MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Nites]

Are the Tom Cats scared?

Apparently not.   

Unfortunately for Gusaas he may have been better off at UW-RF after Wohler left, although I saw he earned MIAC Academic All-Conference...so he must be a good student.  Regardless, it's my belief that Whitmore has pretty much trainwrecked his career with his inability to effectively use big men/adjust based on personnel or should I say it's masked by his only ability seems to be run small.   It's tough when you can't see the trees or the forrest!  Regardless, I think Gusaas is a solid role player that we won't see playing at HU next year.

Observation - SMU's lack of size is it's main weakness this year.  Most teams have taken advantage of that and beaten them to death inside.  Last night, Hipp chalked up 7 blocks in about 24 minutes of playing time.  His time may have been limited due to foul trouble (he finished with 4, but it's difficult to tell because he hasn't been clocking significant minutes).  6'10" Gusaas never left the pine.  End result, SMU chalks up a nice victory.

[TearDrop]

Are the Tom Cats scared?

Apparently not.   

Unfortunately for Gusaas he may have been better off at UW-RF after Wohler left, although I saw he earned MIAC Academic All-Conference...so he must be a good student.  Regardless, it's my belief that Whitmore has pretty much trainwrecked his career with his inability to effectively use big men/adjust based on personnel or should I say it's masked by his only ability seems to be run small.   It's tough when you can't see the trees or the forrest!  Regardless, I think Gusaas is a solid role player that we won't see playing at HU next year.

Observation - SMU's lack of size is it's main weakness this year.  Most teams have taken advantage of that and beaten them to death inside.  Last night, Hipp chalked up 7 blocks in about 24 minutes of playing time.  His time may have been limited due to foul trouble (he finished with 4, but it's difficult to tell because he hasn't been clocking significant minutes).  6'10" Gusaas never left the pine.  End result, SMU chalks up a nice victory.

Nites - you are dead on with your observation about SMU's lack of size. I hope that the coaching staff is on the recruiting trail a lot this season looking for big men. I know that the junior college ranks are not largely popular at the D3 level but it seems that with Holland and Wright being juniors next year, it might makes sense to bring in a couple bigs that can play right away.

[Drake Palmer]

Wow – full night of conference games, only 3 people post & 2 of them weren't even at the games? TD, I'm assuming you were at the Redbird game. C'mon VOJ, Bleed Navy Go Blue BU, etc.

Concordia 68-51 over Macalester.  Cobbs' lefthanded (?)forward John Fraase continues his breakout season with yet another dub-dub, 21 pts ( all in the 1st half) & 13 rebs.  This was his 5th straight double –double of the season and he's currently averaging 16ppg & 10.9rpg.  Can you say Hoss??

Augsburg 68-51 over St. Johns.   Looks like I should do Coach Smith a favor & Fed Ex an overnight rush delivery of the coaches' best seller How to Develop Your Bench Strength.    It seems like Monday's night game against the Oles took its toll on the Johnnies' legs.  Wow 29% FGA accuracy & 5-24 on treys for a frosty 20%. The Dawgs may be starting to turn the corner, 2 conference wins in a row.

St. Marys'80-72 over Hamline.  The Birds pick up their 2nd conference win of the season. Good win and now they've got a week to prepare for Concordia who comes into town next Wednesday.  If they could just pick up a couple of talented forwards to complement their guards next season.  Another poster was recently talking about the hustle of the Pipers, but if you hustle with no purpose?? I found the following tidbit on the Birds' website yesterday.  I sorta chuckled to myself since it was bit of a case of the pot (SMU), calling the kettle(Hamline) black, but since SMU won, what can you say?

Piper Notes: The Pipers saw their losing streak climb to a season-high four straight with Monday's loss to Bethel. ... The Royals' 90 points were the most allowed by Hamline this season, but also marked the third straight game in which the Pipers have allowed 80 or more points. ... Only once this season has the Pipers held their opponent under 70 points (a 73-64 win over St. Scholastica on Nov. 25).

What happened to this high intensity, turnover generating, defensive pressure system the new coaching staff was bringing into town?  Losing Tony Thrasher certainly hurts, but he's only been out the last 4 games.  With a resurgent & confident Gustavus coming to town on Saturday, that losing streak for the Pipes could reach 6 games.

Speaking of the Gusties, Gustavus 81-64 over St. Olaf.  Ahem, the Gusties announce to the rest of the league – "the reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated!!"  Dang, nice thumping.   Regarding the Oles, I'm not sure which moniker best fits, "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" or "Jekyll & Hyde."  But I suppose the Ole coaches will say that you'll have ups & downs with a young team – which is true to a certain extent.  Nice to see Bobby Fong have a strong game & actually get to the cup – 20 pts on 5-11 FG, 10-12 from the FT line.  The kid's a slasher & then a shooter. Once teams have to start honoring his drives to the basket makes his jumper much, much more effective.

