January 21, 2025 • 10 mins
UND Women's Basketball Assistant Associate Head Coach Dennis Hutter discusses the game with South Dakota State and looks ahead to taking on the NDSU Bison.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And we welcome you back here to Hawk Talk downtown
Grand Forks Paul Rawlston. Along with Tim Hennessey. We're now
joined by associate head coach of northakot To women's basketball
Dennis Hutter. Everybody, first time on Hawk Talk from the
five ZHO six post. Yeah, welcome coach.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Glad to have you here, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
You know you Indie women's basketball last week a huge,
huge win on Thursday, really took it to South Dakota.
Really played such a great team game. I was from
what I was able to gather and watch and follow
along through Jack and stuff, But you know, I just
was really thrilled with the way or that was on
Wednesday night, Really thrilled with the way you played a
team game. Was that maybe the overall takeaway from Wednesday's
(00:41):
game against South Dakota.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, I think so. I thought it was a game
where the kids played really well together, stuck to the
game plan, and really just kind of, you know, played
for each other, which is something that we've been spending
a lot of time talking about, which is just trying
to be a family and understanding what it means to
be a great teammate. And I just thought there was
a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, and a
lot of genuine excitement and support for each other when
(01:03):
players were having success on the floor. And then it
just starts to breathe through the program. It starts to
permeate through the program in regards to just wanting to
have that feeling and have that feeling, and it's kind
of taken off. It had started since we've come back
from Christmas, to be honest with you, but it really
took off and really showed itself against USD.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, and I just look at it from a standpoint
of you know, you saw so many different performers in
that game, whether it be omor getting free and finding
shots and shooting with confidence. But nobody really forced an issue.
I just everybody was within themselves and that was so encouraging.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Absolutely, you want to stay within yourself. You know, know
who you are and what your game is something that
we try to talk about a little bit, so they
don't want to play outside your role. And I really
thought they did a nice job with that. Nobody forced anything.
We were talking about this as a staff. There wasn't
very many bad shots taken. We just thought there was
a lot of unselfish play on the floor, a lot
of good shot to better shot to great shots sort
of mentality. And it's amazing when that happened. It's the
(02:00):
success that just kind of follows with it. It's interestingott
a great shot.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Sometimes it's that extra pass that gets into the great shot,
and and and then you look at it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Absolutely trust your teammate a little bit that they're going
to knock it down.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
South Dakota State was the opponent on Saturday. This is
the big bad bully of the some league women's the
summer league in women's basketball action. To their credit, they're
an outstanding program. And what I was really encouraged to
see on the Saturday performance in regards to that was
you could almost see where the where they got you
(02:37):
because there wasn't a lot of separation except for in
a couple of areas. Transitionally, they were able to find
some separation a little bit. Those little things against a
team of that magnitude can just give that separation and
that's where the difference was.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, they're a really good team, and a good
team for a reason. AJ does a really good job
preparing their team to play and they've had that great
success in that great run over the years. And yeah,
when you're playing really good teams, I mean, you have
to play really well. The margin ferrara is so very
small when you're playing teams like that. And obviously transitionally
we got down early and got down by I think
as much as eighteen. But one of the things that
(03:11):
as a staff we were so most proud of is
just the fight that our kids showed. The ability to
compete for forty minutes and to battle and fight and
cut it down to a five point game and make
them use the time out with four minutes left to
go because we had cut it to five just shows
a lot of the tenacity and the grit in the
fight that this young group has. And you know, those
are things that you can build on obviously as we're
as we're moving forward, and when you're doing that against
(03:33):
really good teams, it shows that you do have the
ability to play. You just got to find a way
to do it for forty four minutes because against a
good team you just can't take You can't start off
the first five minutes being down twelve. Has that been building,
I mean where you see the fight fight, I mean
it's been building as you go along. I think it has.
It really truly has. And you know, early in the
year we were struggling turning the ball over and not
(03:53):
shooting the ball very well. And I still thought our
kids were fighting, especially defensively. I really did. And then
what happens is that, at least for me, I feel
like as they start to taste his success a little bit,
they start to see the hard work payoff, and they
want to work more and they want to do more,
and then all of a sudden, the success starts to follow.
And then they learn to just continually fight, and all
of a sudden that just becomes the norm. Is just
battling and fighting and competing and showing grit and toughness
(04:15):
on the floor. It just becomes the norm.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Jossy Schuller, you know, in a game of that magnitude
and an atmosphere like that. Again, you know, I had
three turnovers, okay, But she's handling the ball all the time,
six of ten efficient, three of four from three nineteen points.
