We had St. Olaf last night looking for a little revenge from our loss earlier in the year at their place. Remember, we were up two with 1:51 to play with the ball and lost by 7. It certainly was a tough one to handle and our guys remembered that game well. Olaf (as they will be referred to for now on) now had their leading scorer from last season back in the lineup, Bobby Fong. He missed the first game with an injury.
The game got off to a rough start for both teams. Shooting percentages were very low and it looked like it was going to be a barnburner. Bobby Fong was leading the way for the Oles, making a bunch of tough shots around the rim. He finished with 17 in the first half on 7-10 shooting. Not exactly the way we planned. We were led by Carl Hipp's first half double-double. We were up 35-30 at the half and I felt that we didn't play very well at all. A bunch of stupid turnovers and a lot of early 3's (4-13 in 1st half).
Second half got off to a good start for us but Olaf wouldn't go away. Everytime we got a 6 or 7 point lead they would answer with a score. A lot of it had to do with our 13 2nd half turnovers. That just isn't acceptable playing against a team that doesn't pressure. We probably had 7 or 8 turnovers trying to pass into the post. Just making bad decisions with the basketball or trying to make passes to guys that can't do anything with the ball at that particular place. The game ended up being tied due to us just watching the ball and the Oles getting two offensive boards and their 3rd 3 was the charm. The clock was stopped at 13.5 seconds left and you can see those last seconds of the game on the video below.
Ray Brown led our charge with another 20-10 night with 24 points and 11 boards to go along with five assists. Carl Hipp also had his second 20-10 night in three games with 20 points on 7-8 shooting with 14 boards. We didn't have any other double figure scorers but Nick Carroll is a great job covering Mark Torell, their leading scorer. Nick held Torrell to five points on 2-8 shooting, after he had 27 on us the first time.
We have a huge game on the road on Saturday vs. a red hot Carleton team that has just smacked both St. John's and Concordia.
Here is the video...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
MAC Game
Last night we went into MAC's gym for the second time in a week (due to St. Thomas using their gym for some of their home games). The game turned out a lot better than the St. Thomas game but we were still extremely sloppy and I wasn't happy with our overall effort. At the same time, I'll take any win at this point of the season. We want to put ourselves in the best position possible for the playoffs and hopefully have a home game.
Macalester always presents a challenge because they have been struggling in recent years and our players know it. I don't care what anyone says but when you see that the team you are playing hasn't won a conference game the natural tendency is to play at their level. A couple of good things about the Scots is that they will play hard for 40 minutes every night and they are very well coached. Coach Tim Whittle has done a great job with the guys he has. They just need more talent for them to be successful.
The game started off pretty slow and wasn't very pretty for the first ten minutes of the half. The second ten minutes we started to pick up our intensity and really push the lead to where we thought it should've been. We started a behind the arc onslaught led by Brandon Rieg and Dan Andersen. Brandon went 3-3 and Dan went 2-2 from behind the arc. We went into the locker room with a 17 point lead.
The second half got off to an ugly start and we weren't taking care of the basketball. We were making sloppy passes and expecting Macalester just to fold over and quit on us. Though, we were able to extend the lead. The second half was extremely ugly. We finished with 21 turnovers, which is unacceptable against any team, let alone a team that doesn't pressure. The final score was 84-57. We were led by Rieg's 17 points on 5-5 shooting from 3. Ray Brown and Andersen both finished with 14. As a team we shot 12-17 from the arc and only 8-11 from the line. We are now 11-6 and 7-5 in the conference.
We have a big game on Wednesday night against St. Olaf. They are ahead of us in the standings by a half game and beat us earlier in the year when we let one slip away. We have to rebound the basketball, play solid defense, and take care of ball. All things we can control.
Macalester always presents a challenge because they have been struggling in recent years and our players know it. I don't care what anyone says but when you see that the team you are playing hasn't won a conference game the natural tendency is to play at their level. A couple of good things about the Scots is that they will play hard for 40 minutes every night and they are very well coached. Coach Tim Whittle has done a great job with the guys he has. They just need more talent for them to be successful.
The game started off pretty slow and wasn't very pretty for the first ten minutes of the half. The second ten minutes we started to pick up our intensity and really push the lead to where we thought it should've been. We started a behind the arc onslaught led by Brandon Rieg and Dan Andersen. Brandon went 3-3 and Dan went 2-2 from behind the arc. We went into the locker room with a 17 point lead.
