MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacbacker]

A couple notes from the Gustavus/Bethel box score today:

Gusties with 28 assists on 36 made field goals with only six turnovers.

Schmidtknecht with 7 assists and 0 turnovers.

Blacklock with 6 blocked shots.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

As to the games today- was watching carleton webcast at the end of regulation, and the carleton annoucer sounded something like this:
     

"10 seconds left Augsburg down 2, Cassens with the ball, slashes into the lane, misses from 10feet and .......no!  Brad Panning!!!! sutherland is called for the foul"  

IALTO  

Couldn't resist. There was some contact, but not enough IMO to warrant a foul with 7.3 seconds left. Cassens tries the shot fake and duck under move with small bit of contact and foul was called. Whole game was unevenly called, but both ways. Knights made FTs down the stretch (8-9 in OT) and had just enough to knock Auggies off and get into MIAC Playoffs for the ninth straight year.http://apps.carleton.edu/athletics/varsity_sports/mens_basketball/schedule_and_results/?story_id=607623&event_id=533368

thats the third best streak, behind UST's 11 and GAC's 10. Bethel had made the past 11 playoffs but wont be in the field this year.

[VOJ]

Maniac, I hope Scott is back. I am not sure he is. All thru his slump it seemed he was just missing. His shots seemed to be just a bit short, right on target. Against Bethel, although he hit a couple he still didn't look real comfortable. His misses were real bad. Not even close. It looks like he is trying to get it and just shoot it. Doesn't want to think about it too much. I feel kind of bad for him. He turns down a lot of shots he usually wouldn't.

It looks like Fritz has gotten into Halverson's head big time. Usually it is a senior that he screws with, but this time it appears it is Anders. I don't know what goes on in practice but it just seems he could be a big help down the stretch.

No team in the MIAC is going to make a run in the tournament this year.
Brady Ervin is the best 2 sport star in the MIAC.

Out.

Funny that you'd mention this now. I actually heard this same complaint about Fritz for the first time last week from a former league MVP who played for the Tommies years ago. I was more than a little surprised.

I'm not sure how much merit I'd give these claims right now, but it will be interesting to see if Nicolai goes through something similar next year...especially if he happens to win the MVP this year.

Until you mentioned it, I hadn't even considered Nicolai for MVP.  They wouldn't, would they? Lets hope not. Good player, but not MVP caliber.  

Drake I beg to differ check the numbers ...I did during my pregame show yesterday andhe is having an outstanding year...with the numbers and the record, he is a candidate

[Buddo]

oh, and the girls aren't too hard on the eyes  

That was the only thing I liked about campus on my tour 

[Drake Palmer]

Double play...

I'm not sure how much merit I'd give these claims right now, but it will be interesting to see if Nicolai goes through something similar next year...especially if he happens to win the MVP this year.

Until you mentioned it, I hadn't even considered Nicolai for MVP.  They wouldn't, would they? Lets hope not. Good player, but not MVP caliber.  

Drake I beg to differ check the numbers ...I did during my pregame show yesterday andhe is having an outstanding year...with the numbers and the record, he is a candidate

VOJ- that's the best post-game comment you can come up with after another tightly contested battle between two bitter rivals?  I guess after a night of listening to giggling 10-year old girls at your daughter's birthday slumber party will do that to you.   +K

I was listening to your SJU-UST pregame show on the radio as I drove down to the Jonkey Kong Coronation Ball (Carlies-Auggies game) in Northfield yesterday afternoon.  

An aside, it was interesting to hear Coach Steve Fritz's comments on why Joe Scott is struggling a bit more with his shot this year compared to last season. Some of those UST detractors (WW) would have more crow to eat & drink.  

PLAYER OF the YEAR thoughts: After further review of the stats, VOJ & Willy are right, Tyler Nicolai is definitely in the mix.  As Willy posted the other day, his numbers are right at or near the top of the leader board in every statistical category that he could possibly impact. Because of last year & the minor Scott controversy, I'd still be leery about a possible backlash & bestowing this award upon Nicolai. #3A

#1 SJU: Before the recent swoon by Aaron Burtzel & the Johnnies, IMO Burtzel was a virtual lock for POY. During the first half of the season, he was putting up numbers that was on pace to get recognition for possible All-Region, if not AA honors.  Although he's still at the top of most statistical categories; his numbers have really tailed off in the last third of the season.

