MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[GoldandBlueBU]

Quiet place here lately...

Caught most of BU - Carl last night, and was pleased to see them pick up the road win.  Tianen Chen is an impressive player to me...he is far from the most athletic guy, but absolutely makes the most of what he has by being very fundamental, and plays very smart basketball.

Grow looked much better as a sophomore than he did as a freshman last year, I think largely attributed to getting stronger, but BU was basically able to not guard him once he had the ball further than 15 feet from the hoop.  Carleton would occasionally give him the ball just outside the elbow, and whoever was guarding him for BU would just drop back into the lane and much things up for the Carleton offense, since he had zero ability to hit a wide open jumper.  If he can become even a minor threat with a mid-range shot, and continue his improvement in the post that he had from last year to this year, he'll be very tough his Jr. and Sr. years.


I'm liking the balance that BU has shown lately...not overly dependent on one guy from game to game.

[Kilroy]

Saw Mac/SMU on Saturday...  loved Gutierrez for Mac. I think he proved to me that he could transition his game from a small high school to the college level. Has a knack for scoring, flat-out. Wyatt Ferm was nice from the perimeter as well. I was a fan of newcomers Gleason and Smith-Pugh for SMU... Tayson could be a nice player as well. Liked the intensity from Wylie Ferron.

[USTBench]

I rarely post here, but I will be at UST/Cobs tonight. Hopefully we remember to clean up the water and sweat after our timeouts this year.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Saw Mac/SMU on Saturday...  loved Gutierrez for Mac. I think he proved to me that he could transition his game from a small high school to the college level. Has a knack for scoring, flat-out. Wyatt Ferm was nice from the perimeter as well. I was a fan of newcomers Gleason and Smith-Pugh for SMU... Tayson could be a nice player as well. Liked the intensity from Wylie Ferron.

The MAC - BU game was the only one I've attended so far, and he (Gutierrez) certainly looked like the real deal that day.  Quick, good shooter, and impressive poise for a feshman.

[MIAC23]

I rarely post here, but I will be at UST/Cobs tonight. Hopefully we remember to clean up the water and sweat after our timeouts this year.

I was there as well Bench. Front row with the Twins sweatshirt on.

Cobbs made a couple good runs in the second half, but had already dug themselves too deep of a hole being down 16 at the half. I think they went over 7 minutes without scoring in one stretch. I think they had it down to 5 a couple times in the second half, but couldn't get over the hump.

Cobbs had a huge win against Bethel on Saturday. Nelson shadowed Wojta the whole game and held him to two points. Taylor Hall had a nice game for the Royals, but not enough with the low output for Wojta. Big game for the Cobbs on Wed. when the Oles come to town.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Cobbs had a huge win against Bethel on Saturday. Nelson shadowed Wojta the whole game and held him to two points. Taylor Hall had a nice game for the Royals, but not enough with the low output for Wojta. Big game for the Cobbs on Wed. when the Oles come to town.

Thought that was a huge factor as well.  Wojta couldn't get anything going from outside, and was rendered relatively useless on offense.  Wojta has had other small games this year as well, but Hall, or Tusler, or Magnusson has picked up the slack on offense.  Not the case on Saturday.

[Drake Palmer]

Cobbs had a huge win against Bethel on Saturday. Nelson shadowed Wojta the whole game and held him to two points. Taylor Hall had a nice game for the Royals, but not enough with the low output for Wojta. Big game for the Cobbs on Wed. when the Oles come to town.

Thought that was a huge factor as well.  Wojta couldn't get anything going from outside, and was rendered relatively useless on offense.  Wojta has had other small games this year as well, but Hall, or Tusler, or Magnusson has picked up the slack on offense.  Not the case on Saturday.

Busier than usual winter, but chiming in on Brycen Wojta:

I happened to have watched the Bethel-UST game in person last month and have read boxscores from other games Wojta's played this year. I'm beginning to wonder if he's fully recovered from his lower leg injury, because he doesn't appear to be nearly as explosive, or as quick as in his first two years. In fact, I just checked some statistics and for the season, his shooting % is down quite a bit from last year:

2014 -2015           2015-2016 season

FGA %:  46.5%         39.8%
3FGA % 41.7%         31.4%
FT %      81.3%         74.5%

Secondly, I think Bethel is still getting accustomed to playing with a legitimate big man in the post with Derek Magnuson, and learning how to share the ball between the team's former primary ball handler, Wojta, the interim ball handler Trevor Hall, and now Bridge Tusler. Once they put all the pieces together this team could be very dangerous.  Plus, if Tusler could finish his athletic drives to the basket, Tommies would have lost to Bethel last month.

