MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bleednavyblue_GoBU]

Great game by the Tommies last night...

Game re-cap -

If Joe Scott plays four more games like that, and the Tommies finish 18-2...he is the MVP.  Wow...I can't even remember the shots he missed...I honestly thought he was 6-6 or 6-7 from 3 pt. land.  

Twice Bethel plays solid "D" and have the shot clock under 10 seconds...I stand up and clap for encouragement...and both times...Joe Scott drains a deep 3.  The first one was off a high pick (and Moberg got a nice hand up to contest) and the second was off a wild kick-out pass that he bats the ground picks up quickly and drains it.  I sat down quietly  

Bethel could have played better D, but it wasn't terrible...give credit where credit it due...UST shoots 59.3 %

Two players who I thought were terrible (on the offensive end) the first game...were good last night...# 40 Sam Eicher, # 5 Teddy Archer.  

UST did a nice job of being physical with Madson...you could tell he was frustrated...he still goes for 20 on 50% shooting

Moberg was big in the first half...and once again, BU goes away from him in the second half...really frustrating!  

Laugen wasn't 100%...still having headaches and his eye is all messed up...once he is healthy it will really help the Royals!

I don't mind UST getting a big head at this point of the season (point in case: Archer's stupid/silly dance after a nice dunk).  I doubt/hope they won't play this well if the Royals play them again in the playoffs.  If is hard to beat a team 3 times (that is what I said for many years against GAC and that didn't work out  )

Nicolai plays like a junior...not a freshman.  

UST still has the craziest/weirdest/whiniest parents in the league.  

Nice BU student section...but way to quiet as a whole...where are the chants and jumping, and ooh-aahing...They need a lesson from Duke's student section...and No, Duke does not suck!

If you find your joy from a win or loss then you are looking in the wrong place...It is Always GREAT to be a Royal!  

[localcoach]

Woohoo...   5-0 in Pick'em.  I'm gaining ground!

PI - Word is Clute's nose is broken and his season is over.  Surgery is forthcoming.  Tough way to finish out a nice freshman campaign. 

[concordia of the north]

i can't believe how many of you yahoo's are thinking the Cobbs might slip out of the playoffs!  They've never been lower than 6th in this conference season (which is 3/4ths over).  Are you saying they go 9-6 and then 0-5?  Not likely.

I'm excited for Bethel-Cobbs on Saturday.  After that game, we'll have a much better idea about 3rd thru 6th.

It looked like the lone psycho in the Bethel crowd tried his best to restrain himself at the UST game.  A couple of times he jumped up and then looked at what I'm assuming was his wife before forcing himself back into his seat.

However, I did notice Bethel A.D. Bob Bjorklund go sit next to him for a few minutes and then leave motioning for the crazy to restrain himself.  Yikes.

[concordia of the north]

by the way, Teddy Archer needs two things:

-a good talking to
-a dance class

what a clown.  maybe it was his first dunk? it was pretty routine and the foul was a phantom.  maybe he just wants to be remembered at UST and in the MIAC as a kid who scores 4-8 points a game, grabs a couple rebounds and then goes bananas and falls in love with himself when his skin makes contact with that weird, round, metal thing.

[piperinsider]

What the heck is going on in the pipes rotation?  anyone have a clue.  DunKujolic and Clute don't log any minutes, injuries maybe, i don't know.  But Concordia helps itself big time with this win in the standings while pretty much eliminating the Pipes, unless a they have a 5-0 run in them that no one knows about. 

WW- Duke sucks? they haven't been spectacular as of late but this year they are outplaying bigger more athletic teams as gac backer pointed out.  I just wish the game would have come down to a buzzer beating, its just better when its exciting till the end.

It is always a good day to not be a Royal

How about from 2002-2005? It wasn't a good time to be a Royal?

I always love that one.

[gacbacker]

Duke sucks.

Yeah...I hate teams that play smarter than their opponents, have players who don't feel the need to pound their chests after every made basket, and players who tend to stay in school for four years.

