WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[blazerguy]

Why not, we might as well get screwed by the committee one more time.

[PRF07]

Why not, we might as well get screwed by the committee one more time.

For the blazers to get to host that roughly means the committee is considering the blazers one of the top 16 teams in the nation.  Being that they weren't ranked before this week a jump to #16 is quite a stretch.  (I understand that the top 25 does not mean much to the committee, but it is a good measuring tool) A matchup with Simpson and then the a chance to play the best in the wiac would be a great opportunity for this blazer team.  The one thing that would upset me is if somehow the blazers end up against a wiac team in the first round or if 2 wiac teams are named hosts before the blazers.

Other than that I think it's all positive for this team.  Not a lot is expected out of the miac this year, hopefully they can surprise some people.

[D3BballRocks]

If you took her out of the UST equation, where would the women's UST b-ball team be?

They'd be at about the same place without Katch... between 3rd and 5th in the Miac having an underachieving season after they were picked to win the conference during the preseason.  Now take Fruedenberg from Concordia... and they might not make the playoffs. 

Both are deserving players, but as far as the arguement of who is more valuable to their team i think it is Fruedenberg.  I still believe that St. Thomas has the deepest team in the conference which works against Katch's value.  They have 3 or 4 players that had significant playing time last year are now role players coming off the bench. 

I was on the NCAA website http://ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary where you can find the top 500, nationally ranked players in each conference. They have Katch ranked in the top 500 nationally in 7 out of 10 categories. With Dee Prioleau (408th place) sharing in only one of the categories, blocked shots, (Katch being ranked 114th in blocked shots).

Now, Look up Concordia, specifically Freudenberg, she is listed in 6 of the 10 categories, along with 3 OTHER TEAMATES being listed in the top 500 nationally. Concordia is much deeper than you might like to believe. Your reasoning for Freudenberg being MVP doesn't add up.

[buf]

Why not, we might as well get screwed by the committee one more time.

For the blazers to get to host that roughly means the committee is considering the blazers one of the top 16 teams in the nation.  Being that they weren't ranked before this week a jump to #16 is quite a stretch.  (I understand that the top 25 does not mean much to the committee, but it is a good measuring tool) A matchup with Simpson and then the a chance to play the best in the wiac would be a great opportunity for this blazer team.  The one thing that would upset me is if somehow the blazers end up against a wiac team in the first round or if 2 wiac teams are named hosts before the blazers.

Other than that I think it's all positive for this team.  Not a lot is expected out of the miac this year, hopefully they can surprise some people.

Ideally, the top 2 teams in each of the 8 regions host (I know it doesn't always happen).  Below are last weeks regional rankings:

West Region
1. George Fox 20-0 25-0
2. St. Benedict 22-3 22-3
3. Simpson 18-3 22-3
4. Concordia-Moorhead 17-5 18-7
5. St. Thomas 18-7 18-7
6. Redlands 18-6 19-6

St. Bens is ranked 2nd and probably will remain there.  So they are in position to host.  Now weather it will happen or not remains to be seen.  They could possibly have 3 central teams host (taking one from the west), sending St. Bens somewhere else.  What I am getting at here is that its not totally out of question that St. Bens could host.

[PRF07]

  They have 3 or 4 players that had significant playing time last year are now role players coming off the bench. 

Your reasoning for Freudenberg being MVP doesn't add up.

Doesn't look too confusing to me.  I guess I could have clarified bench depth as part of my reasoning if that would have been more clear for you.  Either way both players are deserving and definitely a step above the rest of the players in the conference at this point.

[granny14]

It is good to hear a few opinions again.  Sounds as though it is a guessing game until tomorrow am. 

At any rate, does St. Ben's really have adequate space to host 3 other teams?  Also, how are the refs selected? 

Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

[LA RAMS]

CSB; with its record plus the fact that they not only were regular-season champs but also were champs of the MIAC Tournament with their MIAC Championship game win over Concordia last night SHOULD be enough for them to get to host the first couple of rounds.  If they wind up getting sent across the River to face a WIAC team right off the bat or out to Oregon in George Fox's backyard something is definitely wrong with the process. 

Congrats to both CSB and Concordia on their seasons this year.  Hope you both represent the MIAC well.

[buf]

At any rate, does St. Ben's really have adequate space to host 3 other teams?  Also, how are the refs selected? 

I believe they would be good to go.  Depending on what teams they would host, they could clear the gym in between games on Friday.

The main factors in hosting are 1) did you fill out the paperwork and 2) is the court long enough.