The second half got off to an ugly start and we weren't taking care of the basketball. We were making sloppy passes and expecting Macalester just to fold over and quit on us. Though, we were able to extend the lead. The second half was extremely ugly. We finished with 21 turnovers, which is unacceptable against any team, let alone a team that doesn't pressure. The final score was 84-57. We were led by Rieg's 17 points on 5-5 shooting from 3. Ray Brown and Andersen both finished with 14. As a team we shot 12-17 from the arc and only 8-11 from the line. We are now 11-6 and 7-5 in the conference.
We have a big game on Wednesday night against St. Olaf. They are ahead of us in the standings by a half game and beat us earlier in the year when we let one slip away. We have to rebound the basketball, play solid defense, and take care of ball. All things we can control.
Friday, January 22, 2010
St. Thomas and Augsburg
I'm going to lump these two together because I haven't had time to get each one of them done. One was awful for us and the other was much better. I'll start with the St. Thomas game.
Our guys were really antsy for this one. It was a matchup that our guys were looking forward too. We were looking forward to it as a staff because St. Thomas has become what we want our program to be like. To have guys on your team that know the bulls-eye is on your back and still hit teams with daggers. Hopefully, we can be that way when this program takes off (hopefully by the end of the year).
St. Thomas got off to a quick start and never really looked back. We just come out flat and seemed unprepared for their quickness and physicalness for the first 15 minutes of the half. The last five minutes were great for us. We were penetrating like crazy and getting to the free throw line all the time. We ended up 15-17 from the line at the half and down four, after being down as many as 13.
The second half didn't exactly start the way we wanted with a pull-up jumper from Alex Healy. We then lost our heads. We got two technicals and an intentional foul in a matter of four minutes. We lost our composure and their lead went from six to 13 in those four minutes and it put us away. The game was very physical and we didn't adjust to the officiating at all (politically correct statement). The final was 80-63 and it wasn't pretty. At least our guys played hard until the final buzzer.
The Augsburg was a different story for us. We came of the St. Thomas loss and we ready for some revenge from an earlier game in the season, where we let one slip away. Augsburg always presents a challenge because they can put four guys on the four that are shooters and it makes it difficult to guard. In the first half they proved that point.
Augsburg went with the same starting lineup as they did the first time we played them, which was suprising since they had won four in row with a different one. I thought we matched up better against the four game winner. We came out hot from the floor. They couldn't match up to us and we were really penetrating into the paint any time we wanted (which is exactly how our offense works). The Auggies (I know, terrible mascot but true) tried a couple different defenses on us and none of them worked. We ended up leading by nine at the half, 50-41 in a defensive struggle.
The second half was truly a defensive struggle. Neither team shot over 30% from the floor. We were waiting and waiting for Augsburg to make a shot and it didn't happen. Part of it was because they were off and another part of it was our defense. Nick Carroll did a tremendous job on Jon Cassens, one of the best guards in the MIAC, in holding him to six points on 2-11 shooting. They only scored four points in the last 12 minutes of the half and 12 total. We didn't exactly light the world on fire either with 21 points but we did enough for a 20 point victory.
That was a big game for us for confidence and in the standings. We are now 10-6 and 6-5 in the conference. We now have more wins than Nelson has had in his previous two seasons. Hopefully, there is many more. We play MAC tomorrow at their place. We beat them by 11 the first time we played. We know they will play hard and execute.
Our guys were really antsy for this one. It was a matchup that our guys were looking forward too. We were looking forward to it as a staff because St. Thomas has become what we want our program to be like. To have guys on your team that know the bulls-eye is on your back and still hit teams with daggers. Hopefully, we can be that way when this program takes off (hopefully by the end of the year).
St. Thomas got off to a quick start and never really looked back. We just come out flat and seemed unprepared for their quickness and physicalness for the first 15 minutes of the half. The last five minutes were great for us. We were penetrating like crazy and getting to the free throw line all the time. We ended up 15-17 from the line at the half and down four, after being down as many as 13.
The second half didn't exactly start the way we wanted with a pull-up jumper from Alex Healy. We then lost our heads. We got two technicals and an intentional foul in a matter of four minutes. We lost our composure and their lead went from six to 13 in those four minutes and it put us away. The game was very physical and we didn't adjust to the officiating at all (politically correct statement). The final was 80-63 and it wasn't pretty. At least our guys played hard until the final buzzer.
The Augsburg was a different story for us. We came of the St. Thomas loss and we ready for some revenge from an earlier game in the season, where we let one slip away. Augsburg always presents a challenge because they can put four guys on the four that are shooters and it makes it difficult to guard. In the first half they proved that point.
