MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[miacsuperfan]

In today's game, the Waseca native Sam Paulson and the Gusties learned an important lesson or two a little bit too late into this afternoon's contest: Beating St. Thomas does not win any subsequent contest. It only makes each game harder. Today's game was the first time current Gustavus players have fully experienced being prey. You'd prefer not to have to learn this lesson the hard way, but let's hope the players take it to heart.  Oh, and make your "free" throws.

This was an all-around lousy basketball game. I have not seen Bethel play in a while, but if their fans are pleased with today's efforts, then the program has in fact degraded at least as much as their season record suggests.

Let's just be glad we didn't waste a good officiating crew on this one.

kvarns,  that might be a bit harsh.  the fans of the injury decimated royals had to be pleased with the EFFORT demonstrated by the home team.   there was not much in the way of offense demonstrated by either team,  but that should take no joy away from bu after defeating the only miac team to beat ust in the last two years.

some general observations:
bu's daniel baah is an explosive talent who could be really good some day
gac's perimeter shooting appears to be a bit weak
gac's seth anderson looks better on webcast than in person
gac's phil wirtjes hit two sweet treys to nearly singlehandedly prevent the big upset
bu's crowd was pretty quiet in spite of their team's EFFORTS
gac does not appear to have a stud who can carry them through a tough day

(modified by GS for formatting)

[VOJ]

Great game last night at CSP...Tommies were able to make plays and had a 14 point lead only to SJU close the game on a 22-8 run to put it into overtime.  Burtzel was saddled with two quick fouls and did not play much in the first half which hurt, he was also double teamed everytime he caught the ball.  Chris Schwartz hit alot of big shot including the tying 3 with 7 seconds left...if SJU had been granted, er made more than 2-6 FT...maybe the game would have ended in regulation. 

Johnnies played hungry at the start getting up 14-3, hopefully that carries over into the GAC game on Monday night. 

[huhoops]

What a game last night at Gangelhoff

Every time it looked like UST had SJU with their backs against the ropes, SJU stormed back with big shot after big shot. It almost seemed like UST was trying to let them stay in it and SJU would always get themselves to the hump, then not quite get over it.

**A few key runs:

(20:00-15:54 1st half) 13-4 by SJU countered by (15:34-12:55) 10-0 to start out
(16:03-12:30) 7-0 by UST (12:06-6:32) countered by 13-0 by SJU
(6:07-4:15) 8-0 by UST (3:15-:16) 9-0 by SJU to end regulation

The last run put on by Schwartz and SJU was big time. They did a nice job getting Burtzel touches and loosening up the UST defense late in the 2nd half. That did, Archer and UST were great in bottling up the likely conference MVP.

Notes:

UST:

- Nicolai is big time. He only shot 7 of 15 from the floor, but at least 5 of those shots were absolute daggers.
- IMO the UST bigs are a huge weakness. Hannon came in and gave them some monster minutes off the bench (5/6--14 pts, 5 rbds in 19 minutes). Makes you wonder how that game would have played out with Halvorsen on the floor.
- They shot too many 3's last night (7/23 3FGA). Against a team where you have an athletic advantage at most spots on the floor (outside of Burtzel), I think you need to attack the basket and force that action. Although, they did a nice job of getting to the rim later in the game and just missed on some bunnies.
- All in all, they need more production coming from more places. In 41 combined minutes, Eicher, Leslie, Peltier, Nance and Kaiser combine for 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.
-Congrats to Joe Scott on 1000 points   

SJU:

- Nice to see Schwartz keep them in a big game. He's been struggling this year shooting the ball (35% from the floor), so maybe this was a turn around game for him.
- Where was Latzke?  I like Blank, Herman, or Hujdurovic in the lineup then bring Latzke in as a shooter off the bench.
- Rebounding was an issue. Burtzel had 13, but the next highest was 4. Barmore (1 rbd), Schwartz(0 rbd), Herman (4 rbd) need to take on more of the rebounding load. This is another reason Hujdurovic might be a good plug in that first group.
- Too many costly turnovers on crucial possessions. I'm amazed they were able to stay in the game the way they did, in light of the dejecting mistakes that they had.
- I like Burns a lot and was impressed with him on Wednesday at Hutton Arena. I think he needs to be a little bit more of a floor general and focus on making the best decision rather than the best looking decision. Like I said about the turnovers last night, SJU had a couple of times that they could have really stuck it to UST with a solid attacking possession and they didn't take advantage. Part of this is due to UST's defense, but I thought Burns could have taken better care of pivotal possessions.

