With my boys off this weekend, it looks like Saturday afternoon will be a game time decision for where I will get my MIAC fix  

UST v. BU won't offer much entertainment. It's quite possible that BU's football team will score more points against UST than the basketball team on Saturday

The other four games will be very interesting match ups, all for different reasons. AUG and STO look to defend their undefeated starts against the preseason #2 and #3 teams in the MIAC. Although it's early, those games will be a barometer for how "for real" each program is. With CAR being a little banged up (Jonker), I think they have the better chance of an upset.

Although CON had a deflating loss to UM-Morris to start the season, the Cobbers are on a 3-0 tear since, with a crushing 27 point win over Central College (IA) and a quality win over NSIC doormat (but improved doormat  ), MSU-Moorhead. GAC just lost to that same MSU Moorhead team this past Sunday, and have a loss to a much improved UW-Superior team. GAC is an extremely difficult place to play, especially coming from Moorhead. I give the edge to GAC, coming off the BU dismantling and this being CON's first MIAC matchup.

SMU v. MAC will be a great indicator of where MAC is at as a team. Obviously, on Wednesday, they caught UST off guard and gave them a great go at it. I'm not huge on "moral victories" but if I'm MAC, I'm feeling pretty good about the effort put forth in that game. It's doubtful that SMU takes the Scots lightly, but coming off a loss to AUG, SMU needs to beat a team like MAC in order to keep their early season optimism in tact.

STO v. SJU offers two of the hottest teams in the MIAC right now. As Drake has already stated, SJU went through a rigorous schedule in the non-conference (SCSU, @ UWSP, @ Aurora, @ U Chicago, @ Martin Luther) with flying colors, coming out 4-1 when all is said and done. STO, on the other hand, played a less than impressive non-conference schedule (@ Bethany Lutheran, Luther, Martin Luther, neutral site vs. Loras and McPherson (NAIA D2)), but did come out undefeated @ 5-0, nonetheless. Depth is somewhat of an issue for each squad, but on the same token, both have a legit top 5-6 (4-5 for STO).

Should be a fun weekend of MIAC hoops  

Quote from: MiacMadness on December 01, 2010, 11:46:48 PM
Pretty hard to believe the Scots were in reach of a W against UST.  Looks like Fritz needs to go back to the drawing board if they want to have another dominant season.  9 pt win against the predicted worst team in the MIAC is just not good enough. 

16 mins. out of Hipp in the loss to the Knights??? He only had 4 fouls so I don't think it's due to foul trouble unless he got 2 early ones in the first half which is very likely.  But when they give up 16 offensive rebounds to Carleton I don't understand how he gets 16 mins and only 8 shot attempts.  Anyone care to elaborate?

Hipp was in foul trouble all night and couldn't get into a groove due to his sporadic minutes. He was really effective when his post touches were deep enough but anything outside of five feet allowed for double teams, which he didn't handle very well.

The rebounding effort was abysmal and like papahoops, I almost turned off the webcast at the half. It was discouraging to see Carleton get so many open looks from three, and although they started out ice cold, it was apparent that it would only be a matter of time.

Rieg played a nice game and showed potential to fill some scoring voids for the Pipers.

They need to have some go to sets late in games to get the ball inside. Teams will key on Hipp and Campbell late in close games and they need to put some patterns in to get those guys shots they are comfortable taking.

Congrats to AUG on the win @ SMU. Not an easy place to win, especially when your main perimeter scorer in Quammen doesn't have a great night (6pts 2 rbds 1 asst in 38 min).

Steam rolling by GAC. BU cuts it to 12 with 10 minutes left, only to let it get back up to 23

Didn't catch any of UST/MAC...Love to hear someone's thoughts who was in attendance.

Quote from: TheSuperfan on December 01, 2010, 12:08:51 AM
Holy crap, a fellow piper is slamming me down already.  As far as my "generic comments," I didn't want to go on a 30 line rant about who will win each game and why. Its called a summary. I will remember to make long elaborate posts in the future. IMHO, Palmer is more athletic than Grimm. If you disagree, I hoped as a fellow piper you could be respectful.