I would think St Bens qualifies for both

[buf]

St. Bens hosts, I think they play Ripon.

Simpson vs UWW

[buf]

Concordia Moorhead gets in.  They go to Point.

[WLCALUM83]

Concordia-WI statistics are here:

http://www.northernathleticsconf.com/sports/basketball_women/statistics/2008-09/cuw.htm

[LA RAMS]

I see that the MIAC post-season awards came out earlier today.  You know, I find it incredibly interesting that in the last 10 years or so Mike Durbin of CSB is never chosen for this award.  And nothing against Jessica Rahman of Concordia who did get it; she's a fine coach in her own right.  But how is it when you win 20+ games seemingly every season and have your team at or near the top of the conference every time you get bypassed?  In this case, all MD was win BOTH the regular season title AND the MIAC tournament and compile yet another great W-L record while losing starter Mindy Schmidt in the process and having the 3rd best talent in the league behind Bethel and Concordia?  Memo to MIAC coaches:  Would it be too much to ask to be a BIT more creative in the COY selection process rather than simply knocking down a few cold ones, perhaps smoking a joint or two and playing "Spin the Bottle" in the process?  C'mon.

Also, HOW does Jessica Katch of UST NOT get MVP?  Huh???  Again, nothing against Jenna Freudenberg of Concordia who did get it.  All Katch did was hold together a rag-tag UST team that was beset with a player defection, wracked with self-doubt, and humiliated in some lopsided losses together to go on a tear in the stretch run and narrowly miss out getting back to the MIAC Championship game.  There is simply NO, no way, tacoroo,  that UST does what it did this year w/o Katch. 

Granted, it's a travesty it took Jack Youngblood as long as it did to get into the NFL's Hall of Fame but this year's MIAC awards are a complete, utterly defenseless joke. 

[scorekeeper]

LA Rams, thanks for bringing me back from the posting dead.  It took another snub of Durbin to make a return to this board.  It's clear that the coaches are filled with petty jealousy when it comes to Mike Durbin.  I guess success breeds contempt from peers, but I would have hoped the rest of the coaches were above that. 

In one coach we have someone with the services of the Player of the Year and yet landed 3 games back of the conference champs and failed to beat them in 3 attempts.  In another coach you have someone who lost his best player, rattled off 10 consecutive victories and remains the only coach to have the distinction of guiding a team to both an outright regular season title and tourney title in the same year (he's done it twice in three years now).

What's even more amazing is that everyone looks at CSB basketball and dismisses Durbin's work because of how deep and talented St. Ben's is.  I don't seem to recall any St. Ben's players being talked about for Player of the Year this year or last year for that matter.  Or was there an All-America player I am forgetting about?

[gacbacker]

Like it or not, the coach of the year award, in the MIAC and in all college basketball conferences has come to mean the coach of the team who did better than expected. The only way the coach of the team favored to win the conference gets the award is if that team goes undefeated or maybe has one loss in the conference. Whether that's right or not, that's how it is.

As for MVP, I liked the Freudenberg selection. Called for it several weeks ago, so I was not shocked at all.

[carletonsid]

LA Rams, thanks for bringing me back from the posting dead.  It took another snub of Durbin to make a return to this board.  It's clear that the coaches are filled with petty jealousy when it comes to Mike Durbin.  I guess success breeds contempt from peers, but I would have hoped the rest of the coaches were above that. 

In one coach we have someone with the services of the Player of the Year and yet landed 3 games back of the conference champs and failed to beat them in 3 attempts.  In another coach you have someone who lost his best player, rattled off 10 consecutive victories and remains the only coach to have the distinction of guiding a team to both an outright regular season title and tourney title in the same year (he's done it twice in three years now).

What's even more amazing is that everyone looks at CSB basketball and dismisses Durbin's work because of how deep and talented St. Ben's is.  I don't seem to recall any St. Ben's players being talked about for Player of the Year this year or last year for that matter.  Or was there an All-America player I am forgetting about?

I was thinking you were wrong, that Carleton did both in 2005, but that was the year CSB beat Carleton at West Gym for the playoff title. That sure was a great game... probably the best I've seen in 10 years of MIAC women's basketball.

Love what Jessica did this year, but both you and gacbacker are correct. I thought Mike should have been COY, but it seems to go to those coaches whose teams do better than expected. Heck, Roy Williams (UNC) won the year after his team won the national title (2005-06) and it looks like Bill Self (KU) will do the same this year.