MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[abominable_snowman]

In my best Dicky V voice "It doesn't get any better than this, baby!!!"

• Casual Friday
• Lunch at the best burger joint in the Minneapolis skyway "the Burger Place" featuring the Cajun Bacon Burger.
• Hoop conversations while chowing on aforementioned burger.  With UST highlights.
• The Tommie faithful come out of hibernation to bring A class act to the board.  Shout out to Elbow and Kneez.
• I'm putting up KG esque triple doubles in a YMCA rec league.
• I'm going to go bust up some waterfowl in the great Minnesota plains tomorrow.
• IT's my 200th POST

From the sounds of things UST will be sort of like the Green Bay Packers of the MIAC.  A few solid veterans and a whole crop of young raw talent.  A crucial piece will be finding a go-to guy in the stretch and building a team identity. They will probably get away with a few victories if they can catch some good breaks as long as they work hard enough to put themseleves in a position to benefit from that.  But one thing is for sure, nothing will come easy, but they should be fun to watch.

Finally has anybody heard anything MIAC games being online this year?

[miacsuperfan]

d3bballfollower,
i saw your endorsement of northwestern college hoops on the umac page.  just for fun (cuz i don't think they are on each other's schedules), how would they match up (in your valued opinion) personnel-wise with the miac institution on valentine lake?   am i correct in assuming that might be a pretty interesting match-up?

[d3bballfollower]

superfan- the Eagles/ Royals matchup would definitely be a must-see game for me and for any D3 basketball fan...personnel-wise I think these teams are very even and it is tough to determine who would have the upper hand...let's take a look...

PG- Zuleger vs Laugen...both good guards, but Zuleger would have the upper hand due to experience and a little more court savvy
SG- Discher vs Madson...both could easily go for 25...I give the advantage (head to head) to Madson because he will score more because the Royals aren't as balanced as NWC and he will get more shots
SF-  Strelecki vs Reck...Strelecki is a better overall player, enough said...advantage Strelecki
PF-  Daniel Hanson vs Moberg...Moberg has the advantage on paper in almost every category, but look for Hanson to battle him even throughout
C/F- Anderstrom vs ?...with the loss of Rolando the Royals lack depth down low...unless they brought in some big guys who can play right away or some young guys really improved Anderstrom has the advantage, he will outwork and outplay them
Bench-  here is where the Royals need to win...with Much (who could start) and some others they have a decent bench...they will have to outplay former Centennial teammates Reid Berens and Chris Gonsior, as well as Daniel's little bro Steven who is back after some off-court issues last year...

Overall, I think if they played 10 times, Bethel would win 6 and NWC 4...in just 1 matchup this year I would have to go with NWC...if Bethel played good D then I would pick them 8/10, but they don't, and NWC has the firepower to score with them...the game could be a lot like the BU/ Mac game last year at Bethel late in the year

Bethel's starters can play with anyone, no doubt about that, but I think the bench would be the deciding factor in the game...

what are your thoughts superfan? anyone else?

[miacsuperfan]

thanks, d3.   your insights in to nw and bu bb are clearly beyond mine, although i did watch the centennial boys a few times in high school.   i did not see nw play last year, for the first time in the last six years.   but with the players i remember, i think this would be one great game.   not knowing what bethel has done to replace some big guns from last year (a.k.a. meadowcroft and strom), it is hard to know how all of the matchups would look.   i suspect that it might be a "close-the-door" event if they hook up anytime soon.   i am puzzled that bethel could have as many as 3 or 4 umac opponents on their schedule, but not northwestern.   
you mentioned that much could start for bethel.  who else do you know that they have coming in?   with madson, moberg, and much, does bethel have another 3M thing going?

[d3bballfollower]

I have heard that 6'7" Matt Johnson of White Bear Lake is a freshman there this year...from watching him in high school he could definitely log some minutes for the Royals this year...also, I heard that Nick Otterson, formerly of Maple Grove and Champlin park transferred from some juco to BU and is a junior this year...is there anyone who can confirm this? Bet34?

[WXYZ]

Nick Otterson played two years in Brainerd. Otterson, Evan Boldt and Mike Much all played on the 2005 Champlin Park squad. CP lost four games that year. One to Henry another to Tartan in the first round of State and two against Moberg and Maple Grove.  It's a NWSC reunion of  sorts.