I am an HU supporter and will always have an allegiance to the Pipers. I played for HU in the 2000's and have some of my best friends from those seasons. That said, I in no way feel an allegiance to everyone that comes on here posting in support of HU. I made a mistake , I am now aware of who you are and will be supportive of your posts, as I know they are genuinely as a nice guy who doesn't know much about the sport. I hope Carl and Nelly are okay with you posting on here 

FOB, Sorry I jumped the gun on you, man. That wasn't fair of me to call you out, I always get a little ornery this time of year 

Quote from: TheSuperfan on November 30, 2010, 10:27:36 PM

Quote from: fanofball on November 30, 2010, 08:53:41 PM

Quote from: TheSuperfan on November 30, 2010, 08:04:20 PM

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 30, 2010, 05:38:29 PM

Quote from: TheSuperfan on November 30, 2010, 04:37:08 PM
Hey everyone. I'm new to the board and hope I don't catch too much grief. I realize I will have some coming my way. Hopefully you guys will also let me on the pick em's.

Unlike "Mr. Pannell", I will come right out and acknowledge that I am a Piper. I know new pipers have not been received well recently, but hope I can leave with some dignity in place.

I have enjoyed reading this board for awhile now and am finally ready to jump in.

The funny thing is, you have offered nothing but silent jabs at my posts.  First you are a piper, then not a piper player........so my motive was questioned. What is your true agenda? If none quit bringing me up, thanks
Umm, it's not so much if you're a Piper, Tommie, Ole or Gustie etc.  If you're an active player, coaches typically frown upon or discourage their players from posting. If you do post, as some former players have done in the past – be cool about it & don't let your teammates or coaches know.  If you're a family member or friend, be tactful about touting the merits of your homeboy.  Some of us have been posting for so long we forgot why we started.  Otherwise, have fun & go for it.

I expected the first comment to be from Drake, thanks for the warning, but I am no HU ball player and will not tout my biases.

I have been reading the board long enough to know how far boasting about a certain player (relative/friend) goes and hope I am more impartial than that.

I hate to get involved in drama already. Being a piper does not automatically qualify me as a player so that is a moot point. My agenda is to have good discussion about MIAC basketball on the board.

Getting into that, I am very excited for some conference matchups to begin tomorrow. I will be attending the Carleton-Hamline game which should be exciting, hopefully  If Hipp can stay in the game, Mike plays aggressive, they limit their TO's and Pannell shoots like he did against Vista, it could be a interesting game. Also, I haven't heard much about the status of Jonker, Sutherland, or Davis? Are they all doing well?

I expect the Tommies to have a decisive win over Mac, but will be interested in who chips in for Mac.

I also expect the Mary's-Auggies game to also be very close. Palmer does not have the height of Grimm, but is much more athletic and stronger. Should be a great game.

As for Bethel-Gustavus, I expect Gustavus to have a strong start like last year, but Bethel could be a sneaky competitor this year.

Let the real games begin!

I think you have the wrong guy. Someone (Drake, PI, Mose, TD, papa) correct me if I'm wrong, but I would say that Grzesiak Grimm is probably the most athletic five man in the entire conference

Also, this is the worst BU team that Westlund has had since he's been there. Generic comments about every team and then another Pannell name drop  I smell trouble 

I have a hunch that superfan and fanofball might live in the same house  or maybe even the same body  Either way, the more the merrier. I was too hard on you FOB, I hope you stick around.

Onto tomorrow nights match ups...

HU @ CAR:

- The biggest deciding factor in the outcome of this game is whether or not Seth Jonker is healthy enough to play a significant role for the Knights. In 3 games, Jonker is averaging a pedestrian 6 ppg (32% shooting and 0-6 from 3) and just under 3 rbds in 18 minutes. He only played 3 minutes in their last contest in Hawaii vs. Chaminade and I can't help but think he won't be ready to go for the match up against HU. With depth being a constant issue at Carleton, especially on the interior, I see this being a huge advantage for Hipp and my boys.

- The match up between Sutherland and M. Campbell will be very telling in the outcome of the game. If Campbell keeps the match up competitive, it bodes well for HU. Although he has proved to be a viable scoring threat, the ability to guard a player like Sutherland is where Campbell's impact will be most felt this season. HU really didn't have an athlete last year that could match up with Sutherland, so if Campbell (and Hipp) stays out of foul trouble, the two major match ups (Sutherland and Jonker), should be taken care of.

