MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Dang Hoop Dr. - I'm guessing you've got some pent up resentment.  Easy there big fella.

Try reposting your message on the regular MIAC hoops board, otherwise your post might get pulled. It seems there are some shards of truth in your rant.

Do you have any more detail on the Whitmore ejection the other night? I've heard something about a disparaging remark made about the age of the ref in question, followed by a bedroom expletive that begins with the letter "F"?   

[Just Bill]

The NCAA doesn't have direct and indirect T's anymore.  All T's are the same with exception of an administrative Technical foul (like someone checking in who wasn't listed in the scorebook). An adminstrative T doesn't court toward the two-technicals-ejection limit.

Unless the referee specifies a specific player or assistant coach, a bench T still belongs to the head coach.  Get two and you're gone.

[HoopPHD]

Good evening America and Piper pessimists!  It is time to wake up and smell the Wit – ness.  As the JockDoc I have immense experience via 1200+ coaching wins, All American honors, and twenty years of teaching teamwork and the art of winning.  I too have watched enough Piper crap this year and need to make comment.  When you consider the vices and virtues in Piperland it is easy to see that unintelligent, fickle, egotistical coaching has reduced the virtues of intelligence, athletic talent, and passion to a sloppy, inconsistent, fearful, confused, low confidence and unhappy team that is no fun to watch and is incapable of winning. 

The Pipes came marching into the 08-09 season with energy, teamwork, talent and a blossoming understanding of roles and abilities needed to keep Hamline in the MIAC post season race.  Unfortunately, the leaders of the band began playing reveille after traveling to Chicago and losing to a tough Elmhurst team.  Thrasher, Clute, and Hipp were living up to expectation and Hayes, Tanner Anderson, and Gusaas were filling their roles with confidence and success.  Morrow and Dan Anderson filled out a perfect 8 man rotation.  Nick Carroll is still a brute who should be used in spurts to go out and kill people who need to be beat up physically.  Beyond that he has no value to the Piper lineup – turnovers, poor  shooting and a nasty tendency to criticize and yell at teammates when he is making lots of mistakes makes him a detriment to a team in need of confidence, consistency, and trust.  For unknown reasons, the Witmeister failed to find a true baclup point guard who can run a team, handle pressure, see the court, deliver the ball timely, and intelligently run the court.  Reig and Wenrich cannot deliver a pass, cannot handle pressure, and do not understand the role of a point guard.  Coach, please teach them something.  Perhaps Hutchinson is a solution as a quick, strong, unselfish, positive, high energy, leader but the Wit has not allowed him to prove himself there

After the first two games the Wit – ness decided that his body type would lead him to the promised land and he began to play small ball which is only successful on little league baseball fields.  Running lineups with average size on the court of  probably 6 feet he benched Clute for the Northwest game (played 17 minutes 2008 / scored 40 2007) and elected to use Van Ordstrand (30 minutes / 4 points) - who never saw a shot he didn't like and never saw a cut that was good enough to reward with a pass.  He started Nick "The Killer" Carroll and completely disregarded the roles and lineups that looked optimistic last year and successful this one.  Since then he has shifted lineups and playing time so randomly that this looks like a sports version of musical chairs.  It appears that he hates Clute (35 total min in last 5 games) and Gusaas who any team in the MIAC would love to have.  Now he has dumped Hayes as well?  He wants so badly to prove that little guys like him can win that he runs his teams out of games with weak, short lineups of guys that cannot defend, score, or play like a team. 

All coaches should know that you have two hundred minutes of playing time in a game.  You want to put enough points up in those minutes to win.  You cannot make turnovers and miss gimme assists.  There are three proven all conference players on our team.  Thrasher, Clute, and Hipp need to start and be on the court for at least 30 minutes each.  Brandon Hayes starts and should see about 25 minutes with Wenrich and Reig filling out 15 minutes of point duties and learning how to compete in non game changing opportunities.  Dan Anderson and Tanner Anderson should play 30 total minutes per game and provide scoring and rest for the big three.  Gusaas should get 10-12 minutes to abuse people and put pressure on other post players.  Hutch, Van Ordstrand, and Carroll should fill out the thirty and all else would adapt with situations.  This system will give balance, scoring and solid defense, fresh bodies, and consistency that will lead to victory.  Players have to know their roles and fill them. 
   
Finally, strategy needs to be learned.  Coach needs to teach Karl how to get out of the post if there is nothing there, to get out of the way when his teammates are cutting or driving and also how to pass from the post.  Put the players in positions and offensive sets where they can think, see, and play to win.  Forget the ridiculous four out one in and the Texas weave offense.  Go to a strong high-low post work the wings and get the ball up and down.  Let the stars make mistakes and teach your freshman not to make them – keep the new guys out of the way in critical times instead of putting them in the way.  Pass the ball quick and short, keep everyone involved by minimizing dribbling, waiting for good looks to score, and cutting sharply to and from the basket.  Also please teach your team to get the ball downcourt and into scoring position quickly.  You do not know how to come back when using 6-10 seconds dribbling into position to run some complex offense with no time left.

