MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bethelguy]

I too didn't see the "poor officiating."  I thought the 2 weakest fouls of the game were the 2 called on Keating as the ball was being entered to an NCC post player.  They were 2 fouls called simply to appease the NCC coach. 

I will disgree with some of the posters here in that I thought Simmons was a very talented player.  His 2 cheap shots at Schnettler at the end were uncalled for and I think he should have been T'ed up for the forearm shot to the chest after Walton's 5th fould.  He has some growing up to do, but he is a good basketball player.  His 8 first half points and offensive reb/tips kept NCC going. 

2 keys for UST.  Controlling the boards and getting points for Schnettler.  1st half UST was outrebounded (-9) and BS had 2 points.  2nd half they did a much better job on the boards (+1) and BS had 16 and the Tommies gained control of the game.  Alex Weaver had a great game as well making a few key plays that really helped the Tommies.

Great defense by UST and good luck to the Tommies tomorrow night.

[miacwatchmen]

Looks like the Tommies are going to have a pretty large height advantage vs. Lawrence tomorrow night.

   6'5''....6'4''....6'7'' for the inside three of Lawrence to the 6'6''.....6'6''...and 6'8'' of the UST big men.

Wow Chris Briar sounds like the real deal. 2-time All- American, 1,540 career points. He is averaging nearly 16 and 13 this year. Briar's inside counterpart Kyle MacGillis is averaging almost 14 a game but only  4 boards.?? 4 boards wow that sounds like a force inside 

I know you can't look at the paper to see who is going to win the game but these two teams seem to matchup very equally. But I am guessing there is a reason , that i can't see from the season stats, that Lawrence is undefeated and number 1 in the nation 

[bethelguy]

watchman - seeing Braiaer last year @GAC he is a monster inside.   He is very strong and physical inside.  But I think the combo of Keating/Schimek will provide a decent defense against him with Ike coming accross on helpside.  Keating/Schimek are physical players as well, if htey can keep Braiaer from going off for 20+ points I think UST can beat LU.  Schnettler will need to have a 2 good halves and the Tommies will need to keep turnovers down again as well but it should be a good game.

[sumander]

BG, Would Braier's game be similar to Forkrud from CAR?

[miacwatchmen]

So Tommies keys to winning are .....
 
1) Keep Big Briaer under 20 pts

2) Win the rebounding battle ( Which seems to be Briaer vs. the whole UST team)

3) Have Schnettler show up and play like he can.

If they do these things then they have a chance??

It sounds like Lawrence has a freshman named Ryan Kroger that is third on the team in scoring. He is no stranger to big games however. He put up 18 in the conference semis and 1 in the finals. I still think the fact that the Tommies have experience is a huge advantage to them.

[miacwatchmen]

Kroger of L U is shooting 51.6 % from the outside this year. 33 of 64 is an amazing number considering he has made the most threes on the team.  He is also shooting 55% from the field and is getting 20 minutes a game. Does anyone know who this kid is??  All their site says is he is from Glendale Wis.

[bethelguy]

no, I wouldn't compare him to Forkrud.

It is hard to compare him to anybody in the MIAC since he is an All-American and I'm assuming he can dominate a game in a way like nobody in our league can.

I've only seen him once so by no means am I more of an expert on him than anybody else who went to the game at GAC last year.  

[bethelguy]

Watchman, I agree with your keys.  But I would add a 4th.  UST needs to control the tempo of the game.  LU plays way more guys and they are at home.  UST needs it to be a game of few possessions and controlled tempo so the LU crowd can't get too carried away. 

And Schnettler getting good shots might be a problem as it sounds like they are a VERY good defensive team.  Notice they held to Grinnell to 79 points.  That is an incredible stat.  BS might have a tough time getting good shots.  If he struggles someone eles needs to step up (like Weaver did last night).

[Nites]

Keating/Schimek are physical players as well, if htey can keep Braiaer from going off for 20+ points I think UST can beat LU. 

This matchup conjures up notions of Daniel and the lion's den....

Lawrence (i) is undefeated and ranked number one in the country, (ii) will be playing at home against a team that played 2 nights before in a tough game in which all of its starters played significant minutes, (iii) lost in the playoffs each of the last 2 years to the eventual national champion, (iv) stomped a good Gusties team in St. Peter in the playoffs last year; and (v) has an imposing player seemingly respected by everyone.  

WOW - daunting task!    

I wonder how much the Tommies will be affected by the short turnaround after an emotional win and how much Lawrence will be affected by the extended layoff?

