WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[chapdog]

Korn- You're correct. A time out can only be granted to a player with posession of the ball, both feet in bounds and in control of his/her balance.  You're not supposed to get the "falling out of bounds on the sideline" call, the "one foot down on the way out" call, or the old "jumping after a loose ball and calling for the timeout before you land" call either.

Just want to clarify:
Rule 5-10.1.c
Timeouts not granted "when an airborne player's momentum is carrying him/her out of bounds or into the backcourt."

Key word here = 'airborne'

You can in fact get the falling out of bounds timeout if you have one foot in bounds and control of the ball. Happened in the Oklahoma/Oklahoma St game the other night. Official did not initially grant the timeout request, then reversed his call and awarded it; ruling the player did in fact have control of the ball and one foot on the floor (though he was falling out of bounds).

So, with 8 seconds on the clock and the Cobbers up by one, a Knight makes a steal at the Cobber end. Falling out of bounds (One foot on the "A" in Carleton on the end line-right in front of me), she calls time out and GETS it! Ref totally blows the call and what's worse, his partners do nothing to help him.

If the "A" in Carleton is inbounds, sounds like a good call. If not, either the ref blew it or you saw it wrong.

[Ghost of MIAC Past]

Wonka, are you trying to imply that SMU is the worst team in the MIAC? 

[Da-dented1]

gacunk - got to thinking after my last post.  That question as to a title 9 issue was a brain bleep.  The prolonged marathon is as though the athletes are playing a month of round-robin MIAC Tourney. 
    Another question may be posed. Who, the MIAC, or the WIAC has an advantage as they proceed into post-season play then?  I realize that most Conferences have only 9 Teams in thier respective Conferences (IAAC, UMAC, WIAC) as examples.  It works out nice for the AD's when it comes to Football however, where SMU is not in it so it ends up with 9 Teams and 8 games.  Lets have more discussion, I won't be able to contribute for a couple of days.  But, I'll be back!!  Keep it moving.   

[she_scores51]

As an afterthought to the schedule. It would be interesting to check with the athletic trainers across the MIAC to see if this season has produced more fatigue and injuries
this year than prior years for both the men's and women's leagues. If the statistics prove out, it would be a strong point toward more reasonable future schedules.

As a former player, I never had a problem with the January scheduling. I actually liked that it was game, practice, game, practice, game, day off, practice and so on... And, am I missing something? Is there something different about this year's schedule than previous years?

Also, what is the argument about the WIAC's 12 games vs. the MIAC's 18 games over the course of 6 weeks or so? Have you seen them play? I would argue that they are more prone to injury due to the style of basketball they play, not the number of games they play over a 6-week period.

Some teams — SMU pops to mind quickly — need as much work as they can get fielding a competitive team.

Thanks alot, Wonka. SMU may be down this year, but give Stimmel a few years and I think he can build the program back up. Don't forget, only two years ago, GAC got beat by SMU in the playoffs. They'll be back...

[gacbacker]

Looks like a big Blazer/Gustie game slated for Saturday...while the Gusties can force a tie atop the standings with a win, I think the Blazers are in a very good position. While the Blazers already have Concordia and Carleton out of the way, the Gusties still have to host the Cobbers and go to Carleton on the last night of the season.

I think the Blazers will be #1 and the Gusties will be #2 heading into the playoffs regardless of what happens on Saturday...after that it's up for grabs really.

[Willy Wonka]

Some teams — SMU pops to mind quickly — need as much work as they can get fielding a competitive team.

Thanks alot, Wonka. SMU may be down this year, but give Stimmel a few years and I think he can build the program back up. Don't forget, only two years ago, GAC got beat by SMU in the playoffs. They'll be back...

I didn't say SMU is the worst team in the league. Are they the worst team I've seen this season? I'd say yes, thus my comment, but I've only seen about half the MIAC. Everything goes in cycles, which seems to affect everyone but CSB, so I expect GAC will have its Trisha Neibur redux years soon enough.

As for tonight's action...

The officials tonight for BU/GAC were brutal, perhaps the worst I've ever seen. The first half wasn't terrible, but BU got away with shoving while GAC was penalized for reaching (and rightfully so). Things spiraled out of control in the second half, however.

Play was extremely physical, as the Royals are known to do, and multiple players were on the floor nearly every possession. The refs let just about everything go, with both sides getting fired up at numerous no-calls. As play became more and more ragged, the refs seemed to get flustered, missing egregious calls and making ticky-tack calls moments later (for both teams).

The worst came on a BU save into the backcourt for an easy over-and-back call. Both refs at halfcourt, standing 5 feet away, let it go when a BU player picked it up. About 3 seconds later, the ref under BU's hoop blew his whistle to make the call, 50ish feet away. A timeout was then called and the fans really let the refs have it and deservedly so.

By the end of the game, players were laughing at the calls - but no one was laughing when Vadnais put the game away with two straight 3-pt plays, the second of which seemed to be a phantom foul. It was an embarrassing display of officiating. Thankfully, nothing worse than bumps and bruises seem to have occurred. I honestly hope no one else in the league has to deal with them even again. Is this seriously the best the MIAC can find?...

With the showdown for conference supremacy looming, let's all keep our fingers crossed that this particular crew is already scheduled to be struggling to keep up with a 5th grade girls game in Canada...and then gets their passports stolen so they can't come back.

[Collegeville Magic]

Big night again for Mackenzie O'Neil and the Blazers.  The conference leader in steals hit 6-7 on 3's to go with 5 more thefts.  Although CSB gave up a much better shooting percentage than usual, it's great to see a 10 point win in the despised Knights' gym.

