MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Nites]

Great win for the Knights and a playoff-type atmosphere at West Gym.

Real key, I thought, was Carleton's ability to defend the 3-point line. UST, the league's top 3-point shooting team, goes 3-for-21. Tom Sawatzke did a great job on Nicolai, holding him to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sawatzke had 11 points and zero turnovers as well. Caleb Rosenow was huge as well, going 6-for-8 with 16 points. UST also had 15 turnovers to the Knights' 11.

Schedule certainly favors the Knights at this point, as they have roadies at SMU, Bethel and Mac and then finish at home with the Oles. The Toms are at GAC on Saturday, then home to Concordia and and Hamline before finishing at SJU. Should be an interesting eight-day span starting Saturday!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

[Drake Palmer]

Great win for the Knights and a playoff-type atmosphere at West Gym.

Real key, I thought, was Carleton's ability to defend the 3-point line. UST, the league's top 3-point shooting team, goes 3-for-21. Tom Sawatzke did a great job on Nicolai, holding him to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sawatzke had 11 points and zero turnovers as well. Caleb Rosenow was huge as well, going 6-for-8 with 16 points. UST also had 15 turnovers to the Knights' 11.

Schedule certainly favors the Knights at this point, as they have roadies at SMU, Bethel and Mac and then finish at home with the Oles. The Toms are at GAC on Saturday, then home to Concordia and and Hamline before finishing at SJU. Should be an interesting eight-day span starting Saturday!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

Well, well, well,  look who woke up from his winter hibernation with the Baylor Bears?  I thought they had buried Nites somewhere on the west Texas prairies.  Nites, are you cleaning up in preparation to jump on the other Knights' bandwagon?  Good to see you back, even if it's only for playoff week!

Interesting developments in the MIAC race last night. 

Cobbs & Johnnies both won last night to set up a big showdown in C-Ville on Saturday in the Playoff Desperation Bowl. 

Augsburg is in another do-or die situation where they need to win 3 straight over Bethel, MAC & GAC just to see if they're even eligible for playoff consideration.

Gusties also in a dogfight just to make the playoffs, but with 4 games remaining  - UST, SJU, @ Augsburg, @ SMU, they're bound to get 1-3 wins right?

Hamline & St Olaf are both looking real good at this point.  Pipes have MAC, STO (game of the night), @ UST (another game of the night), & Concordia.  2-2 and they should be just fine.

Oles are at Hamline, Bethel, & @ Carleton (Game of the Day)

Carleton is in the catbird seat with games against SMU, BET, Mac & the potential game of the week against St Olaf.

And the once (still?) proud purple clad Tommies of UST.  Is it a rough week ahead or Champions' week?  Guess we'll find out starting on Saturday against Gustavus in St. Peter, CORD, HAM, and  @ SJU (another game of the Day).

I might have to take vacation days next Monday & Wednesdays to take in the games.

Long work day today, but if I get a chance later on I'll offer up my two cents worth on last night's games. I've been known to share an opinion or two. WOW – changing of the MIAC guard?

[miacsuperfan]

Great win for the Knights and a playoff-type atmosphere at West Gym.

Real key, I thought, was Carleton's ability to defend the 3-point line. UST, the league's top 3-point shooting team, goes 3-for-21. Tom Sawatzke did a great job on Nicolai, holding him to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sawatzke had 11 points and zero turnovers as well. Caleb Rosenow was huge as well, going 6-for-8 with 16 points. UST also had 15 turnovers to the Knights' 11.

Schedule certainly favors the Knights at this point, as they have roadies at SMU, Bethel and Mac and then finish at home with the Oles. The Toms are at GAC on Saturday, then home to Concordia and and Hamline before finishing at SJU. Should be an interesting eight-day span starting Saturday!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

amen. . . . .carleton's webpage/video/audio/game re-run is second to none (well, st. olaf's is pretty good too) in the miac.   now if they only had voj's dulcet voice on the radio, they would have the whole package.

[papahoops]

Great win for the Knights and a playoff-type atmosphere at West Gym.

