Hey Willy Wonka - Vadness and the Gusties UNO MAS VEZ!!!

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the great game between St Thomas and Carlton due to work. I did listen to the broadcast however, and have a question. Why would an official blow a whistle because a shot was an airball, unless it ultimately went out of bounds. If the shot clock runs down the buzzer will sound, which ends the possession, not a whistle. I understand the shot clock did ultimately sound. The question was when?

What the announcers described was that Oken-Berg caught the airball and immediately put the ball back up and it hit the rim before the shot clock buzzer. This should have immediately reset the shot clock. Either the action was too fast, or the person with the shot clock button was not alert to the reset. After the ball hit the rim and was rebounded by Oken-Berg, Carlton had 30 more seconds. Oken-Berg shot again (during the new 30 seconds) and made the shot.

Apparently, after much discussion, this is what the three officials agreed had happened, and awarded Oken-Bergs basket. The above event, if it happened as stated, would be, in my estimation, a correct determination and score for Carlton.

The whole key is the timing of the first ball put up that hit the rim. Did it hit the rim before the buzzer? Did it hot the top or side of the rim, or did it hit the bottom? There are five or six determining factors in this play. A very difficult call. that has to be made instantly.

   

Gac"debunker" - You are way off on your "Answer". First of all, Erdahl and Oja were not wide open all game. The first three of Oja's 3's WERE wide open in the first 14 minutes of the game. She was the top scorer in the first half for the Ole's with 9. At half time an adjustment was made and during the second half the only wide open 3's taken were by Erdahl in the last two minutes of the game when she threw up four threes, each from 6 to 10 feet beyond the arc. In the second half, the Gac defense was in the face of both Erdahl and Oja. Erdahl has one of the fastest releases I've seen in a long time. She is almost impossible to stop as her shots were just a continuous motion from receiving the ball. For the year, Jamie Erdahl's 3 point percentage has been .265 - this game she shot .40. Kelsie Oja had a .273 average and this game shot .46. They both were hot this game!!! Fan's were heard to say" How did she get that off and how did it ever go in? In particular, this was true of Erdahl whose quick release and an arc that looked like it could hit the ceiling were unbelievable. Both of these players deserve credit for an exceptional game.

Now, about defense. GAC has at least 6 different defenses they can use during a game. Two of them are a form of ZONE defense. One of the assistants on the bench, as part of their duties, keeps track of the type of defense being used at any time during the game to assist coaches in making  strategic adjustments.

The ZONE was used by GAC for 4 minutes 38 seconds in the game with the OLE's.

Reporting what one observes at a game is one thing - making judgements based on pure statistics and heresay and then making comment toward the coaching is poor judgement. Especially when you are supposed to be a Gac"backer".

 ???The board certainly is quite today! It looks like it's anyones ballgame in the MIAC this year and it appears almost certain that there will be only one team going beyond the playoff tournament this year. Any comments out there, or is everyone in shock?

All in all, the young Gusties team had a good trip. Beating UW-Eau-Claire (24), losing by 1 point to Carroll (23) and then losing to another winning bracket team, Maryville in overtime shows they are developing more as a cohesive team with every game. They should be a strong contender in the MIAC race!

I can't imagine what the third game looked like. The stats look like the game was won at the foul line and not by shooting percentage but number of opportunities. In addition, 48 game turnovers - what's this?

The Stats

                               GAC                             Maryville
Field Goals        25-56  44.6%              21-61  34.4%
3-point FGs         6-20  30.0%                5-17  29.4%
Free Throws        8-11  72.7%              21-32  65.6%
Reb ()-D)           37 (5-32)                     41 (15-26)
Turnovers               26                                 22

Guess I'll have to wait 'til I see someone who saw the game to put this into perspective. 

Buf: The tournament bracket shows the winner of the losers bracket gets #4, which has just turned out to be Point Lomas. If Gusties win they get 3rd and if they lose they get 5th.
Go Gusties!!!

LaRams: I just checked the link mentioned above and for some reason it is not working. The direct link to "live stata" at Point Loma is: www.pointloma.edu/Athletics/Livestats.htm.

Gusties play the Maryville Saints out of St Louis, MO at 2 PM (4 PM Minnesota Central time). Maryville defeated Rivier College (NH) in their first game and lost to UW-Stevens Point in their second game. This game will determine whether Gusties finish 3rd or 5th in the tournament.

Needless to say, the Gusties have made a good showing so far in this tournament beating the 24th ranked team (UW-Eau Claire) and losing by 1 point in a nail biter to the 23rd ranked team (Carroll).