Being the stat fiend that I am, my look over the MIAC individual stats leads me to believe that Durbin has got to be the coach of the year.  Rufsvold at St. Kate's is certainly doing a good job, but consider the following:

1.  CSB's top scorer per game is Ellie Boone, ranked #26 in the MIAC
2.  Boone is CSB's top rebounder, ranked #14 in the MIAC
3.  Nikki Carter is the leader in assists, ranked #14 in the MIAC
4.  No Blazer is in the top 15 in the conference in free throw percentage
5.  No Blazer is in the top 15 in the conferece in defensive rebounds
6.  No Blazer is in the top 15 in the conference in minutes played

Despite all of those numbers, CSB is #4 in scoring offense, and #1 in scoring defense.  That, my friends, is a great coach with a great handle on his player rotation.

Here's one fan excited for the CSB-GAC showdown on Saturday!  Go Blazers!!!

[gacunk]

WW - Your post about the officials at the Gac-Bethel game was right on! Anybody who witnessed that game would have to agree that it was among the worst officiated games in MIAC history. At least it was in the last 9 years I have watched MIAC games, and I have only missed 6 games in nine years. What is the review process for the officials who referee in MIAC? I understand the coaches can send in reports to the head of the officials. If they are not already, maybe some game films should be sent in for review. While the game was degenerating into a rugby match, one of referees big concern was that the Gustavus coach was 1 to 2 feet outside of the "coaching box".

Saturdays game against St Ben is a big game. We can only hope that we have an officiating crew that has some professional ability. These are two very good, well coached teams who like every other team deserve something better than what MIAC has been getting so they can concentrate on playing their best basketball.

Willy, I missed the intent or meaning of the "Trisha Neibur redux". What's that?
All I remember is that Trisha played three years under Peg and her senior year under Micky. I always wondered why she was not used more effectively at post.

[Korn Lover]

Chap-Appreciate the clarification.

By the way, the A in Carleton is out of bounds. "Nuff said, game over.

Hageman gets her 1000th point against the Oles last night, congrats to her!

Good first half, 4 point Cobber lead. Oles seem to have found a game, now they need to play it for 40 minutes.

[gacbacker]

Does anybody else think its wrong that you need to average 3.0 assists per game to qualify for the assist/turnover leaderboard? Considering that only five players average more than 3.0 assists, it just seems silly. I think they should lower it to 2.0 to qualify.

Also numerous times this season I have thought that stat crews have shorthanded players when it comes to assists.

Any thoughts?

[Korn Lover]

GAC- I'm responsible for ref bashing and rules interpretations. I'll defer to Collegeville in his quest to annoint Durbin as the second coming of John Wooden 

Don't get testy Collegeville, just poking fun on a slow Thursday.

[gacbacker]

While not a huge fan of Durbin, I must admit I think he has done a fine job this season.

By the way, I always look at Bethel's boxscores and always find a curious stat here or there...either the head coach has had a hard time deciding on a rotation or his team is so inconsistent that it hasn't allowed the coach to find a consistent rotation.

Sometimes I look and Cotner has played only 13-15 minutes. The other night she was really the only player for Bethel who looked like she belonged on the floor at all.

Also, Bridget Weber, a senior who comes off the bench for them, had a nice game with 10 points in limited minutes, while starters Hansen (10 turnovers by her self, while GAC had 11 as a team) and Thom (Chucks up the threes like its going out of style) seem to consistenly struggle.  Any thoughts naf layor?

[Collegeville Magic]

gacbacker- I'd agree that Bethel has a roster full of inconsistency.  Of course, any coach who allows/encourages his team to "rugby-ize" all basketball games probably isn't to be trusted farther than you can hip check or forearm toss him.

Any predictions for tomorrow's games?

Oles at Ugs - Olaf by 25
Pipes at Cards - Hamline by 13
Blazers at GAC - St. Ben's by 5
Katies at Cobs - Cobs by 8
Bethel at Carl - Knights by 14
Tommies at MAC - MAC by 1 (upset special)

[scorekeeper]

I couldn't make the Carleton game so it was a thrill to hear about the victory and now I'm even more excited and nervous for the showdown at GAC Saturday.  I was thinking about how great it is to have games like this to look forward to.  Win or lose, I'm excited to have something to be excited about. 

The St. Kate's/Conc game really could be important because if GAC wins tomorrow and CSB and GAC both win out the rest of the way, it will be either CSB's loss to St. Kate's or GAC's loss to Concordia that would break the tie for the #1 seed.  St. Kate's needs to have a better record the Concordia for CSB to get the tie breaker.  Therefore, it would really be nice if my Blazers could just put that all to rest by winning and controlling their own destiny.  See everyone on Saturday. 

[Willy Wonka]

gacbacker - Do I sense someone trying to butter up the opposition in hopes of an exclusive pregame interview??

The GAC crowd could be weak sauce tomorrow. It's J-term break and most/all students went home tonight. Could be the battle of the parents/siblings tomorrow, which is always fun...

scorekeeper brings up an interesting point. As MM pointed out on the men's side, the rule seems backwards but could make for an interesting finish, IF the Gusties take care of business tomorrow.

As for Bethel...isn't/wasn't Thielke their best player/scorer? How does a senior let herself become academically ineligible?

gacunk - The Trisha Neibur comment was meant as a reflection of past GAC struggles. I seem to recall them being bad to terrible, depending on the night, to watch during those years.