MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[AO]

Lost amid UST's big national semi-final football win on Saturday,

*Bethel slipped by Martin Luther 93-80
*Crown beat SMU 72-69 (hunh?)

* Gustavus lost to Buena Vista at home 69-66.
Maybe that projected 2nd place finish in the conference this year put too much stock in the Gustavus reputation and not enough stock in the players? However, it's tough trying to replace a "do everything" conference MVP in Seth Anderson who led the Gusties in so many categories last season.

Misc.

In a scheduling quirk, UMAC's Bethany Lutheran will play three MIAC teams this week. Tonight they square off against UST at home, Wednesday night versus SMU at home, and then finish up the MIAC portion of their schedule with a game against Carleton on Friday night in Northfield.  It will be interesting to see how the BLC Vikings fare.  They lost to Gustavus by 20 points 3 weeks ago, & are currently sitting with a 2-5 record. My guess is that they'll probably knock off the Redbirds, & will loss their other two MIAC games this week.

I assume you haven't seen Crown this year.  7'1'" Anthony Diloretto from Hopkins, transfer from Cal-Poly and Utah State after some problems(i'm sure you can do your own google search if you haven't heard of him) is averaging 21 and 13 per game while shooting 67% and blocking 3 shots a game.  I don't know that they're going to beat Bethel, but they're capable.

Buena Vista is solid, no shame in that loss.

Bethany has been disappointing thus far, no contest for the Tommies tonight.

Yeah, right.  Tommies escape with an unbelievably fortunate win. . . thanks to an inadvertant whistle with 2 seconds to play.  The Bethany fans had even begun the "over-rated" chant.  Coach Tauer must have been wondering 'what the . . '

inadvertent whistle?  I don't know if that game means Bethany will live up to expectations or that the Tommies might really be overrated with no serious title hopes.  They will find out quickly enough with Stevens Point on the schedule.

[Walter Eagle]

That was one of the most comical games I've seen in a long time (well partially seen since they had some problem with a loose wire in their camera).  Cracker box gym; lots of obstructed views on the video, lots of menu related stuff on the video screen, typical clueless know it all student announcers, one of which kept riding his team for having trouble making inbound passes which he thought should be among the most simple of basketball actions.  Never once acknowledging that the Tommie press sort of impedes easy pass in's.

I just about fell off my chair though when late in regulation he lamented the fact that, as far as he could recall, St. Thomas had only missed 1 free throw all night.  At that point they were 11-22, which was a big reason they were not able to put Bethany away.

Seriously though Bethany is better than their record and their SOS must be pretty high.  But the Tommie's looked like they would have rather been doing almost anything other than playing last night.  So, no excuse but maybe not the faith shaker it would appear on the surface.

[Drake Palmer]

Watch out for the UMAC!   

The UMAC may no longer be just an occasional comeuppance from Bethany Lutheran and AO's Northwestern.  In addition to the near upset win by Bethany Lutheran last night, previously winless Martin Luther soundly defeated the Johnnies 76-63 last night. Hot dam!

I think I might pass watching the first part of the UST- Mount Union D3 football championship game to take in the Northwestern vs. Wheaton game on Friday night.  It's not often up here in flyover land that you can watch 3 Top 10 ranked teams in action during a one week span in the regular season.   

[Drake Palmer]

Cobbs knock off Carleton in OT last night 78-75 on a last second trey by Ebo Nana Kweson.  Plus, the Knights were outscored 38-24 in the paint. And I've got to get in my weekly "where's Taylor Hanson?" comment. 
http://concordiamn.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20121212t5abbk

It's a good thing we have a seemingly more mature AO around the boards this season.  The UMAC has a decent shot at putting up a winning, if not .500 record against the MIAC this year.  I got a chuckle out of the SJU headline on the SJU website: Johnnies Endure Nightmare in New Ulm

At this point, it would not be a surprise at all if the UMAC teams got a split or won the majority of the final 4 games between the two conferences this season.

