MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[VOJ]

A couple of interesting sightings in the box of the Carelton v. St. Mary's game.  The first being Jeremy Sutherland was in the box playing 4 mins.  They are a different team with  him in the line up.  My guess is they wanted to see how his shoulder would hold up in some game time action.  They will  probably try to have him ready for the playoffs.  I am not banking on him playing much this Saturday.  I'll have to give coach Kalland a call to see what the prognosis is.
The other is St. Mary's has gotten a nice pick-up with Pat Freeman from Champlin Park.  He must have transfered recently because I believe he was at Crookston.  He is as nice player that will give the Cardinals another threat and a little bit of size height at a skinny 6'7".

Sutherland did not play one second tonight. He is out for the season. I looked through the box score and I think they just added him in for some strange reason.

It's possible that he was added by accident, or as a space-filler, by the Stat Crew operator at a moment when he was unable to edit himself because the game was in action. But either the operator or the SID is supposed to edit such mistakes after the game before the box is posted on the school website.

For what it's worth, I emailed the Carleton SID two days ago and have yet to hear back. The Carleton web site also has a blog that hasn't been updated since 2006. It might be fair to say that office isn't exactly on the ball right now...

I was told by GK that he out for the year and they are hoping a medical redshirt will be granted...

[VOJ]

Alm is playing great.  However, he appears to be foul prone and the Auggies are very, very vulnerable when he gets in foul trouble.  Any team playing Auggie should attack Alm early in the game to see if they can get him into early foul trouble.

Nice win by the Cobbers last night on the road where they've taken a couple of brutal beatings.

Augsburg was up 54-47 with 2:09 to play when Alm fouled out.  They were outscored 22-10 the rest of the way and lost in OT 69-64.

Augy blows a 17 point lead in falling at home...tough loss when it comes to playoff positioning

[sumander]

The 'obvious' way for the MIAC to have two tourney teams is for someone to upset the Tommies in the conference tourney.

Bethel's loss tonite pretty much ices it - MIAC gets two teams ONLY if someone upsets the Tommies in the conference tourney.

Agreed, kind of speaks to what the veteran league watchers are saying... the MIAC overall is down this year.

1. St. Thomas* 15-0 20-0
2. Carleton* 11-4 15-5
3. Bethel 10-5 15-5
Augsburg 10-5 12-8
5. Gustavus 9-5 10-9
6. Saint John's 9-6 11-9
7. Hamline 6-10 7-13
8. St. Olaf 5-10 8-12
9. Concordia 5-11 8-13
10. Saint Mary's 4-12 5-16
11. Macalester 0-16 0-21

If we didn't know for sure before, we do now. The 6 playoff teams are set. The order they finish in is still very much up in the air.

HAM at # 7 has the following schedule: @GAC, SMU, SJU, @UST. No way they run the table to get to 10 wins. Both SJU & GAC will get at least one win in their remaining games.

SJU at #6 has: CORD, AUG, @HAM, @UST, GAC

GAC at #5 has: HAM, CAR, STO, UST, @BET, @SJU

Not too far fetched to think that the J's could finish above GAC in the standings.

[papahoops]

After seeing the Hamline/Bethel score, I am now in further awe of the power of the "Manifesto".
Watched part of the Ole/Johnnies game on the web when I wasn't watching the gophers get smoked by MSU....awful.  Every time I would check in the Oles would go several minutes without making a shot, and the Johnnies weren't much better. The fact that this mediocre SJU team is in position to make playoffs is a sad commentary on the quality of play in the league this year.

[sumander]

I wasn't watching the gophers get smoked by MSU....awful. 

That was tough to watch! Good thing the beer was cold! 

The fact that this mediocre SJU team is in position to make playoffs is a sad commentary on the quality of play in the league this year.

PHoops, See my post prior to this...they are in the playoffs! First time in quite a while where the playoff battle is done this early in the year.

Drake, We are waiting for your report on the Stout/Point game.

[Drake Palmer]

Sorry, no time for attempted post game analysis/observations this morning but... 

