GDT: ORU vs SDSU/Senior Day 2pm Frost Arena GoJacks.com

[OldHare]

The game in Brookings Saturday did not show vulnerable Golden Eagles. It did show that they are beatable inside the Summit League even though they are heavy favorites to win the SLT. Their defense forced too many Jackrabbit turnovers which may prepare SDSU to change a few things. The double teams in the paint were relentless and quick. The Jackrabbits have some other games to prepare to win prior to a potential rematch. It should be an entertaining SLT.

[MontanaRabbit]

Fun game yesterday. I would've preferred a win, but I believe confidence was built.

This team has a very small margin of error. Zeke has to be Zeke, next Saturday and Monday to get another shot at the Golden Eagles. I believe this team will make it to Tuesday night, but as I stated earlier this team has a very small margin of error. If Zeke has an off night, the Rabbits could be eliminated on Saturday or Monday night. Many of the players have been through this before and the toughness built through this season will help this team next weekend.

For this team to win the championship, Zeke will need to hit his average for the tournament. Mohrs and Charlie will need to average 7-9 points a game. Mims will need to hit a big shot or two. Alex will need to be more than steady and on the inside Dent and WK3 will need average 17 plus points a game combined. I believe the defense will be good, but to win the title the Rabbits will need to put points on the board.

I'm looking forward to another SLT and a blue wave starting Saturday night!!!

Go Rabbits!!!

Agree that Saturday's game was important for the team to build confidence. Getting boat-raced in Tulsa had to have most Rabbit fans questioning if we could even hang with ORU.

Although as you point out making the finals is no sure thing. A potential matchup with NDSU in the semifinals is not a sure win. We don't match up super well with them.

[6-4-3 Jackrabbit]

Fun game yesterday. I would've preferred a win, but I believe confidence was built.

This team has a very small margin of error. Zeke has to be Zeke, next Saturday and Monday to get another shot at the Golden Eagles. I believe this team will make it to Tuesday night, but as I stated earlier this team has a very small margin of error. If Zeke has an off night, the Rabbits could be eliminated on Saturday or Monday night. Many of the players have been through this before and the toughness built through this season will help this team next weekend.

For this team to win the championship, Zeke will need to hit his average for the tournament. Mohrs and Charlie will need to average 7-9 points a game. Mims will need to hit a big shot or two. Alex will need to be more than steady and on the inside Dent and WK3 will need average 17 plus points a game combined. I believe the defense will be good, but to win the title the Rabbits will need to put points on the board.

I'm looking forward to another SLT and a blue wave starting Saturday night!!!

Go Rabbits!!!

[jakejc795]

Kyle was off today - 0 points, 5 boards and 3 turnovers. He'll be better next time.

I meant a 2023-24 comparison, although I agree that today wasn't WKIII's best game

[LetsGoRabbits]

It was more a shortage of guards when Arians and Easley were both out that did us in at St. Thomas and WIU. You are correct that Kyle doesn't get the chance to develop with Luke playing. To look on the positive side, a healthy and hungry Luke combined with Kyle gives the Jacks the best post combo in the Summit next season by far.

Yes i know it was one more guard that we needed, but we also played Broden more in those games and i just think one more healthy body probably makes the difference. at least we get one of the wins??

do you think Matt would have reached his current 1st team level of play if Appel was healthy? i have doubts

agree with you Kyle and Appel will be very tough next year! be interesting to see how it plays out

[bigticket1]

that is very interesting and probably impossible to make a good guess, obviously Appel was preseason 1st team all league

if we could have the Appel that was anticipated AND also have the Dent we got this year, that would have been basically an unstoppable post combo. but i doubt that Dent becomes the scorer we see now if we had Appel dominating post touches and fg attempts, which is the likely outcome of having a healthy Appel all year. Kyle would have still made some contribution also, but in the same way, his development would have probably been delayed a bit from decreased opportunities

i think it is a safe guess that just one more healthy body could have been the difference on the road at STU and WIU so solid chance you take two losses away. you can make a reasonable argument a healthy Appel makes more than a 6 pt difference in fargo, but i dont think you can say it is for sure!! i still feel like oru was the most talented team and should have been champs, but your question is interesting, obviously he has some good history against oru))))

It was more a shortage of guards when Arians and Easley were both out that did us in at St. Thomas and WIU. You are correct that Kyle doesn't get the chance to develop with Luke playing. To look on the positive side, a healthy and hungry Luke combined with Kyle gives the Jacks the best post combo in the Summit next season by far.

[LetsGoRabbits]

Looking forward to winning the tournament next week. However, if we do not and play in the NIT, I think I heard Tyler say that today was the last game in the old Frost. Renovations are to begin immediately which means we will not have the opportunity to play any home games. Why wouldn’t they delay this a few weeks for us to possibly have a deep run ?

