MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sju56321]

VOJ-you have to have a certain number of posts and be on good terms with Pat. No, only kidding about the Pat part-but you do need 200 posts to have the ability. Unless Pat has changed that number. So just start posting about anything and drive that number up.

[sju56321]

JP-is that good or bad for SJU-how have they fared against man to man this season?

[VOJ]

Pat only likes me when I am not on the officals...I do love the site...they do great work here...as for the j's against the man to man...it depends on how well its played, the Toms play a great man to man and it shut down Westman and Lieser...but again, they need some confidence and hopefully playing at home will give it to them...some of the Saturday loss was mental...I thnk much of the loss was mental...we'll see what tonight brings

[Drake Palmer]

I gotta tell you the local ties to the MIAC really scare me with regards to Loras, it should be interesting tonight...

The boys need to value the Bball and shoot well...i just wonder what kind of D they will be facing tonight...I hope Sexton is not a morgue, but the weather and spring break will not help...

VOJ, I agree, not there is a lot of love lost between any MIAC schools, I would think CORD and UST in particular wouldn't mind seeing the J's go down!

I may have to put a call in to Coach Smith and see if the couch is open. 

Now, now, now my paranoid SJU brothers, MIAC league unity is the theme of the day!    I'm sure in the spirit of true D3 sportsmanship; the Tommies were simply extending a gracious collegial hand to Loras before the game.  Once the ball is tipped, the Tommies are not unlike most everyone else in the league, & hope the Johnnies trounce the Duhawks during the game, & then help pick up the fallen birds after the game. 

In fact, several weeks ago,  I saw J's assistant coach, Jerry Fogerty, hanging out & chilling with UST coaches Steve Fritz & Johnny Tauer on the Tommie bleachers before the 2nd UST-SJU game.  They appeared to be shooting the breeze, telling jokes & chatting with well-wishers from both schools for a good 20 -30 minutes just before & during the early part UST-SJU JV game.

That's good stuff.

[SJU09]

I can't remember which J fan (I know it wasn't you Voj or Sum) was ripping the Tommies for only having an 1,800 - 2,000 seat arena, but on a night like this, a smaller gym would definitely be better.  I can imagine any of the fans in attendance would be able to hear the bouncing of the ball, screeching of the shoes, & the players muttering under their breaths at each other.

I ripped the Shoe, I hate it.  Every game I went there when I was in college (Mid 80's) and  again this  year trying to get tickets to  games was a huge hassle.  For example this year,   I  show up to buy tickets at noon for a 3pm game and was told, "you can't leave the gym, or we may not honor your ticket"  It's three hours till game time!  You expect a person to sit in a gym for three hours, I  do have a ticket I will come back.  Here's an idea St. Tomas administration, keep track of all the tickets sold and the number of students you let in, don't let it go past the number of people the gym holds.  Is it that hard?  St. Thomas has an undergraduate class of 5,000 students, they should have a bigger gym based on their enrollment and should be striving for bigger crowds.   To say that its good to have a small gym because it helps during 12 inch snow storms seems silly.   Why not strive for better than that (St. John's included)? 

[ustbumkneez]

League Awards Announced

http://www.miac-online.org/mbbawards07.html

[ustbumkneez]

Thoughts after reading through the awards:

*Is Fritz really the Coach Of The Year, considering the talent he had AND the fact that everyone EXPECTED them to win the conference title? Dont get me wrong, he did a great job keeping the team on target and not letting them coast through the season (the only thing that could have truly stopped them from winning the championship), but I think what Smith did with the Johnnies was a lot more than most people thought they were capable of. I mean, they were a win away from taking the conference title, and I think even most SJU fans would have had trouble believing that at the beginning of the season (considering their performance the last two years, USTs big guns, and GACs returning core). I just dont know that the Coach Of The Year should, as it has in the majority of the years recently, go to the coach whose team wins the conference title. It shouldnt take a turnaround like the one that Kalland orchestrated last year to have someone whose team doesnt win the title take the hardware.

*Interesting addition with the All Sportsmanship Team. Though I found it interesting that Hollander made the team. Always thought he was more than a little chippy, bordering on cheap. I like his grit; he did what he had to do to be effective, what with playing post at 6-3 195. He plays balls out, so maybe that was substituted for the "sportsmanship" in his case. In all honesty, the team should be littered with Oles (obviously the league wants one rep from each team). Like I said after their playoff loss at The Shoe, they are a classy group of guys who play the game hard, but very clean. Plus, then Olaf could get some recgonition  .

