MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Nites]

UST over St. Olaf 60-52 and Johnnies continue their string of upsets with a 81-70 win over Carleton.

Johnnies dominate on the boards 40-22 with Burtzel collecting 18, and from the free throw line, outscoring Carleton 29-5 from the stripe.  All 5 SJU starters in double figures led by Schwartz with 25.  Johnson's 21 leads the Knights.

Hamline over MAC 89-73.  Thrasher with 21 and Hipp with 15 for HU and Hamblett with 22 and Keeley with 20 for MAC.

[piperinsider]

UST over St. Olaf 60-52 and Johnnies continue their string of upsets with a 81-70 win over Carleton.

Johnnies dominate on the boards 40-22 with Burtzel collecting 18, and from the free throw line, outscoring Carleton 29-5 from the stripe.  All 5 SJU starters in double figures led by Schwartz with 25.  Johnson's 21 leads the Knights.

Hamline over MAC 89-73.  Thrasher with 21 and Hipp with 15 for HU and Hamblett with 22 and Keeley with 20 for MAC.

And I was the only "pollster" to pick Schwartz to the CSN Pre-Season Conference Team. Tsk, tsk, tsk

[Drake Palmer]

Can a Leopard change its spots, or can a ball club change its' point guard? I'm not sure about the leopard, but I found out about the PG.   

My bad Wabbit, I'm sacking up and admitting I was wrong.  (See it's not that hard to do Wonka) Or at least I was wrong for this season. 

I made the short jaunt down to Norffield this afternoon to check out the Carleton Knights – charlatans or for real, & to see what was going with the upset minded Johnnie squad.  What I found was a Knight team that looked like they hadn't recovered their sea legs from their flight back from Hawaii & upset over D2 Chaminade.  A step slow, no lift, & no hustle in their step.  What I also discovered was that yes, Jason Weischedel & Blaise Davis were in fact playing the Carleton PG spot.  Having said that, I spoke with a Carleton parent at halftime,& apparently this is a new development for this season.   Sutherland played PG last year by default since no one else was ready to step up.  But after a year of playing under his belt, Weischedel was deemed ready by the coaching staff to take over the reins & Davis may eventually take over the spot on a permanent basis. Watch for Davis at season's end to be under serious consideration for All MIAC Freshmen awards.

The Johnnies looked tough.  But again, the typically tough Carleton D was making Chris Schwartz look like Jamaican Olympic sprinter, Usain Bolt.  Aaron Burtzel & UST's Al McCoy remain two of the best undersized or vertically challenged posts in the league.  Todd Herman is a stud as I remembered him from AAU days, & freshman wunderkind, PG Andy Burns may make all of us semi-old-timers & old-timers forget about the antics of SJU's Pat McKenzie & UST's Sean Sweeney.  I'm looking forward to reading Willy's reaction after he sees the Johnnies.  It might be enough for him to get off Tyler Nicolai's walnuts.  If the Johnnies keep beating teams like this, I might have to consider making the drive up to C-ville in January to watch the Johnnies & Tommies go at it, & former Classic Lake rivals, Burns & Nicolai do battle.  Might.   

Edit: Oh,  I forgot.  Zorro was up to his usual diplomatic self & got 2 technicals.  The first T was for jawing at the refs after a loose ball foul was called on him after he dove to the floor.  Then in the closing minutes of the game  a 2nd T was called on him for something - but I'm not sure what it was all about.

[basketballlover]

Carleton looks like they could have used another vacation in the first half of the game. Hard to win with poor shooting when guys are getting doubled and no one can make a shoot.
Davis looked good for the Knights bringing the ball up and shooting 3's, so hopefully he can bring a spark to that position and their outside game. Despite not playing the last 3 minutes of the game Zorro still lead Carleton scores with 21 points. Shows someone else needs to score to help Carleton win some games. Otherwise, it might be a long season cause good D isn't going to win games all the time. It was good to see some outside shooting going down in the last 2 minutes to help the game not be a blow out.
Zorro got the short end of the stick today. Drake you forgot that for the first technical the ref not near the play called it, which isn't anything new, but a St. John's player pushed him when he stood up and Zorro got the technical. That is just crazy. I guess pushing after the whistle is okay. It happened in front of Carleton's bench and according to people on that bench Zorro didn't say a word.  So it makes you wonder what the heck that ref was watching. Then the second one just shows how thin skinned MIAC refs are and just makes you laugh sometimes. All he asked was for the refs to watch 3 seconds (which SJU was just camping in the lane all game long) and he got T'd up. I know your not suppose to talk to the refs about those things, but refs are asked all the time from players to watch for things and they just shake their heads at you or tell you they got it. Guess some refs just want a power trip or something, who knows.
Watch out for the Gusties, that score is just crazy, if they can keep shooting well they will be a team to watch out for.

