MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Mr. Ypsi]

And I do agree that UST was more than likely not the best team in the country; maybe not top 3 even. The gauntlet they ran makes it even crazier. I think the two UST title teams in 2011 & 2016 might be middle of the pack of all the UST teams over the past decade. They peaked at the right time. As evidenced by the madness witnesses this weekend a lot of shocking things can happen in one and done college bball tourneys.

I can identify with this.  IWU has won the title only once (1997), and I doubt that team was even in the top 5 of IWU teams all time.  It obviously takes great talent to win the walnut-and-bronze, but it also takes so much more than that.  Whether or not UST was the best team in 2016 (I'd vote probably not), congratulations to them for gettin' 'er done!

[Smitty Oom]

Do you guys think Ryan Saarela was an AA snub?

Saarela had a good year and a great tournament, but I dont think that his whole season was good enough to be an AA. I understand that their roster as a whole doesn't but up AA type of numbers put, they had such a great year in a tough conference that having no representative doesnt seems right. I know Luke Johnson is a great player but 14 and 11 statline by itself doesn't merit a player of the year award, they obviously took in to account the team was undefeated going into the final four. I personally think that they should have done the same and made a Tommie an All American (Probably Montero)... But as a MIAC guy I may be biased.   

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well Johnson's 14 and 11 line is lock step with a team who was unselfish and had a number of players who could score 20+ points on any night. There isn't a coach I have talked to this season who has seen Johnson play or played against him who didn't say he could go for 20-30 a night if he really wanted to, but it was his unselfish play and ability to distribute the ball (his assists numbers are pretty solid - over 100 for the year) that sets him a part from others.

I understand what was written... but I was there. Many of his drives were against Reynolds, not Johnson. ...

This comment strikes me as the equivalent of being a game reporter, getting a post-game quote from a player, and then saying the player's quote was not an accurate reflection of the game.

Saarela, Montero, & UST coaches recognized a defensive mismatch and tried to attack it.  "We thought we had a quickness advantage on their big guys, so we ran some isos (isolation plays), and they worked.

Obviously, it worked.  I think I'll put my stock in what a player had to say and what the coaches called.

I don't think you understand what I am saying. I am not disagreeing with what they said, but I am indicating I think they had this advantage against other guys other than Johnson. Again, there was only one occasion I remember where Johnson had to pick up Saarela and the ball other than in the post and it resulted in a rather awkward shot because Johnson had actually caught up with Saarela nicely (giving him a bit of a hip check). The other guys they clearly took advantage of especially those coming off the bench.

My point isn't that they are saying something that is inaccurate. My point is I don't think they took advantage of it against Johnson. Also, when they made those move with speed, Johnson tended to have been dragged out of the post or to the far side thanks to his man pulling him out of a meaningful help defensive position. When Johnson was close, he shut down a number of drives by all players. Unfortunately, that put a lot on Johnson to deal with since others weren't able to help.

Again, my point is that I don't think Johnson was the weak link. Others, sure and I have said that already. No where in the quote you provided isolates on Johnson.

[Smitty Oom]

Well Johnson's 14 and 11 line is lock step with a team who was unselfish and had a number of players who could score 20+ points on any night. There isn't a coach I have talked to this season who has seen Johnson play or played against him who didn't say he could go for 20-30 a night if he really wanted to, but it was his unselfish play and ability to distribute the ball (his assists numbers are pretty solid - over 100 for the year) that sets him a part from others.

I totally agree with this argument about Johnson and have no problem with him receiving the POY honor, I just think that the same argument could be had for most of the Tommies. If Montero wanted to he could go for more than 14 a night, but they play in the same selfless, balanced scoring attack as BenU.

[Drake Palmer]

Well Johnson's 14 and 11 line is lock step with a team who was unselfish and had a number of players who could score 20+ points on any night. There isn't a coach I have talked to this season who has seen Johnson play or played against him who didn't say he could go for 20-30 a night if he really wanted to, but it was his unselfish play and ability to distribute the ball (his assists numbers are pretty solid - over 100 for the year) that sets him a part from others.

I understand what was written... but I was there. Many of his drives were against Reynolds, not Johnson. ...

This comment strikes me as the equivalent of being a game reporter, getting a post-game quote from a player, and then saying the player's quote was not an accurate reflection of the game.

Saarela, Montero, & UST coaches recognized a defensive mismatch and tried to attack it.  "We thought we had a quickness advantage on their big guys, so we ran some isos (isolation plays), and they worked.

Obviously, it worked.  I think I'll put my stock in what a player had to say and what the coaches called.

I don't think you understand what I am saying. I am not disagreeing with what they said, but I am indicating I think they had this advantage against other guys other than Johnson. Again, there was only one occasion I remember where Johnson had to pick up Saarela and the ball other than in the post and it resulted in a rather awkward shot because Johnson had actually caught up with Saarela nicely (giving him a bit of a hip check). The other guys they clearly took advantage of especially those coming off the bench.

