MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sumander]

Drake- Thanks for having my back. I've been away for too long! Maybe I should take a day from work to sharpen my MIAC basketball knowledge!

This would be using the term work in the loosest definition!

[miacwatchmen]

Drake- Thanks for having my back. I've been away for too long! Maybe I should take a day from work to sharpen my MIAC basketball knowledge!

This would be using the term work in the loosest definition!

Who needs work when you can sit in an office all day and check up on MIAC basketball!

[abominable_snowman]

Snow - fine, fine, fine about the  teams out in Ohio.  What we really wanna know is -  how are the Tommies looking? 

I think the answer to this question will change frequently. I think we will see at least 3 different UST teams this year.  (Although there will probably be volitility on a week to week basis).

Team1: athletic, but playing against a steep learning curve in addition to their opponents.  Willl probably lose some close games where expereince would have helped.

Team2: After seeing everyone once, role players and go-to guys will be clearly established by now and we should have an ok feel if they will be able to squeak  into the playoffs with all the other 5-5 teams.

Team 3: showing up strong in the post season ready to catch gustavus or st. john's off guard, and getting all of us tommie fans super amped for next season.


It's tough to call right now. Which is both exciting and scary.

[mnblaster]

So I did my due diligence again today but no additional MIAC rosters have been posted.  Com'on SID's!!  Only Carleton, STO, and SMU.  Carleton is up to 12 guys though.  One is from NYC??? 

Rumor has it that CAR went down and picked up a couple players from the IM open gymn for help in practice numbers.

(One of the coaches had to step in and play during intersquad.......some nagging injuries barking again.)

I will post my picks soon but will predict up front that Bethel will have 2 conferences losses.

[MiacLostProphet]

1. Bethel - Big three bigger than any team.
2. Gustavus - On a down MIAC Gustavus sneaks to number 2 behind solid defense and improved perimeter shooting on returning wings.
3. St. Johns - It will be on the back of Leisure, not brink, to get here.
4. St. Thomas - Coaching matters, and Fritz just does what he does
5. Augsburg - Talented core coming back with good coaching. 
6. Hamline/St. Olaf - Don't underestimate the coaching change with Hamline.  Going anywhere from Barry is a huge imrovement. Also keep an eye out for the Miac freshman of the year.
7. Hamline/St. Olaf - The oles need more than Haugen in the middle.  there season could landslide if his development hit a plateau last year.
8. Carlton - There just isn't enough there right now.  Sutherland, Johnshon, and Drake are a solid trio.
9. St. Mary's - I just don't see the talent on this team to compete for a playoff spot.
10. Concordia - Linz is all Severson wants to go to.....its worked REAL well so far.
11. Macalaster - Where did they improve on last year??

In other Bball news - WOW the Wolves pick up another pick.  Awesome, now we've become the clippers!!

[UST_LBOW]

There are a lot of open spots in the Tommie lineup this year.  There are a lot of guys competing for playing time and I can pretty much guarantee just about everyone in uniform will see the court the first two games in Wooster.

The Tommies will be more up and down this year looking to take advantage of their ability to run.  They'll have to, they aren't exactly the biggest team in the league.  I think it will be a more balanced team than you've seen in the past.  More guys contributing, more guys playing.  It should be interesting, looking forward to watching some MIAC basketball!

[WXYZ]

Al McCoy for the Tommies looked like he was working pretty hard in the summer leagues. He can lose some weight, but his aggression looked good.

[abominable_snowman]

In other Bball news - WOW the Wolves pick up another pick.  Awesome, now we've become the clippers!!

nice.

[localcoach]

Gusties roster is now up.  Only 2 freshman on it.  The young man from LaCrosse who's a guard and Doble's younger brother.  Also of note is Chris Hasse, a 6-7 post who transferred from Division 2 Rockhurst in Missouri.  He's a Mankato West grad.  I don't think he played much at Rockhurst.

prophet - Would the piper freshman you're referring to be 6-10 post Karl Hipp?  I've heard he's looked really good the first couple of weeks.  If Whitmore can get Hipp and Erik Gusaas (6-10 sophomore) to work together that could be a great combination.  Add in Tony Thasher and you've got some good pieces.  Now all HU needs is a point guard.  PI - Any word on that?

