MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Buddo]

HAM 72-52 AUGS
SMU 78-60 MAC
UST 71-63 CORD
CARL 60-55 GAC

I don't have a final but SJU was up by 12-13 points over Bethel with 4-5 minutes left in the 2nd half?
Edit: It's final SJU 80-67 BET

Wow, how does Auggie lose that badly?
SMU got a great win that they needed.
CARLETON? Wow, I love it. Parity is good.

[sumander]

Made the trip to Moorhead last night to watch the Tomcats take on the Cobbers. Maniac also made the trip! Mose good to see you and nice visiting with you. The Fool-Em game story is here. Coach Glas' comment in the final paragraph is spot on! Tyler Nicolai was absolutely cold blooded last night. Cobb's were trying to crawl back late in the game and Nicolai would curl off a screen and bury a shot. It was a game where if you were a Tommie fan you never felt comfortable.

CORD is a year away from potentially being really good. In general the Tommie's press bothered the Cobbers. They had 14 turnovers;10 steals for the T's. Their guards never looked comfortable trying to break the press. The T's looked like they could have even turned up the intensity on the press had they needed to.

Alex Healy had a real nice first half for the T's (13 points) as did Noah Kaiser 6 points in 7 min. Joe Scott struggled from beyond the arc. He went 0-6, but in his defense at least 4 of those misses went half way down and were spit back out.

Fraase was a horse for the Cobbers. He has developed a nice repertoire of bank shots in the low post, including a head on bank. Old school stuff, but fun to see someone using it.

Olmscheid picked up his 3rd and 4th fouls 24 seconds apart at the 18 minute mark of the second half so he was a non factor in the game. Karl Olson had 7 straight points early in the second half and 11 for the half and game.

The Cobb's need to recuit some 3's and 4's or arguably a 5, if you consider Fraase more of a 4. I am not sure how comfortable he is facing up as a opposed to playing with his back to the basket.

Nice win for the T's in a tough environment. They appear to be a work in progress. With GAC's loss last night the T's are certainly in the drivers seat once again!

[Willy Wonka]

I heard a reliable non-Gustie coach say that the current league has a lot of fourth-place teams this year. I've only seen four of the teams play so far, but I think I agree with his sentiment — no one is invulnerable. Bethel, once it gets healthy, could even be a spoiler to end the year.

My Gusties played extremely well against UST and definitely look like they've figured some things out...but it wouldn't shock me to see a "bad" loss or two somewhere down the line. The gap from top to bottom (excluding Mac) just seems a lot closer this year.

I had to go back just to make sure I wasn't dreaming...but it pains me how often I'm right. I just wasn't expecting those two bad losses to come in the next three games 

Is it possible GAC peaked too early? At 9-1 through the first half, I think we can all agree that they exceeded expectations. The UST game felt like it had just secured a trip to the national tournament...and the fans reacted as if that were actually the case. Time to circle the wagons and see what this team is made of.

Random stat
GAC is holding opponents to just 11 assists a game. That reflects the defensive prowess I've seen from them this year. As also a good rebounding team, offense is left as the big question mark. Shooting, in particular, seems to be the biggest factor in GAC's success.

In its 11 wins, GAC has shot 41% from distance. In its five losses, it has shot a frigid 19%. The numbers would also suggest the Gusties fall in love with the trey when they are struggling, which is an interesting paradox. They average 11.2 attempts in wins and 17 in losses.

[TearDrop]

Last night was a much needed victory for the Birds! From what I hear they jumped out to an early lead and the trio of Palmer, Holland and Wright were pretty much unstoppable. Looking at the SMU article on the game the three of those guys scored 64 of the 78 points. They did a good job of not settling for as many 3 pt attempts which sometimes I think hinders their abilities.  If Palmer is not the FY player of the year I would be shocked. It seems that the Cardinals have a very talented young player and I would expect big things out of him next season and with Wright and Holland being seniors I will make a very early prediction that next season SMU will be a top 3 team in the league. I am excited to see the things that Coach Landrum is doing in Winona and am interested to see what kind of recruits they can keep getting in!! GO BIRDS

[huhoops]

HAM 72-52 AUGS
Wow, how does Auggie lose that badly?

Missed the game, but it looks like they played some unbelievable defense in the second half. HU held AUG to 5/32 (15.6%) from the field and 0/8 from three. HU shot only 27% from the floor in the second half, but allowed just 12 points in the final 20 minutes. This type of defense is going to be key for HU if they plan to win the games which Brown and Hipp are struggling (i.e. Monday's loss to UST).

