MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TommieHoops4Life]

Tommies beat Concordia 74-63, sounded like from the end of the web cast that it should have been far more lopsided than 11 points.

[piperinsider]

Saint Mary's 67, Macalester 65 
http://www.saintmaryssports.com/custompages/mbball/2008/1205mac.htm

Augsburg 76, Hamline 73
http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/mbasket/0809statistics/120308HU.HTM
* Clute turned over the ball on the final possession

Saint John's 81, Bethel 73
http://www.gojohnnies.com/news/2008/12/3/BASKETBALL_1203082258.aspx?path=mbball

St. Thomas 74, Concordia 63
http://www.tommiesports.com/mbb/stats/12-3mbb.htm

[Drake Palmer]

Tommies beat Concordia 74-63, sounded like from the end of the web cast that it should have been far more lopsided than 11 points.

TH4L - NO.  I caught the 2nd half of the game & the Tommies were lucky to escape with their lives.  That was a butt uuglee game!  First half shooting woes (28%), killed on the boards, no offensive rhythm, but fortunately UST brought their defense & thank the basketball gods you have Great Scott!  Joe Scott was killing them, looks like BJ Viau spent some time working on his funky looking jumper, & Al McCoy was the only consistent inside threat UST had. 

The Cobbs are going to knock some heads this year.

And can I say - "I told you so" to all of you picking Hamline over the Dawgs because the Dawgs got spanked by Winona State??   I'll admit I thought the game was going to be a toss up which is why I only gave it a confidence rating of 1.

Redbirds break the Scots jinx.

And in the biggest upset of the night - Johnnies are flaming hot & knock off Bethel on their home court.  FY PG Andy Burns is the game high scorer with 24 points.  What??  And to boot, he & his high school teammate Andrew Latzke (16 pnts) are a combined 8-10 from behind the arc.  Who can honestly say they saw this coming?   Shocked

[Willy Wonka]

Is anyone else shocked that the lockdown Bethel defense held SJU to a paltry 40 points in the second half and still lost? I'm surprised they weren't able mount a comeback with a stellar performance like that.

And where's the Nicolai for Future MVP Bandwagon now? 3 points, 4 boards and 0 assists in 29 minutes. Leslie and Waldvogel are lurking, waiting, watching.

[VOJ]

Hate to go back to back...but since we are on point guards, who is the best point guard in the MIAC? 

Peronally I like Sutherland at Carleton, but there are many other good ones as well

I'll second that, although you'll probably get some arguments for Olson at CC, Laugen at Bethel and Nicolai at UST.  Olson seems to make the Cobber engine run.  What I think may set Sutherland apart is his size.  In the first game of the season he blocked 6 shots and he has 10 on the year in 3 games.  He's also quick and can get to the rack and finish.

I was hoping one of my posts would trigger some responses.  I'd forgotten about Hurley since I was watching Wojo on the sidelines & Paulus getting a few minutes on the floor.

Top 3 Disliked Duke PGs

1)  Hurley

2) Wojo (this is when I began to develop my love-hate thing with the defensive floor slap - talk about weak sauce!)
3)  Paulus

In recent years, I think the 2 PGs in the MIAC that have elicited the strongest reactions were Pat McKenzie at SJU & Sean Sweeney at UST.  You ether loved them or hated them.  I was kinda hoping Mike Deslauriers at GAC would turn into one of those fiery leaders but so far he has not.  Junior Jeremy Sutherland at Carleton has excellent potential to fit in this category.   

In terms of best all around PG I'm surprised you guys didn't mention Jon Cassens at Augsburg. For my money he's the best all around PG in the league and it isn't even close. He scores, distributes, plays good defense and is a good leader. If I'm not mistaken this is his 2nd year serving as team captain and he's only a junior.

Karl Olson at Concordia is nice, but I don't think he's ever going to be a big time scorer.  However, he does all of the other things real well & has an excellent mental approach to play PG.

Bethel's Corey Laugen is talented, but he's had injuries throughout his career & defensively I wouldn't rate him ahead of Cassens or Olson.   Tyler Nicolai from UST certainly has all of the tools to be an outstanding PG, but I get the sense sometimes he wishes he was a 6-3 shooting guard.