[basketballlover]

Off subject, but just reading up on the Wolves and their losing ways, so will they be over or under 20 wins on the season?
After seeing them play the home opener, got free tickets, lol, even though they won, they were playing Sacramento, I would have to say under and they are going to have to start paying people to come and watch.

[WXYZ]

St. Mary's is working hard. Their new coach has real enthusiasm and it is communicated to the players. They had a nice game against Bethel today.

[VOJ]

Drake...couldn't you say hi since you were in Northfield??

Good observation blover, Carleton needs someone else to step up, maybe it will be Davis, but remember the game was pretty much in hand and the J's were not playing as tight as they had been.

Might have been a little Hawaii Hangover for the Knights, I have seen the J's struggle with the same thing.

As for camping out in the lane, there is a lot of moving and cutting to the J's offense, no singular post presence, except maybe Burtzel, so the "camping" comment is a little overstated, and he was called for 3 seconds during the game.

On to Mac for the J's...

[TearDrop]

St. Mary's is working hard. Their new coach has real enthusiasm and it is communicated to the players. They had a nice game against Bethel today.

I have heard that the players have really bought into the new system. If the new staff can do anything at all with recruiting and get some more talented players around Holland and Wright then they should be able to get things going in Winona!!

[ChairmanYao]

Was in attendance at Mac yesterday. That is a team that is going to struggle this season. Ultimately were done in my Piper steals and threes, but the talent level is quite there this year. It was good to see Kory Kelzer get in the second half and spark the Pipers on both ends. Zev Kujolic has to yet see the floor this season. Tanner Anderson cannot seem to catch a break in the early going here. He has missed games due to a concussion and now to a sickness which has made the front court a little short. Colin Keeley put in a good effort on the mac end which brings me to this. Has anybody else noticed how much Keeley and Michael Cera from such splendid films as superbad and juno look alike? Take it or leave it. The Chairman has spoken

http://images.starpulse.com/pictures/2007/08/14/previews/Michael%20Cera-SGG-073365.jpg
http://athletics.macalester.edu/roster.aspx?rp_id=976&path=mbball

[columbianmaffia]

hmmm...interesting things happened this weekend while i was roller skating to other places in the united states of america

the only basketball i saw this weekend was about 3 minutes of the michigan duke game in the first half



i need basketball

on a side note

boomer sooner!

on another side note

zoro probably got a T because he accidentally brought his sword on the basketball court and refused to take off his cape, mask, and hat

[localcoach]

I had a little extra free time today so I pulled up the trusty MIAC statistics page.  A few things that stuck out to me at this early juncture (in no particular order).

1) Mike Moberg averaging a double-double (15ppg, 10rpg) - Not to mention he's shooting over 55% and getting 3+ blocks a night as well.  An early front-runner for MVP 
2) Will Wright from SMU at nearly 24ppg 
3) Bobby Fong (yes that same Bobby Fong that some of you said would struggle to be the best player on his own team) is 6th in ppg at 17.8
4) UST holding opponents under 60ppg, but the Oles are #1 in team FG% defense at .400   
5) Opponents are shooting a miserable .189 from behind the arc against the vaunted Carleton defense
6) Was their really over 2,100 fans at the home opener for the Johnnies 





On another note, Yao you might need some new glasses, or maybe I'm the only one who doesn't see a significant resemblance between Mr. Keeley and Mr. Cera.

[sumander]

6) Was their really over 2,100 fans at the home opener for the Johnnies 

Yep, dedication of the Jim & Adrienne Smith Court

J's get two great road wins! Going for the conference opening trifecta at Mac. Who would thunk

[VOJ]

I had a little extra free time today so I pulled up the trusty MIAC statistics page.  A few things that stuck out to me at this early juncture (in no particular order).

1) Mike Moberg averaging a double-double (15ppg, 10rpg) - Not to mention he's shooting over 55% and getting 3+ blocks a night as well.  An early front-runner for MVP 
2) Will Wright from SMU at nearly 24ppg 
3) Bobby Fong (yes that same Bobby Fong that some of you said would struggle to be the best player on his own team) is 6th in ppg at 17.8
4) UST holding opponents under 60ppg, but the Oles are #1 in team FG% defense at .400   
5) Opponents are shooting a miserable .189 from behind the arc against the vaunted Carleton defense
6) Was their really over 2,100 fans at the home opener for the Johnnies 





On another note, Yao you might need some new glasses, or maybe I'm the only one who doesn't see a significant resemblance between Mr. Keeley and Mr. Cera.

Local...

Regarding the Moberg for MVP campaign, let's see where the Royals are at when the season hits the stretch drive...

Will Wright has to score in order for SMU to compete, but I think they will be better and its always tough to take the drive to Winona and then play the Cards...