Tommies 73-64 Bethel.  A decent, but disappointing crowd for what should have been the marquee matchup of the week.  I'd estimate the gym was 50-60% full, but nowhere near capacity as in past years. And the Bethel fans seemed to be real passive, resigned in their cheering, almost like a Viking crowd.  Am I right, wrong?  I'll let others dissect the game, but here is the one stat I found the most telling:

POINTS IN PAINT             1   2 - Tot
Univ. of St. Thomas.....   18  12 -  30
Bethel University.......    4   6 -  10

To me, that's an amazing stat when you look at the considerable height advantage Bethel has in the post.

Two other comments - the Tommie backdoor cut for the dunk or layup, is one of the sweetest looking plays in the entire league.  If I'm Anders Halvorsen I go out of my way to buy Al McCoy lunch once a week or something.  Someone should make a highlight reel of some of the baskets Tim Madson has made in his career – sick I tell you, sick.  The dude can score. 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I was just about to point out the same Points-in-paint stat, but Fast Fingers Drake beat me to it.

Also, the rebound margin was only 2 (BU 24, UST22)

Given the size advantage Bethel had inside (Moberg, Robertson), I'd conclude that UST's overall athleticism more than offset the height differential.

With about 8 mins left in the game, BU had a fastbreak, with Laugen going up for the easy layup. Viau came out of nowhere, blocked the shot (his leap was utterly phenomenal-- he almost could have sat on the rim)-- it was absolutely sick!

I've said it before, Viau is the MVP of the UST team. His scoring & rebounding have come around, and he does so many things that don't make the boxscore. his defensive pressure and presence, his overall intensity/hustle/aggressive play and his floor leadership are so important to UST's success.

UST did not seem to miss Archer, who was not in the arena. But Brady "LB" Ervin stepped up and played about as good of defense as you can on Madson. Of Madson's 18 points, only 4 - all FTs- came with Ervin on him. DP-- you had sang praises of  Ervin's defensive play, but you undersold him. I doubt Madson wants to see him again 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

VOJ or anyone else who was in attendance--- any insight on SJU's shooting woes at Auggie? was it bad shot selection, good defense, a symptom of fatigue, or just pi$$pooor luck?

[Nites]

Good posts mm & dp

I noticed that Archer was missing.  What's the story on that?

[piperinsider]

Can Wonka own PI on Friday night *and* Saturday afternoon? My Magic 8 ball says "chances are good."

More like "all signs point toward yes" if you are referring to the two worst Missota boys' hoops teams Friday and Hamline against a team we can't beat in Gustavus.

It's been more than five years since I graced the Hamline campus on a daily basis, but some things never change. Hamline near the bottom of the MIAC standings (yes, that one playoff run where we made the semis was sweet).

Seriously, if we lose to Macalester this year, I will leave D3Hoops land.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Good posts mm & dp

I noticed that Archer was missing.  What's the story on that?

not sure...probably a flu bug. Hopefully he'll be back Saturday

[Drake Palmer]

I was just about to point out the same Points-in-paint stat, but Fast Fingers Drake beat me to it.

If you saw me type you'd withdraw that nickname- mebbe 3 finger Palmer or something. 

With about 8 mins left in the game, BU had a fastbreak, with Laugen going up for the easy layup. Viau came out of nowhere, blocked the shot (his leap was utterly phenomenal-- he almost could have sat on the rim)-- it was absolutely sick!

That was a sick block. Viau looked like a cougar loping along 2-3 steps behind the rabbit - Laugen, casually sizing up his prey, then-- BAM!!  Sometimes this burden of neutrality is a monster especially since I was sitting in the midst of some Royals – I almost keeled over like Laugen.    The refs should have let that one go.

[Nites]

Can Wonka own PI on Friday night *and* Saturday afternoon? My Magic 8 ball says "chances are good."

More like "all signs point toward yes" if you are referring to the two worst Missota boys' hoops teams Friday and Hamline against a team we can't beat in Gustavus.

It's been more than five years since I graced the Hamline campus on a daily basis, but some things never change. Hamline near the bottom of the MIAC standings (yes, that one playoff run where we made the semis was sweet).

Seriously, if we lose to Macalester this year, I will leave D3Hoops land.

I can't understand why the Pipers have performed so poorly.    They seem to have a decent team on paper.  The only way I can think of to describe Whitmore's coaching style is "unpredictable."  Hamline has had 12 different people start games this year.  Moreover, his two returning All- MIAC FY team players have gotten reduced minutes this year.  Clute, who averaged 15 points a game last year, is averaging under 10 (could be sophomore jinx), and he's seen is PT reduced by about 5 minutes a game. 