Augsburg went with the same starting lineup as they did the first time we played them, which was suprising since they had won four in row with a different one. I thought we matched up better against the four game winner. We came out hot from the floor. They couldn't match up to us and we were really penetrating into the paint any time we wanted (which is exactly how our offense works). The Auggies (I know, terrible mascot but true) tried a couple different defenses on us and none of them worked. We ended up leading by nine at the half, 50-41 in a defensive struggle.
The second half was truly a defensive struggle. Neither team shot over 30% from the floor. We were waiting and waiting for Augsburg to make a shot and it didn't happen. Part of it was because they were off and another part of it was our defense. Nick Carroll did a tremendous job on Jon Cassens, one of the best guards in the MIAC, in holding him to six points on 2-11 shooting. They only scored four points in the last 12 minutes of the half and 12 total. We didn't exactly light the world on fire either with 21 points but we did enough for a 20 point victory.
That was a big game for us for confidence and in the standings. We are now 10-6 and 6-5 in the conference. We now have more wins than Nelson has had in his previous two seasons. Hopefully, there is many more. We play MAC tomorrow at their place. We beat them by 11 the first time we played. We know they will play hard and execute.
Friday, January 15, 2010
St. John's
It's always interesting when St. John's comes to town. I get along with their coaches better than anyone else in the conference and we usually compete for a lot of the same recruits, so we naturally see each other a couple of times in a week. Plus, they always have a following because people are very loyal to their alma mater out here. A older fellow came to the game at 5:30pm looking for the jayvee game, we didn't start until 7:30pm. It was nice to see a pretty good amount of students at the game, we are still hoping for more, winning does that. Simple formula, winning = higher attendance.
This game matched up two of the better all around players in the league in our Ray Brown and SJU's Aaron Burtzel and they certainly didn't disappoint. They both played their rear ends off and battled until the last minute.
We got off to an early lead with two huge dunks by Ray and Carl Hipp. SJU, being the good team that they are, battled back to close the gap and eventually were down by four at the half, 44-40. We were led by Carl's 11 points, while Ray had nine and Jordan Schmidt finished with 8. SJU was led by Burtzel with 15. He is the leading candidate for player of the year for a reason.
The second half opened with a bang for us with a Noah Aguirre 3 and we never looked back. We pushed the lead to as many as 18 but Burtzel or Andy Burns kept on coming with tough shot after tough shot. We ended up holding SJU to 32% shooting in the second half and that was clearly the difference. We ended up winning 88-75 and were led by Brown's 26 to along with 13 boards and four assists. Carl had another good stat line with 21 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks. Nick Carroll finished a great performance with 10 points and seven assists to go along with his tremendous defensive pressure. Jordan Schmidt was the fourth Piper in double figures with 10. For SJU Burtzel finished with 25 to go along with 11 boards and five assists. Andy Burns was only the other player in double figures for SJU with 13.
Right now we stand 9-5, 5-4 in the league. We play St. Thomas at Macalester on Monday. A win automatically puts us at a higher win total than last year. We also play at Augsburg on Wednesday, and then at Macalester on Saturday.
This game matched up two of the better all around players in the league in our Ray Brown and SJU's Aaron Burtzel and they certainly didn't disappoint. They both played their rear ends off and battled until the last minute.
We got off to an early lead with two huge dunks by Ray and Carl Hipp. SJU, being the good team that they are, battled back to close the gap and eventually were down by four at the half, 44-40. We were led by Carl's 11 points, while Ray had nine and Jordan Schmidt finished with 8. SJU was led by Burtzel with 15. He is the leading candidate for player of the year for a reason.
The second half opened with a bang for us with a Noah Aguirre 3 and we never looked back. We pushed the lead to as many as 18 but Burtzel or Andy Burns kept on coming with tough shot after tough shot. We ended up holding SJU to 32% shooting in the second half and that was clearly the difference. We ended up winning 88-75 and were led by Brown's 26 to along with 13 boards and four assists. Carl had another good stat line with 21 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks. Nick Carroll finished a great performance with 10 points and seven assists to go along with his tremendous defensive pressure. Jordan Schmidt was the fourth Piper in double figures with 10. For SJU Burtzel finished with 25 to go along with 11 boards and five assists. Andy Burns was only the other player in double figures for SJU with 13.
Right now we stand 9-5, 5-4 in the league. We play St. Thomas at Macalester on Monday. A win automatically puts us at a higher win total than last year. We also play at Augsburg on Wednesday, and then at Macalester on Saturday.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Gustavus
Well, this one was a huge game for us, not only for confidence but also with the league standings. The Gusties were 6-0 going in and it would've been nice to knock them off. I really thought we had a great matchup with them. I know for a fact that they don't defend dribble penetration very well and that is a lot of what we do.
