MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TearDrop]

Its like a ghost town in here...J's played well at times in the win over SMU, Will Wright continues to be a real talent but the player on the floor who got my attention was point guard Lukas Holland, very underrated for what he can do...

Nice road win for the Oles, that definitely got SJU's attention heading into their meeting tomorrow night...

Not to bring up an old conversation... but maybe so underrated that he deserves to be mentioned in the best PG in the MIAC conversation??? 

[VOJ]

Its like a ghost town in here...J's played well at times in the win over SMU, Will Wright continues to be a real talent but the player on the floor who got my attention was point guard Lukas Holland, very underrated for what he can do...

Nice road win for the Oles, that definitely got SJU's attention heading into their meeting tomorrow night...

Not to bring up an old conversation... but maybe so underrated that he deserves to be mentioned in the best PG in the MIAC conversation??? 

I would say yes because he has scoring skills and he can set up his teammates as well, but there are some other great talents at the point across the MIAC as well.

[Nites]

I noticed that Michael Much didn't make an appearance for Bethel in its win over Concordia.  He's a valuable part of the team.  Anyone know what happened and whether he'll be playing tonight?

[jquentint]

Its like a ghost town in here...J's played well at times in the win over SMU, Will Wright continues to be a real talent but the player on the floor who got my attention was point guard Lukas Holland, very underrated for what he can do...

Nice road win for the Oles, that definitely got SJU's attention heading into their meeting tomorrow night...

Not to bring up an old conversation... but maybe so underrated that he deserves to be mentioned in the best PG in the MIAC conversation??? 

ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO (Min. 3.0 assists/game)
## Player-Team               Cl  G Asst   Avg Turn   Avg  Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------
1.Mike DesLauriers-GAC.....     3   13   4.3    4   1.3   3.25
2.Brett Tuma-UST...........     5   16   3.2    5   1.0   3.20
3.Cory Laugen-BU...........     4   12   3.0    4   1.0   3.00
4.Lonnie Robinson-UST......     5   21   4.2    8   1.6   2.63
5.Matthew Quammen-AUG......     3    9   3.0    4   1.3   2.25
6.Matt Christensen-STO.....     4   12   3.0    6   1.5   2.00
   Bryan Rosett-CAR.........     4   12   3.0    6   1.5   2.00
8.Jon Cassens-AUG..........     4   20   5.0   11   2.8   1.82
9.Karl Olson-CC............     5   15   3.0    9   1.8   1.67
10.Blaise Davis-CAR.........     4   14   3.5    9   2.3   1.56
11.Andy Burns-SJU...........     4   20   5.0   13   3.3   1.54
12.Brandon Hayes-HU.........     5   16   3.2   11   2.2   1.45
13.Aaron Burtzel-SJU........     4   13   3.3   13   3.3   1.00

Lukas Holland is a very good player but I would not call him a point guard.  I think he is scorer or two guard-he is not in the top ten in assist to turnover a key stat for point guards.

[Drake Palmer]

There have been some slight personnel shifts over the holiday break.  Some not so obvious, & others jump right out at you - Jeremy Sutherland, Tony Thrasher, & the addition of Stoddard Barnhill to Hamline's lineup. I understand Thrasher's injury is his ankle/calf & he might return for tonight's game or by the end of the week. A player who is done for the year is Hamline's SR transfer Bobby Morrow. He had a bad ankle when he arrived at Hamline this fall & as the season progressed, the condition steadily worsened. It has now reached the point where he's looking at a possible medical redshirt.

Mike Much added some much needed grittiness & hustle to the Bethel team when I saw him play last year.  It looks like Jr. transfer Nate Robertson somewhat offsets Much's presence absence, but Mike was valuable since he could defend on both the interior & out on the wing. His play will be missed if he doesn't return to the Royals lineup.

Holden Bigler Johnson - a promising Fy for the Scots last year is still hobbling around with a bad ankle from the beginning of the basketball season.

[Drake Palmer]

VOJ is right – where is everyone??


Bethel 90-75 over Hamline.


Augsburg 71-69 over Concordia.  After a missed FT by John Fraase which would have given the Cobbs a one point lead over Augsburg, Jon Cassens pushed the ball up the court, passed to Matt Quammen who hits a 15 foot jumper at the buzzer in OT to beat Concordia 71-69.

Carleton in a close, but comfortable win over SMU 70-62.  Zorro with a dub, dub 22 pts & 11 rebs, Rosett with 24 pts.   Will Wright is the leading scorer in the game with 25 pnts.