The GAC loss adds value to both the SJU/GAC and HU/UST match up. SJU and HU need the win to stay in home court play off contention. GAC and UST need it to stay in title contention.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Nice recap of UST/SJU  HUHoops. You keep omitting Augsburg in your mention of teams in playoff contention. Last I looked, the Auggies were tied with SJU for 3rd, and from what I've seen, they could very easily finish in the top 2 or 3 spots this year.

VOJ-- is that a hint of shock that Burtzel was double teamed?  I relaize you'd prefer no one guard him but comon sense says to double team him, box him out, try to get him to foul and do what you can to make him as little of a factor as possible. That is exaclty what UST did last night. I figured Schwartz would come on big especially from 3-pt range, after his 0-fer vs Hamline. I've wondered for 3 years now why he is so inconsistent and why does he always  havge a good game vs UST. 

All in all, it was a near-classic Tommie-Johnnie game, but with only 1 ejection from the arena.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

After seeing Augs /Car yesterday, I throw out the name of Marcus Brumm for Sixth Man. I'd say its a tossup between him and Seth Anderson, with Alex Healy a close third. Palmer and Keeley have started too many games to be considered. Anderson and Healy score more, but Brumm brings a decent shot (right VOJ?  ) along with some rebounding muscle and good floor presence. If I'm a coach, give me any of the three of them.

[huhoops]

Nice recap of UST/SJU  HUHoops. You keep omitting Augsburg in your mention of teams in playoff contention. Last I looked, the Auggies were tied with SJU for 3rd, and from what I've seen, they could very easily finish in the top 2 or 3 spots this year.

VOJ-- is that a hint of shock that Burtzel was double teamed?  I relaize you'd prefer no one guard him but comon sense says to double team him, box him out, try to get him to foul and do what you can to make him as little of a factor as possible. That is exaclty what UST did last night. I figured Schwartz would come on big especially from 3-pt range, after his 0-fer vs Hamline. I've wondered for 3 years now why he is so inconsistent and why does he always  havge a good game vs UST. 

All in all, it was a near-classic Tommie-Johnnie game, but with only 1 ejection from the arena.

maniac...I was meaning to mention AUG in that last post and got caught up in the SJU/UST game. You are absolutely right about them though, they should be feared as much as anyone right now. It will be interesting to see how they do the next time around the conference. The one main question about AUG is can they beat one of those top tier teams (SJU, UST, GAC)? They lost by 5 in OT to GAC in Minneapolis, by 16 to UST in Minneapolis, then by 15 to SJU in Collegeville. They did have an impressive win against HU at Hutton Arena early in the year. They will have a nice chance to show where they're at against HU on Wednesday and I think they could have their hands full against a climbing SMU team tomorrow in Winona.

The nice thing for them is that if they get hot over the next 5 games (SMU, HU, UST, STO, GAC) it lightens up a lot from there. I like them, but IMO, I need a little more convincing. 

[Nites]

After seeing Augs /Car yesterday, I throw out the name of Marcus Brumm for Sixth Man. I'd say its a tossup between him and Seth Anderson, with Alex Healy a close third. Palmer and Keeley have started too many games to be considered. Anderson and Healy score more, but Brumm brings a decent shot (right VOJ?  ) along with some rebounding muscle and good floor presence. If I'm a coach, give me any of the three of them.

