MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[RussT]

Westman has a stress fracture and will be out 3-4 weeks according to the SC Times.

[big_shocker]

Watched the UST/CAR first half (had to leave early to see the lady), and saw some interesting things.

1) UST will probably fill the role of MIAC villain. With Sweeney and his newly-shaved head, and Ike with his Moss-esque Afro, they really could annoy some of the fans in the MIAC. Both played fairly well, in the half that I saw. Sweeney was shooting well and not turning the ball over. Shimek was banging inside, but was concentrating on stoping Forkrud.

2) UST could not miss in the first half. Part of it was they were getting good shots (and it wasn't just one or two guys, it was everyone getting shots), but they were sinking everything. It looked like CAR got down early and couldn't overcome the big UST lead.

3) CAR took some poor shots in the first half, settling for twopointers just inside the arc. Forkrud was even taking some long shots that I thought he didn't have to.

4) Forkrud started the game being the focus of UST's defense. At first, he took mostly outside shots, but as he moved inside a few times, the CAR got better at finding him and getting him easy shots.

5) CAR has some good athletes, and looked deeper (but not more talented than last year), but didn't look like their offense was flowing. They had some bad shots, and had trouble creating opportunities.

6) Ike looks a lot like last year. He's athletic and talented, but still looks soft. He didn't look to bang inside posting up on offense, and his defense is still suspect. Still, he could be a force.

7) UST fans receive a C- grade. They just weren't excited, even though their team was sinking everything. I was disappointed as a former GAC Superfans.

8) CAR will get better as the season goes on. Everyone'll have to keep their eyes on them. UST is good. They looked more at midseason form. If they improve on this, they will be deadly.

Long enough post for you?

[iowa_transplant]

thanks for catching that; long day at the office, today ...anyone have word on how the bethel/mac game turned out?

[miacwatchmen]

SJU seemed to lack another scorer in the game versus CC. Ohme and Leiser were good threats but other than that points were tough to find. A couple here and a couple there from several people. But as was said before Westman was needed and i think if SJU had Westman it would have been a different story.

[RussT]

Going to have to disagree because C. Shafer had another consistent 12 point game, but Henrichs didn't play as well as he is capable of.

[Willy Wonka]

kuenzel - Shafer took four shots. That's hardly a great offensive threat, though he does seem adept at getting to the line. Westman could have been a great asset on the court down the stretch, mostly as another scoring option.

Big Shocker - Your knee was bad and you hardly got off the bench during this drafting period. You were a prime first round material. If you did happen to drop to the second, you were a STEAL When are you next watching a GAC game?

[columbianmaffia]

my thoughts on the CAR UST game

*i like sweenys new look...now he just needs a tatoo

*carleton used a line up of 4 freshmen and sophomore tommy drake for a couple stretches of the game...the first time they looked lost and didnt play very well...the next in the second half they looked much more comfortable and did a nice job

*ike showed much more aggressiveness than last year i thought...but still soft (had trouble moving players while using 2 arms to try to force them out of the lane "mostly frosh zach johnson and drake)...2 alleyoops and 3 dunks for him

*schimek is a tough defender and did a good job bringing some muscle to the blocks...keating...well he is real good

*at times UST looked like the showtime lakers with behind the back passes and oops...it was fun to watch

*new comer zach johnson showed some potential of what he could be capeable of but needs to see the floor better when he drives and needs to continue to grow on defense...he looked ok tonight but i hope he gets better which i would imagine will happen

*Carleton seemed to ignor forkrud in the post for most of the game...when he did get the ball down low he scored just about every time

*UST puts great pressure on the ball forcing bad decisions for the opponents offence

*carleton jr. reserve mike kootsikas is out 4-6 weeks after breaking his hand in a game against the kangaroos on monday leaving carleton with an all frosh team comin off the bench

*UST crowd = super weak sauce
they have to have the weakest crowd per capita in the entire world...even on dunks they are weak sauce...that place could be unbelievable if they would actually make some noise...they have one of the best teams they should be crazy...once again WEAK SAUCE

*finally UST is very good CAR has the tools to be good but just need a little more experience which will come through these games

[Willy Wonka]

How many more years can Ronny Seikaly play at UST? That's some firepower off the bench!

UST had some great fans during the Buri days when TH4L was there leading the charge. Maybe he should quit his job and live the college dream for another year? Their fans are absolutely awful at football games too.

