MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Hamline – St. Thomas notes

Fun, if not occasionally chippy ball game last night at the "palatial AARC center" at St. Thomas. 

First of all- props to the competitive edge that Coach Whitmore can get his players to compete at. Based upon his on-court personality, he's not one of my favorite coaches. However, he shortens whatever talent gap that may exist by maximizing the effort his players exert while they're on the court. This was one tightly contested ball game between two teams that probably respect each other, but there's not a lot of joint Kumbaya singing being done. 

Second- in the Campbell-Nance debate, chalk this one up to Nance. Campbell was in foul trouble most of the night and in 19 minutes of play had 5 fouls, shot 1-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the FT line, for 4 pts, 1 reb, 2 TOs, and 1 block.  Nance had 1 point at the half, but finished 2-8 FGA, 2-4 3FGA, 5-6 FT, for 11 pts, 1 foul, 4 assists, 2 TOs, 6 rebs, 2 blocks, 2 steals in 36 minutes of play, and played some outstanding, smart defense. He forced some bad shots by the Pipers, and created a few jump ball situations.

Noah Kaiser is another heady Tommie defensive stalwart, & should be commended for his versatility in defending players ranging from wings to forwards.  Kaiser, and Nance are the bookends for that UST defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, Coach Tauer has to be more than bit annoyed with the Tommie TOs.  In the 2nd half alone they had 11 of their 17 TOs for the game. Since they only average 12 TOs per game, I have to attribute this to the Hamline full court defense & the Tommie's desire to beat the Pipers bad.  Lots of nice young talent on both sides of the ball.  Zach Riedeman seems to be a designated scorer for UST and at times he appeared to be more concerned with taking his shot than passing to the player with the better shot?  Connor Nord, Marcus Alipate, Dylan Stewart and Erik Tengwall should be nice players for UST in the next few years.

Hamline also has some nice talent as well – Victor Easter, Tyler Pannell, and Dior Ford is going to be a strong addition for the Pipers. Another nice young player who seems to be emerging from the pack is Marshall Jestings.  He's a FY PG with good size 6-1, excellent handles, good quickness, and looks like he's going to be a very solid pass-first PG. 4 Assists, 2 TOs, & 2 pts in 7 minutes of play.

Why I love D3 basketball
One of my new favorite players – Hamline's Al Tillman.  The cat is listed as a junior, but I swear I saw him at noon old timers' hoops at the Y last week.  He's got a shaved head which makes him look older than his actual age, is about 5-11, and a very solid 230lbs. Only in D3 could guys like Al Tillman continue to play ball, and play ball at a very high level. The dude is as strong as an ox, quick, hands of death, and once he goes into his post move, if you're guarding him one on one, chalk up the points. That's a bad man. 

Favorite non-looking tough ball players 

Sean Sweeney
Keith Eckhoff
Al McCoy
Seth Anderson
Al Tillman
Terrence "Warren Sapp" Smith
Dan Forkrud
BJ Viau
Tyler Nicolai
Abe Woldeslassie

Others?...


Freedom of Speech
To those people who've seen UST's Peter Leslie play, you know that he wouldn't back down from King Kong or Godzilla. Leslie was playing his usual hand checking, annoying, but effective defense.  At one point he did his customary, diving for the ball routine and after a rougher than expected encounter with a Piper player, Leslie came up snarling and yapping. Bleat! The ref blew the whistle and called the first technical of the evening. Probably a well deserved technical.

To the best of my knowledge this is what I believe happened on the 2nd & 3rd technical.  With about 7 minutes left in the first half, Nance hits Erik Tengwall on a great outlet pass, & Tengwall scored on a terrific, acrobatic reverse layup all the while getting fouled by Hamline's Tyler Pannell.  Tengwall shared a few post basket pleasantries with Pannell after he scored, and Pannell proceeded to give Tengwall an extra love tap for firm emphasis. The ref calls Pannell for a technical - deserved, the Little Admiral (LA) blows his top, and a second technical is assessed to the Hamline bench.  I was going hysterical with laughter.

The 4th and final technical of the night was called on Mike Campbell at the close of a tough, hard fought game, after he was called for a defensive foul and he had a brief verbal outburst.  It was a tough, frustrating night for a proud, talented competitor.