Yeah...Duke really sucks.

Not to get involved in a GAC civil war(should we call this Gutie on Gustie crime?)...anyway, didn't Luol Deng leave early...how about Elton Brand, and Josh McRoberts ring a bell?  Oh how about William Avery...washout guard with the Wolves?  Those are off the top of my head...should I go look for a few more?   As for chest thumping...every program has at least one guy if not more who does that crap...

Duke...no titles since 2000-01...hope that trend continues...oh and you can lump Notre Dame in with Duke...although Mike Brey might be the lone Coach K disciple who has done anything...but that is not saying much...Its more the Notre Dame FB that I am not a fan of...

VOJ- Of course Duke has had players leave early, that's why I said they have players who TEND to stay in school for four years. You know like Laettner, Hurley, Grant Hill, Duhon, Battier, Redick, Sheldon Williams. Not surprisingly those players were rewarded with a lot of success. Under Coach K, 61 of 65 players who played all four years of eligibility went to at least one final four.

Hate on Duke all you want, they are still the classiest, most successful program of our lifetime, not to mention the fact that they play their home games in the greatest atmosphere in all of college athletics.

[piperinsider]

Here's a story on that Felt kid we were talking about 5-6 pages ago:
http://www.wctrib.com/articles/index.cfm?id=31337&section=sports

[Willy Wonka]

Duke = Classy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4lS7wjkBwY

A few observations about the Gustie game last night.

• Holland scored 7 straight points for SMU early in the game with some sick jumpers. He was the only one who played even relatively well for them.
• GAC went on something like a 53-19 "run" after trailing 21-19.
• Doble shot 8 of the first 9 times he touched the ball.
• SMU had absolutely no intention of playing defense last night off the ball. Kane scored like 8 layups on simple cuts to the hoop.
• SMU warmed up like they were playing in friendship bowl of the intramural league.
• Winona State fans littered the crowd last night, making it feel like a Gustie home game. Two crazies painted their bodies black and chanted for Drinkall all game...until former SMU coach Biebel told them to shut up.
• Nick Carr started inside for SMU and did nothing. Wasn't he supposed to be a star if given PT?
• SMU assistant Nigel Jenkins was stranded in a snowstorm between Illinois and Winona last night on a recruiting trip gone bad.

Greg Oden's commercial is hilarious.

[Drake Palmer]

Trifecta coming...

Nice recap Bleed.  And charity does begin at home. 

Royals keep putting in that type of effort & tweak a few things, they should be tough come playoff time.   For a change, I'd like to seem them come out in the 2nd half & go right to Moberg, rather than letting Tim Madson try to single-handedly get the Royals back into the game.  In the game against the Gusties & now Tommies, Bethel has done the same thing.  They ran a nice balance of inside-outside play in the first half, and then let Madson try to take over in the 2nd half.  Madson has no problem creating his shots, but Bethel needs to stop being impatient, run their offense, take good squared up shots by the other players, & continue to get Moberg some touches.

Overall, I thought Bethel played decent defense & you could see their strategy was to prevent anything from developing inside, so they tried to pack the middle to prevent dribble drives & dimes, & the faint resemblance of a post game by the Tommies.  The Royals did a good job of preventing layups & the like, but it left open the perimeter for the hot as blazes Joe Scott & crew.

In the second half, Bethel started really tightening up on the perimeter and it opened up the inside for B.J. Viau - 9 second half points, Sam Eicher & that funky, old school "dang I hate that shot" left-handed hook shot of his for 6 points, & the Maestro – Al McCoy, 3 points & two 2nd half assists, 4 assists overall.  In my opinion, McCoy should be credited with a 3rd 2nd half assist.  Late in the 2nd half, B.J. Viau misses a FT.  McCoy flies out of the lane like a bowling ball, and beats (knocks over like a bowling pin) a Bethel defender to the loose ball.  The Bethel fans are screaming bloody murder for the refs to call a foul on Al; the ball bounces over to Robinson who quickly spots a wide open Joe Scott for a 3 - money. As poorly as the refs called the game all night, it was almost as if they said, any kid that hustles that much has earned the right to the ball.  Good upps big man!