I noticed that Healy started against SJU.  I almost posted to raise that possiblity after the Gustavus game as I was wondering if Fritz might make a change to his starting lineup in light of the team's inconsistent play of late.  Pedretti missed his second straight game.  We'll see what happens to Healy when Pedretti comes back.  Hannon appeared to play well in Pedretti's absence. 

With 5 assists in the game, Nicolai appeared to have focused a bit more on distributing the rock to get his teammates some looks.  Halvorsen and Scott continue their big time struggles.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

After seeing Augs /Car yesterday, I throw out the name of Marcus Brumm for Sixth Man. I'd say its a tossup between him and Seth Anderson, with Alex Healy a close third. Palmer and Keeley have started too many games to be considered. Anderson and Healy score more, but Brumm brings a decent shot (right VOJ?  ) along with some rebounding muscle and good floor presence. If I'm a coach, give me any of the three of them.

I noticed that Healy started against SJU.  I almost posted to raise that possiblity after the Gustavus game as I was wondering if Fritz might make a change to his starting lineup in light of the team's inconsistent play of late.  Pedretti missed his second straight game.  We'll see what happens to Healy when Pedretti comes back.  Hannon appeared to play well in Pedretti's absence. 

With 5 assists in the game, Nicolai appeared to have focused a bit more on distributing the rock to get his teammates some looks.  Halvorsen and Scott continue their big time struggles.

thats 10 on the week, as he had 5 vs SMU. Starting Healy worked well. I'd be tempted to start Hannon in place of Halverson, see if Halverson can find his 6th-man magic back from last season.

THe Hamine & Cord games are big for UST and the Auggie game next week will be a challenge

[piperinsider]

UST, do they run a webcast? I didn't see anything on their Web site. I don't think I'll be able to get up to Macalester on Monday. Bummed out!

[Buddo]

UST, do they run a webcast? I didn't see anything on their Web site. I don't think I'll be able to get up to Macalester on Monday. Bummed out!

They broadcast through "MSBN"... http://www.mnsportsnetwork.com/schedule.php

It's decent commentary.

[VOJ]

After seeing Augs /Car yesterday, I throw out the name of Marcus Brumm for Sixth Man. I'd say its a tossup between him and Seth Anderson, with Alex Healy a close third. Palmer and Keeley have started too many games to be considered. Anderson and Healy score more, but Brumm brings a decent shot (right VOJ?  ) along with some rebounding muscle and good floor presence. If I'm a coach, give me any of the three of them.

no argument from me, Brumm who I think was finally 100% after his ankle injury from football tore it up against SJU...I know this is biased but Sam Blank should be mentioned as well, he has started but for the most part comes off the bench and has had some key performances for SJU this season.

[sumander]

UST, do they run a webcast? I didn't see anything on their Web site. I don't think I'll be able to get up to Macalester on Monday. Bummed out!

They broadcast through "MSBN"... http://www.mnsportsnetwork.com/schedule.php
It's decent commentary.

I actually watched the second half of the UST/SJU game on MSBN. Not quite as good as being there, but better than just listening on the radio/web!

It was nice to see the J's not only hang in there but also come back from near dead! In years past in those situations the J's have rolled over! Or maybe more accurately the T's have gone for the kill.

Certainly one half of basketball is not enough to render an accurate opinion on a team but, I will do so anyway. The Tommies have a lot of work to do. They stood around a lot on offense. They seemed very content to settle for a trey attempt. Defensively, they seemed to run around alot. Which left SJU with some open looks.

I think the Gusties will have there hands full in C-ville tonight.

[Drake Palmer]

Man, take off for a day or so, & all kinds of he!! breaks loose!

*Dawgs beat the Carlies in 2 OTs
*Bethel upsets the vaunted Gusties
*UST narrowly escapes their archrivals -SJU in OT**

*And the Vikes moonlight as a choir, lead by their choir director, Brett Favre in the classic anthem:"Pants on the Ground." ??    I'll post it later or someone else can.  Youtube is not letting me post it.

