MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[VOJ]

[saying I hope Favre does well but the Pack wins would be like me hoping former Johnnie Peter Leslie goes for 40 but the Johnnies beat them in the end...he plays for the rival now, which means I don't want him to do well.
 

Uhhhhh...you might want to check your facts there Mr VOJ. Peter Leslie followed his brother Dan's (and All-American baseball player, an extremely rare commodityat the Litte boys school in da woods) footsteps to UST from Day One of his freshman year.  Perhaps you mean Noah Kaiser?

Your right Maniac...I was looking at the roster and I meant Kaiser not Leslie...I knew the Js were in on Leslie during recruiting...and Kaiser didn't really play much at SJU, sentiment is the same however...


Happy New Year, only one more day until league play!!!!

[papahoops]

Happy New Year to everyone on the board.

Looking forward to league action resuming tomorrow. As I look at the schedule, a lot of really interesting matchups. UST/MAC game only contest I see with a clear cut favorite. Based on team perfomances to date, I see all the other games as pretty competitive contests, which speaks well to the balance in the league this year. I would typically have an opinion as to likely year end playoff teams at this point in the season, but I don 't have a clue this year. I'll be surprised if a tie breaker is not used to determine the final playoff spot.

[Drake Palmer]

Happy New Year All!!

Pickems contestants -

I'm filling in until the manhunt is called off & we've found Teardrop. Post your picks on the pickems board before the games start tomorrow afternoon.

TD - we need you back on the board talking smack about the Redbirds and running the pickems!!!  

In the meantime, back to the sleep inducing Sugar Bowl...

[Drake Palmer]

MIAC 2009-2010 Final Nonconference Game Results**

MIAC (36-19) 65.4% winning percentage

Vs  Independent (?) Sacred Heart Puerto Rico - (1-0)
Vs  ACCA (Bethel's embarrassment) Nebraska Christian (1-0)

Vs NCAA DI (0-1)
Great West Conference (0-1)

Vs NCAA DII (3-4)
 NSIC (3-2)
 Pacific West (0-2)

Vs NCAA DIII Great Lakes Region (2-0)
 NCAC (1-0)
 OAC (1-0)

Vs NCAA DIII Midwest Region (2-3)
 CCIW (1-1)
 MWC (0-1)
 NathCon (1-0)
 UAA (0-1)

Vs. NCAA DIII West Region (27-11)
 IIAC (6-2)
 NWC (1-0)
 SCAC (0-1)
 SCIAC (2-1)
 UMAC (14-1)
 WIAC (4-6)

A couple of interesting sidebars...

*  Perennial IIAC power Buena Vista was defeated twice by MIAC teams this season.
* The struggle for hoops supremacy in southern MN (not) by the upstart UMAC conference was banished for yet another season, as Bethany Lutheran & Martin Luther were a combined 0-6 against the MIAC.
* UW-Stevens Point & UW-LaCrosse are a combined 4-0 against the MIAC.

** These are unaudited figures and have not received final approval by the accounting firm of PointSpecial, Sensei, & Sager.

[VOJ]

MIAC 2009-2010 Final Nonconference Game Results**

MIAC (36-19) 65.4% winning percentage

Vs  Independent (?) Sacred Heart Puerto Rico - (1-0)
Vs  ACCA (Bethel's embarrassment) Nebraska Christian (1-0)

Vs NCAA DI (0-1)
Great West Conference (0-1)

Vs NCAA DII (3-4)
 NSIC (3-2)
 Pacific West (0-2)

Vs NCAA DIII Great Lakes Region (2-0)
 NCAC (1-0)
 OAC (1-0)

Vs NCAA DIII Midwest Region (2-2)
 CCIW (1-1)
 MWC (0-1)
 NathCon (1-0)
 UAA (0-1)

Vs. NCAA DIII West Region (27-11)
 IIAC (6-2)
 NWC (1-0)
 SCAC (0-1)
 SCIAC (2-1)
 UMAC (14-1)
 WIAC (4-6)

A couple of interesting sidebars...

*  Perennial IIAC power Buena Vista was defeated twice by MIAC teams this season.
* The struggle for hoops supremacy in southern MN (not) by the upstart UMAC conference was banished for yet another season, as Bethany Lutheran & Martin Luther were a combined 0-6 against the MIAC.
* UW-Stevens Point & UW-LaCrosse are a combined 4-0 against the MIAC.

** These are unaudited figures and have not received final approval by the accounting firm of PointSpecial, Sensei, & Sager.

Drake who stubbed their toe against the UMAC?  That team will be shamed for the rest of the season...

[TearDrop]

Happy New Year All!!

Pickems contestants -

I'm filling in until the manhunt is called off & we've found Teardrop. Post your picks on the pickems board before the games start tomorrow afternoon.

TD - we need you back on the board talking smack about the Redbirds and running the pickems!!!  

In the meantime, back to the sleep inducing Sugar Bowl...

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!! And just in time for my birds to knock off the Johnnies who always seems to whine and complain about that long trip down to Winona and blame that on why they cannot win down south!! GO REDBIRDS!!!

[ChairmanYao]

Pipers win fairly easily down the stretch by 12. Game started rough with Carleton shooting to a 16-6 lead but after the young Pipes settled down they pretty much controlled the rest of the game. Solid win.