- Carleton has a slight advantage on the wings IMO. Theisen and Biewen are bigger than Schmidt (if he plays), Taber, and Pannell. Their ability to stretch a defense and open up lanes for back doors and posts ups will be big for CAR. Aguirre matches up fine with either Biewen or Theisen and actually has an advantage because I don't think either of those Carleton players can stop him from getting to the hoop, although CAR usually has fantastic rotations and does a good job cutting off straight line penetration.

- I expect some double teams on Hipp. With the 25 pts and 7 Rbds he posted in just 19 minutes last year in the MIAC playoffs, I'm sure the Knights will be making sure the big man inside doesn't beat them.

Carleton has a slight edge in that their core group has some more experience and a more stable system than HU, but I think this one is pretty close to a coin flip.

AUG @ SMU...

Battle between 2 of the 4 remaining undefeated MIAC teams (who woulda thunk it  )

- I'm interested to see what the Auggies do to slow down the big three. Palmer isn't really an "optimal" match up for either Polta or A. Grimm, but he is much too aggressive for Quammen. Their stopper Sorenson will most likely take on the challenge of Wright, leaving the youthful Hines against Holland. The Dawgs need to keep Palmer off the glass or it will be a long night. Seifert has been solid off the bench, so his contributions could also throw a wrench in the AUG plan to steal one in Winona. Those four mentioned players account for a total of 58.5 ppg for the Cards.

- AUG has a big advantage with one of their two posts. I think Palmer can hold his own against either of them, but the other one will have Connolly on him, which spells mismatch.

- A big key for the Cards is keeping their big three out of foul trouble. All three of them play 29+ minutes per game and have a less than sufficient back up waiting in the wings. Those guys need to be on the court for SMU to remain competitive. On the same token, if Palmer can attack his match up and force Grzesiak-Grimm or Polta to foul early, AUG is thin at the four and five spot.

- If SMU lets the AUG shooters (Seidlitz 43% 3fg, Quammen 46% 3fg) get loose, it will be a long night for the Birds. As state above, there will be a match up that is unfavorable in the post, so they need to be careful where they double/help from. As far as SMU is concerned, they need to get to the hoop as they are shooting 5/29 from three on the season for 17% That said, they are getting to the free throw line just under 25 times per game, which will be vital for them as it means Auggie bigs in foul trouble and free points.

I like the Auggies in an 8 point win. Their road success against a couple of solid opponents will serve them well against a "lightly"  battle tested SMU squad.


I anticipate that both GAC v. BU and UST v. MAC will be 20+ point routes.

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 30, 2010, 11:59:02 AM

Quote from: huhoops on November 30, 2010, 09:11:11 AM
DP and TD, I'm in for pick em's. I'd be willing to run it as well. A couple questions for consideration: 1) do we want to do a confidence ranking for picks (1,2,3,4,5)? 2) are we limiting it to conference play, or do we want to include the remainder of the non-conference schedule?

Feel free to add any other contributions that I may miss. I will post tomorrow night's first round of games over on the pick-em board right after this post.

Phew! Good ups Hoops man, +K.    Obviously, you can count me in.  Due to the low responses thus far, I'd suggest limiting the pickems to conference games only. We can add some other contests you,or anyone else might have throughout the season.  The confidence rating game is fun too, so glad you've decided to run that as well.

Moes, Pops, AO, Supe, everyone sign up for Pickems.

What I will do with the non conference games is treat them like they are treated for MIAC teams. It will go on your overall record, but ultimately, what will matter will be the conference games. I will just post each contestant's overall record along with the conference record and confidence totals.

Some great games tomorrow night, I'll try to write my take on a couple later on   

DP and TD, I'm in for pick em's. I'd be willing to run it as well. A couple questions for consideration: 1) do we want to do a confidence ranking for picks (1,2,3,4,5)? 2) are we limiting it to conference play, or do we want to include the remainder of the non-conference schedule?

Feel free to add any other contributions that I may miss. I will post tomorrow night's first round of games over on the pick-em board right after this post.

HU up 39-38 @ the half. Should be up at least 10 right now as BV is shooting 38% and has 11 turnovers but we are keeping them in it by giving up 13 offensive boards and shooting way too many threes (3/13). Campbell with a pretty efficient first half outside of some turnovers late. This is all off of live stats, so I'm not sure if they are zoning us or what the reason for the threes is.