And before I go any further, I should point out to the newer posters: the Coaches POY award is never, or rarely given to a player whose team didn't finish in one of the 6 playoff spots.  Traditionally, hasn't the POY come from a team that has finished 4th or higher in the final regular season standings?  Mose or someone else who has followed the league longer than I have would know the answer to this.

So looking down the list of the other playoff teams...

Gustavus:  Nobody really jumps out at you, mebbe Ryan McPartland & to a lesser extent Jesse Van Sickle.

#2 Augsburg:  Jon Cassens.  He's having a solid season & if he was to win I think it would be like getting one of those Lifetime Achievement Awards they distribute at the Academy Awards: Recognition for a good to great solid career, not because he had an exceptional season or movie.  If the Dawgs finish 2nd or 3rd, this could be the good, safe,non-inflammatory vote by the coaches.

Carleton:  Bryan Rosett, Jeremy Sutherland & the Man – Seth Jonker.  Solid players & a possible All Defense Team honor for a couple of them, but realistically not POY type candidates.

#3B Hamline:  Ray Brown & Carl Hipp.  If Hamline was in first or 2nd place I think one of them would be a very strong candidate. Depending on how this upcoming week plays out, I would say one of them, probably Hipp, would still be a strong candidate. I understand some of the Pipes are still suffering from flu-like symptoms.  

#s = how I rate the candidates at this time.

[Drake Palmer]

OK back to games...

I understand Coach Steve Fritz is working with UST's SID Gene McGivern & are quickly putting together a booklet titled:
Winning Free Throw Defense:  "How to prepare your team,coaches & bench to glower, stare, talk trash, & generally intimidate the opposing team into missing their FTs in the late stages of a close game."

The UST athletic dept. has been flooded with phone calls from high school & college coaches around the country eager to get the winning edge.   Last week against Carleton, "the Knights went 0-for-5 at the foul line in the last 15 seconds and converted just 9-of-24 free throw tries on the game."  Yesterday against SJU – "St. Thomas overcame a powerful performance by Todd Herman of the Johnnies (13-9, 10-7). The junior led all scorers with 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting from the field, but hit only 4 of 11 from the free-throw line – indicative of his team's problems there. St. John's made only 9 of 23 free throws, including 4 of 14 in the second half."  That's some badazz voodoo Coach Fritz cooked up.

If the Jays can keep Todd Herman on the court & engaged in the classroom, he's an absolute stud. I first saw him play back in HS & AAU days & he was dominant on both ends of the court.

Carleton-Augsburg: Down in Northfield it was a sumo wrassling match between Carleton & Augsburg –tough, physical, hand to hand combat with very few balls going into the basket.  At one point I thought that maybe the Cobbs had dropped off some of the frigid air from Moorhead in West Gym yesterday on their way to Winona.

At one point the combined shooting percentages of both teams must have been 30%.  My ears hurt from hearing the ball clank off the rim & the deafening whoosh of the air ball.

Finally the MOY (Man of the Year) Seth Jonker started to give his eager fan club something to cheer about.  Jonker had 21 pts, 8-13FGA, 2-3 from deep, 3-5 from the FT line, 12 rebs, 2 assists & 3 steals.  A nice day at the office.  Once in the 2nd half he made a decent, but not spectacular, up & under move, & one of the ringleaders of the Jonker fan club jumped up & began bellowing – "unbelievable,unbelievable, unbelievable!"Too funny! I think the fan was relieved the scoring drought for both teams had ended.  

Nice signs for Jonker as well – of course "Jonker Kong," & "Jonker Kong Country." I didn't realize that young Mr. Jonker was of Dutch lineage as one of the signs read "Dutch Crunch #55."  Nice touch.

CSid - if you talk to members of the fan club tell them you got another sign idea – "Holland Hustle."  Then go out & play the Rolling Stones song over the PA system - "the Harlem Shuffle."

Ugly, but satisfying OT win for the Knights. Augsburg & Carleton will be tough for anybody in the playoffs. Augsburg couldn't get their offense going & hit any shots from the perimeter which usually opens up their inside game. Whenever they drove inside, unless it was Cory Polta, they were rarely able to get a foul called on one of the Carleton Knights.  David Olson got hammered countless times & never got a call, although he could have done a better job of drawing the contact.

