Well, now what?

[Old Titan]

Geez, what a ****show Thursday night.

Bad enough to fail to show up during 40 minutes of regulation; had to add "sore losers" to the dumpster fire on the way out the door.

Coaching 101:  sometimes, particularly on the road, you just have to take your lumps and live to fight another day.  Look at the big picture.  Gain perspective.  And act like you've dealt with adversity before.

Nope.  Nope.  And, nope.  Simply a bad look in so many ways.

And now comes "Fallout Day", when there should be press releases from ORU, NDSU and The Summit League offices declaring "This is not the way we do things, we're all about sportsmanship and the student-athlete, we are taking steps to prevent such a thing happening again", yada, yada, yada, but in light of younger, inexperienced heads that have recently taken over in these respective organizations, I would not be surprised if all we hear today are crickets as they collectively wish the whole thing would just go away.  MAYBE a 4:30pm today "media dump" type of website post from the league, announcing 1-or-2-game suspensions for Saturday or next week, but I really doubt it.

Frankly, I'm more curious about what the following people might be thinking as the postgame video is repeated ad nauseum last night and today on social media and the major sports networks:

• ORU alumni around the world.
• Recent local "walk-up" fans who were intrigued by ORU's success last year and were beginning to show up at home games this season in larger numbers.
• College basketball fans around the country, whose most recent memory of ORU until last night was last March's postseason run.
• ORU detractors, looking for any reason to smugly say, "See - THAT'S what they're REALLY like". 
• In other words, TU fans (lol)
• Local sports media
• Camron Amboree
• Camron Amboree's family
• ANY recruit, and their families
• Max Abmas
• Max Abmas family
• Mike Carter
• Mart Green

This problem is, this sort of thing has a way of fouling the air FAR longer than the initial repercussions of the event, like mold in the walls after a flood.

Wondering how many YEARS this video will be re-aired during ESPN broadcasts of ORU-NDSU match-ups in the Summit League tournament?

Not to mention the type of reception ORU teams can expect to receive now in Fargo (and Sioux Falls?) for the next, oh, I don't know - DECADE or so?

Or, how high in the Google search results the video will pop-up when doing a casual inquiry for "ORU Basketball" in the next few years?

Even as an ORU fan, will you not now be watching Coach Mills a little more closely in the handshake lines after losses (never a strong suit of his game to begin with).

My point is, this is unfortunately one of those occasions that will, in hindsight, provide yet another case history of "The Law of Unintended Consequences". 

Git yer popcorn ready...smh.

 

 

 

[theeagleman5]

How about we just come out on the court in Grand Forks Saturday Night....Play well and WIN.....that would go a long way....plus this was ORU-NDSU....not Duke-UNC....how many people really care besides us?.....yeah it was a bad look but at least no punches were thrown and landed....just a lot of testosterone flowing.....we got our butts kicked then somebody says something and all heck breaks lose.....understandable that Coach Mills was ticked at his teams'  lousy performance and maybe the final dunk got under his skin....but yes...he does have to be the adult in the room......maybe this dust up will wake up the Good Guys?....TheEagleman can't say.....all I know is we need a win vs. UND and then need to get ready for the Jacks....I am over it....GO BLUE!!   

[Eaglefan 21]

I think it needs to be said that the normally passive DJ Weaver is one the hero’s of this story. Had he not drug Lufile to the ground, I’m guessing he would have been suspended for the season if he landed a punch. Our chances in Sioux Falls would be near zero without Eli.

[Old Titan]

Again, my point is this:  as much as folks around the programs and the league will want to "be over" this incident, and "move on", these things tend to have a pretty impressive nuclear half life. 

We really won't know for a while how significant any ramifications might be, but you can be assured there will be some.

[Keenan Henderson]

Hopefully ORU can make some good PR moves to help with this incident.  One that comes to mind is if Coach Mills or the powers that be were to announce a suspension of Lufile, instead of waiting for the league to do so.  At this point, the Eagles need to do some housekeeping and take responsibility.  We can blame NDSU all day but that does not help anything.

[EagleManiac]

Hate to be a contrarian here, but I really don't think this is a big deal. I can see the league handing down some suspensions, but I'd also think it's reasonable if they don't and nothing is said publicly. Handshake line scuffles are about as commonplace as it gets in athletics. Very few casual observers who were actually involved in athletics are going to be offended by this. That's who we need to be concerned about, not the twitter warriors who are currently blowing up Mills' twitter apology from mama's basement 1,000 miles away. If anything, I think a lot of people are going to appreciate this, as long as it proves to be an outlier event (myself included). 

