MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[miacwatchmen]

Monson needs to get CANNED !!! so does mason the whole men's athletic's at the U is bad except wrestling, Golf and baseball some years.

[buf]

The Goofers got MONSONED yesterday!!!

[miacwatchmen]

ok what ever that means.

[localcoach]

I had a few minutes tonight so I decided to mull through all of the MIAC team pages.  Here's a few noteworthy remarks.

- St. Olaf has lost six in a row and plays at Gustavus on Wednesday.  Not looking good for the Oles.

- Bethel pulls of a 30 point win over St. Olaf and a 15 point win over Gustavus in their last 2 games.  Impressive.    The Tommies are up next.  Anyone want to call an upset?

- Speaking of St. Thomas, Mr. Rosefelt finished the week with 73 points and 39 rebounds in three games.  He's clearly running away with the MIAC P.O.Y. award.

- In 9 of the 11 Hamline games this year either Jon DeRock or Tony Thrasher has led the Pipers in scoring.  What a freshmen combination.

[Willy Wonka]

With no games this Monday, I'm just going to throw this out there in an attempt to keep the conversation active.

While sitting with a former Knights' father this past week, the following question was posed to him, "Is the league down right now?" After thinking about it for awhile, the 10+ year veteran of MIAC action had an interesting answer.

"No, the talent is still there. But the league is much, much shorter now."

He talked about teams around the MIAC having 6-8 to 7-0 stiffs 5-10 years ago whereas those same players are now in the 6-4 to 6-6 range. I don't have the scope to make any sort of informed rebuttal to that, but he seems to have a point.

With that said, how would Ike's game translate against the old bigger and stronger MIAC? The one time, to my knowledge, he played someone that fits that description (UW-LAX) he got dominated, getting dunked on and scoring only 2 points.

He's cruising to a unanimous MVP campaign, but is he the product of a shrinking league? I've not been overly impressed with his skills or basketball savvy, but the stats don't lie.

Thoughts? Comments? Impressions?

[funbballer]

Willy...

The response from your conversation with "the veteran" is very astute and obviously knows his hoops. And, he is quite accurate. There are no dominating "big men" currently in the league and the so-called "post players" that are in the 6-8 + range are not very good. Given that, it should make for an easier time for Ike, and, is his history, when he has to battle against someone his own size or bigger (or more aggressive), he quickly becomes a non-factor. At least to date this seems the case.

Seemingly the leader of the pack at the end will be that team that is the most consistent game in and game out, plays hard defense and doesn't suffer from poor shooting nights. The MIAC is pretty much a "catch & shoot" league...not many players/athletes that can put the ball on the floor and have the ability to explode to the hoop.

It is not a physical league and unless one of these teams improves drastically in the next 6-7 weeks, whoever does win the MIAC playoff will most likely be eliminated after one (or maybe two) games.

Agree or not?

[bchoops]

funbb...

While I agree with you that you do not see a lot of guys in the MIAC that put the ball on the floor and explode past guys to the hoop, I am not sure that it is a case of the league not being athletic enough.  In fact, I think the exact opposite is the case.  I'm not saying the league is loaded with athletes, but it is a fairly athletic league.  And, because I think the MIAC plays very tough and good team defense by and large, I think this is why you do not see the penetration as much as do elsewhere.  MIAC coaches focus so much on team defense, that this is where athleticism is very evident.  Because of the proximity to Bethel, I think of guys like Repasky and Jones, who were both very good athletes, but much of their athleticism was displayed on the defensive end.  Also, a guy like Tebrake at GAC, who was a ridiculous athlete, still did not get to the hoop that much, but was certainly a great defender.  I guess my point is that, oftentimes the MIAC may seem like a catch and shoot league because in order to do well you have to run good team offense to counter the good team defense played in our league.

Also on this line of thinking, I think if you look at the college game in general right now, this seems to be the case.  Teams play such good team defense, that the teams that do well are often better at executing a solid game plan, rather than simply being able to put the ball on the deck and get by people.  For instance, UConn has players all over the court that can get by guys, but they get beat by Marquette partly because Marquette outplayed them as a team, defensively and offensively. 

Just my thoughts.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I'll disagree that the league is "shorter." The MIAC has rarely had 7 footers, and only 1 of them comes to mind as dominant, but that was because he played in an era when 6'9" was considered huge. The MIAC this year may be lacking in guys 6' 9" and taller, but (with very few exceptions) there are no guys under 6'. I'd say the average MIAC player is a good inch taller than he was 10 years ago.

Also, height has not been the key to MIAC titles. I remember Bethel having those two brothers from Ohio, but 6'10 or thereabouts. Number titles won? 0
I remember Carleton having several guys in the early 90s in the 6'8 to 6'10" range. Again, how many titles?  0

As BChoops points out, athleticism and defense have long been the keys to winning MIAC titles. If you look at the heights of the GAC teams of 2002-04, the UST teams of the early 90s and again the late 90s, all of which had Sweet 16 or deeper NCAA runs as well as multiple MIAC titles, none of them had a big "force" in the paint. Rather, they relied on quickness, defense, team play, athleticism and good shooting.

[onearmedscot]

I think these days too, a 6'10 to 7 footer is a lock to get a DII or DI scholarship.

Bethel used to get 6'10 guys all the time back in the day--Turnquist, Mecklenberg, Peterson.