[Buddo]

SJU beats SMU by seven. 69-62

http://saintmaryssports.com/news/2010/1/2/MBB_0102103709.aspx

Guy I know that was at the game had great things to say about Burtzel and Sam Blank... Blank is from Winona and dropped 22 points in front of lots of friends and family. Has a great shooter's touch. Burtzel had 16 and 13 and is simply one of the best forwards in the conference.

Wright had 17 points 9 reb, Palmer had 13 and 7, and Holland had 12 and 6. Holland started slow with only 2 in the first half. Palmer continues to be a major spark plug for SMU off of the bench.

Cards play Carleton in two days while SJU meets up next with Olaf.

[papahoops]

I checked out first half of MAC/UST game today and worked my way down Snelling to see second half of Hamline/Carleton contest. I had seen Hamline a month ago against Elmhurst while Ray Brown was injured and admit I was unimpressed. The Piper team I saw today, however, was a different story. Brown's length, athleticism, and ball skills makes for a very tough matchup, and he seems to have improving chemistry with Hamline's quality post man Carl Hipp. Although they are only 2-3 at this point in the MIAC season, based on their recent successful west coast swing and their performance today, this seems to definitely be a team on the upswing.

[huhoops]

Missed the game today but it sounds like HU is slowly setting up to make a decent run at this thing. The defense looks like it's picking up and the offense seems to be doing what it needed to (take less threes--averaging only 15/game at a 47% clip, during the 3 game winning streak). Not to take too much credit away from the Piper win but this is probably the worst Carleton team in recent history. Next up for the Pipers is Bethel, which hopefully won't be a problem for a clicking HU squad.

[Drake Palmer]

I'll have to agree with what Pops said & add...

I watched the Jekyll & Hamline show this afternoon, & it seems the scarily talented Hamline has shown up all week.  They looked nice, real nice.  The new look Pipers were hitting their threes (9-15), getting the big man, Carl Hipp, his touches & played solid hard-nosed defense.  They cut down on their turnovers, 12 to be exact, although Ray Brown managed to get called for half of them.  Two or three of them were of the "What? They don't call that in the league."  Hamline did a real nice job of using Brown, & had him bring the ball up & direct the offense on occasion, hit the trey, drive to the cup, or drop off an assist.  He also had one of the sweeter plays in the game when he was feed a pass on the block, turned & made an emphatic 2-handed dunk.

Carleton played well in spurts but just doesn't have enough playmakers, depth or quickness to run with the Pipers.  After the top 5-6 Knights, the talent level really seemed to tail off. This may have been a one game aberration for Carleton, but I didn't see the usual All-MIAC FY type player out on the court.

IF this same Hamline team shows up to play at Bethel on Monday night we have the potential for another Hamline Buena Vista type of game.  The Royals were manhandled by Concordia 68-53 tonight & were worked on the boards 40-20.   John Fraase accounted for 18 boards, cracked a couple of skulls, & scored 16 points.  Olmscheid had 15 points.  

Taylor Hall was back in the lineup for Bethel, but he & Chris Vavra both had very cold shooting nights.  Hall was 4-14 for 11 pts, & Vavra was 3-10FGA for 11 pts.  For the most part, Nate Robertson was a non-factor.

[VOJ]

Happy New Year All!!

Pickems contestants -

I'm filling in until the manhunt is called off & we've found Teardrop. Post your picks on the pickems board before the games start tomorrow afternoon.

TD - we need you back on the board talking smack about the Redbirds and running the pickems!!!  

In the meantime, back to the sleep inducing Sugar Bowl...

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!! And just in time for my birds to knock off the Johnnies who always seems to whine and complain about that long trip down to Winona and blame that on why they cannot win down south!! GO REDBIRDS!!!

Not so fast my friend...had to be tough for the SMU coaching staff to watch Blank go off in front of the hometown faithful...great crowd of Js supporters down there, nice to see....

Up next a roady to Northfield where things will be interesting after they were beaten by the Auggies at home on Saturday...

[Gacman]

Not to reiterate what some people are already saying, but if HAM keeps playing up to their apparent potential, this could be a real fun conference season. Let's just say I'm starting to become a believer. SJU, CON, HAM, AUG, GAC, and UST are looking like the possible playoff teams with a pesky SMU team and STO putting pressure on the 6th seed as well. Can't wait to see how things shake out.

[Willy Wonka]

Just scanning some conference stats as I watch the Vikes right now and the conference MVP through the first 20% of the season seems to be pretty clear — SJU's Aaron Burtzel. I've never seen the kid play, but his production in every facet of the game is truly impressive...

3-1 MIAC record
14.0+ PPG (10th)
8.7+ RPG (4th)
68%+ shooting (1st)
4.0+ APG (4th)
2.33- SPG (2nd)
1.0 BPG (8th)
2.0- Assist/TO ratio (7th)
36.33+ minutes (1st)

* + and - signs indicate how the numbers will change after Saturday's game, since the MIAC stats haven't been updated yet

[John Gleich]

 WIAC (4-6)

Well, this checks out, I can't confirm or deny any of the other #'s.