MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sumander]

How's the old saying go......"offense sells tickets, defense wins games"! 

[TommieHoops4Life]

noticed an interesting stat from the Gusties win Saturday that got no mentioning on the board. Wittwer goes a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, while Olson goes 7-for-9. Those two combine to go 13-15? That's pretty solid, and if they can continue that consistency with the tough MIAC teams, they're definitely worth at least having a headache over. Out early for the night, get to lay out a 20-page high school winter sports preview on Monday. There are only three days a year when I question my profession, and this is one of them.

[sjuforlife]

interesting week for the Johnnies coming up.  At carleton on monday, AT GAC on wednesday and then home vs ST. CLOUD STATE saturday.  I would have to say the biggest game comes Monday vs carleton because those two teams are fighting for the top spot in the miac and its the Johnnies first away game of the year.  TOugh way to start the year at carleton.  This will test where both teams stand so far early in the season.  I would think best case scenerio is the Johnnies win the two conference games and dont worry to much on st cloud state since that wont matter on the record at the end of the year.

[sjuforlife]

i knwo we have a pickem board for a reason but im curious as to some game prediction talk for monday night because i think the matchups could actually go either way and this is kind of what i think....and why....



SMU BEATS mac   smu is due for a win and mac is just not very good either!!!

Tommies beat pipers   im thinking its gunna be closer then we think plus didnt the tommies struggle with the pipers last year too??

Bethel beats gac  bethel is on fire this game gac just isnt as good as years past

SJU BEATS carleton...not really sure what to say about this one flip a coin to see who wins this one i guess.  Can the johhnnies play d??

Concordia BEATS olaf   carried heavily by mr. linz.  I want to think olaf has a real good chance to win though with home court, no long bus ride blah blah

[sumander]

SJU4LIFE,

Because you asked, my thoughts on tonight,

SMU over MAC, Realize Saturday was an emotional day for SMU, with Trewick going "home" but I also think they realized they can play in this league.

TOMS over PIPES, They are on a mission this year and taking no prisoners

BET over GAC, BET wins at home, ham game gave them confidence.

STOLAF over CORD, Once again home court is the trump card. Linz will get his points but not convinced the outside shooting is here to stay.

SJU over CAR, This one is a toss up. I could easily see the J's getting beat tonight. They could really make a statement if they went down and hammered the Knights.

[abominable_snowman]

I can't let it go without commenting on it.

In addition to yet another group of Stellar numbers provided by UST's big 3
-Convincing me to start a petition for Keating as All American material
-Plus solid defensive effort from Lonnie

Perhaps the most entertaining aspect was the explosion provided by coach Kos.  For those of you that missed it...

Frustrated by officiating, Kos blows a gasket and in an incredible spasm slams a cup of water on to the court, and tears off his coat. Afterwards he continually paces and puffs red in the face. I can't do it justice, but it was the most spectacular fit I have seen in quite some time.

[Flip the Red Bird]

Run and Gun is more fun.

To bad it doesn't win.

How many times has Bethel beat GAC? and BU consistently has the talent.

[BETHEL34]

First off, great win for Bethel.  Taken it to Ham on their home court is a great way to jump start the Conference season.  Couple quick things;  Have to say that is the first time in many many years that the fc press has ever been able to effect a Bethel team.  That was absolutely awful to watch.  Secondly, the Asian Sensation was at his best.  During Hamlines run, he had 3 or 4 bogus calls that gave Hamline free throws or the ball back that just kept the run going.  It was mind boggling how you can be that bad of a ref.  The last 5 mins of the game was called totally different then the first 35 mins, night and day between them.  And then with five secs left, Bethel is in bounding under Hamlines hoop after a bucket up only two points, and the asian sensation calls a terrible call on Babcock for holding Laugen to give him two freethows to ice the game.  Even if there was a little hold you can't make a call like that at the end of the game.  Let the players decide the game.  So then the asian sensation had not just BU fans yelling at him but Hamline fans yelling at him saying he is the worse ref ever.  You know you suck when both sides hate you.   Anyways, great comeback by Hamline to make it close, but two missed free throws down the stretch by madson and two front end of one and ones by Laugen let Hamline get close.  Nock down free throws and they never get it within two points.  

Overall, great learning experience for a pretty young team, and a win is a win.  Excited for the game tonight, I am saying a 15 point win for Bethel.

And Drake, you are right on about Moberg.  Great shot, good touch, but just hasn't learned a dominant inside move or two.  He is not real comfortable on the block yet.  He would rather catch the ball 7-10 sometimes even 15 feet out.  Also, the refs called two offense of fouls on him when he was just sealing someone for the ball.  Pretty bogus calls to make the big man sit for the majority of the time.  

