MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

By the poll, not to much confidence in your Tommies.  Why is that?  This is a serious question since I know nothing about them, except they beat Winona State.  Is that their only claim to fame? 

Seriously though.  4 think they'll lose to Buena Vista, a team and conference that doesn't seem to do too well in the tourney, and even worse on the road.  Do you really think Chicago and Point are that good?  I don't know anything about Chicago, but they do have a good number of losses and Point didn't win the WIAC.  They are also probably playing without one of their main 3-pt threats in Pete Rortvedt.  He injured his ankle in the WIAC Final on Saturday.

Just curious that there aren't even too many "homer" picks!

[larry_u]

What poster is drinking the purple juice - win it all. 

There are three posters (I think) that Lawrence is winning it all. So it goes. 

This Lawrence poster is level headed.  I have both UST and Lawrence losing in round 2

[USTDynasty]

Old School.... (Tom Doebler)  I think the reason that people have no confidence in the Tommies this year is because they have won games, but played quite inconsistent all year.  They also lack a big presence in the paint.  The fact that they rely on the outside shot so much makes them seem like a team that is ready to be upset.  I don't see it happening to BV though.  Their strong guard play shouldn't effect the Tommies too much.  UST may be young and inexperienced but the early upset is unlikely especially since its at the Shoe.

[Greek Tragedy]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, if Point and St. Thomas win their Friday games, they match up well on Saturday.  Point doesn't have a dominant post game either and they rely on their guards as well.  They shoot a lot of threes and don't get to the line too much because of their number of jumpers they take.  We have deep bench and there are plenty of scorers on the team, so you can't concentrate on just one player.  I don't think I'll make it over there because it's 5 1/2+ hours for me. 

Larry U and I are conspiring because he's going to this sectional with Point in it and I'm probably going to the Whitewater sectional with Lawrence in it! lol...

[SLP-O-8]

BV has a very strong inside game as well.  In the IIAC semifinals against Dubuque, all 4 of their inside players ended in double figures with 18, 16, 12, 10. 

[Greek Tragedy]

BV has a very strong inside game as well.  In the IIAC semifinals against Dubuque, all 4 of their inside players ended in double figures with 18, 16, 12, 10. 

But it's DUBUQUE! lol    ...sorry. 

[Willy Wonka]

Why does Baker start/play for the Tommies? It's not like he's a senior getting token time or anything. It almost makes me think he was promised a starting spot when he was recruited...especially after seeing him start and barely/not get off the bench in the second half twice against GAC this year.

I'm not saying he doesn't have potential, but McCoy and Eicher (sp?) are clearly more effective players at this point in Baker's career.

MIG — You recall correctly. I asked for an address after the game and was met with a funny line from the GAC contingent — "For which one?" They weren't smiling.

[tommiepitcher]

I have wondered why Baket starts ever since last year when he started against LAX because Ike was sick. 

Maybe its just to get the other center feeling secure before Al "insert terrifying nickname" McCoy comes up and messes with their chi?

[Dawg-Dude]

I saw the MIAC final. Great game. No need to go into all that's been covered. I sat in a mix of GAC and UST fans in the upper deck. Good mix of people but packed. I was surprised by the 1700 in attendance. It was about as close to standing room only as you could get.

Two questions for the MIAC Brethren of this board.
1) On GAC's last possession, why no time out? They definitely struggled to get the ball to Van Sic and even when he did get the ball, UST road him like Seabiscuit. Buy why no time out to set something up with 16 seconds left? Help me understand the thinking....

2) Who was the dude running around with his shirt off on the UST side?? Tell me it wasn't a poster from this board.....

[piperinsider]

It's really hard to pick UST to go anywhere special when I picked them to finish 5th in the MIAC this season. Personally, I think we are a tad down, and when I thought we were a tad up, UST lost. So, I just don't see the Tommies winning more than one game.

Than again, what do I know? Not much. I only finished fourth in the Playoff Pick'em  .

[tommiepitcher]

I have absolutely no idea who that guy was... but I was one row behind him under the basket cheering him upward and onward all day.

The question is, was he funnier than our cheerleader who does those kicks??? 

[SLP-O-8]

BV has a very strong inside game as well.  In the IIAC semifinals against Dubuque, all 4 of their inside players ended in double figures with 18, 16, 12, 10. 

But it's DUBUQUE! lol    ...sorry. 

Oh i know that Dubuque isn't a good team was just basically pointing out that BV can have a very strong inside game when they need to.  Im really excited to head up to this game and hopefully we can bring quite enough few people up there. 

[kel_varnsen]

1) On GAC's last possession, why no time out? They definitely struggled to get the ball to Van Sic and even when he did get the ball, UST road him like Seabiscuit. Buy why no time out to set something up with 16 seconds left? Help me understand the thinking....

Coach Hanson has enough confidence in his players to put together a solid possesion without a timeout. Conventional wisdom suggests calling a time out to diagram a play. From the basketball I've seen, this is usually a huge mistake. The only thing a timeout accomplishes is to give the defense a chance to regroup.

A play in an almost identical situation put the Gusties in the championship game. Carleton missed the front end of a 1-1 leading by 3 with 11 seconds to play. The Gusties grabbed the rebound and took the ball straight down the court. The Carleton defense was scrambling trying to cover any shooters. They managed to contest Van Sickle's shot, but Robbie Schmidt was standing unguarded in the corner.

I'll take my chances against a disorganized defense any day.

[larry_u]

Old School.... (Tom Doebler)  I think the reason that people have no confidence in the Tommies this year is because they have won games, but played quite inconsistent all year.  They also lack a big presence in the paint.  The fact that they rely on the outside shot so much makes them seem like a team that is ready to be upset.  I don't see it happening to BV though.  Their strong guard play shouldn't effect the Tommies too much.  UST may be young and inexperienced but the early upset is unlikely especially since its at the Shoe.

St.Thomas isn't invincible in the Shoe however.  I was at the Carroll/ UST game last year when Carroll out played UST for 90% of the game and controlled Ike enough to move on to the sweet 16...so there is definitely a prescident for UST to lose at home.

[Russian Mig AK47]

We also lost at home to UW-Oshkosh in 2002 in one of the more exciting and ultimately depressing games that I have ever been apart of or that has ever been played in the Shoe.  For those of you who remember it...