U Chicago up one point 40-39 on the Johnnies. Andy Burns with a nice first half (12 points on 4 threes and 4 dimes to boot).

Quote from: fanofball on November 23, 2010, 08:57:29 AM
Thanks for the warm welcome.  I will continue to post, just dont expect a reply everyday.  As far as whether or not I am a family member, I guess that is for you to decide.  Since I never said I was or was not, and it seems to amuse all of you,  have fun with it.  I did watch the feed the other night, most of it anyway, and will have to say I thought the "trailblazer" (blake nickname, nice btw) did ok, the 3s seemed to be needed at the time and created a momentum shift for HU.  He took a couple charges, and had couple Asst at crucial times as well.   The thing I see with HU, is their (a few players) inability to make good decisions, or for that matter, take care of the ball when a game gets tight.  Fouling a 3pt shooter in closing seconds.....? (I also found the feed from their first pre-season game) It appears they should have won that game too  but decision making again (possibly the pressure?) was horrible,  losing valuable possesions.  So, for the sake of HU fans, I hope that isnt a sign of future games, or you will have a looooong season of leads, and losses down the stretch.  Game the other night was a fortunate win I think, that late call for a flagrant was odd, and I dont think Ive ever seen it called in such a tightly contested game, especially on the road......a foul and TO maybe, but 4FTs and possession sealed the deal, very fortunate.  One last thing.....rollerskating wasnt my thing, too busy playing sports!

No wonder the kid took 9 threes in 15 minutes of play and 5 of them over a 1 minute 20 second span of the game, he's got a yahoo like you encouraging it!!! Listen, I'm all for shooters, especially in an offense like HU's that gets redundant without shooters on the floor breaking up the monotony, but this kid has no filter. He took 2 good shots on Saturday, and made them both. They were passes that came from the inside out or in rhythm on the break. All of the other threes were WAY too quick or WAY too contested. It would be a dream to be a shooter at a school like HU because the penetration comes two or three times, packs the defense, and boom--open jumper. But come on man, there are kids all over the league that can shoot, so this kid is by no means a rarity or deserving of any undue hype.

One thing I thought was very telling in your initial post was that there was no mention of shooting percentage from high school  You're bound to get a fish if you spend all day throwing bait in the river  

Quote from: aero75 on November 22, 2010, 12:32:53 PM
I will paste from this years points of emphasis, I don't want to wade thru the rule book.

quote

Excessive Swinging of the Elbows

Last year, there were increases in excessive swinging of the elbows. This
action should not be ignored because of the associated danger to another
player. Contact resulting from an illegally thrown elbow can cause serious
injury. Consequently, excessive swinging of the elbow(s) is a point of
emphasis.

When the arm and elbow, with the shoulder as a base (pivot) are swung
with a speed that exceeds the rest of the body as it rotates on the hips or on
the pivot foot, that action is considered to be excessive. Contact, after such
an action, shall not be ignored but shall be called a flagrant foul. When the
player's arm(s) and elbow(s) are swung excessively but without contact, a
violation has been committed.

When the arms and elbows and the rest of the body move with the same or
similarly generated speed and contact occurs, that contact is not considered to
be excessive. However, the contact is illegal, and a foul shall be assessed.

end quote

My earlier post left the third option of contact occurring in a normal pivot which is also a foul and that is the real change this year apparently.

I would love for someone that officiates to comment

This is just my opinion but I think the player with the ball should be allowed that elbow's distance to operate with the ball. The ability to sweep through strong and get the defender off you is such an important aspect of handling pressure. It definitely is an added challenge for the offensive player and adds more emphasis to the coaching point that you need to sweep "low and hard".

The part about the rule that I don't like is that there is no element of "aim", if you will. I think it's fairly obvious to tell if the offensive player is aiming for the pressuring defenders head/face, as opposed to if they are simply trying to create operating space. Right 

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 22, 2010, 12:42:11 PM
Aero - Based on your posts, I thought you were a ref. 

Say, in other purple related news, what's happened with former Hamline Piper, SW MN Mustang & current UST Tommie - Eric Clute?  I've not seen his name in the box scores yet, nor was he mentioned in the UST season preview as a player to watch. Does anyone know - "class, class, Ferris (Mose)" I'm looking at you. 

