MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

BTW - Who keeps taking karma points away from me? Drake?

Dang Local,  I'm one of the few allies on the board that you got.  I'm offended by your accusation.  You had to know you were gonna take a couple of hits with your comments about the pickems yesterday. I actually gave you a K yesterday when you went from 0 to a -1.  But I just knew the Hounds of Hades were ready to unleash the smites. 

Not to make you feel strongarmed into doing this, but I could go back & tally your YTD picks.  And no,  I don't find your pre-game comments boring. 

[sumander]

I'm a little surprised your Johnnies seem to get rattled by a press, since they're fairly athletic, have good height & reasonably quick.  I also heard the Tommies threw a bit of a token press at them & they began to falter in their game with UST.

Drake, I agree 100% with your assessment of the Johnnies. I am also puzzled by their struggles with the press and struggles may be too strong of a word.

The Johnnies of late have just seemed a step slow. While I'm hesitant to single out individuals, Ohme has not played particularly well in the games I have seen. I think they miss the energy that Brady Brink offered. Brink did see 4 minutes last night but is still nursing a bad ankle.

[Drake Palmer]

Well, it's a good thing I worked late last night,  cuz it just looks I'm not gonna get much work done today. 

Sumander, once again on the money.  I was wondering what happened to Brink & now I know. In the game I saw against Bethel he seemd to add some quickness to the lineup & Ohme was playing with reckless, comtrolled abandon.  From what I heard Ohme was far from that against the Tommies.

Also what's the deal on Westman?  I'm hearing he doesn't seem to be moving that well yet & might not be fully recovered from his broken leg.  Not to make excuses for the kid, but it's tough learning how to play with & through injuries.

[miacwatchmen]

For you Shimek bashers out there--- 0 fouls last night and a truly excellent defensive peformance to go with some nice moves in the paint. Trust me, the coaches will vote him on the all-conference squad... they love his defensive play.(I'd almost make a "sheep"ish comment guarenteeing it but after seeing oAs in that sheep suit in 2003, I'll hold back  )

MM- we already went over this. He will be on the All-MIAC defensive team but not the All-MIAC team. He doesnt put up the offensive numbers to make that team. Plus, Ike,Keating,Sweeney,and Schnettler all have a better shot to make the team than Shimek. I doubt the coaches will put even 4 players from the conferences top team let alone 5!!

[miacwatchmen]

Well, it's a good thing I worked late last night,  cuz it just looks I'm not gonna get much work done today. 

Sumander, once again on the money.  I was wondering what happened to Brink & now I know. In the game I saw against Bethel he seemd to add some quickness to the lineup & Ohme was playing with reckless, comtrolled abandon.  From what I heard Ohme was far from that against the Tommies.

Also what's the deal on Westman?  I'm hearing he doesn't seem to be moving that well yet & might not be fully recovered from his broken leg.  Not to make excuses for the kid, but it's tough learning how to play with & through injuries.

From my viewpoint of the game last night the Johnnies looked tired slow. Ohme was huffing and puffing and so was Westman. Both of the Schafers were sick with the flu the last two days. The team has been putting alot of time in the gym lately (4 game losing streak could be a factor). They just looked uninterested in the game. Many times there was no emotion from the on court players. Leiser would hit a three and everyone would run back and say nothing. The only time there was emotion showed for SJU was near the end when Craig Schafer got an O-rebound and hit the layup and was fouled. That happened with maybe 2 minutes to play. The Johnnies need to get the intensity they had at Bethel back and they could be a force again. If the Johnnies win @ Hamline that will get them back on track for sure.

[sumander]

Drake, I don't remember seeing Westman prior to the injury so, I can't judge what normal is for him. I think he moves OK. Certainly not as quick as Lieser, but I'm not sure he ever was.

He played 36 minutes last night. So the staff must feel comfortable that the foot is ok.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Saturday will be the first time Sean & Mikey Sweeney have played against each other, not counting in the driveway battles. Mikey doesnt have quite the shot or theatrics of Sean, but is a solid player and I hear he is improving with PT.

Has anyone seen SMU in action? How does Rohr look in the paint? Is he sooth & fluid like Ike or rugged and physical? If the latter, he could be able to contain Ike, which spells trouble for UST.  What about Batterman? It appears SMU has cut down on the hack-fest of the past. Could they give UST a tough time Sat?

