MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Fellas – I found the new QOW.

While I was waiting for the snowstorm to blow over, I thought I'd venture over to the Top 25 board to see what the latest talk was about such as - Where would the top WIAC teams be ranked after their losses from last week, how much west coast bias would Oxybob, a poster from Cali be ranting about, & how many CCIW teams will be ranked.

Well lo & behold SAC, one of the site's All Americans (those guys like Greg Sager whose name appears in green on the bottom of the screen when you check to see which posters are logged in) also has an issue with the latest rankings & the pollsters love for the CCIW. 

Check it out:

The next time I'm listening to hoopsville I think we should play a drinking game.........every time the CCIW is mentioned you take a drink.  We'll be plastered before Bob even gets on the air.

[Gregory Sager]

To further explain sac's joke, the "Bob" in his comment refers to Bob Quillman (aka Titan Q), a weekly Hoopsville correspondent and an Illinois Wesleyan (and CCIW) fan, and not to our resident Cali curmudgeon OxyBob. Far from being somebody who would tout the CCIW on the airwaves, OxyBob is a certifiable CCIW hater if there ever was one.

Bob Quillman is the one Hall of Famer who thinks that green is the appropriate color to indicate us HOFers at the bottom of the login screen.

[VOJ]

Drake...can't you just call Uncle Steve and ask if you can ride up with him??  I know that the shorthanded J's will give it all they can this Wednesday night.  Saturday was a tough one to swallow, with the Cobbs scoring the last 9 points of the game...its a young team learning that they need to play a full 40 to close teams out, especially on the road. 

Jason Fogt
Mike Stiller
Todd Herman
Landon Stanfield
Noah Kaiser

Pretty good 5 that are out for J's, would definitely add depth, shooting and defense...

Sheesh.  It's like the CIA around here.  Guys go missing and nobody talks! 

What the story on Herman, a not insignficant cog on a young Johnnies team?  I didn't even know he was going to be out last game.

No kidding Nites.
 
Voj – You can certainly make a case that the Johnnies' future chances of winning are somewhat diminished with Todd Herman's injury (what's wrong with him?), but these other players? FY Noah Kaiser hasn't played since the 4th game of the season & the other 3 players you listed haven't played all year.  Plus, from what I understand, Fogt opted not to have surgery & decided not to play his senior year.

The SJU 6 game winning streak & subsequent 3 game losing streaks was built on the backs of your active players, & Herman.  Not those other players you mentioned.

You are correct Drake...the active players are responsible for the results of the 12 games that have been played, the point I was trying to make is that the 5 guys who are out demonstrate some good talent that would definitely help the Johnnies chances. 

Herman is out because of an academic issue, they are hoping it will be resolved in time for tomorrow nights game with UST...

[Drake Palmer]

You are correct Drake...the active players are responsible for the results of the 12 games that have been played, the point I was trying to make is that the 5 guys who are out demonstrate some good talent that would definitely help the Johnnies chances. 

Herman is out because of an academic issue, they are hoping it will be resolved in time for tomorrow nights game with UST...

VOJ – I'm sure the other posters are getting tired of hearing me tout the coaches' best seller so I won't  But... at this point I don't really think it matters how many guys Coach Smith has on the bench.  He ain't using them. 

Is Herman's situation similar to the dearly departed Ryan Lieser's case? Academically I hope he gets it resolved & from a basketball standpoint as well.  He's a very nice player & I like his style of play.  The league has a scarcity of players that are nearly equally effective attacking the rim as well as hitting from the outside.  BJ Viau & Lonnie Robinson of UST are both good to excellent slashers, especially when you consider neither one of them are known for their outside shot.  Lonnie's got a good jumper but just doesn't use it that much, but Viau's shot is broke looking.

My favorite recent vintage slasher & shooters were Keith Eckhoff from Cord & Doug Espenson of the Gusties. Eckhoff would glide right by his defender in an almost effortless fashion to attack the cup, hit the pullup, or fake the drive & bomb the high arcing trey.

Espo would just explode on a guy. One of the last moments I remember from Espenson's career, was the championship game against UST in St. Peter back in '05.  I can't remember who was guarding Espenson, but somehow he got a step on his opponent, Ike was looking the opposite direction & Espo turned the corner & threw down a vicious two handed dunk.  The place just erupted!  Espenson hung on the rim for a second, let out a warrior whoop & smirked his way back down the court.  Question for Gusties - can Espenson even smile?  That was an incredible play by a heck of a small college ball player.  Good upps bad one! 

[Willy Wonka]

Your depth is only really as good a coach allows it to be. If these players are so sweet, and you already want to blame tomorrow's loss on their absence, they better have been making a significant impact on the court.

Since most of them haven't even really gotten off the bench lately — and Fogt isn't listed on the roster — I can't really take that excuse seriously. As cmob says...weak sauce.

Speaking of SJU...did anyone else notice Trewick returned to the Johnnies as an assistant this year? Check out the SJU website's interpretation:

Trewick returns to Saint John's for his 10th season as an assistant coach for the Johnnie basketball program following a four-year hiatus where he served as the head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's University in Winona.

Does anyone else find the word choice a little interesting? Like, he took a break from Heaven to visit...somewhere else...and now finally returns to his rightful spot with the glorious Red and White?

[VOJ]

Your depth is only really as good a coach allows it to be. If these players are so sweet, and you already want to blame tomorrow's loss on their absence, they better have been making a significant impact on the court.

Since most of them haven't even really gotten off the bench lately — and Fogt isn't listed on the roster — I can't really take that excuse seriously. As cmob says...weak sauce.