I still contend if he was going to transfer back to the MIAC he should have gone to a school where he could have been a bigger fish - such as Gustavus, St. Olaf, Augsburg, or Concordia.  Obviously the Cobbs need a shooter, or two. 

I believe Clute is injured. He isn't suiting up for games but is joining the team on the bench with Noah Kaiser. It will be interesting to see if the Tommies find a role for him as they will likely be incorporating FY Riedeman more and more as well as combo sport football stud Brady Erving. IMO, the future looks bleek for the man once called "flute", in terms of his role with the purple. The Prophet may have some more up to date info that I on Clute's status.

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 20, 2010, 10:56:41 PM
Pipes Win!!

Hamline beats Elmhurst 71-67 with the special Zebra trapping defense in the last seconds of the game!!  

Down 65-66 with approximately 50 seconds left, 3 Pipers trap the ball after a Hamline basket. In one of the strangest calls I've ever seen, the refs called the Elmhurst player for an intentional, offensive foul for swinging his elbows trying to ward off the Hamline defense. Noah Aguirre goes to the FT line to shoot the technical foul. Aguirre makes both FTs, Hamline gets the ball again, someone else scores a basket for Hamline, (I forgot) & general craziness ensues. Someone else from Hamline makes 1-2 FTs.

Then with Hamline up by 4 points (?), 70-66, in the closing seconds of the game, Aguirre foolishly fouls an Elmhurst player attempting a trey.  The Elmhurst player makes one of 2 FTs, they deliberately miss the last FT, Christian Taber is fouled & makes 1 of 2 FTs to make the final score 71-67?

Sorry for the messed up post  - I sort of lost my head trying to keep up with the last minute pandemonium!  

The Portland Trailblazer did knock down back to back treys.  

Drake, or anyone else that has knowledge of the intentional foul call, what was your take on it? The web-cast stated that in fact the rule on contact to the head by an offensive player had been amended effective this season. Any contact of the sort is deemed intentional, which I think puts the offensive player at a huge disadvantage. I feel that the offensive player is allowed that elbow space to pivot while under pressure and that there needs to be a human element of judgment as to whether contact is intentional or incidental.  So many calls (you could argue all calls) are left up to the discretion of the referees and they are "judgment calls", so why should this be any different? Of course, I was jumping out of my seat with joy when I saw Aguirre go to the free throw line for HU, get the possession, and ultimately pull out the improbable victory through Elmhurst's misfortunes  , but objectively, one could make the argument that the Jays got shafted. I stayed tuned just to see how the Elmhurst coach would respond in his post game interview when asked about the controversial play, and put it this way, he handled it a lot better than I would/could have. He simply deemed it unfortunate and stated that they should have been up by more at that point anyways, basically negating the importance of that one call. Either way, I'll take the first W of the season for my boys 

Bethel rolls over a sub-par Wisconsin Lutheran team. I caught some of the web-cast and it was a really physical game that I thought got out of hand. Highlight of the game was seeing BU's Elliot Risbrudt get crushed on a clean open court ball screen, immediately jump off the floor, sprint full speed into the lane and pummel a WL player that was completely out of the play, the kid goes flying in front of the ref (no call ), then Risbrudt walks over and helps the kid up, ALL WHILE THE PLAY IS GOING ON!!! Risbrudt, as well as numerous other Royals had some serious cheap shots during the course of the game. On a side note, I thought it was pretty tacky that BU didn't hire a student to keep the webcast going for the second (championship) game of the tournament between Trinity International and UW La Crosse in a game where Trinity International actually beat UW-L! The webcast was on, but it was set still on one side of the court and no live state were being kept. Second rate fellas 

Not an amazing win for SMU, but better than Crown. The big 3 held to modest numbers (Wright and Holland had 10 and 9 respectively while Palmer came in with 23), but Gary Siefert is looking like a formidable option off the bench for the Cards. I don't think he can guard any of the premier 4 men in the conference, but the crafty under-sized post should prove to be valuable against the middle tier of the conference.

Point Special said about everything there is to say about the Johnnies game...

