NDSU v Leathernecks 1/16

[unbison]

You better believe I watched .... This team battles hard on both ends....I'd say the biggest thing lowering LA's assist numbers is no post player to feed.... Assist numbers will always be lowered when playing 4 gaurds

[Snowgoose]

I agree this team battles and that is why I think this team can be really good. Assists don't necessarily go down with no post otherwise the Phoenix suns would have none. You can drive and dish to good outside shooters just as easily especially when the other teams know you are a primary scorer. I will give just one example from the USD game we were down 2 with like 20 seconds left and LA drove into 3 guys with AJ on the wing wide open and no one within ten feet. It was a simple pass and would have possibly giving us the lead. This is a play that needs to be made as it was an easy play. Again I am just pointing this out as I believe we can make the dance with the seven guys that are playing as they are playing pretty well and most importantly a senior point guard.

[unbison]

I won't say a discouraging word about LA NOT ONE
WE LOVE LA!!

[Snowgoose]

It is a very hard thing for a point guard to find a balance between being and scorer when needed and a distributor. Kyrie Irving has not found that balance and until he does they won't go anywhere. Now, I am not comparing LA to Kyrie, but our coaches can help him find that balance which will take us to the next level because I believe he is that good. I just meant that the weave at the top of the circle for 30 seconds doesn't necessarily always help his cause either and let's just throw away the USD game as I think that was an anomaly. I believe we beat them by 20 in Fargo with a healthy LA and some minor adjustments.

[Ndsu84]

We ran the weave for the first 30 seconds and then put up a difficult shot.

I know defense wins but the Bison with a little bit if depth were 40 better than the leathernecks.

Someone complained the place wasn't full...we have 8 season tickets but I'm not driving 2 hours to watch the weave.

[ndsubison1]

Did you watch the USD game? We practiced the weave for 30 seconds and then LA went one on one. AJ appeared very annoyed as he would force the drive and AJ would stand there wide open.

Yeah theyve been running those dribble hand offs all season for the most part. I didnt watch USD game so cant comment on that. Were running a lot of 4 out, at times we do a lot of one on one. Those hand offs happen to make the defense react quick. We seem to do that until we find a seam. If not we kick it out to an open shooter. I do think weve been moving the ball better than at the beginning. I think weve found an identity. I do think things gets stalled at times though.

[Herd12]

Yeah theyve been running those dribble hand offs all season for the most part. I didnt watch USD game so cant comment on that. Were running a lot of 4 out, at times we do a lot of one on one. Those hand offs happen to make the defense react quick. We seem to do that until we find a seam. If not we kick it out to an open shooter. I do think weve been moving the ball better than at the beginning. I think weve found an identity. I do think things gets stalled at times though.

Honestly, it's a fantastic job of Richman of coaching to our strengths. With Kory Brown's development, we have 3 guys that get to the rim, and a 4th (Jacobson) that's getting very close to being able to do that too. The 4 out motion stuff drags the opposing bigs out of the lane, makes them move more than they normally would and creates mismatches on switches for our ball handlers. The team is undersized, and Richman's found a way to use that to our advantage. The offense may not be pretty and it might not be as much of a "team" offense as I and others would prefer, but it's a very smart use of our current personnel.

Next season with Eliason, Miller, Wesenberg, Kading and Dex you might see more of the traditional Bison offense that you saw with Tray and Marshall, but for this season Richman's guarding like crazy and dancing with the one's that brung him on offense. I appreciate it.

[bisonfan08]

If all your seeing is the weave than obviously your not watching the game. This team is fun to watch, they compete, they play fantastic defense and they don't take nearly as many bad shots as we used to. The reason why it looks like the weave now is because it is still new, if you would watch all of the games you'd notice there are many more wrinkles to it now than there were at the beginning of the season and there is only more to build on. This offense is based on catching opponents in the middle of a switch or getting caught in a screen. As the team develops the offense more you will see our post guys getting good position in the block coming off a screen on the baseline, you'll start to see back cuts and fake handoffs and other little nuances that catch the defense trying to predict what's coming at them. We have a lot of young players running a brand new offense and it's been a great job by Richman and the staff to not give them too much right away but to work them into it throughout the season so everything is fine tuned by March. Go ahead and ask anyone if they thought this team would be in 1st place at any point this season and I bet you'll have a tough time finding any takers, I enjoy everything about this team.

I also agree with the statement about Richman, I really think he's gonna do big things at NDSU, I think he is a better coach now than Saul was when he took over and is only going to get better.

Oh and there is nothing wrong with LA's game, if you want a reason to know why his assist numbers are down how about looking how he rarely is the player running the point in this offense anymore. A lot of teams have full court pressed LA and to make sure he can handle playing 35 mpg we just go with Dupree bringing the ball up. It also has to do a lot with the offense we run, I bet if you look at the stats you'll see that our assist to 3 pointers made ratio is pretty damn close. When guys get the ball coming off a screen in this offense they usually are taking one or two dribbles to get into the lane to finish the play, therefore no assist credited. It doesn't mean we aren't passing the ball just that the shot doesn't go up immediately after the pass is received.

Okay I think I'm done now.

[ndsubison1]

I think Richman is better with Xs and Os than Saul. Saul was a great recruiter but struggled with game plans and adjusting throughout games. Refusing to go small against San Diego St for example.

[BisonNation11]

Here's a pic of the football team at halftime. Sorry it took so long.