This Season May Be Over, But The Future Couldn’t Be Brighter

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

The Bison’s season ended tonight as they fell 86-76 to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Seattle. However, that is not the story in the slightest. Can you believe what we just did tonight? We just dropped 76 on a top 10 team. Big Dex Werner… all 6’6″ of him… was the best big man on a court that had a 7’1″ Goliath and the 6’10” son of an NBA legend. True Freshman Paul Miller went from looking scared out of his mind to be on the big stage to draining shots in the faces of guys touted as all conference, all american types. This game was amazing. Everyone stepped up. Everyone contributed. I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of the guys. Not this season. Not this game. Never. I’ll try to have more in depth thoughts on the game itself later (maybe tomorrow) and on what comes next for Bison basketball, but for now I just have a few thoughts on this stellar night to end this spectacular surprise of a season.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

First and foremost, everyone got involved. Sure some guys were bigger than others, but all 7 of our key guys had a major impact on this game for stretches. To open the night off AJ, LA, and Kory all drained threes and told Gonzaga we were here to play basketball, not just for the ride. Carlin carried the team for stretches early on, and Chris had exactly the kind of calming veteran performance we needed from him grabbing a board when we needed it, scoring down low when we needed it, or even coming up with that beautiful block during the first couple minutes.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

And this was an excellent coaching performance by Dave Richman as well. I personally loved the way he refused to call timeouts when his team seemed to be in danger, because he knew it would only give Gonzaga a chance to stabilize, and continue the beat down. Amazingly, the team with only 7 guys was often the aggressor in this game, pushing the pace, and completely wearing out Karnowski and Wiltjer. Somehow their stamina was garbage compared to ours, even when they got extended rest and basically no one on our team gets rest ever. I really think those decisions among others are what helped us pounce on Gonzaga like this. Richman kept them off balance and kept them unsettled all night long which is exactly what the Bison needed if they were going to steal this game.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

And Kory. Man, Kory. This guy has been giving up his body for this team all season long, and did so again tonight taking a hard foul, but coming up with the ball for his teammates, and draining both of his subsequent free throws. He was hitting threes, playing D… anything and everything we could ask from him.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

And Paul. Hoooly crap where did that come from? For a lot of the game Paul honestly looked scared to me. Not a surprise being a true freshman playing huge minutes in the NCAA Tournament. But somewhere in the second half a switch clicked over and he got mad. And I LIKE mad Paul. He is my new favorite Paul. Kid was money from that point on throwing in threes with reckless abandon, and ending the night with 13 points. But I think we all know the biggest story of the night.

(Photo Credit: Otto Greule, Getty Images)

Big. Freaking. Dex. The Human Bison. I never would have expected that performance in a million years. Don’t get me wrong. Dex is totally capable of 22 point nights (new career high by the way) but to do it against those monstrosities Gonzaga has? It was unreal!!! I couldn’t believe what I was watching! And they had absolutely no answer for him! He scored at will! The jump was falling, his right hand was on fire, the post moves were firing on all cylinders… Big Dex just played the best game of basketball of his entire life. Getting a chance to watch that stellar performance was worth the price of admission and then-some. As if I weren’t glad enough that the Bison made the Big Dance, the fact that that meant I got to see THAT performance? Unreal. Couldn’t be happier. But let’s not forget the guy who made all this possible.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Lawrence Alexander. LA. The man, the myth, the Legend. Lawrence did everything for this team this year. EVERYTHING. Look at how far they’ve come. Remember those games against Iowa and Texas where the young, rebuilding Bison were blasted off the court? LA is the reason that team didn’t roll over and quit. LA taught this brand new team to win. LA dragged this team with him to the NCAA Tournament so he wouldn’t have to say his final goodbye until he had given everyone in the Bison Nation something they can never repay him for. Watching his journey and this season in particular as been an overwhelming experience. Lawrence Alexander is an amazing person. Not just a basketball player, and there is no way I can ever thank him for all the happiness he’s brought me in his short time with the Bison.