The team reminds me of a kid who can't decide what he wants to be when he grows up.   

[VOJ]

Wow – full night of conference games, only 3 people post & 2 of them weren't even at the games? TD, I'm assuming you were at the Redbird game. C’mon VOJ, Bleed Navy Go Blue BU, etc.
Augsburg 68-51 over St. Johns.   Looks like I should do Coach Smith a favor & Fed Ex an overnight rush delivery of the coaches’ best seller How to Develop Your Bench Strength.    It seems like Monday’s night game against the Oles took its toll on the Johnnies’ legs.  Wow 29% FGA accuracy & 5-24 on treys for a frosty 20%. The Dawgs may be starting to turn the corner, 2 conference wins in a row.

VOJ or anyone else who was in attendance--- any insight on SJU's shooting woes at Auggie? was it bad shot selection, good defense, a symptom of fatigue, or just pi$$pooor luck?

Fellas I went to bed early last night...roughly 7:55 and had this terrible dream of the Johnnies not being able make shots for the final 5 minutes of the first half and Augsburg led by their talented youngsters and Nate Alm having their best 5 minutes of the season in what some called their best half of basketball of the season...

The dream continued after a 15 minute lapse reaching nightmarish proportions where the deficit grew to 20 points and not one combination of Johnnies players could make a dent in it...I awoke in a cold sweat clutching my pillow and mumbling no no no this can't be...we make shots...we are a good shooting team

Kudos to the Auggies who ran their offense well, played solid defense and Nate Alm was a monster on the glass with 20 rebounds...not sure if it was tired legs or bad shots or just a point in the season where the shots are not going down...I think sometimes our freshman are rushing their shots and everyone is trying to take Schwartz away...

Hopefully the J's can put it together and get one on the road at Concordia Saturday, they have won on the road before and can do it again...

[Gregory Sager]

Coach Whitmore rebuilt Brockport State into a very solid program and the SUNYAC's resident bully. B'port was giving Rochester a run for its money as the East Region's preeminent power during his tenure there, and that's no mean feat. Granted, the SUNYAC is a pretty pedestrian league in terms of its overall ability, but it's nevertheless very internally competitive and hard to dominate.

Given the fact that Whitmore is running what sounds like a significantly different system than his predecessor's, if I was a MIAC fan I'd give him time to put all of his own players in place before I rang up a verdict on his work at Hamline. Granted, I'm not there to make any firsthand observations of the situation, but I wouldn't rush to judgment on him based upon what his teams have done in his first year and a half.

[Nites]

Coach Whitmore rebuilt Brockport State into a very solid program and the SUNYAC's resident bully. B'port was giving Rochester a run for its money as the East Region's preeminent power during his tenure there, and that's no mean feat. Granted, the SUNYAC is a pretty pedestrian league in terms of its overall ability, but it's nevertheless very internally competitive and hard to dominate.

Given the fact that Whitmore is running what sounds like a significantly different system than his predecessor's, if I was a MIAC fan I'd give him time to put all of his own players in place before I rang up a verdict on his work at Hamline. Granted, I'm not there to make any firsthand observations of the situation, but I wouldn't rush to judgment on him based upon what his teams have done in his first year and a half.

I don't think I've rushed to any judgment.  All I indicated is that I'm puzzled by the team's lack of success and that I am not smart enough to figure out what type of system Whitmore is trying to implement.  I'm looking at the trees from a distance (since I haven't seen the Pipes play), and I can't see the forest.  For all I really know, he might not really have any horses in his stable.

[piperinsider]

It took Barry Wohler two years. We're in year No. 2 with Whitmore.

In just his second season, Wohler guided the Pipers to their first MIAC playoff appearance since 1994. The Pipers went on to defeat St. John's 74-71 in the MIAC first round to earn Hamline's first postseason win since 1985. In his first season as head coach, the Pipers went 8-12 in the MIAC - a five-game improvement from the previous season.

That's what I'm saying.

[hoopmaster]

Wohler got a couple of good recruits and a transfer that helped a lot.  I'm not sure what Whitmore has.  I am also not sure what he is going to bring in.  They have shown glimpses of promise but it could be down hill for them.

I am going to go out on a limb and say UST goes undefeated!  To me Carelton had the best shot at knocking them off.  I don't like there chances as much with Sutherland out for the year.  Bethel put in a lackluster performance.  The Johnnies are in a funk and I'm not sure if they will get out of it.  I don't see any other team that can match up with them.  The only reason why I put the Johnnies in the conversation was because of their great start.  GAC has been inconsistent to say the least.  Augsburg has some good talent but the way they got man handled the first time I don't like their chances either.