IF we would lose in SLT final that would make our season record 20-13 and our current NET rank is 148 (maybe / probably drops a bit after today??)

my guess is that there would be NO NIT invite coming. did they increase the men NIT to 64 also or just the WNIT. i think the men might still be a 32 team tourney that means in theory only teams in the top 100 have a shot. even if it is 64 a net around 150 is definitely not a guarantee

in regard to the main point about the renovations, i also thought it is more than strange that they are not delaying those until they KNOW that neither MBB OR WBB will have a shot at hosting postseason games. obviously playing in WNIT would be a big disappointment for the girls!!! but if they also could not play in Frost that would really STING! and for the men there are postseason tourneys outside the NCAA and NIT but who knows?? but losing a shot to host because of renovation would be a big bummer

i am guessing that having NO CHANCE to play in Frost will be the final bit of motivation both teams need and they both take care of business next week and lockup NCAA bids))) GO RABBITS!!!!

[bigticket1]

Looking forward to winning the tournament next week. However, if we do not and play in the NIT, I think I heard Tyler say that today was the last game in the old Frost. Renovations are to begin immediately which means we will not have the opportunity to play any home games. Why wouldn’t they delay this a few weeks for us to possibly have a deep run ?

I don't think the 2nd place men's team gets an auto bid into the NIT like the women do. The way it sounds they need to get the renovation started right away to be able to get done what they need to before next season.

[SoDakPirate]

Looking forward to winning the tournament next week. However, if we do not and play in the NIT, I think I heard Tyler say that today was the last game in the old Frost. Renovations are to begin immediately which means we will not have the opportunity to play any home games. Why wouldn’t they delay this a few weeks for us to possibly have a deep run ?

[LetsGoRabbits]

Congrats to oru for being the 2nd team in conference history to run the table. They look beatable and havent really wowed their last handful of games.

I do wonder what this season would have been had we had Apple the whole season.

that is very interesting and probably impossible to make a good guess, obviously Appel was preseason 1st team all league

if we could have the Appel that was anticipated AND also have the Dent we got this year, that would have been basically an unstoppable post combo. but i doubt that Dent becomes the scorer we see now if we had Appel dominating post touches and fg attempts, which is the likely outcome of having a healthy Appel all year. Kyle would have still made some contribution also, but in the same way, his development would have probably been delayed a bit from decreased opportunities

i think it is a safe guess that just one more healthy body could have been the difference on the road at STU and WIU so solid chance you take two losses away. you can make a reasonable argument a healthy Appel makes more than a 6 pt difference in fargo, but i dont think you can say it is for sure!! i still feel like oru was the most talented team and should have been champs, but your question is interesting, obviously he has some good history against oru))))

[LetsGoRabbits]

ORU: NET 44th, AP Poll 28th (14 votes), Coaches Poll 32nd

SDSU WBB: NET 36th, AP Poll 35th (2 votes), Coaches Poll 30th

2022 SDSU men: Warren Nolan lists the final NET as 67th

I threw the SDSU women in there because most assume they would be a lock for an at-large if they lose in the SLT.

some additional thoughts
i 100% see why you mention it but i am sure you know, just like i do that MBB and WBB are not apples and apples

that said it is pretty disgusting that it could be ANY type of a conversation point at all
look at the crazy schedule our WBB have played
and the featherweight schedule the golden eagles played. you could really argue that their two signature wins on the year are against the jacks, especially the road win in Frost where everyone knows the jacks dont lose. the home win is just noteworthy because of the surprising margin. (actually i think there is really no argument at all that these are not the two best wins they have)

Mo St is WAY down and they only beat them by 3 in Tulsa (another indicator of how much they have the jacks games circled on their schedule)
Tulsa another team that has good history is TERRIBLE

probably their best game of the year is the first game when they lost by single digits to Saint Marys

ORU played 3 teams in the current NET top 40 they lost by 40, 10, and 8. new mexico is current 46. they beat oru by 7. they did not play another team in the top 120 (jacks 148)

if the rankings were apples to apples, our girls would be head and shoulders above them in any ranking. it would be interesting where the girls would be if they had not had that terrible week, losing to WSU and MSU. would they be top 20 i dont think so. top 25?? but there is no question the girls did way way more to challenge themselves than the oru men did. and btw so did our men.

[goon]

Congrats to oru for being the 2nd team in conference history to run the table. They look beatable and havent really wowed their last handful of games.

I do wonder what this season would have been had we had Apple the whole season.

[bigticket1]

Can he return next season?

If so, I'm very interested in how Kyle's stats will compare

Kyle was off today - 0 points, 5 boards and 3 turnovers. He'll be better next time.

[LetsGoRabbits]

I agree that the ref ledger was balanced today. The Easley one I commented on was early, and I didn't mean for it to be an indictment on the officiating overall

i DEFINITELY did not see it that way! just seemed valid to point out that the refs were consistently calling invisible fouls on both teams

[LetsGoRabbits]

I'll probably call it Frost until I kick the bucket (or SDSU ice cream carton, in my case)

I really think this is gonna be the same for me. I just cannot imagine what is gonna happen that will make me stop calling it Frost

it was much easier to change from Coughlin to DJD because we had limited really special memories from Coughlin, but no matter what happens at the renovated hoops arena, they are NEVER going to have the big crowds we had at Frost and how are we going to top the record of winning, when we have the top home winning percentage in the country for over a decade

i guess now that i said it out loud, the thing that has a bit of a chance to change it will be if we get to the point of getting consistent top level opponents to play us at home and we win at least a respectable amount of them, but even that, the WBB already has it so it would only be new in a limited way