I am looking forward to seeing Bobby Fong and see how he matches up with the Johnnies first year players...

I found it interesting that UST had a nice lead against STO and then STO made a run to get within 3 but could not get over the hump...

Why shoot the long ball(even though chicks and this announcer dig it) when you can pound it inside against the Knights...other than Sutherland is there a guy who blocks shots there?

Good representation by the Johnnies faithful on a tough night against SCSU, I can only bet that the next time J's take on the Huskies it will be a much more competitive game, the kids seem to be growing up quickly...

Summ, when are you going to catch a game?  When you do come down will you please introduce yourself, unless you are in the witness protection program like Drake?

Big night of hoops, some great matchups as usual in the MIAC...Gusties better be ready for the Holland and Wright show...not to be confused with the Louie and Bouie show of my youth in Syracuse NY...Will Bethel build on their win over SMU against a Mac team that is yearning for a win, Keely will need help against the twin towers of Robertson and Moberg...UST and the Auggies...some teams just have others number or play them tough year in year out, two years ago the Auggies took the Tommies to double OT at home they are searching for a signature win, could it come tonight??...Knights try to re-group and get over the Hawaii-hangover as some have called it, while the Cobbers are smarting from getting a C-Note hung on them by the Gusties.

Should be a fun night

[columbianmaffia]

i have a good idea for CAR...instead of trying to get over the hawaii hang over maybe they should dig a giant lake and leave their hoops stadium on a little island in the middle of it...they are undefeated on islands this year...i think that is a much easier way for them to get back on track

[Drake Palmer]

...J's get two great road wins! Going for the conference opening trifecta at Mac. Who would thunk

While I don't think it's likely, the Johnnies could very well be 7-0 in conference play by the time they play UST at home on January 14th.  They're currently 2-0 in the conference, have an away game at MAC this Wednesday, home against SMU & STO on 1/3 & 1/5; at Augsburg on 1/7, in Moorhead to play the Cobbs on 1/10, and then the big game against the Tommies on Wednesday 1/14.   With the possible exception of the UST game, SJU should be favored in the remainder of these games. 

The Johnnies close out the first half of the conference season with a home game against Hamline on 1/17, & in St. Peter on Monday, 1/19 to take on the Gusties. 

Things that make you go hmmm...

**Interesting challenges ahead for the Carleton Knights.  They're 3-1 this season and have managed to win despite being out-rebounded in every single game.  The one positive that has been in their favor is that with the exception of the upset win over Chaminade, they've out shot their opponents from the floor, out shot them from behind the 3-point line, or in both areas.  Against SJU, they won the statistical battle of 3-pt accuracy (39.4% vs. 36.4%) only because of some last minute desperation treys by Blaise Davis.  Otherwise,  they were out shot by the Johnnies 48% FGA compared to 43.3% FGA.

**Not only do the Cobbs get cuffed around by their Lutheran brothers in St. Peter, they also got worked on the boards by the Gusties & lost the rebounding battle 34-21. What's impressive to me about this feat is that aside from Sam Paulson, the Gusties are not a physically imposing bunch.  On the other hand, the Cobbs are Sequoias on feet.  Last week they took it to the Tommies on the boards.

..I am looking forward to seeing Bobby Fong and see how he matches up with the Johnnies first year players...

I found it interesting that UST had a nice lead against STO and then STO made a run to get within 3 but could not get over the hump...

The Oles are an athletic bunch, with potentially a nice balance in size, balance, shooters, slashers & speed.  If they could develop a consistent outside shooting threat like Chris Schwartz & find ways to effectively use their biggs, they could sneak up on some teams.  I like Bobby Fong more than I did at the beginning of the season, but I still contend his outside shot is streaky. He can be a good slasher ala Todd Herman & Fong could be even better after he spends some time in the weight room.  Plus, he's quicker than Herman. The Johnnies' Todd Herman reminds me of a smaller version of NDSU's Bret Winkelman -a physical mismatch against most guards he goes up against.   

Summ, when are you going to catch a game?  When you do come down will you please introduce yourself, unless you are in the witness protection program like Drake?

VOJ - you are surprisingly close to the truth.  As Colonel Kurtz once said in Apocalypse Now – "the horror, the horror."  I've seen first hand the recruiting scandals and scars of DI basketball and as a result, retreated to the quieter, more bucolic atmosphere & lifestyle of Division III basketball here in the upper Midwest.   

By the way who do you think is a "slipperier" coach, if that's a word - Tennessee's Bruce Pearl or Kentucky's Billy Gillespie?  I 'm sorta leaning toward Billy.

Ditto on Moberg for MVP.  Mike Moberg would have to morph into a 2008-2009 version of Isaac Rosefelt to get any serious consideration for league MVP.  Hard to get props if you lose on your home court during a regular season game.