A couple of quality wins thus far for the Toms. Any time you go that far from home, with no one in your corner (fans, refs, etc), the wins are difficult to come by. That's a great experience for such a youthful bench. Nicolai was his regular self with 22 pts and Healy didn't shoot it as well as he typically does, but was still productive with 14 pts. My question is, who else is going to step up on their off nights? Last year they had Scott who was obviously a more than comfortable scoring threat, although he had somewhat of an off year in comparison to 2008-2009. They slide Archer to the three this year, Hannon to the four, and Halvy to the 5. This is a longer line up than last season but I'm not sure that they will be as capable on either end of the floor. With Teddy @ the three, he doesn't create any match up problems for other teams, because his quickness doesn't create as many mismatches for most perimeter players. Being that he is fairly limited offensively, he will struggle to give them the scoring punch that he did at times last season. Hannon and Halvy are a traditional four/five duo in that they can both really only guard the four or five position. I like a lineup with either Hannon or Halvy coming off the bench, plug Leslie @ the two, Healy @ the 3, Archer @ the four, Halvy/Hannon @ the 5. This will allow them to pressure a little bit more like they have been in past years and not worry about over extending their bigs. Just an idea  

Hot start for the Ole's. I'm happy for Bobby Fong's early success, although you never know how long lived it will be. The kid has been a walking injury since he got to Northfield. He is such a capable scorer (however outlandish at times) that you simply hope he can stay on the floor for the Ole's. One concerning thing is that the box of the Luther game looks like a box from last year's HU team. Fong with 31, Neville with 15, next guys with 7 and 6 points. When it gets down to grinding time, teams will be able to limit Fong, and someone else will need to be ready to get it going. I see it having to be one of the FY players in Gunderson or Kuck.

Poor Bethel   Those dudes are in trouble, plain and simple. They got off 25 more shots, turned the ball over 11 less times, and STILL lost by 9

HU tries to bounce back after an embarrassing first game loss. The Northwestern team they lost to on Tuesday is nowhere near as good as the NW teams that the Pipes have gone down to the wire with in recent years. It's the same point reiterated, but they need shooters, and they need some solidity off the bench. Whether or not it's from the high school prodigy Tyler Pannell   or the homegrown boy in Josh Pratt, one of the youngsters needs to step up. That's easier said than done, as Whitmore has been known to play musical chairs with his rotation after just one or two losses, seemingly making it difficult for players to get in a rhythm. They struggled with a bad Elmhurst team last year @ home, so I hope they come more prepared than last year, as this is a must win with the tumultuous schedule that lies ahead for my boys. Next 8 games after Elmhurst:

Sun., Nov. 28    at Buena Vista        
Wed., Dec. 1    at Carleton*       
Mon., Dec. 6    Saint John's*        
Wed., Dec. 8    Augsburg*        
Sat., Dec. 11    St. Thomas*       
Tues., Dec. 14    at UW-River Falls       
Thurs., Dec. 30 at UW-Whitewater       
Mon., Jan. 3    at Gustavus Adolphus*    

Awesome balance for GAC in their home opener against Buena Vista. Every starter in double figures led by Mr. Consistency Phil Wirtjes. Sneaky win as BV was picked preseason #2 in the IIAC. It's not the WIAC, CCIW, or even MIAC, but still pretty competitive nonetheless. As long as GAC's continues to be inside/ out, they are really dangerous. They run into problems when they fall in love with the three. A very modest 6/12 from 3 in the first game. They have a much improved Superior team today(away), but I expect them to roll.

Auggies win big in home opener. I'm assuming the Northlanders didn't quite bring MIAC level competition, but it's always good to get that first one under your belt. FY Hines and FY Seidlitz combine for 20 pts and Quammen looks to take a bigger scoring load for the Auggies leading them with 16.

What's up with Sutherland? Hopefully everyone's preseason disclaimer for if J. Suth is injured, doesn't play into effect, as I was looking forward to watching him have an outstanding SR campaign. The loss of Davis for the Knights can't be overstated enough. The way that kid handled UST's pressure last year in the conference semis made him a lifetime member of my "captain cool covenant" Wartburg isn't a terrible team by any means, but not a good loss for a team with preseason conference champion hopes.