Right from the tip, there was an interesting matchup. Sam Paulson, a 6'9" big, was covering Ray Brown. I was very surprised by this but it really took us out of a lot of what we were planning to do. Maybe that is why Mark Hanson is such a good coach. We came out with a little fire in our belly and led by as many as 11 in the first half. Ray led the way with 15 points on 6-11 shooting. We were up by 4.
The second half was clearly a grinding of styles, we wanted uptempo and they wanted to use every second of the shot clock and grind out the game, and they did just that. We never got into a rhthym in part because of their offense and defense. Gustavus has the tendency to move their hips or knees right at the end of their setting screens (yes, illegal screens). The only problem for us is that we would run into those screens and give up wide open shots. Instead of fighting through the screens and riding their man's hip, we got caught up. We would then make excuses instead of grinding the possession out like we should. I would do the same thing if I'm Gustavus especially if the refs aren't going to call it, at least they were consistent with it.
We ended up losing by 7, 73-66. As much as I want to say that this was a good loss, I think it was. Our guys were getting big heads and thinking they were better than they were. Obviously, we aren't where we need to be and there is still a long way to go in the season. Hopefully, this is a lesson for our guys.
Big one at home vs. St. John's on Wednesday. They will be another tough matchup.
Right from the tip, there was an interesting matchup. Sam Paulson, a 6'9" big, was covering Ray Brown. I was very surprised by this but it really took us out of a lot of what we were planning to do. Maybe that is why Mark Hanson is such a good coach. We came out with a little fire in our belly and led by as many as 11 in the first half. Ray led the way with 15 points on 6-11 shooting. We were up by 4.
The second half was clearly a grinding of styles, we wanted uptempo and they wanted to use every second of the shot clock and grind out the game, and they did just that. We never got into a rhthym in part because of their offense and defense. Gustavus has the tendency to move their hips or knees right at the end of their setting screens (yes, illegal screens). The only problem for us is that we would run into those screens and give up wide open shots. Instead of fighting through the screens and riding their man's hip, we got caught up. We would then make excuses instead of grinding the possession out like we should. I would do the same thing if I'm Gustavus especially if the refs aren't going to call it, at least they were consistent with it.
We ended up losing by 7, 73-66. As much as I want to say that this was a good loss, I think it was. Our guys were getting big heads and thinking they were better than they were. Obviously, we aren't where we need to be and there is still a long way to go in the season. Hopefully, this is a lesson for our guys.
Big one at home vs. St. John's on Wednesday. They will be another tough matchup.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
St. Mary's
Going into the game yesterday, we knew we would have a tough game on our hands. St. Mary's beat us both times last year and just wasn't a good matchup for us. They have two of the better guards in the league in Lukas Holland and Will Wright. Our goal was to try and contain those guys.
After forgetting my socks for the game, I came back to find one of their starters (Tim Kunkel) in a shoulder brace that is usually relegated for serious shoulder injuries. I didn't know he got hurt and that was a huge surprise. It meant that Chris Palmer, one of the most productive freshmen in the league, would start in his place.
The game got off to a great start for us. We got off to a 15-0 lead to start and the bleeding didn't end there. The first half was full of us playing great defense and finding openings on the offensive end. Another good thing about the first half was that Jordan Schmidt got two fouls. As weird as that sounds, it was good for him to get rest because he has been playing a lot of minutes for us lately and I think he was wearing down. We ended the half on a little run and at the buzzer it was 42-19 in favor of us. It was one of the best defensive performances I have seen in a long time.
The second half opened up much the same for us. We scored the first six points of the second half and never looked back. The lead got up to 45 at one point. Our defensive intensity for the whole game was just fantastic. We held Holland to only four shots and 5 points. Wright finished with 17. To hold those two great players to 22 combined is a testament to our guys. They flat out got after it.
On the offensive end, we were led by Carl Hipp's 20 points on 10-12 shooting. Ray Brown played a solid game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dan Andersen and Noah Aguirre rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 and 11, respectively. The final score was 93-57.
We have a huge game on Saturday at Gustavus. They are 6-0 in the conference right now and playing extremely well. It should be a good one.
After forgetting my socks for the game, I came back to find one of their starters (Tim Kunkel) in a shoulder brace that is usually relegated for serious shoulder injuries. I didn't know he got hurt and that was a huge surprise. It meant that Chris Palmer, one of the most productive freshmen in the league, would start in his place.
