MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[lions gate]

I found my early front runner for the Palmer MIAC All FY Name team.  And I'm not kidding.

UST's Derek Domino.   

You "younguns" might not appreciate this but that was one of the alter egos for rock & roll superstar Eric Clapton & the name of one of his bands back in the late 60s, early 70s.

(My dad told me about this group )   "Derek & Dominoes"

This name has gotta go right up there with a "Boy Named Sue."



Cool name, but heard Clapton is not much of a jumper, cant hit the 3 either.
Saw Oles take on Conconrdia St Paul in exhibition,  Koz had 5 of his 8 freshman playing at same time for most of second session..... lost by 15 but no "deer in headlights"  look ...   1 recuit last year, 8 this year how does that happen?   

[miacsuperfan]

concordia (moorhead) loses exhibition to ndsu in fargo tonight, 84-70.  cobs were down 6 with six minutes to play.  fraaze had 17 pts and 15 rips, while olmsheid went for 19. 
ndsu freshman marshall bjorklund (6'8" from sibley east) had 8 points and 9 rebounds off the bison bench. 
good showing for concordia.   can they finish above the middle of the pack in this year's miac?   

[Drake Palmer]

concordia (moorhead) loses exhibition to ndsu in fargo tonight, 84-70.  cobs were down 6 with six minutes to play.  fraaze had 17 pts and 15 rips, while olmsheid went for 19. 
ndsu freshman marshall bjorklund (6'8" from sibley east) had 8 points and 9 rebounds off the bison bench. 
good showing for concordia.   can they finish above the middle of the pack in this year's miac?   

That is a nice showing by the Cobbs.  They should be contender for a playoff spot if they can keep good balance between their inside & outside game. Last year they never really had a consistent outside threat to maintain good spacing on the floor.

Buddo - yea, yeah, yeah, Augsburg's Parker Hines, we can chat him up later. What's the deal with the Redbirds - no roster??  And what did you mean by preseason rankings - nationally or MIAC?  League coaches seem to wait until the last minute before they release the coaches poll.

In other exhibition action, Johnnies fall to Marquette. 

[Buddo]

Heard from my cousin that SMU's roster is exactly the same as last year's. No new players at all.

And I wanted to see peoples' predictions of the MIAC final standings. Here are mine:

1. St. Thomas: Abundant talent (with Nicolai calling the shots) takes them to the title crown.
2. St. John's: Burtzel is the most complete player in the league. At times he's quietly dominant. Veteran play from Blank, Schwartz and Herj.
3. Gustavus: Well-rounded play from everyone gets a traditional GAC playoff bid
4. Carleton: Conf. champs lose Sutherland and Jonker, unless their roster on their site is current.
5. Concordia: Fraase and Olmschneid carry Cobbers to playoffs.
6. SMU: Three-headed scoring dragon takes SMU to most successful season in a decade.
7. St. Olaf: Fong and Alfred do what they can, but youth prevents Oles from going very far.
8. Augsburg: Losing Flavien hurts, and the graduation of floor general Jon Cassens is big. Andy Greziak-Grimm has crazy potential.
9. Hamline: Without Ray Brown and efficiency king Nick Carroll, this team sinks. Hipp can't do it all.
10. Bethel: No idea what's going on here... losing Robertson and Vavra is tough, will Taylor Hall or Greg Meyer emerge?
11. Macalester: Could be a wild card to shake up the bottom half of the conference if their international recruiting reach can pull some gems.

[Drake Palmer]

Heard from my cousin that SMU's roster is exactly the same as last year's. No new players at all.

And I wanted to see peoples' predictions of the MIAC final standings. Here are mine:

1. St. Thomas: Abundant talent (with Nicolai calling the shots) takes them to the title crown.
2. St. John's: Burtzel is the most complete player in the league. At times he's quietly dominant. Veteran play from Blank, Schwartz and Herj.
3. Gustavus: Well-rounded play from everyone gets a traditional GAC playoff bid
4. Carleton: Conf. champs lose Sutherland and Jonker, unless their roster on their site is current.
5. Concordia: Fraase and Olmschneid carry Cobbers to playoffs.
6. SMU: Three-headed scoring dragon takes SMU to most successful season in a decade.
7. St. Olaf: Fong and Alfred do what they can, but youth prevents Oles from going very far.
8. Augsburg: Losing Flavien hurts, and the graduation of floor general Jon Cassens is big.
9. Hamline: Without Ray Brown and efficiency king Nick Carroll, this team sinks.
10. Bethel: No idea what's going on here... losing Robertson and Vavra is tough, will Taylor Hall or Greg Meyer emerge?
11. Macalester: Could be a wild card to shake up the bottom half of the conference if their international recruiting reach can pull some gems.

