MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacbacker]

Good recap by PI, but I have to ask why he thinks the two teams might meet in the 3/6 or 4/5 game in the playoffs. I don't think I have to remind him that the Gusties are still undefeated in the conference and should be looking to secure one of the top two spots at this point.

I've been to most of the GAC home games this year and one thing that has held true in all of them is that the Gustie offense looks ten times better when Seth Anderson is on the floor.

Nice game for Crowder the senior. It will be interesting to see if his play today earns him some more minutes down the road or if this was a one time thing.

I'm excited for the big St. Thomas-Gustavus match-up on Wednesday. The Gusties are going to need to start the game better than they have been doing though to have a shot. If they get down double digits early, I don't think they are going to be able to pull another one out of the hat.

[piperinsider]

Because the best two teams in the league are UST and SJU - two teams you haven't played yet. I think GAC will finish third. Finishing sixth might be the best thing for the Pipers - avoid UST to the finals (finals...finals )

Nice recap Wonka. Written like a true journalist.

I did forget to talk up Nick Carroll - I have not been on the CC-Cre-TT-Tin grad bandwagon but he was very solid Saturday getting to the hoop. Definitely a different player than when I saw him two years ago when he was just an outside shooter.

Fat Pat on Macalester women's hoops:
http://www.startribune.com/sports/81075992.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

[piperinsider]

It's a wrap. The Vipes bandwagon is loading up for Minnesota

nice job out west by hamline, but it is still hard to imagine how the 1-3 vipes will be any better off than 4-6 at the turn in the miac---when you look at their next six games (car, @bu, smu, @gac, sju, @ust).  i hope the bandwagon has some railings on it.   

CAR - win
BU - win
SMU - win
GAC - loss
SJU - win
UST - loss

5-5 - let's play!

Bolts on the railings need to be tightened up.

4-0 so far....

[huhoops]

Maybe Brown was not spectactular (sp) shooting wise, but he was by far the best player on the court Saturday and it wasn't close. Yes, he forced some shots including with four seconds left in the first half, then again, no one and I mean no one was willing to take a shot down the stretch. Brown was the only offense Hamline had Saturday.

Hipp was being physical down low and getting himself into good positions but A.) Couldn't finish B.) Never dribbled toward the basket, so he would just try these floaters that would usually air ball. He was terrible.

As HUHoops said, tough to rebound when Brown was on the outside most of the time offensively. As for defense, numerous times I saw the Pipers fail to box out and try to jump for the rebound. They also seemed to be too tight to the rim and when Schmidtknecht was shooting (he pumped faked 20x in the game) the ball was coming off hard.

Forgot to mention...great job by GAC to stay with their offense throughout the game. They were patient, passed the ball well and set great screens - moving without the ball - typical Gustavus team.

Brown will be the best player on the court in 99.9% of every Division 3 basketball game he plays in. He is an athletic 6'7 (230 lb?) shooting guard with a 30+ inch verticle and good jump shot (streaky, but good). The real question is whether or not he can fit those abilities into a team concept and help the whole team be better. When HU is at their best, Brown is getting into the lane and making things happen. Unfortunately, when things get tense, his instinct is to take the weight of the world on his shoulders.

I guaranSheed he's in the rotation against the Tommies, and he should help match their strength and athleticism.

IMO Crowder had the play of the game right around the 2 minute mark in the 2nd half. HU had just scored to cut the Gustie lead to 2 points and had GAC with its back on the ropes, and 3 seconds left on the shot clock. It seemed as though HU was gaining momentum when McPartland threw up a desperation jumper to beat the shot clock. As I looked down court to see potential outlets for HU, the GAC fans roared as Crowder knifed through Hipp and Brown for the offensive board, getting fouled on the put back attempt (he proceeded to connect on both free throws).

Although he was a mini-hero today for GAC, I don't see them needing Crowder's services much against UST. The big men on Summit are nothing special this year (athletically or physically) and I would expect any GAC struggles to be with pressure on the perimeter.

Good recap by PI, but I have to ask why he thinks the two teams might meet in the 3/6 or 4/5 game in the playoffs. I don't think I have to remind him that the Gusties are still undefeated in the conference and should be looking to secure one of the top two spots at this point.

