MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

WOW! Shades of Abe Woldelassie & Tom Conboy!  While watching the very nice ESPN webcast of the UST Linfield football game, I scrolled over to the MIAC website and noticed that yesterday on a rare Friday night game, Macalester knocked off Gustavus at home 68-63!!!  FY PG, Michael Gutierrez scored 21 pts and was 3-6 from behind the arc.  Plus no Dylan Kilgour for the Scots.  Dang.

http://athletics.macalester.edu/news/2015/12/11/MBB_1211152014.aspx

[GoldandBlueBU]

Yes, the Kuck and Risinger (sp?) matchups concern me.  Schmitt is very good, but I think they've got the speed to stick with him.  Lots of tall guys on the SJU squad...and it feels (I'm not interested in doing the work of looking at historical scores to back that up) like Bethel fails to perform well at Collegeville.

Great game at SJU on Saturday...webcast was working well, which was not my experience when watching SJU football this year, so that was nice.

Schmitt was not at all contained as I had hoped...he's so quick, and is great at getting into the lane and getting quick shots up.  I thought that when Wojta was on him (great to see him back, though in limited minutes, obviously) he did a better job staying in front of him.  Senior leadership was a big part of the SJU win, IMO...Schmitt, Kuck, and to a lesser extent, Risinger, were collectively a steady hand for them.  Their matchup with UST should be a great game.

Another big game out of Magnuson...he's been a huge boost this year.  Excited to watch him continue to develop.  SJU at BU in 2016 should be a very fun one to watch...hopefully having Wojta at 100% with his legs back under him and being at home will be enough to flip the outcome.

[BETHEL34]

DP, with 3 kids under the age of 8, getting to games is a little tougher these days.  The webcasts for the most part are a nice way to still catch some MIAC B-Ball action though.  I have also started taking my oldest to a few games which makes it easier for the wife leaving for a 3 hr chunk.

Gusties...holy crap?!?!??  That's a tough one heading off into the long dreaded Christmas break.  I remember as a player it being the worst time of the season every year.  You finally get into the MIAC season and start getting on a regular M-W-S game schedule to then have it come to a halting stop.  On top of having a few weeks without a game, your practices turn back into conditioning practices.  I think it makes a lot of sense for coaches to schedule a few of their non conference games during this break to keep their teams mentally in "game mode" (which I know some do).

I was able to catch the BU/SJU game.  I was very impressed with Schmidt and Risinger.  Even though Risinger only had like 12 and 9 for the game, he had a couple monster dunks with one tip in dunk coming in a huge moment late down the stretch.  He made a lot of key plays that really helped SJU either keep the momentum, or swing it over their way.  He also played 44 mins  and really impacted the game in many ways that didn't show up in the stat sheet.  Nice size and very athletic.  I actually thought SJU should have gotten him more involved in the game then they did on the offense side of the ball.

Schmitt was impressive as well.  Nice stroke and very quick.  His game reminded me a little of Wojta's but with a better shot outside the ark.  He easily could get his shot off whenever he wanted and he was hitting.  GoldandBlueBU, I agree that Wojta played the best defense on him and it would have been huge if he wasn't on a short leash.  SJU is a tough team and the rematch should be fun in Arden Hills.

My biggest criticism on Bethel so far has been Tusler.  He needs to play smarter and with more passion if BU wants to make a run for the title this year.  He too often plays with a lackluster approach that leads to poor decision making and hurtful TO's or fouls.  If he would have played up to half of his potential on Saturday, BU could have came away with a win.  He needs a player or a coach to get on him a bit and pick up his effort/focus.  I have seen 4 games now this year and he has had spurts in all of them where he looks mentally out of it and makes some huge mistakes.  Hopefully he can get this figured out and start playing more like he did last year. 

I also think the decision to not start Wojta at the beginning of OT was a huge mistake by Novak.  BU came out and had 2 terrible shots (practically heaves at the end of the shot clock) in their first 3 possessions and just looked a little lost.  The offense was night and day better when Wojta was in the game and it cost Novak by not starting him.  SJU then hits 3 three's in their first 4 possessions in OT and 2.5 min into OT the game was all but over with SJU up 9.  He put in Wojta 2:30 min into OT but it was too late.  If he can come in 2:30 into OT, he can start and play 5 mins.  That was the dagger in my mind.  Hindsight is always 20/20 though.  I just was mad not seeing him start OT and I was afraid it was going to cost them and it did. 

I still loved their fight and they had their opportunities down the stretch in regulation to win that game.  SJU is always a tough place to play, but they played well and made it a great game.

