F ighting S ioux M en ' s B asketball 2 0 0 4 - 0 5 1 - University of ...

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The 2004-05 basketball season marks a
very special year for the Fighting Sioux.
The program will celebrate its 100th year
of basketball all season long, open a brand
new facility in the Betty Engelstad Sioux
Center and will culminate the season by
hosting the Division II Elite Eight in
March, in what UND hopes will be the
party of the century. Optimism abounds
around the Sioux program as several key
players are back from injury to join a solid
nucleus and several promising newcomers.
“Obviously we want to go to the Elite
Eight,” UND Head Coach Rich Glas
admits. “It’s going to be in our barn and
that's what we're shooting for. Our goals,
however, are the old coach’s cliche ‘One
game at a time’. In order to get there (Elite
Eight), you have to have those other goals.
You want to win the North Central
Conference and put yourself in a position
to host the Regionals.”
Two perennial nemeses are also no longer
in the conference in North Dakota State
and South Dakota State, making the goal of
winning the league that much more
attainable. The Sioux have countered the
defection of NDSU and SDSU with a
beefed-up non-conference schedule that
includes the prestigeous Division II Disney
Tip-Off Classic to open the season. The
tournament, often times
compared to the Division I
Preseason NIT tourney, annually
pits eight of the top Division II
programs against each other in a
three-day tournament in sunny
Orlando, Fla.
“We’re playing one of the
toughest schedules in my 17 years
here,” coach Glas said. “The Tip-
Off Classic will have three ranked
teams playing down there, so
we’ll have our work cut out for
us. It will be a good test to see
where we are.”
The Guards
Senior Keith Parks
2004-05 Season Outlook
The Sioux enjoy depth around the
perimeter and will rely on the
versitility of several veterans to
steer the offense. Caro Nobles
returns from injury and will
handle the point guard duties.
Nobles played in just five games
last season before losing the rest
of his season to injury. A point
guard by trade, Nobles will be
asked to fill a role out on the wing
as well.
“He’s a good shooter but the big
thing that he can do is he
can defend,” Glas said
about Nobles. “That's one of
the reasons we may want
him at the wing more–to
shut down some good
shooters because he’s very
quick and strong. We expect
a great year from Caro.”
Keith Parks, another player
returning after an injuryshortened
season, will start
at the 2-spot. Parks is an
explosive scorer, as seen in
his brief seven-game
showing last season. He
was the team’s leading
scorer before suffering an
injury that ended his 2003-
04 campaign. The Sioux are
relying on Parks’ resiliency
in order to provide the point
output that the senior is
capable of on a nightly
basis.
“He can score, but can he
defend on the other end of
the court?” Glas rhetorically
Junior Evan Lindahl
asked of Parks and his ability to get back to
full strength. “Can he stop people from
scoring and be that team defender that we
need him to be? He was picking that up
before he got injured but that was an area
that he needed to get stronger in. Keith
will be expected to be an important part of
our rotation and he is an offensive player
that can come in and put points on the
board in a hurry. He needs to be full
strength so he can defend and go in there
help on the boards as well.”
Quality depth at the guard position affords
UND the luxury to make changes to best
work with the matchup at hand. Freshman
Josh Doyle will see significant time in the
rotation at both the point and the wing.
“He’s a true point guard who does a great
job of seeing the floor but also is an
excellent shooter so he could play the wing
if needed,” Glas said. “He’s important for
us on our team, playing a leadership role
because of his abilities at the point to get to
where the ball needs to be and not afraid to
speak up and tell guys where they need to
be on the floor. That's what you need in a
point guard.”
Getting guys to come in and hit shots is
Fighting Sioux Men’s Basketball 2004-05