The Media’s Perspective

[PointGuard]

[Fourth page of Sports Section]

Bedard Gives Verbal Commitment

Following what appeared to be a quiet summer for the men’s basketball program at North Dakota State, the Athletic Department announced today that they have a verbal commitment from Fargo’s North High School PG Jared Bernard.

The 6’4” Bernard, who will graduate this coming June, was the leader of his North High School team last season as a junior. His coach, Merle Trask, said, “I expect Jared to be a force for us this coming season. I’m very happy that he has decided to attend North Dakota State after he graduates. That means I'll get to see some of his games. He has exceptional ball handling and passing skills as well as a sweet outside shot.”

This summer, Bernard was a Top 25 player at the Houston Classic summer camp.

Tad Bolton, North Dakota State’s new head coach, said, “We were impressed after seeing game films of Jared, but when we saw him in action at the Houston Classic, we knew he could be a big help to our team. His height gives him some extra advantage at the point guard position as well. But he’s a good scorer, so can also play at the shooting guard position for us. Jared comes to us with experience in the 1-2-2 zone which will be one our primary defenses.”

When asked about the Bison’s progress on filling the remaining two scholarships that the team will have, Bolton indicated they are focusing on picking up another guard and a big man.

[Wayne23]

PG, on a side note. I can never remember. If I buy the Gold International Scouting report, does that include Gold National, or am I buying ONLY foreign?

[PointGuard]

PG, on a side note. I can never remember. If I buy the Gold International Scouting report, does that include Gold National, or am I buying ONLY foreign?

LMAO...you're asking the wrong guy. I coach at colleges with such a low budget to not only NOT be able to buy the int'l gold reports, but any of the gold reports (so like William Jennings Bryan, I've been against the "gold" standard for years ).

But my assumption is that if you buy the gold int'l report you are just getting info on the int'l recruits only and not the ones in the U.S.

[Wayne23]

hmmph!

[PointGuard]

With the beginning of the 2015-2016 season right around the corner,, it's time for a preview of the Bison basketball team.

The team opens the season with two road games at New Orleans and North Florida before playing their home opener on November 21 against Creighton. They will finish November by playing Rice and Dartmouth on the road. Then they open December with two home games versus Wisconsin-Green Bay and Boston College. Game against Presbyterian, Lehigh, Pacific and Cal State Bakersfield finish their pre-conference schedule.

Coach Tad Bolton said he felt fall practice went very well and that the team worked hard to get ready for the upcoming season. Bolton said, “Our team looks to be very strong and deep at the shooting guard position. Seniors Colin Shannon and Matt Haywood will likely anchor the team . And while we’re not deep interiorly, the core of the front line is strong.”

When asked about his starting lineup, Bolton commented, “We’re still finalizing that, but at this point I’m leaning on moving Colin from shooting guard, where he performed well last season to point guard. I think his experience and ability as well as his outside shooting will help solidify the team. That also will allow senior Kevin Brinker to take over as the starting shooting guard. But freshman Kelsey Brown has been impressive in practice and may challenge at the 2. David Miller and Cliff Evans give us depth at the 1.”

Bolton added, “Brandon Tracy looks to have the edge over Michael Daniels at the small forward position thus far. Of course Matt Haywood will be back to start at center. James Hall will begin the year as our starting power forward with Jaron Dickerson backing up both Haywood and Hall. Evan Williams will also get substantial minutes up front for us.”

Bolton advised that they are redshirting SF Kevin Gordon and PG James Winter this season.

[PointGuard]

[Second page of sports section]

Bison Struggle in First Game

The North Dakota State Bison basketball schedule got underway last night in Louisiana where they took on the New Orleans Privateers in their first game coached by Tad Bolton.

The early going of this contest was sort of like grinding sausage. Messy but effective. And the Bison ground out a 10-4 lead but it took them 6 painstaking minutes to do so as both teams looked uncomfortable on the court. As if in a heavyweight prizefight, though, the Privateers slugged back, and with 8:23 remaining in the first half, forged into their first lead at 16-15. From there on, a combination of poor shooting by the Bison plus the refs acting as the 6th, 7th, and 8th players for the Privateers, led to a fall by the Bison into a deep 44-25 halftime hole. The only Bison to distinguish himself in the first half was SG Kevin Brinker who scored 8 while handing out 3 assists. Halfway through the game, 6 of the Bison players were in foul trouble with two of those dogged with 3 fouls each.

Throughout much of the 2nd half, the Privateers maintained their big lead, but late in the game, the Bison made a run, cutting the lead to 10 points with 3:11 to go. But that was as close as they were to get, losing the first game under the direction of their new coach Tad Bolton by a score of 77-64.