Until then, it looks the Tommies are still the team to beat.

What's going on with the Johnnies?

[GoldandBlueBU]

Busier than usual winter, but chiming in on Brycen Wojta:

I happened to have watched the Bethel-UST game in person last month and have read boxscores from other games Wojta's played this year. I'm beginning to wonder if he's fully recovered from his lower leg injury, because he doesn't appear to be nearly as explosive, or as quick as in his first two years. In fact, I just checked some statistics and for the season, his shooting % is down quite a bit from last year:

2014 -2015           2015-2016 season

FGA %:  46.5%         39.8%
3FGA % 41.7%         31.4%
FT %      81.3%         74.5%

Secondly, I think Bethel is still getting accustomed to playing with a legitimate big man in the post with Derek Magnuson, and learning how to share the ball between the team's former primary ball handler, Wojta, the interim ball handler Trevor Hall, and now Bridge Tusler. Once they put all the pieces together this team could be very dangerous.  Plus, if Tusler could finish his athletic drives to the basket, Tommies would have lost to Bethel last month.

Until then, it looks the Tommies are still the team to beat.

What's going on with the Johnnies?

I've had the same question in my head about Wojta...not quite sure what to make of it.  While they didn't have a "big" man last year, Zimmerman did pretty much exclusively play in the post, so I don't feel like that should be an issue.  Injury could be it, or my other theory would be that it could be due to him simply taking less shots.  He's sort of a guy that gets a little rhythm going and then tends to be productive...he doesn't need to take as many shots on this year's team, so he doesn't get a chance to get things rolling as often, and thus has lower %'s.  I do think they're still figuring out how to play together, as you suggested.  Hall is taking more shots than he used to, so between him, Tusler, Magnusson, shooting regularly, and VSP and Jared Nelson also getting their looks in, the opportunities are spread thinner.  Great thing overall, but I do feel like they're still learning to play as a unit.

Re: SJU - I don't think it's too bad up there...not ideal to be swept by the Knights, but Carleton has shown that it can beat anyone in the conference, and they just aren't a team that you can get away with making mistakes against, or having a close game with...they seem to find a way with their efficient play.  Their Cobber loss is the only "bad" in conference loss, IMO.

And yes, UST is still the team to beat, but not by the margin that they were the past few years.

[Drake Palmer]

Palmer Mid-Season All Conference Teams

First Team:

Kevin Grow, SO Carleton: Forward
Jordan Bolger, SR Concordia: Forward
Ryan Saarela, SR UST: Forward
Mitchell Kuck, SR St. Johns: PG
Cortez Tillman, SR UST:  2G

6th Man:  Taylor Montero, SR UST: Small Forward

Second Team:

Ben Figini, SR St. Olaf: Forward
Collin Olmscheid, SO Augsburg: Forward
Riley Aeikens, SR St Olaf: Small Forward
Alex Schmitt, SR St. Johns: 2G
Grant Shaeffer, JR, UST: PG

6th Man:  Tianen Chen, JR Carleton: Forward

Freshman Team

Quinn Johnson, Carleton
Connor Knutson, Hamline
Wyatt Ferm, Macalester
Michael Gutierrez, Macalester
Derek Magnuson, Bethel

6th Man: Riley Sharbono, Gustavus

[Drake Palmer]

Triple Posts...

While doing some background research for my next posts, I came across this semi-cringe worthy quote from SID Gen McGivern and basketball coach John Tauer at UST.

The calendar set up well this season for Tommie men's basketball coach John Tauer, a planner and Psychology professor on and off the court.
Tauer was able to break out his 2015-16 season into six phases:

•   preseason;
•   Three November games against tough non-conference opponents from around the country;
•   Five December games leading up to final exams and a short holiday break;
•   10 January games leading into a Jan. 30 bye weekend;
•   the upcoming seven-game February homestretch;
•   a chance to compete in the postseason.