Nites - are you exercising your tri- citizenship today, & reclaiming the lineage from the land of your ancestors - MN/ND?      

I heard from several sources  that UST's Joe Scott re-sprained his ankle, went to the bench, got retaped & was hobbling around quite a bit in the the 2nd half. Can anyone confirm this? I also heard when the the Tomcasts were up 59-50, with 3-4 minutes left in the game, & with the foul advantage, they were too content to pass the ball around the perimeter, rather than making the Jays work on D & attack the cup.  Apparently their killer instinct was taking a break.  

Clutch perimeter shooting by the streaky Chris Schwartz, & Andy Burns is becoming a serious outside shooting threat.


Regarding the 6th man question:  

I still would consider Anderson, Keeley, Healy, Brumm & Palmer as viable 6th man of the year candidates.  I've not done the research, but I don't believe Anderson or Palmer have even started a conference game. As others have pointed out, Healy did start the SJU game & I woudn't be surprised to see him stay in the starting lineup.  The challenge will be finding someone off the bench who can come in & provide a defensive or offensive spark for UST.

For the most part, Palmer & Anderson have been providing a huge lift to their respective teams. If Brumm keeps up his recent play in the 2nd half of the season, he could warrant serious consideration.  Right now I'd give the nod to Anderson & or Palmer.

[VOJ]

Man, take off for a day or so, & all kinds of he!! breaks loose!

*Dawgs beat the Carlies in 2 OTs
*Bethel upsets the vaunted Gusties
*UST narrowly escapes their archrivals -SJU in OT**

*And the Vikes moonlight as a choir, lead by their choir director, Brett Favre in the classic anthem:"Pants on the Ground." ??    I'll post it later or someone else can.  Youtube is not letting me post it.

Nites - are you exercising your tri- citizenship today, & reclaiming the lineage from the land of your ancestors - MN/ND?      

I heard from several sources  that UST's Joe Scott re-sprained his ankle, went to the bench, got retaped & was hobbling around quite a bit in the the 2nd half. Can anyone confirm this? I also heard when the the Tomcasts were up 59-50, with 3-4 minutes left in the game, & with the foul advantage, they were too content to pass the ball around the perimeter, rather than making the Jays work on D & attack the cup.  Apparently their killer instinct was taking a break.  

Clutch perimeter shooting by the streaky Chris Schwartz, & Andy Burns is becoming a serious outside shooting threat.


Regarding the 6th man question:  

I still would consider Anderson, Keeley, Healy, Brumm & Palmer as viable 6th man of the year candidates.  I've not done the research, but I don't believe Anderson or Palmer have even started a conference game. As others have pointed out, Healy did start the SJU game & I woudn't be surprised to see him stay in the starting lineup.  The challenge will be finding someone off the bench who can come in & provide a defensive or offensive spark for UST.

For the most part, Palmer & Anderson have been providing a huge lift to their respective teams. If Brumm keeps up his recent play in the 2nd half of the season, he could warrant serious consideration.  Right now I'd give the nod to Anderson & or Palmer.

Yes Scott injured himself and looked to have a fresh tape job on the ankle...I thought he moved ok, he still shoots pretty well, even though he has not had the year he had last year.


As for the Tommies throwing it around up 9 with 3 to 4 minutes to go...yea you can look at it like that or that they went a little cold and the J's picked up their defensive intensity.

Burns 55% shooting from beyond the arc and not forcing it in my opinion.

Drake look at Blank's numbers...he is averaging in double figures shooting nearly 40% on 3's grabbing a couple of rebounds and can play both guard positions, they compare favorably with Anderson...If Palmer keeps turning in performances like up at C-M for the Cards, he could get both Fr of the year and 6th man, he had some moments against SJU but did not play as well as he has in other games...and Keely?  Sorry with or without him they would be winless in conference.

[Gacman]

What a great night of matchups in the league this evening. We could really start to see which teams are for real tonight as I don't see a bad game on the schedule.