12/12 SMU @ Bethany Lutheran – Vikes the heavy favorites
12/13 UM-Morris @ St. Johns - SJU -toss up/3 pt favorite?
12/14 Bethany Lutheran @ Carleton - toss up?
12/15 Crown @ Bethel - Bethel 6 pt favorite?

[AO]

Cobbs knock off Carleton in OT last night 78-75 on a last second trey by Ebo Nana Kweson.  Plus, the Knights were outscored 38-24 in the paint. And I've got to get in my weekly "where's Taylor Hanson?" comment. 
http://concordiamn.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20121212t5abbk

It's a good thing we have a seemingly more mature AO around the boards this season.  The UMAC has a decent shot at putting up a winning, if not .500 record against the MIAC this year.  I got a chuckle out of the SJU headline on the SJU website: Johnnies Endure Nightmare in New Ulm

At this point, it would not be a surprise at all if the UMAC teams got a split or won the majority of the final 4 games between the two conferences this season.

12/12 SMU @ Bethany Lutheran – Vikes the heavy favorites
12/13 UM-Morris @ St. Johns - SJU -toss up/3 pt favorite?
12/14 Bethany Lutheran @ Carleton - toss up?
12/15 Crown @ Bethel - Bethel 6 pt favorite?

You're missing a couple matchups that will probably go the MIAC's way.

12/29 Concordia @ St. Scholastica
1/4 North Central @ Augsburg

Obviously a UMAC win would get a pretty big asterisk as 4 of the 10 wins will have been against St. Mary's and 0-6 Northland is not participating in the challenge.

[Drake Palmer]

Cobbs knock off Carleton in OT last night 78-75 on a last second trey by Ebo Nana Kweson.  Plus, the Knights were outscored 38-24 in the paint. And I've got to get in my weekly "where's Taylor Hanson?" comment. 
http://concordiamn.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20121212t5abbk

It's a good thing we have a seemingly more mature AO around the boards this season.  The UMAC has a decent shot at putting up a winning, if not .500 record against the MIAC this year.  I got a chuckle out of the SJU headline on the SJU website: Johnnies Endure Nightmare in New Ulm

At this point, it would not be a surprise at all if the UMAC teams got a split or won the majority of the final 4 games between the two conferences this season.

12/12 SMU @ Bethany Lutheran – Vikes the heavy favorites
12/13 UM-Morris @ St. Johns - SJU -toss up/3 pt favorite?
12/14 Bethany Lutheran @ Carleton - toss up?
12/15 Crown @ Bethel - Bethel 6 pt favorite?

You're missing a couple matchups that will probably go the MIAC's way.

12/29 Concordia @ St. Scholastica
1/4 North Central @ Augsburg

Obviously a UMAC win would get a pretty big asterisk as 4 of the 10 wins will have been against St. Mary's and 0-6 Northland is not participating in the challenge.

Phew -thanks! I had forgotten about those two games.  I knew the MIAC domination of the UMAC was tilting a bit, but glad to know all is still right in the world.     Having said that, the UMAC is becoming more competitive each year. It will be nice to see if Northwestern can hang with Wheaton on Friday night.

[Drake Palmer]

Cobbs knock off Carleton in OT last night 78-75 on a last second trey by Ebo Nana Kweson.  Plus, the Knights were outscored 38-24 in the paint. And I've got to get in my weekly "where's Taylor Hanson?" comment. 
http://concordiamn.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20121212t5abbk

It's a good thing we have a seemingly more mature AO around the boards this season.  The UMAC has a decent shot at putting up a winning, if not .500 record against the MIAC this year.  I got a chuckle out of the SJU headline on the SJU website: Johnnies Endure Nightmare in New Ulm

At this point, it would not be a surprise at all if the UMAC teams got a split or won the majority of the final 4 games between the two conferences this season.

12/12 SMU @ Bethany Lutheran – Vikes the heavy favorites
12/13 UM-Morris @ St. Johns - SJU -toss up/3 pt favorite?
12/14 Bethany Lutheran @ Carleton - toss up?
12/15 Crown @ Bethel - Bethel 6 pt favorite?

You're missing a couple matchups that will probably go the MIAC's way.