Speaking of SJU...did anyone else notice Trewick returned to the Johnnies as an assistant this year? Check out the SJU website's interpretation:

Trewick returns to Saint John's for his 10th season as an assistant coach for the Johnnie basketball program following a four-year hiatus where he served as the head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's University in Winona.

Does anyone else find the word choice a little interesting? Like, he took a break from Heaven to visit...somewhere else...and now finally returns to his rightful spot with the glorious Red and White?

It was merely a list of guys being counted on this year who have not, will not or won't ever play for the Johnnies the rest of this season or so it looks...weak sauce or not, its a talented lineup that would have helped.

As for Trev...he is head coach of the JV and assists some with the varsity...

Wonka if you thought Cville was heaven, you should have attended...

[columbianmaffia]

  Didn't our politically incorrect friend also have one that read something like - Kootsikas is Hebrew for (was it also a brick?)

haha...i dont think he ever shot enough to get a sign...plus it would be "Greek" for Brick 

i think my favorite OAS moment was when he dressed like he was in the movie braveheart and rode a pony on a broom stick around the gym and threw out candy

[finsleft]

Wonka if you thought Cville was heaven, you should have attended...

He couldn't get in, so he had to settle for GAC. Must've had a cousin in admissions at GAC.

[piperinsider]

  Didn't our politically incorrect friend also have one that read something like - Kootsikas is Hebrew for (was it also a brick?)

haha...i dont think he ever shot enough to get a sign...plus it would be "Greek" for Brick 

i think my favorite OAS moment was when he dressed like he was in the movie braveheart and rode a pony on a broom stick around the gym and threw out candy

Oh Pepe! There has been so many OAS moments...I miss those days. 

[Willy Wonka]

Wonka if you thought Cville was heaven, you should have attended...

He couldn't get in, so he had to settle for GAC. Must've had a cousin in admissions at GAC.

Papa Wonka wouldn't have let me go there, even if I wanted to. But Wonka still found a way to sneak his way into a 25th reunion party at SJU this fall to score some free food. He even "found" one of those hideous t-shirts with Gags' face on it afterwards

"Doc, this is Wonka calling on behalf of Wonka. Wonka wants off crutches, like, yesterday."

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Wonka if you thought Cville was heaven, you should have attended...

He couldn't get in, so he had to settle for GAC. Must've had a cousin in admissions at GAC.

Fins-- will you be in attendance tonight or have you come up with a creatively crafted alibi? 

[nca11]

st. mary's over concordia by 19
gac over bethel by 15
st. thomas over st. john's by 31
olaf over mac by 6
carleton beats auggie by 2 or 3 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

The first word out of my mouth about UST's win tonight is "Wow!" After a so-so first half, the Tommies came out and played the best 6 ½ minutes I've seen a UST team play, perhaps ever. 4 steals, 7 for 8 shooting, a pair of sweet dunks, 6 forced turnovers, a 16-0 run in which SJU mustered only 4 shots (3 of which were rushed, near desperation)—totally putting the hurt on the Johnnies.

70% shooting for the second half, dominating the boards, outscoring SJU 48-18 in the paint and 23-7 off turnovers--- W O W. A mind-boggling display, overwhelming. Balanced scoring, although Halverson was on fire big time in the first half, everybody contributed in the second half.

Nice crowd, a lot of SJU students, which was good to see. Hopefully, they keep turning out, as their team is not as bad as the score indicated—SJU is young but is talented.

[Willy Wonka]

Impressive win by the Tommies. At this point, the rest of the league can only hope they've peaked too early. However, I think it's already become obvious that two MIAC teams won't be making the Big Dance unless someone springs a big upset in March.

Stat line of the Night
Sam Paulson: 6-8 FG, 13 points, 7 rebounds (Bobby J with for 8 and 10 off the bench)
Mike Moberg: 0-6 FG, 0 points, 9 rebounds

Looks like another lost season for the Bethel hype machine.

This season reminds me a little of 2004, though UST is deeper than my GAC team was. There is a clear favorite and their chief rival isn't as strong as in past years (UST finished 6th in 2004, but beat us at their place). Will the Tommies go undefeated? I have to think it isn't likely, but an injured starter (knock on wood) isn't necessarily as big a deal as it would be to most teams given their bench strength.

Can the Gusties win Saturday? They are certainly capable...but I like their chances better late in the year at Gus Young. The Tommies are always tough at home and these Gusties have been too inconsistent to trust them as a road dog. But if GAC plays as well Saturday as it did tonight, anything is possible and that's what makes this rivalry fun.

[miacsuperfan]

i listened to parts of the gustavus/bethel and st. johns/st. thomas games last night.  it is hard to believe that there were ANY fans at either game because of the weather.  the first minutes of the second half for sju must have been a nightmare.  mm's replay said it all.  it sounded like a clinic in how to hoop.  halverson had a great first half--helping put ust up by 12 at the break.  no todd herman again.  what is the latest on his "condition?"   
the first four minutes of the second half also pretty much did the royals in, as well.  a five point halftime lead for gusties quickly doubled, and it was tough sledding from that point on for royals.   over and over gusdavus scored as the shot clock was winding down to :00.   
looks like tommies are going to roll through the first half of the schedule, and by the time everyone makes the turn there are going to be a bunch of teams with 3 or 4 losses.   should be an interesting fight for second place. 
incidently, nate robertson for the royals was injured early in last night's game.  i heard him go down (ankle?) and don't recall hearing his name called again later.  box score had him for 11 minutes.