MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

I meant reported on our site ... but yeah. That process has gotten easier, too.

[Drake Palmer]

It appears some spoiled & disgruntled Tommie fans should be thanking John Nance for coming through with another clutch performance in their last second win against St. Olaf last night.  Aside from last night's game winning shot & leading scorer, Nance's value to his team isn't always measured in points scored.   

Speaking of scoring points, has there been a more unlikely looking scoring leader and potential league MVP than Gustavus  Seth "Clark Kent- Superman " Anderson?  All he does is kick your azz.  He sort of reminds me of a smaller Keith Eckhoff from Concordia.  In case old timers to this board can't tell, I loved The "Big E" & now Anderson's game.  There's nothing flashy about either one of their games. They just keep making these precise, surgical incisions around the court, until next thing you know they've coolly dropped 20+ points.

You gotta love the bigs from Augsburg – Corey Polta & Andy Grezsiak-Grim. They keep pounding the rock & AGG keeps racking up those double–doubles.   A big beat down of the Johnnies in C-ville last night.  And how did the Gustie coaching staff let sharpshooting Tyler Schmidt get out of their backyard – LeSueur? Granted, Schmidt is a bit on the smallish side 5-10, 150lbs, but he's certainly putting up some prolific numbers this season.  Their lack of depth could be a real factor down the home stretch.

The Redbirds made a little bit of noise in Winona as they knocked off Carleton last night.  The proud, but injury riddled Carleton Knights have now lost to both SMU & Macalester in what has become a very disappointing season for the Carlies.  On the other hand, the SMU players' confidence should be quite high as they face St. Thomas on Saturday.  The vaunted St. Thomas depth is starting to wear a bit thin as I heard another guard went down last night, & Winona can be a tough place to play.

And in other games, the Cobbs smack around Macalester.

Once again this Saturday slate of games doesn't feature a star metro game at all, other than perhaps Bethel vs. Gustavus.  It would be interesting to see if the Royals can build off their upset of UST at the palatial AARC on Monday night.    They've had virtually all week to prepare for the Gusties, & game plan an upset in the more modest home confines of the Robertson center.  I don't know if any other coaches have tried this but why not go box & 1 on Superman, deny him the ball. Anderson had 21 shots last night against the Pipers, plus 7 trips to the FT line.  Play some defense! 

[Kilroy]

Have to give props to the Cards for the Carleton win... first time in years. Mike Burfeind is holding down the fort with a shooter's touch at 6'7"... definitely an all-conference kid.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

A truly miraculous & inspiring story continues:

http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/news_article/show/129711

[carletonsid]

Kinda surprised no one has checked in...

Another instant classic between the Knights and Oles yesterday in front of a mostly full-house at West Gym. Too bad the officials decided to make yet another dubious end-of-the-game call to let them decide it instead of the players. And when are MIAC officials going to realize that Alfred Jaryan running into a defensive player and then flailing about like a trout just pulled from the stream isn't a foul?

Don't want to focus on the officiating too much, because it was truly an entertaining, thrilling college basketball game. Knights could have sealed it in regulation if Rosenow could have converted on a 1-and-1 with 5.7 seconds left. He didn't and the Oles didn't get the best look (Jaryan running three that was way off the mark), so to overtime we headed.

Knights scored on their first 3 possessions of OT and it looked like a repeat of last year's regular-season finale when the Knights ran away in the extra session. The Oles responded with some great pressure defense and the Knights got a little loose with the ball, eventually pulling ahead 62-61 with a minute left. The Knights ran a nice set for Sawatzke who drained a three. That was answered by Neville's 3 (and scream, can't blame him, big moment). The Knights got a tip-in with 2.7 seconds left (think Neville actually tipped it in), before the dubious foul call.

Overall, what a gutsy performance by the Knights. Three tough losses this week. They've been so close but their margin for error is so slim. They're basically playing with 5-6 guys, and major props to Michael Grinnell for toughing it out with a bum shoulder--basically playing one-armed. Just gutted to see them denied by such a head-scratching call 90-some feet away from the hoop with less than three seconds left yesterday. Certainly, lots of calls and such throughout the game go ones way and others don't, that call was just so loud at the end it's kind of hard to ignore.

As for the Oles, they have to feel good but lucky. On paper, I think the Oles have the superior roster but they let the Knights hang around. The Oles jumped to a 10-point lead early, but let Carleton get back into it. McSparron did a nice job of guarding Fong, but I felt like Fong should have finished so many more chances inside.

Carleton's going to need to capture some magic in the second half and hope for a SJU fade to make the playoffs. Hard to look at that bench yesterday with Taylor Hanson and Tyler Goetz in street clothes, out for the year, and not think about what could have been this year.