The game got off to a great start for us. We got off to a 15-0 lead to start and the bleeding didn't end there. The first half was full of us playing great defense and finding openings on the offensive end. Another good thing about the first half was that Jordan Schmidt got two fouls. As weird as that sounds, it was good for him to get rest because he has been playing a lot of minutes for us lately and I think he was wearing down. We ended the half on a little run and at the buzzer it was 42-19 in favor of us. It was one of the best defensive performances I have seen in a long time.
The second half opened up much the same for us. We scored the first six points of the second half and never looked back. The lead got up to 45 at one point. Our defensive intensity for the whole game was just fantastic. We held Holland to only four shots and 5 points. Wright finished with 17. To hold those two great players to 22 combined is a testament to our guys. They flat out got after it.
On the offensive end, we were led by Carl Hipp's 20 points on 10-12 shooting. Ray Brown played a solid game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dan Andersen and Noah Aguirre rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 and 11, respectively. The final score was 93-57.
We have a huge game on Saturday at Gustavus. They are 6-0 in the conference right now and playing extremely well. It should be a good one.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Bethel
Off to Bethel for our first road game of the new decade. This is one of the things that I like about our league, that we can drive in our own cars to get to games. It was like a ten minutes trip at the most. Makes me think I'm going to get home at a reasonable hour, but that is never the case.
Once again, we started off pretty slow. Part of it was turnovers and the other part was settling for too many threes. You just can't do that on the road and expect to win. I believe we had double figure turnovers and also went 3-15 from three in the first half. We were down by eight with both Carl Hipp and Ray Brown playing minimal minutes because of foul trouble. Another problem we were having was trying to make plays on our first catch. It's been a problem for us all year and we have to make that adjustment as time goes on. Hopefully, we can.
The second half started off with a bang as we got right back into the game with seven straight points to start the half. Play was pretty even for probably the next eight minutes and then we went on a little spurt to put ourselves up by the 7 to 9 range for a couple of minutes. We had a seven point lead and had turnovers on two straight transition plays. Guys were trying to make the knockout punch with one play instead of wearing Bethel out with body shots. Those body shots take their toll the last four minutes of the game.
Bethel ended up creeping back because of a couple of mistakes on the offensive and defensive end. We executed a great out of bounds play and just couldn't hang onto the ball, Bethel comes down and hits a 3. Levi Wenrich made some clutch free throws down the stretch for us and got us up five with about 15 seconds left. After a Bethel timeout, we told the guys to give them a layup but no 3's. Sure enough, we gave up another 3 and was up two with 3.0 seconds left. We drew up the inbounds play during the timeout and once again executed it. We threw a catchable pass that slipped out of our hands right underneath their basket. A Bethel play was falling down when he had his hands on it and threw it out towards the perimeter as time expired.
This one was exactly a Monet but we'll take it. It showed us that we can win while playing sloppy. Obviously, we don't want that as a coaching staff but a win is a win. That is twice that we have won with 20+ turnovers (Wheaton was the other).
We take on St. Mary's tomorrow to get above .500 in league play. They gave us trouble last year because of their quickness. Hopefully, our guys can make that adjustment tomorrow and play hard and smart for 40 minutes.
Once again, we started off pretty slow. Part of it was turnovers and the other part was settling for too many threes. You just can't do that on the road and expect to win. I believe we had double figure turnovers and also went 3-15 from three in the first half. We were down by eight with both Carl Hipp and Ray Brown playing minimal minutes because of foul trouble. Another problem we were having was trying to make plays on our first catch. It's been a problem for us all year and we have to make that adjustment as time goes on. Hopefully, we can.
The second half started off with a bang as we got right back into the game with seven straight points to start the half. Play was pretty even for probably the next eight minutes and then we went on a little spurt to put ourselves up by the 7 to 9 range for a couple of minutes. We had a seven point lead and had turnovers on two straight transition plays. Guys were trying to make the knockout punch with one play instead of wearing Bethel out with body shots. Those body shots take their toll the last four minutes of the game.
Bethel ended up creeping back because of a couple of mistakes on the offensive and defensive end. We executed a great out of bounds play and just couldn't hang onto the ball, Bethel comes down and hits a 3. Levi Wenrich made some clutch free throws down the stretch for us and got us up five with about 15 seconds left. After a Bethel timeout, we told the guys to give them a layup but no 3's. Sure enough, we gave up another 3 and was up two with 3.0 seconds left. We drew up the inbounds play during the timeout and once again executed it. We threw a catchable pass that slipped out of our hands right underneath their basket. A Bethel play was falling down when he had his hands on it and threw it out towards the perimeter as time expired.
This one was exactly a Monet but we'll take it. It showed us that we can win while playing sloppy. Obviously, we don't want that as a coaching staff but a win is a win. That is twice that we have won with 20+ turnovers (Wheaton was the other).