Hamline/SJU is a huge game for both....the loser is in a tough positiion to challenge for the top spot and might have to settle for 5th place.

TH4L-- are you covring the Goat game or heading to Schoenecker?

[miacwatchmen]

Has anyone seen SMU in action? How does Rohr look in the paint? Is he sooth & fluid like Ike or rugged and physical? If the latter, he could be able to contain Ike, which spells trouble for UST.  What about Batterman? It appears SMU has cut down on the hack-fest of the past. Could they give UST a tough time Sat?

When SJU played SMU in Winona last Saturday Rohr pounded inside with the Schafers. It was a very physical game and there were alot of no calls that could have had alot of players charged with assault. I think Ike is quicker than Rohr and then will eventually lead to UST winning pretty handily. I think that even if Ike is held to less than 20 the rest of the Tommies should be able to win this one.

[bchoops]

Drake, yeah I'm the one in Divinity School.  Nice memory.  I haven't actually had the chance to see much D3 action out here.  I did, however, make it to a Princeton game last year and did not find the talent to be that much better than D3 in the Ivy League.  A bit bigger, but skills-wise, they were not that great.  Comparable, in my opinion, to good D2 basketball, with the exception maybe of Penn who is pretty solid.  I do need to check out NJAC, however.  Maybe next week on my time off.

[TommieHoops4Life]

MM,

My night to experience the Tommies this week would have been last night, but I decided to save the gas and watch Michigan State/Indiana and Duke/Maryland. Redick is unbelievable, and nice to see Paul Davis talking some smack. He got into it with an Indiana player, and the slow-mo replay showed Davis saying "You ain't got sh*t dawg!" to one of the Hoosiers, it was hilarious. Anyhow, I will be down in Northfield Saturday unfortunately. I have a big gymnastics meet, True Team boys section swimming and the men's and women's Carleton/Olaf games all on Saturday, plus I have to go to a company party at night. If I had a valid excuse to get up to St. Paul, I would be there before I could finish this post.

BTW, whatever happened with Wotta from Totino at SMU? He tore it up his freshman year, and I've heard absolutely nothing about him since.

A great defensive effort for the Tommies, holding Bethel to 31% shooting for the game and just 27% from three. They out-rebounded Bethel 43-27. We're all talking about Rosefelt for MVP, but Schnettler is making his own statement for it also. When he's on, he just doesn't miss. While I'm proud of SMU for their improvements, and I never thought I would see them in the top three in the MIAC, Tommies gotta take care of business Saturday.

[miacwatchmen]

BTW, whatever happened with Wotta from Totino at SMU? He tore it up his freshman year, and I've heard absolutely nothing about him since.

TH4L- Wotta is at SJU this year. He is redshirted this year. I think it is for his back but i am not 100% sure. He wasn't looking at any significant time this year and next year he may see a little bit but not alot.

That is of course if we are talking about Pat Wotta. I think he played at GAC last year though

[pacific rim]

th4l i believe you're thinking of Wajda.  as in the other eagle in the miac.  i think he just left st. mary's and is possibly at MCC now, actually.

it looks like concordia's wins vs. st. johns and st. mary's early in the conference season are going to be incredibly valuable.  concordia has always done very well on the world record distance trip to winona, and they get st. john's, mac, and carleton at home in the second half of the season.

[ustbumkneez]

Bethel34
can you maybe provide an insight as to why Bjorklund was having your Royals play helpside off of Schnettler? thats not a smart move in the first place, but after #s 3 and 4 last night I thought he would for sure alter his scheme. was baffled as to why it never happened.

[sumander]

it looks like concordia's wins vs. st. johns and st. mary's early in the conference season are going to be incredibly valuable

Pacific Rim, I agree with you 100%. I thought at the time, and it was the first game of the MIAC season that the Johnnies loss at home could come back to haunt them. In the MIAC, like most  other competitive conferences the "second tier" schools need to hold serve at home and hope to steal one maybe two games on the road. With the Johnnies loss at SMU last Saturday, they need to find a road win somewhere else. Sure would be nice if it were this Saturday.

[localcoach]

My apologies to you Drake.  Nothing harsh was meant by the comment about karma.  I've just noticed that you and I are on-line at many of the same times lately.  Thanks for the kind sentiments. 

It looks like the toughest games tomorrow will be St. Thomas/St. Mary's and Hamline/St. John's.  I might have to try and get to one of those.