Mills needs to be aware, though, that if something similar EVER happens again, he's now the "sore loser" guy. Right now it's just an anomaly. Got to be a great sport in the handshake line for the rest of his career. 

[Old Titan]

I think it's safe to say that ORU could have handled the last couple of minutes on the floor, and the few seconds afterward, in a more appropriate manner.

It's supposed to be what we DO around here, right?  A higher calling? 

Fair or not, that "calling" means being held to a higher standard.

Which is not easy.  But, gotta remember:

[theeagleman5]

Agree with that, OT....pressing full court in the final 2-3 minutes when down 20 is just asking for trouble....just play the game out...take your lumps and shake hands....get dressed and hit on the bus.....ORU sort of asked for it with our pressure D when the outcome had already been decided.....how can anybody get upset at a walk on scoring his 2 points.....who cares?   I also agree with Maniac that this is not a big deal....bleep happens....should we have started pushing and shoving....no we should not....surely there were some mouths running in the white uniforms.....but heck, they won and we lost.....so move on to Grand Forks and hopefully we see the Bison next month for a chance at revenge......Mills may want to sit Eli out the first half in Grand Forks as a lesson if he is not suspended.....agree Lufile can't act like that and needs to keep his cool.....but TheEagleman loves his intensity......give the kid a little something for the effort......

[EagleManiac]

25 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

I think it's safe to say that ORU could have handled the last couple of minutes on the floor, and the few seconds afterward, in a more appropriate manner.

It's supposed to be what we DO around here, right?  A higher calling? 

Fair or not, that "calling" means being held to a higher standard.

Agreed. Good points.

I don't mean to condone what Mills or Lufile did. I just don't see it as anything significant as long as it remains an outlier. First time anything like this has happened in 5 years and that should count for something. 

[theeagleman5]

The bigger problem is ORU's crappy play.....just terrible......we may be one and done in Sioux Falls unless something changes....

[EagleManiac]

2 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

Agree with that, OT....pressing full court in the final 2-3 minutes when down 20 is just asking for trouble....just play the game out...take your lumps and shake hands....get dressed and hit on the bus.....ORU sort of asked for it with our pressure D when the outcome had already been decided.....how can anybody get upset at a walk on scoring his 2 points.....who cares?   

The issue was the emphatic dunk seconds after the buzzer had sounded, not the initial layup.

I would disagree on the pressing issue, but I am genuinely curious on this and would appreciate feedback. I've seen a lot of NDSU fans on twitter saying we were in the wrong for pressing while the game was out of hand. Is it really basketball etiquette for a loser in a blowout to layoff? I have NEVER heard anything about an unwritten rule for a losing team to lay off, outside of there being a time to stop fouling. As far as I know, the expectation has ALWAYS been that the winning team slows the game and does not continue to play full speed, The loser has no obligation. Am I wrong? 

I have seen teams continue to pressure the ball in games that are out of hand a hundred times and you very rarely seen an offense that takes offense to that doesn't dribble it out. Let alone, goes and dunks after the buzzer has sounded. 

[EagleManiac]

5 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

The bigger problem is ORU's crappy play.....just terrible......we may be one and done in Sioux Falls unless something changes....

I hope you are not right, but we are certainly trending downward. 

[ORU40]

6 minutes ago, EagleManiac said:

Hate to be a contrarian here, but I really don't think this is a big deal. I can see the league handing down some suspensions, but I'd also think it's reasonable if they don't and nothing is said publicly. Handshake line scuffles are about as commonplace as it gets in athletics. Very few casual observers who were actually involved in athletics are going to be offended by this. That's who we need to be concerned about, not the twitter warriors who are currently blowing up Mills' twitter apology from mama's basement 1,000 miles away. If anything, I think a lot of people are going to appreciate this, as long as it proves to be an outlier event (myself included). 

Mills needs to be aware, though, that if something similar EVER happens again, he's now the "sore loser" guy. Right now it's just an anomaly. Got to be a great sport in the handshake line for the rest of his career. 

