MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bethelguy]

The MIAC over the past decade has gotten 2 teams in about 1/2 of the time.  I truly think that UST and GAC are good enough to compete with anybody on the national level and I would think they have a very good shot at both making the tournament. 

Cardinalboy - I believe that next season is when the tournament will expand to 64 teams.

And on the topic of Ike, how could he not be considered one of the best players in the MIAC?  People that discount his athleticism because he is not a back to the basket post are very short-sighted.  Over 13 ppg and almost 12 reb/gm as a soph are excellent numbers and don't forget his team was 16-4 in the league last year.  The kid changes games on the interior defense and is capable of putting up 20 any night.  He's the most athletic player in the league and will most certainly be in the running for POY.  Don't discount him because as a D1 transfer didn't meet your expectations of him being the next DGeorge.

[3m71578]

I agree with you, BG, Ike's stats are awesome.  But I think POY is a leader on top of their basketball skill.  Leader is someone that will be consistent and carry the team throughout the season, so we'll see if Ike built up his mental and leadership on top of his 20 lbs of muscle this season. 

Who are other possible candidates for POY?  Eckkoff?  Frokrud? Sweeney? Tommy Drake??? 

[sju4life]

I personally see Adam Tebrake from GUST to be the player of the year.  This kid is unreal.  He is 6'4, athletic, can shoot the ball, can pull up or go to hoop and is pretty athletic.  He will average 20 a game for sure.  A somewhat darkhorse for player of the year could be Henrichs for SJU this year if and ONLY IF we have a good year and finish in the top 4.  He consistently averages 10+ boards a game and 15 pts a game.  He would prolly need to get closer to 19 or 20 points a game to have a legit shot and that could be tough with 2 new transfers who are real good along with Ohme back but i guess thats why he is a darkhorse.  Ill bet anyone 10$ that ike will not win player of the year.

[localcoach]

I will keep this topic going.  Here are my top five pre-season player of the year candidates.

1) Eckhoff
2) Conboy
3) Rosefelt
4) Forkrud
5) Keating (my darkhorse)  I think he will do more for UST then most think

On the subject of two MIAC teams making the NCAA tournament, I just don't see it happening this year.  The WIAC has a better shot, as they will have some strong teams in Oshkosh, Stout, and Stevens Point.  If they don't get multiple bids, it will be one of those East Coast Conferences.  Having said that I feel like the MIAC/WIAC could fair quite well if they went head-to-head with those east coast schools.

[crazy_carl]

My top 5:

1. Eckhoff
2. Forkrud
3. TeBrake
4. Rosefelt
5. Drake

[bethelguy]

Hard to argue with an Eckoff POY.  His 26 in the 2nd half/OT of the BU/Con Conference tourney game was pretty impressive.  But I think the development of Miller and Linz will dip into his ppg a bit and might hurt his POY resume. 

Local Coach - last year there were 7 Pool C bids (I'm assuming I read that correctly).  It doesn't come down to just WIAC or MIAC.  Recent history shows that top heavy leagues get the top teams in.  I know that the league is tough but if UST/GAC can dominate conference play (they both could end up with 3 or fewer confernence losses) and do well in non-conference they'll both get in.  As I stated the MIAC does have a history of getting 2 teams in (4 of the last 8 years) so getting them both in would not be unheard of.

[SPLASH]

localcoach, I like your support of a Mac player as #2 on the list for POY but realistically I just can't see Conboy winning that honor this year. I think he will be a very dominate offensive player in this league and in his junior or senior year I can see him being a legitimate POY candidate, but this year seems like a stretch.

My top 2: The only two that I think are worthy
1.) Eckhoff
2.) TeBrake

I can certainly see a Tommie as POY, since they have the best shot of winning the MIAC, but I can't think of who that player should be. Rosefelt is the most dominate player but he is not their team leader. On the other hand, Sweeney is their floor leader but he is not even one of the best ten players in the league in my opinion. I don't know much about Keating, so I can't give an opinion on his chances.

[D3BBALLFAN]

I'll pretty much go along with local coach on his POY list, although I would insert TeBrake for Keating in the top 5.
Because of UST's depth, I don't see anyone getting the numbers to warrent POY consideration, except for Ike and his ability to dominate the glass and block shots.

Eckhoff is clearly the POY favorite in my view, as he is the leading returning statistical scoring leader and already has experience being the "go to" player on his team.

Conboy and Forkrud should be solid and their numbers and POY stock should climb significantly as they move from second to primary scoring options on their teams this year. The success their teams are able to achieve will likely impact their POY potential.

Ike is the leading returning rebounder and defensive presence in the league playing on the most talented team, so you cannot discount his chances.

TeBrake will the leader on the Gusties, and since they always seem to finish at or near the top of the MIAC, he will be in the running for POY. Leaders of top level teams always have an advantage in award consideration over less successful teams.

[3m71578]

Can MIAC send 2 teams to the big dance??

I agree with many people.  It simply boils down to MIAC teams having better non-conference records than previous years and underdogs stirring up the MIAC playoff.  But again if either UST or GAC lose in the 1st round of play-off (unlikely if they end up getting the 1st round bye), I dont' think they'll make it to the dance even if they have solid non-conference/conference records.

I guess it's still too early to make these predictions.

Speaking of MIAC VS WIAC, I think it would be fun to see if they came up with a similar schedule like ACC/BIG10 challenge.  I know this will never happen, just a wishful thought.

[Willy Wonka]

Wow, lots of new posters! Basketball season must be right around the corner!

I will start my AT for MVP discussion soon, but he is going to have to do much more than score this year if the Gusties are going to be successful. He is the only one who can create off the dribble and that's a lot of pressure for one guy to handle. How he can fill the void of Espo will go a long ways in determining GAC's ability to challenge UST for the title.

I seemed to miss the Ike debate, but I will jump in a little late. I've only seen him play once, but he was very, very inconsistent. They went to him almost every possession in the post in the second half and he had zero moves and almost never scored against much smaller and less athletic players who simply played with a big heart.

He's the same type of player as Ben Wallace - and that's far from an insult - but he just isn't much of an offensive threat. UST is the clear-cut favorite at this point and I think there's too much talent on UST this season for anyone to win MVP over there.

[funbballer]

Good comments, Wonka; I agree that AT will have to do other things besides score....but not sure he wants to; don't know if he's mentally tough enough to play good "D" as he appears to  be more concerned about scoring.

Keating will have a huge year for UST and is my pre-season pick for POY. There is absolutely no one better than him (in the league) and that's why UST will dominate the MIAC and it will be a dog fight to see who finishes 2-6.

[columbianmaffia]

word on the street is ryan leiser quite playing D2 baseball and transfered to st. john to play some hoops...if my source is correct st. johns picked up a great shooter

[localcoach]

maffia - While it's clear that SJU will have alot of talent this season, it remains to be seen whether or not they can adjust to Coach Smith's system.  Conversely, will Coach Smith let his players play use all of their talents?

While I like TeBrake and his game, what will interest me is how will he adjust his game without Espo?  I think Doug's loss will make things a little harder for Adam then some think.

bethelguy - If your theory about the NCAA bids hold true then how did a team in the WIAC like UW-Platteville, a team that won a share of their league last year and even beat the eventual NCAA champion Stevens Point during the regular season not get an invite from the selection committee? 

[miacwatchmen]

You are correct Leiser did transfer to SJU. You are also correct in the fact that he is a fantastic shooter

[sju4life]

Since ryans name has leaked out, i will confirm he has transferred here and i project him to start at the PG.  We also have one more transfer who is going to be a starter and will contribute significantly this year whos name has yet to leak out i believe.