Buddo,  Oh I see what you mean - preseason conference rankings.  Most of us hold listing our personal rankings until the light of day, or after we've seen everyone's completed rosters. 

Three of the teams you listed, which I highlighted - SMU, Bethel & Hamline, have yet to post their rosters.  So it's a bit difficult to determine how good those teams might be. 

And by the light of day, instead of at 4:45 in the morning CST or CDT time,  or whatever time you posted, one would be better able to read the Carleton roster.  Without bleary eyes & temporarily impaired mental faculties, one would notice that Jeremy Sutherland & Seth Jonker are still listed on the Carleton roster for the 10-11 season.  Their presence should have a huge bearing on Carleton's success & the outcome of the league race this year.    Plus, PI was real high on FY guard Danny Geiger & he could provide some additional scoring punch.  I still think the Knights need to find a serviceable post player to take some of the attention away from J. Kong.

I'm really disappointed in what seems to be happening with the Dawgs with the loss of Flavin, Brumm & Eastmann.  They were poised to reload & replace Jon Cassens with another quality, potential 4- year starting PG in Parker Hines.

[Buddo]

And by the light of day, instead of at 4:45 in the morning CST or CDT time,  or whatever time you posted, one would be better able to read the Carleton roster.  Without bleary eyes & temporarily impaired mental faculties, one would notice that Jeremy Sutherland & Seth Jonker are still listed on the Carleton roster for the 10-11 season.  Their presence should have a huge bearing on Carleton's success & the outcome of the league race this year.    Plus, PI was real high on FY guard Danny Geiger & he could provide some additional scoring punch.  I still think the Knights need to find a serviceable post player to take some of the attention away from J. Kong.

Haha are you implying that I was under the influence while creating these??  I looked on the Carleton site (http://apps.carleton.edu/athletics/varsity_sports/mens_basketball/team_roster/) and I thought the rosteres were up to date... except that it still said it was the 09-10 version. So yeah...

[huhoops]

Wow, the off season goes by quickly

I hope everyone had a well rested couple of months because it looks like the MIAC is going to offer plenty of roller coasters this season, with some new players sliding in and out of their perennial positions.

Heard from my cousin that SMU's roster is exactly the same as last year's. No new players at all.

And I wanted to see peoples' predictions of the MIAC final standings. Here are mine:

1. St. Thomas: Abundant talent (with Nicolai calling the shots) takes them to the title crown.
2. St. John's: Burtzel is the most complete player in the league. At times he's quietly dominant. Veteran play from Blank, Schwartz and Herj.
3. Gustavus: Well-rounded play from everyone gets a traditional GAC playoff bid
4. Carleton: Conf. champs lose Sutherland and Jonker, unless their roster on their site is current.
5. Concordia: Fraase and Olmschneid carry Cobbers to playoffs.
6. SMU: Three-headed scoring dragon takes SMU to most successful season in a decade.
7. St. Olaf: Fong and Alfred do what they can, but youth prevents Oles from going very far.
8. Augsburg: Losing Flavien hurts, and the graduation of floor general Jon Cassens is big. Andy Greziak-Grimm has crazy potential.
9. Hamline: Without Ray Brown and efficiency king Nick Carroll, this team sinks. Hipp can't do it all.
10. Bethel: No idea what's going on here... losing Robertson and Vavra is tough, will Taylor Hall or Greg Meyer emerge?
11. Macalester: Could be a wild card to shake up the bottom half of the conference if their international recruiting reach can pull some gems.

Buddo, this is what I could muster up:

1. UST: They lose Scott, Peltier, and Eicher from their top 10. Look for increased role development of guys like Kaiser and Leslie as well as FY Riedeman. The big question mark for the purple is who will man the interior. Will they go back with Pedretti, or roll with a little bit more skilled but less physical Halvorsen? Hannon also played well for the Toms, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him heavily immersed in the post rotation.

2. * CAR: The asterisk is based on the assumption that there will be no injuries to Sutherland. If he ends up sitting games (more than 5 in conference), I'm not sure they are even a lock for the top 6. Big loss with Rosett, but it opens up the door to play some line ups that could be match up night mares (i.e. plug in Theisen) with 5 great 3 point shooters on the floor.

