MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[localcoach]

miacmaniac - I make my share of games during the season, just not so much lately.  I follow the MIAC closely as I have friends who coach and I know a lot of alumns, so when I can't get to a game that I'm curious about and I know someone who's going, I just ask them to call me with a report afterwards. 

Regarding defending St. Thomas, I would agree with OAS.  If you can play Rosefelt and Schnettler tough and Shimek and Sweeney make enough shots to beat you then so be it.  Having said that, Sweeney's made some big shots for the Tommies this year already, so we know he's capable of it.

Speaking of the playoffs, I heard that the WIAC lets every team in the playoffs.  Why doesn't the MIAC do it that way?  Does anyone know?

[sumander]

oAs, Big game for the Scots tomorrow! Mac on a 3 game win streak and Hambone on a 3 game skid. I'll bet you have visions of wearing that XL SJU shirt!!

[miacwatchmen]

mmmmmmm I smell HAM in an upset. Conboy and MAC are prime for a big big big fall. I can't wait for that MAC t-shirt. My family will be so proud of me for winning this bet. I will restore the family name.



oh oAs......by the way i am an XL

[sju4life]

as to the SJU game plan for saturday..... i believe like in the first game SJU will put Westman on schnettler.  It seemed to work last game, since he held him to 9 pts.  The toughest matchup for the johnnies is guarding of keating.  He is bigger then all of SJU's wings which poses a challenge.  He is the player that killed SJU last time dropping 18.  If i remember right though, brady brink didnt play in that game and he is much taller and much longer which could be a good matchup with keating.  I think it will be a close game with............the tommies winning by 10 due to freethrows at the end

[sumander]

SJU4L, You are correct. Brink sat out the first game against UST with the bad ankle. I also agree Keating hurt the Johnnies bad with the mid range jumpers. Brink might be their best option on Keating.

My concern with Westman on Schnettler is Westman working too hard on the defensive end might take away from his offense. He appears to tire. He is playing around 30 min/gm. Westman has shot the ball better than Lieser and Ohme of late. They need his production on the "O" end, IMO.

[piperinsider]

LC-
Top 8 make it in the WIAC. Which means Superior is out. In two weeks, when the regular season is over, I want two good reasons why number seven and eight deserve to be in the MIAC playoffs. In most years, an 7-13 or 8-12 team doesn't belong.

OAS (MAC/HAM)- you going?
Dinner reservations at 6...can we start the game at 1? If I walk in with a shirt and tie, it's because I need to pick up the old lady at 5:30 to make it downtown in time.

[piperinsider]

100 posts!

Oh wait, I may have lost 300-400 posts when we got the new board. For some reason, everybody else got their posts back, but not more PI. Oh well, second-stringer is better than third.

So yea, 500 posts!

[Drake Palmer]

I agree once again with LC, IF  the Tommies are hitting on cylinders they are extremely tough to beat.  For example - in the GAC-UST game 2, in the 2nd half the Gusties did a very job defending Ike & Schnettler, limiting Rosefelt to 4 & Schnettler to 7 points.  Problem was Sweeney was huge the entire game & had 8 points in each half.  Also, in the 2nd half Shimek responded with 8 strong points in the paint.   The first time the Johnnies & Tommies met, Keating had a huge game for them etc.  Having Brink back should help the Johnnies efforts.  

But anyway I digressed.  Psst Sumander... I've heard from a very good source that here's the trick to beating the Tommies & Ike.  Copyright & trademark pending

Click your heels together three times, have Schafer hit the drop step dunk on Ike and show em the...













In all seriousness, this has the makings of a very good game.  I think the Johnnies finally might be starting to put a "little something" together late in the season.  The Johnnies played reasonably well on the road, & in the "woulda," "coulda", "shoulda" department, lost in OT against Carleton.  Then the Johnnies returned to home cooking & solidly beat another playoff contender in Bethel.

Complacency seems to be one of the biggest concerns with this year's version of the Tommies.  I'd like to think they've outgrown that, but they still tend to show disinterest or a lack of a killer instinct as they did against the Dawgs on Wednesday night.  If the atmospheric conditions are right, & the Johnnies are playing with focus, this could be an upset special.

However, with the best interests of both teams in mind, I would love to see a rip roaring, heavyweight bout going back & forth between both teams, with the winner decided by 10 points or less.  It makes the game tougher on the teams, coaches & fans alike, but like the old expression goes – "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."   

[Drake Palmer]

100 posts!

Oh wait, I may have lost 300-400 posts when we got the new board. For some reason, everybody else got their posts back, but not more PI. Oh well, second-stringer is better than third.

So yea, 500 posts!

PIPWI (Piper I PLAY to WIN Insider) - back in August when they came out with the new message boards, they (Pat Coleman) told all posters they would have to re-register on the new board.  And if my memory's correct, the window of opportunity to renew was close to a month.  'Spose that was when you were harvesting corn, or moving out to Olivia eh? 

[onearmedscot]

PI-

No worries.  Your manhood is not based on quantity of posts.  Us regulars know you've been around awhile. 

SIXTH PLACE TEAM RECORD
2006:    9-11
2005:  10-10
2004:    9-11
2003:  10-10
2002:    9-11
2001:  11-9
2000:  Four Team playoff



oAs.

[miacwatchmen]

I think SJU can't hope to stop .....they can only hope to contain him. Schnettler on the other hand will be an easier task to stop. If you put a man in his face can he score. I haven't seen UST enough to know if he can create for himself. Can Schnettler shoot of the dribble?? Can anyone answer that. If he can't then he may be in for another under 10 point performance.

Keating is very two faced. One game he scores 20 next game he scores 4. Playing AUG on Wednesday he had 2 points and 3 bouards in 24 minutes. Does that mean he is prime for a big night. I think Keating will show up and hit for near 15.

Shimek.......we wont even go there if he scores more than 10 the Johnnies will lose.

Sweeney took 7 threes against AUG on Wednesday and hit 3 of them so i think SJU needs to plan on him shooting first and hope he doesn't beat them on the drive. If i remember right in the first game he hit a couple of bombs with Leiser guarding him. He has range for sure. He is the person that will be the deciding factor in the game, If he scores 20 and dishes out 8 or 10 dimes the Johnnies will be screwed.

Finally, all the games i've seen the Johnnies Westman has never worked to hard on the defensive end. So Sumander i don't think Smith will have to worry about Westman working to hard on that end. The only Johnnies that plays all out defense is Brady Brink. The Johnnies game plan may be the same as it was vs. BET ....push the ball and get fast break points. They looked almost like Grinnel on Monday. They got the D-board and one of the three guards pushed it to the other guards for a jumper or layup. It will be a great game no matter what the style of play.

I think the Johnnies will keep it close and lose by less than 10 in a pretty high scoring game.

[onearmedscot]

Boz about to get Jiggy on Cheddar Bob!!



oAs

[Willy Wonka]

watchman - Westman held Tebrake to 11 points on 5-13. He did pretty well that night, but it seemed to hurt his production on the offensive end. He finished 1-8 with 2 points, including missing the game-winner.

[localcoach]

I have to agree with OAS in terms of making the playoffs.  I believe the 5th place team will be 10-10 in league play and the 6th place team will be 9-11.  My gut also says that the final playoff spot will be determined by the tie breaker format.  

I also think that the 3rd and 4th place spots (likely GAC and SJU) will come down to the final game of the regular season when the two go head-to-head in Collegeville.

[onearmedscot]

LC--

You feeling okay?  You've agreed with me twice in a 3 hour period.

oAs.