2013-14 State Tourney

[packers21]

Thoughts from the state tournament:

1. GF is NOT the place for the state B.
2. I felt so bad for the New Town kids the first game, ridiculous.
3. Amazing games
4. Thought the coverage in Fridays paper was very good, Saturday not so much.
5. Concession prices^^^?! Are you kidding me? Wow
6. One of the worst books for the State tournament ever, no records page etc...
7. Scoreboard placement (I thought they had a big drop down board the last time)
8. CK and BH put on a show in the title game, very impressed.
9. If it's a foul in the 1st quarter it should be a foul in the 4th quarter.
10. The lights were on for the starting lineups in the championship game, why?
11. GF should have taken a page out of what Fargo did last year for the girls (put the crowd "on top" of the floor, the NDHSAA people do not need their own special section behind the table, sorry)
12. If the NDHSAA is going to come out with new "rules", enforce them. The no mega-phone, no running around the court, having to "stand above a seat for each person" was not enforced, and it's pretty bad when Sherm had to come and tell a student section that they can't run around the floor, IMO that looked really bad for the AD of that school.

Might seem like a lot of complaining, but I didn't feel like it was the best run tournament, and I completely disagree with the State Tournament taking place in Grand Forks.

Agree with all of this, forks is a hockey town. With the season switching back to boys being later they should just rotate the tournament in Bismarck and Minot where it belongs. I know it wont happen, but those 2 towns do the best job with it.

[knowledge]

I agree with much of what you said. The Alerus and Dome need to put the seats closer to the floor. As for switching back and forth. If it stays in any location, it's Bismarck and Bismarck alone. If you are going to include Minot, then the east needs it too. The Minot Dome is a fine place, but it is more about location than facility.

[d_fense]

I agree with much of what you said. The Alerus and Dome need to put the seats closer to the floor. As for switching back and forth. If it stays in any location, it's Bismarck and Bismarck alone. If you are going to include Minot, then the east needs it too. The Minot Dome is a fine place, but it is more about location than facility.

I disagree with you. Bismarck is the best place to hold the B, but Minot does a very good job too. The "East" does not deserve a chance to host the B, anytime in the foreseeable future. The east does not have a venue that even does a half a$$ job of putting on the event. And to be frank, Fargo doesn't care about class B basketball. I live in the east and would gladly drive 3 or 4 hours to watch the B in a venue and community that cares about it.

[ndclassbb]

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[ndlionsfan]

I've heard a lot of complaining about the refs in the final game against rugby, but in my opinion rugby should've been playing for 5th with the calls they received at the end of the first game. Be happy they could play in the championship. Rugby did not shoot well all tournament and that was their main downfall. Plus they casted up nearly 20 more threes than any other team and attempted more threes than free throws for the entire tournament. Not a recipe for success in my book.

[gotgame43]

1.I think if a city is going to host something of this magnitude you should at least have enough hotels for everyone that wants to come. After watching the tourney there was so many empty seats but when I called for rooms a couple weeks prior there wasn't a room to be had. I was an outsider with no ties to anyone in the tourney but wanted to go enjoy it with my family but was certainly not going to drive back to fargo everyday for a hotel room. I doubt I was the only one. - Lost revenue.
2.I watched the entire championship game and didn't think the reffing was that biased. There is one ref that doesn't belong on a jr high floor but his partners carried him. Again, I had no ties to these teams and IMO the calls I witnessed were legitimate but they did miss some on both ends I thought, because they got lazy. If there is anyone to blame for Rugby's loss, it's Carter Kretchman.
3. It was a very amateur run tourney which is inexcusable.
4. From what I remember, Oak Grove is still a Christian School, right? I'm not sure why we should hold them to a higher standard maybe we shouldn't but their student section seems to feed off of their head coaches behavior, with all of his fist pumping and bicep flexing, that surprised me a lot. I would expect that behavior to come from a rookie coach in his first BIG game, not a 60 year old veteran who has won a lot of BIG games. From what I witnessed at the Regional championship game, I was just waiting for him to rip his shirt of and ab flex for us.

[ndclassbb]

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[The Schwab]

Number 4 for gotgame literally made me LOL. And please remember everyone that "Over the Back" is not a foul.

[north1]

I know several of the rugby players and I felt for them when the final buzzer rang. I know what it is like to lose in the championship game(84 and 85). But I also know what it is like to win (86). With the players they have coming back they can certainly do it next year. It truly is a very hard task to accomplish no matter how good you are perceived to be. I think a loss in the regular season would have been the best thing for them. Helps plant that seed of doubt in your mind that you are not invinceable. I realize this is doesn't help swage the loss for the seniors, but I was always taught you learn much more in life lessons from a loss than a win.