After seeing the Hamline/Bethel score, I am now in further awe of the power of the "Manifesto".
Watched part of the Ole/Johnnies game on the web when I wasn't watching the gophers get smoked by MSU....awful.  Every time I would check in the Oles would go several minutes without making a shot, and the Johnnies weren't much better. The fact that this mediocre SJU team is in position to make playoffs is a sad commentary on the quality of play in the league this year.

Pops, a man after my own heart.    Our friends in the near north aren't going to be too happy with your last sentence, but as one of the current, popular expressions of the day goes: "it is what it is". Good post! 
****************************
After last night's beatdown by the Pipers (hunh?) over the physically inferior Bethel Royals teams (yeah, right)

The SID Whine of the week was found on the Bethel website:

Hamline's tough defense and gritty play also proved to be a challenge for Bethel.  Throughout the entire match the Royal men battled through what at some times seemed to be excessive force and body contact coming from the Pipers. Though Mike Moberg (Sr., Plymouth, Minn. ) averages about 12 points per game this season, the Piper defense held him to just three.

Puhleeze! 

Obviously the good doctor's manifesto is producing the desired results (smirk) and the words & music of the late, great James Brown must be serving as the Pipes' inspiration.

hey! Gotta gotta pay back!! (The big payback)
Revenge!! I'm mad (the big payback)
Got to get back! Need some get back!! Pay Back! (the big payback)
That's it!! Payback!!! Revenge!!!
I'm mad!!

The Big Payback

[papahoops]

AO, Sorry for making the false accusation earlier on TH4Life's comment.

I will stand by my comment, however that the current Hopkins squad with multiple D1 athletes is superior to the typical MIAC team. AO, you have to realize that in your comparison of H.S. Pulley All Stars with regular Pulley Players, the regular Pulley league players are predominantly active D1/D2 players and former D1 players still playing in Europe.  The few D3 players that participate in the league are typically role players at that level. The Hopkins front court tandem of Royce White (Minnesota)and Mike Broghammer (Notre Dame) is physically superior to anything in the MIAC, so the age difference is irrelevant.

[VOJ]

After seeing the Hamline/Bethel score, I am now in further awe of the power of the "Manifesto".
Watched part of the Ole/Johnnies game on the web when I wasn't watching the gophers get smoked by MSU....awful.  Every time I would check in the Oles would go several minutes without making a shot, and the Johnnies weren't much better. The fact that this mediocre SJU team is in position to make playoffs is a sad commentary on the quality of play in the league this year.

Papa...how much were drinking while watching?  The J's shot 50% for the game...and hit 12 of 13  from the line...to summerize a line from the Austin Powers movies...Zip it...I guess a mediocre team holds opponents scoreless for nearly 10 minutes of game time...maybe the J's aren't top 25 material but on any given night they can give MOST teams in the MIAC a handful to deal with...what, are you a dissapointed Ole fan? 

Funny thing was Drake jumped right on board after reading your post, and I am guessing not checking the game story or boxscore...

A mediocre team with wins at Carleton who they later swept and Bethel...the future is bright with this team...

[AO]

AO, Sorry for making the false accusation earlier on TH4Life's comment.

I will stand by my comment, however that the current Hopkins squad with multiple D1 athletes is superior to the typical MIAC team. AO, you have to realize that in your comparison of H.S. Pulley All Stars with regular Pulley Players, the regular Pulley league players are predominantly active D1/D2 players and former D1 players still playing in Europe.  The few D3 players that participate in the league are typically role players at that level. The Hopkins front court tandem of Royce White (Minnesota)and Mike Broghammer (Notre Dame) is physically superior to anything in the MIAC, so the age difference is irrelevant.

The first front court tandem that I thought of from the MIAC, Bethel's Moberg and Robertson, are physically bigger and stronger than broghammer and white.  obviously white has a ton of athleticism, but I've definitely seen him get pushed around by bigger players.  if the high school all stars would have won a single game against the current/former college players, you would have had an excellent point even though it is just a summer league..  there's way too many basketball geniuses out there who know nothing about d3, but still look down on it, for me to let you go easy on this one.  lot more fun to play with a chip on your shoulder anways. 

let's let Hopkins actually get to state this year before we crown them the 3rd best team in MN behind the gophs and wolves.

