Talent Discussion

[Bisonator98]

Better question is: Is Walthall a better coach then Richman?

[steelbison]

Having watched Kretchman for the past several years, I'd say that's a little bit of a stretch, but I understand why their coach would say that. That being said, Kretchman is easily one of the top 2 or 3 points guards in the NSIC, but, as far as being the best PG in D2 goes, Justin Pitts down at Northwest Missouri State (a junior from the MIAA conference in Missouri whose team is currently #1 in the country) will probably be the National Player of the Year this season. I'd pick him 10 times out of 10 over Kretchman and probably over just about anyone in the NSIC.

Kretchman and Augie's Jordan Spencer are both probably top 3 point guards in the conference, maybe even #1 and #2, depending on how you want to order them. They put up comparable numbers, with Spencer averaging more assists but Kretchmann putting out a better assist-to-turnover ratio and Kretchman being a slightly better 3-point shooter. In my opinion, Kretchman is working with more overall talent this year than Spencer in terms of his team's starting 1-5 spots, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Kretchman himself is a very, very good point guard. Plus he's usually pretty clutch in tight games and high-pressure situations.

Lien is also very good. It's a really good topic for discussion, as has been noted already. Are these guys good because they were able to play right away and get in-game experience early in their careers (I believe both have been pretty key players since coming in as freshmen), or would they have ended up being just as good redshirting for a season at a school like NDSU and getting better against their D1-level teammates in practice for a year or two before starting to get decent in-game minutes? Always tough to tell.

Either way, both would probably get some minutes at NDSU at this stage in their careers, but how much they'd play and how much impact they'd make is hard to tell (obviously). Unless you guys are like Jackrabbit fans who think any D2 kid, no matter how talented or highly-accoladed he may be, would be a perennial benchwarmer at a school so high and mighty as SDSU. But so far that's not what the discussion on this message board indicates. Which I always appreciate about you guys.

As far as Arvidson goes, I'm almost positive he had a season-ending injury a year or two ago which, as someone mentioned, might have contributed to his lower minutes until this latter part of his career.

Thanks for letting me jump in on here. Due to the mandatory week-long break D2s are required to take, our message board gets a little quiet this time of year.

Thanks for the insight. Exactly the type of discussion I was looking for.

[Mr Meaty]

Better question is: Is Walthall a better coach then Richman?

Oh you went there!!! Good question though.

[HoopsBison]

Oh you went there!!! Good question though.

Hes only won at least 20 games in each of the two seasons hes been the head man. 1 NCAA tournament appearance and 2 SL championship appearances. Dave has done a very nice job thus far at NDSU.

Chad also has done a tremendous job with the Dragons. Would be fun to see a school hire him and see how he does at the D1 level.

[steelbison]

Hes only won at least 20 games in each of the two seasons hes been the head man. 1 NCAA tournament appearance and 2 SL championship appearances. Dave has done a very nice job thus far at NDSU.

Chad also has done a tremendous job with the Dragons. Would be fun to see a school hire him and see how he does at the D1 level.

I agree Dave has done a great job. Question, why do you think the current players other than Big Dex have not improved every year like most players do at the college level?

[NDSUstudent]

Hes only won at least 20 games in each of the two seasons hes been the head man. 1 NCAA tournament appearance and 2 SL championship appearances. Dave has done a very nice job thus far at NDSU.

Chad also has done a tremendous job with the Dragons. Would be fun to see a school hire him and see how he does at the D1 level.

Just as long as that school is not UND...

[HoopsBison]

I think plenty of the guys have improved year to year. Dupree's game has certainly gotten better each season. While Paul hasn't shot the ball well to start this season he has certainly added weight and finishes much stronger at the rim. Also a much bigger factor on the glass. He is seeing a lot more attention from opposing teams and is the first topic on opposing teams scouting reports. Khy has been down this year but I expect him to start playing better, only in his 2nd year and has gotten much stronger and already is our best on ball defender.

AJ is a tricky, in his junior season he should be making more of an impact. Not sure whats going on there. Also worried about post play next season, need Dylan to establish himself.

Lets not forget this staff also had some changes over the off-season, very excited about Kyan and Will but could take some time to get those guys up to speed.

[silkamilkamonico]

AJ was chosen over Lien which, definitely at the time was a no brainer. The 2 are much different players now coming out of high school. They were pretty similar with Lien being the better offensive player and AJ with the better basketball player. AJ is a much better fit for what NDSU runs with his overall game. Would be nice if he was more aggressive and consistent on offense but at this point I think he is what he is.

With Kretchman I believe Richman wanted some taller shooting guards. Remember in that class we had Miller and Showalter. Richman probably felt he needed more length at this level.

MSU seems to play a very explosive D2 type of ball. They remind me of how NDSU played that year under McDermott. I'm not sure if they could get away with playing that style in D1 because of the length of the teams. It's really hard for me to compare the statistics of the players because of the competition level and style of play is so much different.

[steelbison]

I think plenty of the guys have improved year to year. Dupree's game has certainly gotten better each season. While Paul hasn't shot the ball well to start this season he has certainly added weight and finishes much stronger at the rim. Also a much bigger factor on the glass. He is seeing a lot more attention from opposing teams and is the first topic on opposing teams scouting reports. Khy has been down this year but I expect him to start playing better, only in his 2nd year and has gotten much stronger and already is our best on ball defender.

AJ is a tricky, in his junior season he should be making more of an impact. Not sure whats going on there. Also worried about post play next season, need Dylan to establish himself.

Lets not forget this staff also had some changes over the off-season, very excited about Kyan and Will but could take some time to get those guys up to speed.

Maybe it's just me but I recall tangible improvement from year to year in past Bison teams. Kory Brown, Alexander are a few that come to mind. Other than Dex I just haven't seen that type of improvement.


I am not talking defense btw, I'm talking scoring the basketball. AJ is the same player he was a a freshman. Khy has taken a step back. Shooting horribly and turning the ball over way too much.

Also our bigs other than Dex have not developed at all. Again not blaming anyone but usually a kid that averages 11-12 PPG as a freshman should steadily improve on that. Look at Woodside and company how they improved every year again as another example.

[Kermit]

I watched Lien and Kretchman a lot in high school and I've watched them quite a bit with the Dragons. I haven't seen Arvidson as much, so I won't comment on him. Our staff did not "miss out" on these kids. They were followed closely by NDSU and Lien was actively recruited as a preferred walk-on. He was probably close to getting a scholarship offer. I was a fan and wanted to see him with the Bison. Would they be difference makers for the Bison? Absolutely not, in my opinion. There is a huge difference in the physicality of the Summit League vs. the NSIC. Some of the guys who score at will in the NSIC would have a hard time getting open shots in D1. There are exceptions to this (think Schilling and Janssen at Augustana). Furthermore, I don't know who a kid like Kretchman would guard in the Summit. Most of the guards are either much longer than him or much stronger, if not both.

I'd also comment on NDSU players who can't seem to shoot or score in games. You would be amazed at how good many of those same guys look in practice or against lesser competition. It is a whole different ballgame when you have D1 athletes guarding you.