12/29 Concordia @ St. Scholastica
1/4 North Central @ Augsburg

Obviously a UMAC win would get a pretty big asterisk as 4 of the 10 wins will have been against St. Mary's and 0-6 Northland is not participating in the challenge.

Will the real Bethany Lutheran please stand up?  Is this the same team that won the 2011-2012 UMAC league championship, was a preseason favorite to win the UMAC during the 2012-2013 season, & took #5 ranked UST to the wire the other night before they lost in OT?

Or is this the 2-7 BLC Vikings who lost 59-55 last night to the previously winless SMU Redbirds who are now 1-7 on the year?

I'm sorta thinking that BLC pushing the Tommies the other night was an aberration & a real off night by UST. The real BLC team isn't that good, yet, not as bad as their current record seems to indicate.

The UMAC pressure is still on SJU, Bethel, Carleton, Concordia & Augsburg. 

[AO]

Watch out for the UMAC!   

The UMAC may no longer be just an occasional comeuppance from Bethany Lutheran and AO's Northwestern.  In addition to the near upset win by Bethany Lutheran last night, previously winless Martin Luther soundly defeated the Johnnies 76-63 last night. Hot dam!

I think I might pass watching the first part of the UST- Mount Union D3 football championship game to take in the Northwestern vs. Wheaton game on Friday night.  It's not often up here in flyover land that you can watch 3 Top 10 ranked teams in action during a one week span in the regular season.

How 'bout 'dem Eagles!!

[Drake Palmer]

Watch out for the UMAC!   

The UMAC may no longer be just an occasional comeuppance from Bethany Lutheran and AO's Northwestern.  In addition to the near upset win by Bethany Lutheran last night, previously winless Martin Luther soundly defeated the Johnnies 76-63 last night. Hot dam!

I think I might pass watching the first part of the UST- Mount Union D3 football championship game to take in the Northwestern vs. Wheaton game on Friday night.  It's not often up here in flyover land that you can watch 3 Top 10 ranked teams in action during a one week span in the regular season.

How 'bout 'dem Eagles!!

How bout them Eagles is right!  The little "bro" conference is starting to grow up.

Like yourself, I ended up watching the UST MUC football game on tv and watched the 2nd half of the NW Wheaties game on the Net.  Nice win!  At least in basketball, I think your top teams have proved that they can not only hang (Tommie NW hoops tourney game in 2011), but they can also pull off the occasional upset win-- last night's win against 9th ranked Wheaton.  Good ups!

[faunch]

Need a little help here.  I officiated youth through varsity high school basketball for about 6-10 years...granted that was 12+ years ago but I've managed to keep abreast of most of the major rule changes to this level of hoops. 

Yesterday I was at the tail end of 7th grade boys game at my daughter's school.  Her classmates team was down 1 with .9 seconds remaining in the game.  The opposing team was shooting 1 and 1 and missed the first shot.  Our team rebounded and attempted to call timeout but the buzzer sounded.  The officials granted the timeout, that was requested under the opposing team's basket, and had .5 seconds put on the clock.  They then put the ball in play at half court.  One of our kids, a neighbor of ours, put up a prayer that circled around the rim and almost went in for the game winning shot.  A few minutes later I went over some parents I know and explained to them the officials should not have put the ball in play at half court.  Only the NBA has this rule.
I also talked to some of the boys after the game and told them that the ball should be put in play at the spot where the timeout was called. 
Word got back to the mom/coach that I told the boys they shouldn't have won if the shot was made.  I tried explaining to her that I just wanted the kids to know the correct rule.  Now she's telling me that the official has the option of putting the ball in play at half court and she's pissed because she thinks I don't know the rules and made the boys feel bad. 

I think I was the only person in the entire gym that actually knew the rule...WTF???

[AO]

Need a little help here.  I officiated youth through varsity high school basketball for about 6-10 years...granted that was 12+ years ago but I've managed to keep abreast of most of the major rule changes to this level of hoops. 