[TommieHoops4Life]

Sutherland in the box score has to be a mistake. He was in street clothes for Monday's game against St. Olaf, and their SID told me he is set to have surgery on his shoulder next week. He's done till next year.

I'm excited to see White and Williams with the Gophers next year. My big fear is that White matures enough to dominate next year and that he'll do a Humphries (1 and done). Williams can literally jump out of the gym. The state tournament will be rather anticlimactic this year if Hopkins keeps beating everyone by 20+. It's theirs to lose at this point.

[Drake Palmer]

After seeing the Hamline/Bethel score, I am now in further awe of the power of the "Manifesto".
Watched part of the Ole/Johnnies game on the web when I wasn't watching the gophers get smoked by MSU....awful.  Every time I would check in the Oles would go several minutes without making a shot, and the Johnnies weren't much better. The fact that this mediocre SJU team is in position to make playoffs is a sad commentary on the quality of play in the league this year.

Papa...how much were drinking while watching?  The J's shot 50% for the game...and hit 12 of 13  from the line...to summerize a line from the Austin Powers movies...Zip it...I guess a mediocre team holds opponents scoreless for nearly 10 minutes of game time...maybe the J's aren't top 25 material but on any given night they can give MOST teams in the MIAC a handful to deal with...what, are you a dissapointed Ole fan? 

Funny thing was Drake jumped right on board after reading your post, and I am guessing not checking the game story or boxscore...

A mediocre team with wins at Carleton who they later swept and Bethel...the future is bright with this team...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there big fella, easy now. Ok, now you doing better?  Let me give you a little K. 

I've still not had time to go through all of the boxscores from last night but I did happen to read the Bethel game story & boxscore, since that was the game I originally had planned to watch.  I just glanced at the other game scores - no boxscores.  I also happened to notice Pops' post right before I added my post, & simply added my comments about his post to the the top of my original post. (Why the he!!do I feel compelled to explain this to him??  ) .   I thought, & still think his post was right on & funny.

I also believe most posters on this board with the possible exception of a poster near C-Ville  thinks the league is way down this year. IMO, his last comment was simply restating that generally held belief.  Perhaps the word "mediocre" was harsh, but  the main point of his sentence was that overall, the league is down.  No  damning indictment of your team. In fact, one of the babyfaced starters on your team is from the high school he's supported for a number of years. 

Your Johnnie club is a decent ball club, has good young talent & has the potential to become an excellent club, but they're not there yet. Give me the Nebraska twins, Westman (even Lieser), Big Country & Brink match them up against this Johnnie squad. I think you know who would win.  In past years we've had teams like the one I just mentioned, the Forkrud led Carleton teams, or the Gusties who could push the eventual league champs, or win the league title & or advance to the NCAAs- Carleton, GAC, SJU & UST. The other strong leagues that are blowing their own horns & getting deep into the dance are the leagues that are perennially kicking each other's butts- CCIW,WIAC, UAA, & to a lesser extent the MIAA, & the NCAC etc.  We need that high level of competitive play in our league.

So nosh a bit on that carrot, get a load off your hooves, take those blinders off, chill & enjoy the view. 

[VOJ]

Drake...

I totally underestand what you are saying...the league for the most part is young and the competition may be what it has been in the past, but those generalizations get under my skin.  His sweeping comment on the game itself really got to me, since shooting 50% on the road and defending well usually spell victory or nice win. 

I have not seen a report on Point yet from you...hope to soon.  They will play in C'ville next year to open things up or at least one of the first games next year.

Cobbers should have all kinds of positive momentum when they come to Collegeville Saturday...

[papahoops]

VOJ,
In response to our question, Stoli on the rocks was the beverage of choice before settling in for an evening of Bball viewing. I'm thankful I did not choose a weaker beverage after watching a combination of Ole/Johnnies and Gophers/Spartans. I don't care what the stat board says, that was ugly basketball. I realize, however that STO's style tends to drag teams into an ugly game, having experienced that on several occasions as a fan of a visiting team. No, I am not an Ole "Booster". I personally like Koz, but no one who knows me would call me a Ole supporter and I am not a fan of their playing style. I have tended to watch them frequently, however, because the quality of their web cast this year allows me to see various teams they are playing at home without making a drive to the gym. I will admit that I may have been too harsh with the "mediocre" tag placed on SJU and realize they have had some nice wins and a young team with a lot of long term potential. In the segments of games I have seen on the web this year, I just don't think they are up to the standards of a typical MIAC playoff team.