Gustavus demolishes MAC 91-37

And in the blue plate upset special of the night the Oles beat the Johnnies in C-ville 71-59.  At first glance the key difference seems to have been the foul disparity.  The Oles try to pound the ball inside and are rewarded for their efforts as they go 12-15 from the charity stripe.  Jays are 4-9 from the FT line. Or, were the Johnnies trying to play catch up & deliberately fouling in the closing minutes of the game?

[TearDrop]

Its like a ghost town in here...J's played well at times in the win over SMU, Will Wright continues to be a real talent but the player on the floor who got my attention was point guard Lukas Holland, very underrated for what he can do...

Nice road win for the Oles, that definitely got SJU's attention heading into their meeting tomorrow night...

Not to bring up an old conversation... but maybe so underrated that he deserves to be mentioned in the best PG in the MIAC conversation??? 

ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO (Min. 3.0 assists/game)
## Player-Team               Cl  G Asst   Avg Turn   Avg  Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------
1.Mike DesLauriers-GAC.....     3   13   4.3    4   1.3   3.25
2.Brett Tuma-UST...........     5   16   3.2    5   1.0   3.20
3.Cory Laugen-BU...........     4   12   3.0    4   1.0   3.00
4.Lonnie Robinson-UST......     5   21   4.2    8   1.6   2.63
5.Matthew Quammen-AUG......     3    9   3.0    4   1.3   2.25
6.Matt Christensen-STO.....     4   12   3.0    6   1.5   2.00
   Bryan Rosett-CAR.........     4   12   3.0    6   1.5   2.00
8.Jon Cassens-AUG..........     4   20   5.0   11   2.8   1.82
9.Karl Olson-CC............     5   15   3.0    9   1.8   1.67
10.Blaise Davis-CAR.........     4   14   3.5    9   2.3   1.56
11.Andy Burns-SJU...........     4   20   5.0   13   3.3   1.54
12.Brandon Hayes-HU.........     5   16   3.2   11   2.2   1.45
13.Aaron Burtzel-SJU........     4   13   3.3   13   3.3   1.00

Lukas Holland is a very good player but I would not call him a point guard.  I think he is scorer or two guard-he is not in the top ten in assist to turnover a key stat for point guards.

Point taken about Holland being more of a two. But I would argue that he is the point because he is the primary ball handler for SMU and also he is one of two primary scorers which takes away from his assists. I would have to think that his assist numbers would be better if he had more than one legitimate option to pass to for a scoring threat. Also, I am not sure that the offense that SMU is now running really leads to that many assist opportunities for Holland.

[Drake Palmer]

Sheesh, and in another heart stopper, the Big 10 loses once again -- Texas 24-21 over Ohio State. For a few fleeting seconds I thought the Big 10 would pull it out.

A question for Willy or others who played at the college level:  In college how were you taught to close out on a player with the ball on the baseline:

1)  Close out high & expect a help defender to come baseline, or
2)  Pinch/ seal baseline & force the ball back to the middle?


More on this tomorrow...

[Chocolate Hoops]

I noticed that Michael Much didn't make an appearance for Bethel in its win over Concordia.  He's a valuable part of the team.  Anyone know what happened and whether he'll be playing tonight?

Much quit the team. Totally fed up with Bethel coach Westlund. I think two others have quit as well......all due to a dislike for  Westlund. Guess Westy has his favorites (Madsen?) and no one else matters.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

fun, entertaining game at Hamline tonight...I love the energy the Pipers play with.. Bethel had a solid edge in talent, but HU hustled like there's no tomorrow.  Balanced scoring for BU-- Laugen, Vavra and Madson, 15 (mostly garbage time) for Robertson (who easily replaces K Foster as the hothead of the MIAC), and 12 for Moberg.

BU dominated the boards (40-26) and was 35-for-47 form the line....the keys to the win

[Nites]

I noticed that Michael Much didn't make an appearance for Bethel in its win over Concordia.  He's a valuable part of the team.  Anyone know what happened and whether he'll be playing tonight?

Much quit the team. Totally fed up with Bethel coach Westlund. I think two others have quit as well......all due to a dislike for  Westlund. Guess Westy has his favorites (Madsen?) and no one else matters.

Thanks, Hoops.  That's too bad.      I think Bethel will miss him.  He reminded me a bit of Brady Brink when he came off the bench because he seemed to have the size and quickness to do a little bit of everything.  I guess we won't be seeing too many Bethel pics from Papa Much.

Sheesh, and in another heart stopper, the Big 10 loses once again -- Texas 24-21 over Ohio State. For a few fleeting seconds I thought the Big 10 would pull it out.

Yeah, baby!   

[sumander]

Sheesh, and in another heart stopper, the Big 10 loses once again -- Texas 24-21 over Ohio State. For a few fleeting seconds I thought the Big 10 would pull it out.