We take on St. Mary's tomorrow to get above .500 in league play. They gave us trouble last year because of their quickness. Hopefully, our guys can make that adjustment tomorrow and play hard and smart for 40 minutes.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Carleton
On Saturday we took on the Knights from Carleton. We figured it would be a tough one because Carleton always gives us trouble and we were playing about 25 hours after we got off the plane from California. One thing for motivation for our guys was that Carleton wouldn't move the game for us. We had planned on staying in California, go the Rose Bowl Parade and possibly more but we couldn't because Carleton wouldn't move the game to another date.
The game certainly didn't start off the way we would've liked. I believe we got down 16-6 to start and it wasn't pretty. We were standing around a lot on offense and weren't being patient with our drives or passes. It didn't help that a couple of their players were knocking down shots that haven't made all year. After a couple of defensive stops we finally got our offense going and ended up with a two point lead at the half.
The second half got off to a terrible start with two turnovers and a bad missed 3. We decided to make a change and put in Levi Wenrich for Ray Brown. Ray was struggling a little bit and didn't seem to be on the same page as his teammates or the coaching staff. Coach Whitmore got into him on the bench. I think Ray needed that because he has never gotten that from coaches that he has played for. Our guys responded with Ray on the bench and ended up taking a five point lead with 12 minutes to play.
Both teams traded baskets for a most of the half with our smallest lead being three and our largest being 14. After Coach got into Ray, he responded with a great game and took a charge to get him back going. We ended up with five guys in double figures led by Ray's 19. Carl Hipp has his usual double-double with 16 and 12. Noah Aguirre finished with 13 on three 3's, Jordan Schmidt had 11, and Dan Andersen played his best game of the year and finished with 10 with two 3's.
We play at Bethel tonight at 7:30. Should be a good one. I'm looking forward to playing on the road again.
The game certainly didn't start off the way we would've liked. I believe we got down 16-6 to start and it wasn't pretty. We were standing around a lot on offense and weren't being patient with our drives or passes. It didn't help that a couple of their players were knocking down shots that haven't made all year. After a couple of defensive stops we finally got our offense going and ended up with a two point lead at the half.
The second half got off to a terrible start with two turnovers and a bad missed 3. We decided to make a change and put in Levi Wenrich for Ray Brown. Ray was struggling a little bit and didn't seem to be on the same page as his teammates or the coaching staff. Coach Whitmore got into him on the bench. I think Ray needed that because he has never gotten that from coaches that he has played for. Our guys responded with Ray on the bench and ended up taking a five point lead with 12 minutes to play.
Both teams traded baskets for a most of the half with our smallest lead being three and our largest being 14. After Coach got into Ray, he responded with a great game and took a charge to get him back going. We ended up with five guys in double figures led by Ray's 19. Carl Hipp has his usual double-double with 16 and 12. Noah Aguirre finished with 13 on three 3's, Jordan Schmidt had 11, and Dan Andersen played his best game of the year and finished with 10 with two 3's.
We play at Bethel tonight at 7:30. Should be a good one. I'm looking forward to playing on the road again.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Cal Lutheran Tournament Part 2
Dec. 29
Had another great breakfast at Jack's and then headed to shoot-around at Cal Lu. Coach Whitmore ripped into the guys quite a bit to try and get some intensity for the game. Just a little reminder that we are playing the 8th ranked Wheaton Thunder in a couple of hours.
After shoot-around we had a little banquet with a little lunch. All the teams were there along with a partner from Thrivent Financial, the main sponsor for the tournament. It was a pretty good meal but most of us were still full from breakfast already. We got to head back to the hotel for a little R & R before the game.
We were able to watch the Monmouth vs. Cal Lutheran game before ours. It was a really good first half. Monmouth played their rearends off and were up at 4 at the break. Cal Lutheran then come out with some fire in the second half and beat Monmouth by double figures. I really enjoyed watching Monmouth play because they played so hard for the whole game. They were clearly outmatched when it came to ability though. Coach Mark Vershaw (of Wisconsin fame) did a great job, now he just needs better players.
After watching most of the previous game, our game got rolling in a hurry. Both teams came out with a lot of intensity. Right from the get go, I believe Wheaton knew they had a game on their hands. We pretty much punched them in the mouth at the beginning and had them on their heels. It was exactly how we wanted to come out.
