WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Collegeville Magic]

Strange stats from the UST box score last night.  Jen Dalhed, despite dressing for the game in a sweater and dress pants, was credited with 2 minutes played...

Blazers shoot 3-22 from the arch, not a performance likely to be repeated any time soon.  With the Cobbers ranked last in the MIAC in 3-pt % defense, hopefully CSB will convert on some open looks on Saturday.

First round of conference play in the books, and we've got a battle!

Go Blazers!

[Maroon&Gold]

CM-

So what exactly is the story with Dahled's injury?? Ankle, knee,??? Hopefully not serious. 

What is everyone's thoughts on overall level of play in the MIAC this year, up... down...

[hoopscoopsmiac]

Interesting. Picking up a loose ball should not be credited as a steal, however.

Not sure if I agree with that...what should it be credited as? HUH?

However, I don't think someone knocking the ball away from an offensive player and then their teammate picking it up should be credited with the steal, yet thats how it works.

PROPS to Sorbo for being aggressive and doing something you don't see in many players. I actually was impressed with her state line last night. Cannot wait to see her play. I give any player that is willing to dive on the floor or hustle after every lose ball all the credit in the world. It takes a special player to have this type of hustle. It's those small plays that can make a huge difference...and not only that it can change the energy/tempo of her own teammates.

Another player that seems to have this type of hustle is  #4 Michelle Richter from Augsburg.

[Korn Lover]

Yawn...coming to from another 7 hour round trip to Moorhead on Wednesday. Cobbers were on cruise control for the second consectuive game.

Good news the rest will be welcome for Saturday vs. the Bennies. I expect a game similar to last year where the Cobbers had righted the ship after an embarassing opener.

BlazerGuy, Collegeville, what is the story on Dalhed? Hopefully not lost to injury like so many others.

Gotta put in a plug for the Cobber's #34. Her hustle defense and surprising offense has been huge in the last 4 games. Going from sub to starter can be a challenge, but she's made the adjustment and stepped up.

Looking for a big crowd on Saturday! Go Cobbers!

[carletonsid]

Interesting. Picking up a loose ball should not be credited as a steal, however.

This one gets messed up the most by stat-takers

From the NCAA Basketball Stats Manual...
SECTION   6—STEALS
A steal is credited to a player when the player's positive, aggressive action(s),
which includes contact with the ball, causes a turnover by an opponent. This
may be accomplished by:
(a) Taking the ball away from an opponent in control of the ball.
(b) Getting a hand on the ball in control of an opponent and causing a held
ball to be called, and having his or her team be awarded the ball for a
throw-in.
(c) Batting a ball in control of an opponent to a teammate.
(d) Batting a ball in control of an opponent away from and off the opponent
and out of bounds.
(e) Intercepting an opponent's pass.
(f) Deflecting an opponent's pass to a teammate.
(g) Deflecting an opponent's pass away from and off an opponent and out of
bounds.

Philosophy. To earn a steal, the defensive player should be the initiator of
the action causing the turnover, not just the benefactor. The steal should be a
take-away, not just a recovery and not just a forced error.

[blazerguy]

Yawn...coming to from another 7 hour round trip to Moorhead on Wednesday. Cobbers were on cruise control for the second consectuive game.

Good news the rest will be welcome for Saturday vs. the Bennies. I expect a game similar to last year where the Cobbers had righted the ship after an embarassing opener.

BlazerGuy, Collegeville, what is the story on Dalhed? Hopefully not lost to injury like so many others.

Gotta put in a plug for the Cobber's #34. Her hustle defense and surprising offense has been huge in the last 4 games. Going from sub to starter can be a challenge, but she's made the adjustment and stepped up.

Looking for a big crowd on Saturday! Go Cobbers!

I believe its an ankle injury that should take another 2-3 weeks.

[Collegeville Magic]

Anybody (SS51)  see the UST-SMU game?  Are the Tommies beginning their now-annual slide earlier than expected?

Mindy Schmidt and Mackenzie O'Neill came up big up in Cobberland this afternoon.  52% shooting usually beats 34% shooting, and that held true today, despite the Cobs out-rebounding CSB 31 to 22.  The Blazers had 18 assists to Concordia's 5.

Good team basketball and stingy defense are definitely the hallmarks of the Blazers.  Here's hoping the conference upset bug doesn't catch up to this team before the games at Carleton and GAC.

Go Blazers!

[hoopscoopsmiac]

It seems like Gotchnik should have dominated against this SMU team. In fact most of St. Thomas players should have had a field day with their height. Not sure what it is though...it seems like all the posts in our conference who are 5'11", athletic (Hageman, Monahan, Gotchnik, etc) should easily get 20+ points against SMU, but it isn't happening. Not sure if thats cause of SMU's defense or what. But HUGE win for the Cardinals.

St. Thomas definitely should have been able to score at will downlow, but constantly just threw the ball up. in hopes of a foul maybe??? They were very sloppy with the ball and didn't seem ready for SMU to be in the passing lanes and being scrappy. 

Looks like it will be an interesting second half of the season for all teams... not sure who is my favorite at this time. Feel like talent is definitely down from years past, but we'll see who is in the play-offs.

[LA RAMS]

Through the 1st half of the season, here's how I see things.....

MPV:  Bri Monahan - If she doesn't get it it'll be the biggest travesty since Renee Willette got passed over back in '02.