[Drake Palmer]

Hey Local, you beat me to the punch.  Like you said, seems like no big surprises or recruits, other than SO transfer Chris Hasse & the other 2 FY. Gustie Roster

In an admittedly down year for the MIAC, I still can't see why some posters are selecting the Gusties to finish as high as 2nd.  Looking over their roster I don't see where a lot of points are going to come from unless Coach Hanson decides to turn potential super soph Jesse Van Sickle loose, & seldom used 6-9 post Sam Paulson, or Hasse drastically improved their games during the off-season.  Obviously Trevor Wittwer will get his points, but he can't carry the offensive load.  Now I realize last year was an injury plagued season for him, but so far, it doesn't seem Wittwer has the elusive leadership quality that some of the great players seem to possess and make their teammates better players. 

On the other side of the ball, last spring even our semi-exiled (?) poster in-arms, Willy Wonka was bemoaning the defensive abilities of Wittwer & Andrew Doble, 2 seniors who will be expected to do a lot of the defensive heavy lifting. 

Also, does anyone know if the coaching staff decided to not renew Tyler Kaus' 3-year lease in the basketball doghouse, & will actually let him out to play basketball this year?    (Now if this doesn't lure Willy out of seclusion I don't know what will  )

And every year in Winona it seems they have high hopes.

[d3bballfollower]

going back to Hamline and Hipp....I saw him play about 12-13 times at Totino Grace last year and he was inconsistent at best, and unless he grew a ton over the summer he is not 6'10", last year he was listed at 6'7" and that was right because I am 6'6" and standing next to we were about even...Hipp has the potential to be a decent MIAC post player, but he is still very raw...hopefully he can keep up with Whitmore's fast-paced run and gun style...having played against a Whitmore coached Brockport team I know exactly just how potent his teams can be with the right people...in his system you need to have a scorer (Thrasher), a big man (Gusaas), a guy who can knock down the 3-ball consistently (Tanner Anderson?), someone who can play D and pass (don't know who that could be) and finally, they need a good, solid point guard who can handle the rock and get the ball up the floor quickly (no Weiner, so who do they turn to?)...

[Drake Palmer]

Umm D3BO - not to be facetious, (oh ok, just a little bit  ) but couldn't you say this about most any team?

going back to Hamline....having played against a Whitmore coached Brockport team I know exactly just how potent his teams can be with the right people...in his system you need to have a scorer (Thrasher), a big man (Gusaas), a guy who can knock down the 3-ball consistently (Tanner Anderson?), someone who can play D and pass (don't know who that could be) and finally, they need a good, solid point guard who can handle the rock and get the ball up the floor quickly (no Weiner, so who do they turn to?)...

However, I'm impressed that you could pull Tanner Anderson's name out of the hat.  About the only thing I knew about him is that he transferred from "Happy Valley" – St. Peter, to Hamline. 

The guy I think who could really flourish in Whitmore's uptempo style is Zev Kujolic.  The kid is long, lean, quick, & athletic.  Outside of a number of dunks I saw Ike make, Kujolic had the best dunk I saw in the MIAC last year.  He could potentially be the athletic combo wing/forward who does a number of things well.

[WXYZ]

Drake,

Zev is a real gym rat. He is a leader in organizing open gyms and seems to compete in every dunk contest in town. It would be nice to see him thrive.

[miacwatchmen]

Al McCoy for the Tommies looked like he was working pretty hard in the summer leagues. He can lose some weight, but his aggression looked good.

I personally think "Big Al" looked alot better as a player when he was a freshman. He really knew how to use his body to his advantage. This last year as a sophmore it looked like his added size limited his athletic ability a little bit more. He is still a solid player but I agree losing a few lbs. may help him out.

[MiacLostProphet]

 D3BO:  1-11.  That was what Anderson was from 3 last year.  The more consistent and safer bet would be Zev.  He was 16 of 41 at around 40%.  If he can keep that percentage up he will make a killing beyond the arc.  Especially in that run and gun offense i've heard about.

Yes local it was Karl Hipp.  The Miac freshman of the year.

D3BO: I did not see Hipp play in high school but i did see him play this summer and early into the school year.  He dominated the competition.  Got rebounds, had put backs, and seemed to have a really nice 10 footer.  I would say he's a more legit 6; 10" than that of Eric Gusaas.

Gustavus will be at tops of the conference because of coaching and execution.  They are always well coached and play tough tough defense and are nearly unbeatable at home.  More Doble with Wittwer migh be a scary combination.