Real key, I thought, was Carleton's ability to defend the 3-point line. UST, the league's top 3-point shooting team, goes 3-for-21. Tom Sawatzke did a great job on Nicolai, holding him to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sawatzke had 11 points and zero turnovers as well. Caleb Rosenow was huge as well, going 6-for-8 with 16 points. UST also had 15 turnovers to the Knights' 11.

Schedule certainly favors the Knights at this point, as they have roadies at SMU, Bethel and Mac and then finish at home with the Oles. The Toms are at GAC on Saturday, then home to Concordia and and Hamline before finishing at SJU. Should be an interesting eight-day span starting Saturday!

Very nice win by the Knights last evening, and the game was well worth the drive to Northfield. In addition to points made above by carletonsid, I would offer the following additional points:

I was very impressed with the play of the Carleton front court. They have a lot of length and create real matchup issues. IMO, Combination of Jonker/Rosenow/Theisen is the best in the league. Because of this, UST needs to beat Carleton in the backcourt to beat them, and that obviously didn't happen last night.  The UST backcourt's inability to shoot well or create a turnover advantage killed their chances last night. There was one Knight player who I will not name that really struggled with UST's pressure, but Coach Kalland was quick to give him the hook and not cause too much damage.

UST's woes related to lack of offensive production off the bench continue. At this point, they just cannot afford for Nicolai to have an off shooting night. Contributing to the Tommies' poor 3 point shooting % was the fact that several were taken by players who should not have the green light to take those kind of shots.

Carleton looked solid throughout the game, although UST did a fantastic job of clamping  down the "D" in the second half to come back from a serious deficit. There was a 5-7 minute stretch in the second half where both teams put on a defensive clinic. All in all, a very entertaining game. I would say I look forward to the rematch, but with Hamline and St. Olaf comig on strong, I'm not sure we will see one

Question for Carletonsid,
Any update on ankle injury to Rosenow late in the game???

[Nites]

Well, well, well,  look who woke up from his winter hibernation with the Baylor Bears?  I thought they had buried Nites somewhere on the west Texas prairies.  Nites, are you cleaning up in preparation to jump on the other Knights' bandwagon?  Good to see you back, even if it's only for playoff week!

Well, howdy to you too Drake.    I thought I best come back and see if VOJ and company might fire up the old Johnnie bandwagon and loan it to the Carleton followers. 

It's nice to see that not only do you remain the pillar of the MIAC post up board, but that you're now serving as the pillar of the Pick'em board by supporting all of those above you in the standings (which, it appears, is just about everyone).   

[carletonsid]

Question for Carletonsid,
Any update on ankle injury to Rosenow late in the game???

Well, he was jumping around OK after the win, so hopefully he's fine. Not sure if it was an ankle or what, bu I do know he's one of the tougher kids on the team, so hopefully he'll be ready to roll on Saturday. Not sure if anyone noticed, but Carter Biewen missed Wednesday' win, but hopefully he'll also be ready to go on Saturday. It was not only the first game Carter has missed in his career, but the first game in his career he hasn't started!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

amen. . . . .carleton's webpage/video/audio/game re-run is second to none (well, st. olaf's is pretty good too) in the miac.   now if they only had voj's dulcet voice on the radio, they would have the whole package.

Thanks and thanks. Love VOJ, but we use students here and our senior, Matt Hart, has done a great job this year and helped a newcomer, Andy Zweber, on color.

Glad you like the video highlights as well.

[Drake Palmer]

Well, well, well,  look who woke up from his winter hibernation with the Baylor Bears?  I thought they had buried Nites somewhere on the west Texas prairies.  Nites, are you cleaning up in preparation to jump on the other Knights' bandwagon?  Good to see you back, even if it's only for playoff week!

Well, howdy to you too Drake.    I thought I best come back and see if VOJ and company might fire up the old Johnnie bandwagon and loan it to the Carleton followers.  

It's nice to see that not only do you remain the pillar of the MIAC post up board, but that you're now serving as the pillar of the Pick'em board by supporting all of those above you in the standings (which, it appears, is just about everyone).  