The new coaching staff will have to figure out how to overcome such deficiencies as a 30-16 rebounding disadvantage, allowing an opponent to hit 61% of their shots, and being called for 25 fouls. Offensively, SG Kevin Brinker finished with 14 points and SF Brandon Tracy added 10 while reserve PF/C Jaron Dickerson scored 9. New Orleans was led by SF Sam Lane’s 17 points while PF D.J. Benton pulled down 10 rebounds.

Interviewed after the game, Bolton said, “I’m not worried about our defense. Early in the game the Pelicans were hitting about 40% of their shots. But when the refs began whistling us repeatedly, not only did our players get into foul trouble, but they had to play looser defensively and New Orleans took advantage of that. It also contributed to us being less aggressive on the boards. I was pleased that our guys never gave up and made that late run.”

The Bison will take their 0-1 record next to Jacksonville, Florida where they will take on the North Florida Osprey.

[PointGuard]

I caught up with North Dakota State’s lone basketball recruit thus far this season. Jared Bedard was surprisingly talkative. It seems that initially he had every intention of getting away from home so he could be out on his own. Bedard told me, “I was looking at several different schools and pretty much wrote off North Dakota State. Certainly the University of North Dakota showed a lot of interest. And I sort of wanted to get to a Big 10 team. There were a lot of talks with Wisconsin and Iowa. As the summer ended I really was leaning toward the Badgers. Both Coach Bolton and Jones from ND State kept trying to contact me. I had been putting them off all summer, but finally I decided to listen to what Coach Bolton had to say. I was impressed by how he gives his players a lot of independence outside of practices and games. In addition, Coach B wasn’t concerned when I admitted I’d gotten into some scrapes. Nothing serious of course. But he just said to put that behind me. Then I agreed to a campus visit which wasn’t tough since the school is only a couple miles from my home. I’d seen the campus before, but got a much better look and really liked what I saw and experienced. And the players on the team were very open with me. Of course, I knew Kelsey Brown and had played against him a lot since he was just a year ahead of me at South High while I was going to North HS here in Fargo. I’ve always liked how he plays and we hit if off during my visit. Then later, Coach Bedard made a couple home visits, and I was impressed with what he had to say, particularly that he figured I’d get a lot of playing time. So were my parents. So ultimately, it was easy for me to say yes when he offered a scholarship. I’m looking forward to teaming up with Kelsey (Brown) and the rest of the team next season.”

While it may take a year of maturing for Bedard to be a force on the Bison team, he very well could content for a starting job next season. Last season as a senior at North High Schoo, he averaged 15.6 ppg, 5.1 apg, 4.2 rpg, 3.8 spg, and 0.4 bpg. Coach Bolton has repeatedly said that they were very impressed by the way he handles the ball and his uncanny passing ability. His 6-4 height should be an plus, particularly since he is swift afoot and has quick hands.

The Bison still have two unfilled scholarships. When I mentioned that, Bedard replied, “I sure hope they get some strong players, because I want to play on a team that does some damage in the NCAA Tournament.”

[PointGuard]

Thanks for tuning in tonight, Bison fans. We’re coming to you from Jacksonville, Florida where the Bison will go up against the North Florida Osprey. The Osprey are 1-1, whipping South Dakota by a score of 97-83 before losing at Eastern Washington 84-65. The Bison bring in an 0-1 record following their loss at New Orleans earlier this week.

The Osprey have 4 players averaging in double figures, led by David Rude’s 19 ppg. Their primary offense is the 5-out while they have primarily man-to-man coverage on defense.

Coach Bolton is starting the same lineup as in the Bison’s first game with 6-2 senior Colin Shannon at the point, 6-6 Kevin Brinker at the other guard position, 6-7 sophomore Brandon Tracy at small forward, 6-6 junior James Hall at power forward, and 6-9 senior Matt Haywood at center.

**********
Brinker steals the ball and fires it up court to Shannon who drives to the bucket and slams it home to put the Bison on top 7-2. NDSU continues their aggressive play.
**********
James Hall hits a baseline jumper to score his 6th point and give the Bison’s a 20-11 lead with 9-1/2 minutes left in the half.
**********
Roger’s pass goes awry and Hall picks it off and rives the length of the court for a slam dunk putting North Dakota state ahead 22-11.
**********
Bolton storms off the bench as the refs tag Colin Shannon with a foul. That’s the 8th team foul.
**********
North Florida’s run continues as they jam home a shot to cut the Bison lead to 25-23.
**********
The teams head to the locker room. The Bison lead 28-26. PF James Hall is the leading scorer for North Dakota State with 9 points.
**********
Hall is called for his 3rd foul less than 4 minutes into the 2nd half. He goes to the bench with 11 points.
**********
Brinker cuts to his left, then turns to put up a shot over his defender. The ball slips silently through the net to make it 39-26 in favor of North Dakota State. Brinker now has 13 points.
**********
The Bison continue their pressure defense. With both of North Florida’s point guards suffereing from injuries, their effectiveness is limited.
**********
North Florida scores their 6th straight point narrowing the Bison lead to 49-38. Bolton calls a time out with 7:52 to play to settle his guys. Following the time out, **********
Shannon takes the inbound pass, he cuts around a screen set by Tracy and puts up a jumper. Bison up their lead to 13.
**********
The Osprey are forced to foul. Evans hits the first and misses the second to make 57-48 with 44 seconds left.
**********
The buzzer sounds and North Dakota State has its first victory of the season. The final score is 59-50. Three Bison players were in double figures. SG Kevin Brinker led their scoring with 15. PF James Hall scored 13 and C Matt Haywood added 10.
**********

