MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

3.  Willy...I am not sure if you are the kid who liked to kick the live beehive to see what would happen or if your brains are getting soft because you are clocking more time than normal sitting on them because of your injury??

Go back and listen to the game, you clearly hear Coach Smith coaching and yelling instructions from the sidelines, he also made notes on what he was seeing and led not only pregame talk, as Andy Burns said on air on the post-game show, but also made the adjustments at half time, he yelled our offensive sets and even gave the official a piece of his mind on a few occasions...so I ask, is that coaching or is he just an interested fan??  Proof is in the pudding Willy or in this case the audio, oh and he will be there on Saturday at Hutton against the Pipers...you can apologize anytime

So...you're trying to say it was "business as usual" or what? That's not what Frank the Tank had to say afterwards.

"Smith did what he could from his position while assistant Pat McKenzie handled the duties on the bench."

Call me crazy, but that seems noteworthy in the .edu writeup. Heck, it was Frank's whole angle of his story.

So if you are not on the bench it does not count?  I understand Frank's angle and yes it was different but to say Smitty was not not involved in coaching the team is not accurate.

When a manager is tossed  in baseball what happens then?  As CMOB says that is weak sauce Willy...just admit your mistake and lets all move on...and you can drool the drool of remorse into the pillow of regret tonight when you tuck yourself into bed.

Where was I wrong? Frank the Tank reported Tuesday Pat McKenzie would be coaching the Johnnies. Frank wrote the same thing after talking to a wheel-chaired Smith after Wednesday's game.

Smith was not serving as the head coach last night. Period.

Really...and do you always believe the written word and what you see on TV or hear on radio because no one ever gets anything wrong or mis-states anything?  Are you telling me that the players tuned out Coach Smith and only focused on Coach McKenzie?  Smitty called for substitutions and called timeouts but that must not count because of where he was sitting. 

The fact that Coach Smith, who was in a wheel chair, was not one more spot over in an UNPROTECTED situation on the bench makes him a fan instead of a coach, or a member of the media?  Never mind he was yelling out offensive sets and getting after the fellas trying to get them to give their best effort with regards to rebounding and defense? 

Do me a favor Willy, listen to the game...as I have said before the proof is in the pudding.  Willy if Coach Hanson was in a similiar situation, would you say the same thing?  I wonder...I can see there is alot of black and white in your world Willy, with nary a shade of grey...

I really enjoy your blog and most of your comments on the board, but your level of thinking and reasoning in this matter puts you on par with AO....PERIOD

(see bold)...Nope, I never believe anything on sports radio. Too many announcers are too Sid-like in their fawning over the team they cover. (just trying to add levity VOJ....Willy has a point. No harm in mentioning that Smith was not fully coaching the game-- it sounds like he was there and was helping run the show as best he could with his physical limitations. If he were not in-house, then I'd call it a whole 'nother can of worms)

But I look at it this way- if Smitty gets #700 when not in the arena, the Big Red can milk the landmark twice-- think of all the extra programs they can sell and promotional give-aways etc that can be yours if you have the magic number stamped in red on page 29 of your program!! Hopefully, Jim can be on the bench when he gets the landmark

[miacsuperfan]

Go back and listen to the game, you clearly hear Coach Smith coaching and yelling instructions from the sidelines, he also made notes on what he was seeing and led not only pregame talk, as Andy Burns said on air on the post-game show, but also made the adjustments at half time, he yelled our offensive sets and even gave the official a piece of his mind on a few occasions...so I ask, is that coaching or is he just an interested fan??  Proof is in the pudding Willy or in this case the audio, oh and he will be there on Saturday at Hutton against the Pipers...you can apologize anytime

to put a fork in this, i guess it depends on what your definition of "is" is.   

back to the ust-bu instant classic.   i was one of those priveleged to watch a truly great match-up between two teams that went at it hard for 40 minutes.   drake mentioned the ebbs and flows, runs and responses.  it really WAS a great ballgame.  there were lots of big plays in the game, but i'd say the biggest play of the game came at :25 to go, royals down one,  madson penetrated the lane---drew two defenders---hooked a perfect pass to moberg---and somehow mccoy made an unbelievable recovery to get a deflection  on moberg's apparently easy lay-in.  this left the royals with a five second shot clock on a tough inbounds play and madson had to fire a difficult three over robinson.   ust rebounded the miss and that play was huge by mccoy. 
scott was super, but it seemed like nikolai's shots were the ones that killed the royals.   he has always played well against bethel, and last night was no exception.   he hit a couple of step back threes that were big time hoops.  robinson's checking of madson was admirable, and he made a couple of shots to boot.
the shot of the night was likely one of madson's creations.  shot clock winding down in the second half, he did a spin move about 25 feet from the basket and wound up nailing a fade away three - landing on his butt -  as the clock expired.   simply amazing.     laugen also hit several big threes that kept bethel in business all night.
the royals missed three free throws in the last 2:30 and two of those were front ends of bonus.  but, all credit goes to st. thomas for playing tough down the stretch and defensively creating their opportunities to win.   there is a reason these guys are rolling and ranked #1 in the US.   8)
give me a ballgame like this to go to every week, and i will watch basketball 52 weeks out of the year.

