MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[localcoach]

The Tommies appear to have quite the line-up this season.  My question is as follows (miacsuperfan already alluded to this) but who will be the defensive stopper for UST this year?  I'm not surprised that Winona won the game, but you can't let a team shoot nearly 60% and give up 30 points to one guy.  In recent memory, St. Thomas has always had someone who can slow down the opponent's best player.  I don't know if that's the case this season.

A further look at the box score:

-Great start for Mr. Nicolai at the PG position.  He shot the ball very well, had 5 assists to only 1 turnover and also chipped in with 3 steals.  UST will need him to continue that kind of production
-The second five off the bench for the Tommies could be most MIAC team's starting line-ups, don't you think?  (Alex Healy, Noah Kaiser, John Nance, Josh Pedretti and Peter Leslie)

[Willy Wonka]

The Tommies appear to have quite the line-up this season.  My question is as follows (miacsuperfan already alluded to this) but who will be the defensive stopper for UST this year?  I'm not surprised that Winona won the game, but you can't let a team shoot nearly 60% and give up 30 points to one guy.  In recent memory, St. Thomas has always had someone who can slow down the opponent's best player.  I don't know if that's the case this season.

A further look at the box score:

-Great start for Mr. Nicolai at the PG position.  He shot the ball very well, had 5 assists to only 1 turnover and also chipped in with 3 steals.  UST will need him to continue that kind of production
-The second five off the bench for the Tommies could be most MIAC team's starting line-ups, don't you think?  (Alex Healy, Noah Kaiser, John Nance, Josh Pedretti and Peter Leslie)

I understand the point, but I HATE this kind of conclusion. It's something the Bennie posters love pushing on the women's side after Durbin brings in a class of 20 solid recruits and most end up rotting away on the bench before quitting or transferring.

What team would take that UST group over its original starting lineup? For my money, the list only includes epically bad Mac. That makes it a pretty silly statement to make or defend IMO.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

J's open up with Point at home on Sunday at 4:00. Coach Smith is sitting on 699 wins! The remaining NON-conference schedule looks like this:

SCSU-there
MSUM@SCSU
UWEC@Osh Kosh
Osh Kosh @ Osh Kosh

When do you think win #700 comes? I would think they have a shot at MSUM. Dragons are very young again this year. They had 10 guys play double digit minutes against NDSU.

If not there, It sounds like UWEC is in turmoil this year. Although a road game in WIAC territory is a tough task.

What is the smart money thinking? VOJ thoughts(not to preclude you from the latter group)?

my hunch says it might be a while, simply because that is a tough NON-CONFERENCE schedule.

It should be a double-landmark year for Smitty, as he stands at 699-487, and attaining L #500 is fairly possible. Speaks volumes about longevity! The W total speaks of coaching excellence.

I still wonder "what if" Smitty had been successful in recruiting Fritz. he came very close. The MIAC would be a far different place, especially in hoops.

[sumander]

There first 3 conference games are at home against BET, CAR & MAC. One would certainly think he would have it by the Christmas break.

[Drake Palmer]

Sum - It could be a little tough to answer your question without additional information.  What's the status of Andy Burns' ankle injury and is Todd Herman finished? 

Based on the games you listed, the best chance for a Johnnies win might be against Moorhead State followed by UWEC.  Potentially, the UW-Stevens Point could also be a winnable game.  UWSP graduated a ton of players & lost 3 key starters from their NCAA tourney team last year, so it might not be the lopsided win for the Pointers that some people might expect.  (By the way, before Sensei shows up, it's OSHKOSH, not Osh Kosh  ) 

On the other hand, the Johnnies could be staring down a 7 game losing streak before they get their first win of the season against Macalester on December 9th.  Now I'm not predicting that will happen, but I'm just saying...

[sumander]

  (By the way, before Sensei shows up, it's OSHKOSH, not Osh Kosh  ) 

Thanks for covering me DP, wouldn't want Sensei to wheelhouse kick me upside the head. I need to start paying more attention to the minute details of my posts! (+k when time allows)

The match up with the Dragons is an intruiging one. If I wasn't going to be 500 miles away in Western NoDak pheasant hunting I might be tempted to drive down for it.

What are the odds that DP gets part of his early season WIAC scouting done in C-ville this weekend?