[cobbernation]

Cobbers pick up 1st win of season tonight with a strong win over the oles......I hope!

Linz goes for 25 and they decide to play defense.

CC 75
STO 68

[bethelguy]

Woke up at 10 a.m. still "under the weather" in Kato. Get back to Hutch to find out the Pipes score 89 and still lose. Three more stops. That's all it would've took.

The run-and-gun doesn't win titles in the MIAC. UST has an incredible offense, but they also play some defense once in a while. GAC usually has the league's top defense and they win titles. The teams that don't play defense, don't finish in the top 2 or 3. That includes SJU, BET and HAM.

PI - in principal I agree with you, but that 89 is deceiving.  Hamline scored nearly a 1/3 of their total points in the last 5:30.  Much of that was comlacency, free throws and easy baskets due to turnovers.  When the game was more "on the line" BU did play D and made things tough for all of the Hamline scorers (except DeRock's 17 1st half points ).  35 min of defense would have been (and SHOULD have been) 40 but it is hard to fight complacency when you are up 21 with under 5:30 and had been up by 14+ for most of the previous 35 min. 

This is a good defensive team.  Bethel's offense will lead to more points for opponents simply because they'll have more possessions.  But currently I think the biggest thing leading to opponents points right now is Bethel's turnovers, which are leading to easy baskets. 

vs. Hamline, 26 turnovers and 26 points off turnovers
vs. UM-Morris, 18 TOs and 22 points off turnovers

We'll know more tonight after they face a team that traditionally brings down BU's shooting % and forces teams to play defense. 

[abominable_snowman]

http://www.d3hoops.com/releases.php?release=6558&scoreboard

201 pts!!!! 21 3's!!!!  wow 

[bleednavyblue_GoBU]

GAC vs. BU

This might be too late to throw this out there...because the game is in 7 hours...but I will give it a try anyway.  Who is wittwer going to guard?  Will he guard Meadowcroft or Madson...Wittwer is a great defender...and I think whoever he doesn't guard needs to have a big game for the Royals?  Unless they put Stein on the BIG...Sowden on Charles....and then Wittwer on Madson. 

Any thoughts from somebody that knows the Gusties better than me??

I have BU by 10...GO Royals...If Bethel plays defense I got them by 15...If they don't play D I got Gusties by 2 so I went somewhere in the middle. 

Car over J's ...  CAR ready to go in THEIR conference opener. 

Mac over RedBirds... Gut tells me to go with SMU, but they always seem to perform opposite of what I have ever thought. 

STU over HamDog... High Scoring

Cord over STO... has the makings of the closest game of the night. 

Finally 10 teams playing on the same night...this is the way it should always be

[miacwatchmen]

- I think IF the Johnnies can play defense tonight CAR will be in trouble but the game will hinge on the defensive end of the court. The team with the best defense will obviously win this one. I think the J's will crack down tonight and even Westman will play D!! Johnnies by 10

[Drake Palmer]

Bet34 – that almost goes without saying whenever the leagues' favorite ref officiates a game.  But I like his crisply tailored uniform though.     Being a neutral fan, I agree with you on both of the examples you cited about the bogus calls -- Babcock & Moberg.  Both were poor calls, but I felt the call on Moberg was especially weak.  This has to be frustrating for the player as well as the coach.  A coach works with a post player all week on good post techniques & then the ref blows it by making a terrible call.  I can't remember who the defender was, but he never came close to having his feet set.

Good match ups, if not competitive games around the league tonight & story lines developing. Too bad I can't clone myself to watch more than one.  This first week of conference play the MIAC gods say – "ok contenders, let's see what you got."

Gusties play Bethel & SJU
Carl plays SJU & Bethel
UST plays Hamline


Can Carleton break into the winning column & the same holds true for the Cobbs?
Can the Johnnies win away from home?
Are the Tommies for real & do they have the depth/guard play to withstand the Pipes' press?
Will the Red Birds success over Mac continue?

For you handicappers out there -- in games last year - Gusties & Bethel split, SJU & Carleton split, & Carleton swept the season series with Bethel.

[shocker]

I can't let it go without commenting on it.

In addition to yet another group of Stellar numbers provided by UST's big 3
-Convincing me to start a petition for Keating as All American material
-Plus solid defensive effort from Lonnie

You can't start that petition. I'm the original.

Keating for All-America Glory Petition 2006-2007
1. Shocker
2.