UST is the best team in the conference until someone takes that title from them. Although Wednesday will be a great match up, I'm not sure it will tell us much about who will end up with that #1 spot. SJU vs. HU will be a nice potential 3/4 preview on Wednesday at Hutton, as well.

[Drake Palmer]

Gustavus-Hamline
Even on the webcast you could tell the GAC-HAM game was a top quality, well played contest at St. Peter today. One minor nit – the voice of the Gusties leaves a little to be desired.  Whoever said the other night he was annoying when he called out a trey was absolutely right - "Wirtjes for t-h-r-e-e-e-e,"-, Anderson for t-h-r-e-e-e-e!!!  For a minute I thought I had a reverb unit built into my computer.    Aside from that, nice broadcast.  Seriously.  

By the way is Larry Knudsen (name?) from Moorhead still doing the Cobbs games?  He & that guy from St. Johns do a pretty fair job. Although that Johnnie announcer tends to wear his heart on his sleeve a bit much, & seems to agree with the head coach's whines a little too often for my taste.  

HUHoops- Brown might not of had a spectacular shooting performance, but it was apparent that he was, & is a special talent.  However, we're both in agreement that he's much more effective as a slasher, playmaker, & then follow with the trey.

As I said earlier this week, if Carl Hipp had Carleton's Seth Jonker or Bryan Rosett's footwork & moves in the post, he would be a beast.  He's too upright in the post & the GAC defenders did a nice job of getting their body on him so he couldn't use his leaping ability to jump over his defender.  Gustavus played great defense, but Hipp easily missed 3 bunnies in the first half.  If he makes those baskets, it could have ratcheted up the intensity level even more in the last 2 minutes of the game & made it more nerve wracking than it already was for the Gustavus & Hamline faithful.

Nice team win by Gustavus.  As I commented after the GAC-AUGS game, Seth Anderson is a hooper. He's got a great mid-range jumper & assortment of pullup jumpers & layups. And like most Gustie players, moves very well without the ball.  It's always great watching those block to block screens Gustavus runs. I'm sure there been a # of unsuspecting defenders that got sandwiched a time or two.  Mychal Crowder played tough & did an outstanding defensive job.  The camera stayed on the Gustie bench after he came out of the game & he was certainly getting plenty of man love from the rest of the bench.

Carleton-UST
GAC followers might take a little comfort in this.  Things were looking more than a little dicey for the Toms in Northfield when I switched over to check out live stats from the Carlie UST game.  At one point Carleton was up 12-0, & then again 15-1, before UST finally regained their composure to even it up 23-23 at the half, & then pulled away in the 2nd half.

Supe - you asked me the other day if I thought UST was missing "Lonnie Robinson."  Well, yeah, Lonnie Robinson would sure help, but another way of having better ball movement is reducing TOs by your post players.  Last year UST post players (McCoy, Viau, Eicher, Peltier) did a solid job passing out of the post to an open shooter on the wing, or a cutter moving through the lane.  Right now, FY post Josh Pedretti is struggling with his baptism by fire in his first campaign in the MIAC.  He's having problems hanging onto the ball & rushing things. Pedretti had the dubious distinction of being the high man with 5 TOs today, & led the Tommies with 3 TOs in the game against Bethel the other night.  He's too good of a player to struggle all season long, but I'm sure UST will be glad when Sam Eicher returns from the injury list.

Other games
Johnnies are on a roll right now & have been shooting lights out in their last couple of games. Today they shot  56% overall, 45% from 3FGA & beat the Cobbs 71-64. Aaron Burtzel with a triple double 10 rebs, 16 pts, 11 assists.  Against Augsburg they shot 55% from the floor & 42% from behind the arc.  Good offense or bad defense?  Either case, the Johnnies are looking very dangerous.

St. Olaf beat the free falling, injury plagued Bethel Royals 75-59.

And as expected, Augsburg beat MAC 74-53.

[miacsuperfan]

It's a wrap. The Vipes bandwagon is loading up for Minnesota

nice job out west by hamline, but it is still hard to imagine how the 1-3 vipes will be any better off than 4-6 at the turn in the miac---when you look at their next six games (car, @bu, smu, @gac, sju, @ust).  i hope the bandwagon has some railings on it.   

CAR - win
BU - win
SMU - win
GAC - loss
SJU - win
UST - loss

5-5 - let's play!