With what has transpired over the first part of the season, it seems that the MIAC is going to be a 4 team race for the top spot between STU, SJU, BU, and Carl.  I don't think Olaf cracks the top 4 this year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if STU doesn't wear the crown come end of season.

Happy Holiday's to all!

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

AWESOME job tonight Tommies!! Watching the webcast wasn't as good as being there, but a couple of rum & diet cokes made up for it. Truly an impressive TEAM effort, especially  in the 2nd half,\. Defense wins championships and UST's D shined, limiting the Pointers to just 16 points in the half and 28% for the night. For the first time in this rivalry, the road team wins, and UST now has a 2-game streak vs the defending national champs and is 5-3 vs UWSP all-time. UST owned the boards, too, 36-29, highlighted by 14 rebbies for Ryan Saarela. Balanced scoring was a key, led by Grant Shaeffer's 15, Taylor Montero's 13 and Cortez Tillman's 12. All in all, an excellent win

[Drake Palmer]

It's a Small World after all:  Basketball News in a roundabout way...

As most people might know, the U of MN Volleyball team is playing in the semifinals of the NCAA Volleyball Final Four this evening.  Two of the stalwarts on the Gopher team are All Americans, and twins, juniors Hannah and Paige Tapp from Stewartville, MN.  Hannah was just selected 2nd team AA, and Paige 3rd team AA.  Their brother, Isaac Tapp just finished up a solid 4 years at Gustavus on the basketball team and graduated last spring.

In other news that Gusties would probably just as soon forget,    yesterday the Pioneer Press had a nice article on Macalester's FY Michael Gutierrez who led the upset over Gustavus last Friday.  Coincidentally, Michael's father Jon, is an alum and former hooper at Gustavus, class '82.

The article also mentioned that Mac's Dylan Kilgour broke his arm in the 2nd game of the season which is why his name hasn't been listed in recent game stats.

Mac basketball

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_29263415/area-colleges-stillwater-freshman-dazzles-macalester

Jon Gutierrez
https://news.blog.gustavus.edu/2014/05/19/jon-gutierrez-82-head-of-the-class/

[Drake Palmer]

AWESOME job tonight Tommies!! Watching the webcast wasn't as good as being there, but a couple of rum & diet cokes made up for it. Truly an impressive TEAM effort, especially  in the 2nd half,\. Defense wins championships and UST's D shined, limiting the Pointers to just 16 points in the half and 28% for the night. For the first time in this rivalry, the road team wins, and UST now has a 2-game streak vs the defending national champs and is 5-3 vs UWSP all-time. UST owned the boards, too, 36-29, highlighted by 14 rebbies for Ryan Saarela. Balanced scoring was a key, led by Grant Shaeffer's 15, Taylor Montero's 13 and Cortez Tillman's 12. All in all, an excellent win

Solid win by the Tommies on the road against UW - Stevens Point the other night. However,    the Pointers are down this year having graduated 4 senior starters from their 2015 national championship team and are starting 1-2 FY this season.   Having said that, I'm sure they'll still be a force to be reckoned with in the WIAC.   Just not sure if that will translate into a national presence this year.

I probably could say the same thing about the Tommies.  Not sure if this mostly jump shooting team has a consistent,inside presence when the old jumpers aren't falling.  But who knows, the Pointers rode a jump shooting team to the championship.   

[Gregory Sager]

AWESOME job tonight Tommies!! Watching the webcast wasn't as good as being there, but a couple of rum & diet cokes made up for it. Truly an impressive TEAM effort, especially  in the 2nd half,\. Defense wins championships and UST's D shined, limiting the Pointers to just 16 points in the half and 28% for the night. For the first time in this rivalry, the road team wins, and UST now has a 2-game streak vs the defending national champs and is 5-3 vs UWSP all-time. UST owned the boards, too, 36-29, highlighted by 14 rebbies for Ryan Saarela. Balanced scoring was a key, led by Grant Shaeffer's 15, Taylor Montero's 13 and Cortez Tillman's 12. All in all, an excellent win

Solid win by the Tommies on the road against UW - Stevens Point the other night. However,    the Pointers are down this year having graduated 4 senior starters from their 2015 national championship team and are starting 1-2 FY this season.   Having said that, I'm sure they'll still be a force to be reckoned with in the WIAC.   Just not sure if that will translate into a national presence this year.

I probably could say the same thing about the Tommies.  Not sure if this mostly jump shooting team has a consistent,inside presence when the old jumpers aren't falling.  But who knows, the Pointers rode a jump shooting team an incredible lock-down defense to the championship.

FIFY, DP.

[carletonknights]

Looking forward to hosting St. Olaf on January 2nd!

