MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[d3bballfollower]

good point red bird...but if we are talking about teams winning then i will have to agree that UST wouldn't be as good without Schnettler...but then i will have to side with SJUforlife in saying that the Johnnies wouldn't be as good as they are without lieser or westman...are they better than Schnettler? maybe...maybe not...St. John's isn't in the top 10, or even the top 25, but if they keep winning they will be there soon...and that's just it...they keep finding a way to win...we'll have to see what the rest of the season brings

[d3bballfollower]

quick info about new top 25-

6 teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin...St. Thomas at 5, Stevens Point at 7 and then Lawrence at 9, Oshkosh at 14, Platteville at 15 and Whitewater at 25

as well as Augustana (IL) at 11, North Central (IL) at 19, Aurora (IL) at 23 and Wheaton (IL) at 24

the midwest has 10 teams in the top 25 as well as 6 teams in "others receiving votes"

so that is 16 out of the top 53 according to the d3hoops.com polls...not to bad...and basketball here in the midwest is only getting better

[sumander]

Quick look at the STOLAF CORD box score:

Cobbs 0-4 on treys in the 2cnd half

Citterman 2-10 from deep, he shot 31% overall.

Cobbs outrebounded Oles 48-37 but double them up on number of turnovers 26-13!

Until the Cobbs 1,2,3 start producing and taking care of the ball they aren't going to win many games!

[abominable_snowman]

d3follower

Going through your matchups, I want to ask you about how you are rating Lonnie?
If it is just numbers, then yes, the guys he guards will likely put up more numbers/better stats?

I would argue that Lonnie deserves some credit for the workhorse he is.   He will upset many of the people he is assigned to guard.  He is a tough and scrappy defender.  And though he may not get steals, or blocks, he will do plenty to frustrate scorers, and keep the ball out of their hands.

On the other end of the court, he's as complete a player as you would want.  A perfect fit to feed the ball to the scoreres, as well as comfortable option to get a 3 or easy jumper when the other guys are sleeping. Add to than he's got an audacity to scrap for baords and drive to the paint.  Finally in the last three games he has gone for 3,4, and 5 assists respectively. 

I'm not so much attacking your position, as giving props to a player who I think deserves respect and shouldn't be overlooked.

[piperinsider]

6 teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin...St. Thomas at 5, Stevens Point at 7 and then Lawrence at 9, Oshkosh at 14, Platteville at 15 and Whitewater at 25

Nice job in grouping us with them over the river.

I love the analysis being thrown out here from all these different angles. Makes up from not being able to catch many games. I tried watching HAM/UST last night and it was really, really choppy. I guess my cable modem isn't good enough. 

[d3bballfollower]

snowman- great post...when rating the players i was talking about scoring mostly because of trying to decide the final outcome...i definitely concur with your opinions of robinson as a player...he knows his role and plays it very well...shoots when he needs to, crashes the boards when he needs to, and i am right with you when it comes to his defense...he is one of the best, if not the best, on-the-ball defender in the league...when UST plays Bethel I would expect him to give Madson and Meadowcroft trouble....when they play SJU i would expect him to give Lieser and Westman trouble...when they play GAC i would expect him to give Wittwer trouble...and so on and so forth throughout the league...i don't know who he guarded against hamline...i would guess derock or thrasher (maybe lbow can give us an answer), but niether derock nor thrasher had a good game, so robinson definitely did his job when he was on the floor

awhile back i asked the question who is the most underrated player in the miac...i got a few answers, but none were robinson...i would say he is got to be a top 2 or 3 most underrated player in the league along with brady brink of SJU...anyone else's thoughts?

[d3bballfollower]

to expand on my earlier post about the ranked teams in the midwest...also have to think about some unranked teams like St. John's (if they play defense can play with just about anybody), Buena Vista (beat a solid, and maybe better than expected GAC team, only loss is to Platteville), Coe (already 4-0 including a tough win against perennial iiac power wartburg, and will be right there at the end for the IIAC title), and I think if Bethel decided to play defense they along with St. John's could play with most teams just do to their raw talent...also have to add in Illinois Wesleyan who even at 4-2 already has a W over Whitewater (and 1 of their losses was to an NAIA 1 team)

these teams may not be as talented as a Wooster or an Amherst, but they definitely all have the ability to play with them and upset them on any given night

[cobbernation]

Quick look at the STOLAF CORD box score:

Cobbs 0-4 on treys in the 2cnd half

Citterman 2-10 from deep, he shot 31% overall.

Cobbs outrebounded Oles 48-37 but double them up on number of turnovers 26-13!

Until the Cobbs 1,2,3 start producing and taking care of the ball they aren't going to win many games!

DING DING DING.....you are absolutely right.  But after the first 5 games.  Linz is obviously 1, but who are 2 and 3 because I don't know! Citterman, R. Johnson and E. Johson need to be more consistent with their stats.