The stage obviously not too big for her. I mean,
every night out is a learning experience, and she's almost
(04:40):
surpassing kind of what she should be doing at this level.
With the emphasis that she's having to carry this year.
I just continually be am impressed with what she's able
to do.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Absolutely, the most impressive thing for Jossy the freshman is
her poise. She plays with a tremendous amount of poise
for a freshman coming in and being a grand kid
and going to the hometown school and a lot of
things that can kind of come with that. She has
shown a tremendous amount of poise. And there have been
stretches where she hasn't played great, and there's been stretches
where she's played really, really, really well and shows just
(05:13):
how bright the future is for her. She's a relentless
worker and extremely hard worker, fiercely competitive, That's what I
love about her. Doesn't show it, but is fiercely fiercely competitive,
And I just think her poise allows her to just
battle through a few of the situations where maybe she's
not playing all that well, but her poise just allows
(05:33):
her to just kind of stay with it. And she
has shown tremendous growth. You know, she's very often with freshmen,
do ye not? Really it does take a little time.
That's the thing that's been most oppressive about it is
that that she has shown that since she has been here.
The poise has been phenomenal since she's been here. Obviously
it's you know, probably the way she's been raised, a
testament to her mom and dad, but just her ability
and been playing since eighth grade as well, so that
(05:55):
that has a lot to do with it. But you know,
I mean we've gotten to this level and she has
not looked in any game that we've played. It's been
extremely impressive.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, the opportunity is a one game week for you
as you prepare for Saturday afternoon one o'clock tip down
in Fargo against in state rival and DSU, a program
that is having a solid season again. And certainly you know,
I always say with the rivalry game, it really doesn't matter.
It's just heart and everything else and just got to play,
(06:24):
you know, try to limit mistakes. But if you play hard,
you'll have a chance. I think they're out to twelve
and six start in league. What are they four and
one now or something like that, So it's a big
challenge here, but what an exciting one for your group.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Oh absolutely, They're playing tomorrow night against USD, so we'll
get a chance to see them play one more time
before we play them on Saturday. But what an opportunity.
Every time we step on the floor is a great
opportunity for our team to grow and kind of come
together and try to ultimately be the team that we're
trying to ultimately be. But obviously, rivalry games are fun
to be a part of. They really truly are. Everything
gets amped up a little bit more, and I think
(06:57):
you're kind of right. It's they become very emotion and obviously,
you know, the feelings kind of working there a little
bit and you get a little bit amped up to
play the game. And so it's nice to have a
full week to prepare for it. And they're obviously going
to play tomorrow. But it's my first obviously, and he
gets you und situation, So I'm really looking forward to it.
But no, it's a great opportunity for us to just
(07:18):
again get out and compete and show people the team
that we're trying.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
To how to get them to control those emotions.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that can be tough, can it really truly can?
So I think it starts with our with our staff.
I think it starts with us. Let's not make it
any bigger than it really is, you know, let's get
out and just you know, we got to win tomorrow,
and then we got to win on Thursday, and then
we got to win on Friday. And if we do that,
we hope Saturday will take care of itself. We can't
make it any bigger than it really truly is.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You know, I was tired talking with Tim this morning.
We do a morning show here in town, and I said,
you know, right now, for North to go to hockey
after a tough weekend, the next time you go get
out and play, it's just you got to win that shift.
You gotta win the shift after that shift. And it's
like when you get on the floor in some of
league play, whether it's men's or women's basketball, it's we've
got to win this possession, and if we get defensive top,
(08:01):
that's that's as big as scoring on the next possession. Basically,
it's stringing together wins and possessions that can be so
big in any game, let alone a rivalry game.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Essentially, Yeah, absolutely, the things that you need to be
successful aren't gonna change. I mean, I still have to
take care of the ball. You know, We're still gonna
have to make shots that we're supposed to make so
have to defend so those things won't change. You know,
It's just fun to play high competitive basketball against highly
competitive teams to just kind of measure yourself and see
where you're at. Yeah, and you know, you like we've
told our kids, you want to measure yourself against the best.
(08:32):
You know, we did that with STSU on Saturday. I
really thought our kids showed a lot of fight. You
get another opportunity to do that again. Who was playing
I believe in the summ League championship game last year
against SDS. You another opportunity that for another test to
show people just exactly the growth that we've had. You
want to compare yourself against the tops in the league.