[VOJ]

Roster update:  Unless my aging eyes are failing me (which is entirely possible  ) I thought I saw Todd Herman on the Johnnie bench last night.  Yet today when I looked at the SJU roster his name is no longer listed.

VOJ, Watchman, Sum any idea what's going on? If he's out for the year, I'll have to revise my Johnnies forecast. They'll still be a team to contend with, just a little less dangerous. 

Sorry for being so absent from the board...

As for Herman, he will be able to play in the second semester...I am not sure if that means he is able to play on 1/2/10 @ SMU or if he has to wait until class is in session...

Sum - It could be a little tough to answer your question without additional information.  What’s the status of Andy Burns’ ankle injury and is Todd Herman finished? 

Based on the games you listed, the best chance for a Johnnies win might be against Moorhead State followed by UWEC.  Potentially, the UW-Stevens Point could also be a winnable game.  UWSP graduated a ton of players & lost 3 key starters from their NCAA tourney team last year, so it might not be the lopsided win for the Pointers that some people might expect.  (By the way, before Sensei shows up, it's OSHKOSH, not Osh Kosh  ) 

On the other hand, the Johnnies could be staring down a 7 game losing streak before they get their first win of the season against Macalester on December 9th.  Now I’m not predicting that will happen, but I’m just saying…

Not sure about Andy Burns but I am hopeful to see him on the court against the Pointers...

The Eau Claire game is a neutral court game in Oshkosh as part of a Thanksgiving Classic

7 games losing streak...ouch...that is nightmare inspiring...we will know alot more about the J's in 55 hours...here is the other thing, don't sleep on Sam Blank, very good shooter and defender who will get some major minutes this year.

If you are up in C'ville on Sunday, please say hello...

[Gregory Sager]

I try not to be pedantic about spelling mistakes -- unless the mistake's a particularly egregious one, in which case I'll try to make a joke about it (and thus the running gags about CMob's Wimpyesque hunger for the "tripple" burger were born). I save my wheelhouse kicks for matters that actually have something to do with the game itself, or for the season as a whole. In that respect, the "preseason" thing is more definitional. It's simply incorrect to refer to games played on or after November 15, games that are played according to standard in-season rules and which count towards a team's record, as "preseason." Aside from the definitional inaccuracy, the inference one draws from the word "preseason" is that those games don't count. And they most surely do, as any team left high-and-dry on Selection Sunday because of a November or December non-conference loss will tell you.

[papahoops]

Touche WW. I just checked in on the board. WW's shot at a "certain poster" for a certain Tommie's unimpressive statistical performance against Winona St. not unexpected, but I must throw a penalty flag at DP for "piling on/unsportsmanlike behavior" with Paulson turnover refererence  

It was interesting that the UST starting front court shot 7-9, but I suspect that low shots total reflects the stronger defense/higher capabilities of D2 competition. 

I am looking forward to seeing my first live D3 action tomorrow checking out the Pipers at the Hutton gym.

Will DP stop by and say hello

[John Gleich]

Not sure if it would matter too much (in other words, people already have their plans set if they're going)... but the Point/St. John's game tomorrow is at 4:00, not 6:00 like the site says.  I'm not sure if that is a change (it may be, I think I remember seeing it being an evening game when I first saw the schedule) so plan accordingly!

[Gregory Sager]

I hope to read some observations from those of you who attend tomorrow's Elmhurst @ Hamline game. This will be a radically different Elmhurst team from the squad that beat Wash U last season and subsequently received a Pool C bid to the dance. The entire front line of that team -- three All-CCIW players, spearheaded by second-team All-American center Brent Ruch -- was lost to graduation. What's more, the backup center for the past two years (and Ruch's heir apparent), Aaron Hintzsche, elected not to play this year. That leaves the Bluejays with a new center, 6'9 sophomore Wes Dukeman, who saw a grand total of three minutes of varsity court time as a freshman last season. More importantly, Dukeman's the only player of any size in Elmhurst's starting lineup; head coach Mark Scherer is going with four guards to complement Dukeman, and my guess is that the first couple of players off the bench will be guards as well. They all range in size from about 5'11 to 6'2 or so, and none of them is bigger than 190 pounds -- so the 'jays will be giving up a lot of size to most teams at the 3 and 4 spots.