My point isn't that they are saying something that is inaccurate. My point is I don't think they took advantage of it against Johnson. Also, when they made those move with speed, Johnson tended to have been dragged out of the post or to the far side thanks to his man pulling him out of a meaningful help defensive position. When Johnson was close, he shut down a number of drives by all players. Unfortunately, that put a lot on Johnson to deal with since others weren't able to help.

Again, my point is that I don't think Johnson was the weak link. Others, sure and I have said that already. No where in the quote you provided isolates on Johnson.

Well, like my grandfather used to say, "some folks wouldn't believe fat meat is greasy if you tied a chunk to their forehead." 

Saarela was quoted as saying "bigs"  - plural, not singular.  If I'm not mistaken, Lucas Johnson is a big.  Give it a rest.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What a season of Division III basketball and it isn't quite over with yet! The men might have crowned their championship, but the women have one more game to go.

On this episode of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh looks back at the two championship weekends with help from Ryan Scott, Gordon Mann, and Adam Turer. We look at the championship for St. Thomas and the near perfect miss by Benedictine. We also take a look at the two semifinal games in women's basketball and the upcoming championship between St. Thomas and Tufts to be played in Indianapolis.

Dave also talks to Page Moir, head coach for Roanoke, who suddenly announced on Tuesday he is stepping down from the position and looking for something new to challenge him.

You can watch the show in its entirety or listen to the podcast above.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Page Moir, Roanoke men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, No. 2 Benedictine men's coach
- Steve Fritz, St. Thomas athletics director and former men's coach
- John Tauer, No 1. St. Thomas men's coach
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic reporter
- Gordon Mann and Adam Turer, women's semifinals report
- Jeff Hans, No. 1 Thomas More women's coach
- Carla Berube, No. 7 Tufts women's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[tomt4525]

Hopkins high school forward Erik Davis will continue his basketball career at St Thomas.

[repete]

RIP, Soup Stromme

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/4004828-duluth-loses-icon-soup-stromme-dies

[tomt4525]

Gavin Schroeder of Caledonia will play basketball at St Johns next year.

[tomt4525]

Mounds View senior Nate Albers will continue his basketball career at St Olaf.

[hazzben]

Interesting read in the StarTrib regarding Thibodeau:

Thibodeau credited most of his success on a long stream of mentors and coaches that he learned from, starting at Division III Salem State, where he played and coached.

"I began in small college and got an opportunity to go to Division I, and I've been around great coaches my whole life," he said. "I started off going to a lot of clinics, watching Division I coaches conduct practices, and you need some breaks along the way. Coaching is teaching, it's leadership, it's communication and motivation, so if you work hard at it and you have a passion for it, anything is possible. The one thing I learned is there's great high school coaches, there's great junior college coaches, there's great Division III coaches, great Division II coaches, great Division I, great pro coaches. You learn from everybody, and winning is the most important thing."

With CAT, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, et. al and Thibodeau at the helm, I think the Wolves are positioned to do some special things. Hoping it pans out

[GoldandBlueBU]

Interesting read in the StarTrib regarding Thibodeau:

Thibodeau credited most of his success on a long stream of mentors and coaches that he learned from, starting at Division III Salem State, where he played and coached.

"I began in small college and got an opportunity to go to Division I, and I've been around great coaches my whole life," he said. "I started off going to a lot of clinics, watching Division I coaches conduct practices, and you need some breaks along the way. Coaching is teaching, it's leadership, it's communication and motivation, so if you work hard at it and you have a passion for it, anything is possible. The one thing I learned is there's great high school coaches, there's great junior college coaches, there's great Division III coaches, great Division II coaches, great Division I, great pro coaches. You learn from everybody, and winning is the most important thing."

With CAT, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, et. al and Thibodeau at the helm, I think the Wolves are positioned to do some special things. Hoping it pans out

Yeah, I agree - but I think it will depend on the Wolves ability to retain Towns and Wiggins beyond their rookie deals - which isn't a foregone conclusion in the NBA free agency world.  Especially with guys like John Salley encouraging them to leave in order to secure larger endorsement deals.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/john-salley-towns-wiggins-leave-timberwolves/

[tomt4525]

Class of 2017 SG from Wayzata, Ryan Lindberg will play basketball at St Thomas.

[Drake Palmer]

Time to dust off the old password and get ready for another season of MIAC hoops.   

As is customary, Carleton or Macalester is one of the first schools to to post their roster for the basketball season.  Looks like an intriguing roster.

http://apps.carleton.edu/athletics/varsity_sports/mens_basketball/team_roster/

[Smitty Oom]

No T. Chen and J. Eckert will hurt this Carleton team that relied heavily on their bigs last season. Grow is very good but can he continue to improve offensively as the defense is going to focus on him? I suspect Coach Guy Kalland will transition to a more guard oriented team this year. Biewen, PBA and Quinn Johnson all returning and shaprshooter Jack Sowada might be a all-freshman team selection.