Nice win for the Johnnies in Collegeville. Obviously, SCSU is depleted beyond belief. Nonetheless, you play the team that shows up and the Johnnies handled business accordingly. Sam Blank taking on a bigger role on the perimeter will be huge for the John's as Schwartz's consistency is marginal and they don't have "Mr. One Dimensional" Andrew Latzke patrolling the 3 point line. That said, I don't see good things happening @ Point today.

Can't comment on how disappointing that Cord loss is. I know UMACFAN thinks those kids should be able to hang with even marginal MIAC teams, but that's wrong. 90% of UMAC players are kids that MIAC schools didn't want or even try to get. CON starts all seniors and is expected to be a formidable playoff team this season in our conference, there's no excuse for that loss. They shoot 35% from the floor and get out-rebounded by 8. They are not a great three point shooting team by any stretch of the imagination but they still shoot 23 of them in the game and only make 5 in comparison to UM-Morris's 2/4 from three. Get the ball inside!!! Olmscheid is one of the best slashers in the conference (had 0 rebounds in 23 minutes  ) and Fraase can score it as well as anyone inside. Erik Lien can get to the whole and to the free throw line and Hartmann and Olson are your shooters. Molina just facilitates and gets people shots and then Hagemeyer bruises on the inside. Martinson and Ebo fill in accordingly. PLAY YOUR ROLES   don't just run around aimlessly then hope the ball goes into the basket!

Cards are more of the same. It's great to beat Crown, but the three headed monster was the only unit putting in work (although Siefert poured in 10 off the bench). Holland, Wright, and Palmer accounted for 53 points, which means they almost outscored Crown's 57 total by themselves. Maybe this is harsh, but I'm not even going to say someone else needs to step up, because I don't think anyone CAN. Freeman is probably the next closest, which is a somewhat unsettling thought.

MAC drops their first two against Bethany Lutheran and UW Superior. Bethany is a tough match up for MAC as they run and gun and MAC is such a half court grinding team. Neither loss surprises me as they have some new players plugged in and it's so early in the season. I stand by my statement that they will win more than one MIAC game this season.

Quote from: miacsuperfan on November 19, 2010, 08:29:02 AM
after playing ndsu tough, cc of north struggles with a umac team-morris cougars??  really?      the apocolypse IS upon us!
does anyone know who is picked to win the UMESS  this year?   
ust's win over cc of the south was no surprise, though i WAS disappointed to see that tommies have done nothing to get rid of their hideous  purple, impossible to read web pages.   

UM-Morris is picked to win the conference & Dalbey is preseason POY in the UMAC if I'm not mistaken.

More later...

Quote from: miacsuperfan on November 10, 2010, 08:21:57 AM

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 09, 2010, 04:30:07 PM
If you want to see a dangerous shooter you owe it to yourself to check out LAX's Tony Mane.  The kid has no conscience & seemingly unlimited range. With Bethel's style of defense, Mane could easily rack up 50+ points.  

I saw this kid the other night on ESPN.  He torched the Badgers for nearly 30 in an exhibition game in Mad-town.  He was unconscious for much of the game, and then forced up a few stinkers at the end.   You are right on DP, he would be worth a trip to the Robertson Center to see.   Oh, and I like the look of BU's tougher schedule.  Do they have the horses to pull it off?  

Supe, I saw the same game on BTN and the kid was single-handedly breaking down Badger defenders off the bounce and on the catch. This kid goes for 30 easy against BU.  That 6'7 lefty FY (Hanson) was deadly from 3 in that match up connecting on 5-9 three point attempts. I too will be checking out UW-LAX when they come to town.

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 08, 2010, 11:56:49 PM

Quote from: miacsuperfan on November 08, 2010, 10:51:03 PM
+k huhoops.  nice post.   i agree with dp regarding olhmscheid as well.  i have always liked his game, and would not be surprised at all to see him really come into his own this year.

Good shout out Supe!  Lost in the commotion of the latest episode of a "Rolling Brett Childress Gathers no Moss" yesterday afternoon, I forgot to welcome HuHoops back for another season.  

Glad to see you're back & that graduation didn't completely decimate the ranks of the few, the proud, the HU posting faithful. Nice post as usual.   I've got another obligation Tuesday night so I'll expect a detailed game summary of the HU-CSTP match up tomorrow night.  +K & to Supe as well.

