MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Willy Wonka]

I think you fellas are reading a little too much into my Paulson blurb. I never said he played well. In fact, I'm pretty sure he'd admit that he played poorly. I'm simply stating it wasn't all his fault, as you both — and those I sat with — seem to think.

Consider his first turnover. He caught the ball on the right block with McCoy on his back. He waited a few seconds, perhaps for space to clear or perhaps for a cutter to force the defense to react. Instead, Schmidt and Van Sickle stayed in their strong side spots and watched the ball as their defenders sank. McPartland stood at the top of the key where he isn't a threat and DLo, who doesn't look to shoot, was weak side in an attempt to spread the floor. It doesn't take the best defense in the league to guard such a stagnant set, but the end result was predictable.

If this had happened in practice, Hanson would have stopped play and asked something like "How's our spacing?" Without that luxury, Paulson tried to create a shot and turned it over when the defenders made the easy dig. His other five turnovers in the first half were simply variations of this same problem. The second half was a different issue entirely, as Paulson struggled to make a decision as he tried to discern where the double was coming from after getting pushed out about 3 feet from the lane. He froze, in essence. I'm guessing/hoping he hasn't faced many doubles in a GAC uniform and will be better prepared next time.

To summarize, here are some of the main problems Paulson faced Saturday, some of which were of his own creation:

1. Poor spacing
2. Slow/no movement around him
3. Limited passing options (ability?)
4. Bad decisions to dribble
5. Inability to create hi-lo looks
6. Not fighting for seals against smaller UST defenders to get a confidence boosting layup

Comprende?

[Drake Palmer]

I think you fellas are reading a little too much into my Paulson blurb. I never said he played well. In fact, I'm pretty sure he'd admit that he played poorly. I'm simply stating it wasn't all his fault, as you both — and those I sat with — seem to think.

Consider his first turnover. He caught the ball on the right block with McCoy on his back. He waited a few seconds, perhaps for space to clear or perhaps for a cutter to force the defense to react. Instead, Schmidt and Van Sickle stayed in their strong side spots and watched the ball as their defenders sank. McPartland stood at the top of the key where he isn't a threat and DLo, who doesn't look to shoot, was weak side in an attempt to spread the floor. It doesn't take the best defense in the league to guard such a stagnant set, but the end result was predictable.

If this had happened in practice, Hanson would have stopped play and asked something like "How's our spacing?" Without that luxury, Paulson tried to create a shot and turned it over when the defenders made the easy dig. His other five turnovers in the first half were simply variations of this same problem. The second half was a different issue entirely, as Paulson struggled to make a decision as he tried to discern where the double was coming from after getting pushed out about 3 feet from the lane. He froze, in essence. I'm guessing/hoping he hasn't faced many doubles in a GAC uniform and will be better prepared next time.

To summarize, here are some of the main problems Paulson faced Saturday, some of which were of his own creation:

1. Poor spacing
2. Slow/no movement around him
3. Limited passing options (ability?)
4. Bad decisions to dribble (his & the guards)
5. Inability to create hi-lo looks
6. Not fighting for seals against smaller UST defenders to get a confidence boosting layup
Comprende?

thppt.       and who was responsible for the majority of those reasons you cited?  Paulson.

I'm sure I saw several kickouts from the post when the Gusties played Hamline last week.  Kickout & repost on the opposite side of the lane for Yahweh's sake!! This was one reason why I felt GAC had a chance against UST.  When they played Hamline they were moving the ball crisply, DSK was attacking the defender & then passing to get better angles.  Obviously Hamline isn't UST, but they share a similar attacking style of defense with each other. Another surprise was why Paulson played as much as he did. After his first half I would think they would have gone to a quicker line up with McPartland running a 4-1 type of offense.  They did that effectively against Hamline & Paulson sat for a great portion of the 2nd half. What McPartland gives up in size, he makes up for it with his quickness.
*********************************

[Willy Wonka]

Please ask Moberg/John Jacobs/old Robertson how effective a post can be without proper guard play and another big to complement him.

[Drake Palmer]

Just a question for the board....

Is a winning team a must to be considered for the player of the year award?? If not, why is SMU's Will Wright not ever mentioned in the discussion about the best player in the league?

The MIAC doesn't award a Player of the Year award.  Someone brought this question up on the board last year & I think Mose pointed out that the MVP award nearly always goes to a player on a team who finished in the top 4, or was a playoff team.  The MIAC awards the MVP award only, while the College Sporting News awards both an MVP award and a Player of the Year award.  Typically, the MIAC & CSN's MVP award is bestowed upon the individual who had an outstanding individual season, & was an irreplaceable component in their team's winning record.  The POY is given to the player who arguably had the best overall individual numbers.  For example, last year the MIAC & CSN both gave their MVP award to Concordia's Luke Linz, while the POY award went Macalester's Tom Conboy. In some years I could see where this award could be given to the same player. That would be kind of sweet to see.