[AO]

there were lots of big plays in the game, but i'd say the biggest play of the game came at :25 to go, royals down one,  madson penetrated the lane---drew two defenders---hooked a perfect pass to moberg---and somehow mccoy made an unbelievable recovery to get a deflection  on moberg's apparently easy lay-in.  this left the royals with a five second shot clock on a tough inbounds play and madson had to fire a difficult three over robinson.   ust rebounded the miss and that play was huge by mccoy. 

Some (with good vantage points as myself) might say McCoy fouled him, but it wasn't called, so good play.

[AO]

I wanted to bite my tongue on this. I really did. However, I feel as though the sanctity of the game depends on it even if this is the MIAC board. The Northwestern College Eagles have taken over college basketball with their monopoly of the officials. It has been rumored that refs will closeline opposing players on breakaways and will even occasionally wear an Eagles jersey under the uniform, and when the time comes, shed the stripes to give an actual 6 on 5 advantage. My sources at Martin Luther succumbed to this very event last Saturday. Tis a shame NCAA basketball and the prestigious UMAC does not do something about this. Can you say conspiracy?

where these refs last year when abe "lightning" woldeslassie drew a phantom foul with 1 second left giving MAC the W over northwestern from the free throw line?  as long as you brought up Martin Luther I might as well point out they have the best d3 student section in Minnesota. 

[abominable_snowman]

refs this refs that...too much complaining about refs these days

how bout this...take care of the things you have control over and you dont have to worry about the refs...no matter who is playing against who and whatever gym it is in...execute when you have a lead and you have nothing to worry about

mr. maffia, i must concur.  when I was a player, I always thought it was a cop-out to blame an official.  certainly i disagreed with several calls, but i was WAY more frustrated with a poor decision, or careless turnover. and now, a little schpeel with maffia style numeration. 

1.- interesting how when you lose, you remember the poor officiating, but can't recall how bad it was if you win.

6.-analogy time:  if you get pulled over for speeding, some officers just give you a warning and send you on your way, even though you were 20 mph over the limit.  Others will slap a ticket on you for just creeping over the limit, then fine you for not having tabs up to date.  It is about different styles.

837,397,109,907,436,198,702,189-finally, i can also speak to the stripes side, having worn the black and white for a couple years (although not at the collegiate level).  some games are tough as hell.  especially with strong, physical, gut it out teams, with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.  i've been in games where I could call something everytime down the floor, and nobody wants that. calls have to be made, and the nature of the gig is that each call will make one team happy another upset.  i would love to officiate a bethel ust game like wed. nights, but of course I never can due to conflict of interest. but something of that intensity would be a blast.
***********
glad to get that out.

[Willy Wonka]

VOJ - We'll have to agree to disagree then, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little careful about tossing around the "homer" term. How many times have SJU staffers expressed anger/disappointment in the views you've posted here or spoken on the radio? I've got a handful to my name from the GAC faithful. Guess what? I'm still on great terms with everyone.

You'll always know who I'm cheering for but I call it how I see it, regardless of the people/school involved. For what it's worth, this will be sorely tested during the upcoming football season, which I fully expect to be a debacle after the...interesting...hiring process.

[Willy Wonka]

Just an FYI...was digging through Wittwer's blog a little bit and found this from a post in early October. It answers the question of either Sum or VOJ from a few days ago...

Yesterday we had to opportunity to scrimmage against a pro A team called FC Shalke. The crazy thing is Brady Brink who played at Saint Johns is playing for them. We actually guarded each other for a majority of the time and i was able to catch up with him a bit before and after the scrimmage. He seems to be really liking it there and we plan to meet up again when both of our scedules allow it.

[Pat Coleman]

Small world.

[VOJ]

VOJ - We'll have to agree to disagree then, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little careful about tossing around the "homer" term. How many times have SJU staffers expressed anger/disappointment in the views you've posted here or spoken on the radio? I've got a handful to my name from the GAC faithful. Guess what? I'm still on great terms with everyone.

You'll always know who I'm cheering for but I call it how I see it, regardless of the people/school involved. For what it's worth, this will be sorely tested during the upcoming football season, which I fully expect to be a debacle after the...interesting...hiring process.

Willy you are right we will have to agree to disagree, over the semantics of coaching, but where does "homer" enter into it?  I tell people I broadcast for the SJU fan, they are my audience.  This year when the J's have made plays I have said that, when the other team has, ie Concordia, and GAC in tough tight losses, I have said that. 

