Hoopster Picks

[north_border_eagles2106]

I think the hoopster was a little generous toward grafton giving them the third ranking in the state. They had 3 all district players last year in Kliniske, Olivarez and Schiller and now two of them are gone. North Border had 3 in Carpenter, Meyer and Chale. Mike Smith easily could've been one and is on the state players to watch honorable mention in the hoopster as well. Grafton lost in the first round of regionals last year and NB placed 3rd in state. DP isn't going to be an easy victory this year either so I think it'll be a three team race all year with those teams. It's going to end up with who gets hot at regionals between those three, rankings won't be a factor. NB and DP have post players in Nichols and Smith that can match up to Kliniske. I guess after all the complaining Grafton did about regionals being in the Betty now that they are in Grafton should help them a little but not much. One thing I dont like about them changing it to Grafton is that in 2005, the last time regionals weren't at the betty it was in Grafton. It is Mayville State University's turn to host regionals this year so if they were going to go back to that way of doing it, it should not have been in Grafton. It won't matter though, the site has not really proven to be an indicator of who goes to state in past years.

The reason it didn't matter that Grafton hosted regionals is because Grafton was never that good. But now that they are a region contender, home court WILL make a difference.

In my opinion, NO TEAM should host the regional on their home court. It should ALWAYS be played on a neutral floor.

Grafton runs a much better tournament than Mayville. Home court advantage is not a good enough reason to keep the region tournament from Grafton.

Tell that to Larimore a few years back when they were the top team in the region, played Grafton in Grafton to start regionals and Lost.

Thats actually a really good point as to why it shouldn't be in grafton. the buzzer beater shot wasn't even close to being in before the time ran out. And as far as grafton not being good in the argument previous well that year they had a very good team. the other years it was in grafton they weren't in district 4 or class b for a long time so it was a neutral floor. Grafton had Chad Berg. (region player of the year) Brandon Nelson ,(all-conference point guard) and another post player who's name I can't think of now but he was all conference twice. Plus Kliniske was a freshmen that year and played very well in the starting lineup. Even if grafton does "run a better tournament" then mayville it's still not their turn to host. The reason it is in grafton is because they have a good team this year. Had they not been expecting a good season they wouldnt've pushed for regionals to be in grafton.

#1 Whether the shot was before or after the horn has nothing to do with where the game is played. That is a judgment call anywhere. Besides, if the shot was late, it was by a tenth of a second or less, unlike what you're suggesting.
#2 "The reason it is in grafton is because they have a good team this year. Had they not been expecting a good season they wouldnt've pushed for regionals to be in grafton." - This is a weak argument. They would want this tournament even if their team's outlook isn't very good.

So...Any other thoughts about the Hoopster's picks?

Both the officials of that game were from grafton and you could see clear as day that he still had the ball in his hands when he shot it. Sure they would want it in grafton but there is no way they would complain and push for it as hard as they had if they didn't have a team ranked 3rd in state in the preseason. They will have all of there games at home for 3 straight weeks, it's an advantage that they wanted.

[BBall dominator]

no your a GENIUS they won't struggle but i remember when i was in HS which wasn't a very long time ago they weren't very good its just the last 3-4 years they've been good. TI was basically why they were able to do what they did last year. They still have very good athletes their building what could be a nice program if they keep it up but i see this as not a rebuilding year but not a year like the past 3 maybe like a 16-18 win season which isn't bad at all some teams wish they could win that many.

They werent very good because why? Because your team beat them? I was also in HS not very long ago and I dont remember losing to FW but they STILL had good teams every year. So as genious as I am, I would say they are still annually competitive just like I said in my first post. They will NOT struggle as was stated.

you would think after I put in caps you'd spell it right. As far as sucking you never know I dont' think they will but w/o a star they could fold.

[psycho]

Four Winds will struggle this year. They will be awful. Tony Ironheart is the only reason they were good.

Four WInds will have a very good team again this year. They are well coached and they love to play basketballl. Year in and year out they will be at the top of the district and challenge in the regions.