Live Stats are available to follow the game. Go to the Gusties web site, Womens Basketball. At the end of the paragraph under News click on the link.

Go Gusties !!!

GAC up 37 - 30 over Carroll at half

Go Gusties

OOPS - You guys are right. The National Rankings have UW Stevens Point (12), Carroll (23) Eau Claire (24). In their preview, Point Loma actually had Stevens point on top, with Eau Claire listed second and Carroll 3rd. You are right, it was not actually seeding.

Vadnais again had an opportunity due to good efforts by the rest of the team to do what she does well. She was 5 of 10 with three of them from behind the arc for a total of 20 (with free throws). Taking some pressure off her was Katie Layman with 11, Emily Nelson with 9, Julia Schultz with 8, Radke with 6 and Peterson with 4.

Go Gusties!!!

GAC defeats UW Eau Claire (Top Seed) in Surf and Slam Tournament Game 1. Final Score GAC 65 UWEC 60

Although I think, as well as some others posting, two divisions would be good for the MIAC. Apparently, most coaches and/or ADs do not think so as I have been informed that it has been discussed many times and nothing has come of it. One of the objections is that the top teams in each division would only play the other divisions top team once each season. The loser would not have the opportunity to a rematch to even the score during the season. If we are interested in keeping the MIAC isolated, like an inbred family, then, due to lack of exposure we have no reason to expect national recognition. Individual strong teams will have a hard time rising above the total "MIAC perception". There certainly is a solution somewhere.

What say you...?

I agree with She-Scores51, Collegeville Magic and LaRams on the idea of a northern and southern division of the MIAC (with or without Northwestern and Scholastica).

This will not have much to do with individual player skills but will put the MIAC more on the National map. Each MIAC team will have a chance to select games with teams at a level that will best help their team develop or gain exposure. It doesn't do the top MIAC teams much good to play the teams at the bottom of the MIAC twice when it comes to National recognition. The top MIAC teams can match up against higher ranked teams to possibly gain more recognition and give a better chance for the MIAC to gain an "at large" spot. Teams rebuilding can select non-conference matches with teams at a level or a playing style that will best help them develop.

Another benefit of two divisions with each team playing each other team in their own division twice and each team in the other division once is the fact that the four teams out there in "plumb nelly" (Concordia, St Marys, Carlton & St Olaf) would only have to make a long trip to the other corner of the State every other year.

Without Northwestern and Scholastica there would be 9 non conference games. With them, there would be 7 non conference games. With the possibilty of a three game tournament at Thanksgiving and or Christmas break and pre-season games which are already played, the opportunity for national exposure and opportunity to
see what's out there is greatly expanded. How many conferences are there that play 22 conference games?

A physical point - it would be a coach, player and trainer option as to how much a particularly important player to the team might play in a non-conference game. It's a lot easier to give an injured player a chance to rest non-conference than when competing in conference.

A side comment on injured players in response to to how St Ben's is so handicapped and that only great coaching keeps them up there at the top. Be it known that the Gusties have had three players go down with acl's this year. One would have probably been the starting point guard (summer league injury), one was one of the top rebounders and defensive players and the other was also a point guard. There are other coaches who regularly have players out with injury, or have players that have injuries that do not keep them from playing, but they play with extreme pain.

Losing a strong current point guard is a large loss, I give Mike a lot of credit, but he is not the "Lone Ranger".

WW - Your post about the officials at the Gac-Bethel game was right on! Anybody who witnessed that game would have to agree that it was among the worst officiated games in MIAC history. At least it was in the last 9 years I have watched MIAC games, and I have only missed 6 games in nine years. What is the review process for the officials who referee in MIAC? I understand the coaches can send in reports to the head of the officials. If they are not already, maybe some game films should be sent in for review. While the game was degenerating into a rugby match, one of referees big concern was that the Gustavus coach was 1 to 2 feet outside of the "coaching box".

Saturdays game against St Ben is a big game. We can only hope that we have an officiating crew that has some professional ability. These are two very good, well coached teams who like every other team deserve something better than what MIAC has been getting so they can concentrate on playing their best basketball.

Willy, I missed the intent or meaning of the "Trisha Neibur redux". What's that?
All I remember is that Trisha played three years under Peg and her senior year under Micky. I always wondered why she was not used more effectively at post.

As an afterthought to the schedule. It would be interesting to check with the athletic trainers across the MIAC to see if this season has produced more fatigue and injuries
this year than prior years for both the men's and women's leagues. If the statistics prove out, it would be a strong point toward more reasonable future schedules.