Perhaps Coach Tauer was referring to the preseason work put in by the individual players prior to the beginning of the official basketball season, and not the non-conference games they played in November? Let's hope so.  I heard an interview with UST football coach Glenn Caruso, and he referred to the Tommies non-conference basketball schedule as "preseason" so I'm not so sure.

http://tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20160128q3wig4

[Drake Palmer]

Speaking of quotes.  While I was looking up some information on the Carleton website, I came across an article on the Carleton's Men's tennis team. Since one of my friend's son is a FY and on the Carleton tennis team, I decided to check out the story.  I was rewarded with these humorous quotes:

"The first-year players have been as well received as the release of Adele's '25' album," said Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel.

And in light of the recent food poisoning woes afflicting national food chain restaurant Chipotle, this other comment was topical and funny.

"I'm not sure what was more courageous, Jordan's style of play or our choice of Chipotle for the post-match meal," Zweifel said.

[Drake Palmer]

Last, but certainly not least...

MIAC basketball games have been few and far between the last couple of years, so when my schedule cleared up yesterday and I had the opportunity for a doubleheader, I was all over it. 

At 1:00PM I watched a very strong Concordia team defeat a young, but talented Augsburg team at Si Melby Hall 86-78.  For the second game, I made the short jaunt over to Arden Hills to watch the Bethel Royals take down SJU, 81-72 in a fiercely contested, see-saw battle.

With 6-7 games remaining in the conference schedule, I thought I'd take a look at the teams in the playoff hunt and offer up my snapshot, summary predictions on the final regular season standings.

Palmer Predictions:

Current Records of the following teams -

Augsburg (6-8):  This young team of mostly sophomores and juniors is a year away from competing for a playoff spot.  SO small forward Collin Olmscheid is a very talented offensive player, and with a little more effort on the defensive end, could become one of the premier players in the league by the time his career concludes.

Remaining schedule:  Hamline, Bethel, @ UST, @ Carleton, @ Macalester, SJU
Projected finish: 8-12

Gustavus (6-8): Injuries seem to have derailed the playoff possibilities of a senior dominated team.  First early season injuries to guard Gary Cooper who has recently returned to active duty, and now an injury (?) to Chad Poppen? Tough way to close out the season.

Remaining schedule: @ UST, @ Concordia, @ STO, Hamline, SJU, Carleton
Projected finish:  9-11

Carleton (8-5):  A young team that has been showing steady growth this season, but had a baffling loss at home to SMU 57-52 yesterday.  Post players Kevin Grow and Tianen Chen are solid to exceptional, but need more consistent play from their guards.

Remaining schedule: Concordia, @ St. Olaf, Hamline, @ Macalester, Augsburg, @ Bethel, @ Gustavus.
Projected finish: 11-9

Bethel (8-5):  Outside of the Tommies, Bethel is probably the most dangerous team in the league.  They also have three of the quickest guards in SO Bridgeport Tusler, & JRs Trevor Hall, & Brycen Wojta.

Remaining schedule: St. Olaf, @ Augsburg, @ SMU, UST, Carleton, Hamline
Projected finish:  14-6

St. Olaf (9-5):  Big test for them as they go on the road to face Bethel next Wednesday night.  Can they put the pieces together of what started out as a very promising season? They appear to miss the steadying influence of graduated All MIAC PG, Sterling Nielsen.

Remaining schedule: @ Bethel, Carleton, Macalester, Gustavus, @ SMU, UST.
Projected finish: 13-7

Saint John's (9-5):  I still contend this the most talented team in the league, but their play remains a question mark going into the final three weeks of the season.

Remaining schedule: Macalester, @ SMU (possible trap game), @ UST, Concordia, @ Gustavus, @ Augsburg
Projected finish: 13-7

Concordia (9-5):  Offensively, this team and the Oles are the best offensively balanced teams in the league. Biggest difference, SR forward Jordan Bolger is having a great MVP type campaign, unsung JR PG Dylan Alderman is a steadying force, and the Cobbs have been playing excellent team defense.

Remaining schedule: @ Carleton, Gustavus, SMU, @ Hamline, @ SJU, Macalester.
Projected finish:  14-6

Saint Thomas (12-1):  Friends and I have commented that this appears to be one of the weaker UST teams in recent history, yet they keep winning week after week, and season after season.  This is a tribute to the coaching staff, commitment to excellence, and caliber of student athletes suiting up for the Tommies.  Tough remaining schedule.

Remaining schedule: Gustavus, @ Hamline, SJU, @ Augsburg, @ Bethel, @ St. Olaf, SMU.
Projected finish: 18-2/ 17-3

Palmer Projected Regular Season Standings:

UST: 18-2/17-3
Bethel: 14-6

Concordia: 14-6
SJU: 13-7

St. Olaf: 13-7
Carleton: 11-9

*****
Gustavus:  9-11
Augsburg: 8-12

SMU
Hamline
Macalester

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Triple Posts...

