WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[tommycorn]

Gacbacker ~
point taken, I still think Jen's ability to score when necessary puts her ahead of Bri.  Monahan is a very good player, but the only time I saw her play this year, again UST, she continually passed the ball out of the block when you guys needed scoring in crucial times down the stretch.  If she's kicking it out b/c she thinks Vadnais has a better chance of scoring, that makes me think that Vadnais would be the most valuable on their team,  not monahan.  Granted, she was going up against Opdahl, who can be a presence down low, but still, if you're up for MVP of the league, I would think you would be at least the first option on your own team.  I don't know though, like I said, I've only seen her play the one game.

East Coach,

After watching Tammy's teams over the past 4 years, I can say without hesitation that she is the best coach in the MIAC.  Each year I look at the players they have and do not think they will be that good.  Vig is an amazing talent, but beyond her they had okay players.  They all had one thing in common, they played hard fundamental basketball.  The freeman twins were good, not taking anything away from them, but they would not have been as effective as they were, had they not been in carleton.  Bethel has a lot of talent this year, and from what I've seen thusfar, it is sorely under used.  Maybe this will change as the season progresses, and maybe I just saw a game where they weren't playing well, but the jury is still out in my mind about Herbwhater his name is coaching ability.

[hoops_fan]

To tommycorn's point about Tammy being a good coach--no doubt she is.  She turned a cellar dweller into a conference contender in four or five years which clearly speaks to her ability to coach.  I don't know how many times she's been named MIAC coach of the year or has received WBCA honors, but it's enough to say she is one of the best coaches in the MIAC and Western Region. 

Tammy has a great way of turning good players into a great team, and I think that is why a player that goes to Carleton will always have a very difficult time ever being named MVP.  The focus is always on the team and not on the indivdual players.  That is something that Vig has embraced, and while I think she deserves to be named the MVP, she probably won't because of the team that surrounds her. 

St. Bens (with Anna this year and other teams in the past) on the other hand has had players through out the years that have become the focal point of the program and have been named MVP.  All have been good players, but it is a different approach than Carleton's teams in the past.

I wonder if we could get our top two or three candidates to just go one-on-one so we could really see their skills and how they compare with no other factors...that would be some entertaining basketball to watch!

[Ghost of MIAC Past]

Tommy, you never cease to amaze me at how little you know.  Every GREAT coach knows how to turn average players into great players.  I'm not contending that Tammy is or is not a great coach.  She is very talented.  Yes the last four years they have been very good, although they are not average players playing great.  They may not be supremely athletic players, but they were all the smartest players on the court.  That's not very average to me.  I'll take smart players over athletic players everyday, and twice on Sundays. 

By the way, my name is East COAST, not East COACH.  Coach Herbrechtsmeyer has take at least three teams in his career from cellar dwellar, to conference contender.  One of which is Cornell College in Iowa.  A school very close to Carleton in admission standards.  No one has talked about the great athletes Bethel has had the past two years.  They are basically the same players this year with two additional huge posts.  Coach Herbwhatever may UNDERUSE his players in YOUR eyes, but his players need to buy into the team mantra as much as any one else.  I'm not trying to argue that BU has the greatest coach in the league, but they do have a very good one.  How else can you explain taking the worst team year in and year out for 7-8 years before he got there, and turning them into one of the top 3 teams in the league, and a team that could beat most of the top 25 if given the chance.

[tommycorn]

CM, you stated that Carleton is BETTER coached than Bethel is, but Bethel has better athletes.  Why do you feel Carleton is better coached?  I think Tami is a great coach, but she has a 5 to 6 year head start with her program over Bethel. 

east coast miac fan,

apologies on my proof-reading inabilities and also my lack of wisdom and knowledge in the sports realm, i am but a novice, and yes i have much to learn, and maybe one day i will see things clearly, at least i hope as much

i think as noted in your earlier statement that you were begging the question who was a better coach, Tammy or Herbrechtsmeyer (which i also need to apologize for, i am a lazy lazy person and meant no disrespect towards coach h.,)  i simply think tammy at this time is a better coach.  i think the bethel program is definately on its way up.  they finished in 8th place last season, and are playing good basketball this season thusfar, it helps having a dII transfer thrown into the mix.   if he continues to recruit as the past two classes, they should continue to improve.  and he deserves much credit for this improvement

It's hard to say who is a better coach, there are so many factors that are involved in determining that.  With that being said, if I had to pick one coach to coach my team out of the two, I would pick Tammy.  If you were the athletic director and had those two coaches as your options, who would you pick east coast?