[papahoops]

Nice recap of Ole/Knights contest Carletonsid. Your Knights have definitely had a frustrating year to date.

I was shocked to read my Sunday paper today and learn that Bethel had pulled off another upset. Knocking off UST and Gusties in consecutive games ranks very high in the "who would have thunk it" category. I was also surprised at the margin of Concordia's win over the Johnnies. SJU definitely get my vote for Jeckel/Hyde team this year. Hamline also really rolling throught he softer part of its MIAC schedule which has to have piperinsider smiling. Can they use this momentum to keep moving up the ladder? Should be interesting second half, although whatever happens, it is clear to me any team making the playoffs has a shot. No more "papa power rankings" this year....right now I would have about 5 teams tied for first

[carletonsid]

Kinda surprised no one has checked in...

Another instant classic between the Knights and Oles yesterday in front of a mostly full-house at West Gym. Too bad the officials decided to make yet another dubious end-of-the-game call to let them decide it instead of the players. And when are MIAC officials going to realize that Alfred Jaryan running into a defensive player and then flailing about like a trout just pulled from the stream isn't a foul?

Judge for yourself. As they say, the tape don't lie.

[MIACMIAC]

I agree.  McSparron did a solid job, but Fong did just miss a few that he should have made.  Many may look at Fong's statistics and ask why he took as many shots as he did, but most of them were really good looks that he has finished in the past.  5 or 6 being within 5 feet that just rimmed out.  McSparron has looked very impressive and I think he will be a very good MIAC player for years to come.

[carletonsid]

I agree.  McSparron did a solid job, but Fong did just miss a few that he should have made.  Many may look at Fong's statistics and ask why he took as many shots as he did, but most of them were really good looks that he has finished in the past.  5 or 6 being within 5 feet that just rimmed out.  McSparron has looked very impressive and I think he will be a very good MIAC player for years to come.

I thought a couple of those in the second half that Fong was so high he could have dunked them, but on most of the jumpers McSparron did a nice job of contesting. I think Shane has proven this year to be a very capable MIAC player on both ends of the floor. I would love to see him extend his range a bit, but he's so money from 17' and in. Guy is shooting 55.0% from the field and 76.9% from the stripe, so not too bad. 

[badgerwarhawk]

Kinda surprised no one has checked in...

Another instant classic between the Knights and Oles yesterday in front of a mostly full-house at West Gym. Too bad the officials decided to make yet another dubious end-of-the-game call to let them decide it instead of the players. And when are MIAC officials going to realize that Alfred Jaryan running into a defensive player and then flailing about like a trout just pulled from the stream isn't a foul?

Judge for yourself. As they say, the tape don't lie.

What foul???
That was an incredibly weak call.

[piperinsider]

Kinda surprised no one has checked in...

Another instant classic between the Knights and Oles yesterday in front of a mostly full-house at West Gym. Too bad the officials decided to make yet another dubious end-of-the-game call to let them decide it instead of the players. And when are MIAC officials going to realize that Alfred Jaryan running into a defensive player and then flailing about like a trout just pulled from the stream isn't a foul?

Judge for yourself. As they say, the tape don't lie.

Some could call you a Homer, but yes, you were correct on that one. That is really bad.

[Drake Palmer]

The long awaited, and highly anticipated Palmer Mid Season All-MIAC Awards.  The awards may spark some mild controversy and dissension, but that's ok.  As dead as the board has been, we could use a little more heat.

The committee is deliberately limiting the All Conference to 11 players so posters can squawk and clamor about why their teammates were not included.  The committee had an especially tough time with the exclusion of a couple of tough hombres from Carleton, but unfortunately other players had a better first half of the season.

All MIAC Mid–Season First Team

Dewon McKenzie JR, PG – Concordia
Seth Anderson SR, 2G – Gustavus
John Nance, JR Wing –St. Thomas
Pierce Peters JR, Forward - - Macalester
Andy Grzesiak-Grimm SR, Forward – Augsburg

All MIAC Mid-Season Second Team

Andy Burns SR, PG – St. Johns
Tyler Schmidt JR, 2G – Augsburg
Mike Campbell SR, Wing – Hamline
Michael Burfeind JR, Forward – St. Marys
Stuart Neville SR, Forward – St. Olaf
Cory Polta SR, Forward – Augsburg

All Mid-Season Honorable Mention

Caleb Rosenow-  Carleton
Tommy Sawatzke- Carleton
Bobby Fong – St. Olaf
Taylor Hall- Bethel
Aaron Barmore – St. Johns
Will DeBerg – St. Thomas
Ebo Nana Kweson - Concordia

Co-MVP: – Seth Anderson/ Andy Grzesiak-Grimm

All Lock-Down Team

Andy Grzesiak-Grimm - Augsburg
Brett Sorenson - Augsburg
John Nance - St. Thomas
Paul Blacklock- Gustavus
Mike Campbell- Hamline

All Freshmen Team

Dior Ford – Hamline
Shane McSparron – Carleton
Sterling Nielsen – St. Olaf
Connor Nord – St. Thomas
Evan Peterson – St. Mary's

Most disappointing team: – St. Olaf

Co-Coach of the Year: – Mark Hanson - Gustavus/ Aaron Griess - Augsburg

[carletonsid]

Kinda surprised no one has checked in...

