GDT @ South Dakota State

[sealhall74]

The home cooking was very nice but it is time to take the show on the road where it is very difficult to win. I watched some of the Jacks@Bison game on Saturday and it was a tale of two halves. Jacks came out passive in first half and NDSU took command but they stepped up their intensity the 2nd half and made it interesting down the stretch. Look for them to come out with even more intensity tonight playing their first home conference game of the year and literally fighting for their life to maintain much hope of a conference championship this year. We need to play our game and not let the crowd become a factor - i.e. take care of the ball, get our rebounds and loose balls, don't force shots but let them come at the right time. I think we might be able to run some against these guys. We need to be confident but not too confident. I just have a feeling that Tate will be the one to step up in this one in front of a lot of family and friends. If I am coach Billy, I would have the guys drop in to the Dairy Bar on campus after the shoot-around to enjoy a little sweet treat. Trying to find one word to sum up how we need to play in this one. I will go with "assertive" and let the chips fall where they may.

I think my 3-month SDSU All-Access subscription I signed up for during our football visit is still good for this 7PM Central matchup.

I thought I would come back and throw in a little trivia for fun:

True or False: South Dakota is certainly known for having some pretty good "hills" (Black Hills). It is also home to a point of land with higher elevation than any point of land east of the Mississippi.

[Neckfansince71]

Confidently assertive would be my message. Start the game with good smart aggressive defense and find the open man on offense. I think an ice cream after the shoot around is a great idea. Can't do anything about the game at that point anyway. Seal, are you talking Rushmore? jc

[wiu712]

For Summit League Basketball fans: Tonight's IUPUI at Oral Roberts game will be available via ESPN3 and First Row Sports. Game time is 7PM (CST).

[letsgonecks]

To win we need Garrett to get out of his shooting funk and come out hot. Will also need Jabari to stay hot.

Another big piece would be for Tate to step-up, but going to be honest Seal, don't have a lot of faith in that happening. He historically racks up fouls anyways and with the size, stregnth and quickness advantage, Larson will be drawing them quickly against him....like last year. To boot, things got heated between the two last year and seemed like Larson got most the calls his way. Tate's agressive and you see him get upset and just know some uncalled for fouls are coming. Hoping Chapman can be a better match and slow him down.

WIU is the hotter team and man.......we're due against these Jackasses....I mean rabbits. In all seriousness, I do respect SDSU as a school and sports program. They're doing something right.

[sealhall74]

Confidently assertive would be my message. Start the game with good smart aggressive defense and find the open man on offense. I think an ice cream after the shoot around is a great idea. Can't do anything about the game at that point anyway. Seal, are you talking Rushmore? jc

Not Rushmore.

[wiu712]

Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota and the Black Hills.

[WIU0812]

I could see us winning this one, but if we are going to do this we will not be able to get behind by 10 and then catch up early. We will need solid play as we have had a decent amount of from everyone and good rebounding. If we win I think it will be a nail bitter and will call WIU winning by 1 point on a final seconds 2.

[ST_Lawson]

Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota and the Black Hills.

And Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is the highest point east of the Mississippi at 6,684 feet. Harney Peak is 7,244 feet tall (and is in the same range as Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial...about halfway between them actually).

[sealhall74]

Yep, the other side of the state is pretty much flat as a pancake. Another interesting trivia note from Wiki and really hard to believe is this: the Sturgis Bike Rally held for a week each year (usually in August) brings in $800M annually to the state of South Dakota.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgis_Motorcycle_Rally

Damn, I wish I would have passed that motorcycle training course a couple years back (I could not do the tight figure 8s without putting my feet down). I might have to try that one again.

[sealhall74]

Down 34-20 at half. Need to make shots to stay in this game. I would love to see Billy mix up the defense and come with some zone. We do not match up with these guys well one on one.