MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hoops10101010]

Holy cow I completely neglected to notice that Alex Healy STARTED. What is goin on over in Tommietown?

[UST_LBOW]

Hoops,

Don't believe everything you read in the boxscore.

Alex Healy never saw the court, that was an error by the scorekeepers.  They also had Sam Eicher in the boxscore and he did not even make the trip. 

The Tommies played a very good game tonight.  Strong points were their defense. team play, and intensity.  Joe Scott also came out very strong in the second half scoring 10 straight points to get the Tommies going.  He's the real deal and hit a variety of shots including a few 3's, mid range, and a few nice drives.  One was a nice little finger roll in transition and he made it look eeeeeasy.  He looked good as did Tyler and Teddy Archer  The Tommies played good team ball with just about everyone playing equal minutes, especially the posts.  Fritze started Baker and Lonnie at the 4 and 5, then brought in Shimek and Peltier, then McCoy and Anders. He did this with everyone getting equal time.  The posts looked pretty good but have to be more aggressive.  Al and Baker had some nice moves to the hoop. 

Lonnie had an off game tonight and only attempted 1 shot from the floor and finished with 4pts.  He'll find his groove and average double figures this year.

Tuma played good when he was in the game.  Tuma is a key piece for the Tommies and whoever said he would not play in order for the Tommies to do well, doesn't know what's going on.  Tyler is going to be very good and Tuma can flat out score.

The biggest problem/advantage with UST is they have a lot of guys of equal ability.  Depending on who is having a good night, you go with that guy.  This can be a good and bad thing.  It all depends on who is willing to accept their role.


The Tommies play a real tough Wooster team tomorrow.  Wooster has 3 guys over 6'6 and 240.  A few beasts and they return Cooper, an All-American from last year.  Should be a good test for an inexperienced Tommie team.

[Drake Palmer]

Wow – tough opening night for the MIAC.  Tommies get a nice surprise win 73-67, Bethel gets a tale of two halves type win: down 39-45 to Martin Luther at the half, come back to win the 2nd half 55-37, & the game, 94-82.  I realize it's early, but is this the team that's going to run away with the MIAC?  Royals -ya'll better tighten up on that D.

MAC has a respectable showing but needs to find a consistent 3rd scoring option besides Conboy & Abe. Oles get roughed up by Buena Vista of the IIAC 89-70, & the Cobbs get clocked by gulp –  UM-Morris 86-73.

At least Buena Vista is a traditionally strong team in the IIAC & was returning all 5 starters from a year ago. UM-Morris was picked to finish 5th in the UMAC!   I took a closer look at the game summary & noticed that the Cobbs' old nemesis, Mr. Turnover, is still hanging around.  Cobbers cough up the ball 24 times to Morris's 19.  But for me the biggest surprise was that the Cobbs were out rebounded something like 35 to 29.  On the Morris roster they have one beefy post, Phil Allen, who goes 6-5 239 lbs, otherwise they're a bunch of 6-1, 6-2 guards.  Concordia goes 6-6, 6-7, & 6-7 along the front court & also have a couple of 6-4 guards they were playing.  To add insult to injury, at one point midway through the 2nd half, Morris was up 31 points over the Cobbs. 

This game result should certainly get the Johnnies attention as they pay UM-Morris on Saturday night.  My guess is that the Johnnies are better suited to run with Morris if that is indeed what Morris was doing to CORD. 

Any scores out of the Great Northwest & the Dawgs? Correction - the MIAC goes 2-3 on opening night.  The Dawgs apparently have a very poor game as well & lose to Pacific Lutheran 73-84.  Two PLU players go off for 30 points each! Augsburg game summary

[d3bballfollower]

Bethel's score is finally up...sneaking by Martin Luther 94-82 after being down 45-39 at half...Madson has 31 and the big surprise is Nick Otterson...21 points on 7-11 shooting with 3 threes...at 6'4" he is athletic enough to cause matchup problems...could be a guy who they will look to more as the year goes on...only 8 and 6 for Moberg...maybe Bethel isn't quite what we thought they would be...

[GoldandBlueBU]

was at the bethel game...very sloppy.  They traded buckets most of the night with mlc, which was why it was a close game...they will need to step up the D in the miac schedule otherwise they will be nothing more than a middle of the pack team.  I hearn Moberg will not play tonight against bethany lutheran because of a family event, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them get upset by bethany.