This isn’t really how I wanted LA’s career to end, but that’s only because I never wanted his career to end. Watching this guy take over this team this season has been spectacular. He couldn’t be a better person on and off the court, and I can’t wait to see him succeed wildly wherever life takes him next.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

And the game as a whole was a spectacular experience. The Bison never quit. It absolutely floors me how tough this particular group of guys is. Everything was stacked against them here. Bad calls, size, athletic ability, who cares because they certainly didn’t. Multiple times the Bison erased huge deficits to keep this thing a game, and should have sent outright fear through the Gonzaga faithful. We use a SEVEN. MAN. ROTATION. and dropped 76 on them. Our star forward is a 6’6″ kid from Bismark, North Dakota, and he scored 22 points against their mighty Two Towers. If it weren’t for those first half turnovers (Gonzaga got 25 points off turnovers compared to the Bison’s 4) and the fact that Pangos decided to step up EXACTLY when his team needed him in the biggest way possible (a performance I have immense respect for) the Bison would have taken this one down to the wire and that’s even WITH us having to give up the paint almost entirely to the Bulldogs. This game was in our grasp far more than the final score may indicate. Ultimately, we lost, but I don’t even care. What these guys did was extraordinary. Just like everything they’ve done this entire season. I can’t wait to see what they do next year, but for tonight… this is the only image I care about.

(Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Go Bison! And thank you Lawrence Alexander. You are one of a kind.

Let’s Dance: NDSU – Gonzaga NCAA Tournament Preview

The NCAA Tournament is finally here, and day one has already had a shocking abundance of upsets before we’ve even finished today’s slate of games. The Big 12 (consensus best conference in college basketball this year) went 0-3 with two of its 3 seeds (Baylor and Iowa State) losing to 14s (Georgia State and and UAB respectively) and UCLA (who shouldn’t even be in the Tournament) knocked off SMU. So, with one day of upsets already in the books (with possibly even more to come tonight) I figure its a perfect time to take a look at NDSU’s chances of following in their fellow Davids’ footsteps as they prepare for their own Goliath.

#MarkFewSwag

Admittedly, NDSU has a tougher task than any of the three upsets that have taken place thus far today. Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation and one of the few teams that has a chance at winning a national title. They should be a lock for the Elite 8 without Iowa State standing in their way, and if Duke has a poor shooting night they could easily wind up in the Final Four. So y’know… no big deal… we’re just trying to knock off a Final Four caliber team with an All-American  / Offensive Player of the Year Small Forward. BUT anything can happen. LA is the Chosen One, and Dave Richman can do no wrong. Right? Right. SO! What do we have to worry about tomorrow?

(Photo Credit: James Snook, USA Today Sports)

Well, first thing’s first… Kyle Wiltjer. I’ve seen Wiltjer up close and personal for quite a few games when he was at Kentucky, and he is every bit an elite scorer. He doesn’t use athleticism or quickness to score which should give NDSU confidence that they can stay in front of him and contest his shots. What he does do, however, is absolutely abuse defenders with spectacular touch, pure shooting ability, and a veritable cornucopia of sneaky old man YMCA scoring techniques. Seriously, that old man hook shot he has is absolutely beautiful. Plus, at Gonzaga Wiltjer is able to play the 3, rather than the 4 where Kentucky often had to put him because of his lack of athleticism. At the 3 he often has a significant size advantage over his defender which means he can get his shot off over his man with relative ease. This could be a real problem for the Bison because we lack size even in our front court. Kory Brown is our best rim protector and man defender so he likely will draw the Wiltjer assignment. I don’t think he’ll stop Wiltjer by any means, but hopefully he can do something to slow him down.

However, there’s good news with Wiltjer. The guy is a freaking human turn-style on defense. He’s slow as molasses and if it weren’t for his length he wouldn’t be able to stay on the court at all on defense. Hopefully the Bison can expose this for some easy buckets to stay in it and keep the game close long enough for a lucky late three to steal a game or something. Moreover, I haven’t seen Wiltjer in a couple years since he transferred to Gonzaga, but in his last year in Kentucky Coach Cal tried to run the offense through him which turned out to be a disaster. Wiltjer has every bit of talent necessary to carry an elite offense by himself, but he played scared constantly over that season, often refusing to shoot when he was open due to lack of confidence. SO if the Bison can somehow rattle him, whether its making him miss a couple shots or abusing his poor defense, maybe we can take him completely out of the game. However, even if we manage that task Gonzaga’s cupboards will be anything but empty.

Photo Credit: William Mancebo, Getty Images North America)

Next on the list of deadly threats for the Bulldogs is Senior Point Guard Kevin Pangos and his beautiful flowing locks. Pangos is an absolute rock for Gonzaga at the 1. Veteran guard who has been through the wars with this team and this coach. He’s seen upsets, he’s been in the tournament before, and is the picture perfect grizzled veteran. He’s an excellent distributor and get’s all his teammates involved, but he’s also the team’s second leading scoring. The guy is great, and I have a hard time imagining the Bison will be able to get into his head the way they might with Wiltjer. However, I have hope that Carlin’s supreme athleticism will allow him to eat Pangos up offensively. So again, it seems like the best strategy for the Bison will be to put the pressure on Gonzaga offensively and run with them (which as I type it sounds like a horrible idea… these guys are one of the most efficient and prolific offenses in the nation… but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do).