*I dont understand how Wiener makes All Defensive Team. Getting steals doesnt translate to being a good defender. He was constantly out of position (a product of overplaying passing lanes and lunging at dribble penetration), and considering how reduced his minutes were, was in foul trouble a lot. Those other 4 guys were lock down type defenders who could limit touches, stop penetration, and were rarely in foul trouble while still garnering quantifiable defensive statistics (steals, etc). Even more important, they rarely were out of position and didnt force their teammates to cover for them. I know Wiener has been at the top of steals in the MIAC ever since he got to Hamline, but that doesnt make him a great defender. The other years I could live with him making the team, but this season it shouldnt have happened.

*I think the All Conference picks were very representative of the season, and I really dont have a bone to pick with any of the selections. Out of the guys who made Honorable Mention, only Meadowcroft and Thrasher really could have even the slightest gripe. But, Sowden is really the only guy on the All Conference team I could POSSIBLY see being switched out for one of those two guys, and he gets the nod for his productive career.

[columbianmaffia]

hmm...coach fritz

i think he should have been coach of the year a few years back when the tommies made the playoffs when sweeny was playin in wisky before transfering back...this year? actually no one really jumps out at me this year...so i guess it works

[Drake Palmer]

I'm in the middle of early shutdown mode here at work & possibly tomorrow (yeah!), so I can't respond at length about any of the league awards. But here are a couple of quick remarks.

The league should divide the All conference into 1st, 2nd & 3rd teams & select players based on positions: PG, SG, W, SF, & PF/Center.

Matt Ohme was jobbed.

I like Jesse Hollander's game alot! Kneez - you're right he's "balls to the wall", but after he kicks your butt, or tries to kick your butt, he's right there helping you up.  Good competitor.

Derek Francis? I barely remember him & I bet I saw 4-5 Auggie games.

I like both Wittwer & Sowden, but question whether they both deserve inclusion this year.

Looks like there was some Z. Johnson backlash.

Butala should come back one more year & play monster back for the Ole football team. I'd imagine he could knock a running back or WR out cold. Dude's done some serious weightlifting since he got to college.

How about Coach Westland at Bethel & the job he did this year?

And another one - Bergstrom was jobbed.  The 6th place team can't get one, stinking player on the AC team, but the 4th & 5th place teams land 2 players each? Mmh, mmh, mmh.  Coaches.  Somebody run some stats comparisons. (Shakes his head in mild disbelief) 

[miacwatchmen]

JP-is that good or bad for SJU-how have they fared against man to man this season?

Most teams in the MIAC play man to man defense. On rare occasions a zone is played but that is usually only for a couple possesions. I don't think the DuHawk defense will be anything the Johnnies haven't seen this year. I think it comes down to the defensive end for the Johnnies. If they can shut down the swing offense they should do well. However last Saturday the Tommies ran a play over and over that had a flex cut from the wing and it seemed to give the Johnnies trouble. It should be an interesting game on the defensive end for the J's.

[miacwatchmen]

Attendance prediction: 250

That may be a little high Fins. Its pretty nasty in the city right now. I can't imagine what its like out in Collegeville. Has anyone drove on I-94 today? What are the conditions like?

[sumander]

Fins, Bandwagon is still idling. Word I get on conditions in Central God's Country is things are bad! More worried about getting home tonight than down there this afternoon.

[ustbumkneez]

Pats Tournament Preview is on the front page of the site http://www.d3hoops.com/salem/07/preview.htm. Not surprisingly, the bracket that UST and SJU are in is dubbed the "Bracket Of Death". If you looked close at the Top 25 rankings, 7 of the top 12 teams are in this bracket. Even less of a surprise is that he picks UWSP to take the bracket, which seems safe considering they are the #1 team in the country and is carrying the flag for the WIAC (who feels slighted for only getting one team in). He does go a few steps further, picking them to win the title. SJU didnt get tabbed "Cinderella" for the bracket (DePauw was), but the Johnnies do seem to be Pat's choice in their opening round matchup against Loras. Interesting to get a perspective from someone who knows all the teams in this bracket well.

[sumander]

USTBUM, I will have to go back and re-read the preview. My take was that Pat was tabbing Loras for the win tonight!

Any word on the other teams in the UST pod making it to St. Paul. I would think travel would be real dicey for all of them tomorrow. Just like the SJU loras winner trying to get to Stevens Point.

P.S. nice post on the all miac awards!

[ustbumkneez]

Sum, thats how I read it at first, considering the first mention of Loras was: "Loras might win its first game but runs into the roadblock right away." But that was followed by this line later in the section under Most Liekly To Dissapoint: "We'd like to play a hunch with Loras, but in the closing season of their classic home gymnasium, the Duhawks were 12-1 at home and 9-5 away from home. This game is away from home." I guess Im going with that second mention as an assertation that the Johnnies will prevail. Perhaps thats MIAC bias, but I dont think youll hold that against me.