PT: Fans, I have Bison head coach Tad Bolton with me. Coach, great game! What was the difference?

TB: Our guys played well together tonight. I think the biggest difference between the two teams tonight was that we were something like +13 in rebounds. Our ability to control the boards kept the Osprey from getting in sync offensively. The Osprey were limited at the point with their two top point guards playing with injuries. We kept the pressure on them which forced a total of 17 turnovers. On the negative side, we were sloppy with the ball and had 17 turnovers ourselves, so that’s something we need to work on. James Hall played a particularly strong game tonight, scoring 15, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and defensively getting 2 steals and a block while totally dominating his man defensively.

PT: Now you finally get a home game against Creighton this Monday.

TB: Yes, always good to play at home, but Creighton will be tough.

PT: I’ll let you get to the locker room now. Thanks for the interview.

[PointGuard]

Bison Top Creighton in OT

North Dakota State’s basketball team played their first home game this season, taking on the Creighton Blue Jays as Sheels Arena to a host of empty seats.

The Bison fell behind 9-2 early as Creighton’s C Josh Stoudamire took control. But NDSU tied it at 17-17 on James Hall fall away jumper with 12:14 to play. On their next possession they took the lead on Brandon Tracy’s long 3. Even though Stoudamire was uncontrollable, finishing the half with 15 points, the Bison play solid ball and hit 63% of their shots to take a 46-42 lead to the locker room. PF Evan Williams came off the bench to lead their scoring with 9 points.

Creighton tied the score 50 seconds into the 2nd half and took a 49-48 lead less than a minute later. Creighton then built a 59-51 lead with 15-1/2 minutes to play. The Bison stayed close but couldn’t get a lead. With 1:42 left they trailed 81-78. After calling a time out, Colin Shannon hit a 3 to tie the game with a minute remaining. Shannon was called for a touch foul and Creighton sunk both free throws. Brandon Tracy was fouled and hit both of his free throws to tie it again with 42 seconds to go. The Blue Jays got the ball inside to Stoudamire who knocked down a 5 footer for his 31st point and a 2 point Creighton lead. With 17 seconds on the clock, James Hall put up a jumper which didn’t drop but he was fouled on the shot. He calmly dropped in both shots and again the game was tied with 17 seconds remaining. Needing a stop, NDSU played tough defense so that Creighton was forced to put up a last second shot that went off the rim taking the game to overtime.

Both teams scored on their first 2 possessions, but then Creighton fouled on the next two possessions by the Bisons resulting in 4 straight points on free throws giving the Bison a 94-90 lead with 2:30 left in OT. The Bison offense kept things going by dropping in 2 field goals, 2 free throws, and a 3 on their next 4 possessions giving NDSU a 103-90 advantage. A late 3 by Creighton made the final score 103-93 for a big win by the Bison.

PG Colin Shannon led the Bison scoring with 23 points. PF Evan William was big coming off the bench, knocking down 19 points. SG Kevin Brinker and SF Brandon Tracy both scored 17. For Creighton, C Josh Stoudamire had a game-high 33 points. SG Sheridan Rose added 19 points.

The Bison’s record now stands as 2-1 as they head back onto the road for games against Rice and Dartmouth.

[PointGuard]

Since I have family in Houston, I decided that this was a good time to go visit them and while there, take in the Bison game against the Rice Owls. That way they at least had one fan at the game.

Whlle NDSU garnered an 8-4 lead, the first 8 minutes of play was plain ugly. Poor shooting and lots of turnovers by both teams. But the Bison continued to turn the ball over, finishing the half with 13 turnovers. That allowed the Owls to pull ahead and build a 29-26 halftime advantage. Five Bison players got into foul trouble in the first half.

The game remained close in the early going of the 2nd half, but midway through the half, the Bisons ran out of gas and Rice pulled steadily away to win with ease 66-51. While the Bison controlled the boards 34-24, they made 22 turnovers and hit just 39% of their shots. This contrasted with Rice hitting 54% of their FG attempts. SG Kevin Brinker was the only players on NDSU to score in double figures with 10 points plus he had 4 assists and 8 rebounds. PG Tahj Gibbs scored 17 points for Rice. The loss dropped North Dakota State’s record to 2-2.