WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacbacker]

Wow I don't know which team is in worse shape right now...Gustavus or Carleton. The Gusties continued their poor play in a loss to the Tommies, who I wasn't even that impressed with. The Knights lose to St. Mary's! Unbelieveable.

And St. Ben's squeaks by Augsburg by 3! What a weird year.

[LA RAMS]

Simply a disheartening loss by the Gusties today; I don't know how else to put it.  Where do you start?  The once proud and mighty GAC defense is now a shell of its former self.  There was little (if any) cohesiveness during possessions.  It seems incomprehensible to me that this is the same team that beat UW-Eau Claire and narrowly lost to two high-quality teams out in the San Diego tournament just a few short weeks ago.  How did the wheels suddenly come off?

Another team circling the drain all of a sudden is the once seemingly invincible Carleton Knights.  Like the Gusties, the Knights showed so much promise at the start of the season.  Now they appear to be an average team at best and their playoff hopes may be quickly going down the proverbial down-down with Saturday's somewhat predictable 63-60 loss to SMU.

Elsewhere, Concordia rolls the Christians, STO likewise over Mac, and the Bennies need O.T. to nip Augusburg. 

WTF is going on with this conference anyway?

[gacbacker]

L.A. - While I agree that the GAC defense this year isn't as good as last year, especially in the area of weak side help, the defense had little to do with the loss yesterday to St. Thomas.

The Gusties have two major problems right now: 1. Their half-court offense is terrible. Nobody knows how to set a good screen and the little movement that exists is predictable. 2. The Gusties can't rebound worth a lick.  Radtke and Nelson -- two guards -- accounted for 16 of the team's 30 rebounds yesterday. The Gustie forwards need a wake-up call and need to start going after rebounds like they really want the ball.

The Gusties were lucky to get out of the 40's yesterday on the scoreboard and I think holding the conference leader to 57 points should be more than enough to earn a victory. Defense is not the problem.

[LA RAMS]

GAC Backer - I guess the rebounding thing is what gets me the most and perhaps I should have elaborated that point ast night.  There were times when UST had 2-3 cracks at a bucket yesterday due to GAC's inability to rebound which I guess ultimately lies in the defensive scheme of things.  And yes, you're right ; the GAC half court offense is horrible right now.  I'm very hesitant to point any fingers, though; I just don't want to go down that route.

As much as I like both Molly M. and Brittany Holm (and I think they'll both develop into very good players) I think one thing that GAC misses is real "presence" down low; something they haven't had since the days of Kelly Etzel.  UST was able to capitalize on this with Embree doing a lot of damage yesterday. 

I hate to think about it but this could be a long, disappointing winter for the Gusties.   

[Willy Wonka]

Wasn't there yesterday, again, but here's what I don't understand: How can you shoot 16-72 over the last five games and not start looking to make plays for others at a higher clip?

Vadnais was 3-16 yesterday with one assist and a handful of airballs. She has 13 assists and 12 TOs over the last five games — which aren't terrible numbers, but still are something I think could/should be much better for a player of her skill level.

Her passing was what I liked best about her game over the last few years, but that seems to be disappearing this season — particularly in games where GAC gets behind early.

Is she trying to force too much, gacbacker? What's your take?

[gacbacker]

WW- Vadnais is in a shooting slump there is no question about that, however I don't think her passing/unselfishness has suffered. Yesterday she made several nice passes, but her teammates were unable to finish at the rim, including one with under two minutes left that would have cut the St. Thomas lead from 3 to 1.

It would be interesting to see how many of Vadnais' assists last year went to Monahan, who finished at the rim just about as good as anyone I've seen in the MIAC the last 10 years.

[gacbacker]

Gusties get what the doctor ordered: a dose of Hamline.

Vadnais returns to form with 21 points on 8-14fg, and the Gusties receive a strong game inside the paint (what a concept) from Katie Layman.  Layman and Mathiowetz have the best fg % on the team. If the Gusties are patient enough to get them the ball on a consistent basis, the offense looks 100% better and things will start to open up for the guards.

A couple of quick notes:

-Vadnais is 9 points away from becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. She will eclipse the mark set by Monahan just last year.

-The Gustie alum curse continues. Haller has never lost to Bethel or Hamline since Herby at Bethel and MYK at Hamline - both Gustie alums - took over those respective programs.

-Macalester 70 Bethel 69. Ouch. Coming into this season it looked like Bethel had a chance to compete for one of the top 3 spots...now they sit in a tie for ninth place with Augsburg and a game behind a surging Macalester team. Congrats to Ellen Thompson for making that Macalester team competitive.

[yojo]

Gusties get what the doctor ordered: a dose of Hamline.

Vadnais returns to form with 21 points on 8-14fg, and the Gusties receive a strong game inside the paint (what a concept) from Katie Layman.  Layman and Mathiowetz have the best fg % on the team. If the Gusties are patient enough to get them the ball on a consistent basis, the offense looks 100% better and things will start to open up for the guards.

A couple of quick notes:

-Vadnais is 9 points away from becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. She will eclipse the mark set by Monahan just last year.

-The Gustie alum curse continues. Haller has never lost to Bethel or Hamline since Herby at Bethel and MYK at Hamline - both Gustie alums - took over those respective programs.