24 of the 26 TO's were in regulation.  Cobbs need to take care of the ball and play defense.

[sumander]

Cnation, I was thinking more in terms of 1,2,3 being PG, SG and SF. I would put Linz in a 4 or 5 category! You can't argue with his production. The production of Baldwin and E. Johnson has been developing positively. The guards and small forward are killing the Cobs, IMO.

[miacwatchmen]

snowman- great post...when rating the players i was talking about scoring mostly because of trying to decide the final outcome...i definitely concur with your opinions of robinson as a player...he knows his role and plays it very well...shoots when he needs to, crashes the boards when he needs to, and i am right with you when it comes to his defense...he is one of the best, if not the best, on-the-ball defender in the league...when UST plays Bethel I would expect him to give Madson and Meadowcroft trouble....when they play SJU i would expect him to give Lieser and Westman trouble...when they play GAC i would expect him to give Wittwer trouble...and so on and so forth throughout the league...i don't know who he guarded against hamline...i would guess derock or thrasher (maybe lbow can give us an answer), but niether derock nor thrasher had a good game, so robinson definitely did his job when he was on the floor

awhile back i asked the question who is the most underrated player in the miac...i got a few answers, but none were robinson...i would say he is got to be a top 2 or 3 most underrated player in the league along with brady brink of SJU...anyone else's thoughts?

Brady Brink IS the most underrated play in the MIAC. The kid can do it all. Shoot, rebound, dribble. He can play 2-4 and guard almost anyone on the court. The point is that he would be starting on most teams if not all in the MIAC right now....which means it could be time for a S. Schafer for B. Brink switch a roo

[Chica yea false identification]

Notes from SMU and Mac....

Dan Cormier was the man putting up his career high 20 points.  Haywood with another solid 19 point effort making his first 3 three's.  The Freshan for the Cards (Washington and Josh Knights)  putting up good numbers as well with Washington scoring 10 points, grabbing 6 boards and handing out 4 assists.  Knights putting up 13 points in only 16 minutes.  Eric Lear did a nice job too 6 points and 7 boards in only 12 minutes, he did a lot of the little things.  Abe Woldeslassie is the player to watch for Mac, i don't care about Conboy, the kid was amazing scoring 22.  Conboy did put up 22 but it was very quiet.  at one point in the game he had 3 fouls and only 4 points.  If this Cardinal team gets on a roll, the M.I.A.C needs to watch out.

[Drake Palmer]

Hey Bet34 – I realize you're probably still a little heated from last night's game, but I did state that I thought Wittwer's non travel was highly suspect.  I was sitting between some GAC & Bethel fans, & we all were wondering how was his move not a travel?  The follow up call was weak as well.  Now realize, I'm a neutral observer, but I still contend that strip of Kramer was not only a foul, but a mugging.  But when I've coached a bit in the past - I've always said we need to worry about controlling the things we're capable of controlling, so we don't  put ourselves in a position to be affected by a poor call.

With regard to the Gustie shooting --yeah sure you could find some room for defensive improvement, but you all were right on the cusp. I daresay, you would be hard pressed to find a team that has better ball movement than Gustavus.  They kept whipping the ball around the perimeter until they got the split second look they wanted.  It wasn't as if they hitched up their shorts, set the ball in their hand & then shot the ball.  Last night they just happened to make their shots – it happens.

Bethel finally got the boxscore loaded & I see you all managed to hold them to just 42.9% from the field, which is pretty doggone good defense.  And then look at who was hitting the big shots for them -- Kane Sivesind, Tyler Kramer & Jesse Van Sickle?!?  You took your calculated chances & did a pretty good job of closing out or neutralizing the other "known" threats – Sowden & Olson, but who had any kinda scouting report on the others I just listed??

If Bethel keeps playing like that & working hard you'll be more than fine.  You just might make me forget the narrow 67-60 win over Crown.     oops - I guess it was 68-62

[columbianmaffia]

awhile back i asked the question who is the most underrated player in the miac...i got a few answers, but none were robinson...i would say he is got to be a top 2 or 3 most underrated player in the league along with brady brink of SJU...anyone else's thoughts?

i think robinson would be would get the lable of up and coming player rather than underrated player because he was not getting significant minutes last season.

[miacwatchmen]

 If this Cardinal team gets on a roll, the M.I.A.C needs to watch out.

Well good thing we don't have to worry about that. I think there are too many good teams / teams that are better than SMU for the red birds to get on a roll this year.

[BETHEL34]

DP, well put.  Maybe it was a mugging.  62 %  from down town for the Gusties though, you can't say we will ever beat a team allowing them 62% from down town (even though we almost did).  You make a pretty good point about shutting down sowden and olson though, but that doesn't mean you can leave players wide open on the arc.  I don't care who you play, most players at the college level left wide open will make a good amount of their shots.  I think i am having a hard time puting this one behind me.  Good thing they play tomorrow night!