Exciting ball game, good win for the Tomcats, tough loss for the Pipers.  UST goes on the road for a first place show down with Gustavus on Saturday for first place, then have games next week @ Mac, home against SJU, & then finish the week @ Augsburg.  Hamline gets some rest and practice for the rest of this week which they'll need. Monday they'll play at St Olaf, home against Augsburg on Wednesday and finish at St. Johns a week from this Saturday. 
***

[Drake Palmer]

Bethel who would have thunk? They've knocked off UST, Gustavus, and Augsburg in 3 consecutive games. Really? 

Has anyone seen them play recently?  What are they doing differently that they weren't doing at the beginning of the year when I first saw them play?

The Royals are currently sitting at 5-6 with these remaining games:

1/28/2012  Macalester College               
1/30/2012 @ Carleton College               
2/1/2012 @ Concordia College               

2/4/2012   @ St. Olaf College               
2/8/2012    Saint John's University               

2/11/2012  @ Hamline University               
2/13/2012  Saint Mary's University               

2/15/2012  University of St. Thomas               
2/18/2012  @ Gustavus Adolphus College               

Gazing into my crystal ball I would think they would win 2 out of 3 of the MAC, CARL & Cobb games, and split the remaining games to finish up 10-10 in conference play. Does 10-10 get them into the playoffs?  I guess their recent play demands that we go watch them play to find out for ourselves.

[Drake Palmer]

Wow, weak sauce board. No comments from this weekend's action, gloating by Tommie haters, self- defense post by Mose, Ole lovers, Bethel boosters, etc.?

Prediction: unless the Tommies win the regular season title outright, the regular season and playoff title will go through St. Peter.  Homecourt advantage will be absolutely critical.

[AO]

I'll play the role of Bethel Booster: Based upon Bethel's momentum, I'd say they win 5 out of the next six before finishing up against St. Thomas and Gustavus.  Back in the playoffs with the tools to win it all.  also, this

[HarryDH]

I have been shocked at Bethel and their ability to run off wins against quality opponents.  After going to the tip off tourney early in the year I thought maybe they'd finish ahead of 2 teams tops in the league.  I haven't been able to make any more games this year, but they must have found something resembling an offense that they didn't have in the early stages of the season.  They have a couple very athletic players in Baah and Hall, but the games I watched it just looked like a free for all hoping that one of those 2 guys could beat someone one on one. Hope they continue to improve and make their ascent up the standings!

[carletonsid]

I'll play the role of Bethel Booster: Based upon Bethel's momentum, I'd say they win 5 out of the next six before finishing up against St. Thomas and Gustavus.  Back in the playoffs with the tools to win it all.  also, this

Not so much tonight. Carleton finally gets one, 54-52. Carleton controlled for most of the second half, but Bethel took the lead late and it looked like another tough one for the Knights. Bethel had the ball, up 52-51, with under a minute to go but the Knights got the stop they needed. After a timeout with 17 seconds left, they worked the ball around and dumped it inside to Rosenow on the left block. He didn't have anything but was able to kick it out to Sawatzke, who drained a three at the horn for the win.

Huge monkey off the Knights' back. Think it's too late for a playoff run, but good to see them get a win after being so close against SMU, St. Olaf and Augsburg in recent games. 

[gacbacker]

Gusties follow up their huge home win against the Tommies with a nice road win at Augsburg. The Gusties made the Auggies look silly in the first half as they were up by 22 at one point. Augsburg slowly climbed back into it in the second half and got within six with a minute left, but the Gusties made free throws to shut the door. Nice to see the supporting cast step up tonight when Seth didn't have his best game.

I don't think either the Gusties or Tommies will win out from this point. I think they will each slip up at least once. I just don't think either team is head and shoulders better than the teams currently in 3rd through 7th place. Home court advantage will be huge, the Gusties have had no luck up in St. Paul the last 5-6 years, but they have been able to squeak out a few victories at Gus Young Court over the Tommies.

[AO]

Tommies lose another one at the buzzer. 

[Gacman]

In the past 6 years, GAC has had a tendency to go through the first round of conference play with a record near the top only to stumble down the stretch of the regular season. I was almost half expecting it this year especially with a loss to Bethel, but with wins against UST and AUG, they may be bucking that trend. This makes Wednesday night against STO huge, since the remainder of their games are all ones they should win in SJU, CON, MAC, SMU, and BU.

