Summit league

The Summit League and UMKC: A match made in convenience

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A few weeks ago, the UMKC Kangaroos made it official they are coming back to the Summit League.  Came back like a Kangaroo with his tail between his legs and stuffed into his pouch.  Dang, that was a good one!

Congratulations Summit League fans, we fixed a conference problem of having a weird number of schools by going from 9 schools to 10 schools in the conference.  We did it. We made a move that we just kind of expected was going to happen at some point.

The Kangaroos’ return to the Summit League fixed a few annoyances of the Summit League. There is now an even number of schools, so we can go back to having travel partners. Denver has an airport to fly to. Oral Roberts now has a school that is only a 4 hour drive away from Tulsa. Omaha fans have an actually fun city they can drive to. Maybe all 10 schools will be able to play in the conference tournament and someone won’t have to sit out at home…the conference tournament group pictures of a few Denver Pioneer cheerleaders mixed in with all the Summit League mascots minus the weird Denver thingy were all awkward.

The move probably helps UMKC more than anything. They don’t have to compete in the geographically challenged Western Athletic Conference (is that what WAC stands for – I don’t care enough to look it up and double check and I’ve always just assumed that is what it stood for).  This is the second school with a geography problem the Summit League has been able to save in the last few years.  Look us up Chicago State and Texas Rio Grande Valley, maybe the addition of Dixie State will be enough to help your sad situations in the WAC, but we all know what you want.

I imagine this move would only help UMKC with their recruiting, which may in turn hurt the likes of Omaha’s recruiting.  I’m sure the conversations between coaching staffs and local recruits and their parents have gone something like this…

Recruit’s Dad: So the closest conference opponent for me to come watch my kids’ games is where?

UMKC Coach: Dawg, it’s in Edinburg, Texas.

Recruit’s Dad: Where the (expletive) is that?

UMKC Coach: Hold on, let me go out to my car and grab a map.

UMKC coach exits the home to retrieve a map out of his car…Recruit’s Dad locks the home’s front door and turns all the lights off.

Recruit’s Dad (to their child): Okay, so that was dumb. Let’s call up Omaha.

There is an alternate universe out there where UMKC stayed in the Summit League and received commitments from Zach Jackson, Matt Pile, and KJ Robinson. I’m in Alcoholics Anonymous in that universe.

Does UMKC coming back help strengthen the profile of the Summit League?  No, no it doesn’t.

The Kangaroos just finished up a rebranding and they got a new coaching staff for the men’s basketball program – which appears to be a fairly competent staff.  The Kangaroos basketball team has the potential to at least help the Summit League be more competitive in a few years.

Another advantage for Summit League teams is that bringing UMKC back into the league means one more guaranteed home game for programs.  Sorry to the elementary school kids who were looking forward to Kids Day for a 1pm game on a Wednesday against a D-3 opponent from Westchesteronville, Iowa. Let this be the first of many lessons that life can often be a disappointment.

UMKC’s return could be rated anywhere from decent to good (on the poor to great scale). It’s a move we all expected to happen some day. It helps the league, it helps UMKC, but now we have to wait for the next expected domino to fall for when Fort Wayne bolts for geography.

OT: My thoughts, hopes, and fears of the 2016 NBA Draft

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Every year I tell myself that I am not going to watch the NBA Draft because it is so stupid, yet every year I find myself tuning in to see the first three picks and then I am just stuck on it for the entire evening.  I watched the 2000 NBA Draft while hanging out with a girl in my basement.  I have no idea what this girl’s intentions were with the 14 year old me, but I am absolutely positive she was disappointed to hang out in an air conditioned basement for several hours alone with me while I threw a fit for some time on how Marcus Fizer was going to have no business in the NBA, and I couldn’t truthfully make words come out of my mouth after the Celtics picked someone named Jerome Moiso at number 11.  That was one of the worst drafts, and that girl was just set up with disappointment from the beginning of inviting herself over to my house.

I do not get excited at all for the actual order of players picked.  Teams make terrible decisions based on fruitless data like: this guy is one inch too short.  I get more pumped up for the trades, and this 2016 NBA draft appears to be loaded with potential trades.  All top 5 teams have set out their intentions to make some deals on draft night.  I think the Sixers may be entertaining trades because they realize they want to take the high road and be thoughtful enough to not ruin just one more person’s life.