3. GAC: In McPartland, Van Sickle, and Paulson, the Gusties lose about 30 points and 12 boards per game. There will be some hiccups early, but I see Biewen and Grey stepping in nicely as shooters and Blacklock sufficing for the loss of the gentle giant (Paulson). The one major loss is McPartland who will be replaced by a much contrasting player in James Hill. Not as physical as McPartland, but a better 3 point shooter and much more explosive off the dribble. Not much coming in as far as recruits, but definitely some role players last year that are ready to step in and contribute major minutes.

4. CON: This is the year that the Cobs make some real noise. Led by Fraase, Olmscheid, and Olson, they are poised and mature enough to improve on a sub par 5-8 road record last season. Look for Olmscheid as a sleeper POY candidate.

5. SJU: I hate to put the Johnnies this high because of how major the losses of Herman and Latzke are, but I have abundant faith that Burtzel will rally the troops. With Sam Blank having a great season in 09-10, and a solid enough recruiting class to contribute some productive minutes, I think the Johnnies beat who they should beat and win 12 games in conference.

6. AUG: Huge losses in the back court @ Auggie Tech. Cassens, Olson, and Flavin played huge minutes for the Auggies last season and Eastman manned the majority of the back up minutes with Quammen. I've heard plenty of positives about Hines and Seidlitz, but it's never settling to have such a young guard core. That said, they do return Grimm, Polta, Quammen, and Sorenson (who will now be referred to as "Iron Man" ). Coach Greiss did a nice job turning that thing around and I look for the Auggies to sneak into the dance with 10 wins in MIAC play.

7. SMU: Question: How good do 3 players have to be in order to solely carry their team to an MIAC playoff birth? Answer: Better than 2 All Conference First Team and one that is the best FY player in the entire region. Come on Birds, bring in a couple recruits to help these horses out! As much as I'd like to say it's enough, they're too easy to beat with no supporting cast. I like SMU to win 9 games in conference and contend for a playoff spot.

8. HU: It pains me to put my guys this low but they lost a lot in Brown, Cretin, and DA...but mostly Brown. They did add a nice transfer in Campbell from NIACC and FY Pratt. If Hipp gets in foul trouble, the Pipers will struggle. This will be the year for Schmidt and Aguirre to establish themselves as formidable scoring options and take the reigns of the offense. Defense will be key for my boys, because the scoring options are scarce on Hewitt.

9. STO: The usual suspects are back, but with no depth. Fong, Neville, Jaryan, and Kroschell can go toe to toe with most first lines in the conference but the drop off from them is about an 88 degree angle  

10. BU: With no Robertson to flop around the inside, no Vavra to be a (very) poor man's Madson, I don't see the Royals making progress in conference this year. I know they had some injuries in 09-10, but Baah and Hall are just too much one on one to win games consistently. I'm sure they'll find a pinata to beat up on in their tournament though

11: MAC: I want to preface this by saying that I think they will win a conference game this season, possibly more than one. Snelling and Grand has to be happy with the way Whittle had those guys playing by the end of last season, despite that lack of wins. Time will tell, but I don't see them being at the bottom of the conference for too much longer.

[Buddo]

Just for fun... my humble opinions

MVP Candidates (all lists are in no particular order):

Nicolai
Sutherland
Fraase
Wright
Hipp
Burtzel


I think these guys have the potential to take their scoring to the next level (14 ppg range):

Bobby Fong STO
Colin Keeley MAC
Daniel Baah BU
Sam Blank SJU

best shooters:

Lukas Holland, SMU
Sam Blank, SJU
Andy Burns, SJU
Carter Biewen, CAR

best rebounders:

Burtzel, SJU
Fraase, CON
Chris Palmer, SMU
Andy Grezesiak-Grimm, AUG
Carl Hipp, HU

best at getting a steal:

Alfred Jaryan, STO
Tyler Nicolai, UST
Rob Lang, BU


"Best first-year player award" candidates

Danny Geiger, CAR
Luke Januschka, SJU
Connor Gunderson, STO
Parker Hines, AUG

[Drake Palmer]

Buddo - Not a bad list for a conversation piece.  Let me add a few more... 

Darrin Olmscheid from Cord as a potential MVP candidate.

You can't have best shooters without listing Tyler Nicolai or Phil Wirtjes from GAC.  I'd also mention that Nicolai probably has the quickest release in the league.

Best post moves – I'd go with J. Kong & Burtzel

Steals/defense – Bethel's Rob Lang was a senior last year.  But I'd certainly add Chris Palmer, Jeremy Sutherland & UST's Teddy Archer to this list.

Best post defense- Carl Hipp – Hamline, Paul Blacklock – GAC.   

Best assist guy- Burtzel, Seth Anderson from GAC, Blaise Davis – Carleton, Andy Burns – SJU, Peter Leslie -UST. 