Carleton's Jeremy Sutherland can struggle with his shot, but he's a steady hand running the Knights offense & IMO, defensively he's the best of the PG bunch.  He's a talented, long, lean, mean, quick player, has a bit of a chip on his shoulder & a sneer on his face.  I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him make the All-MIAC Defense Team.
*************
Am I only one who got stoked by watching the Gophers play last night?  When Damian Johnson, Al Nolen & crew defensively began wrecking havoc on Virginia it was a display of athleticism, good teamwork and intensity which got me fired me thinking about tonight.

Give me ugly ball Carleton & UST in Norffield, the OT thrilla a couple of years ago when UST beat the Royals at Bethel,  the Carlies & the Gusties, wrassling matches with the Cobbs up in Moorhead, MAC knocking off Gustavus in St. Peter,  Doug Espenson getting teed up against the Pipes, & the rivalry games between the Tommies & the Johnnies. 

Great stuff – can't wait!

Drake...quite frankly I am a little shocked that we have found something we agree on, but to tell you the truth I disliked Laettner and Hurly equally...and even though Coach K and I share a similiar heritage, the only time I have ever cheered for one of his teams was this past olympics. 

What did people have against my man P-Mac...I admit some bias here but he he was a fiery leader who tried to make his teammates better...As for Sweeney HE was a main reason that UST was as good as they were, this was pointed out to me by a coach I like to refer to as Yoda, he has great knowledge.  Didn't they go 19-1  or 18-2 and the losses were the games he missed??

To tell you the truth I did not think of Cassens, he was held in check in C'ville last year and had 20 against the J's at Auggy...he is very good but when I saw Carleton with and without Sutherland it was a huge difference, which is maybe why I noticed him more.

As for Laugen, he seemed to be the third option last night down the stretch and didn't play until Brown and Vavra had fouled out...

[VOJ]

Am I only one who got stoked by watching the Gophers play last night?  When Damian Johnson, Al Nolen & crew defensively began wrecking havoc on Virginia it was a display of athleticism, good teamwork and intensity which got me fired me thinking about tonight.

nothin i love more than the full court pressure D that my main man Orlando Smith brought to the university of mn...lookin forward to seein what they look like when paul carter gets back from his injury...i think they will be solid up front when williams gets back as well and the way iverson is playing williams should provide some good minutes as his backup

Gophers have a real chance to be players in the Big 10, Michigan State looks down, Wisconsin is beatable...and I think they only play Purdue once, and they have two games with Indiana which this year is a good thing.

[ChairmanYao]

Howdy all. Long time reader, first time poster. Just a few things...

William Avery? Not the most well known Duke point guard, but there is not much that tops UCONN taking down the Dukies in the 99 title game. Add to the fact that he was a lottery pick by the Wolves to add insult to injury when he did nothing for them.

Have made it to a couple Gopher games and have been mildly impressed. Sampson hasn't come around yet. They are a ferocious bunch on defense. Next year should be pretty exciting with the guys they have coming in.

Caught the end of the Piper/Augsburg game last night. Augsburg had ice in the veins down the stretch with sinking freethrows to keep the Pipes at bay. Brandon Hayes was huge in Hamline's comeback. I think they are starting to have the guys to run Whitmore's defense. They have just been much to inconsistent on the offensive end.

[Nites]

Welcome aboard, Yao!

Why so many turnovers again for Hamline?  Is it poor point guard play or something else?

[Drake Palmer]

A couple of random comments & observations

Chairman Yao- Love the name. +k
***

Is anyone else shocked that the lockdown Bethel defense held SJU to a paltry 40 points in the second half and still lost? I'm surprised they weren't able mount a comeback with a stellar performance like that.

And where's the Nicolai for Future MVP Bandwagon now? 3 points, 4 boards and 0 assists in 29 minutes. Leslie and Waldvogel are lurking, waiting, watching.

Willy - you seem to have regained your usual swagger after your beloved Gusties recovered from a shot to ballast (Bethany Lutheran), and have managed to bail most of the water (upset win over Buena Vista), and straightened out the sail (respectable performance against Winona State)  for this season's tour of the basketball high seas.  I was getting ready to measure you up for a humility suit – about a 46 long?   
*****
I wonder after these many years if the Bethel coaches have started talking among themselves – "Does our cream puff schedule have anything to do with our lack of post season success"? Virtually every team in the conference this year will have played a tougher non conference schedule than the Royals.  Even Northwestern for crips sake!

Oops, O post on this board so much I forgot they're not a part of the MIAC.  But seriously, St. Scholastica, Bethany Lutheran & Northwestern, the 2-3 UMAC teams that are really pushing at the door for D3 hoops credibility have all played much more challenging schedules than the Royals.