[papahoops]

Although never happy with a loss, it was a good entertaining and competitive game between UWRF and MAC last night. MAC up by 5 or 6 at the half, but UWRF picked up its defensive intensity and took MAC out its comfort level on offense. This helped cause a five minute turnover stretch by the Scots in the second half, resulting in a 10-0 run by UWRF that swung the game in their favor. Am still encouraged by the potential of the team in the MIAC after the young guys get another few games under their belt.

[gacbacker]

Gusties fall at home to Luther in their opener 60-58. Both Wittwer and Sivisend foul out and Luther hits the winning basket with 3.5 seconds left. Gusties trailed by something like 11 at the half...Wittwer really got it going in the second half with all of his 15 points in the second half, but losing him to fouls was huge. Gusties move on to a tough road game on Tuesday at BV.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #8 Wooster 85  St. Thomas 79

Wooster was led by All-American James Cooper with 20 points, Marty Bidwell with 19 points, Devin Fulk with 19 points and Brandon Johnson with 12 points.  Scots win the championship game of the Al Van Wie Tourney.

Leading St. Thomas in scoring was Joe Scott with 15 points, Lonnie Robinson with 15 points, David Baker with 14 pts and BJ Viau with 11 pts.

Wooster shot 55% from the floor (vs. 53% for UST) and outrebounded the Tommies 30 to 25 to get the victory.

Tommies played a very good game tonight.  UST actually led this game at the half 38-37 and they also led by 6 points in the 2nd half before Wooster secured the lead with ~7 minutes left.  This was still a 3 point game with 1:30 remaining before Wooster made some closing free throws for the final margin of 6 points.

Joe Scott and Lonnie Robinson were selected to the All Tournament Team

Good luck to the Tommies this season!

[BETHEL34]

Don't know details - Mobergless Bethel wins by 7 led by Madson's 24pts...

Good Win for Bethel without Madson...I am curious to see how JJ Palmer did in the box score, I hear he had a big AND 1 in the closing minutes of the game to help seal the victory.

Looks like the Tommies might be a legit threat this year to battle for the top spot...   Would be pretty amazing after losing pretty much everybody from last year.

[Drake Palmer]

I'm guessing the Bethel tourney was the type of tournament coaches like.  Two wins & the tourney championship, but the games were competitive enough to make sure none of the players become complacent going into next week's practices.  Superior athletes, solid shooting performance by the Royals were enough to offset a gutsy, scrappy effort by Bethany Lutheran.  If Bethany could have managed to convert some of the bunnies & close in shots they missed (they shot 38.8% from the floor); they might have pulled off the upset.  But the Royals had enough live bodies to throw into the paint, pick up fouls & generally annoy & contest any of the B-Lutheran shots in the lane.  Nick Otterson fouled out, Jeff Reck, Mike Much, Matt Johnson & Bet34's FY fave, JJ Palmer all had 4 fouls a piece. 

Mike Much was the 1st half offensive standout hitting a couple of treys when the Royals were sputtering. Cory Laugen also had a couple of nice moves when he broke down his defender & was able to drop off a couple of dimes to FY post Matt Johnson.  In the 2nd half Tim Madson took over offensively scoring 16 of his game high 24 points, Laugen chipped in with 10 2nd half points, 13 total points & 7 assists, & Reck also cashed in 14 points.

Bethel's definitely got talent on the offensive side of the ball, but I'd sure like to see them pick up the defensive intensity & effort.  Offensively, if they would ever try to run screens for their players instead of relying on their players' athletic abilities to beat their opponents, they could probably improve their scoring efficiency another 15-20%.

Ooh, could be a rocky start of the season for the Gusties.  Luther was picked to finish last in the IIAC.  Next the Gusties have to play at the high flying Buena Vista Beavers who are now 2-0, after going on the road to beat the Oles, & D2 Augustana College in Sioux Falls.
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Best moves of the weekend:

Non basketball related move - Friday night, an attractive, busty Ole coed stands up & gives the signal for a trey after Sophomore wing Mark Torell knocks downs a trey, then she jumps up & does a chest bump with her female friend.  First time I'd ever seen that move by a female spectator.  Got quite a few laughs out of the crowd. 

Basket related move: Bethel PG Cory Laugen had a great blow-by move on his defender, sucked the post defender to him, & dropped off a sweet dish to post Matt Johnson. 