Right before the end of the first half, Carleton's Jeremy Sutherland had one of the sweetest takes I've seen all year. He's out on the left wing, drives hard to the basket with his left, goes behind his back to his right, crosses back to his left & goes up for the left-handed layup.  Nice.
****

And did I read somewhere that the Gusties' 6-1 Dan Schmidknecht decided to wake up his sleepwalking teammates & dunked on a hapless Bethel defender yesterday?  Big props for the throw-down!

[Willy Wonka]

Nice signs for Jonker as well – of course "Jonker Kong," & "Jonker Kong Country." I didn't realize that young Mr. Jonker was of Dutch lineage as one of the signs read "Dutch Crunch #55."  Nice touch.

CSid - if you talk to members of the fan club tell them you got another sign idea – "Holland Hustle."  Then go out & play the Rolling Stones song over the PA system - "the Harlem Shuffle."

I have it on good authority that Mr. Holland (and the other WW) both enjoy shuffling...but this is actually their song of choice. It'd be kinda fun to see them break it down after winning the title next year...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPna1dIeUHQ

[Drake Palmer]

Nice signs for Jonker as well – of course "Jonker Kong," & "Jonker Kong Country." I didn't realize that young Mr. Jonker was of Dutch lineage as one of the signs read "Dutch Crunch #55."  Nice touch.

CSid - if you talk to members of the fan club tell them you got another sign idea – "Holland Hustle."  Then go out & play the Rolling Stones song over the PA system - "the Harlem Shuffle."

I have it on good authority that Mr. Holland (and the other WW) both enjoy shuffling...but this is actually their song of choice. It'd be kinda fun to see them break it down after winning the title next year...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPna1dIeUHQ

Funny.   I've seen a few of the young ones doing this new dance you posted.

But if the championship goes through Northfield you've gotta remember the Carleton sports department still kicks it old school.  They played Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" a song from the 80s, several times yesterday & the Carleton students seemed to enjoy it.  So I'm sure they won't mind this song..

Dance version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI6_es6Lkow

[carletonsid]

OK back to games...

I understand Coach Steve Fritz is working with UST's SID Gene McGivern & are quickly putting together a booklet titled:
Winning Free Throw Defense:  "How to prepare your team,coaches & bench to glower, stare, talk trash, & generally intimidate the opposing team into missing their FTs in the late stages of a close game."

The UST athletic dept. has been flooded with phone calls from high school & college coaches around the country eager to get the winning edge.  Last week against Carleton, "the Knights went 0-for-5 at the foul line in the last 15 seconds and converted just 9-of-24 free throw tries on the game."  Yesterday against SJU – "St. Thomas overcame a powerful performance by Todd Herman of the Johnnies (13-9, 10-7). The junior led all scorers with 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting from the field, but hit only 4 of 11 from the free-throw line – indicative of his team's problems there. St. John's made only 9 of 23 free throws, including 4 of 14 in the second half."  That's some badazz voodoo Coach Fritz cooked up.

Carleton-Augsburg: Down in Northfield it was a sumo wrassling match between Carleton & Augsburg –tough, physical, hand to combat with very few balls going into the basket.  At one point I thought that maybe the Cobbs had dropped off some of the frigid air from Moorhead in West Gym yesterday on their way to Winona.

At one point the combined shooting percentages of both teams must have been 30%.  My ears hurt from hearing the ball clank off the rim & the deafening whoosh of the air ball.

Finally the MOY (Man of the Year) Seth Jonker started to give his eager fan club something to cheer about.  Jonker had 21 pts, 8-13FGA, 2-3 from deep, 3-5 from the FT line, 12 rebs, 2 assists & 3 steals.  A nice day at the office.  Once in the 2nd half he made a decent, but not spectacular, up & under move, & one of the ringleaders of the Jonker fan club jumped up & began bellowing – "unbelievable,unbelievable, unbelievable!"Too funny! I think the fan was relieved the scoring drought for both teams had ended. 

Nice signs for Jonker as well – of course "Jonker Kong," & "Jonker Kong Country." I didn't realize that young Mr. Jonker was of Dutch lineage as one of the signs read "Dutch Crunch #55."  Nice touch.

CSid - if you talk to members of the fan club tell them you got another sign idea – "Holland Hustle."  Then go out & play the Rolling Stones song over the PA system - "the Harlem Shuffle."