Play man to man defense no matter what and use your 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone or amoeba only for 2-3 minutes and rotate your zones consistently cause MIAC players are smart and figure out weaknesses and gaps quickly which is why zones are not the prime way to defend.  You also cannot always try to belly up on defense cause then defenders with weak scorers cannot help on the guys that kill you.  The quicker man always creates gaps and high percentage scoring opps.  You cannot trap until offensive players get into your front court and you always trap in the corners not at the top of the key.  Baseline players in 2-3 and 1-3-1 gotta stay low enough to stop over the top and baseline drives and wing players only steal when offense has been trapped-especially weak side defenders gotta stay low to deny gimme shots and drives.  Know that if a guard allows penetration from the front court it is their fault when it leads to a score.  You cannot play crazy in a zone you gotta play carefully and with complete ability to stop penetration from the front court.   Speed kills - court sense wins...ask Auerbach if Bird was a speed demon.  Keep your 3-12 assistants from deciding who plays and have them count minutes and fouls and keep rotations balanced.  1-5 playerz on the court at all times.

Wit has got to dump his ego cause he ain't playing and if he was he would know that no one plays good in two minute shifts.  Guys like Thrasher and Clute go on runs that win championships - not by being in for a couple of minutes to see if they are lucky and when they miss two replaced.  The guys he pulls in critical times are the ones who won his games last year.  Do you have a memory(brain) Wit?  You should know that if you pull a proven winner every time they make a mistake they will lose all confidence and flow.  If teammates question ability and lack trust the program fails.  You have to let college athletes make mistakes without fear because that is how you win games. These are bright, experienced kids.  Some of them know way more than their coaches.  Players have to love each other and have fun.  Coaches have to see talent and understand roles.  It takes brains and intuition - not Wit.

Piper pregame looks like a prayer service for my dead aunt!  You don't teach puppets – you pull their strings and I never saw a good game of basketball in a puppet theatre.  Teach them, trust them, and let them play Wit!!!  Anybody know how many shots Jordan missed?  Anybody know how many loose balls he did not dive on.  Anybody know how many times he did not sprint like a wild man to belly up on the man he was defending.  Ha! Ha! Did his coaches jerk him when he failed and what might have happened if they did?  A lot of highlight tapes would be missing from the archives and a lot of wins from the Bulls record book. Did anyone bench Bird cause he was too slow?

Hamline has a coaching problem that goes beyond X's and O's.  It goes right to the heart of the win – loss column and that is morale and character.  Coach has it all wrong.  Get some help and talk to your players without hating what they say.  The games your teams won yesterday don't mean squat today.  You gotta know that in life and war it is always the soldiers who know when you are losing the war.  Finally, when they are going down they will not be afraid to tell you if they know the way up.  They are the ones who suffer when the generals are making the wrong decisions.  Listen to the ones who everyone but you know can win.  You coaches are always telling what the players did to cause the loss. It is coaches that create winning and losing teams.  You have the talent- a lot of it is on the bench most of the time.  Come on Wit and company you gotta listen to the music, get out of the way, and let the Pipes play.  Otherwise, you will be playing Bye Bye Miss American Pie.    I love you boys!  You deserve more than just Wit - you deserve brains. 

[HoopPHD]

Yah!  The Wit was jumping and swearing.  He even looked like he wanted to take a punch at the guy.  Guess the refs will have to wear head gear and mouthguards for Piper games now.  Just in case an MIAC ref makes a bad call....what are the odds?

[Willy Wonka]

Wow. And you guys think *I* am too honest sometime...

[VOJ]

Wow. And you guys think *I* am too honest sometime...

Willy...who said that...opinions are what make the board fun to read.  Gotta give the PHD credit he broke it down, might have been a little hard on Coach W...but welcome to the board +k for the work that went into that post...

[VOJ]

VOJ is my homeboy, so he won't mind that I threw some of that there fancy book-larnin' his way.

Greg- Another one of your home boys has been having a tough go of it lately.  How tough?  Well, apparently he reached the tipping point the other night & had to leave a ballgame game a little, shall we say, prematurely.    No further information was available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Brian Mauer, Bob Mahre, Bob Zahradke
Technical fouls: Augsburg College-None. Hamline University-TEAM 2. (that would be the coach)


Attendance: 179
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Augsburg College..............   34   49  -   83
Hamline University............   24   43  -   67

http://www.miac-online.org/sport.asp?path=mbball&tab=mens

Back to back to back jack...been awhile since I have heard of an MIAC coach getting tossed,  Drake I will do some reconn and see what I can find out...unless PI has the down low

Drake from reading your post on piper headaches sounds like he went after Bob Z, if I have the right official in my mind, he is a little older and is solid but may not be one of the best in the conference...

[Drake Palmer]

Wow. And you guys think *I* am too honest sometime...

Willy...who said that...opinions are what make the board fun to read.  Gotta give the PHD credit he broke it down, might have been a little hard on Coach W...but welcome to the board +k for the work that went into that post...