We were up by as many as 12 points in the second half and the guys were playing hard. Wheaton was ranked 8th for a reason and battled back to get the lead for a majority of the last couple of minutes. It was an impressive display by our guys. We didn't fold and battled against a very good basketball club. After missing an opportunity being down one we fouled their big guy with about eight seconds left. He missed both free throws and we brought the ball down the floor with no timeouts left. Ray Brown had it and was essentially triple teamed and passed it to Carl Hipp around the NBA 3pt arc. Carl took two dribbles and made a little running hook with 1.1 seconds left to put us up one. It was just how we drew it up, not really but lets pretend we did. After a Wheaton timeout they tried a Holy Mary pass and we picked it off for the win. Huge win for our program.
Dec. 29
After a great win we wanted to make sure the guys got plenty of rest for that night's showdown with the host Cal Lutheran. They certainly scared us a little with their runs they made against Monmouth. We knew we had to take away their two best perimeter players. Going into the locker room before the game, you could tell the guys had a different energy than before. It was clearly a different team.
We came out with a bang as Ray Brown hit three 3's early. Cal Lutheran didn't seem to ever recover. We were very physical with them and they didn't respond. That was surprising because they were very big and strong, clearly stronger than us. We just grinded away in the first half and ended up leading by 14 at the break. The second half was just the same and we never got much of a challenge from them. Our defensive intensity was fantastic. We didn't let up for a second. It was a first championship in a long time and hopefully one of many as time goes on.
Dec. 31
After getting a great tourney win we decided it would be best for our guys to get the day off. After checking into our hotel near LAX we headed to Hollywood Blvd to walk around and "see the stars." We even got our own freestyle rap, check it out at the bottom of the page.
After checking out the Blvd we went over to the movies and saw "Invictus." It was a very interesting movie that many of our guys didn't understand because they weren't old enough. Yes, they have heard of Apartheid but didn't know that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a long time. The movie had a great story and it said a lot about how Mandela helped change a nation through rugby.
Here is the video...
Had another great breakfast at Jack's and then headed to shoot-around at Cal Lu. Coach Whitmore ripped into the guys quite a bit to try and get some intensity for the game. Just a little reminder that we are playing the 8th ranked Wheaton Thunder in a couple of hours.
After shoot-around we had a little banquet with a little lunch. All the teams were there along with a partner from Thrivent Financial, the main sponsor for the tournament. It was a pretty good meal but most of us were still full from breakfast already. We got to head back to the hotel for a little R & R before the game.
We were able to watch the Monmouth vs. Cal Lutheran game before ours. It was a really good first half. Monmouth played their rearends off and were up at 4 at the break. Cal Lutheran then come out with some fire in the second half and beat Monmouth by double figures. I really enjoyed watching Monmouth play because they played so hard for the whole game. They were clearly outmatched when it came to ability though. Coach Mark Vershaw (of Wisconsin fame) did a great job, now he just needs better players.
After watching most of the previous game, our game got rolling in a hurry. Both teams came out with a lot of intensity. Right from the get go, I believe Wheaton knew they had a game on their hands. We pretty much punched them in the mouth at the beginning and had them on their heels. It was exactly how we wanted to come out.
We were up by as many as 12 points in the second half and the guys were playing hard. Wheaton was ranked 8th for a reason and battled back to get the lead for a majority of the last couple of minutes. It was an impressive display by our guys. We didn't fold and battled against a very good basketball club. After missing an opportunity being down one we fouled their big guy with about eight seconds left. He missed both free throws and we brought the ball down the floor with no timeouts left. Ray Brown had it and was essentially triple teamed and passed it to Carl Hipp around the NBA 3pt arc. Carl took two dribbles and made a little running hook with 1.1 seconds left to put us up one. It was just how we drew it up, not really but lets pretend we did. After a Wheaton timeout they tried a Holy Mary pass and we picked it off for the win. Huge win for our program.
Dec. 29
After a great win we wanted to make sure the guys got plenty of rest for that night's showdown with the host Cal Lutheran. They certainly scared us a little with their runs they made against Monmouth. We knew we had to take away their two best perimeter players. Going into the locker room before the game, you could tell the guys had a different energy than before. It was clearly a different team.
We came out with a bang as Ray Brown hit three 3's early. Cal Lutheran didn't seem to ever recover. We were very physical with them and they didn't respond. That was surprising because they were very big and strong, clearly stronger than us. We just grinded away in the first half and ended up leading by 14 at the break. The second half was just the same and we never got much of a challenge from them. Our defensive intensity was fantastic. We didn't let up for a second. It was a first championship in a long time and hopefully one of many as time goes on.
Dec. 31
After getting a great tourney win we decided it would be best for our guys to get the day off. After checking into our hotel near LAX we headed to Hollywood Blvd to walk around and "see the stars." We even got our own freestyle rap, check it out at the bottom of the page.
