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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Feb 6, 2011 23:05:33 GMT -6
The reason Tecker didn't play is because he is dealing with a hip injury again, so his playing time is determined by that, because Boots loves what Tecker does for the team. It's injury with him.
Why didn't Boots get more minutes? Because he is playing for USD, not USF. I am sorry, but I don't really see Boots as a D-I player. I wonder if he had a different last night if he would be seeing as many minutes honestly. His defense is not good at all and the only offense he has is the three-point shot.
I think he is an NAIA player, but I do think he has improved since he came to USD, I will give him that.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Feb 6, 2011 23:53:45 GMT -6
This is just my humble opinion and I do not want to start any wars on here. I was extremely disappointed at last nights game. I feel the need to unload a few thoughts. Littleyote I appreciate that you are willing to air your true feelings. We need not only a few but many more Coyote fans to just come on here and be honest and truthfull with themselves whatever that opinion may be. It's hard to get involved in good debates if no one is starting topics or bothering to counter argue. That is the fun of the message board chatter. What you are saying is certainly worthy of posting and really needs to be said. I always stand behind the idea of letting honest thoughts come out. If you don't like something let it be known. I also believe in being congradulatory and to notice the good performances as well. I think everyone should take that approach. Little Yote that is not saying at all that you aren't congradulatory when appropriate, just saying in general. A few of my thoughts may come across as being negative towards the Yotes, but now is the time and place to point out some of the mistakes as well as the good things. First off a large percentage of the loss falls on the coaches shoulders. We have several players that are considered 3 point shooters. Each and everyone of them has shown the potential to have an awesome game. Last night a couple of them were struggling with their shot. As stated in the previous post I am wondering why Tecker and Boots didn't get any more minutes. There have definately been some up and down seasons when it comes to the Yotes as of late. Good in 2007, poor in 2008, so-so in 2009 and very good in 2010. This year is definately falling into that so-so category. I have always questioned some of the strategy when it comes to playing more players, trying different philosophies etc. I guess it's second nature to second guess. Things are always seen clearly in hindsight. As far as the inside game where were Andreotti and Bouie? Why were their minutes cut so short? These two work extremely hard when they are in the game. Gruis was forced to work against a fresh pair of legs every couple of minutes. If Andreotti or Bouie were positioned opposite of him on the low post UND would have been forced to use up some of their rotation on one of the other post players. I totally agree on the distribution of the minutes. This is kind of a revolving problem with USD basketball and has been for years. The core of 6 or 7 players tend to dominate the minutes and it leaves the cupboard bare more often than not from year to year. USD has had plenty of opportunity to improve depth and just don't seem able to do so, at least not significantly. The coaching staff seems to be so focused on being a perimeter oriented team. With this fact being known other teams are finding it very easy to defend. Our 3 point shooting will never improve if we do not develop more of an inside out game. The perimeter is not getting good looks which is causing poor shot selection. Having to take difficult shots is killing the Yotes this year. The Yotes need to get more hard nosed and work for what they get. They do that some games but there are many games where the Yotes settle. I noticed in the Women's game against UND how good their ball movement was and how it was leading to good shots. I can't remember many recent occurances where I have said "wow that was good ball movement" where the men used the quick passing game to set themselves up for open looks. With concentration and a good plan good shots can be had. I am not real picky on where those open shots are coming from as long as they aren't within 3 feet of the 3 point line without it counting as 3. The other thing which has been discussed previous is the desire to win. We have too many players that show no desire to win. A few of the players act like it is a hassle to out there playing for the Yotes. My comment for any Yote that has this attitude is if you think that a free education is not worth a 110% effort for the team then you can take over my student loans and I'm sure we can find another person who can give 110% for the team. This may sound harsh but it is the truth. These scholarships are not to be taken lightly and I think a little hard work, devotion and team pride is a very small price to pay. Right on, it takes a big sense of pride to be a consistant performer on the court. The desire needs to be entwined in each individual player. They need to want themselves and their team to do well. Desire cannot be taught but instead is in ones character. The court and the bench alike are filled with a lot of talented individuals. I hope that both the team and the coaching staff take a step back and reevaluate what they have and use it for the good of USD. I too think this needs to happen today and not tomorrow. I am hoping for a strong finish to the season to set a strong foundation for USD basketball. The tools are all there, it is up to this group to use them. For whatever reason it does seem like the whole program is going through a letdown from top to bottom. The