I’d love to be the guy that just yells into Mitch Kupchak’s ear that the Lakers should trade the number 2 pick for General Manager that knows what he is doing.  Most people day dream about living the lifestyle of a NBA player, but I fantasize about telling Steve Kerr that trading for Shaq was his worst decision as a General Manager; or telling David Kahn that he was the General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team and not the General Manager of the Target Center concession stands when he drafted Johnny Flynn.  Don’t forget, on top of drafting Flynn and Ricky Rubio over Steph Curry, the Timberwolves picked Ty Lawson at 18 but traded him for a future draft pick – which they ended up using to pick Luke Babbitt the following season.  They also took Wesley Johnson over DeMarcus Cousins in the 2010 draft.  Seriously, David Kahn…

Anyway, I am a lifelong Celtics fan, and the Celtics have a pretty bad history of drafting picks.  JEROME MOISO.  Sorry, I just randomly scream-type his names.  It’s a condition. Thanks a lot Rick Pitino, you’re a threat more serious than the Emperor to me. So, yeah, terrible draft history, but Danny Ainge has a done a solid job to make draft trades happen to get the best out of what he can.  This is probably a condition of his full intentions in the past of wanting the team to tank as much as possible, but Paul Pierce willing terrible rosters to be 7 or 8 seeds in the East.  As a Celtics fan, I clearly hate that the 76ers and the Lakers are picking in front of them…and I even have reasons for taking interest in what the Suns and Timberwolves will do at 4 and 5.  Here are some random fears, thoughts, and hopes for the NBA draft.

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers have been one of my least favorite times for as long as I can remember.  I’m not an overly religious person, but I used to pray a lot over a four year period that Kyle Korver would get traded to anyone else (but mainly the Celtics).  This was after I spent some time thinking that Rodney Buford just belonged there.  I have no idea what that comment is supposed to mean, so I welcome your suggestions.  Either way, we need to update Buford’s wikipedia page to reflect his new coaching position with the Omaha Chargers.

Even though I hate the 76ers, I fully understand how pivotal this draft is for the franchise and how huge of an opportunity Bryan Colangelo has in front of himself to instantly turn this franchise around.

The Sixers are taking Ben Simmons with the number one pick, and will have nearly 60 million dollars of cap space to play with.  With a front court of Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid – who has still yet to play an NBA game, and now Ben Simmons, the Sixers should be looking into trading one of these post players for an actual adult.

The Hawks are consistently in the rumor mill to trade one of their point guards.  Could a Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel for Jeff Teague be likely?  Or even throw something similar, yet more far fetched, to the Chicago Bulls for Derrick Rose.  Either of these two alone, with the addition Simmons, could improve Philadelphia from 10 wins to at least 20 in one year.

It’s not like one of these trades are the only options for the Sixers to get a point guard and some experience on their roster.  They could throw some money at Rajon Rondo, who almost no one else wants; Lance Stephenson, who I doubt the Grizzlies want back; Dion Waiters, who the Thunder probably wont be able to match qualifying offers for; Eric Gordon, who could probably be pretty cheap to prove that he can be healthy enough to be a contributor; Mario Chalmers, who is somehow an upgrade at point guard for the Sixers; and really just some NBA veteran who might seem like a risk, but could benefit the Sixers in the short term of their rebuild.

I’m not very fearful of the Sixers for the 2016-2017 season at this point, but this draft could really be a turning point for the organization to be back in the playoffs and be a competitor in the East again in a few years.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have stated that they do not want to be on a long term rebuilding plan, but the Lakers say a lot of things so who the hell knows.  Still, the Lakers do not want to be what the Clippers used to be in Los Angeles.  Almost every mock draft has the Lakers selecting Brandon Ingram, but there still has been a high degree of uncertainty around this.  Not so much that they will not pick him, but more uncertainty that they will actually want to keep him on the roster, or that he will even turn out to be a decent enough NBA player.  He appears like he would have a similar career to Charlotte Hornets’ player Marvin Williams, who was also picked number at number 2.  The Lakers have been rumored so far to trade away the number 2 pick, or De’Angelo Russell, Nick Young, and Julius Randle.  Okay, so they’ve been rumored to trade their entire roster.  Man, that Kobe Bryant was all about the team and organization!

The Lakers want to be a part of the run for Kevin Durant, they want to have their name out there for DeMar DeRozan, and really just every big time free agent.  The fear for the Lakers may not be who they pick in the NBA draft, but if they can actually pull off a blockbuster trade, which they have a history of pulling off.  I completely feel like I will be watching what the Lakers do in the 2016 NBA draft with the same level of shock in the 2007 draft when the Celtics put together what were pieces for the eventual moves to acquire Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.  Those to moves eventually helped them quickly turn their team around with additionally signing veteran free agents James Posey, Eddie House, PJ Brown, and eventually Sam Cassell for one of the best put together rosters since 1990.