After checking out the Blvd we went over to the movies and saw "Invictus." It was a very interesting movie that many of our guys didn't understand because they weren't old enough. Yes, they have heard of Apartheid but didn't know that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a long time. The movie had a great story and it said a lot about how Mandela helped change a nation through rugby.
Here is the video...
Friday, January 1, 2010
Cal Lutheran Tournament Part I
I would've liked to post while we were out in California but I wasn't going to pay $13 per hour for internet connection in my room. Needless to say, here is the rundown.
Dec. 26
We weren't able to practice on this day because it would make break the 19 week rule which I'm sure is broken by many teams in our conference and throughout the country. We spent the first night at Disney in Anaheim, CA. We got to head out for a little bit and walk around. My lunch didn't sit well with me and I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I would've liked.
Dec. 27
We headed up to Thousand Oaks area to our hotel and then to practice. After checking into our hotel at the Four Seasons (yeah I know, way too nice, hence the $13 internet connection), we headed up to Cal Lutheran to practice. They have a great athletic complex and everything looked new. They even had an outdoor pool, which we definitely don't see in Minnesota.
We had a pretty bad practice, which was somewhat expected because it was the first time we were together in over a week. We wanted to put some new things in with Ray Brown playing a little point. It's certainly a different look for our team and it made matchups really tough for both of our opponents out there.
After practice, we hung out a little bit and then headed to Westlake HS for a shoot-around/practice. We were really thankful that we could get the extra time in the gym. We certainly want to thank Coach Tom Donahue for opening the gym for us on a Sunday evening.
Dec. 28
We had breakfast at this great place called Jack's. It was phenomenal food. After breakfast we headed back to Cal Lu for another practice. Again, it was a little sloppy but a little more spirited than the day before.
After practice we headed to Venice Beach to check things out. We were able to see the famous bball court from "White Man Can't Jump." There were certainly no Billy Ho or Sidney playing on that night. I don't think anyone that was playing could've hustled anyone in our travel party. We also got to see some great street performers as well as check out the many different shops that had.
Once the sun went down we headed to Malibu to see Barbie (just kidding) and got some food at Gladstone's which is right on the beach. They had great seafood there and it was a great atmosphere. We ate very well and the guys got to see what it's like to be a D1 player with all the great things we were able to provide them on the trip.
And that's for the Part I, I'll try to get Part II in here over the next couple of days. It's a busy week with Carleton tomorrow, Bethel on Monday, St. Mary's on Wednesday, and then Gustavus on Saturday.
Dec. 26
We weren't able to practice on this day because it would make break the 19 week rule which I'm sure is broken by many teams in our conference and throughout the country. We spent the first night at Disney in Anaheim, CA. We got to head out for a little bit and walk around. My lunch didn't sit well with me and I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I would've liked.
Dec. 27
We headed up to Thousand Oaks area to our hotel and then to practice. After checking into our hotel at the Four Seasons (yeah I know, way too nice, hence the $13 internet connection), we headed up to Cal Lutheran to practice. They have a great athletic complex and everything looked new. They even had an outdoor pool, which we definitely don't see in Minnesota.
We had a pretty bad practice, which was somewhat expected because it was the first time we were together in over a week. We wanted to put some new things in with Ray Brown playing a little point. It's certainly a different look for our team and it made matchups really tough for both of our opponents out there.
After practice, we hung out a little bit and then headed to Westlake HS for a shoot-around/practice. We were really thankful that we could get the extra time in the gym. We certainly want to thank Coach Tom Donahue for opening the gym for us on a Sunday evening.
Dec. 28
We had breakfast at this great place called Jack's. It was phenomenal food. After breakfast we headed back to Cal Lu for another practice. Again, it was a little sloppy but a little more spirited than the day before.
After practice we headed to Venice Beach to check things out. We were able to see the famous bball court from "White Man Can't Jump." There were certainly no Billy Ho or Sidney playing on that night. I don't think anyone that was playing could've hustled anyone in our travel party. We also got to see some great street performers as well as check out the many different shops that had.
Once the sun went down we headed to Malibu to see Barbie (just kidding) and got some food at Gladstone's which is right on the beach. They had great seafood there and it was a great atmosphere. We ate very well and the guys got to see what it's like to be a D1 player with all the great things we were able to provide them on the trip.
And that's for the Part I, I'll try to get Part II in here over the next couple of days. It's a busy week with Carleton tomorrow, Bethel on Monday, St. Mary's on Wednesday, and then Gustavus on Saturday.
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