I have no problem with a player altercation during a game (was in a few myself) don't want to see it, but it happens, I do have a problem with a post game- in the handshake line incident, particularly involving  not just a coach, but our coach! Players jaw at each other all day long, but if a coach has a problem with another coach the handshake line-with your already fired up players literally standing behind you (and ready to run through a wall for you) is not the place to address it. What we saw last night was players; right or wrong, thinking they were protecting or defending Coach Mills. He should never put himself or his team into that position. Frankly, he really didn't have much to be pissed about, if you want to press and leave Max in the end of a blow out, you deserve what you get in my opinion. Take your team to the locker room and then you can go talk to the opposing coach in the hall, believe me I've seen more then a few coaches in each others faces in the hall after games.  Don't take your frustrations out on NDSU, get our team playing better!! 

Personally, my recommendation to the university would be to self suspend Coach Mills for the next game! It is ingrained in the players that they represent not just themselves but the university, Coach Mills need to get this behind himself and the team and take a self imposed penalty and then get back to finishing the season as best as possible.  

We are ORU, we need to win with class and we also need to lose with class!!! Go Eagles!  

   

[Old Titan]

See, a perfect example of what I'm talking about:  here's this new kid covering ORU for the Tulsa World, who should be a focal point for a measured response from ORU, someone who in the LONG VIEW might appreciate being allowed inside the story, instead being told that Paul Mills "won't be available today because of travel"??

What, no cell phone reception in North Dakota??  Just how long does it take to drive a bus 80 miles from Fargo to Grand Forks?

Heaven forbid ORU tries to get out in front on this thing, and at least influence the narrative, even if they can't control it.

But instead, it's the same old "stick-your-head-in-the-sand-and-hope-it-goes-away" approach that proved SO successful in the initial wake of the Sutton firing.

This is "PR 101", folks!  Will they EVER learn?

Sorry, but this drives me nuts.  Seen it over and over again for decades from 81st & Lewis, and it never fails to boil the ol' blood.

[theeagleman5]

Yeah....that's very poor PR by Coach Mills and ORU.....address the issue...tell your story and make your apologies.....then move on......Mills seems to like to avoid the issues which isn't a good thing.....ORU40 said it very nicely above....that's the way to handle things....the post buzzer dunk was bad but that's on NDSU....we lost by 18 and got waxed....take our lumps....shake hands and go the locker room....oh well....coaches and kids learned a lesson last night and how they can handle things better.....again, I don't think this is the worst thing TheEagleman has seen.....but ORU is held to a higher standard.....even TheEagleman is getting texts.....lol....

[Old Titan]

On a lighter note:  one fan on the TU message board wondered if they they should look into poaching DJ at linebacker on their football team for his tackling skills, along with Eli as a tight end prospect, to which another poster replied that Lufile would be wasted at tight end in their offense. 

[Old Titan]

18 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

...but ORU is held to a higher standard.....even TheEagleman is getting texts.....lol....

Yep, I've already heard from folks who I hadn't talked to since the Sweet Sixteen run. 

One of them, a "lifer" in college athletics, was succinct in his unsolicited texted commentary re: ORU's heretofore lack-of-response:  "This is a HUGE mistake.  Huge."

[HoopsBison]

37 minutes ago, EagleManiac said:

The issue was the emphatic dunk seconds after the buzzer had sounded, not the initial layup.

I would disagree on the pressing issue, but I am genuinely curious on this and would appreciate feedback. I've seen a lot of NDSU fans on twitter saying we were in the wrong for pressing while the game was out of hand. Is it really basketball etiquette for a loser in a blowout to layoff? I have NEVER heard anything about an unwritten rule for a losing team to lay off, outside of there being a time to stop fouling. As far as I know, the expectation has ALWAYS been that the winning team slows the game and does not continue to play full speed, The loser has no obligation. Am I wrong? 

I have seen teams continue to pressure the ball in games that are out of hand a hundred times and you very rarely seen an offense that takes offense to that doesn't dribble it out. Let alone, goes and dunks after the buzzer has sounded. 

Wont speak for everyone but I dont have an issue with ORU pressing down 20 late, you want to play til the end and thats fine. For me its more so the fouling with the shot clocked turned off. NDSU had pulled their starters, they were content with running out the clock. At one point it looked like ORU was ready to back off as well but an NDSU player went down with an injury and ORU decided to come out and press again, NDSU broke the press and a walk-on player for ndsu took the lay up and points. Some say Mills wasnt mad about that but if you watch the broadcast as soon as NDSU makes that lay up Mills is staring down the NDSU bench.

Certianly NDSU has some fault too, some of our younger guys could have handled themselves better instead of throwing gas on the fire. Im sure both teams regret how it went down.