Is it possible GAC peaked too early? At 9-1 through the first half, I think we can all agree that they exceeded expectations. The UST game felt like it had just secured a trip to the national tournament...and the fans reacted as if that were actually the case. Time to circle the wagons and see what this team is made of.

Random stat
GAC is holding opponents to just 11 assists a game. That reflects the defensive prowess I've seen from them this year. As also a good rebounding team, offense is left as the big question mark. Shooting, in particular, seems to be the biggest factor in GAC's success.

In its 11 wins, GAC has shot 41% from distance. In its five losses, it has shot a frigid 19%. The numbers would also suggest the Gusties fall in love with the trey when they are struggling, which is an interesting paradox. They average 11.2 attempts in wins and 17 in losses.

I don't think GAC peaked too early. Against BU, they shot it SO poorly (34.5%) and STILL almost defended well enough to steal a win (only gave up 54 points). The bench was 3/20 in that game, which is uncharacteristic (especially of Grey and Anderson). In their recent success, those two have come in and filled voids that GAC is having on a given day (ex. Grey can supplement Van Sickel, Anderson for Schmidtknecht, etc.).

Their other loss to CAR just isn't a great match up, especially for the GAC bigs. As Drake stated:

I would also make a case for Carleton's Bryan Rosett who is currently averaging 11.6 ppg & 8.5 rpg.  In fact, I would say the duo of Rosett & Seth Jonker are the best pair of post players in the league – offense, defense, they're tough.

Rosett and Jonker pose a unique challenge for defenders because they have the ability to step outside and shoot the three. They also both play well with their backs to the basket, so virtually any defender you throw at them, there will likely be some offensive advantage. Also, CAR has bigger guards (Sutherland, Biewen, Davis) who are able to adapt to a more physical playing style the GAC plays.

Very interesting stat regarding the three point attempts. I was so impressed with GAC's ability to stick to their game plan when I watched them play HU. They continued to run their motion offense and set screens for one another until a good shot came to them--nothing was forced (only 9 3FGA). In retrospect, I wish they would have jacked up a few more treys 

They have some good leadership and guys who have "been around the block" in the MIAC. I have no doubt that they will remain one of the premier teams in the conference.

[Touchdown Tommy]

Nice hanging with you last night at Bethel, VOJ.  You're the best.

Your biggest fan,

TDT

[VOJ]

Nice hanging with you last night at Bethel, VOJ.  You're the best.

Your biggest fan,

TDT

Funny...I remember seeing some parents and talking with Andrew Latzke after the game on air...hmmm not sure I saw a guy in a barney suit by the name of USTTDT.

Of course I was so pumped about the second half that the J's turned in, overcoming a 4pt halftime deficit for the win that I must have missed you, glad to hear you made parole out of the Cook County Jail however.

[Buddo]

Last night was a much needed victory for the Birds! From what I hear they jumped out to an early lead and the trio of Palmer, Holland and Wright were pretty much unstoppable. Looking at the SMU article on the game the three of those guys scored 64 of the 78 points. They did a good job of not settling for as many 3 pt attempts which sometimes I think hinders their abilities.  If Palmer is not the FY player of the year I would be shocked. It seems that the Cardinals have a very talented young player and I would expect big things out of him next season and with Wright and Holland being seniors I will make a very early prediction that next season SMU will be a top 3 team in the league. I am excited to see the things that Coach Landrum is doing in Winona and am interested to see what kind of recruits they can keep getting in!! GO BIRDS

Palmer 24 pts
Wright 21
Holland 19 and 7 reb

Three-headed monster...

[Nites]

Last night was a much needed victory for the Birds! From what I hear they jumped out to an early lead and the trio of Palmer, Holland and Wright were pretty much unstoppable. Looking at the SMU article on the game the three of those guys scored 64 of the 78 points. They did a good job of not settling for as many 3 pt attempts which sometimes I think hinders their abilities.  If Palmer is not the FY player of the year I would be shocked. It seems that the Cardinals have a very talented young player and I would expect big things out of him next season and with Wright and Holland being seniors I will make a very early prediction that next season SMU will be a top 3 team in the league. I am excited to see the things that Coach Landrum is doing in Winona and am interested to see what kind of recruits they can keep getting in!! GO BIRDS

Nice that SMU got a win, but let's not lose perspective here - it was MAC that they beat and the game was in Winona.