All-Conference:  Vadnais, Keeley, Hageman, Oken-Berg, Lincoln, Schneider, Petrich,
Noreen, Boone, Sampson, Gotchnik

All-First Year:  Schmidt, Radtke, Layman, Sorbo, T. PaStarr, D. Johnson, Connor, Sather

All-Defensive:  Vadnais, Monahan, T. Johnson, Katch, Gotchnik, Oken-Berg

Coach Of The Year:  I'll give the edge to Rufsvold here......just a bit early to tell.

Most Surprising Team:  Macalester, who else? 

Most Disappointing Team:  St. Olaf (although I'm getting more and more inclined to throw Concordia in there)

Hardest Team To Figure Out:  UST.  Can anybody out there explain this group?  They looked like one of the top teams in the conference in beating St. Kate's last Monday then lost a tough one at home to CSB two nights later only to be bounced by SMU on Saturday. 

I still sticking with my earlier pick of GAC winning the conference and their win yesterday over at Mac makes me feel that much better about it.  It's not just the Bri Monahan - Jess Vadnais show anymore.  True, they're the two go-to still but I like how the new kids on the block are making things happen now as well, particularly Radtke and Layman.  CSB should still be there at the end but it might be a bridge too far for them to win it with the injury-depleted squad they have now.  Carleton will certainly stay in the mix and they're a solid playoff team but they're too young and/or unreliable in the backcourt and they got exposed BIG TIME in the Knights Stalingrad-esque performance in St. Peter the other night.  Concordia, after yesterday's home loss to CSB, now has to look in terms of improving its plaoff positioning as they're already 3 games back of the current league-leading Blazers.  I would guess then that UST and St. Kate's will grab the 5th and 6th spots, respectively, becoming early casualties in the MIAC playoffs though I think the Tommies are under-achieving with the size they have.         

[scorekeeper]

LA Rams: I like all of your midseason awards except 2.  First, Mackenzie O'Neil should not only be on the all-defensive team, she should be the defensive player of the year.  She proved it again yesterday as she locked down on Keeley, holding her to 4-13 shooting and no 3 pointers.  (Mindy Schmidt played a hand in that as well).  With Dalhed out, Mac has drawn the top perimeter player of the opponent and she continues to set the pace for the defensive minded Blazers who are giving up just 49 ppg.  O'Neil also leads the league in steals.  She had 4 more yesterday.  That makes 10 steals for her this year against the team picked to win the MIAC in the pre-season.  In those two games, Keeley scored just 5 and 12 points and did not hit a 3. 

Number two, although I like what the St. Kate's coach has done (including beating my Blazers), his team is 7-5 and they fell on their face two consecutive times after beating CSB. Durbin is my pick.   The Blazers do not have a player in the top 15 in scoring or minutes played.  They lost the MVP of the MIAC to graduation and then watched an All-Conference Player in Kempe go down with an injury and then an all-defensive player in Dalhed go down with an ankle injury.  Yet, through it all, the Blazers are right back in their familiar position at the top the conference.  I sure hope that by issuing this praise I don't jinx the Blazers for the rest of the season.   

[Korn Lover]

LA- Most disappointing team Concordia? Give me a break. If memory serves, they rattled off 5 straight before the CSB loss. And while giving credit to the Blazers (Ouch that hurts... , if the Cobbers had closed out on the three point shooters in the first half, the game would have been much closer. In both games, the second half was even after spotting the Blazers double digit leads. Cannot do that against that team, too much talent (Ouch...that really hurts!).

Also, If I recall, the Cobbers have wins against both GAC and Carelton. MAC and Hamline losses are bumps and embarassing, but only four losses and they are a disppointment? Methinks not!

But, that why we post and they play the games, right?!

Good luck to all on Monday.

[Pat Coleman]

Interesting. Picking up a loose ball should not be credited as a steal, however.

Not sure if I agree with that...what should it be credited as? HUH?

Nothing. Not every change of possession is a steal. If someone knocked the ball out and their team got possession, then the person who knocked the ball out should get the steal.

[Willy Wonka]

LA Rams: I like all of your midseason awards except 2.  First, Mackenzie O'Neil should not only be on the all-defensive team, she should be the defensive player of the year.

Unless the league office is going to hand out a new award based on O'Neil's apparent excellence, she's going to have to settle for all-defensive team. Good try, though.

Having seen more Gustie games this year than all but gacbacker, I'm inclined to vote for Vadnais as the midseason MVP. Obviously, the team wouldn't be anywhere without either - and I still think Monahan should've won last year - but Vadnais has simply been better across the board. Take a look at the MIAC leaders and see if you don't agree.

[Da-dented1]

A question for all;

Does anyone think the current MIAC schedule of three games per week has any effect on the rash of injuries? Is there a relation between the number of games (And associated fatigue) in January and the recent injuries?

Respecting the fact that others years have had fewer numbers of injuries, I'm just wondering out loud here.

Thoughts?

[Da-dented1]

New on the board - excuse the unfamiliarity.

I'd like you posters to give the quote from Cager some serious consideration and thoughts.  How about we do a little brainstorming on what could be done about something that I believe has validity to possibly decrease injuries, etc.  In reviewing other conferences such as UMAC, IIAC, and WIAC, note number of games, number of teams in conference and game schedules in January.