[bleednavyblue_GoBU]

Drake -

That play you speak of was huge...it was 9 points at the time and Bethel had just hit two tough shots and had things rolling.  As a Bethel fan I wanted a whistle (it is hard to tell with McCoy if he is fouling or just being massive and people are bouncing off him)...I think the ref had the same confusion and by that time it was too late to blow the whistle. 

Joe Scott hits the three and it goes back to 12 points...dagger.

I respect the hustle by the big man!   

[Drake Palmer]

Part 2.

...
I don't mind UST getting a big head at this point of the season (point in case: Archer's stupid/silly dance after a nice dunk).  I doubt/hope they won't play this well if the Royals play them again in the playoffs.  If is hard to beat a team 3 times (that is what I said for many years against GAC and that didn't work out  )

by the way, Teddy Archer needs two things:

-a good talking to
-a dance class

what a clown.  maybe it was his first dunk? it was pretty routine and the foul was a phantom.  maybe he just wants to be remembered at UST and in the MIAC as a kid who scores 4-8 points a game, grabs a couple rebounds and then goes bananas and falls in love with himself when his skin makes contact with that weird, round, metal thing.

What? I missed it, the celebration that is. Seriously - I was laughing too much.   If you think Archer's dance celebration was bad last night, you should have been in Northfield when they played the Oles. One way to prevent that is to stop the fast break from going back to the basket by the opposing team's student section.  In the first half I counted 3-4 times when Bethel turned the ball, leading to a leak-out & basket on the other end. That's the 8 point halftime difference right there.  That being said, I do agree Archer's celebration tends to be a bit excessive.   But who wants everyone to play like the Spurs?

By the way, that was not a routine dunk.  You know & I know that was a pretty nice play.  But as it turns out, it was a warm up dunk for the dunks to follow. Fy Halvorsen with a quick up & poke - ok nice but he's 6-8.

But the bookend dunks, now those were nice.  In the closing minute of the game Bethel turns the ball over, Scott picks it up, goes up & throws down a one-handed NBA-like tomahawk dunk with a Bethel defender draped all over him. Not to be outdone, Viau gets a steal & goes in for a tomahawk with his left hand!  At the end of the season, I'll refer to those dunks as the Bookend Dunks. 

[Drake Palmer]

Part 3.

PI – I've seen about half of the WIAC teams play this season but UW-Superior is one I've missed along with Eau Claire, Stevens Point & LAX.  If things work out, I'm hoping to see Eau Claire & Stevens Point next week.  I keep up a bit with the WIAC board & the posters over there seem to be optimistic with what's happening with the Superior & Eau Claire programs, & the talented newcomers they've brought in.

[columbianmaffia]

Nicolai is a stud, enough said.

i think he has very high potential to be a stud would be more accurate...he is a very good player right now who i would love to have on my team any day...i would expect him to be a great player next year and a stud in his junior and senior seasons

[columbianmaffia]

Duke sucks.

Second that.

It is always a good day to not be a Royal

Ha ha ha ha.

c-mob - learn how to spell dude 

[columbianmaffia]

c-mob - learn how to spell dude 

PTPer35: Learn how to use punctuation, dude.

(As someone who thinks that c-mob's unique slant on the English language is highly entertaining, I will always have the back of our roller-skating, "tripple"-consuming, boombahlatie-chasing friend.)

8) I LIKE THIS GUY!! 

speaking of boombalahties...i have a big weekend coming up in chicago in 8 days! i will woo the boombalahties with a romantic candle light dinner and then i will walk in to the club with all 5 of them on my arms and we will have an MTV grind fest as they bring me fresh brewskies