I think that Lawrence will neutralize either Ike or Schnettler and I expect one of the two to have a poor game.  That means that the key to game for the Tommies will be Keating.  He has to produce at the POY level everyone projected of him at the beginning of the year.  If he can rise to the occasion right from the opening tip, the Tommies have a chance.  If not, I think Lawrence will win easily.  St. Thomas wins if Keating scores 18+ and he helps keep Braier at or below his season averages in points and rebounds.

[miacwatchmen]

Keating/Schimek are physical players as well, if htey can keep Braiaer from going off for 20+ points I think UST can beat LU. 

This matchup conjures up notions of Daniel and the lion's den....

Lawrence (i) is undefeated and ranked number one in the country, (ii) will be playing at home against a team that played 2 nights before in a tough game in which all of its starters played significant minutes, (iii) lost in the playoffs each of the last 2 years to the eventual national champion, (iv) stomped a good Gusties team in St. Peter in the playoffs last year; and (v) has an imposing player seemingly respected by everyone.  

WOW - daunting task!    

I wonder how much the Tommies will be affected by the short turnaround after an emotional win and how much Lawrence will be affected by the extended layoff?

I think that Lawrence will neutralize either Ike or Schnettler and I expect one of the two to have a poor game.  That means that the key to game for the Tommies will be Keating.  He has to produce at the POY level everyone projected of him at the beginning of the year.  If he can rise to the occasion right from the opening tip, the Tommies have a chance.  If not, I think Lawrence will win easily.  St. Thomas wins if Keating scores 18+ and he helps keep Braier at or below his season averages in points and rebounds.

Nites- I think all you needed to do was list Briaer and that would be enough of a daunting task. If he isn't comparable to Forkrud I would love to see him play. Forkrud is a monster and very physical. I think the knock on Ike the whole year has been that he isn't physical enough. If Briaer is physical it could be tough for Ike. Now with that said i think Shimek , who i have disliked all year, could be a big factor in this game. if Shimek can pound with Briaer inside does that open up Ike?? I really don't see Schnettler getting shut down because if you try and key on stopping one Tommie the other 4 will get you. The Tommies are just a good sound team. I think they will need to play a near perfect game to beat LU though.

[Willy Wonka]

TH4L - Where were you when I was cheering against SJU's title run on the gridiron in 2002? Some things don't change, like my dislike for SJU and BU football and UST basketball. I respect Fritz and Tauer and have come to like Sweeney's game, but that's as much as I'm willing to admit. I did smile when I read UST won, if that's any consolation.

larry_u - Is MacGillis the kid who guarded TeBrake last year @GAC? If so, he's tough. AT had two (bad) shots until the closing minutes when he started jacking to finish with 7 points, 11 below his average. Dude was in his grill all night and AT called him the best defender he's ever played against afterwards. That'll be a huge matchup tomorrow night.

I'd like to compare the LU defense to the Gusties of 03-04, when they set the conference scoring mark, but I'm not sure that is doing them justice. They don't look like anything special, but they are strong across the board and won't be outworked. The Tommies will have to hit tough shots all night if they expect to win.

What are the chances LU has a vidcast going tomorrow? Assuming my wrestlers get knocked off today (please Lord!), I'm hoping to catch more than Loco's updates.

MIG - Have another O'Douls before posting next time, eh? 

[Early]

Larry_U- I won't be at the game but i am very excited to play lawrence.  Your beloved team now gets to exprience what it feels like to sit out a game and then attempt to play a tough competitive game against a team who is hungry as ****, much like myself and the tommies faced back in 2002 against Oshkosh.  I don't care if you think you have 3 NBA prospects on your team, you suck and so do your pathetic players that are apparently so acclaimed.  Keep in mind that your team is undefeated which means they have everything to lose and only minimal to gain, against a team that would love to stick foreign objects in lawrence mouths... innapropriate objects!  

Braier or whatever his stupid name is, and Lawrence's pg are in big trouble because UST is looking to stick a catheter in their pee holes and straight bitch slap the entire team to send a message:  Congratulations on being undefeated in a ****ty conference that the blind sisters of the poor could have won! We came to play ball, and we don't need the likes of your bitch asses getting in the way.  Enjoy your first loss of the season on expense of a team that doesn't give a ****.  Better luck next season.

I don't normally post outside of the MWC, but when I read this I have to comment.