Based on the Bethel bench reaction, their favorite  move was when Fy post JJ Palmer turned & pinned a Bethany Lutheran shot to the glass.  It was definitely a nice play, but from my side of the court it looked more like an accident, rather than a serious, "dude, I'm gonna stuff your shot all the way back to Mankato" type of block. 

[BETHEL34]

Thanks for the update Drake...I was unable to make this weekend games as I am out of town all week.  Did Matt Johnson or JJ have any of their buckets come from post up moves?  Or were they just lay ups made easy by someone driving and dishing to them?  I tried to listen online but I was in and out the whole time.  I didn't hear of too many times when they got the ball in the post.  It just seemed like a lot of one on one type offense...Well, good early experience for the two young freshmen with Moberg being gone.  Looks like they stepped up to the plate and both played a respectable game tonight.  I hope they can continue to improve and be solid off the bench.  Could take a lot of pressure of Moberg...

I'm out...

[Drake Palmer]

Thanks for the update Drake...I was unable to make this weekend games as I am out of town all week.  Did Matt Johnson or JJ have any of their buckets come from post up moves?  Or were they just lay ups made easy by someone driving and dishing to them?  I tried to listen online but I was in and out the whole time.  I didn't hear of too many times when they got the ball in the post.  It just seemed like a lot of one on one type offense...
I'm out...

For the most part, Johnson & Palmer were the lucky recipients of mostly Laugens' drive & dish, although Madson got in on the act as well.  Palmer had the only legit post up move that I could recall when he did a nice up & under in the first half.  The and 1 Palmer had late in the game was off another nice feed from Laugen, but Palmer had to be real strong & balanced to convert, & he did. Nice player.

On the shots they missed or passes slightly mishandled, you could tell they're good athletes/players & just need to adjust to the speed of the college game.  Based on his shape & build (think offensive tackle), you can tell if Palmer continues to develop he will become a Bethel crowd favorite. 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I guess playing the best team in D2 in your opener when they've already played 4 times isn't such a great idea...

My Cards got pounded 118-53 tonight by the #1 team in the nation...with their stud barely doing a thing. I guess it helps when State opens the game with 4 straight bombs and starts like 8-11 on 3s. Some scrub came off the bench to nail like 8 of them...WSU led like 39-14 9 minutes in.

Willy and Lukas are gonna be tough...but they both are shootfirst guards. Expect Holland to be moved off the point shortly. Cormier was just bad...the long shaggy hair with the headband might not be helping his game. We need to work on passing. And defense.

Spoke with Leaf's wife at a local establishment afterwards and her assessment was..."It wasn't really what we did. It was more what you couldn't do." She meant well but...ouch!

[GoldandBlueBU]

I was at bethel's game, and it wasn't the most impressive victory, but a win is a win.  They definitely need to pick it up on defense...same as the night before, way too much trading baskets with the other team.  They need to be able to string together some stops if they want to be successfull this year.  A little frusterated with the officiating...it seemed like 41 for bethany would just shove his way to the hoop with his back to the basket and got away with it while if madson did a similar move he got an offensive foul.  Anyway, nice to win without moberg in the lineup, and some of the new guys showed some promise.

[miacwatchmen]

Bethel's score is finally up...sneaking by Martin Luther 94-82 after being down 45-39 at half...Madson has 31 and the big surprise is Nick Otterson...21 points on 7-11 shooting with 3 threes...at 6'4" he is athletic enough to cause matchup problems...could be a guy who they will look to more as the year goes on...only 8 and 6 for Moberg...maybe Bethel isn't quite what we thought they would be...

I think that phrase can be categorized under the title of "wishful thinking". Its their first game of the year which makes it tough to predict whether or not Bethel will win the MIAC this year. I'm sure Bethel will play much better as the season progresses and their players get back into a rythem.

SJU beat UM-Morris last night 86-70. Brink poured in 22 on 9-11 shooting he also grabbed 13 boards. Leiser had 21 with five 3's. Freshman Chris Schwartz started and scored 18 another freshman starter Aaron Burtzel was impressive pulling in 12 ribbies and 6 points. Nick Johnson ran the point well with 8 assists and only 1 TO.  4 Freshman played 13+ minutes for the J's which is a huge change from the past few Johnnie teams.