(Photo Credit: William Mancebo, Getty Images North America)

(Photo Credit: William Mancebo, Getty Images North America)

The only other problem with this strategy is that while Wiltjer and Pangos can be exposed defensively… Gonzaga isn’t exactly relying on them for defense… For that they have the twin Eastern European Leviathons of Przemek Karnowski (7’1″) and Domantas Sabonis (6’10”). Sabonis is the more athletic of the two, but both are superb rim protectors the likes of which NDSU has barely seen… and even when they HAVE seen it, it went horribly… (See:Longhorns, Texas). There is really no answer for the Bison against these two. Dexter and Chris will make some great plays from time to time in this game. I can promise you that. However, there’s no way we can hope to stop them all game long (Karnowski averages 11 points per game and Sabonis 9) and theres no way for the Bison to muscle their way past them indefinitely or anything like that… BUT there’s good news!! If the Bison are going to beat Gonzaga it will be through 1 strategy and 1 strategy alone… the Cinderella’s lifeblood, the 3 ball. Hopefully the Bison can neutralize these guys by not making the paint the backbone of their game. If the Bison come out shooting hot with AJ and LA lighting it up, things will open up inside for Carlin to penetrate to the rack and for Dex and Chris to work down low.

Image via NDSU Mens Basketball Twitter https://twitter.com/NDSUmbb/media

Image via NDSU Men’s Basketball Twitter https://twitter.com/ndsumbb

There is absolultely nothing about this game that will be easy. In addition to the guys I already highlighted you can’t forget swingman Byron Wesley and Gary Bell Jr. off the bench. With all those guys you have the makings of a truly terrifying offense. However, no matter how hard this matchup looks, we still get to go play the game. And I do mean get. Being in the NCAA Tournament is a priveledge. A wonderful privledge and one that we haev assuredly earned BUT the best part about being here is that everyone has a chance to win. Sure, Hampton got smashed by Kentucky today, but they were tied 9-9 to open the game! Everyone has a chance in just one game. If you ask NDSU to play Gonzaga in a 7 game series, we have no shot. However… one night… one game… with the likes of Lawrence Freaking Alexander on your team? Who knows?

Even a Bad Meal Keeps You From Starving: Bracket Selection Reaction

So before we get started I just want to say one more time that what this team has done this year has been shocking, exciting, and incredibly impressive. Even being in the Tournament with a first year head coach and the amount of roster turnover we had to deal with is outright stunning, and no matter what happens I cannot WAIT to see the Bison play on national TV this Friday.

Last year I couldn’t have been happier with the Bison’s placement in the bracket. The 12 seed is, for whatever reason, the most likely low seed to upset a single digit seed year in and year out, and NDSU earned themselves a coveted 12 seed. Moreover, their 5 seed, Oklahoma, was exceedingly beatable (which played out in the Tournament as you may recall). Follow that up with a matchup against a San Diego State team that struggled mightily to score (and therefore was beatable) and an Arizona team that was essentially just a better version of San Diego, but still offensively challenged. While the Bison only got to the Round of 32, you better believe I had talked myself into a Sweet 16 run before the Tournament tipped off.

 

This year, however, things aren’t quite as peachy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as exciting as fainting Spencer Eliason up there for this run, but my excitement is slightly tempered this time around. The main reason for that is simply that NDSU this year, although they put together an amazing season, isn’t as good as last year’s team. That’s on us. And just like Coach Richman said after NDSU knocked off SDSU to punch their ticket to the big dance, we’re going to be an underdog no matter who we play. We knew all that coming in. That’s fine. My first thinking, then, was 15 seed. NDSU was far too good to be a 16 seed, but with how deep the field was looking I had trouble figuring out who could hypothetically fall below NDSU to bump them up to a higher seed.