And that's what's exciting about Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
It's it's gonna be a lot of fun. We look
forward to it. I look forward to being down there
for the double dip of women's and men's basketball. It's
nice when I actually get to now kind of have
a little crossover and get to see the ladies again
on the floor and and it's just really exciting to
see them continuing to make some strides here in recent games.
And was really encouraged as a fan of kind of
(09:11):
their strides last week. So coach Hunter, great to see
you us swing by the program. Thanks safe travels home
here tonight. I appreciate thanks for coming in from al.
Good luck this week.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Thanks good night.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
All right, there's an associate head coach, Dennis Hunter of
North Dakota women's basketball. Really appreciate his insights here on
this Tuesday night of Hawk Talk as the undie women travel. Yeah,
no doubt she's out there on the recruiting trail as
these coaches get into that. So I really appreciate here
to hear from our basketball coaches tonight. Into a big
(09:42):
week ahead of basketball. With undie hockey seeding into an
open week, maybe basketball could move to the forefront this
week and have some fun storylines of all. Don't forget,
as I mentioned, go to Fighting Hawks dot com if
you haven't been following U Indie tennis has had a
great start to the season with a couple of two
and oho starts by both the men and the women,
including a seven League peak performer on the women's side.
(10:04):
We talked a little bit about track and field.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
There's some good stories.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Go to Fighting Hawks dot com check that out, and
we also mentioned we are our thoughts are with U
and D football, undie athletics. For those that knew, Ron
Gustafson who passed here just the other day, who played
back in the early seventies for University of NORTHA, got
to football and was a draft pick in the NFL
back in the seventies, so receiver. His passing certainly leaves
(10:29):
a mark to the U and D football community. So
coming up here this week, it's you and D men's
basketball on Thursday night, men's and women's basketball on Saturday,
and a whole lot more. So make sure you go
to Fighting Hawks dot com for that. For Tim Hennessey
along with Chris Hunter at her flag Ship Studios downtown
Grand Forks, we want to make sure you are welcome
to come on out and join us each and every Tuesday,
right back here from six to seven for another edition
(10:51):
of Hawk TALC. Until then, let's have a great week
and we'll see you back here next Tuesday night.
And we welcome you back here to Hawk Talk downtown
Grand Forks Paul Rawlston. Along with Tim Hennessey. We're now
joined by associate head coach of northakot To women's basketball
Dennis Hutter. Everybody, first time on Hawk Talk from the
five ZHO six post. Yeah, welcome coach.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Glad to have you here, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
You know you Indie women's basketball last week a huge,
huge win on Thursday, really took it to South Dakota.
Really played such a great team game. I was from
what I was able to gather and watch and follow
along through Jack and stuff, But you know, I just
was really thrilled with the way or that was on
Wednesday night, Really thrilled with the way you played a
team game. Was that maybe the overall takeaway from Wednesday's
(00:41):
game against South Dakota.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, I think so. I thought it was a game
where the kids played really well together, stuck to the
game plan, and really just kind of, you know, played
for each other, which is something that we've been spending
a lot of time talking about, which is just trying
to be a family and understanding what it means to
be a great teammate. And I just thought there was
a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, and a
lot of genuine excitement and support for each other when
(01:03):
players were having success on the floor. And then it
just starts to breathe through the program. It starts to
permeate through the program in regards to just wanting to
have that feeling and have that feeling, and it's kind
of taken off. It had started since we've come back
from Christmas, to be honest with you, but it really
took off and really showed itself against USD.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, and I just look at it from a standpoint
of you know, you saw so many different performers in
that game, whether it be omor getting free and finding
shots and shooting with confidence. But nobody really forced an issue.
I just everybody was within themselves and that was so encouraging.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Absolutely, you want to stay within yourself. You know, know
who you are and what your game is something that
we try to talk about a little bit, so they
don't want to play outside your role. And I really
thought they did a nice job with that. Nobody forced anything.