Yesterday I was at the tail end of 7th grade boys game at my daughter's school.  Her classmates team was down 1 with .9 seconds remaining in the game.  The opposing team was shooting 1 and 1 and missed the first shot.  Our team rebounded and attempted to call timeout but the buzzer sounded.  The officials granted the timeout, that was requested under the opposing team's basket, and had .5 seconds put on the clock.  They then put the ball in play at half court.  One of our kids, a neighbor of ours, put up a prayer that circled around the rim and almost went in for the game winning shot.  A few minutes later I went over some parents I know and explained to them the officials should not have put the ball in play at half court.  Only the NBA has this rule.
I also talked to some of the boys after the game and told them that the ball should be put in play at the spot where the timeout was called. 
Word got back to the mom/coach that I told the boys they shouldn't have won if the shot was made.  I tried explaining to her that I just wanted the kids to know the correct rule.  Now she's telling me that the official has the option of putting the ball in play at half court and she's pissed because she thinks I don't know the rules and made the boys feel bad. 

I think I was the only person in the entire gym that actually knew the rule...WTF???

Of course you're correct, the NBA is full of dumb rules that thankfully haven't been adopted at the other levels.  I'd also doubt whether a 7th grader could have gotten a shot off in 5 tenths. 

[faunch]

Need a little help here.  I officiated youth through varsity high school basketball for about 6-10 years...granted that was 12+ years ago but I've managed to keep abreast of most of the major rule changes to this level of hoops. 

Yesterday I was at the tail end of 7th grade boys game at my daughter's school.  Her classmates team was down 1 with .9 seconds remaining in the game.  The opposing team was shooting 1 and 1 and missed the first shot.  Our team rebounded and attempted to call timeout but the buzzer sounded.  The officials granted the timeout, that was requested under the opposing team's basket, and had .5 seconds put on the clock.  They then put the ball in play at half court.  One of our kids, a neighbor of ours, put up a prayer that circled around the rim and almost went in for the game winning shot.  A few minutes later I went over some parents I know and explained to them the officials should not have put the ball in play at half court.  Only the NBA has this rule.
I also talked to some of the boys after the game and told them that the ball should be put in play at the spot where the timeout was called. 
Word got back to the mom/coach that I told the boys they shouldn't have won if the shot was made.  I tried explaining to her that I just wanted the kids to know the correct rule.  Now she's telling me that the official has the option of putting the ball in play at half court and she's pissed because she thinks I don't know the rules and made the boys feel bad. 

I think I was the only person in the entire gym that actually knew the rule...WTF???

Of course you're correct, the NBA is full of dumb rules that thankfully haven't been adopted at the other levels.  I'd also doubt whether a 7th grader could have gotten a shot off in 5 tenths.

Not only the shot...the free throw was missed w/ .9 on the clock and he had .5 put back on after the timout was granted. I tried on my phone stopwatch to hit start, say time and hit stop....the best I could do was an elapsed time of .6 seconds.

[AO]

Need a little help here.  I officiated youth through varsity high school basketball for about 6-10 years...granted that was 12+ years ago but I've managed to keep abreast of most of the major rule changes to this level of hoops. 

Yesterday I was at the tail end of 7th grade boys game at my daughter's school.  Her classmates team was down 1 with .9 seconds remaining in the game.  The opposing team was shooting 1 and 1 and missed the first shot.  Our team rebounded and attempted to call timeout but the buzzer sounded.  The officials granted the timeout, that was requested under the opposing team's basket, and had .5 seconds put on the clock.  They then put the ball in play at half court.  One of our kids, a neighbor of ours, put up a prayer that circled around the rim and almost went in for the game winning shot.  A few minutes later I went over some parents I know and explained to them the officials should not have put the ball in play at half court.  Only the NBA has this rule.
I also talked to some of the boys after the game and told them that the ball should be put in play at the spot where the timeout was called. 
Word got back to the mom/coach that I told the boys they shouldn't have won if the shot was made.  I tried explaining to her that I just wanted the kids to know the correct rule.  Now she's telling me that the official has the option of putting the ball in play at half court and she's pissed because she thinks I don't know the rules and made the boys feel bad. 