Boston Celtics

As much as I love the Celtics, I always have to turn away whenever they’re on the clock to make a pick.  I live in fear that I will damage my own property when I hear the stupid pick they have made.  What the hell am I supposed to do with my Joe Johnson Boston Celtics jersey?  I just made my dog wear my dog wear it for humorous photo opportunities.  Say the name Kedrick Brown to me in public, I dare you…I dare you… We’re not going to get in a fight or anything, you’re just going to be able to tell your children about the most ridiculous time you made a grown man cry in a public.  I still run into a panic attack when I hear Jerome Moiso’s name.

My only friends who actively engage in shit talking about the NBA with me are Suns fans, and we’ve had our fair share of THE RAJON RONDO TRADE WORKED OUT BETTER FOR US THAN YOU arguments, so the Celtics and Suns picking 3rd and 4th will most likely begin many years of frustrations.  The Celtics have discussed either trading the 3rd pick, or drafting Dragan Bender, Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown, Marquese Criss, or Kris Dunn.  My fear of Bender is that this is one of those Well it Worked Out for the Knicks type of draft picks because of Kristaps Porzingis.  It reminds me of the late 90s to mid 2000s when NBA teams were rashly picking high school kids because they might be the next Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant.  The NBA was so fun back then just watching a bunch of 18 year old uncoordinated kids flush out like a group of terrible child actors from the movie industry.

It seems to be concluded already that either the Celtics or the Suns are taking Bender, and I am pretty excited to make fun of my friends for it either really working out for the Celtics or it not working out for the Suns.  This is a completely illogical statement, but it also, like, completely makes sense.  Am I right?

The Celtics still have a lot to figure out as far as who they are actually going to keep on their roster with Jared Sullinger, Evan Turner, and Tyler Zeller all as free agents; and several young assets on the roster that are tradeable.  This is why a draft day trade makes an incredible amount of sense for the Celtics.  Someone just take Marcus Smart, please!

I can’t imagine who the Celtics will actually take.  I cannot even put anything in the suggestion box.  The roster is weird at the moment, and it does not really seem like anyone available at number 3 would be an immediate impact to the team so my hope is just that they trade the pick with Marcus Smart for a veteran and 2017 2nd round draft pick that will eventually land a lesser known Tra-Deon Hollins…

Phoenix Suns

I am fully confident to say that I think the Suns are the worst ran team in the NBA (after the Sixers), and still have a Suns fan not argue it too heavily.  It’s not so much that the Suns are historically bad at picking players, but they do have a steady and miserable history of trading away guys right before they become stars; or signing average free agents to huge bloated long term contracts.  Just try and play the NBA Trade Machine with their roster, it’s almost impossible to make anything work out.

I thought of a hypothetical trade to get some blood flowing for my Suns fan friends.  Brandon Knight, some throw in to make the contacts work out, and the number 4 pick to Toronto in a sign and trade deal for DeMar DeRozan – which I think they would have to wait for free agents to officially be able sign to make the deal legitimate.  A back court of Derozan and Eric Bledsoe with Devin Booker off the bench to create a little new aged Durant, Westbrook, and Harden type of roster.  I doubt Robert Sarver even entertains this as an idea for his organization.  I mean, Joakim Noah is out there for them to throw everything they’ve got for 48 minutes a night of Noah and Tyson Chandler at center.  That’s pretty hard to pass up for a guy who apparently hates the citizens of Phoenix.

I know NBA teams are recommended to go after the best overall player and not most needed position, but should they take a guard to lump together with Bledsoe, Booker, and Knight if the top guy is a guard at number 4?  Would Hield or Dunn even be playable on the Suns roster?  Am I psychotic for thinking it would be in the Suns best interest to take Henry Ellenson or Marquese Criss at the 4th pick?  Though, I really don’t think Suns management can pass up on a guy named Dragan Bender.  It’s just too fun of a name to not have on your roster.

Minnesota Timberwolves

I have never hated or loved the Timberwolves.  They are the closest NBA team to where I live, so I have always felt a little desire for them to be decent enough to make for a reason to drive to Minneapolis for a game.  With that in mind, it seems to be getting closer and closer to the day that the Timberwolves are in the post season again, right?

The organization seems serious about getting to the playoffs with exceptionally good young basketball players, mixed with a few veterans, and now Tom Thibodeau as their head coach.  Think about that: The Minnesota Timberwolves got the head coach that was at the top of the list of every team with a vacancy this off season.  This could be huge, or it could all come crumbling apart dramatically…we’ll see.