-Macalester 70 Bethel 69. Ouch. Coming into this season it looked like Bethel had a chance to compete for one of the top 3 spots...now they sit in a tie for ninth place with Augsburg and a game behind a surging Macalester team. Congrats to Ellen Thompson for making that Macalester team competitive.

I was able to catch that game last night.....Some of the worst officiating I have ever seen...That being said Hamline made some bad mistakes with regards to turnovers and Gustavus took advantage of it everytime.  Hamline's 12 point lead evaporated quickly....Question...Why in the world would Coach Haller put subs in up by ten with one minute plus left?? Odd, that lead could have evaporated quickly.  Vadnais was putting in some crazy shots and Mathiowetz was solid down low.  Good win for gusties, I would like to catch the rematch.  Cheers.

[Maroon&Gold]

Did anyone catch the Cobber-Tommie bout last night???

Wondering if anyone has any first hand thoughts about it.

[LA RAMS]

Yeah, I was there (and also at the CSB-St. Kate's game later on).  UST had to hang on for dear life; withstanding a furious, very late comeback bid by the Cobbers.  A nasty little incident during that game; just before halftime:  Sara Sorbo used a flagrant forearm/elbow to a UST player (Townsend, I believe) and sent her sprawling to the floor and quickly got T'd up for it.  Really not sure why she did that; it just looked bad.

Meanwhile, CSB looked as strong as ever in running the Kitties out of their own crib.  Kate's simply had no answer for this team and the height it brings.  Where does Durbin get all these tall players anyway?   

Was very relieved to see the Gusties got back on the winning track as well last night; supposedly playing well again.  Now the question becomes:  can they keep it up? 

[gacbacker]

Yojo...interesting thoughts.

First off, I thought the officiating was actually pretty good last night. The crew was very consistent on calls underneath the basket, they actually allowed for blocked shots, which often times in women's basketball doesn't happen. A blocked shot underneath is offen whistled as an automatic foul which really bugs me.  The only area where I thought they missed a few calls was in the travelling category which is pretty normal.

On Haller's decision to clear the bench up double digits with a minute to go: While I see your point, and the decision ended up making things a little more interesting at the end than it needed to be, I think an argument that is just as valid is why didn't Young-Kruse clear her bench when she saw Haller was doing so. It's an unwritten rule, so she can do what she wants, but everybody in that gym knew that the game was over if the Gustie starters stayed in the game.

Also I think Haller's move makes sense for several reasons. One, she is protecting her best players from a late-game injury, and two, the Gusties haven't had many comfortable victories this season so she wanted to give some p.t. to those players who work hard in practice everyday who don't get to play.

On another topic, we're almost to mid-season and right now I see the MVP race being a two-horse race between Jess Vadnais and Jessica Katch with Katch holding a slight lead right now.

If the Gusties finish in the top 4 I think Vadnais has a solid chance of repeating as player of the year. If the Tommies end up #1 or #2, I think Katch might be a lock. Right now she is in the top ten in the conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks. That's pretty impressive.

[yojo]

The officiating was very inconsistent...team fouls were what...24 to 15? It didn't decide the game but this seems to be a theme in the miac....as to the "unwritten rules" this is college basketball and to my knowledge teams play to win...I have seen double digit leads evaporate in under a minute many many times.  Safe lead would have been 20 not 10.  It should take around 4 sec to bring the ball up and 2 or 3 to drained off the clock...That's about ten offensive poss. left on the floor.  Difference of opinion I suppose. 

[Willy Wonka]

gacbacker - Your loyalty is noted and appreciated, but I'm not sure Vadnais should be a top 5 MVP candidate at this point.

Her team was picked to finish anywhere from first to third on these boards and by the coaches. The Gusties are currently fifth in the league (one game out of ninth) with a 6-6 overall record and a terrible loss to the Auggies. Plus, her numbers are down across the board, including ugly 34% FG and 22% 3-point percentages. She's basically Kevin Durant — and I don't mean the Texas version.

Is she talented? Of course. Is she worthy of the MVP right now? Not even close.

Katch is easily the first half MVP, though I wouldn't count out Hageman or someone else stepping forward — Vadnais, perhaps — before the year is over.

[PRF2007]

MVP talk.

I have been to 5ish St. Bens teams and have had a chance to see a few players from different teams play. I have not seen Katch or Vandais play, but they both seem to be the marquee players.  Hageman had a very tough game when I saw her play against St. Bens.  Couple notes on the "big girls" around the league that I've seen so far.

Center for Augsburg was very impressive.  She is a solid player who definitely knows how to play to her strengths.  She was very effective against St. Bens even though she played with 4 fouls for a lengthy part of the game.


It should be an interesting remainder of season.

I am looking forwardto the Tommie/Bennie matchup next Monday.  I would imagine that St. Ben's should be able to play with them, but it seems that St. Thomas knows how to finish, something we don't know about St. Bens yet.   

[gacbacker]

WW - You are right Katch would be MVP if the season ended today, but I still think Vadnais is top 3 right now. Katch, Hageman and Vadnais are really the only three candidates in my opinion right now. St. Ben's and Carleton don't really have a standout to be worthy of consideration. Vadnais' chances will increase if the Gusties have a better second half of the season.