MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[miacsuperfan]

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

Yeah, I will bite too----I would move Fong (STO) and Hall (BU) up the list, but am not sure who I would move out. I do know that anyone who would take the time to even put together a "bait" list gets +K from me.   

[piperinsider]

Nice start to the toughest 4-game stretch of the season for Hamline as the post-less Pipers beat the post-heavy Auggies 83-77 on the West Bank Monday.

Hamline's 4-game stretch features games at Augsburg, St. Thomas and St. Olaf (with a fourth game at home against Augsburg).

I think Campbell solidified my stance on him being on the mid-season all-Palmer 1st team. He scored 18 points and added five rebounds and four steals. He was perfect from the free-throw line down the stretch, going 10-for-10.

Al Tillman and Brandon Rieg with 25 combined points off the bench.

Andy GG poured in 24 points and 14 rebounds, but in a run-and-gun game Polta played only 24 minutes and notched 10 points. Auggie had 21 turnovers, including six from guard David Weber.

The Pipers are 8-4 - 1/2 game behind Gustavus and Augsburg.

[Drake Palmer]

Nice start to the toughest 4-game stretch of the season for Hamline as the post-less Pipers beat the post-heavy Auggies 83-77 on the West Bank Monday.

Hamline's 4-game stretch features games at Augsburg, St. Thomas and St. Olaf (with a fourth game at home against Augsburg).

I think Campbell solidified my stance on him being on the mid-season all-Palmer 1st team. He scored 18 points and added five rebounds and four steals. He was perfect from the free-throw line down the stretch, going 10-for-10.

Al Tillman and Brandon Rieg with 25 combined points off the bench.

Andy GG poured in 24 points and 14 rebounds, but in a run-and-gun game Polta played only 24 minutes and notched 10 points. Auggie had 21 turnovers, including six from guard David Weber.

The Pipers are 8-4 - 1/2 game behind Gustavus and Augsburg.

I took in the Augsburg-Hamline game last night, & Mike Campbell made a very strong case for first team.  Campbell also confirmed what I had already been posted; he is indeed a Palmer All-Lockdown team member.  There aren't too many players in the league his size as quick as Campbell. The Piper guards were stronger and quicker than the Augsburg guards. Short, muscular All Tillman is a match up nightmare as well.  He's about 5-11, 230lbs & plays like he's been playing in the old men's league at the downtown St. Paul YMCA league for years.  It was fun watching this tank go to work in the paint. Pipers looked tough and will be a tough out.

Hamline put a ton of pressure on the ball which prevented the Dawgs from getting into a comfortable half court rhythm.  Teams like Gustavus and I'm guessing St. Thomas will have a better time handling the ball pressure and reversing the ball to backdoor cutters.  My guess is that in the Gustie –Pipes game last week, Gustavus was successful beating the Hamline defenders on their aggressive overplay.

This is the 2nd-3rd time I've seen Augsburg play this year, and they are just not the same team without Parker Hines in the lineup. The ball movement was really choppy most of the night.  When they played at Gustavus back in December, with Hines in the lineup it was a 2 point loss 80-82. The Dawgs path to playoff glory doesn't get any easier with games looming on the horizon with the red- hot Bethel Royals on Wednesday, at Concordia on Saturday, back home next Monday against Gustavus, and then kick off February with a rematch at Hutton Arena against the Pipers.

For me, it will be a game time decision to decide which game to check out on Wednesday: Hamline at UST, or Augsburg at Bethel.  Finally, some good games to watch.

[VOJ]

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

I would swap Neville for Peters and Schmidt for Nance...Yes Peters is having a better overall statistical year, but when it comes down to wins and losses Neville gets the edge...Schmidt does not get enough respect in this league for doing what he is doing, in fact I would not have been surprised had you put Anderson/Schmidt as co-players of the year.  One more change through my Red Colored Glasses...Barmore for Campbell

Piperinsider I agree that Ford is an amazing talent...but this is the mid-season awards and as you stated he was on the bench for the first part of the year, now he is getting the PT needed to make a run at All-Conference, he could be there in the end.

[piperinsider]

Huh? Campbell leads Barmore in every category except assists, in which neither is among team leaders. I don't wear glasses, I just state the facts 

Better to make your case for Barmore over Nance for the second wing spot. Campbell is ahead of Nance.

MC
14.8 ppg
.558 FG pct
5.6 rpg
League-best 41 steals, 19 assists, 5 blocks

AB
13.6 ppg
.538 FG pct
4.3 rpg
18 steals, 29 assists, 2 blocks

Nance
12.4 ppg
.465 FG pct
4.2 rpg
22 steals, 44 assists, 6 blocks

[Drake Palmer]

Fellas, unless the sky collapses or God forbid, John Nance becomes injured, he'll make the All-MIAC conference team.  We'll just never know if is first, second, or 3rd team.  It's unfortunate the coaches don't quite have the guts to name a first, second, or honorable mention All Conference teams.  I would love to see what they think.

PI - you brought up some interesting points about selection criteria – a leader in various statistical category, etc, which I didn't have time to address yesterday. So I was chuckling when I turned to the archives and looked up that infamous year – 2009, the same season when the UST finished the year with a spectacular 30-1 overall record. If you recall, 4/5 of that Tommie team was named All-Conference.  You didn't forget that did you?  Big ol' smirk 

*Al McCoy
*Lonnie Robinson
*Joe Scott
* B.J. Viau

And there were more than a few Tommie faithful who were screaming bloody murder because Tyler Nicolai wasn't named to one of the teams. 