[spoilers23]

I think the hoopster was a little generous toward grafton giving them the third ranking in the state. They had 3 all district players last year in Kliniske, Olivarez and Schiller and now two of them are gone. North Border had 3 in Carpenter, Meyer and Chale. Mike Smith easily could've been one and is on the state players to watch honorable mention in the hoopster as well. Grafton lost in the first round of regionals last year and NB placed 3rd in state. DP isn't going to be an easy victory this year either so I think it'll be a three team race all year with those teams. It's going to end up with who gets hot at regionals between those three, rankings won't be a factor. NB and DP have post players in Nichols and Smith that can match up to Kliniske. I guess after all the complaining Grafton did about regionals being in the Betty now that they are in Grafton should help them a little but not much. One thing I dont like about them changing it to Grafton is that in 2005, the last time regionals weren't at the betty it was in Grafton. It is Mayville State University's turn to host regionals this year so if they were going to go back to that way of doing it, it should not have been in Grafton. It won't matter though, the site has not really proven to be an indicator of who goes to state in past years.

The reason it didn't matter that Grafton hosted regionals is because Grafton was never that good. But now that they are a region contender, home court WILL make a difference.

In my opinion, NO TEAM should host the regional on their home court. It should ALWAYS be played on a neutral floor.

Grafton runs a much better tournament than Mayville. Home court advantage is not a good enough reason to keep the region tournament from Grafton.

Tell that to Larimore a few years back when they were the top team in the region, played Grafton in Grafton to start regionals and Lost.

Thats actually a really good point as to why it shouldn't be in grafton. the buzzer beater shot wasn't even close to being in before the time ran out. And as far as grafton not being good in the argument previous well that year they had a very good team. the other years it was in grafton they weren't in district 4 or class b for a long time so it was a neutral floor. Grafton had Chad Berg. (region player of the year) Brandon Nelson ,(all-conference point guard) and another post player who's name I can't think of now but he was all conference twice. Plus Kliniske was a freshmen that year and played very well in the starting lineup. Even if grafton does "run a better tournament" then mayville it's still not their turn to host. The reason it is in grafton is because they have a good team this year. Had they not been expecting a good season they wouldnt've pushed for regionals to be in grafton.

berg was district player of the year not region player of the year (ryan opdahl from larimore was region payer of the year) jeff miller was all district, and brandon nelson didnt make the all district team. and about the shot, at the time i didnt think it was even close to making it before the buzzer. however, its been watched on tape several times with a few different stop watches and the basket was made before the time ran out everytime.
also, i highly doubt grafton pushed for regionals to be in grafton because they are expected to be good. a town with a below average team would want to have regionals at their place if they have the facilities for it, its all about the money. to me its a coincidence, i could be wrong, so don't jump all over me about it cuz thats just my opinion. it my be biased, but it really doesnt matter to me where regionals are, when you're on the court, theres no difference between the betty and the gym at GHS. does home court advantage really mean anything in high school? as long as a teams not sitting on a bus driving for 3 hours and having to get up and play, that might make a difference. but its class b high school regional basketball in north dakota, both teams are going to have big crowds, one thing thats great about class b basketball.
hope i didnt spring up anything with ya hags, NE Cougars for life man.

[ndsportsfan14]

Thats sweet! M-S comes to FW for our first game and they're gonna get smoked! FW should win by at least 15-20, count on it!

Has anyone taught that young Ironheart how to play defense yet? If not, it could be a long season for FW's.

CJ is the most selfish player i'v watched play worst attitude on the court he needs to step it up an change his ways if he plans on doin anything this yr
But i do give my respect to Alberts always working hard an phsyical play mabey CJ should take some lessons from him instead of just shootin the 3 like an then miss an walk down the court but I will say CJ can bea good player if he puts effort to it just needs to change his ways an good bea good ball player!!But till that day I wouldnt pick him to play for me anyday!!

[north_border_eagles2106]

I think the hoopster was a little generous toward grafton giving them the third ranking in the state. They had 3 all district players last year in Kliniske, Olivarez and Schiller and now two of them are gone. North Border had 3 in Carpenter, Meyer and Chale. Mike Smith easily could've been one and is on the state players to watch honorable mention in the hoopster as well. Grafton lost in the first round of regionals last year and NB placed 3rd in state. DP isn't going to be an easy victory this year either so I think it'll be a three team race all year with those teams. It's going to end up with who gets hot at regionals between those three, rankings won't be a factor. NB and DP have post players in Nichols and Smith that can match up to Kliniske. I guess after all the complaining Grafton did about regionals being in the Betty now that they are in Grafton should help them a little but not much. One thing I dont like about them changing it to Grafton is that in 2005, the last time regionals weren't at the betty it was in Grafton. It is Mayville State University's turn to host regionals this year so if they were going to go back to that way of doing it, it should not have been in Grafton. It won't matter though, the site has not really proven to be an indicator of who goes to state in past years.