The Doctor's post has to go down in history as one of the best All-Time Rants Ever on this board.  I'm speechless, stunned & awed by this.  The volume alone is incredible! When I first saw it last night, I had to go to bed to get some sleep so I could come back & finish reading the rest of it this morning.  From here on out I think I'll refer to this piece as the Hamline Manifesto. Or just Manifesto for short.

And of course in something this long there has to be a QOW emanating from it.   My favorite for the day is:

When you consider the vices and virtues in Piperland it is easy to see that unintelligent, fickle, egotistical coaching has reduced the virtues of intelligence, athletic talent, and passion to a sloppy, inconsistent, fearful, confused, low confidence and unhappy team that is no fun to watch and is incapable of winning. 

[Nites]

Wow. And you guys think *I* am too honest sometime...

Willy...who said that...opinions are what make the board fun to read.  Gotta give the PHD credit he broke it down, might have been a little hard on Coach W...but welcome to the board +k for the work that went into that post...

The Doctor's post has to go down in history as one of the best All-Time Rants Ever on this board.  I'm speechless, stunned & awed by this.  The volume alone is incredible! When I first saw it last night, I had to go to bed to get some sleep so I could come back & finish reading the rest of it this morning.  From here on out I think I'll refer to this piece as the Hamline Manifesto. Or just Manifesto for short.

And of course in something this long there has to be a QOW emanating from it.   My favorite for the day is:

When you consider the vices and virtues in Piperland it is easy to see that unintelligent, fickle, egotistical coaching has reduced the virtues of intelligence, athletic talent, and passion to a sloppy, inconsistent, fearful, confused, low confidence and unhappy team that is no fun to watch and is incapable of winning. 

Yes, classic.  That was my favorite as well.  I'd say that sums up the post quite well.

If things don't improve in Piperland, I expect to see some transfers out of the program next year.  Again, as I mentioned earlier on the Board, I don't understand what the coaching staff is trying to accomplish.  If winning is an immediate goal, then they've failed miserably.  My guess is that there is some other short-term goal, but I don't have a clue (or should I say, "Clute") as to what that is.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Wow, the Good Doc laid it on the line in about as blunt a manner as I've seen on here. A few of the comments were a bit harsh, but the Doc clearly has opinions on the subject.

I liiked how the manifesto ended with a tip of the hat to the late Buddy Holly as we rapidly approach the 50th anniversary of "the day the music died".

[ChairmanYao]

I have been sitting here for ten minutes trying to think of a response. I think I am going to leave this one alone and let the good doctor's words resonate. As for the coach getting tossed. This would be number two. I believe there was one last year as well. Frankly, it probably should be a few more. Whitmore gets "a bit" more heated than the other coaches in the league.

[ChairmanYao]

My apologies for the double post. I will say this. Clute is a tremendous defensive liability. Adding to that, when he is on-great. When he is not- completely takes the Pipers out of their offense. Furthermore, Hamline has been decimated by injuries this season. It seems like every game there is somebody new going down. Even if erik "goose" gusaas should be playing more, he hasn't dressed in over a week. Thrasher is just getting back to his old ways. They lost Morrow earlier this year. On Monday the energy of the Pipers, Tanner Anderson, received another concussion to end his career. Yes there are many good points in "the manifesto" and most teams have injuries, but one must look at the whole picture. I am not disagreeing or agreeing with the statements above.

[Gregory Sager]

The NCAA doesn't have direct and indirect T's anymore.  All T's are the same with exception of an administrative Technical foul (like someone checking in who wasn't listed in the scorebook). An adminstrative T doesn't court toward the two-technicals-ejection limit.

Unless the referee specifies a specific player or assistant coach, a bench T still belongs to the head coach.  Get two and you're gone.

Not true. As I said yesterday, the NCAA has retained a two-tier system for technicals in men's basketball, Class A and Class B, and the Class B technicals are not exclusively administrative in nature. They're behavioral as well. Plus, as I said, a head coach will be ejected by a combination of two A's, an A and two B's, or three B's. Here's the 2008-09 NCAA basketball rulebook. The pertinent rulings regarding technical fouls in men's basketball are under Rule 10, Section 5 (Class A technical fouls) and Rule 10, Section 6 (Class B technical fouls), and are found on pages 136-140.

[Willy Wonka]

Gustavus just put on a clinic for how to blow a nice halftime lead.

Schmidt turnover
DLo turnover
Paulson foul
McPartland missed layup
Van Sickle missed jumper
TIMEOUT

Up 34-27 at the break to down 37-34 in a flash. Hey, at least everyone contributed, right?

[papahoops]

Just watched first half of UST at St. Olaf and UST is making it clear they want to nab that  national #1 ranking, leaving no chance of an upset.  Big Al McCoy answered my call for more post offense in the league by putting up 14 first half, making the STO bigs look sick. UST up 17 and it wasn't even that close.
I will make this post quick, as I need to read the Piper manifesto again for full comprehension . Wow!