A few months ago I put out some speculations regarding the men’s Basketball coach at NDSU. If you want to see that side of the proverbial coin, check it out here: Pitchforks
Today though, I’m looking to take a different tack regarding the head ball coach and hopefully answer a simple question that I have. Specifically question in this instance is how should we react to all the moves that the Basketball team has made on the recruiting front?
It’s a simple question but for a team that should annually contend for the Summit League Tournament championship it cannot be exhausted. I think there are three different conclusions that merit consideration. One of the three may seem like the obvious answer but maybe a different conclusion is deserved.
Before getting into trifecta, let me remind you (or outright inform you) of who coach Richman and his staff have brought into the fold.
Sam Griesel (6’5” G/F)
Vinnie Shahid (5’10” PG)
Jarius Cook (6’3” SG)
Jaxon Knotek (6’5” PG/SG)
Odell Wilson IV (6’6” F)
Jordan Horn (6’2” PG/SG)
With the graduations of Miller & Jacobson and the departure of Elliason It isn’t surprising that the staff would look to reload as quickly as possible. I don’t dislike the strategy but sometimes having a slower process can be more beneficial. The problem is that even at a school like NDSU, the amount of time that a coach gets is limited. His early successes with Saul Philipps’ players is well documented. In the few years since the turnover happened the results have not been as positive. This past season represented a bit of a return to where the team should be annually but they still didn’t make the Summit Championship game & as I already mentioned, they lost their two best players.
So with all that in mind, I can’t help but wonder if the Sam’s Club level of recruit signings isn’t at least partly due to a feeling of desperation that could be growing in the back of the coaches mind. I think that it is the least likely of the possibilities but as a fan, I don’t think it’s an inappropriate thing to consider. I mean, just look at the list. There are probably a good player or two in that mix, if not even more, but the bulk group has quite a bit of redundancy. Obviously Shahid is the outlier in terms of height and Wilson is with regards to size but the rest may be interchangeable. That could bode well for the play on the court. Acknowledged. In today’s Basketball a team can’t have enough ball handlers or shooters, so in the respect it could turn out to be a great group.
But it still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of girth on the block. A player like Dexter Werner would be a near perfect compliment to what the team could have and maybe Wilson will develop into that but for now, the post should be an area of concern. To be balanced, there is some decent height on the roster but I’m wary that it’s composition this year could result in a lot of one and done possessions. That works when the shooters are hitting but isn’t great when they’re having off nights.
Like I said, that’s the least likely of the possibilities but is the negative light that some could shine on the moves made by Richman and associates.
The second of three ways that I think fans could react to the moves is the only one that we actually have. Wait and see.
In the instant age, patience isn’t a wide spread characteristic but is the only one that we really have in the pursuit of knowing how it will go. We can and do react to everything as it happenings - sometimes prematurely - but such is the world due to Twitter, Instagram, On Demand and fast food.
The most prudent approach in reacting to the six signings is to take a wait and see approach. Wait and see which one’s will play this season. Wait and see which one’s will start and which will come off the bench. Ultimately wait and see which will be the next good to great players as opposed to being end of the bench guys.
I really thought that the program had moved beyond the ‘make the tournament every four or five years’ approach but with the backslide recently it would be better than nothing. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what these guys bring to the court. Maybe they’ll help elevate the team back to where it was when Braun and Alexander were leading the way. We just won’t know that for a while.
So that’s the realistic reaction that I think fans could have to the new Bison ballers. That leaves number three.
Five guys at 6’2” or taller. Five guys that may be able to play around the perimeter, handling the ball & shooting the lights out. Five of them are from the Twin Cities area and have grown up seeing what both the Goophers and the Bison have been about. Championships for one, a comedy of errors for the other and now the hoop heads are following their buddies from the gridiron into the FM area.
I think that fans can be excited about what the Basketball team will be able to do. Not only this season but for the next two and beyond. With this large crop of guys coming in to play with Deng Geu, Cam Hunter and Tyson Ward it could be a very good two years of play, even with Mike Daum opting to stick around for another season.
Modern Basketball is about hitting shots from the outside and while I’d still like to see a move away from the base offense of the last few years, the team seems to be set up well for the way the game is played today. I guess if the choice is between dribble handoff or all iso ball (a la the Rockets) then the DH is a win but I would still rather see better ball movement. That’s the only thing that I would say negatively going into 2018.
But didn’t I say that size on the block could be an issue? Yes, someone who wants to poke holes just to be negative could point to that but between Rocky Kreuser, Jordan Meidinger and even Deng Geu, they may be able to handle some of the garbage off the glass. Granted that both Meidinger & Geu are on the light side as far as the scale would measure but Wilson may bring some big body to the group - if he plays as a true freshman.
I’m not saying that it will be the best rebounding team in the school’s history, probably far from it honestly but I also don’t think that it will a terrible group at rebounding as a team. Underscore that, REBOUNDING AS A TEAM.
So the outcome is unavoidably that we have to wait and see how the pieces fit into the puzzle. How the coaches make adjustments so that the new players are able to fit in with the guys that are already here. But I can’t ignore that there may be an angle to the bulk recruit approach that is desperation to get back to the Summit Championship game ASAP.
But more than anything else I just think that it’s a sincere effort to replace players that are gone with even more guys then were in North Fargo before to play the way that Basketball is most often played today. We’ll have to wait and see but I hope that’s how it pans out because Sioux Falls, the Summit Championship game and storming the court are some of the best things in the heartland in March!
I’m just one fan though, who wanted to make a generalization based assessment of the facelift that the roster has undergone recently. Do you guys see it differently?
Agree?
Disagree?
Let me know!