That guard corps is not without talent, however, so I wouldn't expect Elmhurst to be a pushover for the Pipers. It sounds as though it could be an interesting contrast in styles, as rumor has it that Elmhurst will be using the Princeton offense (or some modification of it), and I know that Nelson Whitmore has a reputation for coaching run 'n' gun teams. Nobody's expecting much from the Bluejays this year in the CCIW, but Scherer is a very good coach who has a knack for getting the most out of his personnel. They should be interesting to watch.

(Thus far Elmhurst's been a unanimous pick to win tomorrow's game over in the CCIW pick'em room, but that probably says more about Hamline's 9-16 record last season and lackluster reputation over the past decade than it does about anyone's confidence in the new-look Bluejays.)

[Drake Palmer]

I hope to read some observations from those of you who attend tomorrow's Elmhurst @ Hamline game. This will be a radically different Elmhurst team from the squad that beat Wash U last season and subsequently received a Pool C bid to the dance. The entire front line of that team -- three All-CCIW players, spearheaded by second-team All-American center Brent Ruch -- was lost to graduation. What's more, the backup center for the past two years (and Ruch's heir apparent), Aaron Hintzsche, elected not to play this year. That leaves the Bluejays with a new center, 6'9 sophomore Wes Dukeman, who saw a grand total of three minutes of varsity court time as a freshman last season. More importantly, Dukeman's the only player of any size in Elmhurst's starting lineup; head coach Mark Scherer is going with four guards to complement Dukeman, and my guess is that the first couple of players off the bench will be guards as well. They all range in size from about 5'11 to 6'2 or so, and none of them is bigger than 190 pounds -- so the 'jays will be giving up a lot of size to most teams at the 3 and 4 spots.

That guard corps is not without talent, however, so I wouldn't expect Elmhurst to be a pushover for the Pipers. It sounds as though it could be an interesting contrast in styles, as rumor has it that Elmhurst will be using the Princeton offense (or some modification of it), and I know that Nelson Whitmore has a reputation for coaching run 'n' gun teams. Nobody's expecting much from the Bluejays this year in the CCIW, but Scherer is a very good coach who has a knack for getting the most out of his personnel. They should be interesting to watch.

(Thus far Elmhurst's been a unanimous pick to win tomorrow's game over in the CCIW pick'em room, but that probably says more about Hamline's 9-16 record last season and lackluster reputation over the past decade than it does about anyone's confidence in the new-look Bluejays.)

Based on what I've read & heard, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Hamline win this game tomorrow.   And don't forget, the Pipers only lost by 5 at Elmhurst last season.

[bballfan247365]

Attention to all those MIAC faithful that had their attention captivated today by that exciting 3 point win by the football Gophers over the Mighty JACKRABBITS.... 

The Coaches Poll was released...

Interesting choices by the coaches:   Here we go - GAME TIME! - Whoop. 

2009-10 MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll

Coaches voted for every team in the conference except their own team. Points were assigned for each vote (1 for first, 2 for second, etc.) Teams are ranked in order of lowest point total to highest with first place votes shown in parentheses.

1. St. Thomas (10)
2. Saint John's
3. Gustavus
4 (tie). Bethel (1)
4 (tie). Carleton
6. Augsburg
7. Concordia
8. Hamline
9. St. Olaf
10. Saint Mary's
11. Macalester

[Drake Palmer]

Attention to all those MIAC faithful that had their attention captivated today by that exciting 3 point win by the football Gophers over the Mighty JACKRABBITS.... 

The Coaches Poll was released...

Interesting choices by the coaches:   Here we go - GAME TIME! - Whoop. 

2009-10 MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll

Coaches voted for every team in the conference except their own team. Points were assigned for each vote (1 for first, 2 for second, etc.) Teams are ranked in order of lowest point total to highest with first place votes shown in parentheses.

1. St. Thomas (10)
2. Saint John's
3. Gustavus
4 (tie). Bethel (1)
4 (tie). Carleton
6. Augsburg
7. Concordia
8. Hamline
9. St. Olaf
10. Saint Mary's
11. Macalester

Mose could probably address this better than I can, but in my years of following the MIAC, this is one of earliest dates the coaches have ever released their preseason polls.

It's tough to argue with the first 3, but 4-6 are certainly questionable.

I am looking forward to seeing my first live D3 action tomorrow checking out the Pipers at the Hutton gym.

Will DP stop by and say hello

Or - vice versa.  check your PM

[TearDrop]

Just curious but is anybody putting together the pick'em for this year or do we normally just do conference play?