I will in the future make an attempt to proofread all posts in the hopes that i will avoid annoying any of you fellow junkies out there...

happy holidays everyone:)

[tommycorn]

to add one more thing,

bethel should be a top 3 team in the league at the end of the year, without a doubt, they have the talent, size, shooting, ability to get to the rim

they only have one loss in the miac schedule thusfar, but their two wins have come against st. kates (in ot, they were very fortunate to pull that one off) and augsburg, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against the top teams in the league,

bottom line, if bethel uses its weapons, they will be a tough team to beat

[Willy Wonka]

tommycorn - Just blame your editor. That's what I do when my stuff hits the newstands and it's got mistakes

I'm sure the CSB faithful have followed these already, but Frank the Tank at the St. Cloud Times has been asked to keep a running blog after the success of his SJU football run. Here's the link for anyone interested.

http://miva.sctimes.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?Web/FrankBlog

[tommycorn]

Nice article here by Patrick Reusse about Coach Metcalf-Filzen:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/508/5800360.html





Thanks for the advice Willy 

[Collegeville Magic]

East Coast-

My my, a little touchy, are we?  Spelling coach H's name correctly happens less often than people spelling Heikenen correctly.  He's clearly a very good coach, and has a proven record of improving bottom dwellers.  I'm just not ready to annoint him with the greatness stick until he shows that he can stick with a program after having improved it.  It appears he might be auditioning for a spot at a higher level.

Quoting you: "You might say that the Bethels and Carletons coaches are a tad better than CSB since they have restrictions on who they can go after, and they still can field teams that can beat or play with CSB.  They don't have the luxury of recruiting every player in MN much like Durbin and Co."

Carleton and Macalester are the only two teams in this conference who can say that their recruiting is "restricted" by admission standards.  Of course, if that's your argument, then you have to also consider the fact that both of these schools do significantly more recruiting around the rest of the country, which could be seen as an advantage.  How many other states have the local competition for students/athletes like Minnesota?

If you can show me a SINGLE athlete in the past 10 years at CSB who wouldn't have been accepted for admission at Bethel, I owe you a steak dinner.  I'll have to e-mail you a coupon or something, but I'm not worried about paying this one.

The only restricition Bethel might have on recruiting is the fact that non-Christian students wouldn't be as comfortable there as Christian students because of the pervasive religious environment.

Before you call the Corny one uninformed, think more carefully.  None of us knows everything (except Frank the Tank)!

Go Blazers!

[Ghost of MIAC Past]

CM, do you really think that BU might only have a restriction with the Christian aspect?  I'd say that BU definitely has a restriction because of the Christian aspect.  It's not that non-Christian kids would feel uncomfortable, it's that they won't get in.  There's a lifestyle statement they have to follow, plus on the application, there are a lot of areas they have to fill out alluding to their faith.  If you have no faith, then how can you get in?  HMMMMM, sounds like a restriction to me.

[Collegeville Magic]

EC-  If you think that every single student at Bethel believes and upholds every word of the code and lifestlye statement, you're not thinking rationally. 

Ask anybody from MIAC schools who played against the dirtiest, cheapest, most foul-mouthed football team in the conference between the mid 1990's and 2003, and they'll testify that Bethel athletes aren't all "Christian".

For the record, I'm very impressed that coach H has been able to recruit the athletes he has, given the "code".  I just don't believe for a second that every single student at Bethel agrees with the college's point of view on religion.  I personally know a number of non-Christian students who Bethel actively pursued.  Not athletes in this case, but that was just coincidence. 

[Willy Wonka]

Bethel students DO have to sign a waiver of sorts before entering that says they won't engage is activities deemed "not Christian." They also have strict visitation rules. Rules are broken at every school, regardless of their nature, but those would seem like a solid deterrant to many as a high school senior.

What happened on the football field five years ago really has no bearing in this conversation.

[tommycorn]

NCAA is naming a 25th anniversary team, 5 players and 1 coach.  There are two players from the MIAC nominated, Trow from UST and Beachy from Concordia, to vote go to this site:

http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/womens/fanpolls/1013

[Naf layor]

Having your daughter go to a Christian based college doesn't sound that bad to me and I'm still trying to figure out the "pervasive religious environment" statement.  I'm constantly amazed at the misconceptions that people have about Bethel; one foot on the floor, no dancing, etc...It seems that Coach H has to work harder finding Christian based athletes that can put aside the temptations of teenage life to commit to the Bethel lifestyle.  If I'm not mistaken St. Ben's advertises a Christian based atmosphere at their college.

[Pat Coleman]

NCAA is naming a 25th anniversary team, 5 players and 1 coach.  There are two players from the MIAC nominated, Trow from UST and Beachy from Concordia, to vote go to this site:

http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/womens/fanpolls/1013

Yep, that project has been a fun one. When traffic picks up again after New Year's we're going to do a front-page story on it.

[Collegeville Magic]

Naf - "If I'm not mistaken St. Ben's advertises a Christian based atmosphere at their college." -- that was my point exactly.  All MIAC schools are religiously affiliated, and Bethel is the most strict of them.

I'm just trying to dispel the myth that CSB has any recruiting advantage other than a very hard working head coach and a great tradition.

Willy- my point with football was to show that not every student and student-athlete at Bethel avoids "non-Christian" activities, but I'll admit that was a stretch.