[gacbacker]

In the past 6 years, GAC has had a tendency to go through the first round of conference play with a record near the top only to stumble down the stretch of the regular season. I was almost half expecting it this year especially with a loss to Bethel, but with wins against UST and AUG, they may be bucking that trend. This makes Wednesday night against STO huge, since the remainder of their games are all ones they should win in SJU, CON, MAC, SMU, and BU.

I think the only gimmes left on the Gusties schedule are the games vs. MAC and SMU. At Concordia is a tough game due to the road trip, the Gusties have a horrible record at SJU over the last 10-15 years, and Bethel has already beaten them once. If I had to guess, I'd say the Gusties will go 5-1 down the stretch here, but 4-2 or even 3-3 isn't out of the question.

[TommieHoops4Life]

DP,

This is a few days late but I guess I need to apologize for having a life other than MIAC basketball. I attended 6-10 games a year over the last five years actually in my sports beat, but the recent purchase of a home and a dog plus a busy work schedule has me committed to other things right now. I'm at my desk most nights during hoops action and that's the beauty of webcasts, you can watch the game if you're not there, which I try to do as much as it allows. I just thought putting a player from a 1-15 team on an all-conference list is undeserving.

Moving on... I'm actually enjoying the fact that the MIAC seems to be an extremely competitive league this year instead of it being one dominant team and then everybody else. One the one hand, it seems like any team can be beaten on any night. The catch: It's probably once again a one-team league in terms of postseason bids. I watched most of GAC/UST online and Seth Anderson can flat out play. They've got some nice pieces on their team.

Hanson never seems to disappoint. I sent Wonka a text that I think he's the Bo Ryan of the MIAC. Complains about every single call that goes against GAC whether it's warranted or not. But he's consistently one of the best coaches in the league, so that says something.

I thought the officiating, at least from what I saw in that game, was absolutely atrocious. It was at least consistently bad for both sides and had little effect on the game's end. I unfortunately left work at the end of regulation and missed OT so I can't speak on that.

UST is doing the best it can without Hannon, but they need him back for any chance in the postseason. Maniac, any clue on when he might return or is he done for the year and I missed it? Huge game tomorrow for the Tommies, so hopefully they can win after the court dedication to Fritz. Wish I could be there.

[hoopmaster]

I heard Hannon is out for the year (knee).  I think they're hoping to get him back next year.  If he does end up playing next year they'll be that much better.  The young guys will have a year under their belt and Nance seems to get better and better.  According to their roster they'll lose Leslie and Pedretti and i'm sure they'll pick up a transfer and a couple of blue chippers.

[gacbacker]

THFL, Hanson complains about every call? Really? I'd say he's in the bottom half of the MIAC when it comes how often coaches are up complaining to officials. I will give you this: he does tend to be on the refs much more in games against St. Thomas, especially in the last 5-10 years. The reason for that is because the Gusties have been outmatched talent wise and physically compared to the Tommies. Throw in the Tommies tendency to flop, and some officials who refuse to call a handcheck in the backcourt and Hanson has his reasons for looking like a complainer against the Tommies.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Tommies lose another one at the buzzer.

Some revel in the success of their JV, others enjoy the success of the actual varsity.....

****************
pretty sure Hannon's done for the season, but that was the word on Pella until he suddenly appeared in uni last night and played... so who knows?

******
I for one do not consider Hanson a whiner....he engages the refs, but all successful coaches do, regardless of Division-- and the MIAC is no exception. Skoog, Feeley, Gulsvig, Inniger, Smith, Fritz, Hanson, Kalland-- all the successful coaches in this league that I've seen have critics who call them whiners....I think they mean winners. Hanson is a great strategist, emphasizes the basics and fundamentals, has his teams fully ready and playing excellent D......no wonder I enjoy UST/GAC games so much, and consider beating GAC the ultimate satisfaction.

[AO]

Tommies lose another one at the buzzer.

Some revel in the success of their JV, others enjoy the success of the actual varsity.....

****************

the varsity success might have to wait another year based upon the recent performances of our respective varsities--if the season ended today and Gustavus was given the tie-breaker and the Pool A, St. Thomas would most likely not get a pool C.