While doing some background research for my next posts, I came across this semi-cringe worthy quote from SID Gen McGivern and basketball coach John Tauer at UST.

The calendar set up well this season for Tommie men's basketball coach John Tauer, a planner and Psychology professor on and off the court.
Tauer was able to break out his 2015-16 season into six phases:

•   preseason;
•   Three November games against tough non-conference opponents from around the country;
•   Five December games leading up to final exams and a short holiday break;
•   10 January games leading into a Jan. 30 bye weekend;
•   the upcoming seven-game February homestretch;
•   a chance to compete in the postseason.


Perhaps Coach Tauer was referring to the preseason work put in by the individual players prior to the beginning of the official basketball season, and not the non-conference games they played in November? Let's hope so.  I heard an interview with UST football coach Glenn Caruso, and he referred to the Tommies non-conference basketball schedule as "preseason" so I'm not so sure.

http://tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20160128q3wig4

Yes, he's talking about October 15-November 13 or any work his team is putting in prior to the season. I think that is clear when talking about the three tough opponents around the country in the second phase of the season. He isn't using the term "preseason" to talk about any non-conference games. He is talking about the team preparing in the preseason to start their season.

Honestly, I shake my head at those who call non-conference games "preseason." Preseason means the games don't count... they are prior to the season starting. Calling non-conference games, in the regular season, preseason games makes absolutely no sense to me. Just because Glenn Caruso refered to the non-conference basketball season as "preseason" doesn't mean it is pre-season. Caruso is the football coach after all. LOL

I don't know why you say you semi-cringed.

[Drake Palmer]

Triple Posts...

While doing some background research for my next posts, I came across this semi-cringe worthy quote from SID Gen McGivern and basketball coach John Tauer at UST.

The calendar set up well this season for Tommie men's basketball coach John Tauer, a planner and Psychology professor on and off the court.
Tauer was able to break out his 2015-16 season into six phases:

•   preseason;
•   Three November games against tough non-conference opponents from around the country;
•   Five December games leading up to final exams and a short holiday break;
•   10 January games leading into a Jan. 30 bye weekend;
•   the upcoming seven-game February homestretch;
•   a chance to compete in the postseason.


Perhaps Coach Tauer was referring to the preseason work put in by the individual players prior to the beginning of the official basketball season, and not the non-conference games they played in November? Let's hope so.  I heard an interview with UST football coach Glenn Caruso, and he referred to the Tommies non-conference basketball schedule as "preseason" so I'm not so sure.

http://tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20160128q3wig4

Yes, he's talking about October 15-November 13 or any work his team is putting in prior to the season. I think that is clear when talking about the three tough opponents around the country in the second phase of the season. He isn't using the term "preseason" to talk about any non-conference games. He is talking about the team preparing in the preseason to start their season.

Honestly, I shake my head at those who call non-conference games "preseason." Preseason means the games don't count... they are prior to the season starting. Calling non-conference games, in the regular season, preseason games makes absolutely no sense to me. Just because Glenn Caruso refered to the non-conference basketball season as "preseason" doesn't mean it is pre-season. Caruso is the football coach after all. LOL

I don't know why you say you semi-cringed.

No, it's not clear.   

Most of us veteran posters are fully aware of the difference between the phrases "preseason" vs "non-conference."  The usage of the phrase made me cringe when I heard Glenn Caruso, the head football coach at UST use the expression.  So, when I saw the UST athletic department use the phrase in another statement caused me to question their understanding of the two phrases. Capeesh? 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well I can tell you from experience especially working with both men and hearing them speak... John is talking about the actual pre-season. Glenn spouts off something he doesn't really know what he is talking about in the grand scheme of things.

I also think it would have made sense that John was talking about October 15-November 13 since he then referenced the three big games they had in November... which was followed by I think a ten day break (if memory serves) before they got into their December schedule. I think that indicated what John was talking about.

Could UST's SID do a better job of guiding people like Glenn Caruso in his wording? Sure. Though, they are quotes and I am not a fan of changing a coach's quote - though they certainly have the ability to for good reason. But we are also referencing a football coach talking about a schedule he doesn't know as well... especially since he is still playing important games that time of the season.