he may not be redshirted depending on what the coaching staff feels he can contribute. He seems to be a natural scorer. If they can find a talented Juco, all the better.

Defense is a team thing that Miles will always stress and will have the team that is on the floor playing at an optimum level.

Not to worry. Next years team will be tough to beat on any floor against any team.

[jzillmer]

Close losses = . . . a need for more discipline maybe.?.?.? :-? *Reading the article on BisonZone it stated that there were quite a few fouls. *Isn't this something that has hurt them in the past? *It seems like these close losses can be attributed to # of fouls, # of turnovers, (refs giving it to us in the @ss :o), etc. *I think as the year progresses, these types of things will diminish even though I think they should have addressed these things already.



Yes we have had a number of games where we were in a lot of foul trouble, but I wouldn't automatically equate that to us being undiciplined. I think that a lot of those fouls come from a combination of the teams we've been playing being more atheletic than us, and the fact that we have normally only gone about 7 deep against those teams.

Being less atheletic means we have to work harder, combined with only going 7 deep means you get tired faster, and being tired means you foul more than you normal because it's easier to end up a half step out of position.

[TaTonka_31]

That is a very good assessment BisonAccountant44. That is definitely part of the fouling problem.

What is amazing to me is that we scored 81 against TT, 80 against KSU and 80 against CSU and still lost each game. Those teams won't give 80 points very often. I don't know what to make of those offensive numbers but it seems if we can incrementally clean up some of the fouls and turn overs we should be in business.

[kchats]

Alot of NDSU's fouls are player control fouls on the offensive end from driving into the lane. They also have blocking fouls from other players driving into NDSU's lane.

After the game Colorado State's coach said NDSU was the best team they had played this year. He said he didn't want it to sound like he was pumping NDSU up because they had beat them, but because they were the best team. I read that as other teams had more talented players, maybe not all 5, but NDSU had good talent and played well as a TEAM.

That my friends is a very high compliment and it seems all the coaches from the major programs NDSU has played have said this. That speaks volumes about where the program is and where it is going.

[TheDoctor]

I read that as other teams had more talented players, maybe not all 5, but NDSU had good talent and played well as a TEAM.

That my friends is a very high compliment and it seems all the coaches from the major programs NDSU has played have said this. *That speaks volumes about where the program is and where it is going.


+++++++++++++++++++++++ :D

[Jdubs21]

what i think is meant by the term "young team" is that they may have played in many games but actually how many "BIG GAMES" have they played, such as tech, kstate, marquette, wisconsin.....i mean we are still learning how to finish against bigger schools...i mean it is alot more differnt playing those team and a different mental state you have to be in and play with compared to IPFW's and teams of that caliber that our schedule is filled with, i mean that is just my assumption because it always seems that our losses to those teams are always close losses, and as much as people wanna say that it was reffing that blew those games, i strongly disagree...we blew those games ourself with turnovers, missed free throws,, missed easy shots, and not to mention missed rebounds that turned into points for the other team. Those are just simple mental breakdowns at cruicial last minutes of each one of those games, by their senior they should have about 15-20 of those major confrence teams under their belt, which will really help us come on top of alot more of these close games to great teams

[lakesbison]

well, i still am kicking myself as a bison fan.

I was kickin myself after minn football game.

and Im sick of KICKIN MYSELF!

start winning these close ones!!

[99Bison]

Lakes have you been on vacation..? or working for a change?

Anyway, I think this kicking yourself thing is called being a diehard... :-)

[kchats]

Now the Bison are playing much better. Bison by 5.