thing I have noticed from Boots is that he has seemed to go away from comments about "expectations", "accountability", "no excuses" that he was preaching early on. I haven't noticed this for a long time maybe since about the time that the Great West season started.USD has done some good things with their program over the past year. The talent has gotten better from top to bottom. A couple of key players were lost but then again I think the Yotes are more talented in other areas. It seems like USD is not playing intelligent basketball more than anything. When you combine that with a lack of energy it's going to result in games like against UND. I think all the players need to be more aware of game situations, and really focus on making sure the right decisions are made on the court. USD is at a real tipping point with the program. Improvement is needed immediately to get this team feeling good about themselves heading to the Summit next year. The goal should be for USD to just start playing better Yote ball and try to position themselves as well as they can or the conference tourney. Try to make a run at the CIT birth again. This season can go south in a hurry if the whole attitude doesn't take a turn for the better. We will see what this team has in it and what the leadership from the bench has in it as well. Thanks for letting me air my opinions. GO YOTES!
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Feb 7, 2011 0:12:27 GMT -6
Huh, I thought the goal was winning the GWC this year, wouldn't that be a good way to enter the Summit, with two GWC titles, only furthering my point that people are just discounting the GWC, and I bet the players sense this.
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Post by littleyote on Feb 7, 2011 0:26:35 GMT -6
when Tecker was questioned earlier in the week his response was he felt 100% and was practicing as usual? Boots may not be the best defender but our players on the floor were not stopping UND players from scoring either. I have not checked lately but I think he has the best 3-pt shooting percentage on the team currently, and yes I understand that he hasn't played or shoot as much as the others but it could also be he works harder to get open and makes better shot selection. He has made some pretty key 3-pt shoots in previous games, enough so that in a game when nothing else is working to give him a try.
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Feb 7, 2011 1:11:23 GMT -6
Well, I don't think he will ever be 100 percent considering his hip condition.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Feb 7, 2011 1:16:06 GMT -6
Huh, I thought the goal was winning the GWC this year, wouldn't that be a good way to enter the Summit, with two GWC titles, only furthering my point that people are just discounting the GWC, and I bet the players sense this. I do not discount the Great West and the players better not be either. If the players are, we have bigger problems than we would care to know about. The goal now is to simply get the ship righted period. If that eventually leads to a Great West Title great no one is going to not firmly grasp it. With the way the team is currently playing the Great West Title is out of reach. The pressing need is to get back to playing hard basketball and to restore the sence of pride that has been waning as of recent. I don't think the Summit itself is going to improve fan attendance but it's moreso getting SDSU and NDSU back on the schedule that will help the most. I guess I don't understand how the Summit is suddenly going to dramatically increase attendance when games like against Wyoming really don't draw nearly as well as the level of competitivenss of a game as such should draw. I will say again if SDSU was not in the Summit USD fans would not be much more excited to be in the Summit than any other mediocre conference. It's proven by past attendance numbers. When SDSU is around as an opponent the attendance for that game is well above any other draw. I think that draw actually help the other games as well. Once SDSU left the NCC the attendance gradually fell off eventhough the NCC was still in existance. It was just a weakened NCC. USD is simply influenced alot by the SDSU factor. If a game against Wyoming isn't going to pull in a major draw than games against IUPUI, Oakland, UMKC, IPFW etc definately won't either. I personally don't understand why any fan or player would discount the Great West Conference regardless of it's overall strength. It's important to take pride in the here and now. If the Yotes can't do that, I wouldn't expect things to suddenly change next year. The USD fan base is old in it's following in my opinion and the Great West has not excited the base and I dont think the Summit will either minus SDSU and to a lesser extent NDSU. USD's goal should be to grow with the students we have right now and to invite the old timers to embrace the new endevors. Often times old timers are not real accepting of change. The current student may be the most influential when it comes to embrassing the Summit and teams like IUPUI. Since they don't have the history of the NCC like the old timers do they can be more easily influenced to the D1 direction of the program. USD is really missing the tweeners in my opinion. Those that are stuck between the new crop of student or those that graduated in the past 10 years and the old timers that are locals (including surrouding areas) that have been far removed from being an actual college student. I feel as if I am a tweener but many of my peers in demographic have moved out of Vermillion and likely don't come back to games or otherwise participate in Coyote Athletics. They are probably too busy watching the Hawkeyes or Cornhuskers to care. Maybe they haven't really connected or simply have identity issue when it comes to USD and what they are doing athletically.
