Bison Basketball Team ISSUES

[silkamilkamonico]

We not only need AJ to play well, we need him to improve dramatically. Like Taylor Braun did between his junior and senior year. Physically hes similar. If he can learn to attack the basket like Braun did... Needs to add another weapon to his game... Like Lawrence Alexander developed an awesome 3 point shot he didn't have earlier in his career

Braun was better in his early sophomore games than AJ is right now.

People honestly need to get off AJs back. He's shown what he is for the last 2 years. The big hopeful change needs to come from the coach and development of other plsyers.

[NDSUstudent]

What the team really needs is for Ward and Khy to keep progressing and hopefully things start to click with Deng. Need to see the youth taking some big steps forward.

[JSUBison]

Braun was better in his early sophomore games than AJ is right now.

People honestly need to get off AJs back. He's shown what he is for the last 2 years. The big hopeful change needs to come from the coach and development of other plsyers.

AJ can come off the bench his senior year like Felt did and just shoot the 3. Focus on that this summer. Just 3 pt shooting. AJ is already a pretty good 3pt shooter, Richman needs to turn him loose like that 3pt shooting spaz Oakland had a few years back.

[slips]

I think the main issue the Bison face is development of its players. Seem to do a decent job physically but not from an basketball performance standpoint. Sit back and just analyse how the current roster has developed. My observations and opinions of course.

Werner-developed extraordinarily from a kid that looked lost on the floor to a dominant presence and floor leader. Inside game is best in the Summit, above average short to mid range game and no development with his outside game.....A
Dupree- moderate development but never turned into the player that Bison nation expected him to turn into. Good slasher but never developed an outside game to complement his driving ability....C+
AJ-pretty much a flatline with development. Put on weight, muscle mass and improved his 3. Consistency not there nor the development in his all round game. Perceived decent re-bounder but due to the "pack it in" style of Defense that is conducive to good rebounding in the first place. Mental toughness has regressed significantly. Has Jay Cutler Syndrome...D+
Paul Miller-weight program has served him well. Overall game has progressed nicely. Most consistent player next to Dex and best playmaker on the roster. Does everything well and undervalued and under rated Defensive player. Mental toughness is solid but room for improvement......B
Khy-Has shown decent improvement but still a ways to go. Inconsistent outside shot and too many silly turnovers. Outstanding defense and controls the offense very well. Still needs to add 15-20 lbs of muscle mass. Hopefully will be a stud next two years but up to this point.......C+
Dylan Miller-Hard to say as Dex eats up all the minutes. Has shown flashes and promise in limited minutes. Physically probably about right where he needs to be. Good outside shot and free throw shooter for a big. Seems timid at times and will require better footwork on both ends of the court. Seems outmatched and outquicked by other bigs at times in the league.......C+
Spencer-Not enough playing time to evaluate. He will get minutes next year so we will find out then. Has a nice pump fake and decent moves around the rim but needs to finish stronger with what little I have seen him play....TBD
Ward-Shows flashes that he can do everything well at times but just too inconsistent as to be expected as a true freshman. Can for sure add 20-30 lbs of muscle. Defensive game and overall athleticism seems to be his biggest strengths up to this point. Passing and decision making seem to be his biggest weaknesses......TBD
Geu-Again, not enough minutes to gauge development and nothing to compare it too. Needs to add muscle for sure and a lot of it. Can jump out of the gym but needs to pretty much work on everything...TBD
Samuelson-Seems to be a Mike Felt type player which would be great. Body seems flabby and he needs to transform it which I believe he will. His shot will hopefully continue to get better and better over time and seems to have a square head on his shoulders from a mental standpoint. Needs work on defense for sure but makes up for some of his lack of athleticism with his understanding of the game and schemes....TBD

The point I am trying to make is that yes most of these players are developing but are they developing fast enough or enough in general. Compare our 4 current upper class-men to the development paths of the likes of Braun, Winkelman, LA, Tray Wright, Tveidt, Woodside, Kory Brown, and Bjorklund. It's not even a close comparison with Dex being the exception so it begs the question are we trying to develop the wrong players or are the coaches not developing players effectively enough? Either way this falls on the coaching staff. Bison nation relies on development of our players. The football program is a prime example of this. We red shirt and develop and by the time those players are Juniors and Seniors they are the backbone of the team. The current basketball team does not show this. Sure they are playing but they are not developed or polished enough to get the job done. This trend needs to be reversed or Bison basketball is going to continue to trend in the wrong direction. Oh and another thing.........where were all the Bison fans in Sioux Falls. We have 1500 season ticket holders and average 4200 a home game and we have maybe 400 fans that show up to the most important part of the season with an easy 3 hour drive. Bison basketball fans...........A BIG FAT F+

[Mr Meaty]

As much as this team could use more games and should accept an invite to the CBI or other tourney, I would pass on it. This team needs to spend time looking at film and figure out what they are doing wrong. They need to be coached up and learn their positions/roles on the team. If unable to perform and learn then we need to look at what recruiting methods we are using. I know we are a developmental type team but there sure seems to be a lack of it on the team, outside of a player of two.