Bolts on the railings need to be tightened up.

4-0 so far....

nice call so far, pi.  next two will be tough, however.  i still think my 4-6 at the turn is looking solid.  sju at home and ust on the road will be tough sledding for the new and improved vipes.   

[sumander]

Aaron Burtzel puts together another MVP type performance yesterday with a triple double!

                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 Aaron Burtzel....... *  7-9        0-0       2-3      0 10 10    1   16 11  2   0  0  3


CORD only manages 22 points in the first half.

Hope the J's aren't looking past the Vipes on Wednesday night in anticipation of their showdown next Saturday!

[Willy Wonka]

Because the best two teams in the league are UST and SJU - two teams you haven't played yet. I think GAC will finish third. Finishing sixth might be the best thing for the Pipers - avoid UST to the finals (finals...finals )

What are you basing that opinion on? GAC may not exactly be the prettiest team to watch, but there's something to be said for winning close games. I believe VOJ refers to that as "making plays."

Call me crazy, but I'd rather be undefeated with a solid win over Carleton than 6-1 with a terribly ugly loss to the Knights...

[piperinsider]

Because the best two teams in the league are UST and SJU - two teams you haven't played yet. I think GAC will finish third. Finishing sixth might be the best thing for the Pipers - avoid UST to the finals (finals...finals )

What are you basing that opinion on? GAC may not exactly be the prettiest team to watch, but there's something to be said for winning close games. I believe VOJ refers to that as "making plays."

Call me crazy, but I'd rather be undefeated with a solid win over Carleton than 6-1 with a terribly ugly loss to the Knights...

Call it a hunch. That's it and that's all. I think SJU at this point is just a bit better. Just a bit.

[Willy Wonka]

Did anyone see the UST/CAR game yesterday? Did the Tommie starting five really only account for FOUR assists, with no one higher than one?

Sometimes assists aren't tracked very well, but it's not like this is the first time passing has been a concern for the this UST team. Is Healy the only one on the team willing/able to pass the ball or were people just missing bunnies yesterday?  

[papahoops]

Did anyone see the UST/CAR game yesterday? Did the Tommie starting five really only account for FOUR assists, with no one higher than one?

Sometimes assists aren't tracked very well, but it's not like this is the first time passing has been a concern for the this UST team. Is Healy the only one on the team willing/able to pass the ball or were people just missing bunnies yesterday?  

A quick check of UST's season stats shows that their starting 5 only averages 6.5 assists per game, yet they are undefeated in MIAC play. Assist totals are obviously not as big of a factor for their success as it might be on other teams. As has been criticized many time on the board, they have a point guard averaging 1.5 assist/game that is VERY successful in their offensive scheme. The key to UST's success is not offensive stats, but their ability to defend other teams. They dug themselves a 12 point hole yesterday at Carleton with poor offense, yet ended up winning by only allowing 51 points for the game. Forget about analyzing UST's offense. It is their defense that will beat you.
The stat that shows me that UST had an "off" game yesterday was they had 1 MORE turnover than Carleton. UST's opponents have averaged 5 more turnovers a game resulting from their pressure defense (no other team in the league matches that level of turnover differential), and the Tommies did not have that typical advantage against the Knights. They still only gave up 51 points, however, so the MIAC winning streak continues.

[Willy Wonka]

Did anyone see the UST/CAR game yesterday? Did the Tommie starting five really only account for FOUR assists, with no one higher than one?

Sometimes assists aren't tracked very well, but it's not like this is the first time passing has been a concern for the this UST team. Is Healy the only one on the team willing/able to pass the ball or were people just missing bunnies yesterday?  

A quick check of UST's season stats shows that their starting 5 only averages 6.5 assists per game, yet they are undefeated in MIAC play. Assist totals are obviously not as big of a factor for their success as it might be on other teams. As has been criticized many time on the board, they have a point guard averaging 1.5 assist/game that is VERY successful in their offensive scheme. The key to UST's success is not offensive stats, but their ability to defend other teams. They dug themselves a 12 point hole yesterday at Carleton with poor offense, yet ended up winning by only allowing 51 points for the game. Forget about analyzing UST's offense. It is their defense that will beat you.
The stat that shows me that UST had an "off" game yesterday was they had 1 MORE turnover than Carleton. UST's opponents have averaged 5 more turnovers a game resulting from their pressure defense (no other team in the league matches that level of turnover differential), and the Tommies did not have that typical advantage against the Knights. They still only gave up 51 points, however, so the MIAC winning streak continues.