At the halfway point of the season, I would say if Carleton beats the suddenly floundering Bethel Royals tonight, I would give the mid-year MVP award to Carl's Zorro & possibly the POY award to Bethel's Tim Madson.  I would also think your guy Will Wright would certainly be in the mix for a POY award, but not MVP.  Also, it would be extremely tough to win the MVP as a soph.  League historian Mose would know for certain, but I believe the last soph MVP was the great Karnell James on that UST team from the early-mid 90s.  Aah Mose, weren't those the days?  The rarefied air of the Final 4.   

It's also tough to get a read on how effective Wright works on the defensive side of the ball since the SMU teams have not had a winning record for a number of years.  And when the Birds do pull off the win, it's usually down in Winona where no one is there to witness it other than the opposing players, & they certainly don't want to talk about it.  So come up to the cities & kick a few teams' butts & the rest of the league will sit up & take notice of Will Wright.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Just a question for the board....

Is a winning team a must to be considered for the player of the year award?? If not, why is SMU's Will Wright not ever mentioned in the discussion about the best player in the league?

The MIAC doesn't award a Player of the Year award.  Someone brought this question up on the board last year & I think Mose pointed out that the MVP award nearly always goes to a player on a team who finished in the top 4, or was a playoff team.  The MIAC awards the MVP award only, while the College Sporting News awards both an MVP award and a Player of the Year award.  Typically, the MIAC & CSN's MVP award is bestowed upon the individual who had an outstanding individual season, & was an irreplaceable component in their team's winning record.  The POY is given to the player who arguably had the best overall individual numbers.  For example, last year the MIAC & CSN both gave their MVP award to Concordia's Luke Linz, while the POY award went Macalester's Tom Conboy. In some years I could see where this award could be given to the same player. That would be kind of sweet to see.

At the halfway point of the season, I would say if Carleton beats the suddenly floundering Bethel Royals tonight, I would give the mid-year MVP award to Carl's Zorro & possibly the POY award to Bethel's Tim Madson.  I would also think your guy Will Wright would certainly be in the mix for a POY award, but not MVP.  Also, it would be extremely tough to win the MVP as a soph.  League historian Mose would know for certain, but I believe the last soph MVP was the great Karnell James on that UST team from the early-mid 90s.  Aah Mose, weren't those the days?  The rarefied air of the Final 4.   

It's also tough to get a read on how effective Wright works on the defensive side of the ball since the SMU teams have not had a winning record for a number of years.  And when the Birds do pull off the win, it's usually down in Winona where no one is there to witness it other than the opposing players, & they certainly don't want to talk about it.  So come up to the cities & kick a few teams' butts & the rest of the league will sit up & take notice of Will Wright.

Yes, Karnell was the only sophomore to win the MIAC's Player of the Year (1995). He repeated as a senior.  Nearly all the winners have been seniors, and nearly every one was on the championship team (much like the league's coach of the year has nearly always gone to the coach/coaches of the regular season champ.)

As unlikely as it is, if somehow SMU could win out and finish in the top 2, and Wright continues his amazing play this season, I could see the coaches considering him. Personally, I'd rate him one of the top 5-7 players in the league thus far this season(conference games only).

For that matter, if we're going to talk about Wright as  POY/MVP possibility, what about Fraase? Same situation as Wright, 16.1 ppg (5th in MIAC) & 12.2 rpg (top in MIAC). Again, he'd need his team to kick it in, but he is putting up some sweet numbers!

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

We're pretty much at the half point of the conference season... if I was naming an All-first half team, I'd probably go with (in alphabetical order):

Alm
Johnson, Z
Madson
Scott
Viau
Wright

Cassens, Fraase, Hipp, Moberg, Rosett and Schwartz would be my 2nd team.

3rd team would be Burtzel, Grzesiak-Grimm, Hamblett, Robinson and Van Sickle.

[ChairmanYao]

St. Thomas beats St. Johns 86-55. St. Johns beats Hamline 81-54. I vote that if Hamline loses by less than 58 points it counts as a tie and hence ends this miserable losing streak. At the very least let the Pipers wear roller skates and fill up on triple burgers before the game to maybe keep it close. Should be interesting inside of hutton tonight

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

St. Thomas beats St. Johns 86-55. St. Johns beats Hamline 81-54. I vote that if Hamline loses by less than 58 points it counts as a tie and hence ends this miserable losing streak. At the very least let the Pipers wear roller skates and fill up on triple burgers before the game to maybe keep it close. Should be interesting inside of hutton tonight

so are you predicting 88-30? even a rabid UST fan would call that a stretch! I think chili (zesty & super spicy) would be better to get the Pipers movin' than C-mobb's patented triple-burger remedy

+K and thanks for the good laugh.

[TearDrop]

We're pretty much at the half point of the conference season... if I was naming an All-first half team, I'd probably go with (in alphabetical order):

Alm
Johnson, Z
Madson
Scott
Viau
Wright

Cassens, Fraase, Hipp, Moberg, Rosett and Schwartz would be my 2nd team.

3rd team would be Burtzel, Grzesiak-Grimm, Hamblett, Robinson and Van Sickle.