Not unlike Bill Walsh from the NFL & his West Coast offense disciples, we have the Palmer's Pickem Progeny.   Not exactly.    

****

Nice win by the Knights over UST.  Earlier this season I had noted the emergence of Caleb Rosenow and he's proving to be a real difference maker.  Rosenow's growth, along with the on the job development by SO PG Tommy Sawatzke for the departed Blaise Davis has really helped turnaround some Carleton question marks.  Add in the return to form of the Kong Man & potential league MVP, Jeremy Sutherland, you have a very talented & disciplined team.

For the Tommies, maybe it's time to tighten up the rotation and return to the 7-8 man rotation that Coach Fritz favored back in the early mid 2000s.  As Pops has pointed out on several different occasions, the Tommies just aren't getting the offensive production and defensive stops that they were accustomed to getting back in the glory days, 2007-2009 of the Tommie 10+man rotation.  In addition to Tyler Nicolai & Joe Scott, the Tommies had a host of different Tommies who could, & did step up & beat you - Al McCoy, Lonnie Robinson, BJ Viau, Alex Healy, Brett Tuma, Anders Halvorsen etc.   However, as evidenced by the closeness of the UST league games this year, I think the league as a whole has stepped up the talent level, & no longer is UST able to hold leads, let alone extend leads with their 2nd unit.

***
I realize that I maybe be coming off as a late to the party, St. Olaf shill, but I can't help but be surprised, no, amazed by the progress the Oles have made this year.  Posters may point out the influx of talented young FY, but with the exception of last year, the Oles get good talent every year.  More Ole statistical curiosities:

Before this season, talented JR wing man Bobby Fong was a career 24% 3pt shooter & was noted more as a slasher, rather than a shooter.  But Mr. Fong must have put in a lot of hours in the gym during the off season because he's been on fire this season.  Fong is currently 10th in the league in scoring and averages 14.2 ppg.  Here's the weird statistic.  Unless they're listing his stats incorrectly, Fong is shooting better from behind the 3ptline that he is shooting layups & jumpers.   Check this out – for Fong's overall FGA percentage he's shooting 83-209 for 40.9%.  But from the 3 pt line Fong is leading the league in triples made 36, and is 2nd in accuracy at 45.6%. And this is from a career 24% 3pt shooter.  Boggles the mind.

My other Ole statistical oddity.  The Gunderson Watch: Conner Gunderson is the hands down leader for the mythical Palmer MIAC Freshman of the Year of the Year Award.   Last night he had another ho-hum performance against SMU.  Gunderson was 8-10 from the floor, 2-2 3FGA for 18 pts.  Now mind you this is a wing/small forward!!  This is his 5th straight game in which he's shot better than 75% from the floor. How much Malt-O-Meal are these guys eating down in Northfield???    Gunderson is leading all Ole Players with more than 30 shot attempts in FG accuracy. He's shooting a scintillating 61.1% from the floor, 69-113 FGA.

[VOJ]

Great win for the Knights and a playoff-type atmosphere at West Gym.

Real key, I thought, was Carleton's ability to defend the 3-point line. UST, the league's top 3-point shooting team, goes 3-for-21. Tom Sawatzke did a great job on Nicolai, holding him to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sawatzke had 11 points and zero turnovers as well. Caleb Rosenow was huge as well, going 6-for-8 with 16 points. UST also had 15 turnovers to the Knights' 11.

Schedule certainly favors the Knights at this point, as they have roadies at SMU, Bethel and Mac and then finish at home with the Oles. The Toms are at GAC on Saturday, then home to Concordia and and Hamline before finishing at SJU. Should be an interesting eight-day span starting Saturday!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

amen. . . . .carleton's webpage/video/audio/game re-run is second to none (well, st. olaf's is pretty good too) in the miac.   now if they only had voj's dulcet voice on the radio, they would have the whole package.