NDSU’s last trip to the Tournament as a 15 seed wasn’t all bad. Although the Bison fell to Kansas in the First Round, Ben Woodside made the game exciting, dropping 37 points on the Jayhawks. (Photo Credit: Ann Heisenfelt)

However, as Conference Tournament after Conference Tournament was decided, and the upsets began racking up I began to get excited. With every upset in a Conference Tournament (OVC, MEAC, MAC, Patriot, MAAC, Atlantic Sun, Northeast) NDSU slowwwly found themselves getting bumped up higher and higher in the seedings. Heck, Joe Lunardi even had NDSU predicted as high as a 14 seed playing in Columbus (which would have matched us up against either a beatable Notre Dame or a beatable Maryland as our 3 seeds) as recently as yesterday. This would have been golden. But the bracketing committee in their Indianapolis bunker had other ideas. In the end, NDSU wound up with a 15 seed, and while I feel there are some 14 seeds (Albany, Northeastern) and even a 13 seed (UC Irvine) who I feel should have been seeded below NDSU, at the end of the day we got the seed we earned relative to our performance on paper this season even if we were under-seeded relative to the competition around us. So I don’t feel justified complaining about any of that. Next year if we want to be higher than a 15 seed, we’ll have to beat a few more teams in our Non-Conference slate (which we will, so no worries there).

So, what kind of slate does that 15 seed earn us? Well… I’m gonna be honest… its not so great. Instead of being the 15 in Omaha to face a superior but imploding Kansas team, NDSU get’s Gonzaga.

Now, some of you may be thinking “What are you talking about? That’s great news! Clearly Basketball Blue-Blood Kansas would be a tougher out the perennial underachiever Gonzaga!” But to that I say slow your roll chief. Mark Few’s Gonzaga teams have undeniably underachieved over the years. However, you can’t underachieve unless you first convince people you’re good. Whether or not they’ve been clutch in the post-season, they have undeniably been the nation’s premier Mid-Major of the last 15 years. In fact, Mid-Major is honestly a bit of a misnomer with this team. Sure they play in a Mid Major conference, but they recruit and perform far outside of that categorization. This year’s crop of Bulldogs, for instance, features National Player of the Year candidate Kyle Wiltjer as the focal point of their offense, and after watching him play in person for the first 2 years of his college career at Kentucky, I can assure you NDSU has no-one who can guard Wiltjer. Kory Brown is going to do a great job hassling him all night long, but Wiltjer’s height will ultimately win out.

(Photo Credit: James Snook, USA Today Sports)

It’s not all bad though! I learned something else watching Wiltjer for 2 years! He can’t guard ANYONE!!! EVER!!! And I do mean anyone!!! Gonzaga will essentially be playing 4 on 5 defensively. Kyle is that bad. With Big Dex and Chris Kading showing a resurgence of late, I have full confidence that we could abuse Wiltjer’s defense at the 4. The only problem with this plan is that Gonzaga also knows about this weakness… so they have an insurance policy for Wiltjer’s defense…actually 2 of them…  6’10” Lithuania monstrosity Domantas Sabonis and 7’1″ Polish Crusher Przemek Karnowski. This is a pair of rim protectors the level of which NDSU hasn’t faced since the Iowa and Texas games to open the year… aaaaand those weren’t exactly super fun to watch… Domantas is just a freshman and has a ton of work left to do on his game so I have faith we will be able to do something to work him.

Sabonis has high level basketball pedigree as the son of USSR Olympian Arvydas Sabonis, and plenty of athleticism for his size, which I assure you is terrifying (Photo Credit: William Mancebo, Getty Images North America)

However, I’m terrified of Karnowski. I really don’t even know the first step in trying to stop that guy. I make jokes all the time about how Big Dex is like a human Bison, but good lord… what does that make Karnowski? A Woolly Mammoth? Just look at him…

(Photo Credit: William Mancebo, Getty Images North America)

So the front court will be a bit of a nightmare, but honestly? It has been all year long. We basically have 2 Power Forwards playing center and a Small Forward playing Power Forward. NDSU knows how to play Small Ball. We’ve been doing it all year, and you know what? It works. We’re in the Big Dance. We’re in the NCAA Tournament when teams with more impressive front courts like SDSU (Cody Larson) and IPFW (Steve Forbes) are not. Moreover, if NDSU is going to have any chance of winning this thing, its going to be through the Cinderella’s calling card… the 3 ball.

Gonzaga’s backcourt is stellar. Senior Guards Kevin Pangos and Byron Wesley are studs and Gary Bell Jr. off the bench is legitimately terrifying, but honestly? I have no problem going into battle against those guys with LA, Kory, Carlin, and Paul. Plus, add AJ into the mix shooting over his man who is invariably going to be slower than he is, and you have NDSU’s best recipe for success. Catch Lawrence and AJ on a great night when our big guys do just enough to keep us in it down low and NDSU could absolutely make a game of this thing. All I want is another chance, and really I’m just happy to be here.