[piperinsider]

Rubbing my temple.....not feeling as crazy as HuHoops......big win at Auggie Tech.....7-3 down the stretch for a 12-8 record and tied with the Auggies for the No. 4 seed. Hamline hosts the first-round game.

Mark it eight, dude!

[AO]

Last night was a much needed victory for the Birds! From what I hear they jumped out to an early lead and the trio of Palmer, Holland and Wright were pretty much unstoppable. Looking at the SMU article on the game the three of those guys scored 64 of the 78 points. They did a good job of not settling for as many 3 pt attempts which sometimes I think hinders their abilities.  If Palmer is not the FY player of the year I would be shocked. It seems that the Cardinals have a very talented young player and I would expect big things out of him next season and with Wright and Holland being seniors I will make a very early prediction that next season SMU will be a top 3 team in the league. I am excited to see the things that Coach Landrum is doing in Winona and am interested to see what kind of recruits they can keep getting in!! GO BIRDS

Nice that SMU got a win, but let's not lose perspective here - it was MAC that they beat and the game was in Winona.

that moves my predicted finish for St. Mary's to 5-15.  Just missing the playoffs....

[Drake Palmer]

I heard a reliable non-Gustie coach say that the current league has a lot of fourth-place teams this year. I've only seen four of the teams play so far, but I think I agree with his sentiment — no one is invulnerable. Bethel, once it gets healthy, could even be a spoiler to end the year.

My Gusties played extremely well against UST and definitely look like they've figured some things out...but it wouldn't shock me to see a "bad" loss or two somewhere down the line. The gap from top to bottom (excluding Mac) just seems a lot closer this year.

I had to go back just to make sure I wasn't dreaming...but it pains me how often I'm right. I just wasn't expecting those two bad losses to come in the next three games  
Is it possible GAC peaked too early? At 9-1 through the first half, I think we can all agree that they exceeded expectations. The UST game felt like it had just secured a trip to the national tournament...and the fans reacted as if that were actually the case. Time to circle the wagons and see what this team is made of.

Random stat
GAC is holding opponents to just 11 assists a game. That reflects the defensive prowess I've seen from them this year. As also a good rebounding team, offense is left as the big question mark. Shooting, in particular, seems to be the biggest factor in GAC's success.

Willy - I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.  Throughout the course of your life you'll have plenty of opportunities to balance the scale and be wrong like the rest of us.  Welcome to the human race.  

Personally, I thought the GAC- CARL game would be close, but I certainly wasn't expecting a Carlie win after their loss to Bethel last weekend at home.
****
I believe last night's HAM- AUG was similar to their first game of the season. Hamline jumped out to an early lead & was shooting lights out.  But in the first game of the season, Augsburg was able to make some 2nd half adjustments, started making some shots & overcame a 10 point 2nd half deficit.

Last night AUG applied more defensive pressure in the 2nd half but weren't able to get their offense going.  On the other hand, Hamline shot just well enough to begin to gradually expand on their first half lead.  As HU mentioned, both teams shot very poorly in the 2nd half. The Pipes were 7-26, 26.7% FGA% & Augsburg was even colder at 5-32, 15.6% FGA.
 
Interesting stat – 7 of the 32 Augsburg 2nd half field goal attempts, or 22% of their shot attempts, were blocked by various Hamline defenders.  Hipp with 3 blocks, Nick Carroll 2 blocks, & Jordan Schmidt & Ray Brown with one block each.

[huhoops]

Last night was a much needed victory for the Birds! From what I hear they jumped out to an early lead and the trio of Palmer, Holland and Wright were pretty much unstoppable. Looking at the SMU article on the game the three of those guys scored 64 of the 78 points. They did a good job of not settling for as many 3 pt attempts which sometimes I think hinders their abilities.  If Palmer is not the FY player of the year I would be shocked. It seems that the Cardinals have a very talented young player and I would expect big things out of him next season and with Wright and Holland being seniors I will make a very early prediction that next season SMU will be a top 3 team in the league. I am excited to see the things that Coach Landrum is doing in Winona and am interested to see what kind of recruits they can keep getting in!! GO BIRDS

I would agree that SMU could be a scary playoff team next year but there will still be some really good teams at the top who are returning a good amount of firepower. Here's a list of who loses whom next year:

SJU returns their entire rotation
CON returns their entire rotation (besides Baldwin who is averaging 1.1 pts and 1.5 rbds).
CAR loses Rosett (11.6 pts and 7.9 rbds)
UST loses Scott (10.4 pts and 2.5 rbds) Archer (3.8 pts and 2.5 rbds) Peltier (3.3 pts and 2.5 rbds) and Eicher (4.6 pts and 3.0 rbds)
AUG loses Cassens (12.1 pts, 4.1 rbds, 4.5 assts) and Olson (14 pts and 3.0 rbds)
BU loses Lang (6.9 pts and 2.9 rbds) Robertson (12.1 pts and 6.9 rbds) and Vavra (13.8 pts and 2rbds)
HU loses Brown (17.2 pts and 7.3 rbds) Carroll (4.5 pts, 3.3 rbds, 3.5 assts) and Andersen (4.6 pts and 1.4 rbds)
STO loses Torell (14.4 pts, 3 rbds, 2.4 assts) and Weber (4.8 pts and 1 rbd)
MAC loses Kraus (7.8 pts and 5.5 rbds) and Richie (6.5 pts, 2.8 assts, 2rbds)
GAC loses Van Sickel (7.3 pts and 2.2 rbds) McPartland (10 pts 4.9 rbds) Paulson (6.8 pts and 4.4 rbds) and Crowder (1.8 pts and 2.4 rbds)
* SMU does not have any seniors on their roster*

A list of the teams that will be taking the biggest hits from their losses (IMO, of course) from most to least:

1. GAC
2. BU
3. AUG
4. HU
5. UST
6. STO
7. CAR
8. MAC
9. CON
10. SMU
11. SJU

The only reason that I put SMU in front of SJU is because SJU has more players (7-8) that make a bigger impact, in comparison to the "3 headed monster" that is developing in Winona. GAC and UST obviously won't feel the losses as much as other MIAC schools because they are reloading with talent already in the program rather than needing to rely on immediate impact of new recruits.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I hate to see it but Yorky on a Tommies game is not a good thing, if I were Steve Fritz I would light the victory cigar as soon as he walked on the floor for warm ups, he has reffed numerous SJU-UST games in the past and I have always thought it was a conflict of interest, I understand his own children have gone there as well.  If you disagree with "conflict of interest", then just agree it looks bad, Yorky is a talented official, he works DI games in different conferences, but to have him on games involving UST taints the game.

Idle curiousity...how many of the refs for this fall's UST/SJU game had attended SJU? THAT of course did not matter, right? THEY, being Johnnies,  were capable of being impartial  but no one else could possibly be impartial. (then again, any and every call that does not go SJU's way is not impartial or correct in your red-tinted universe)..and no I am not casting any doubts on the quality of the officating of that game.

Personally, I think Yorky is the best ref in the MIAC. He gets the call right, without drawing attention to himself (ala Bako and a few others) and without hesitation and doesnt stoop to the blatant "make up" call BS  (like the incompetent Mauers in particular). I dont always like his calls but I have to admit they are right.

SUM -- was great to see you last night & catch up. For the first time, Ive seen UST win a Cobberville. Nice recap of the game & Glas' comments were spot-on. Did you see the photo in the Fool-em showing a swat team shoveling snow off the roof of the gym yesterday? The story says the heavy snow lowered the backest a few inches.

Hmmm, maybe VOJ should focus his conspiricy theories on snowfalls and snow removal, not refs. That might expalin all those Ls

[Drake Palmer]

Made the trip to Moorhead last night to watch the Tomcats take on the Cobbers. Maniac also made the trip! Mose good to see you and nice visiting with you.

Before I run off to another meeting – nice to see that the legendary Sumander could venture out & make a game this season. And with Mose? Moorhead won't quite be the same again. +K

CORD is a year away from potentially being really good. In general the Tommie's press bothered the Cobbers. They had 14 turnovers;10 steals for the T's. Their guards never looked comfortable trying to break the press. The T's looked like they could have even turned up the intensity on the press had they needed to.

The Cobb's need to recuit some 3's and 4's or arguably a 5, if you consider Fraase more of a 4. I am not sure how comfortable he is facing up as a opposed to playing with his back to the basket.

Don't you think the Cobbs need some quality guards as well? They haven't had anyone who could fill it up from the outside since the Big E, Keith Eckhoff, & the dearly departed Sofa King.