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Montana is going to be scary good
- Thread starter oldrunner
- Start date
The question that needs to be asked is, are these High Major teams playing their full rosters? Are they playing their freshman or stars and if so, how long are they playing? Most of these teams use these trips more as recruitment tools and let their walkons play a lot. Do you have box scores? Not saying that UND won't be good, they have done better than expected since joining the Sky and I don't doubt they won't be competitive this season, just a bit skeptical about European games played in August.
UND does have Carson Shanks who, our brothers up north, thought was going to be the greatest thing since JC Carroll and I have always liked Quinton Hooker. So, who knows. The biggest issue with UND was personality and team oriented play. UND didn't play as a team the last couple of seasons. They might be far more team-oriented, which can only be a good thing.
UND does have Carson Shanks who, our brothers up north, thought was going to be the greatest thing since JC Carroll and I have always liked Quinton Hooker. So, who knows. The biggest issue with UND was personality and team oriented play. UND didn't play as a team the last couple of seasons. They might be far more team-oriented, which can only be a good thing.
Marquette has been playing their top players the first 2 competitive games... Georgetown NBC basketball talk preseason 14th rated team also played their best to get by Haukar by 10 with late game rally...any correlation between looking good vs good Euro teams and the real season will be interesting. Both UND wins vs the 2 good euro teams came after these euro teams played Marquette the day prior. 3 newcomers plus hooker putting up numbers for UND...Shanks has been quiet at least from a scoring perspective.talhadfoursteals said:
oldrunner
Active member
It will be interesting to watch. UND could end up being a dark horse top 4 contender. This is what makes the college game so interesting. Things can change so quickly. One recruit turning out to be better than expected, can make a huge difference. I'm sure that there will be some surprises. :yikes:
I think part of the reason UND appears to be better is Geno Crandall. He red shirted last year, and I have heard he might be the best player on the team. He was young as a freshman... I think he was only 17, so he could be a diamond in the rough. Cortez Seales will also play as a true freshman. Rivals listed him as a 3 star recruit who had offers from Northern Iowa and Western Kentucky. It will interesting to watch UND this year with the new blood. If Shanks can step up and the team actually plays as a team, UND could potentially be competitive this year.
Good luck this season!
Good luck this season!
Webergrad02
Active member
NoDak651 said:
Thank you. Good luck to UND also. I would love to see you guys get a new head coach.
thescout said:
I don't know why there is so much hate for BJ? He definitely can recruit and, like Scout pointed out, he has been at the top of the conference for two out of the three years he has been here, it just doesn't make sense. I just don't see BJ getting the ax anytime soon. He might totally shock the pundits this year and pull out one heck of amazing season. Based off of the Euro tour the no-names were on -I don't have any data or stats, Scout is totally responsible for that- one has to wonder.
The league just might be more competitive than any of us have been predicting.
Projected winner: Venky Jois, Eastern Washington
2014-15 stats: 16.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.0 APG, 1.2 SPG
Over the past decade, the Big Sky has become the wild card of conference POYs.
Last year, Tyler Harvey led the nation in scoring for an Eastern Washington team that won the conference, but Sacramento State's Mikh McKinney was named the Big Sky POY. McKinney did average 19.2 points per game for a team that improved from 14-16 to 21-12, but, come on, Harvey was a monster. A similar phenomenon occurred in 2006-07 when EWU's Rodney Stuckey averaged 24.6 points per game, only to see David Patten (14.2 PPG) win the award as part of a Weber State team that improved from 10-17 to 20-12.
If the trick for this conference is to pick the best player from the most improved team, perhaps Weber State's Joel Bolomboy should be the favorite. Never mind the fact that he averaged 13.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game for a Weber State team that went 13-17 last year; if the Wildcats manage to finish top four in the conference this year, the Big Sky voters will find a way to say that he is the conference's most valuable player. Bleacher Report League MVP prediction
2014-15 stats: 16.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.0 APG, 1.2 SPG
Over the past decade, the Big Sky has become the wild card of conference POYs.
Last year, Tyler Harvey led the nation in scoring for an Eastern Washington team that won the conference, but Sacramento State's Mikh McKinney was named the Big Sky POY. McKinney did average 19.2 points per game for a team that improved from 14-16 to 21-12, but, come on, Harvey was a monster. A similar phenomenon occurred in 2006-07 when EWU's Rodney Stuckey averaged 24.6 points per game, only to see David Patten (14.2 PPG) win the award as part of a Weber State team that improved from 10-17 to 20-12.
If the trick for this conference is to pick the best player from the most improved team, perhaps Weber State's Joel Bolomboy should be the favorite. Never mind the fact that he averaged 13.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game for a Weber State team that went 13-17 last year; if the Wildcats manage to finish top four in the conference this year, the Big Sky voters will find a way to say that he is the conference's most valuable player. Bleacher Report League MVP prediction
thescout said:
Breunig and Bolomboy both have very similar stats to Venky Jois. Personally, I think that Breunig is the best big in the conference. He does so many things well. The big with the most talent would definitely be Bolomboy, but for whatever reason he isn't getting to that next level that he has the potential to be at. His defense was average at best last season and he dipped a bit on rebounds. Yes, he became more of an offensive weapon, but I don't want him sitting out on the 3pt line jacking up 3s.
SWWeatherCat
Active member
talhadfoursteals said:
Amen. However, if Braxton is ready to be an impact player, it will allow Joel to play a less physical game and stretch the D more out on the 3PT line. I still don't want to see him camping out there but I believe it will work better this year than last. Frankly, I'd like to see Hill be more physical and impacting closer to the basket since he hasn't exactly shined with the mid-range game.
