MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[columbianmaffia]

also one more thing i thought of while brushing my teeth...maybe mr. L_Bow can give us a little insite...does UST ask all its players to crash the boards or do they just want 2 or 3 with 2 falling back?? with neal ave. low board numbers while he was there and after playing with him last winter it was very obvious he could board and board well is schnettler in the same role as neal was when it came to rebounding? or are you guys like michigan st and want everyone to crush skulls and do anything you can to get a board??

[StatsLie]

Augs blow halftime lead to lose to St. Scholastica..Cassens plays alright with 5 assists but finally has some of the trouble you would expect from a frosh PG w/ 6 TOs!

[miacwatchmen]

Cmob- +k for the point on stats not being the only indicator for the top player in the league. Also, +K in 24 hours for the jumping beans! You better catch them before they do anything to crazy!

Drake- +K just because I like you and I can!

Sum- Busy night for you! Looks like the old computer may be overloaded with all the activity on it!!

Over all a pretty good night in the MIAC........Who will beat the Tommies?........I have yet to see a team that can do it in my mind. Is a perfect MIAC season out of the question?
Granted I know a let down is possible but with all three main cogs clicking for the Tommies they are a very scary team!! LBOW- 20-0?? Is it possible for your Tommies.

[sjuforlife]

now i understand that coaching can affect players stats to some degree but....if schnettler was that good at driving and penetrating and/or kicking it out to others for open shots...what coach would take those skills away from a player???  it just doesnt make sense.  It comes down to, i personally think schnettler is overrated when being called one of the best OVERALL players in the league.  I think he is extrememly 1 dimensional.  He is an incredible shooter and I will give him that but thats all I will give him.

miacwatchmen-im surprised that after you have seen the johnnies put up so many points early in the season and beat a tough carleton squad at carleton that you dont think either team carleton or SJU can beat the tommies.  The tommies will lose either AT carleton, SJU, or bethel.  Winning conference record im guessing will be 18-2 or 17-3 at the end of the year.   They play 20 conference games right?

[miacwatchmen]

now i understand that coaching can affect players stats to some degree but....if schnettler was that good at driving and penetrating and/or kicking it out to others for open shots...what coach would take those skills away from a player???  it just doesnt make sense.  It comes down to, i personally think schnettler is overrated when being called one of the best OVERALL players in the league.  I think he is extrememly 1 dimensional.  He is an incredible shooter and I will give him that but thats all I will give him.

miacwatchmen-im surprised that after you have seen the johnnies put up so many points early in the season and beat a tough carleton squad at carleton that you dont think either team carleton or SJU can beat the tommies.  The tommies will lose either AT carleton, SJU, or bethel.  Winning conference record im guessing will be 18-2 or 17-3 at the end of the year.   They play 20 conference games right?

SJU4life- I really don't think the Johnnies can beat the Tommies in a shootout. They did last year at home I know that but Keating seems to be on fire, Ike is unreal, and Schnettler IS the best shooter in the league. The Johnnies have had trouble guarding against the three all year so far and UST has at least two guys that are dead shooters. I think for the Johnnies to beat them it would they would need all 5 starters in double figures plus a couple post with alot of rebounds PLUS huge support from their bench. Is it possible? yes i think it is but it would take a great effort from the J's to beat the Tommies especially at Schonecker.

As for the Knights, I am with the way Philips shot the ball. Drake seems to be a solid shooter and Zach Johnson not matter what anyone says is a great player. The loss of Forkrud in the middle is huge because they really lack inside scoring. If the knights aren't hitting from outside or long range jumpers they will be in for a long night. But after those three it seems to drop off sharply. I think the Knights would need a huge game from those three plus alot more to beat the Tommies. Once again it is possible to catch the Tommies on an off night but they have yet to have one this year.

[sumander]

J's win 73-71! Drake, did I miss Lieser making two FT and the end or what?

I think you did.

I accidentally erased my last post, but basically I said that the Js seem like they're turning into the C-ville version of the T-wolves, a perimeter oriented team.  Generalization - perimeter teams seem to only have a passing interest in playing defense.  Mebbe this explains the Johnnies' tendency to let their foot off the gas?

Drake, in the games I have seen this is my take. They start the game running their offense, They have had excellent ball movement at times. When they run the offense they play solid team defense at the other end. This combination as allowed them to build sizeable leads. Once they get the lead It turns into a school yard game and whoever has the first open look takes the shot. This also leads to standing around on the defensive end of the floor.

I think what it boils down to is discipline(focus). They need to have the discipline to continue to run the offense when they are up 20. Once they stop working on the offensive end everything seems to fall apart.

[Drake Palmer]

Bleed navy – good comments about last night's Bethel-GAC game.  Excellent ball game!  If the Royals continue to improve at their current rate, they could be barking with the big dogs in late February.  Moberg & Laugen continue to improve leaps & bounds each game, as does Madson, & Mcroft shows why he should be a contender for POY. He hit a huge 3 in the closing seconds of the game.