Ugly, but satisfying OT win for the Knights. Augsburg & Carleton will be tough for anybody in the playoffs. Augsburg couldn't get their offense going & hit any shots from the perimeter which usually opens up their inside game. Whenever they drove inside, unless it was Cory Polta, they were rarely able to get a foul called on one of the Carleton Knights.  David Olson got hammered countless times & never got a call, although he could have done a better job of drawing the contact.

Right before the end of the first half, Carleton's Jeremy Sutherland had one of the sweetest takes I've seen all year. He's out on the left wing, drives hard to the basket with his left, goes behind his back to his right, crosses back to his left & goes up for the left-handed layup.  Nice.
****

And did I read somewhere that the Gusties' 6-1 Dan Schmidknecht decided to wake up his sleepwalking teammates & dunked on a hapless Bethel defender yesterday?  Big props for the throw-down!

Drake, next time you're down in Northfield make sure to seek me out. Your identity is safe with me! Love the recognition of the UST FT defense--it's very impressive.

Agreed it was a wrestling match. Both teams know each other pretty well. Coach Kalland and Coach Griess go back to Coach G's days at Chaminade when Carleton played them every other year on its trips to Hawaii. Plus, Augsburg asst. coach Ryan Kershaw is engaged to Abby Kalland, 2004 Carleton grad and daughter of said Carleton Coach Guy Kalland. To top it off, Jake Phillips, 2007 Carleton grad, is also on the Auggie staff. Needless to say, each team were well aware of the others sets (and these two teams run the most sets of anyone in the MIAC) and basically took them away from each other.

I thought the key was Carleton's work on Cassens and Olson-combined 6-of-22 with only two assists. Sutherland is really the best on-ball defender in the conference and really kept Cassens out of the lane yesterday. Jonker really dominated inside and out, and rendered Andy G-G ineffective (foul trouble in first half, didn't even play the final 8 minutes of regulation or in OT). With all that said, Augsburg is tough, love the stuff they run and the way they play.

The next two weeks should be so enteraining--so many games between the top teams. Knights get a bit of a break as they finish at Mac and at BU, two teams out of the playoff chase, but both dangerous clubs. Mac basically led the whole way yesterday at St. Olaf and almost beat Augsburg earlier, so the Scots are a dangerous, hungry team.

[VOJ]

VOJ- that’s the best post-game comment you can come up with after another tightly contested battle between two bitter rivals?  I guess after a night of listening to giggling 10-year old girls at your daughter’s birthday slumber party will do that to you.   +K

I was listening to your SJU-UST pregame show on the radio as I drove down to the Jonkey Kong Coronation Ball (Carlies-Auggies game) in Northfield yesterday afternoon.   

An aside, it was interesting to hear Coach Steve Fritz's comments on why Joe Scott is struggling a bit more with his shot this year compared to last season. Some of those UST detractors (WW) would have more crow to eat & drink.   

Drake thanks for tuning in...was not one of my best pregame shows but I thought it was a good interview with Fritzy, you must have caught some of the post game show as well where the party was talked about...good time had by all...interesting thing happened in that game he was late to the bench for the second half start, in fact the Tommies as a team did not appear until 0:00 was on the clock to start the second half

Very frustrating games for SJU to play well enough to win and not get it done at the FT Line was tough to take, also the drought late in the 2nd half was very disappointing...Give the tommies credit for their defense which keyed the run in the 2nd half.  Herman was a monster, tough match up for  the Tommies, and hopefully anyone else the Js play the rest of the way. 

Funny thing is the Js have shot well enough to win their last three games games but have not because basketball is a game where everything needs to come together, yesterday it was FT shooting and turnovers.  I saw a remark about the officiating, well I thought overall it was pretty good, the Tommies do some clutch and grab nuetral zone trap stuff that got called and the Johnnies tried to really focus on not reaching. 

The Tommies winning the conference tournament title is not a walk in the park like last  IF the team they are playing can handle the pressure and work the clock and not have long stretches of no FG.  Intensity is crucial. 

Js need to put this behind them and focus on Hamline, it will be senior night and there are two on the roster who have not had great careers on the floor but have paid their dues with the program and will be honored. 

on other games, CC is looking  like a team no one would want to face if they were above the playoff cutline, but they had that mid-season swoon that will keep them from the MIAC Dance.  Mac almost got it done, had the lead at halftime but could not hold it, they are getting closer, but not sure they have a game left on the schedule where they will end up with a W.  Bethel should have saved the gas money and let WW and his Alumni All Stars take the floor instead,  the Auggies needed that one to get the inside track on the 2 seed but Carleton is so tough at home. 