In addition the MIAC teams they all play, those UMAC teams will have also played:  Wartburg, Central, UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Superior, St. Norbert, a Holiday D3 tourney in Connecticut, plus D2 MN State-Mankato & SW State.

Compare that schedule to Bethel's killer non conference schedule:

Martin Luther, Mount Marty (they had to send scouts out to find this school), Grand View, & North Central Bible College. 
 

[AO]

It helps to have 11 non-conference games, rather than 5. You also could have mentioned an undefeated and likely ranked by the time they get here Gordon team coming to town in January to play Northwestern and Crown.   Also, North Central University looks like a legitimate college basketball team this season, I wouldn't be surprised if they were a very good test for the royals.

[columbianmaffia]

Leslie and Waldvogel are lurking, waiting, watching.

...judging, look at the baby look at the baby



YAOSER!!!

I LOVE THE NEW NAME!!!!!!!!!!!

+K

BAM!!!!!!!

JUST A NOTE OF ADVICE YAO....NO WEAK SAUCE!! HA!

[Willy Wonka]

Drake - I've got to take my shots while I can. I've gone from decidedly down to cautiously optimistic on the Gusties. I'm even considering a mea culpa on McPartland. Let's just say I'm interested to see them play on Monday so I can make my own opinions.

But seriously, you ignored my major mystery: What's going on with everyone's favorite PG, Tyler Nicolai? He's currently averaging 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists, which puts the starting point guard for the conference favorite tied for eighth in dimes on his own team. He's also shooting just 42% from the floor and 28% at the stripe.

This is the future of the MIAC? Really? I was down on him during the offseason, but I never expected him to go complete sophomore slump on us either. Has anyone seen him play yet? Can anyone provide some insight? Is he hurt? Was he lazy in the offseason? I realize he's only played 22 minutes a night in some blowouts, but there's got to be more to the story here...right?

[TommieHoops4Life]

WW,

Give it a rest, it's only 1 conference game! You mailed in the Gusties' season a few weeks ago, only to jump back on the bandwagon and now you're going nuts because Nicolai has one off night in the MIAC? Maybe his role is changing a bit. What's in the water in Red Wing that you've put in your system?  I know nothing since I haven't seen any MIAC hoops myself yet.

DP,

I was listening to the MSBN broadcast of the Tommies and Cobbers, the guy said UST had a chance to run away with it and didn't.

Michigan State isn't down, they're 12th in the nation for god's sake even though they got spanked last night. Big Ten will be tough this year, but the Gophers looked decent against Virginia after a really ugly, sloppy start. I'm becoming a big fan of Iverson, Sampson is still trying to walk and chew gum at the same time, he'll get there.

[Willy Wonka]

WW,

Give it a rest, it's only 1 conference game! You mailed in the Gusties' season a few weeks ago, only to jump back on the bandwagon and now you're going nuts because Nicolai has one off night in the MIAC? Maybe his role is changing a bit. What's in the water in Red Wing that you've put in your system?  I know nothing since I haven't seen any MIAC hoops myself yet.

Since giving it a rest is the antithesis of the Wonka Way, I'll go ahead and take things a step further.

• Nicolai went assist-less four times in 28 games last year. It's happened twice in four* games this year.

• He's averaging 6.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 0.8 APG through four games. He averaged 10.2, 2.2 and 2.5 last year.

• He shot 48.5% from the floor and 76.7% from the line last year. He's shooting 42% and 28.6% this year.

• He was terrible in three of UST's final four games a year ago, culminating with a benching in the second half of the national tournament upset. He's been well below advertised through 4 (3?) games so far this year.

Isn't it fair to expect some sort of improvement over the offseason? Especially for someone who most posters predicted would be an MVP winner before his career is done?

For the sake of argument, GAC's DeLo is also off to a disappointing start. He's shooting 30% and scoring just 3.7 a game for a team that could use another impact player on offense. However, he's still doing PG things — 12 assists to just 2 turnovers in three games.



*He's listed as playing 0 minutes in the opener, yet the cumulative stats say he's started and played in all four games. What's up? One way or another, this skews things.

[gacbacker]

With a team like St. Thomas that is loaded with talent, is it really that unusual for an all-conference caliber player like Nicolai to go a few games with poor numbers? I don't think so. Give it two weeks and get back to us WW.