As far as the perceived reffing inequities, they Always happen, have Always happened and will Always happen. Refs are human. I saw nothing tilted towards a particular team, just mistakes. A couple of the players from Rugby that fouled out have done so multiple times this year. Have watched a lot of their games, and they play very aggressive and this tends to be a result of that play. That is what took them to the championship game and made them so fun to watch. I am sure other teams and their fans felt they were on the short end of the stick as far as calls go, but to say that a particular team was singled out- I'm sorry, but I just didn't see it.

[Sportsrube]

I have commented on this before, but the Alerus and the Fargodome are the absolute 2 worst venues to hold a BB tournament of any kind. That being said, I think they ran the State B boys as well as they possibly could with what they had to work with. (You can polish a turd all you want, but what you end up with is a shiny turd.) To me the blame for this lies with the NDHSAA. They are more worried about keeping the east "happy" than they are with putting on the best tournament possible.
As far as the reffing - they are always looking for more officials, take the test, buy the uniform and start signing up for games instead of complaining about it.

[classB4ever]

I have commented on this before, but the Alerus and the Fargodome are the absolute 2 worst venues to hold a BB tournament of any kind. That being said, I think they ran the State B boys as well as they possibly could with what they had to work with. (You can polish a turd all you want, but what you end up with is a shiny turd.) To me the blame for this lies with the NDHSAA. They are more worried about keeping the east "happy" than they are with putting on the best tournament possible.
As far as the reffing - they are always looking for more officials, take the test, buy the uniform and start signing up for games instead of complaining about it.

No disrespect, but I find it slightly hypocritical that you criticize the NDHSAA in one statement, but then tell others they shouldn't be criticizing officials.
Refs get paid to do a job. They know what's in store for them. They are going to get criticized. Sometimes emotions lend a lot to this criticism. But a fan has every right to criticize without this "take the test and you do it statement." Suppose we are not allowed to criticize our public officials unless we run for office?

[NoDakinSouth]

Very exciting tournament with many close games. Alerus center not the best place for a tourney, but nice if a person had rooms at canad inn and could just walk to game. Speaking of that, only in our great state of North Dakota could you frequent a couple bars, then walk down the hall to the gun show, THEN walk further down the hall to watch a high school state tournament. Priceless.

The Class B Tournament should be in Ralph Engelstad Arena. By far the nicest arena in ND. When the Boys 'B' returns to the later date, the REA should be open as neither the men's or women's hockey teams would be home and the NCAA's start for basketball. If the REA hosted, the state could see what a fine tournament Grand Forks can put on. Minot, Fargo, and Bismarck would pale in comparison. Domes in Grand Forks and Fargo are meant for football and concerts.

One of the reasons that more hotel rooms weren't open is the UND hosted Western Michigan in hockey Friday and Saturday. Nearly 20,000 attended Saturdays events, and that's not including state swimming at UND.

[Flip]

I wonder if there are any plans to host the tournament in the SHAC.

[woodchuck10]

Very exciting tournament with many close games. Alerus center not the best place for a tourney, but nice if a person had rooms at canad inn and could just walk to game. Speaking of that, only in our great state of North Dakota could you frequent a couple bars, then walk down the hall to the gun show, THEN walk further down the hall to watch a high school state tournament. Priceless.

The Class B Tournament should be in Ralph Engelstad Arena. By far the nicest arena in ND. When the Boys 'B' returns to the later date, the REA should be open as neither the men's or women's hockey teams would be home and the NCAA's start for basketball. If the REA hosted, the state could see what a fine tournament Grand Forks can put on. Minot, Fargo, and Bismarck would pale in comparison. Domes in Grand Forks and Fargo are meant for football and concerts.

One of the reasons that more hotel rooms weren't open is the UND hosted Western Michigan in hockey Friday and Saturday. Nearly 20,000 attended Saturdays events, and that's not including state swimming at UND.

State at the Ralph would be awesome! Not one bad seat in that building. If they did "The B" half as good as a hockey game it'd be quite a show.

[Indy5]

1.I think if a city is going to host something of this magnitude you should at least have enough hotels for everyone that wants to come. After watching the tourney there was so many empty seats but when I called for rooms a couple weeks prior there wasn't a room to be had. I was an outsider with no ties to anyone in the tourney but wanted to go enjoy it with my family but was certainly not going to drive back to fargo everyday for a hotel room. I doubt I was the only one. - Lost revenue.
2.

I don't think you looked very hard. I got one two days before I went.