[AO]

thanks, d3.   your insights in to nw and bu bb are clearly beyond mine, although i did watch the centennial boys a few times in high school.   i did not see nw play last year, for the first time in the last six years.   but with the players i remember, i think this would be one great game.   not knowing what bethel has done to replace some big guns from last year (a.k.a. meadowcroft and strom), it is hard to know how all of the matchups would look.   i suspect that it might be a "close-the-door" event if they hook up anytime soon.   i am puzzled that bethel could have as many as 3 or 4 umac opponents on their schedule, but not northwestern.   
you mentioned that much could start for bethel.  who else do you know that they have coming in?   with madson, moberg, and much, does bethel have another 3M thing going?

--I think you're going to have to wait a couple years for a "close-the-door" game between Northwestern and Bethel as I don't see it happening unless they meet in the playoffs.  If they did get scheduled in the regular season, it would probably be too early in the season for hype to build around either campus.  Great potential for a rivalry with the schools being within walking distance, but with MIAC teams only playing 5 non-conference games, it has made too much sense for Bethel to duck Northwestern.  This weak schedule that Bethel set up almost bit them last season early as Crown nearly beat them.  Crown did not win a game against a D-3 team last year. (0-14 in the UMAC)

[d3bballfollower]

AO- I don't think the weak schedule had anything to do with Crown almost beating Bethel...sure, I want to see Bethel play some higher non-conference competiiton, but it was a terrible shooting night for the Royals that made the game so close...lets look at some facts for why Bethel only scored 68 points after scoring 113, 107 and 111 in each of their first 3 games...

Bethel shot 48% from the field, 35% from downtown in game 1
they shot 59%, 44% from 3 in game 2
and in game 3 they shot almost 57% and 50% from beyond the arc

in those 3 games they also gave up 83, 77 and 84 points

in the game against Crown they only gave up 62 (lowest of the season), but they only scored 68 because of poor shooting...35% (25-70) from the field including 17% (4-24) from downtown...highlighted by a 1-11 performance from Madson and 4-13 from Meadowcroft

Crown actually shot 45% from the field and 42% from 3...if Bethel makes 2 more jumpers and 2 3's it is a 16 point win and everyone would just say that Bethel beat up on another weak opponent...

on another note, going with the tradition of this year's college football season and upset specials, who will get the biggest upset this year, or who will be the victim of the biggest upset? (conference or non-conference)

[AO]

Of course they had a bad shooting night.  I've got a feeling the crown defense had a small part in the low numbers.  This isn't bowling or gymnastics. 
All that I am saying was that it would have been a pretty amazing upset for a team that goes 0-14 in the UMAC to beat the team that is predicted win the MIAC this year.

[WXYZ]

Carlton played in the championship game this past summer at the league held at Jefferson. Is that a predictor of success in the regular season? How important is preseason league play?

[d3bballfollower]

I think it really depends on the team...I think that playing a tough non-conference schedule is good to realize the level of competition out there standing in your way of a national championship, but at the same time if a team gets killed a couple times they could really lose a lot of confidence...let's take Bethel and Crown for example...I think that it would do Bethel some good to put at least 1 "great" opponent on their non-conference schedule is possible, maybe even 2, I mean, even if Bethel would lose the games against the "great" opponents they would probably at worst end up at 20-5 this year right? but for Crown, if I were Coach High I would maybe schedule a couple "good" teams, but then schedule a "guarantee" game and then a couple that would be tough but would be good tests to hopefully end up with at least a coupel non-conference wins...I think Bethel could get clipped by Bethany Lutheran in their tourney if Bethany gets to the final...

[Drake Palmer]

No basketball news, so here's the latest Burger Update:

My hunch was correct, Big Smiling Carl Jr.'s acquired Hardees' in 1997.  For those of you who are so inclined, here's a little fast food history.

Snow - Congratulations on your admission to the Karma granting club and all the  powers that come with this lofty inclusion.    +K & use your powers wisely. 

[GoldandBlueBU]

I have heard that 6'7" Matt Johnson of White Bear Lake is a freshman there this year...from watching him in high school he could definitely log some minutes for the Royals this year...also, I heard that Nick Otterson, formerly of Maple Grove and Champlin park transferred from some juco to BU and is a junior this year...is there anyone who can confirm this? Bet34?

Yes, Otterson is at bethel this year...don't really know anything about him though.

[columbianmaffia]

Carlton played in the championship game this past summer at the league held at Jefferson. Is that a predictor of success in the regular season? How important is preseason league play?

it depends who is showing up for which team...summer is a busy time of the year...i have played in a MIAC summer league game before due to lack of players and im not very good

[WXYZ]

I just finished checking sites for rosters and just a few schools have them posted today.  It will be interesting to see if there are any surprises.