[Drake Palmer]

Well fellas –I finally got a chance to move from the reactive to proactive post mode. Sadly, work & other sundry things got in the way of my trip to Menomonie last night. So at one point I thought I was going to do the Bethel—Hamline game after all.  But lo & behold, I found out that UW-Stout had a video link, plus, I mistakenly thought Bethel had a live video feed, & the Oles & Jays were on video.  Add in the Gophers on TV, I thought I was set for a hoops holiday.  Sadly, the Gopher game was a rout, I think the Bethel webcast was non-existent, but although fuzzy, the Stout-Stevens Point feed was working.

UWSP is a very disciplined, unselfish, intelligent ball club.  It was difficult to accurately tell from the webcast, but they appear to be a bit more athletic than what I recall seeing from them last year in their NCAA appearance here in St. Paul.  The Pointers are athletic, but other than the diminutive El-Amin, I didn't get the sense they had blazing speed quickness.  They've got decent size...

Khalifa El –Amin 5-8 145lbs PG – SR
Matt Moses 6-2 180lbs – G-JR
Bryan Beamish 6-6 225lbs – W/F – SR.
Lou Hurd 6-5 230lbs F – SO
Pete Rortvedt 6-5 190lbs – F – SR.

The 2 primary guys they bring off the bench -- Jared Jenkins & Nick Krull, are 6-4 200lbs & 6-7 190bs.

However, the Pointers don't necessarily play like a big team. During the first half against Stout – oftentimes they were running a 5 man motion with a player stopping at the FT line, swing through the lane, quick post up, then clear out & rotate.  To my surprise, Stout was zoning UWSP which meant it was time for the Pointers to dial em up from deep, and did they ever.  They were 8-17 from downtown in the first half alone & finished the night shooting 12-27 from deep for a very nice 44% 3FGA.  Doing a little more digging on the WIAC website shows they lead the league in 3-pt attempts with 437 attempts & have converted on 172 of them for a very solid 39.4% completion rate.  Every one of the starters has jacked up more than 20 trey attempts on the season.  By comparison, the Tommies have only taken 318 3 pt attempts this year & have made 37.4%.  

In addition to shooting the ball well, UWSP passes the ball extremely well and lead the WIAC in both assists per game – 16.3 APG, & A/TO ratio 1.68.   Last night they seemed to always make the extra pass to find the open long range sniper, or find the player in the short corner for the easy 10-12ft jump shot.  I didn't see too many lay ups from this team.  Imagine a T-wolves team from several years ago. Very good team scoring balance with their top scorers being:

Moses 15.5ppg
Rortvedt 12.9ppg
Hurd 11.7ppg
Beamish 11.6ppg
El-Amin 10.5ppg

Defensively they're toward the top of the WIAC leader board in most statistical categories i.e. Scoring defense #2 @ 65.2/Oppg & Scoring margin +14.0.  The one area where they seem a bit suspect is their rebounding where they're more of a middle of the pack rebounding team, to a slightly below average team.  They're 6th in Offensive Rebounding, 4th Defensive Rebounding & have a narrow +1.3 rebounding edge on their opponents.  I think a quicker, good shooting team that can penetrate could give them problems but so far, they've acquitted themselves quite nicely & defeated both UW-Platteville & UW-Whitewater in two tightly, contested ball games.

Round 2 against those teams should be very interesting over the next few weeks - at Whitewater on 2/14, & home against Platteville on 2/21 to close out the regular season.  Granted my webcast view of the game might not have given me the best perspective on Stevens Point & Platteville, but I think I'm still partial to Platteville.

[TearDrop]

Does Pat Summit have more wins (1,000) than my redbirds do in their entire history?? 

I don't have time to look it up and I am not sure that I want anyone on the board to do so either...