For the most part I agree with the all-conference picks. The only change that I think I would make is that Lukas Holland deserves to probably be on the second team or 3rd at the very least. Its obvious that I have my SMU tinted glasses on, but they have not been playing bad lately with very little talent outside of Wright and Holland. I have always thought that it is not fair to punish guys on individual awards because their team is not good. They are not in charge of recruiting and can not control who the coaching staff brings in.

[Russian Mig AK47]

... It was also refreshing to see none of the usual spouting off by some "Tommie come lately" to the message board, celebrating a win by the Tommies over the Gusties. But as quiet as it's been around here, mebbe some smack talking & controversy from someone other than the usuals – WW, AO, a few of the elders, might be good comic relief & perk up the board. 

Drake - Is that my cue?!

I was going to ostentatiously gloat over my former squadrons beat down of the hated Gusties, but in light of what has already been addressed, and Drake's preemptive 'calling out' of my demographic, I will just chip in a couple observations:

The Tommies play a very ferocious style of basketball.  Lonnie and Tyler have the length and quickness to stay in front of anyone.  When you combine that with their active hands, the result is a copious amount of thieveries.  I was startled to learn from the pre-game periodical that the Tomcat's are forcing an average of 19 TOs per game.  Also noteworthy, they are getting as many steals as they are TOs (roughly 12 per game).  The disparity in possessions that creates adds a lot of pressure to the other team to get quality possesions, and forces them to shoot at a much higher percentage if they want to stay in the game.

On the otherside of the ball, pushing the ball up with such a break-neck pace resulted in quite a few easy transition buckets.  I was very impressed with BJ's ability to push the ball up in traffic.  He has good 'handles' for a quasi-big guy.

Wonka - Having only seen Paulson play once (that I can remember anyway), he appears to be a giant waste of size.  Aside from the obvious 8 TOs, he seemed to not think with the pace of the game.  He was very slow to recognize his surroundings/situations.  Maybe he is just young.  When it was evident he wasn't going to be a factor on offense, he did very little to adjust and contribute in other facets of the game.  A guy with that size should snag more than 6 boards in 30 minutes of PT, especially with the quantity of shots that were going up on from both sides.

I do agree with your (Wonka) assessment on the value of Joe Scott.  The offense stagnates a bit when he is not in.  If they Tomcats fail to go deep into the tournament, it will be because of foul trouble.  Historically, they have struggled with 'ticky tack' fouls in the tournament.  The current style of play lends itself to drawing a lot of reach-in fouls, should the officials decide to call a tight game.  Outside of that, the balance, depth, and pace of their game should translate well deep into the national scene.

[Russian Mig AK47]

I would also like to put to rest the hellacious rumors that I had anything to do with the turbulence between Russia and the Ukraine.  It's simply not true.  Quite the opposite in fact.  Once I saw a picture of Ukraine's PM I pushed nothing but 'extra-friendly' diplomacy.  I offered my services to personally mend relations by any means necessary.  I am still awaiting the US Consuate to arrange my personal meeting with Ms. Tymoshenko.

[Drake Palmer]

... It was also refreshing to see none of the usual spouting off by some "Tommie come lately" to the message board, celebrating a win by the Tommies over the Gusties. But as quiet as it's been around here, mebbe some smack talking & controversy from someone other than the usuals – WW, AO, a few of the elders, might be good comic relief & perk up the board. 

Drake - Is that my cue?!

I was going to ostentatiously gloat over my former squadrons beat down of the hated Gusties, but in light of what has already been addressed, and Drake's preemptive 'calling out' of my demographic, I will just chip in a couple observations:

Cmob, look who's back in town-- The mysterious, shadowy leader of the MIAC cartel is alive! Now if we could just round up USTbumkneez, Jimmy Chitwood, Con of the North, Kel Varnsen, Shocker, etc. we'd have a regular rogues' gallery of posters! 

[Chocolate Hoops]

What's with the Herman kid from SJU? He's not played in the last 3 games or so.....is he hurt or are there other factors involved? (If this has been talked about already, I will apologize.....haven't been reading much lately)

WW....what's the lack-of-talent problem at GAC? Thought Hanson was supposed to be such a great recruiter?

[piperinsider]

What's with the Herman kid from SJU? He's not played in the last 3 games or so.....is he hurt or are there other factors involved? (If this has been talked about already, I will apologize.....haven't been reading much lately)

WW....what's the lack-of-talent problem at GAC? Thought Hanson was supposed to be such a great recruiter?

Academics...done.
GAC...still in second place? What's wrong with the talent?

Wonka, others, what is the consensus on the Grey kid from Montevideo? Haven't seen much on him.

[piperinsider]

St. Thomas beats St. Johns 86-55. St. Johns beats Hamline 81-54. I vote that if Hamline loses by less than 58 points it counts as a tie and hence ends this miserable losing streak. At the very least let the Pipers wear roller skates and fill up on triple burgers before the game to maybe keep it close. Should be interesting inside of hutton tonight

So, 64-59 is a win for the Pipers, right? Nice effort from the Pipers.

On an unrelated note, Augsburg is quietly 7-3 on the front side of the schedule and in third place.

Oh, and you heard it here first: Macalester beats St. Mary's Wednesday to break the 0-for-15 slump.