Yeah, baby!   

Nites, Being a USC fan first and an OSU fan second my disdain for burnt orange has reached new levels!

Doing a little box score creeping and I see the SJU starters averaged 35.4 minutes last night with Burtzel playing all 40 minutes. Barmore and Burns played 37 and 39 minutes respectively. My first thought was these guys are going to be worn out by the end of this month let alone the end of the season!

Then I go to the Daily Planet and read Frank's Game Story and see Coach Smith is even chastising himself for playing them that many minutes. Seems to me with 7 games in the next 18 days Coach may want to get a few more players involved.

[piperinsider]

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/sports/local_story_006003928.html?keyword=topstory

Is this the worst MIAC team in 10 years? I know there has been some bad St. Mary's teams and some very below average Hamline and Augsburg teams, but 37 points? That's worse than the 1xx-5x loss Willy and the boys put on the Pipes in early 1999.

[VOJ]

VOJ is right – where is everyone??


Bethel 90-75 over Hamline.


Augsburg 71-69 over Concordia.  After a missed FT by John Fraase which would have given the Cobbs a one point lead over Augsburg, Jon Cassens pushed the ball up the court, passed to Matt Quammen who hits a 15 foot jumper at the buzzer in OT to beat Concordia 71-69.

Carleton in a close, but comfortable win over SMU 70-62.  Zorro with a dub, dub 22 pts & 11 rebs, Rosett with 24 pts.   Will Wright is the leading scorer in the game with 25 pnts.

Gustavus demolishes MAC 91-37

And in the blue plate upset special of the night the Oles beat the Johnnies in C-ville 71-59.  At first glance the key difference seems to have been the foul disparity.  The Oles try to pound the ball inside and are rewarded for their efforts as they go 12-15 from the charity stripe.  Jays are 4-9 from the FT line. Or, were the Johnnies trying to play catch up & deliberately fouling in the closing minutes of the game?

Johnnies only scored 8 points in the final 11 minutes of the game...missed 12 of their last 15 shots according to the game story...very frustrating loss, but give credit to St. Olaf, they played well defensively and Bobby Fong and their post players hit some key shots.  J's will try to rebound against the Auggies a dangerous team who should have tremendous confidence coming off the overtime win

Drake...the foul shots came late because of the J's trailing...here is the other interesting note... Jaryan who had made 19 straight FT to lead the conference and 3 more to start the game last night then missed 3 straight after I metioned that he had made 22 in a row, guess I jinxed him...oh well.  I was very impressed with Koz's young talent, Fong, Jaryan are solid players and Neville from Benilde is going to be very good in this league...he has a good inside-outside game.

My other question is when St. Olaf plays Bethel, with they issue football helmets and shoulder pads to the post players?  There will be alot of banging between two of the bigger teams in the conference...

Tough stretch of games for the J's @ Augy Wed, @ Concordia on Sat and then home vs the Toms a week from Wed.  

[Nites]

Nites, Being a USC fan first and an OSU fan second my disdain for burnt orange has reached new levels!

Doing a little box score creeping and I see the SJU starters averaged 35.4 minutes last night with Burtzel playing all 40 minutes. Barmore and Burns played 37 and 39 minutes respectively. My first thought was these guys are going to be worn out by the end of this month let alone the end of the season!

Then I go to the Daily Planet and read Frank's Game Story and see Coach Smith is even chastising himself for playing them that many minutes. Seems to me with 7 games in the next 18 days Coach may want to get a few more players involved.

Sum - Good to have you check in every once in a while.  You need to get back go posting and not leave it to VOJ to keep us updated on the Johnnies.   

I thought Coach Smith had his starters in pretty late in the game against SMU the other night when the game seemed to be in hand, and I noticed as you did, the high minutes they all logged against STO.

I noticed the other day that Coach Koz seems to like to substitute in waves and he rotates a lot of players in and out.  From the box score, it looks like the Johnnies simply wilted in the second half.


As for college football, Longhorn fans (I'm not a UT alum, so I just have the State of Texas pride thing going) are feeling pretty slighted on the whole BCS thing.  I have to admit, they have a legitimate gripe since they beat OU fair and square by 10 points on a neutral field.  The Longhorns only loss was on the road at Texas Tech (ranked top 5 or 6 at the time) on a last second touchdown right after its freshman safety dropped an easy pick.  One play doomed their national title hopes.  Their game against Tech was their last of a gauntlet of games against ranked opponents - OU, Missouri and OSU.  They also beat Kansas and Rice, both bowl game winners.

HOWEVER, now it's time for my Big 12 bias - Go Sooners!