I'll also admit the cupboard isn't bare down at St. Peter & the Gusties impressed me last night.  They might not have the All-Star talent they've had in recent years, but they have a budding superstar in T. Wittwer, a solid post technician in senior Phil Sowden, & enough interchangeable parts to make the Gustie machine keep rolling along.  BTW – is it just me, but do the Gusties seem to have a monopoly on getting 6-4 to 6-7 fair haired Scandinavian types they can keep plugging into the 3-5 spots? Sivesind, Doble, Stein, Whippler, Espenson etc.

On my earlier Smurf comment this season about the Gustie guards – Andrew Olson is bigger than he initially appears to be, & seems to have been hitting the weight room.  However, Bethel's diminutive Corey Laugen looks like a giant compared to Tyler Kramer from Gustavus.  I'll give Kramer his props though; he plays with heart, hit some huge baskets, showed no fear driving the lane & with one exception, did a good job protecting the ball.

Regarding calls: I thought the calls more or less evened themselves out, though again there were some dubious calls.  Bleednavy you mentioned the one critical sequence of events with Wittwer at the end of the game, but how about the mugging Kramer took from Strom & Laugen seconds earlier?  The two of them ripped the ball (& several of his fingers  ) out of Kramer's hands & then Laugen got the assist from Strom for a basket & and 1 after Kramer was forced to foul him.  Sketchy non- call at best.

On the Wittwer non travel call, it looks like he got the Jordan-Bryant-Dwyane Wade like benefit of the doubt, cuz he did that reverse pivot from it seems the top of the key (actually closer to the FT line) & somehow ended up under the basket??  I think it was a make up call for the two earlier times when the refs whistled Wittwer for grabbing Moberg in rebounding situations.  Twice Wittwer was forced to grab the rebound with his left hand while his right arm was locked up in a love embrace with Moberg.  Good stuff, great ball game!

Cmob- I knew behind that clowning exterior lays a great basketball mind, and possibly a politician.  No matter how you define the positions, you still haven't posted which guard you like the best.   8)

[UST_LBOW]

Dang that was a lot of posts to catch up on!

In response to Schnettler being more than one dimensional.  Last night at Hamline was a good indication, he did the majority of the ball handling for the Tommies, made a few nice passes out of double teams and played all 40 minutes.  I don't care who you are, playing all 40, especially against Hamline, isn't easy to do.  He had 3 assists and 3 rebounds.  Even though he had 6 turnovers, most of these turnovers were self inflicted, not taking care of the ball, being a little lazy at times which over the course of a game is going to happen.   

Hamline did apply a ton of pressure especially in the first 15 minutes of the game, something the Tommies have yet to see this year.  After that it seemed like they let up a little bit, Hamline was right in the game until the last 5 min of the first half when the Tommies went on a nice run to close the half out.

CMobb ~

Usually the coaches want the 3,4, and 5 to crash hard, and the 1 and 2 to hang back.  Bryan does spend the majority of the time on the perimeter limiting his rebounding, but when you are the best 3 pt shooter in the conference, where would you be? Exactly. 



I didn't think DeRock played all that well last night, maybe an off game.  Not gonna lie, I expected more.  Dan Grant and Lonnie locked him up pretty good I thought, most of the time not even letting him catch the ball coming off of screens. 

[sumander]

Dang that was a lot of posts to catch up on!

Great to see the board get rolling  again how about a little +k to go with everyone's coffee this morning!

[UST_LBOW]

 Also Foster was terrible! His first two shots put a hurting on the backboard! Looking at the box score, his stats weren't all that bad, 14 and 6, but I thought many of his shots were forced and were taken when everyone else on Hamline was standing and watching. He had a few nice spin moves for buckets but also got beat a few times by Ike, one was just nasty!  

The Conboy train rolls in on Wednesday, I guarantee Ike will have a big game, if I were Tom, I'd cover my head and watch out for the badooka dunks!

[d3bballfollower]

will UST go 20-0? my guess is no...i say 19-1 or 18-2 at worst...biggest competition would be SJU, Bethel and Carlton...let's take a look at the match ups that would probably occur

UST vs. SJU-

Dwyer (Tuma if Dwyer is still injured) vs Ohme winner...Ohme
Schnettler vs Lieser winner...Schnettler
Robinson vs Westman winner...Westman
Keating vs Schaefer or Brink winner...Keating
Rosefelt vs Schaefer winner...Rosefelt

final score UST 81 SJU 77 (if 1-3 shoots well for SJU there could be an upset)

UST vs Bethel-

Dwyer (Tuma) vs Laugen winner...Laugen
Schnettler vs Madson winner...Schnettler
Robinson vs Strom winner...Strom
Keating vs Meadowcroft winner...tie
Rosefelt vs Moberg winner Rosefelt

final score UST 85 Bethel 79 (Bethel bench could be a difference maker)

UST vs Carleton-

Dwyer (Tuma) vs Phillips winner...Phillips
Schnettler vs Sutherland winner... Schnettler
Robinson vs Drake winner...Drake
Keating vs Johnson winner...tie
Rosefelt vs Rosett winner...Rosefelt

final score UST 78 Carleton 68...Carleton doesn't have the fire power to beat UST...they would need at least 20 from Phillips, Drake and Johnson to have a chance

again...I don't think UST will go 20-0 in conference...they will have an off game here or there...and i think SJU or Bethel will nip UST at home, but I don't think anyone comes close to UST at Schoenecker Arena

[bethelguy]

GAC / BU did not disappoint (unless you were a Royal fan).  It was a great game with both teams hitting big shots throughout the 2nd half.  I thought the game was poorly officiated but in no way account the BU loss to officials.  Although I thought Wittwer clearly traveled twice on that last possession (picked up dribble while standing on 3 point line, switched pivot feet, then drug the 2nd pivot foot ending up 6 ft from the rim).  That is of course my biased opinion and like I said was not the reason for the GAC W.  BU had their chances to take care of things prior to that possession.

