MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stormyfuture]

UWRF had the height advantage tonight and Tommies looked young at times tonight.   

[sju56321]

Nice win for SJU tonight.

[Kilroy]

RF has a lot of talent. Manor is quick, smart, and great in transition. Kimble is a sparkplug at PG. Wade Guerin can move well for a 6'8" guy, as seen by his steal at halfcourt/ensuing one-handed dunk. Palmer came off the bench and went for the third-most pts on the team and second-most rebounds.

This is my first viewing of UST this year, and it seems to me that there's no Nicolai, Scott, or Rosefelt yet. Nance did a good job of getting to the line. Tengwall, Reideman and Nord seem to be the up-and-coming youngsters at this point... I'm surprised Alipate didn't get more PT.

The good news for Palmer is that the coaches trust him enough to have 22 min of playing time. He also entered the second half (where RF was only up by four) within three minutes. The team does seem to keep him more in the paint, where he floated more around the perimeter at SMU. Him and Guerin could turn out to be a great team down low once they get a few wrinkles ironed out.

Both teams are good, and off nights happen for everyone. There is a lot of talent on that UST team... I'm still guessing a top-3 finish for them this year. RF will be very tough in the WIAC... hard to say what happened down in Viterbo. Again, hiccups happen.

[aero75]

FYI Manani Beavers no longer appears on Concordia's roster , I don't have any info, anyone else?

[papahoops]

I was surprised to see SJU was able to beat #24 ranked Pointers, although after checking box score, it is hard for a team to win with a 11% shooting percentage in the second half. Not sure I can recall a quality team shooting that bad of a percentage

[carletonsid]

Rosenow hook shot with 2.3 seconds left gives Carleton thrilling 69-67 win at Elmhurst. Bit of a 'lucky' shot according to Elmhurst announcer. Elmhurst had 22-footer rim out at the horn. Sounded like the old "pacer" play that Bryce Drew made famous at Valpo back in the day.

Solid showing by the Knights. Sawatzke rebounded from the abysmal showing vs Wartburg with 22 pts on 9-15 FG including 4-7 from 3. Geiger much more productive with 12 pts and 7 ast., and Hanson and Rosenow were huge down the stretch after a pretty quiet game. Hanson ends with 13 pts/8 reb., Rosenow with 10 pts/6 reb. Rosenow must have had three baskets in the final few minutes when it was back and forth from tied to Knights ahead to tied to Bluejays ahead/etc.

Carleton gets a little time to regroup before facing a solid Aurora club on Saturday.

[Drake Palmer]

"I will lift up my eyes"...

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving all!

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all....may your food be delicious and plentiful and may you be surrounded by those you love and cherish (but most will be stuck with the in-laws)

[carletonsid]

Knights complete a 2-0 roadie to Chicagoland area by taking down Aurora, 78-62. Another solid showing--hopefully the Knights have erased the memory of that horrid season opener against Wartburg.

Scott Theisen with career-high 23 points, and didn't make a single three-pointer to get it. 10-14 FG to go with 3-3 FT. Knights as a team were 17-18 from the line while Aurora was 3-8. That was really the difference in the game and pretty impressive stat on the road.

Taylor Hanson with his best game as a Knight with 20 points and 17 rebounds, leading effort that saw Carleton control glass 51-25. Tom Sawatzke with a second consecutive great shooting game--19 pts on 6-12 FG, 3-6 from 3-pt range, and 8 rebounds. Rosenow also in double figures with 10 pts. Only two cautionary notes are Rosenow only played 26 minutes (foul trouble) and Geiger was 1-11 from the field, but very good to see him staying aggressive offensively. Knights will need him to score throughout the season.

[Drake Palmer]

All quiet on the MIAC front as we prepare for the kickoff of the 2011-2012 league season on Wednesday night.  Ferris, Ferris, any posters out there?

Top 4 Capsule summaries

St. Thomas:  UST looks like they'll continue to be able to be able to score points in bunches – see 94 -88 win over Concordia –CSTP this past Saturday, but will they be able to stop anyone?  In their one loss of the season they made an outstanding 52.5% of their shots against River Falls, but allowed UWRF to shoot at a 59% mark.  Granted CSTP is a D2 school, but in their upset win over the Bears – CSTP knocked down shots at a 54.5% clip from the floor. The trademark of Tommies teams in the past 4-5 years, has been an opportunistic offense highlighted by excellent ball movement & tenacious defense.  The UST offense appears to still be there (too perimeter & jump shot oriented?) but that stifling, go for the throat jugular defense seems to be missing right now. They're also thin at the post spot if Tommy Hannon gets in foul trouble or an opposing team has 2 quality big men like the next 2 teams.

Carleton - Early prognosticators (including yours truly) were predicting the other Northfield team would be the MIAC team making the biggest push for the league crown, but if early games are any indication, a person would be foolish to discount the defensive minded  Carleton Knights.  If my man Taylor (Wildebeast) Hanson has adapted to the college game as much as it appears he has – the Carlies could be downright nasty with Hanson & Caleb Rosenow manning the post.  The other day Hanson scores 20 & pulls down 17 rebs?!?  That's positively Kevin Love like.  Pops' boy- Scotty Theisen, is trying to make a believer out of me yet.  They will be a very dangerous team.