I hear you. The athletes and depth they have could definitely give the Gusties problems, though even the defensive stats have dropped off some this season.

I guess it's just such a jarringly different style than I'm used to "seeing" from the Tommies the last few years that I'm confused. They've gone out of their way to make the extra pass in years past and were typically rewarded with layups. Though the shooting percentage is still great (52 to 49) this year, the assist numbers have gone from far-and-away #1 (18.2) to #7 (14.5) in the league.

Is there a reasonable explanation for the assisting lull — like transition layups, perhaps — or should we expect the shooting percentages to fall in the future? I'm hoping the fall starts Wednesday, but I haven't seen enough purple to otherwise comment.

[huhoops]

Did anyone see the UST/CAR game yesterday? Did the Tommie starting five really only account for FOUR assists, with no one higher than one?

Sometimes assists aren't tracked very well, but it's not like this is the first time passing has been a concern for the this UST team. Is Healy the only one on the team willing/able to pass the ball or were people just missing bunnies yesterday?  

A quick check of UST's season stats shows that their starting 5 only averages 6.5 assists per game, yet they are undefeated in MIAC play. Assist totals are obviously not as big of a factor for their success as it might be on other teams. As has been criticized many time on the board, they have a point guard averaging 1.5 assist/game that is VERY successful in their offensive scheme. The key to UST's success is not offensive stats, but their ability to defend other teams. They dug themselves a 12 point hole yesterday at Carleton with poor offense, yet ended up winning by only allowing 51 points for the game. Forget about analyzing UST's offense. It is their defense that will beat you.
The stat that shows me that UST had an "off" game yesterday was they had 1 MORE turnover than Carleton. UST's opponents have averaged 5 more turnovers a game resulting from their pressure defense (no other team in the league matches that level of turnover differential), and the Tommies did not have that typical advantage against the Knights. They still only gave up 51 points, however, so the MIAC winning streak continues.

I hear you. The athletes and depth they have could definitely give the Gusties problems, though even the defensive stats have dropped off some this season.

I guess it's just such a jarringly different style than I'm used to "seeing" from the Tommies the last few years that I'm confused. They've gone out of their way to make the extra pass in years past and were typically rewarded with layups. Though the shooting percentage is still great (52 to 49) this year, the assist numbers have gone from far-and-away #1 (18.2) to #7 (14.5) in the league.

Is there a reasonable explanation for the assisting lull — like transition layups, perhaps — or should we expect the shooting percentages to fall in the future? I'm hoping the fall starts Wednesday, but I haven't seen enough purple to otherwise comment.

Just speculation but I'll give it a try...

The biggest difference for UST is that they lack "playmakers". They have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the hoop on their own accord but very few who have the ability to create the same opportunity for others. Last year's team had this quality. Viau, McCoy, Robinson, and even Tuma to an extent, all had a rare and unselfish ability to get their teammates better shots and put others in positions to "make plays". This is what made them so difficult to guard--it was impossible to predict who was going to go off on a given night. Without guys like the ones listed, a player like Joe Scott is going to have a difficult time producing night in and night out because he has to do a lot more work to get the same quality shots that he was getting last year.

I need to make it clear that I am not by any means saying that UST lacks talent, because they have the most in the conference by far. I simply think they lack the discipline/unselfishness or last year's dream team, at least on the offensive end.

papahoops hit it on the head when he said that the key to UST's success will be on defense. I don't care who you're playing against, if you keep teams in the 50's and 60's every night (or Saturday afternoon ), you have a good chance to win a lot of games.

[Nites]

Quote from: miacsuperfan on Today at 01:42:00 pm
So GAC might whip out the old triangle and two to try to contain Hipp, putting man coverage on Brown and Dan Anderson who look like the best 3 point shooters,

My guess is that Hanson will have his defender try to cut off penetration by Brown and entice him into falling in love with the 3 point shot.  I don't think the Pipes are at their best when Brown is out on the perimeter jacking up threes.