The reason it didn't matter that Grafton hosted regionals is because Grafton was never that good. But now that they are a region contender, home court WILL make a difference.

In my opinion, NO TEAM should host the regional on their home court. It should ALWAYS be played on a neutral floor.

Grafton runs a much better tournament than Mayville. Home court advantage is not a good enough reason to keep the region tournament from Grafton.

Tell that to Larimore a few years back when they were the top team in the region, played Grafton in Grafton to start regionals and Lost.

Thats actually a really good point as to why it shouldn't be in grafton. the buzzer beater shot wasn't even close to being in before the time ran out. And as far as grafton not being good in the argument previous well that year they had a very good team. the other years it was in grafton they weren't in district 4 or class b for a long time so it was a neutral floor. Grafton had Chad Berg. (region player of the year) Brandon Nelson ,(all-conference point guard) and another post player who's name I can't think of now but he was all conference twice. Plus Kliniske was a freshmen that year and played very well in the starting lineup. Even if grafton does "run a better tournament" then mayville it's still not their turn to host. The reason it is in grafton is because they have a good team this year. Had they not been expecting a good season they wouldnt've pushed for regionals to be in grafton.

berg was district player of the year not region player of the year (ryan opdahl from larimore was region payer of the year) jeff miller was all district, and brandon nelson didnt make the all district team. and about the shot, at the time i didnt think it was even close to making it before the buzzer. however, its been watched on tape several times with a few different stop watches and the basket was made before the time ran out everytime.
also, i highly doubt grafton pushed for regionals to be in grafton because they are expected to be good. a town with a below average team would want to have regionals at their place if they have the facilities for it, its all about the money. to me its a coincidence, i could be wrong, so don't jump all over me about it cuz thats just my opinion. it my be biased, but it really doesnt matter to me where regionals are, when you're on the court, theres no difference between the betty and the gym at GHS. does home court advantage really mean anything in high school? as long as a teams not sitting on a bus driving for 3 hours and having to get up and play, that might make a difference. but its class b high school regional basketball in north dakota, both teams are going to have big crowds, one thing thats great about class b basketball.
hope i didnt spring up anything with ya hags, NE Cougars for life man.

No you didn't spring up anything here, this is an opinion board and if everyone agreed on everything this site wouldn't last. Maybe I jumped to a bit of a conclusion there and I guess as far as "the shot" goes, since we don't have all the camera angles and higher technology stuff like they do on ESPN and stuff like that it's hard to really say. One thing about that game is that Larimore didn't play very well at all and think they took the Spoilers lightly. They did the same thing with us that year when we beat them on a buzzer beater. We were down two and stanhope hit a jumper from the elbow and got fouled on the arm with about 2 seconds left and hit the free throw to give us a one point win. None of this regarding regionals is really going to matter until semfinal night because if everything goes the way it should it will likely be NB, Grafton, DP, and I'll say Park River or Larimore playing to get to the region championship. I just think all the post season play after the district round should be at a neutral site so these type of things don't come up. Good luck this season

[Luke_J32]

It's too bad the hoopster didn't change DP's roster to their added players... I would've liked to see where they put us.

[hammer63]

I would have had you at the three spot in state I think you have the chance to be better than Grafton, word is that Kueber has grown and they already had Nichols How well the guards can get them the ball is how well they will do. from top to bottom your team is one of the most talented in the state.

[Indians Alumni]

I think I remember having these same discussions with most of you last year, I have my front row seats reserved for the first beating that # 7 S-M gets! TI was a good player but he was not the team! He was a true point guard.

You have some suprises waiting for you S-M! So polish off that 7th rated spot for someone else because you will be giving it up!!!

FW all the way baby!!!

[baseball4life]

I think I remember having these same discussions with most of you last year, I have my front row seats reserved for the first beating that # 7 S-M gets! TI was a good player but he was not the team! He was a true point guard.

You have some suprises waiting for you S-M! So polish off that 7th rated spot for someone else because you will be giving it up!!!

FW all the way baby!!!

... are you sure about this?

[Indians Alumni]

Quote me on that. not taking anything away from Tony, He was not the team!

[north_border_eagles2106]

I think I remember having these same discussions with most of you last year, I have my front row seats reserved for the first beating that # 7 S-M gets! TI was a good player but he was not the team! He was a true point guard.