St. Olaf: Arguably, the Oles might have the top 6-7 players in the league & a nice deep bench, but they need to get all of their guns firing, or at least 3 of them firing at the same time.  So far it's been Bobby Fong & Stu Neville, but Connor Gunderson, Alfred Jaryan & the SO guards, or my pick for the All MIAC FY team, Sterling Nielsen, need to step up & be a consistent 3rd scoring option.  In their trip to the coast, Fong & Neville were able to deliver, but no one else was able to step up.

Augsburg:  Lots of talent coming back with 2 proven performers in the interior with Andy Grzesiak-Grimm & Cory Polta. Add in All MIAC defensive stopper Brett Sorenson, instant offense with Anthony Humphrey, plus the emergence of outside shooting threat in JR guard Tyler Schmidt- and you have the makings of a very formidable team. My concerns for them would be a lack of depth at the post spots.  You take out either Polta, or AGG, & the Dawgs are a very small club. At the guard & wing spots, they have a general lack of size & strength. So PG, Parker Hines is an athletic, but skinny 6-footer, but Schmidt & some of the other guards are smallish sub six footers.

Others: Gustavus & I would guess Hamline should also make a push for a top 4 finish.  I'd like to see Bethel play to see if their new found interest in playing defense was just an early November fad, or something that will carry over into the regular season.

But having said all this, will I have an opportunity to put my money where my mouth is?  Before Pops' head gets any bigger than what it all ready is, I need to show that Pops was a one season hit wonder at  Pickems.  Who's going to do the honors this year - Jquentint, AO?

The early gathering of Wise men  at Shamrocks' on West 7th in St.Paul this Wednesday may be falling apart. Other conflicts have developed which may even prevent me from getting to MIAC game of the night - STO @ UST.

For burger recommendations in St. Paul - Shamrocks' burgers are tough to beat. This weekend I had the November burger special with Drake Jr, & the burger & wings were delish! Plus, you have a little bit more room to spread out than at their sister restaurant - The Nook.

[Kilroy]

Good start for Bethel at 3-1 in non-conference... looks like their only loss was a three-point decision to a strong River Falls team. However, I need to see a little more than wins over Buena Vista, Bethany Lutheran and Loras to get excited about BU. I'm excited for everyone to start MIAC play, but this is one team that I definitely have my eye on.

Olaf is 1-3??? After a blowout of poor little Bethany Lutheran, they drop three to Luther and two Cali teams. Come on boys, get it together! The talent is definitely there. Don't make me look foolish for picking the Oles as my MIAC favorite 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

The addition of St. Thomas' noon home football playoff game next Saturday Dec. 3 against St. John Fisher has prompted a schedule change for the Tommie women's and men's basketball games set for that afternoon.

The start times for the UST vs. Gustavus basketball games will now move back five hours each and tip off at 6 p.m. (women) and 8 p.m. (men) on next Saturday.


http://www.tommiesports.com/mbb/news/TimeChange_1128.html

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

On the eve of the conference opener, this board has been WAY too quiet. Drake? Poppa? AO? wherefore art thou?

Not enough time to type out all the reasoning behind this, but here's my predicted order of finish:
1. UST--- too deep, too talented not to repeat. coaching change goes seamless
2. Carleton-- talented but lacks bench depth. will keep the pressue on UST all season
3. Augsburg-- great inside game, a little green at guard, but well coached
4. St Olaf-- talent to spare,  could challenge for top 3 spots

5. GAC-- never underestimate "the system". Anderson's firepower will carry them
6. Hamline-- loss of Hipp will hurt inside, but some dangerous outside shooters
7. SJU--  not as deep on talent as the past few years.... will miss burtzel tremendously

8. Mac-- sign of life? or false readings by Moses?
9. Concordia-- could be a sleeper, or my crystal ball is malfunctioning
10. Bethel-- five years ago, anything lower than 5th was unthinkable

11. SMU-- rebuilding: version 28

[TommieHoops4Life]

This guy is going to try to get back into the MIAC loop this season, but I can't make any guarantees at this point.

Nice to see the Tommies bounce back from losing at RF with a win at Concordia. It's great to see the Tommies put up 94 points and shoot 52.5 percent from the field, but I'm sure Tauer would rather see a game in the 70's if that's possible. Riedemen scores 26 on 11-13 from the floor??? That's about as efficient as it gets. Nice to see Hannon with 19 and 9, they'll need him to be a force inside this year.

UST is the MIAC favorite until someone beats them, but if they get there this year I have the feeling a lot of games will be hard-earned and won at the free-throw line.

Opening the conference with Olaf is a very intriguing match-up. Even though they're 1-3 this is probably their most talented roster in recent memory.

I'm excited to see how things take shape this year. The Tommies should be in good hands with Tauer.

[nca11]

It will be interesting to see if Alfred Jaryan starts tomorrow night vs. the Tommies.   He was relegated to the bench in their last game in California and only played ten minutes.  Is this another case of Coach Koz falling out of love with a senior? 

In other news - looks like a former Bethel standout is in some serious hot water:

http://isanticountynews.com/2011/11/29/braham-teacher-charged-with-criminal-sexual-conduct/