DP, I only stayed for the first half of the HU exhibition. Needless to say, I had a much better taste in my mouth leaving Gangelhoff than I did when I saw the final score. A couple of notes before I scurry off to work:

- I stand corrected about the Olafeso twins. They got to the lane at will and HU had no answer for either of their strength or athleticism. I thought Campbell would be a nice match up for at least one of them, but even he had loads of problems containing their attacks.

- Not sure why Carl only played 20 minutes. He only played 12 in the first half and had 0 fouls. His least productive game is excessively better than the next option for HU. 5 steals, 4 blocks, 9 boards, 10 points, in 20 minutes. 

- Campbell was a pleasant surprise. He is a perfect player for HU's dribble drive as he is strong and has a great first step. He even knocked down an inside/out three from Hipp. Although that shot doesn't look real comfortable, he was 1/2 when I was watching  

- The question remains, who is going to score the basketball for the Pipers. The next highest scorer after Hipp (10) and Campbell (14) is a couple guys with 4-6 points. Although Carl is a beast inside and Campbell shows promise, It's just too easy to stop so few scoring options. If last year's team is any indication, when it gets down to nut cutting time, the Pipers are going to struggle to find that 3rd, 4th, and 5th scoring option.

- Josh Pratt was abysmal. It's so early, and the first "real game" he played was against a D2 opponent, but I had hoped to see a little more productivity out of our prized FY recruit. Especially when it is the first "gem" we have gotten from Minnesota since the Whitmore campaign stepped in.

- CSP is taking steps backwards IMO. Without Ricks, Cunningham, Heiman, they are barely recognizable. I'll replace that egg on my face by saying that those two twins are STEALS for CSP. Without those guys...yikes.

That's all for now, I'm sure some other thoughts will come to me throughout the day.

Quote from: Drake Palmer on November 08, 2010, 11:56:49 PM

Quote from: miacsuperfan on November 08, 2010, 10:51:03 PM
+k huhoops.  nice post.   i agree with dp regarding olhmscheid as well.  i have always liked his game, and would not be surprised at all to see him really come into his own this year.

Good shout out Supe!  Lost in the commotion of the latest episode of a "Rolling Brett Childress Gathers no Moss" yesterday afternoon, I forgot to welcome HuHoops back for another season. 

Glad to see you're back & that graduation didn't completely decimate the ranks of the few, the proud, the HU posting faithful. Nice post as usual.  I've got another obligation Tuesday night so I'll expect a detailed game summary of the HU-CSTP match up tomorrow night.  +K & to Supe as well.

Thanks for the warm welcome back fellas. I have a feeling many of my counterparts from a year ago will be few and far between. I haven't come to a conclusion on how I will get through the season with UMACfan (or whatever his name was  )

DP,

I can promise that I'll catch at least the first half of the game tonight and if it's a good one, I'm going to find a way to stick around for the second half.

Notes:

- Look for the Pipers to struggle with Thomas (Soph) as he is 6'5, strong enough to work inside, and shoots the heck out of the ball. I anticipate Aguirre to start out on him
- Interesting match up with Barz and Hipp. Both run really well, are agile on the inside, and long shot blockers. Slight edge to Barz as a shooter, slight edge to Hipp in strength.
- Big Dan V. will get torn apart by Carl. He's too quick and never stops in pursuit of rebounds on either end.
- The two twins from MCTC don't pose any more problem for the Pipers because they play a similar style as HU. Strong slashing guards that get to the hoop and are jump shooters second. HU typically does a decent job of cutting off dribble penetration, so I don't see them being terribly effective. Both are fantastic players, nonetheless.
- I can see Kuderer hurting the Pipes if they have to suck in on dribble penetration. He can't put it on the floor very well, but doesn't miss open threes. The key will be to keep an extra step his way on penetration and post entries.
- For HU, as I mentioned in my previous post, need some guys to step up offensively. Hipp will undoubtedly get his, but how they work off of his post catches and how they are able to execute Whitmore's dribble drive will go a long way towards dictating their offensive success.
- Last year's team was uncharacteristically better at defense for an HU team, so it will be interesting to see how they replace last year's seniors and who comes into their own on that end of the floor. Look for Andy Voigt to come in and play some solid minutes at the 4 and offer some solidity on the interior.