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Post by Yote 53 on Feb 7, 2011 9:16:14 GMT -6
Thought on this thread:
Jordan Boots, IMO, is not a D1 level player. He would be a very good D2 or NAIA player. That said, I really appreciate the heart and hustle he shows on the court and for that reason I think he has earned his playing time and belongs on the court for the minutes that he has been getting.
The Summit would not be on anyone's radar if SDSU were not in that conference. The other members do nothing to get me excited about going to a game, I'll go to see the Coyotes anyways, but our opponent is not going to drive attendance unless their jersey says SDSU. I don't think NDSU will drive attendance, UND doesn't right now (for basketball, which is all that I am commenting on right now), why would NDSU drive attendance? Everyone here knows how I feel about the Summit vs our other conference choice so I'll just leave that topic alone other than to say the membership in that other conference, other than SDSU, are much more attractive.
I'm a "tweener" and I go to the games with my tweener friends and see other tweeners at the game. I can safely say the tweener attendance is much higher than the student attendance. There are a lot more tweeners that travel back to Verm for the game than you might think. The student attendance, while better this last game, still has a long ways to go. It needs to double in number, or more, and they need to be much more vocal. For those that do attend I think my favorite part are the stupid hats and costumes. It is just hilarious to see a 300 pound guy stuff himself into a basketball uni from the 80's that is three sizes to small. It was like a cross between Halloween and Mardi Gras the last game and I loved it. I'm glad those students are having fun with this and hope the rest of the student population that isn't there realizes the fun they are missing out on.
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Post by yotemeal on Feb 7, 2011 10:12:48 GMT -6
There are 345 Division-I men's basketball programs. The Great West is home to 3 of the 9 worst teams in the country. Centenary happens to be the worst team in the nation, but they're gone from the Summit and Division-I after this season. Comparing Chicago State/NJIT/UTPA/Houston Baptist to Oakland/SDSU/NDSU/Oral Roberts/IUPUI is comparing apples to oranges. By any measure, the Summit League is better, and it's not even close. www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc1011.htmPerhaps we should be looking ahead, because right now we're a mediocre team in one of the worst conferences in the country. We'll need to step up our game if we expect to compete in the Summit. As to fan base response to Summit opponents, I sure hope USD fans show up. South Dakotans are a stubborn bunch, but it defies logic that someone willing, ten years ago, to make a trip to Vermillion to watch USD play Mankato wouldn't next year travel to see USD play a team like Oakland, Oral Roberts or IUPUI. If you can't appreciate the dramatic increase in talent there, I'm not sure what to tell you. There's no doubt that the athletic dept. will need to do its job in appropriately marketing these angles, but I think their job gets a lot easier when they're not having to constantly promote home games against teams with 3-18 records.
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usdlaw
Senior Member
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Post by usdlaw on Feb 7, 2011 10:45:19 GMT -6
Nobody is happy about the loss, but the sky is not falling. This is a young team. Young team = inconsistent play. UND is MUCH improved, and deserves some credit for coming into our house and playing well.