Huhhmmmmmm.  He launched 11 treys, going 4-11.  That's way more than "Trey" Grey.

Off Topic

The Vikings are going to need to bring their "A" game this Sunday to compete with the red hot Cowboys.  It should be a great match up.

[papahoops]

Did anyone see the UST/CAR game yesterday? Did the Tommie starting five really only account for FOUR assists, with no one higher than one?

Sometimes assists aren't tracked very well, but it's not like this is the first time passing has been a concern for the this UST team. Is Healy the only one on the team willing/able to pass the ball or were people just missing bunnies yesterday?  

A quick check of UST's season stats shows that their starting 5 only averages 6.5 assists per game, yet they are undefeated in MIAC play. Assist totals are obviously not as big of a factor for their success as it might be on other teams. As has been criticized many time on the board, they have a point guard averaging 1.5 assist/game that is VERY successful in their offensive scheme. The key to UST's success is not offensive stats, but their ability to defend other teams. They dug themselves a 12 point hole yesterday at Carleton with poor offense, yet ended up winning by only allowing 51 points for the game. Forget about analyzing UST's offense. It is their defense that will beat you.
The stat that shows me that UST had an "off" game yesterday was they had 1 MORE turnover than Carleton. UST's opponents have averaged 5 more turnovers a game resulting from their pressure defense (no other team in the league matches that level of turnover differential), and the Tommies did not have that typical advantage against the Knights. They still only gave up 51 points, however, so the MIAC winning streak continues.

I hear you. The athletes and depth they have could definitely give the Gusties problems, though even the defensive stats have dropped off some this season.

I guess it's just such a jarringly different style than I'm used to "seeing" from the Tommies the last few years that I'm confused. They've gone out of their way to make the extra pass in years past and were typically rewarded with layups. Though the shooting percentage is still great (52 to 49) this year, the assist numbers have gone from far-and-away #1 (18.2) to #7 (14.5) in the league.

Is there a reasonable explanation for the assisting lull — like transition layups, perhaps — or should we expect the shooting percentages to fall in the future? I'm hoping the fall starts Wednesday, but I haven't seen enough purple to otherwise comment.

Just speculation but I'll give it a try...

The biggest difference for UST is that they lack "playmakers". They have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the hoop on their own accord but very few who have the ability to create the same opportunity for others. Last year's team had this quality. Viau, McCoy, Robinson, and even Tuma to an extent, all had a rare and unselfish ability to get their teammates better shots and put others in positions to "make plays". This is what made them so difficult to guard--it was impossible to predict who was going to go off on a given night. Without guys like the ones listed, a player like Joe Scott is going to have a difficult time producing night in and night out because he has to do a lot more work to get the same quality shots that he was getting last year.

I need to make it clear that I am not by any means saying that UST lacks talent, because they have the most in the conference by far. I simply think they lack the discipline/unselfishness or last year's dream team, at least on the offensive end.

papahoops hit it on the head when he said that the key to UST's success will be on defense. I don't care who you're playing against, if you keep teams in the 50's and 60's every night (or Saturday afternoon ), you have a good chance to win a lot of games.

Very good "speculation" HU.  As Sherlock Holmes would say " Watson, I think you may have it"  The players you noted from last years's squad are in fact the key factor in the drop off in assists this year that WW accurately noted. I did not realize there had been THAT big of a drop off. The are "intangibles" that I felt UST has been missing with the loss of these players but a statistical analysis of assist numbers supports this. It is interesting to note that Viau (2.8), McCoy (2.3), Robinson (2.7), and Tuma (2.0) were the 4 LEADERS in assists/game for UST last year. Healy (2.5) and Archer (2.2) are the only players this year with 2 or more assist/game. It is interesting to note that the starting front court of Pedretti and Halvosen are averaging 1.6 assists/game COMBINED versus the McCoy/Viau combined total of 5/game last year.  This is a very significant drop off.  Without looking at the stats, I had sensed UST has really missed Tuma's floor leadership with the second unit this year. The stats support this, as he was 4th in assists last year despite ranking 8th in minutes played for UST. Their defense has allowed them to still remain a leading force in the league with a national ranking, but the drop off in assists, particularly in the front court, shows why last year's squad seemed to have better offensive flow than this year's team to date.