We were talking about this as a staff. There wasn't
very many bad shots taken. We just thought there was
a lot of unselfish play on the floor, a lot
of good shot to better shot to great shots sort
of mentality. And it's amazing when that happened. It's the
(02:00):
success that just kind of follows with it. It's interestingott
a great shot.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Sometimes it's that extra pass that gets into the great shot,
and and and then you look at it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Absolutely trust your teammate a little bit that they're going
to knock it down.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
South Dakota State was the opponent on Saturday. This is
the big bad bully of the some league women's the
summer league in women's basketball action. To their credit, they're
an outstanding program. And what I was really encouraged to
see on the Saturday performance in regards to that was
you could almost see where the where they got you
(02:37):
because there wasn't a lot of separation except for in
a couple of areas. Transitionally, they were able to find
some separation a little bit. Those little things against a
team of that magnitude can just give that separation and
that's where the difference was.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, they're a really good team, and a good
team for a reason. AJ does a really good job
preparing their team to play and they've had that great
success in that great run over the years. And yeah,
when you're playing really good teams, I mean, you have
to play really well. The margin ferrara is so very
small when you're playing teams like that. And obviously transitionally
we got down early and got down by I think
as much as eighteen. But one of the things that
(03:11):
as a staff we were so most proud of is
just the fight that our kids showed. The ability to
compete for forty minutes and to battle and fight and
cut it down to a five point game and make
them use the time out with four minutes left to
go because we had cut it to five just shows
a lot of the tenacity and the grit in the
fight that this young group has. And you know, those
are things that you can build on obviously as we're
as we're moving forward, and when you're doing that against
(03:33):
really good teams, it shows that you do have the
ability to play. You just got to find a way
to do it for forty four minutes because against a
good team you just can't take You can't start off
the first five minutes being down twelve. Has that been building,
I mean where you see the fight fight, I mean
it's been building as you go along. I think it has.
It really truly has. And you know, early in the
year we were struggling turning the ball over and not
(03:53):
shooting the ball very well. And I still thought our
kids were fighting, especially defensively. I really did. And then
what happens is that, at least for me, I feel
like as they start to taste his success a little bit,
they start to see the hard work payoff, and they
want to work more and they want to do more,
and then all of a sudden, the success starts to follow.
And then they learn to just continually fight, and all
of a sudden that just becomes the norm. Is just
battling and fighting and competing and showing grit and toughness
(04:15):
on the floor. It just becomes the norm.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Jossy Schuller, you know, in a game of that magnitude
and an atmosphere like that. Again, you know, I had
three turnovers, okay, But she's handling the ball all the time,
six of ten efficient, three of four from three nineteen points.
The stage obviously not too big for her. I mean,
every night out is a learning experience, and she's almost
(04:40):
surpassing kind of what she should be doing at this level.
With the emphasis that she's having to carry this year.
I just continually be am impressed with what she's able
to do.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Absolutely, the most impressive thing for Jossy the freshman is
her poise. She plays with a tremendous amount of poise
for a freshman coming in and being a grand kid
and going to the hometown school and a lot of
things that can kind of come with that. She has
shown a tremendous amount of poise. And there have been
stretches where she hasn't played great, and there's been stretches
where she's played really, really, really well and shows just
(05:13):
how bright the future is for her. She's a relentless
worker and extremely hard worker, fiercely competitive, That's what I
love about her. Doesn't show it, but is fiercely fiercely competitive,
And I just think her poise allows her to just
battle through a few of the situations where maybe she's
not playing all that well, but her poise just allows
(05:33):
her to just kind of stay with it. And she
has shown tremendous growth. You know, she's very often with freshmen,
do ye not? Really it does take a little time.
That's the thing that's been most oppressive about it is
that that she has shown that since she has been here.
The poise has been phenomenal since she's been here. Obviously
it's you know, probably the way she's been raised, a
testament to her mom and dad, but just her ability
and been playing since eighth grade as well, so that
(05:55):
that has a lot to do with it. But you know,
I mean we've gotten to this level and she has
not looked in any game that we've played. It's been
extremely impressive.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, the opportunity is a one game week for you
as you prepare for Saturday afternoon one o'clock tip down
in Fargo against in state rival and DSU, a program
that is having a solid season again. And certainly you know,
I always say with the rivalry game, it really doesn't matter.
It's just heart and everything else and just got to play,
(06:24):
you know, try to limit mistakes. But if you play hard,
you'll have a chance. I think they're out to twelve
and six start in league. What are they four and
one now or something like that, So it's a big
challenge here, but what an exciting one for your group.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Oh absolutely, They're playing tomorrow night against USD, so we'll
get a chance to see them play one more time
before we play them on Saturday. But what an opportunity.
