At Dakota College we have an opportunity to compete in Canada a couple of times during the basketball season. Crossing the border and competing against new opponents provides a new experience for our players, and one which they may never duplicate the rest of their basketball career. The court is still 94-feet, hoops are still 10-feet high, and each team can only play 5 guys at a time... BUT there are several areas of the international game that differ from our typical college game.
International Rules:
-24 second shot clock
-Timeouts must be requested at scorer's table
-4 quarters of play
-Ball can be played off of the cylinder
-Substitution policy
These are just a few of the adjustments our TEAM needed to make as we traveled to Winnipeg to take on Canadian Mennonite University back-to-back days. As I mentioned earlier, this was a great experience for coaches and players, but midway through a college season for freshman and sophomores it can also create some difficulties. What WE really liked about the situation was the fact our TEAM had to learn on the fly, and make game time adjustments according the differences of international style of play.
Both games seemed to have a similar feel as Game 1 was determined by 3 points with the Lumberjacks falling 57-60, and Game 2 decided by 1 point in a win for the Jacks 68-67. In both competitions we did a good job of taking early leads and sustaining control for majority of the game. CMU did a better job of managing the 24 second shot-clock, shot the ball from a higher percentage at the 3-pt line, and took care of the ball limiting their turnovers. On the other hand, for us the shot-clock became an issue forcing difficult shots, we have not been shooting the ball very well from deep, and valuing the ball continues to be an major concern.
Without Jayden McMillin on the floor the last 3 games scoring has been an uphill battle, but this weekend I think we started to figure out how to be a more balanced TEAM. Players needed to increase roles on the offensive end by being more aggressive, and defensively had to play much harder because we lack size/athleticism around the rim. Roybell Baez was huge in Game 2 scoring 21 points to go with 6 rebounds. He also nailed the game winning bucket with under a minute to play. Billy Engel came up with 17 points/5 assists to aid in the victory. During Game 1 it was Tyler Storseth who kept us in the game by scoring 17 points and grabbing rebounds.
The next game is always the most important game, and for us this couldn't be more true tonight. UTTC comes into "The Woodshed" with tip-off set for 8p following the Ladyjacks game. WE must continue to take strides forward as this is the time of the year teams either find or lose their identity.
Come Support Your Jacks. WE need your help.
Let's Get JACKED UP!
Coach Fehringer