[HerdBot]

As much as this team could use more games and should accept an invite to the CBI or other tourney, I would pass on it. This team needs to spend time looking at film and figure out what they are doing wrong. They need to be coached up and learn their positions/roles on the team. If unable to perform and learn then we need to look at what recruiting methods we are using. I know we are a developmental type team but there sure seems to be a lack of it on the team, outside of a player of two.

I think we should go out on a low note and use it as motivation. Sucks for Dex and Carlin though. They don't deserve to finish their careers with a sour taste

[Mr. Burgundy]

As much as this team could use more games and should accept an invite to the CBI or other tourney, I would pass on it. This team needs to spend time looking at film and figure out what they are doing wrong. They need to be coached up and learn their positions/roles on the team. If unable to perform and learn then we need to look at what recruiting methods we are using. I know we are a developmental type team but there sure seems to be a lack of it on the team, outside of a player of two.

With all due respect, I totally disagree. For several reasons. For one, it is common for a team/coach to use this to experiment for the future. THe world doesn't change if you go on a run in the CBI, but there are a lot of past teams that have went on runs, and allowed a team to go into the off season with a different sense of accomplishment. Typically playing the youth more, etc. Same reason a team like USD benefited from their long trip they took this year. EXTRA TIME. Finally, there is a large thing called recruiting, and if we did go, and IF we won, we would have won our 20th game, which currently has a streak, as well as our string of years playing in a post season tourney. I totally understand being grumpy, but nobody expected this team to be great. We were average and lead the conference for 99% of it. What did people expect? Playing IUPUI was probably a 50/50 proposition, we aren't great, we are young and it is sports. We lost. USD damn near lost too. It is sports. Pull up the big boy pants and get better, and that starts with playing in a tourney if we are invited.

If we do, I hope the lineup is shaken up. I would love to see AJ off the bench. NOt as a 3 point shooter, as he isn't great at that, but more of a scorer. Shabazz. Scorer. He has to score to be effective. He has lost all confidence. I would start Tyson and tell him he isn't a freshman anymore. take 10 shots. Show the future. Deng, Tyson, and Jared should play if we do play another game. I don't see how playing several kids 35 plus minutes all the time is all that effective. LEts see what we have coming back. Some of you guys act like someone died. This wasn't Woodside's team where we expected to beat anyone. This was a grind it out type of team that needed some things to go right. That didn't happen. I am excited about the future, as we have 3 kids coming in that are all big.

[Bisonator98]

As much as this team could use more games and should accept an invite to the CBI or other tourney, I would pass on it. This team needs to spend time looking at film and figure out what they are doing wrong. They need to be coached up and learn their positions/roles on the team. If unable to perform and learn then we need to look at what recruiting methods we are using. I know we are a developmental type team but there sure seems to be a lack of it on the team, outside of a player of two.

I disagree with turning down a tourney invite. It's an opportunity for more practice time and game experience for the younger players.

[HerdBot]

With all due respect, I totally disagree. For several reasons. For one, it is common for a team/coach to use this to experiment for the future. THe world doesn't change if you go on a run in the CBI, but there are a lot of past teams that have went on runs, and allowed a team to go into the off season with a different sense of accomplishment. Typically playing the youth more, etc. Same reason a team like USD benefited from their long trip they took this year. EXTRA TIME. Finally, there is a large thing called recruiting, and if we did go, and IF we won, we would have won our 20th game, which currently has a streak, as well as our string of years playing in a post season tourney. I totally understand being grumpy, but nobody expected this team to be great. We were average and lead the conference for 99% of it. What did people expect? Playing IUPUI was probably a 50/50 proposition, we aren't great, we are young and it is sports. We lost. USD damn near lost too. It is sports. Pull up the big boy pants and get better, and that starts with playing in a tourney if we are invited.

If we do, I hope the lineup is shaken up. I would love to see AJ off the bench. NOt as a 3 point shooter, as he isn't great at that, but more of a scorer. Shabazz. Scorer. He has to score to be effective. He has lost all confidence. I would start Tyson and tell him he isn't a freshman anymore. take 10 shots. Show the future. Deng, Tyson, and Jared should play if we do play another game. I don't see how playing several kids 35 plus minutes all the time is all that effective. LEts see what we have coming back. Some of you guys act like someone died. This wasn't Woodside's team where we expected to beat anyone. This was a grind it out type of team that needed some things to go right. That didn't happen. I am excited about the future, as we have 3 kids coming in that are all big.

Valid points.

[Mr Meaty]

I disagree with turning down a tourney invite. It's an opportunity for more practice time and game experience for the younger players.

That is assuming Richman will play the younger guys. I would start Paul, Khy, Tyson, Dylan and Deng. Bring in AJ and Spencer off the bench. Give Jared plenty of minutes as well. I agree with the practice time and all that, but if you are going to play Paul, AJ, Dex, Carlin and Khy 32+ each. Then what are you gaining?