Every time we step on the floor is a great
opportunity for our team to grow and kind of come
together and try to ultimately be the team that we're
trying to ultimately be. But obviously, rivalry games are fun
to be a part of. They really truly are. Everything
gets amped up a little bit more, and I think
(06:57):
you're kind of right. It's they become very emotion and obviously,
you know, the feelings kind of working there a little
bit and you get a little bit amped up to
play the game. And so it's nice to have a
full week to prepare for it. And they're obviously going
to play tomorrow. But it's my first obviously, and he
gets you und situation, So I'm really looking forward to it.
But no, it's a great opportunity for us to just
(07:18):
again get out and compete and show people the team
that we're trying.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
To how to get them to control those emotions.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that can be tough, can it really truly can?
So I think it starts with our with our staff.
I think it starts with us. Let's not make it
any bigger than it really is, you know, let's get
out and just you know, we got to win tomorrow,
and then we got to win on Thursday, and then
we got to win on Friday. And if we do that,
we hope Saturday will take care of itself. We can't
make it any bigger than it really truly is.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You know, I was tired talking with Tim this morning.
We do a morning show here in town, and I said,
you know, right now, for North to go to hockey
after a tough weekend, the next time you go get
out and play, it's just you got to win that shift.
You gotta win the shift after that shift. And it's
like when you get on the floor in some of
league play, whether it's men's or women's basketball, it's we've
got to win this possession, and if we get defensive top,
(08:01):
that's that's as big as scoring on the next possession. Basically,
it's stringing together wins and possessions that can be so
big in any game, let alone a rivalry game.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Essentially, Yeah, absolutely, the things that you need to be
successful aren't gonna change. I mean, I still have to
take care of the ball. You know, We're still gonna
have to make shots that we're supposed to make so
have to defend so those things won't change. You know,
It's just fun to play high competitive basketball against highly
competitive teams to just kind of measure yourself and see
where you're at. Yeah, and you know, you like we've
told our kids, you want to measure yourself against the best.
(08:32):
You know, we did that with STSU on Saturday. I
really thought our kids showed a lot of fight. You
get another opportunity to do that again. Who was playing
I believe in the summ League championship game last year
against SDS. You another opportunity that for another test to
show people just exactly the growth that we've had. You
want to compare yourself against the tops in the league.
And that's what's exciting about Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
It's it's gonna be a lot of fun. We look
forward to it. I look forward to being down there
for the double dip of women's and men's basketball. It's
nice when I actually get to now kind of have
a little crossover and get to see the ladies again
on the floor and and it's just really exciting to
see them continuing to make some strides here in recent games.
And was really encouraged as a fan of kind of
(09:11):
their strides last week. So coach Hunter, great to see
you us swing by the program. Thanks safe travels home
here tonight. I appreciate thanks for coming in from al.
Good luck this week.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Thanks good night.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
All right, there's an associate head coach, Dennis Hunter of
North Dakota women's basketball. Really appreciate his insights here on
this Tuesday night of Hawk Talk as the undie women travel. Yeah,
no doubt she's out there on the recruiting trail as
these coaches get into that. So I really appreciate here
to hear from our basketball coaches tonight. Into a big
(09:42):
week ahead of basketball. With undie hockey seeding into an
open week, maybe basketball could move to the forefront this
week and have some fun storylines of all. Don't forget,
as I mentioned, go to Fighting Hawks dot com if
you haven't been following U Indie tennis has had a
great start to the season with a couple of two
and oho starts by both the men and the women,
including a seven League peak performer on the women's side.
(10:04):
We talked a little bit about track and field.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
There's some good stories.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Go to Fighting Hawks dot com check that out, and
we also mentioned we are our thoughts are with U
and D football, undie athletics. For those that knew, Ron
Gustafson who passed here just the other day, who played
back in the early seventies for University of NORTHA, got
to football and was a draft pick in the NFL
back in the seventies, so receiver. His passing certainly leaves
(10:29):
a mark to the U and D football community. So
coming up here this week, it's you and D men's
basketball on Thursday night, men's and women's basketball on Saturday,
and a whole lot more. So make sure you go
to Fighting Hawks dot com for that. For Tim Hennessey
along with Chris Hunter at her flag Ship Studios downtown
Grand Forks, we want to make sure you are welcome
to come on out and join us each and every Tuesday,
right back here from six to seven for another edition
(10:51):
of Hawk TALC. Until then, let's have a great week
and we'll see you back here next Tuesday night.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.