Russian Mig AK47,
I played at Ripon in the MWC, and in the summer's I played in Minneapolis in a league with the MIAC teams and some others.  By far the MIAC is subpar in comparassion to the MWC.  I played against St. Thomas, St. John's, MacAllaster, etc.  Yes there are some good teams in the MIAC, your beloved Tommies are good, but by no means is the MIAC a better conference.  The two conferences might be equal, but my no means should someone from the MIAC be calling the MWC a crappy conference

[bethelguy]

well, there you have it.  The MIAC is weaker because this guy played against some teams in a summer league.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Late is better than never....so here goes:

Last night's win was one of the best-played all-around efforts by UST all season. Nothing flashy, just solid hoops. I'd be hard pressed to imagine a D3 team play better defensively than UST did last night. HUGE props to Sweeney, who had one of the best overall games of his career. Schnettler couldn't get open-- credit that to solid perimeter D by NCC-- but he killed them at the line. He had some timely, crucial rebounds, as did Shimek.

But if I had to single out one Tommie as "key player of the game" it would be Weaver. As DP pointed out, he had some critical rebounds, steals  and hit a few shots that kept UST in the game till the normal production crew (Ike, Schettler) could get in the game. Here's the real kick-- he was sick with the flu, missied the last practice or 2 because of it, but it sure didn't show.

I, like Drake, don't know where the NCC radio people were coming from with ther complaints about the reffing. It was a very consistent and evenly reffed game. I think those buffoons should see a game with the Mauers & Asian Sensation before they cry about reffnig.

NCC--- extremely disciplined team, som vrey nice players...solid. They will be a force to reckon with for a long while with Coach R there.

[Drake Palmer]

Alright, I can't sit idly by while these jabs are being exchanged.

Early - You need to look at Ak47's posts in the context of his response to Larry-U.

One of larrry_ U's first posts on the MIAC board yesterday:

5   Posting Up / West Region / Re: MIAC Conversations  on: Yesterday at 02:27:42 PM 
Good luck with that....

I played highschool against both Keating and Rosefelt, and I guarantee you that Braier is ten times better then either of them.  Braier is like a Dennis Rodman with a brain.  He doesn't Understand the word Can't.  He's a fricking beast.  Keating wouldn't be able to Stop Braier if he had 10 fouls to give.  I hope thats when St. Thomas thinks if they make it, because it should be one easy second round win for us then....assuming you get my North Central tonight. 

I'll be in the stands for the game tonight, hope to see a good one and reaffirm my belief that LU should win fairly easily Saturday night, but I'll be waiting to be suprised.

Now check this one out:

3   Posting Up / West Region / Re: MIAC Conversations  on: Yesterday at 10:37:59 PM 

Here's why St Thomas will lose Saturday night..

Lu is more physical down low.  St Thomas has some great shooters, but LU has am amazing defense.  They held Grinnell College to thier lowest point total in about 6 seasons this year, and if you kow how Grinnell plays thats an acomplishment.

Rosenfelt is good, I'll admit to that, but he seems to shy away from contact down low..lots of fadeaways, not going up strong.

Braier for Lawrence however is just the opposite.  I think he will manhandle Rosenfelt or Keating or whomever guards him.  There is noone the quality of the player that braier is in the MIAC, I guarantee you that.


St Thomas did a great job of protecting the ball, but Lu's half court defense is a lot better then NCCs was.  We have probably one fo the best defenders in the country in Chris MacGillis.  He will be on you tighter then white on rice.  Home court will play a huge roll.  Alexander gym is small, and loud.  Trust me..its loud.  Shoenecker was nothing tonight compared to what Alex will be like.

Good luck to the Tommies..I hope its a good game, but Be ready.  There is a reason we are undefeated and number one in the nation.  This will not be fun.  So for all of you who make the 5 hour drive to Appleton..enjoy, but be ready for one looong hungover ride home the next moring after you spend the night drowning your sorrows on College Ave.  Make sure to stop off at the Wooden Nickel, the unofficial official bar of the Midwest conference.

I realize Russian Ak47's response was a bit over the top, but what do you think prompted his outburst?  Larry_U comes to the MIAC board as an "alleged" neutral observer & then started talking smack about how good Braier & Lawrence is; & why St. Thomas won't win on Saturday.  Did he seriously expect that no one would take offense to his statements?

Larry U's posts are comparable to the following example - I walk up to your house uninvited after working in a muddy field all day & ask for a drink of water.  You graciously invite me into your home & I proceed to walk on your new living room carpet with my muddy boots on. WTF?!?  

AK47's rebuttal may have been excessive, but given the nature of Larry U's posts, what could you expect?

By the way Larry, isn't it Kyle MacGillis, not Chris his older brother, as you have listed in your post???