Another instant classic between the Knights and Oles yesterday in front of a mostly full-house at West Gym. Too bad the officials decided to make yet another dubious end-of-the-game call to let them decide it instead of the players. And when are MIAC officials going to realize that Alfred Jaryan running into a defensive player and then flailing about like a trout just pulled from the stream isn't a foul?

Judge for yourself. As they say, the tape don't lie.

Some could call you a Homer, but yes, you were correct on that one. That is really bad.

Totally admit I'm a homer. Love MIAC hoops, but obviously root hard for the Knights.

My Ole friends reminded me that the call that led to the Rosenow FT at the end of regulation was just as weak. Just went back and watched the tape, and indeed it was. A very questionable hand-check called on Gunderson. I was looking through the camera lens (the photo on our front page is right after the so-called hand check) so I missed it, but on further review it was indeed a horrible call. If Rosenow had made one or both FTs and St. Olaf had lost that way, they would have had every right to be upset. Even more preplexing when looking at that call is the fact they didn't call any hand checks for the other 39:53 (which is an exaggeration, but they certainly let a ton of hand-checking go).

Time to move on. GAC on Wednesday--doesn't get any easier.

[AO]

If anything it's a foul on Jaryan.  Sawatzke was in a legal guarding position, Jaryan ran into him and pulled off a swim move to get ahead while sending sending Sawatzke stumbling towards towards the sidelines.  I'm ok with a late whistle now and again to allow the referee to check who gained the advantage after the contact occurred.

If you thought it was a foul on Sawatzke and Carleton was up 3 or down, you'd also hope that the foul would not be called as Carleton could gain the advantage by only giving Olaf an opportunity for 2, when Carleton was up 3 or able to trade a 3 for a 2 if they were down.

[piperinsider]

The long awaited, and highly anticipated Palmer Mid Season All-MIAC Awards.  The awards may spark some mild controversy and dissension, but that's ok.  As dead as the board has been, we could use a little more heat.

The committee is deliberately limiting the All Conference to 11 players so posters can squawk and clamor about why their teammates were not included.  The committee had an especially tough time with the exclusion of a couple of tough hombres from Carleton, but unfortunately other players had a better first half of the season.

All MIAC Mid–Season First Team
Dewon McKenzie JR, PG – Concordia
Seth Anderson SR, 2G – Gustavus
John Nance, JR Wing –St. Thomas
Pierce Peters JR, Forward - - Macalester
Andy Grzesiak-Grimm SR, Forward – Augsburg

All MIAC Mid-Season Second Team
Andy Burns SR, PG – St. Johns
Tyler Schmidt JR, 2G – Augsburg
Mike Campbell SR, Wing – Hamline
Michael Burfeind JR, Forward – St. Marys
Stuart Neville SR, Forward – St. Olaf
Cory Polta SR, Forward – Augsburg

All Mid-Season Honorable Mention

Caleb Rosenow-  Carleton
Tommy Sawatzke- Carleton
Bobby Fong – St. Olaf
Taylor Hall- Bethel
Aaron Barmore – St. Johns
Will DeBerg – St. Thomas
Ebo Nana Kweson - Concordia

Co-MVP: – Seth Anderson/ Andy Grzesiak-Grimm

I'll bite. You have two players on your 1st team that don't rank in the top 15 in scoring, rebounding, field goal pct or the top 5 in either assists, steals or blocks. To me, a first-team member is a standout in at least one area of the game.

John Nance is a nice player, but he's 17th in scoring, 7th in assists and 9th in steals.
* I'll take Mike Campbell at 8th in points, 11th in rebounding, 9th in FT pct, and is 1st in steals by almost a full steal at 2.75 per game

Dewon McKenzie is also a nice player, but he's 18th in scoring, 10th in assists and sixth in steals.
* Pretty weak PG field though. Andy Burns leads McKenzie in assists and is fourth in FT pct. It's a wash right now.

How can you not give Dior Ford at lest honorable mention. Since he was inserted into the starting lineup, Hamline is 7-3.

His stats: Ford - 13.6 in scoring (12th), 4.9 rebounds (18th), .586 FG pct (4th), .796 FT pct (10th), 15 blocks (5th). His numbers only continue to increase as his first five games off the bench carry less weight on his stats.

Thanks Drake for the great work!