Aside from Joe Scott, who was named conference MVP, none of the other UST players had outstanding individual numbers.

*B.J. Viau was tied for 23rd in scoring at 10.1 ppg, #11 in assists at 2.55 apg, and was 6th in steals at 1.5 spg

*Al McCoy led the league in field goal percentage at 69%, and was 11th in steals per game 1.30

*Lonnie Robinson was 6th in assists per game at 2.85 apg, and was tied for 9th in steal per game at 1.35 spg.

McCoy, Robinson, and Viau all made the All Defense Team.
****

Personally, I think if Hamline and UST swapped out John Nance and Mike Campbell, I believe they would put up similar numbers at the other school. In a one on one contest, I would give the slightest of statistical edge to Mike Campbell because he can drive and finish with either hand at the basket.  Nance has got better range on his jumper, Campbell is a deadly free throw shooter,  85% -a draw.  So, since UST is currently in first place – the Palmer Awards committee selected Nance over Campbell.  Notice both are on the All Defense team.

[TommieHoops4Life]

DP,

I find you putting a Macalester player who leads a horrendous team in scoring on the conference mid-season first team list nothing short of absurd. They're 1-15 for goodness sake. And the fact that you put a player like Rosenow (7th in scoring, 3rd in rebounding) on the honorable mention list is a terrible take IMHO. If not for being hurt, Tommy Hannon would be a lock for the first team. Nance is 17th in the league in scoring but he's the best player not named Hannon on that team so I'll give you that one.

No player on a 1-15 team, regardless of whoever the team is, should ever be on a first-team all conference list. Stu Neville (4th in scoring, 2nd in rebounding) is a first-team forward and Pierce is either 3rd team (at best) or honorable mention.

Potentially interesting match-up tonight on Snelling Avenue. St. Thomas, for whatever reason, seems to always struggle at Hutton Arena or at least they did in my college days. This a chance for the Pipers to assert themselves in the playoff chase. It'll be interesting to see what transpires.

[Patriot]

I believe tonights game is @ St Thomas.

[TommieHoops4Life]

Patriot,

I stand corrected. Didn't look at the schedule closely enough in the rush of the day, but it should be a good contest anyway.

[Drake Palmer]

DP,

I find you putting a Macalester player who leads a horrendous team in scoring on the conference mid-season first team list nothing short of absurd. They're 1-15 for goodness sake. And the fact that you put a player like Rosenow (7th in scoring, 3rd in rebounding) on the honorable mention list is a terrible take IMHO. If not for being hurt, Tommy Hannon would be a lock for the first team. Nance is 17th in the league in scoring but he's the best player not named Hannon on that team so I'll give you that one.

No player on a 1-15 team, regardless of whoever the team is, should ever be on a first-team all conference list. Stu Neville (4th in scoring, 2nd in rebounding) is a first-team forward and Pierce is either 3rd team (at best) or honorable mention.

Potentially interesting match-up tonight on Snelling Avenue. St. Thomas, for whatever reason, seems to always struggle at Hutton Arena or at least they did in my college days. This a chance for the Pipers to assert themselves in the playoff chase. It'll be interesting to see what transpires.

TH4L- UST's Tommy Hannon has only played 4 conference games and is not eligible for any mid-year All conference team. Certainly if he was playing, he would not only be a lock All-Conference selection, but a likely contender for league MVP.

Interesting - most people who've actually seen Peters play had no qualms regarding his selection.  Here's what I think is absurd. A guy spouting off who has yet to see a MIAC game this year. Or how many MIAC games have you seen in the past 2-3 years?  As inept as the rest of the Macalester team is, it's a real credit to Peter's ability that he can put up those kinds of numbers without the embarrassment of riches that Neville has at St. Olaf, or even the supporting cast Rosenow has with an injury riddled Carleton team. 

Peters' stats

4th in scoring at 17.2ppg
5th reb at 5.2rpg
12th in steals at 1.2 spg
4th 3pt FG % at 44.7% 3FGA

Get out and see a game and you can get back to me.  In the meantime, I'll keep him on the first team thank you very much.

P.S. Thanks for keeping the pot stirred. 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I believe tonights game is @ St Thomas.

yes it is.....where Hamline hasnt won since 1978 or 1979 (31 or 32 conference games and a couple of playoff games). Still it should be a great battle, as the Pipers looked solid in beating Augs and UST has been hammered with injuries.

[piperinsider]

WE didn't SHOCK THE MIAC!

St. Thomas 89, Hamline 73. Some things never change.

Well, the Pipers are done with the two teams that they rarely beat - UST and GAC

[gacbacker]

Gusties and Tommies battle for first place on Saturday, but Bethel is the team nobody wants to play right now...quite a streak for the Royals right now.

[Patriot]

Does anybody know what caused the T's at last nights UST/HU game?  Box score has one for Campbell, one for Pannell and one for UST's Leslie.

[Drake Palmer]

Does anybody know what caused the T's at last nights UST/HU game?  Box score has one for Campbell, one for Pannell and one for UST's Leslie.

Patriot - you missed another one.  The Hamline bench, ahem the Admiral received a T as well. I'll see if I can provide a recap of the action over the noon hour, but in the meantime let's just say everyone was exercising their right to free speech. Cracked me up!