Best 6th man – Peter Leslie – UST

Best slasher- Will Wright -SMU, Bobby Fong – STO (if he doesn't fall in love with his erratic jumper)   

Best dunker - Palmer, Anders Halvorsen - UST, Jeremy Sutherland 

[Drake Palmer]

Alright Redbird fans, you can offically start casing your basketball team's coaching staff. No new recruits.  Not even one.

And so now it's down to Hamline & Bethel to post their rosters. I'm guessing the Pipes' roster will be posted by the end of today or sometime tomorrow as they are scheduled to play an exhibition game against Concordia- Stp Tuesday night. 

Bethel? They might have it posted in time for their tournament in a couple of weeks. Might. 

[Buddo]

Interesting string of dates for Winona State this week:

Tonight: at Minnesota Gophers

Wednesday: hosting St. Thomas

Saturday: hosting SMU

Personally, I'm looking forward to see how WSU's two newest D1 transfers will fare this season (Tucker from Iowa and Palkert from SC-Upstate). If this roster can bring their individual talents together, there is a very good chance that they will go deep into the national tournament again.

Let's also not forget that WSU beat the Gophers only a few years ago, and St. Thomas upset WSU a few years ago as well.

[miacsuperfan]

wow,  gophers hang on to beat winona state 78-72. it will be fun to see what tommies can do at wsu on wednesday!!

[miacsuperfan]

+k huhoops.  nice post.   i agree with dp regarding olhmscheid as well.  i have always liked his game, and would not be surprised at all to see him really come into his own this year.

[Drake Palmer]

+k huhoops.  nice post.   i agree with dp regarding olhmscheid as well.  i have always liked his game, and would not be surprised at all to see him really come into his own this year.

Good shout out Supe!  Lost in the commotion of the latest episode of a "Rolling Brett Childress Gathers no Moss" yesterday afternoon, I forgot to welcome HuHoops back for another season. 

Glad to see you're back & that graduation didn't completely decimate the ranks of the few, the proud, the HU posting faithful. Nice post as usual.  I've got another obligation Tuesday night so I'll expect a detailed game summary of the HU-CSTP match up tomorrow night.  +K & to Supe as well.

[huhoops]

+k huhoops.  nice post.   i agree with dp regarding olhmscheid as well.  i have always liked his game, and would not be surprised at all to see him really come into his own this year.

Good shout out Supe!  Lost in the commotion of the latest episode of a "Rolling Brett Childress Gathers no Moss" yesterday afternoon, I forgot to welcome HuHoops back for another season. 

Glad to see you're back & that graduation didn't completely decimate the ranks of the few, the proud, the HU posting faithful. Nice post as usual.  I've got another obligation Tuesday night so I'll expect a detailed game summary of the HU-CSTP match up tomorrow night.  +K & to Supe as well.

Thanks for the warm welcome back fellas. I have a feeling many of my counterparts from a year ago will be few and far between. I haven't come to a conclusion on how I will get through the season with UMACfan (or whatever his name was  )

DP,

I can promise that I'll catch at least the first half of the game tonight and if it's a good one, I'm going to find a way to stick around for the second half.

Notes:

- Look for the Pipers to struggle with Thomas (Soph) as he is 6'5, strong enough to work inside, and shoots the heck out of the ball. I anticipate Aguirre to start out on him
- Interesting match up with Barz and Hipp. Both run really well, are agile on the inside, and long shot blockers. Slight edge to Barz as a shooter, slight edge to Hipp in strength.
- Big Dan V. will get torn apart by Carl. He's too quick and never stops in pursuit of rebounds on either end.
- The two twins from MCTC don't pose any more problem for the Pipers because they play a similar style as HU. Strong slashing guards that get to the hoop and are jump shooters second. HU typically does a decent job of cutting off dribble penetration, so I don't see them being terribly effective. Both are fantastic players, nonetheless.
- I can see Kuderer hurting the Pipes if they have to suck in on dribble penetration. He can't put it on the floor very well, but doesn't miss open threes. The key will be to keep an extra step his way on penetration and post entries.
- For HU, as I mentioned in my previous post, need some guys to step up offensively. Hipp will undoubtedly get his, but how they work off of his post catches and how they are able to execute Whitmore's dribble drive will go a long way towards dictating their offensive success.
- Last year's team was uncharacteristically better at defense for an HU team, so it will be interesting to see how they replace last year's seniors and who comes into their own on that end of the floor. Look for Andy Voigt to come in and play some solid minutes at the 4 and offer some solidity on the interior.