You have some suprises waiting for you S-M! So polish off that 7th rated spot for someone else because you will be giving it up!!!

FW all the way baby!!!

You're making it sound like S-M is bragging about their rank in state. I'll laugh if they try to put CJ Ironheart on Riley Beck, that will be hilarious. Who knows about any of the teams right now though, gotta love pre-season smack talk though!

[BBall dominator]

It appears as if Dunseith is this years FW on this while FW is well still FW...I see how the FW's fans can talk their team up even though they show not as much talent as the past but atleast they have the resume to be a sleeper team to just come out and have a great season...Dunseith has accomplished a few things but nothing noteworthy not many people care outside of the teams themselves who took 2nd in a regional championship game. So really they haven't proved anything to be talking about themselves so much.

IMO we won't see either of these teams in march at state i do expect FW's to struggle w/o TI but we'll see how players step up most likely 3rd place region finish.

Dunseith will do one of two things
1. Have a great season(approx. 20 wins) and take 2-4 in regionls(Ryan going to state)
2. Self-destruct and end up losing in the 1st round of regionals.

[luckyinlife]

Hmmm, TI was just a good player. Hardly. Tony did make that team because he made every player on that team look better than they were by setting them up. Tony's unselfish playing style is not something you see much of these days.

[Indians Alumni]

You all dog CJ like the kid can't play defense, well the kid is lanky and has a longer reach than his body shows, I have seen him D some people up!

S-M Should not have gotten in the top 10, but yet the genius' at hoopster think differently! I don't see the logic in Carrington being the top team in the district!

[ndlionsfan]

The only thing the rankings in the Hoopster are based on is what the coaches rank the teams and send them in. Obviously, a lot of coaches in the region think M/S is the team to beat and don't think FW will defend their district and region crowns. Coaches know a lot about bball and have watched all the teams and returning players play quite a bit so they have a good idea of what's going on.

[Indians Alumni]

Obiously not too much, they picked fW last year to finish 4th in the district!

[BB11]

Obiously not too much, they picked fW last year to finish 4th in the district!

Touche
But ndlions is right - the coaches rank each team in their District and Region and send that in to the hoopster - the state ranking is left up to the Hoopster staff based on the rankings the coaches give. Most of the time the coaches have been right, but their have been surprises before - Four Winds and BCN being those last year. So - in essence - both arguments are valid.

[poweraidman]

Can anyone explain to me why LaMoure always gets rated high. First of all they dont ever make it to state. 2nd most of the teams from that region dont do any better than 6th in state so why would they rate them that high.

[luckyinlife]

Good question. Patience will answer your question. LaMoure plays Lisbon on December 13th and Hazen on December 15th. At Lisbon and at Bismarck. Perhaps you should go to one of those games and see for yourself what LaMoure has this year and report back.

[basketballer]

Can anyone explain to me why LaMoure always gets rated high. First of all they dont ever make it to state. 2nd most of the teams from that region dont do any better than 6th in state so why would they rate them that high.

that has only been the last two years that region 3 has gotten worse than 5th. in 2003 Linton got third or fourth that was when there was a great nr-s and bottineau teams... and in my opinion pbk could have done way better at state but they didnt have their best games there.

[poweraidman]

yea that is true i watched those games and pbk coulda done better. I am just saying they rated them a little to high

[basketballer]

yea that is true i watched those games and pbk coulda done better. I am just saying they rated them a little to high

K. I will give you that. LaMoure hasn't proved themselves, but I think since it is the 6 seniors last time around they will be very tough and possibly make the top 8. Of course anything could happen. And as luckyinlife said go watch them in Lisbon(#6) Or in Bismarck against pre-season number 1 Hazen to check if they are actually as bad as you say and "have no bench."

[cubsfan]

I think I remember having these same discussions with most of you last year, I have my front row seats reserved for the first beating that # 7 S-M gets! TI was a good player but he was not the team! He was a true point guard.

You have some suprises waiting for you S-M! So polish off that 7th rated spot for someone else because you will be giving it up!!!

FW all the way baby!!!

Indians Alumni, you are crazier than ever. The difference for me this year is that I have more respect towards the way you FW's fans promote your team. Most people don't realize how deeply you fans feel for the games that your boys play in. I did not realize this until I saw a game of yours in person. The point you made right now is a little over the top but nothing wrong with that. Good luck to FW's basketball team this season.

[poweraidman]