In my opinion BU lost for 2 reasons.  They went away from the post for the last 12 min of the game.  And down the stretch GAC was able to get about 4 easy buckets on post to post screens that BU got caught up on.  Those post to post screens were less successful when Strom got back in at the other forward spot.

I completely agree with Drake that Laugen is improving rapidly and quickly becoming one of the best PGs in the league.  I think that Madsen is struggling recently and forcing this issue a little bit.  Hopefully with Laugen being more of a focal point that will free up Madsen again. 

No time to feel sorry for yourself after that loss, Carleton tomorrow.

[BETHEL34]

Tough game for Bethel to put behind them.  Overall a great game by Gac they played with intensity and toughness throughout the whole 40 mins.  Bethel just had one to many mistakes and GAC shot the ball to well from the outside, they had to be around 50% from three point land.   I was a little disappointed to see how many open looks Bethel allowed from the out side.  I would say 60% of Gac's threes they shot last night were wide open.  When you are getting that wide open of looks from the outside you are going to shoot it at a high percentage, especially in Bethels gym.  It has to be the best shooting gym in the miac.  As over powering as Bethel was underneath last night on both sides of the ball, I just don't understand how you can let that many wide open threes happen.  Don't help off so much and make them beat you from the inside.  That is what killed Bethel.  The only way they lose that game is if Gac is hot from the outside and they allow them to get open looks.  Play tight defense and don't give them wide open shots!!

Anyways, great little come back by Bethel at the end of the game down 5 under a min left playing defense.  Sorry drake, Laugen and Strommy made a clean strip up top, the and one was a little questionable, but you can't tell me that last call of the game was a good call.  That same ref who made that call had been making calls for GAC all night.  You just can't make a bail out call at the end of the game like that.  Wittwer had 3 guys around him all standing straight up with their arms in the air and he is twisting and turning and initiating the contact.  Even if he didn't travel, I don't think it was a foul.  He threw himself in to Chuck and just threw the ball up hitting only the left side of the backboard as he is falling to the ground.  And the official all the way back at half court makes the call.  Both, other officials had better angles then he did, but he makes the call.  Anyways, call or not, BU still had the ball with 7 secs left down one with a chance to win.  Cory makes a great move and had a decent little runner off the backboard that he very well should have made, and just missed.  Great game all around and Wittwer was tough.  

I was a little disappointed with Strom on the offense of side last night.  As a senior he needs to step up and be more aggressive with the ball.  I just feel he was too passive last night and on a couple of occasions should have taken it hard to the rack but looked to pass instead.  Bethel needs him to be more aggressive and start taking 8-10 shots a game.  Not this 3-5 shots he has been taking so far.  

Anyways, hopefully BU can put this one behind them as it is a long long season and focus on Wed game.  I am sure they have, hopefully they will come out blazing tomorrow night.

[columbianmaffia]

what coach would take those skills away from a player???  it just doesnt make sense.

that is very true but it still does happen...there are some coaches that are obsessed with their way of doing things...ask jordan nuness how involved he was in his high school offense at EP after being one of the best scorers on his AAU team all summer...they put him on the weak side of the perimeter and didnt let him do his thing and just wanted him to hit open jumpers

Drake- i usually only go to watch two teams being CAR and UST...so i only see who ever it is that they play...from what i saw last year i saw two players that really impressed me one of them being DeRock (but i only saw him play 1 game) and some guard from Bethal who lit it up too (only saw him play one game too)...last year i didnt even see SMU, CON and SJU so all my knowledge is based on what i knew of the players from previous years...i was mad that i couldnt make it to the CAR game last night to SJU but anyway...i just need to see a few more games before im gonna say someone is the best at their position unless it is obvious  

i just wanted everyone to know that im not very flexible i have trouble touching my toes and i was never good at the sit and reach...i think the sit and reach test was the worst fitness test in the whole world...i think that is about as good as having someone stand on their head and time how long they can stay up....moral of the story...dont let mexican jumping beans escape because they are difficult to catch

[Flip the Red Bird]

Birds get a win   A better test will come tomorrow, hope they find a way to play well on the road.

Schnettler:  What makes a great player?  I would say someone who makes his team great.  Screw stats, 1 rebound whatever, did you WIN?  Schnettler's team is undefeated, ranked in the top 10, and people talk about going 20-0 in the MIAC, I don't think so but,  Without him highly doubtful that his team would be great.  I guess he must be one of the best players in this league.