I think I was the only person in the entire gym that actually knew the rule...WTF???

Of course you're correct, the NBA is full of dumb rules that thankfully haven't been adopted at the other levels.  I'd also doubt whether a 7th grader could have gotten a shot off in 5 tenths.

Not only the shot...the free throw was missed w/ .9 on the clock and he had .5 put back on after the timout was granted. I tried on my phone stopwatch to hit start, say time and hit stop....the best I could do was an elapsed time of .6 seconds.

I think that part would be up to the discretion of the ref, if the coach tells the ref ahead of time that he wants a timeout as soon as his team controls the rebound, I could see only 4 tenths being needed to control the rebound.

[Drake Palmer]

St. Thomas takes down Stevens Point (again)...68-63 

I was very impressed by Point tonight.  Slowed the pace down successfully without having to take too many bad shots at the end of the shot clock.  Ritchay was fearless and Heuer brought his lunch pail.  Would not be surprised to see another matchup between these two in the tourney.

Dang AO, where's the love, or at least the post game observation on the MIAC board?  You're at the game or watch it on the net, take the time to post a comment on the WIAC board but nothing on the MIAC site?  I realize that as a UMAC-er you're more or less an outsider, but to not even bother to post on the MIAC board.  You're at least a MIAC shirttail cousin.  If I was to venture a guess I'd say 95% of your posts have been on the MIAC football or basketball boards.

Due to some last minute holiday shopping, I was unable to attend last night's game & was hoping someone would at least provide a poster's summary of the game.

Based just on looking at the stats, it was nice to see Tommy Hannon finally have a big game - 16 pts, 12 rebs.  I was beginning to wonder if he had lost a step or explosiveness since his knee injury last year.  Although, when I watched UWSP play the Oles in November, it didn't appear the Pointers' post play was the strength of their team.

[AO]

St. Thomas takes down Stevens Point (again)...68-63 

I was very impressed by Point tonight.  Slowed the pace down successfully without having to take too many bad shots at the end of the shot clock.  Ritchay was fearless and Heuer brought his lunch pail.  Would not be surprised to see another matchup between these two in the tourney.

Dang AO, where's the love, or at least the post game observation on the MIAC board?  You're at the game or watch it on the net, take the time to post a comment on the WIAC board but nothing on the MIAC site?  I realize that as a UMAC-er you're more or less an outsider, but to not even bother to post on the MIAC board.  You're at least a MIAC shirttail cousin.  If I was to venture a guess I'd say 95% of your posts have been on the MIAC football or basketball boards.

Due to some last minute holiday shopping, I was unable to attend last night's game & was hoping someone would at least provide a poster's summary of the game.

Based just on looking at the stats, it was nice to see Tommy Hannon finally have a big game - 16 pts, 12 rebs.  I was beginning to wonder if he had lost a step or explosiveness since his knee injury last year.  Although, when I watched UWSP play the Oles in November, it didn't appear the Pointers' post play was the strength of their team.

I guess I figured one of the other 1200 in attendance might have posted something?  I bet PC would offer something up if you asked.

It definitely looked like #4 vs #5 last night, very few unforced errors and a lot of talented players coming off the bench.  Hannon had a nice game, though the stats may be a little inflated as he benefited from some fortunate bounces that left him alone under the hoop.  Kaiser was the X-Factor as he used his size when driving to the hoop in critical situations last night, he can be a real mismatch on the perimeter when he gets an angle and uses his steps to get to the rim.  I haven't seen Augsburg yet, but I doubt they or anyone else are a threat to the Tommies 8th straight MIAC title.

The gameday experience at St. Thomas is still a bit puzzling to me.  There's a jumbotron, but no video.  You have a hallway above the stands, but didn't manage to put in doors that would allow people to walk down to their seats instead of having to walk in front of everyone in the front row.  It felt like a neutral court for most of the night with the exception of yelling at the refs or going bonkers for Riedeman's half-time 60-foot buzzer beater.  All that said, I still fear the Tommies home court advantage if NWC has to drive down Snelling again in March.