This year I have totally tempered my comments with regards to officials(to be honest MIAC officials on the whole do a better job than I ever gave them credit for, but that is another subject entirely) and I have always,  regardless of sport given credit to those players who excell against SJU.

Are you telling me I am not on great terms with those at SJU?  News to me, they know where I stand and I think the relationship is working well.  I can count on one hand the number of times my comments here have brought any comment from anyone at SJU.

We all know who you support and you know who I support, but I will always credit those who are excelling, see my past comments about UST and teams that have beaten the J's this year.  I may say we let one get away, but in the same breath I acknowledge that the other team did what they had to do to get the win.

Smitty will be at Hutton Saturday and I am sure they will figure out a way for him to be on the floor on the bench.

[titan2000]

Tommie fans:

I remember in 2005 and 2006 when Lawrence was running the table and everyone was saying "yeah but who do they play" and all that kind of smack.  We went to the mat at 25-0 with Illinois Wesleyan and lost a heartbreaker.  The snickers from the CCIW crowd were audible 150 miles north.

Are you getting the same smack from them?   

Good luck and hopefully we will see you in the tourney. 

[columbianmaffia]

Dear D3Hoops,

I will be on a 2 week hiatus as i will be venturing down to south america...on this trip i hope to see many historical and cultural wonders of south america and ahh some boombalahties as well...i will also be setting up a new mafia outpost...i will put on a couple roller skating clinics too...while i am gone do not forget the life long lessons we have all learned together...the most recent being that Vitamin D at 200% will beat 110%

may your tripple burgers be pleantiful and may your boombalahties be serving you ice cold brewskis and then sit in your lap and turn the channel to your favorite basketball game of the day

*in an arnold accent* ILL BE BACK

*in a 1/2 chinese 1/2 australian accent* big gulps huh...well...see ya later 

[sumander]

Cmob, Travel safe! A little +k to send you on your way! By the time you get back this whole mess will be sorted out!

1. St. Thomas* 17-0 22-0
2. Bethel* 11-6 16-6
Carleton* 11-6 15-7
Augsburg* 11-6 13-9
Saint John's* 11-6 13-9
Gustavus* 11-6 12-10

Remaining Schedules:

BET-@Aug,GAC,CAR
CAR-MAC,@AUG,@BET
AUG-BET,CAR,@SMU
SJU,@HAM,@UST,GAC
GAC-@UST,@BET,@SJU


GAC with three road games would appear to be behind the 8 ball
CAR & SJU have two on the road, although the J's game this Saturday at the Pipers has lost it's lustre!
BET has to go on the road to play Auggie Tech, Then two tough home games!
I would say that AUG may have the advantage, schedule wise, getting BET and CAR at home and then closing out the season in Winona!

I think we are going to need to dive in to the MIAC manual to dust off those tie breakers!

[Drake Palmer]

+k to Cmob too.  Skate well - peace be the journey - cool runnings.


Sum - I'm kinda torn on who I see the schedule favoring –Augsburg or Carleton.  The Carlies get a chance to work on their sets & plays in their controlled scrimmage with Mac – oops, I mean game this Saturday.  Plus, I heard that Colin Keeley, Mac's only legitimate inside scoring presence went down with a broken finger a few weeks back & is done for the rest of the season.  The Carlies can rest up, get ready for hump week & then get ready to knock heads with Augsburg & Bethel. 

Augsburg plays Bethel & Carleton at home, but in the few games I've seen there this season, there is no real decided home court advantage for the Dawgs.  And I would not want to be playing Bethel right now. I'm sure they're stinging from their last minute defeat to UST & they looked very, very, very, dangerous. Did I say dangerous?

UST is playing at GAC - not the other way around.  It could  be a tough, game for the Tommies in St. Peter on Saturday, especially after that emotional game against Bethel on Wednesday.  Over the last few years if not longer, the Gusties at home have been a dangerous opponent for the Tommies.

[sumander]

UST is playing at GAC - not the other way around.  It could  be a tough, game for the Tommies in St. Peter on Saturday, especially after that emotional game against Bethel on Wednesday.  Over the last few years if not longer, the Gusties at home have been a dangerous opponent for the Tommies. 

DP, my bad. You are correct. The Gusties have beaten the T's at home the last two years! 59-58 last year and 80-74 the year before.

[Willy Wonka]

Actually, the Gusties have topped the hated Tommies five of the last six game at Gus Young...but let's not talk about the one time they didn't. I'm looking at you, Moses.

I've got a quick preview up for the GAC/UST game.

Of note at the bottom is the fact that Zach Johnson is about the break Carleton's career scoring record and likely hit 2,000 points before the season it over. It's not clear how many have ever done that, but the MIAC leader, SJU's Frankie Alphabet, is at "just" 2,357. That's pretty elite company.