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coachk
Freshman Member
Posts: 22
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Post by coachk on Feb 7, 2011 11:22:33 GMT -6
Coach Boots looked like he has no answer to the teams loss in the post game press conference; www.youtube.com/user/SouthDakotaSID?feature=mhum#p/c/0/aNpX6eufgKIThis was the first time in a long time he has looked like he has been resigned to the team being mediocre. He looked as if there is nothing we can do to get better & it is what it is. He needs to rally the troops even if our shooting is off. The players can always put out effort & play tough D even if the shots aren't falling. Right now only two or three players play with emotion; Ricardo & Kendall. Everyone needs to play hard on the defensive end, or he needs to find somebody on the bench that will give the kind of defensive effort we need. We can not continue to play the shooters in the hope that they will eventually get hot.
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Post by Yote 53 on Feb 7, 2011 12:09:11 GMT -6
Yotememal, I see and recognize the talent difference. Just that with schools like Minnesota St we had history that helped drive attendance. Some of these schools in the Summit might as well be from a foreign country. If I wasn't a frequenter of this board or followed this level of basketball I wouldn't know who half of them were or ever heard of them. I just described most Coyote followers as well as the student population. They have no clue about these schools so I wouldn't expect them to get very excited about them. It will take time to build those relationships and educate the public on why they should be excited for Indiana University/Purdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI) or Indiana University/Purdue University of Fort Wayne (IPFW).
As for today's team, we have a long way to go if we are going to compete in the Summit. We are, right now, an average team in what could be the worst conference in D1 basketball.
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Post by yotemeal on Feb 7, 2011 13:11:00 GMT -6
Yotememal, I see and recognize the talent difference. Just that with schools like Minnesota St we had history that helped drive attendance. Some of these schools in the Summit might as well be from a foreign country. If I wasn't a frequenter of this board or followed this level of basketball I wouldn't know who half of them were or ever heard of them. I just described most Coyote followers as well as the student population. They have no clue about these schools so I wouldn't expect them to get very excited about them. It will take time to build those relationships and educate the public on why they should be excited for Indiana University/Purdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI) or Indiana University/Purdue University of Fort Wayne (IPFW). As for today's team, we have a long way to go if we are going to compete in the Summit. We are, right now, an average team in what could be the worst conference in D1 basketball. Absolutely. It will take some time to build familiarity, but I'm hopeful having SDSU and NDSU in the conference will accelerate that process and build excitement (not just from head-to-head games, but also by way of having a conference schedule filled with common opponents of a higher caliber). I don't know anyone that expected the GWC to serve as a long-term arrangement. Accordingly, emotional investment has been difficult to come by. While we may not be in the Summit forever, it will be our home for the foreseeable future, and I think that's a pretty nice foundation to build upon.
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Post by yotemeal on Feb 7, 2011 13:27:50 GMT -6
I would also add that having SDSU and NDSU already in the Summit has exposed our fan base not only to the teams, but also to the prospect of advancing to the NCAA tournament. That should help.
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Post by littleyote on Feb 7, 2011 14:03:25 GMT -6
coachk Not that it matters but I agree 100% with your post above. I would also add Gruis and Tecker to the list of players that show some desire to play and win. I wished this team could realize the talent that they have among them and learn to play with heart. My guess is that if they played with more enthusiasm and enjoyed themselves the crowd would become more involved also, as the crowd gets more involved it feeds back to the players again and fun is had by all, as well as USD making some coin as the crowd numbers increase.
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Post by Iceman on Feb 7, 2011 23:59:34 GMT -6
Nobody is happy about the loss, but the sky is not falling. This is a young team. Young team = inconsistent play. UND is MUCH improved, and deserves some credit for coming into our house and playing well. Uh oh! I can't believe some of the people haven't went nuts on you for saying they are a young team. USDlaw, I agree 100% that they are a young team. Another thing, some people get on here and say that these guys aren't trying? Come on man! Sometimes they may not look like they are trying, but I am guessing they probably are. Things were not going their way Saturday. These guys are coming along and have hit a few rocky games. Why does everyone throw a fit for Jordan playing? He has come a long way so far and its not like he plays the majority of the time. He gets a few minutes now and then and doesn't hurt anything.
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