[RussT]

Not to get too worked up about it but the fact of the matter is that the Johnnies lost because they settled for too many jumpers, didn't really establish much post presence, and didn't hit the plays they needed to down the stretch. Westman may or may not have been the difference, but as they say, hindsight is 20-20.

[gacbacker]

I'm just glad I get to watch Trevor Wittwer play for two and half more years. The kid showed off his vertical big time tonight on a couple of monster rebounds. Through four games he's shooting a modest 94% from the field (17-18).

TeBrake and Olson are also putting up J.J. Reddick like numbers at the free throw line - both shooting around 95% so far this year. Olson was 9-9 tonight against Hamline.

[pacific rim]

i don't know anything about this westman character but i would be very surprised if he is better than paul heinrichs.  from the looks of the box score, it sounds as if concordia took heinrichs out of his usually all-miac game.  9 pts 5 rebounds sounds like concordia was doing something right.

if you bring westman in, does he really perform significantly better under the same circumstances.  i understand that they would be on the floor at the same time, but if heinrichs was unable to produce, why should westman?

sounds like things will be on the mend for the cobbers.  from 21 free throws in their first two games combined, they shoot 26 tonight in collegeville.

[funbballer]

OK, Wonka....yes Koz's team won, but they played the Auggies. Auggies new coaching staff was limited time-wise and didn't get to recruit like they will in the future. Give them a couple of years to do some hard core recruiting and they'll be tough.

Secondly, as you recall, I picked STO to win, didn't I? Thank you very much!  

Regarding Westman at SJU, he's out for about a month with a stess fracture. My sources tell me if he had been in the lineup, SJU would have won this game.

And yes, p-rim, Westman will make a huge difference. He can make shots and will make the entire team better. 

[Gregory Sager]

This is why I try to be as general as possible whenever I mention anything about the tourney or rules.  (smirk)

I ought to know better than to correct someone who has a donkey's jawbone in his hand and is not afraid to use it. 

[localcoach]

Well folks I stayed home last night to watch Duke beat Indiana.  Heck of a ball game.  The Hoosiers will be a tough out for anybody in the Big 10 this season.  By the way....I love watching J.J. Redick play.

Obviously that means I didn't attend any MIAC action last night.  I did however talk to a coaching friend of mine who was down scouting the Gustavus/Hamline match-up for another conference team.  Here's what he told me.  As Kel mentioned, Hamline came out very aggressive on defense.  Supposedly Sam Wiener didn't start for the Pipers who instead inserted Chris Babcock.  The Gusties had a double-digit lead early, but Hamline fought back and as mentioned at half it was a one-point game.  In the second half Gustavus remained aggressive going to the basket and drawing fouls.  My friend indicated that the refereeing was average and that the Gusties picked up a majority of the calls as most home teams tend to do.  He also added that while Gustavus looked strong, Hamline impressed him and will be tough if they can knock down some shots, particularly from the perimeter.  Apparently the Pipers had a number of great looks in the second half and just couldn't find the bottom of the net.   The box score confirms this as they shot 18-55 from the field.  They also were in foul trouble for most of the game.  Also of note was the Gusties free-throw numbers which ended up 29 for 36. 

He also mentioned the play of two players, Wittwer and David Johnson, a freshman from Hamline.  Apparently Wittwer had some huge rebounds where he literally jumped over a Hamline player to pull them down.  Johnson supposedly had 13 or 15 points in the first half on post moves before cooling down in the second half. 

Here are some other initial thoughts that I have based on last night's scores.

1) The Oles are 3-1.  Koz is playing less people and the guards are getting it done.

2) The St. Thomas/Gustavus match-ups will once again be great to watch!

3) St. Mary's makes it respectable against a ranked Winona State team. 

4) Concordia gets an impressive and important win against St. John's.  Luke Linz comes up big for the Cobbers.  Tyler Westman was not in the box score for SJU.  Is he injured?

5) No Macalester/Bethel box score?

[big_shocker]

Wait, wait, I'm hearing the name Westman coming up. He isn't related to the former GAC player and maker of interesting conversation, is he?

WW- I'm planning to watch the GAC/UST game on the 7th. Other than that, I might be looking to watch a game on Monday (got a day off). Meanwhile, I'm going to go watch one of my pals from high school play for AUG on Saturday.

Sounds like that UST/GAC game is going to be good, an couple of top tier teams playing well...