Thanks Superfan +K

[Nites]

Drake,

What happened to the Redbirds after such a promising start to the season?  They perhaps have the best trio of players in the league and your namesake, at least on paper, may be the league's most complete player.

[VOJ]

Question for Carletonsid,
Any update on ankle injury to Rosenow late in the game???

Well, he was jumping around OK after the win, so hopefully he's fine. Not sure if it was an ankle or what, bu I do know he's one of the tougher kids on the team, so hopefully he'll be ready to roll on Saturday. Not sure if anyone noticed, but Carter Biewen missed Wednesday' win, but hopefully he'll also be ready to go on Saturday. It was not only the first game Carter has missed in his career, but the first game in his career he hasn't started!

Impressive win!   . . . and nice video clip on the Knights' website.

amen. . . . .carleton's webpage/video/audio/game re-run is second to none (well, st. olaf's is pretty good too) in the miac.   now if they only had voj's dulcet voice on the radio, they would have the whole package.

Thanks and thanks. Love VOJ, but we use students here and our senior, Matt Hart, has done a great job this year and helped a newcomer, Andy Zweber, on color.

Glad you like the video highlights as well.

Lots of love on the board today...thanks fellas +K all around, event to those who support the purple.

Kudos to Carleton for using students...gotta give the kids their chance, that is how I started back about 20 years ago (yikes) at Ednboro University of Pennsylvania

[carletonsid]

Kudos to Carleton for using students...gotta give the kids their chance, that is how I started back about 20 years ago (yikes) at Ednboro University of Pennsylvania

One of our former students, Jake Zivin, is the sports anchor/reporter at KEZI-9 ABC in Eugene, Ore. He was on the field for the BCS national championship game. I also used to do games as a student at Luther, and our students really enjoy doing it and gain a nice little following among parents who live far away and can't get to but one or two games a year. 

[Drake Palmer]

Drake,

What happened to the Redbirds after such a promising start to the season?  They perhaps have the best trio of players in the league and your namesake, at least on paper, may be the league's most complete player.

Good question Nites. Very little word comes out of Winona but what I've been able to piece together is that injuries have hampered the Redbirds 3-legged stool, and the loss of a key reserve.  Chris Palmer had a knee injury which caused him to miss a game & slowed him down for a bit. Lukas Holland has been slowed down pretty much all season.  His point average has dropped from 13.4ppg in the 09-10 season, to 10.9ppg this year.  Plus Holland's assist totals are also down from 2.4 apg last year to 1.4 apg this season.

Also, I didn't realize this until a few weeks ago but the Birds lost another key contributor from last season in Thomas Sims.  I'm not sure what may have happened to him, but he was a solid 6th man and was able to relieve Holland or Wright.  Sims was a JR last year and averaged 17 minutes a game, was 4th on the team in scoring at 5.2 ppg, 1.4 apg, & about one steal per game.

+k as well.    Say, where's Gacman?

[Nites]

+k as well.    Say, where's Gacman?

Probably hibernating in my Bear den until the Gusties exhibit some signs of life....

[papahoops]

+k as well.    Say, where's Gacman?

Probably hibernating in my Bear den until the Gusties exhibit some signs of life....

I'm sure if the Gusties can pull off an upset over UST tomorrow, we we will get a fiull report from Gacman

[papahoops]

Well, well, well,  look who woke up from his winter hibernation with the Baylor Bears?  I thought they had buried Nites somewhere on the west Texas prairies.  Nites, are you cleaning up in preparation to jump on the other Knights' bandwagon?  Good to see you back, even if it's only for playoff week!

Well, howdy to you too Drake.    I thought I best come back and see if VOJ and company might fire up the old Johnnie bandwagon and loan it to the Carleton followers. 

It's nice to see that not only do you remain the pillar of the MIAC post up board, but that you're now serving as the pillar of the Pick'em board by supporting all of those above you in the standings (which, it appears, is just about everyone).   

Ouch excellent observation Nites, but gals you made ut. Since I see Miacmaniac on occasion, I could not have gotten away with this remark , no matter how accurate it seems to be:)