MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[columbianmaffia]

big news everyone...they are going to release peanut butter flavored pickels next week.....psych....whoa...i bet i gotcha

[megalomaniac]

Im just giving the story time to marinate

[pacific rim]

Someone said earlier that Nelson drove concordia last year.  I think that is a mistake.  The fact is, Concordia (just like st. thomas) loses only one player.  each player lost was all-miac, and i think it is flawed to consider either player the primary driving force behind their respective teams.

Having said that, i can not believe we have spent this much time discussing Hoffarber's prospects when there are so many interesting players around the league.  Play or sit-out, benefit or detriment, who cares?  what about...this kaus kid, for example.  is he worth some of the hype he has been receiving outside of this board.  or strom! do we really expect him to be a TOP FIFTEEN player in the league??

p.s. keith eckhoff drove the cobbers...how ridiculous to think otherwise.

[pacific rim]

i feel like i'm taking crazy pills.  if one more person picks hamline to finish above concordia i will lose all faith in the sanity of this board's contributors.  p.s. eckhoff is a better three point shooter than schnettler, it's not even a considerable discussion.

[sju4life]

pacific??? you make it sound like concordia is picked outright to be the best team this year.  How can you make that statement about people picking hamline over the cobbers and u just cant believe it.  I realize in recent years hamline has had a bad reputation but ummm excuse me.. the cobbers had a WHOPPING 3 more wins then hamline last year.  The cobbers amazing record of 13-13 barely was ahead of hamlines 10-15 plus from what i remember hamline didnt lose anyone from last year at all and "supposively" has a decent recruiting class.  So its extremely fair for people to say hamline could pass the cobbers this year.  I also believe weiner could lock down on eckhoff if they choose because i think he may be one of the best defenders in the league!

[pacific rim]

what's interesting about this argument is its use of nonexistent words.

on a more serious basketball note...there is a difference between having lots of steals and being a really great defender.  Sam is a good defender and he's pretty solid, but eckhoff is one of the best offensive players in the COUNTRY.  as a 6'2 guard he was in the top 3 in the country in 3fg %, and in the top five in the miac (i believe) in FTA.  he's good.  it's safe to say that he is better on offense than Weiner is on defense.

secondly, i never even came close to implying an upcoming cobbers championship. i just said they are better than hamline.  and they are...much better.

thirdly, i don't know what your game experience is, but i'm confident that it pales in comparison to Jackson's (splash).  I find more validity in statements coming from him which include sayings like "actual best player in the league" than I do in some of your ramblings. 

fourthly, i'm sorry.  i snapped a little there.  i am mean.  However, i simply refuse to stand idly by and allow for gross misinterpretation of the texts.

[Drake Palmer]

Pacific - I must admit I like your posting style.  I suppose it also helps since I tend to agree with your cogent points.    Welcome to the board.   

[Cardinalboy]

SMU Camp Update.........Coach Trewick is stressing defense a lot more this year since they gave up about 70ppg last year.....Terrence Smith has looked great in practice. It seems as though he has been around forever but he's in the best shape of his life....I have to retract my statement about Mike Rohr.  He's not aggressive enough offensively..The backcourt is loaded with quickness and will cause a lot of problems for opposing teams..Practices have been going well and seem more intense than previous years...any word on other practices around the league?

[Willy Wonka]

Random thoughts from a cluttered mind...

The first Sapp mention of the year! I like it.

Eckhoff is tough.

Cobbers will be better than Hamline.

Hollerich will be a pleasant surprise for the Gusties this season.

There will be some issues at UST this season with shots and/or playing time.

[WAHOO3]

Watch out for the Oles this year.

Actually I know nothing about MIAC bball anymore.

Can someone give me the skinny on the outlook for the conference?

[localcoach]

Following suit with Willy's random thoughts here are some of my own after reading the latest chatter on this board.

Hamline and Concordia will both be better than people think

Hamline's Sam Wiener and freshman Jon DeRock will form one of the better back courts in the MIAC

St. Mary's will be the most improved team from last season

I echo the sentiments about playing time/shots at St. Thomas.  At some point that will rear its ugly head

Eckhoff is the most complete player in the MIAC

Despite an influx of talent, St. John's will still run the flex offense and only improve marginaly

Hoffarber is a scrappy player that I would love to have on my team

[pacific rim]

Hollerich is definitely on knowledgable observer's radar screens.  Everyone who talks about gustavus taking role players and making them cogs in championship teams is referring to someone like hollerich.  he is cause for concern if you are not a gac fan. i am also looking for Olson from gac to make not-too-surprising contributions.

and finally, previously there was a lot of talk about tebrake being more one dimensional than the common gac player.  Speculation that he wasn't a good defensive player is folderol. his feet are great and he cuts penetration off with his chest and core instead of his arms.  he might not block a ton of shots or get a ton of steals, but as i previously said, those two things are not necessarily linked with being a great defensive player.  he works hard to keep plays from getting to the point where steals and blocks become necessary saving graces.

[pacific rim]

however, eckhoff is a better offensive player than tebrake is defensively.  eckhoff for president of the western hemisphere.

[miacsuperfan]

just got caught up on the board; haven't seen this for a couple of weeks.   erik jackson and travis jones posting?   that is sweet.   we need a few more past miac stars to get on this boat, waddya think?

ok, a few observations.

is it just me, or does it sound to others like jon derock(?) or sam wiener are local coach's nephews?   lc, i went back and checked some of your previous posts and you mention those guys repeatedly, considering one has never played a moment of college hoops and the other is unproven at best.   i sure hope those guys don't read this stuff, cuz you are putting a lot of pressure on them.

as for st. mary, it is hard to take seriously a program that is 35-112 (6-19 average) over the last six years.   so most improved could mean that they might go 7-18?  that would be a 16% increase in their average wins over the last six.

gac (130-40) and ust (112-44) records over the last six years are the result of great programs with great coaches.   bethel (105-54) and sju (85-72) have also had the same coaches over that time and their records reflect solid programs, (although sju is 43-59 over the last four years--will smith step down soon?)
carleton (76-77), macalaster (75-76) and augsburg (67-82) are in the middle of the pack.   concordia (website under construction-and a super site, i might add), and hamline and oles (inferior websites) do not keep records past last year.   hmmm.   my secretary did some research for me--i hope you guys don't think i have that much time at my work station.

my point?    look for the solid programs to be solid again, the mediocre programs  to be mediocre; and the programs that are staking their claims to greatness on incoming freshmen---good luck this year.   is this to suggest that there won't be some interesting games between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'?   no it doesn't.   i have said it before, a trip to st. mary's can be a snoozer and a loser if you aren't careful. 

[crazy_carl]

MSF-  Thanks for all the research you (and the secretary) did.  I would have to slightly disagree, however, in the analysis of the reflection of these teams based solely on those overall records.  I think if they were narrowed down to conference records, we would have a better idea of consistent success/lack of success in MIAC play, with games against non-conference cupcakes/tough programs weeded out.  Obiovusly SOS with regard to non-conference schedule has been beaten into the ground, so I won't get into it.  I guess I would argue that Macalester and Carleton should be more in the "solid programs" area (almost perennial MIAC playoff appearances), rather than coupled with Augsburg in the "middle of the pack/mediocre" area.

Other than the slight qualm above, I think the rest of your analysis is spot on.