[Kilroy]

Had a nice chat with Magnuson of Bethel last night at BU's holiday invitational. He transferred due to academics, and he said he really enjoys Bethel. Obviously making a very efficient impact for the Royals, cool to see. Really quality kid.

There are a few MIACs on the cusp of making some big "commitments" from recruits, stay tuned in the next month. Triple-double guy Grant Rohrer from MCC likes Gustavus, Lake City PG Brady Kuchinka likes Olaf/Gustavus, and Nate Albers of Mounds View is cutting his list soon to 3 MIACs.

[Dutch Calvinist Reformer]

There are a few MIACs on the cusp of making some big "commitments" from recruits, stay tuned in the next month. Triple-double guy Grant Rohrer from MCC likes Gustavus, Lake City PG Brady Kuchinka likes Olaf/Gustavus, and Nate Albers of Mounds View is cutting his list soon to 3 MIACs.

WOTS is that Rohrer also looking at NAIA Dordt, a perennial NAIA contender.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Bethel looked very solid vs. Olaf last week in continuing their dominance over the Oles from last year this year, however, as has been the theme when BU plays UST in hoops, they played them closely but came up short again on Saturday.  We were busy Saturday, so I didn't watch any of it, but judging by the box score, not enough offense out of Wojta and Tusler to push them over the top.  Would be interested in anyone's review who was able to watch.

Very surprised to see the Johnnies so soundly defeated by the Cobbers...what happened there?

[MIAC23]

Bethel looked very solid vs. Olaf last week in continuing their dominance over the Oles from last year this year, however, as has been the theme when BU plays UST in hoops, they played them closely but came up short again on Saturday.  We were busy Saturday, so I didn't watch any of it, but judging by the box score, not enough offense out of Wojta and Tusler to push them over the top.  Would be interested in anyone's review who was able to watch.

Very surprised to see the Johnnies so soundly defeated by the Cobbers...what happened there?

A couple things happened during the Cobbers/Johnnies match-up that swung the game so heavily towards the home team. The first thing was the Cobbers totally  neutralized Schmitt by putting 6'6 Austin Nelson on him defensively. He was able to stay in front of him and disrupt every shot he took. Schmitt made a couple, but was held to 11 pts. below his season average. Kuck was able to get 15, but on only 5-12 shooting.

The second thing was the Cobbs were on absolute FIRE from three. The starters were a combined 12-19 from downtown with Nelson canning 6 of them. Concordia ended up shotting 57% from the floor for the game and when they held Schmitt to 8 points, was a recipe for a blowout win. A big win for the Cobbs coming off a tough OT loss to Carleton. Big next couple games at Mary's and Mac.

[faunch]

Officiating crew @ the SJU / U$T game was a joke in the first half.  U$T far more physical and only had 4 fouls called on them...SJU 7.  Tommies get a way w/ travels out on the perimeter on drives to the baskets.  Blow the whistle please!

[faunch]

Seriously...the home team is getting hosed by the officials.  For the record I was a high school ref for about 5 years and IMO this was a joke! 

[Drake Palmer]

Officiating crew @ the SJU / U$T game was a joke in the first half.  U$T far more physical and only had 4 fouls called on them...SJU 7.  Tommies get a way w/ travels out on the perimeter on drives to the baskets.  Blow the whistle please!

I don't have a dog in the Johnnie-Tommie rivalry, but I just came across the following post on another board that might have some relevance. 

I think it is safe to say you have never played competitive basketball in your life... Playing with 2 fouls in the 1st drastically changes your mentality and the mentality of your opponent that is matched up against you (They becoming way more aggressive and try to bait you/take advantage of you, especially a team as smart as Augie).

For the player with 2 fouls on offense in the 1st half:  Every time you touch the ball in the post, you can not make an aggressive move, set solid and firm screens for your teammates, push off to gain some separation, or go for an offensive rebound. Drastically changes your ability to score and help the team.

For the player with 2 fouls on defense in the 1st half: You cant go for blocked shots, push or shove around screens being set on you, play strong defense verse your opponent, play effective help defense (if late to move), or even box out with the same intensity. Again, drastically changing your ability to defend or influence the game from a defensive perspective (defense leads to offense).

So just because he got back in the game in the first half, doesn't mean he was able to play the way NCC needed him to. Speaking without any bias at all, NCC's only chance vs a great opponent like Augie was to have Sorenson at his best, and doing what he has done almost every game this season... So yes, the 2 fouls were in fact a game changer, and were in fact the sole reason the game went the way it did.

The best thing to do when you get your ass kicked is just say, "We got our ass kicked" and move on to the next one.