How was that Drake?

[MIACMIAC]

Willy,

Fong came off the bench yesterday as it was St. Olaf's last home game of the season, senior night, starting Weber in his place.  I don't understand how Koz could not have replaced Ramsay instead.  I'm sure he chose to replace Fong because Fong is more of a guard, but replacing Ramsay would have left either Torell or Fong to defend Keeley which I believe would have been just fine because Keeley plays primarily on the perimeter and that is where he did his damage against the St. Olaf posts.  As for the Fong's technical, he had gotten to the basket a couple times and not gotten a call and then once more he drove baseline and clearly was fouled as he was going up and again there was no call.  He then said something, not to the referee, but the referee must not have liked it and gave Fong the tech.

[OldUMACFAN]

IMO poy comes down to 3 players, but really only 2.  Brown leads th league in scoring (nearly 2 points more than 2nd) 19.4 ppg and 8 rpg, Burtzel 14.5 ppg and 10 rpg, Nicolai 14.2 ppg and 1.9 spg.  I understand UST is #1 but Nicoali really should not get it. 

1 Brown
2 Burtzel
3 Nicolai
IMO

[Drake Palmer]

IMO poy comes down to 3 players, but really only 2.  Brown leads th league in scoring (nearly 2 points more than 2nd) 19.4 ppg and 8 rpg, Burtzel 14.5 ppg and 10 rpg, Nicolai 14.2 ppg and 1.9 spg.  I understand UST is #1 but Nicoali really should not get it. 

1 Brown
2 Burtzel
3 Nicolai
IMO

UMAC - are you Catholic? 

[papahoops]

I made the trek to Northfield yesterday to check out the Auggie/Knight contest. The first half was a bit of a yawner but things picked up in the second half and ended with an exciting OT finish. Drake already gave a good summary that needs no duplication. I agree with DPs assessment that the refs allowed a lot of physical contact on drives to the basket that did not benefit Olson and Cassens.

The refs, however, did not determine the outcome of the game, as Carleton played solid. If playoff seeding was based on how teams are playing at the end of the season, the Knights would be my clear #2 seed. It is amazing to me how much they have improved since I saw them early in the year. Their development as a team this year continues to make Kalland my choice for COY.

Although Jonkers strong effort yesterday has already been cited, I continue to be impressed by the growing contribution being made off the bench by FY player Scott Theisen (13 point contribution yesterday). He has good size, a nice shooting touch, and shows good court sense. Sutherland also did nothing to detract from his growing reputation as a defensive stopper by holding Cassens to 9.

On a side note, I had a nice chat with Zach Johnson's uncle and pops at the game. Zach is currently seeking another overseas basketball opportunity, possibly in New Zealand. I certainly hope things work out for him and wish him the best.

[huhoops]

IMO poy comes down to 3 players, but really only 2.  Brown leads th league in scoring (nearly 2 points more than 2nd) 19.4 ppg and 8 rpg, Burtzel 14.5 ppg and 10 rpg, Nicolai 14.2 ppg and 1.9 spg.  I understand UST is #1 but Nicoali really should not get it. 

1 Brown
2 Burtzel
3 Nicolai
IMO

Burtzel is still a no brainer. I know his numbers are going down and teams are focusing on shutting him down, but he is still leading the conference in rebounding (tied with Fraase @ 10/game), field goal percentage (63.5 %), assists (4.8/game), and he is 10th in scoring(13.7/game) and 3rd in steals (1.5/game).

I have a bias because I have seen HU play more than I have seen anyone else this season, so I have seen Brown on his best and worst nights. I have seen Burtzel three times and every time he has impressed me more. Every time he is out of the game, SJU is worse. Although Brown is hugely beneficial the majority of the time, I have seen him work to HU's detriment as well (more so early in the season). Also, a major factor to be considered is the fact that Brown has Hipp. Teams have to respect both of them which takes some of the individual pressure off of Brown. It has become obvious over the last few games that teams are focusing all of their energies on taking Burtzel away, which I believe has led to SJU's struggles lately. All in all, I think Burtzel is just a little bit more important to the success of his team.