[Run4Fun2009]

1.I think if a city is going to host something of this magnitude you should at least have enough hotels for everyone that wants to come. After watching the tourney there was so many empty seats but when I called for rooms a couple weeks prior there wasn't a room to be had. I was an outsider with no ties to anyone in the tourney but wanted to go enjoy it with my family but was certainly not going to drive back to fargo everyday for a hotel room. I doubt I was the only one. - Lost revenue.
2.

I don't think you looked very hard. I got one two days before I went.

The NDHSAA didn't do any favors by hosting State Swimming the same weekend...but you had people from Cavalier & Oak Grove who traveled each day and didn't spend the $$ for a hotel room.

[justplayalready]

Absolute total lack of class by the Oak Grove student section. Running around the court trying to start the wave while Rugby player shooting free throws. Finally Schillingof the High School Association stopped them. Pitiful.

After watching the A I observed the student sections are quite a bit more obnoxious than at the B. Im guessing this is a product of the environment. The privates will bring this to the B. We are seeing loud cheers when the opponent has the ball. That has really came on the last few years. At the A I saw a lot of organized cheers when the opponent shot free throws and of course the airball chants. These have been taboo at the B. I m guesing the privates will try to bring some of this to B and well see if it gets picked up by the other schools. Again we are done having students on the court behind the baskets thanks to the A schools.

[Run4Fun2009]

Absolute total lack of class by the Oak Grove student section. Running around the court trying to start the wave while Rugby player shooting free throws. Finally Schillingof the High School Association stopped them. Pitiful.

After watching the A I observed the student sections are quite a bit more obnoxious than at the B. Im guessing this is a product of the environment. The privates will bring this to the B. We are seeing loud cheers when the opponent has the ball. That has really came on the last few years. At the A I saw a lot of organized cheers when the opponent shot free throws and of course the airball chants. These have been taboo at the B. I m guesing the privates will try to bring some of this to B and well see if it gets picked up by the other schools. Again we are done having students on the court behind the baskets thanks to the A schools.

Why do you state that the "Privates" will change all this? This change in involvement in the game has been going on for years in Region 1 (also other Regions). Student sections are becoming more vocal during the game.

The running around the court was a negative at the State B...had it been during a Timeout and to set up the wave...different story. The timing of it was not good and the students who were involved got scolded...that is done and over with; that one scenario didn't affect the game.

[justplayalready]

I think their fan base is more likely to see in person a class A or college game where this type of cheering is the norm and accepted as the norm...
For whatever reason, the bcp`s start it (and its imitated by the bigs) are the student sections bringing this type of cheering to the b. Minot and Dickinson in 2011 come to mind. Those schools student sections are ahead of the curve.
I am just wondering if disruptive cheering during free throws is what we will start to see as the norm in afew years?

[justplayalready]

They are also ahead of the curve in the positive cheering also...fargo was doing some new stuff cheer wise at the b. Rugby picked up on some of it...imitation flattery?????

[Indy5]

I don't see why yelling during free throws is frowned upon. I saw a graphic last year that said NBA players actually shoot free throws at a slightly higher percentage on the road when people are yelling at them.

[The Schwab]

I don't see why yelling during free throws is frowned upon. I saw a graphic last year that said NBA players actually shoot free throws at a slightly higher percentage on the road when people are yelling at them.

Because they are high school kids not pro athletes, it's a thing called sportsmanship which is being lost. What makes me sick is you have people who should be in charge of these student sections and making them follow the rules (not just sportsmanship, but actual rules) and they don't have enough guts to tell a group of high school kids to knock it off.

[ndlionsfan]

I don't think its a big deal that the other team's fans yell or anything during free throws. To me it doesn't show bad sportsmanship. It's part of the game. I don't know when it became such a big deal either. I know 15 years ago there was no problem with it. The only thing I can see that is bad sportsmanship is if opposing fans are yelling derogatory things at specific players. That is uncalled for. But just making noise, waving hands and signs, collective cheers, etc. is no big deal to me.

[End90]

I agree with ndlionsfan. I thought the loud cheering student sections at the Class A tournament made it electric and increased the intensity. It was fun. People this isn't golf, the crowd does not need to be quiet during shots. We should appreciate the creativity and exuberance these student sections bring. However, I do believe that there is a line of poor sportsmanship, but there are very few instances where that line is crossed.

[Bison-Vikes #1]

I agree with ndlionsfan. I thought the loud cheering student sections at the Class A tournament made it electric and increased the intensity. It was fun. People this isn't golf, the crowd does not need to be quiet during shots. We should appreciate the creativity and exuberance these student sections bring. However, I do believe that there is a line of poor sportsmanship, but there are very few instances where that line is crossed.

You apparently have never watched a tournament with the world's greatest golfer, Happy Gilmore in it.