Drake--
Interested in your take on the officials in the MAC CAR game.  I'm not saying they cost MAC the game but I thought they came across as severely inexperienced.  Several times an official called out the team color but pointed in the opposite direction.  Twice, I recall one ref over-ruled the other and then there were a handful of questionable calls.  Your thoughts?

Lastly,  Tommy Drake's game seems to have regressed since last season.  Did he just have a bad game on Saturday or has he dropped off a bit.  He didn't even look the same.

Lastly, lastly, I guess Baquero means "former player who still supports his squad"   Nice to see former players watching the game on Saturday.  I'd a taken Denny and Assel against Beste and Baquero in a halftime 2 on 2.

oAs

[columbianmaffia]

OAS
tommy drake has been struggling a little bit this year some games more than others but i think a good player like him will bust out of that funk soon atleast i hope he does...mr. baquero has been at just about every game this year him and his wife are great supporters...one thing i didnt talk about when i talked about the game the other day...i think little assel has really recovered nicely from his back surgury...i remember playing against him and watching him before he realized he had a broken vertibre and now watching him and playing against him once since his opperation he is very improved and he should be a good MIAC pg for the next 4 years

[onearmedscot]

I diidn't know lil' Assel had back surgery.  He has been somewhat baptized by fire this year with Lars and Liddell being out early and has been logging a lot of minutes as a freshman.  I hope he doesn't hit a wall. 

He may have potential to be better than his brother if he continues to improve his game.

oAs

[Willy Wonka]

MM - Apparently you haven't seen Tyler Kaus play yet then 

I see your point but - to put some words in the Carleton source's mouth - perhaps he meant the league has become a guard-dominated league? With Wilhelm, Schmidt, Joldersma and George (Who tried to play a 2-on-2 game at Carleton incidentally. Everyone showed but Goerge, who claimed he would) the league was very tall and very good.

In the late 90s UST had a thick 6-8 kid in Paulson and brought a talented 6-9 Cole Butler (RIP) off the bench, along with 6-8 wing Fitzgerald. GAC had the older Newell, who went a hefty 6-8, to go along with Schmidt. I believe Carleton had another big post to go with the 6-10 Wilhelm, but the Carls website apparently doesn't have an archives section. I'm too lazy to check the other schools

Point being: The post which, outside of Ike, is now manned with talented 6-4 guys like Sowden and Forkrud, has become a much smaller position. It's not a terrible thing, as it allowed me to be relatively successful, but it's just a general comment from someone outside of these boards.

[Drake Palmer]

Today must be my day to agree with OAS. 

With the increased popularity of AAU & the greater number of MN kids receiving D1 or D2 scholies, more kids than usual might be swayed by the "lure" of saying they received a basketball scholie.  As a result, it seems more & more high school post players are sucked in by the scholie offer, although coming out of high school, they might be marginal D2 talent at best.  And, if the kid has good post height 6-7 + & is reasonably athletic, more college scouts are inclined to spend time recruiting the kid.

Regarding the CARL/MAC officiating: Yeah OAS, I thought the officiating was a little ragged the other day.  In the first half I saw Fork successfully bring one of his massive mitts down & "club" the ball out of Bosman's hand for a steal.  No call.  In the 2nd half, Zach Johnson tried a reverse layup that was blocked & you could hear the smack on the arm up in the stands.  Also, the fouls away from the ball when Bosman was trying to establish position were also a little questionable.  Yet, I was glad to see the refs conferring with each other to decide on a call (2-3 separate times), but from your perspective, I could see where it would exacerbate your mistrust of their competence.

Now here's the part you'll probably disagree with me on.  Part of the foul disparity situation stems from the fact that Mac is slightly less talented & not quite as quick as Carleton.  Therefore, they were out of place when playing defense and resulted in them fouling.  Just my opinion though.

And, Tommy Drake did appear to be just drifting along playing solid basketball.  He seems to have more of an ensemble member's approach to playing, rather than I'm a shooting star outlook of say - Mac's Tommy Conboy.  And I mean this in a positive sense about both players.  Cmob – how is Zach Johnson fitting in with the team?  I'm somewhat surprised he's been scoring as much as he has.  I said this earlier in the year about him.  He's a Sean Sweeney type of player - you either love or hate him.
 

[onearmedscot]

DP-

It's okay to agree with me.  We're both intelligent people.

I don't mind an occassional over-ruling or a meeting of the minds to make the right call but when it happens several times in a half, that is too much for me.

As for...

Mac is slightly less talented & not quite as quick as Carleton

...I can't deny the obvious.

Right now, Assel, Hollander, Conboy and Bosman are really the only varsity type players on MAC.  Jepma and TRW are still JV players.  Stein is a mystery.   The bench is shorter Hans Sviggum.

I'm impressed that we've been in as many games as we've been in.

I think it should be a rule that when you enter college, you drop the "ny," "my," "by," from your first name.  I know Conboy has...

oAs

[sumander]

We are roughly 1/3 of the way through the MIAC season With 7 teams at or above .500. For those of you with more experience watching the league than me, what are your thoughts as far as the won-lost record it's going to take get in the playoffs this year? Will a team with sub .500 record make the playoffs like they have two out of the last 3 years or will it take a 10-10 record to make it?