The team does not necessarily have a lot of room to attract some top free agents this summer, and they have made it clear that they are incredibly open to the thought of trading the 5th pick.  That’s when you know it’s going to be a terrible draft, when 4 of the top 5 teams are trying pretty hard to get rid of their picks.  The team’s highest paid player, Ricky Rubio has even stated that he would be cool if they traded him.  Someone will take Rubio, like the Sacramento Kings who seem desperate at the moment and have a voice mail greeting of “This is the Sacramento Kings General Management office.  Press 1 for us to accept your trade.  Press 2 for Lost and Found.”

If they cannot work out a trade on draft day, it almost makes sense for the Timberwolves to take Buddy Hield as they are in desperate need for a shooter after finishing 25th on the season in three point field goal percentage.  But, cheap shooters are out there in free agency, and having Hield and Andrew Wiggins on the court at the same time seems like a defensive risk.

Other random stuff –

It doesn’t appear that Nebraska’s Shavon Shields will get selected in the 2nd round.  He is a likely candidate to get onto a Summer League team and work his way into the league.  A frequent knock at him is that he’s not quick enough to play the 3 in the NBA.  There is a spot somewhere with the right team for Shields in the NBA, maybe not big minutes, but Hornets, Nuggets, and Rockets come to mind as places for him to at least just make the roster…or at least on their NBDL teams.

As much as this may shock you, there will be no one picked from the Summit League.  Max Landis and Obi Emegano could be guys that make Summer League rosters and try and work their way into the NBA or NBDL

 

My trivial Summit League rankings – Feb 15

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I’d like to thank all of the President’s who made the ultimate sacrifice to give me the day off of work today.

There are only two weeks left of the regular season for Summit League basketball.  IPFW, Omaha, and South Dakota State are in a race for the top two spots in the Summit League tournament; which is important because the two top spots play on Saturday, but then not Sunday if they can pick up a win on the first day.  Obviously, teams would like to play 3 out of 4 days instead of 3 days in a row.

Fun idea for a trip:  If Omaha were to be a 3 seed, you could travel to Minneapolis and laugh at the Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves, and then head to Sioux Falls on Saturday to see the Summit League tournament.

1. South Dakota State

Last Week:  1

Remaining opponents conference record:  22-27

Mike Daum will have Mav fans cursing his name for the next few years.  DAUM! DAUM! DAUM YOU!  Another player South Dakota State has that Omaha went after in high school was Reed Tellinguisen.  Tellinghuisen would look really good on the Mavs, and he looks alright on South Dakota State, but he cannot guard stretch 4s, and mainly Tre’Shawn Thurman.  The amount of fear of on his face whenever Thurman got the ball on the low block was equivalent to when my parent’s dog becomes terrified by the sound of a hammer.

2. IPFW

Last week: 2

Remaining opponents conference record: 27-22

Omaha just had one of their most important weeks since transitioning to division one, and now IPFW is going to have a really important week themselves.  IPFW is about to have South Dakota State come to Fort Wayne on Thursday, and then Omaha come to town on Saturday.  Of the three top teams in the Summit League, IPFW is the least deep team thanks to Mo Evans no longer being eligible.

No player in the league has played more 40+ minute games than Max Landis, and the last two games the ‘Dons were really only been able to go with a 6 man rotation.  No team needs a top 2 finish more than the Mastodons.

3. Omaha

Last week: 4

Remaining opponents conference record:  21-16

Two huge wins for the Mavs last week.  I seriously hope that Western Illinois and Denver week does not come back to haunt them.  Obviously, you want the Mavericks to finish 1st, but 2nd is also pretty important, because that means the Mavericks could get a day off in the Summit League tournament (assuming they win the first game) and not have to play 3 days in a row.  Some of the Mavs looked pretty tired against North Dakota State.

I really do not think Jake White gets enough credit for what he has done on this team.  His shot has become so much better throughout the season, he is incredibly clutch, and there are really not many players in the league that can guard him.  NDSU’s Chris Kading seems to be the best equipped for it, but the Bison needed to have him guard Thurman down the stretch…which allowed for Jake White to go off in the second half over the shorter AJ Jacobson and Dexter Werner.

By the way, one of my keys for the Mavs to have a successful season was for Jake White to improve his field goal percentage and get up around 45%.  He’s shooting 57% from the field!  Now if only referees weren’t out to get him.

4. North Dakota State

Last week: 3

Remaining opponents conference record:  31-26

Okay, I know it gets a little dicey after the top 3 right now.  The Bison have dropped two in a row, but they still have wins over South Dakota State and IPFW on the season.  They are a scary team with Paul Miller on the court, but it would be extremely difficult for them to win one game in the Summit League tournament without him on the court.

I like David Richman, and I know that Chris Kading had some health concerns over the summer, but why did he not play Kading more against Omaha?  The interior of Omaha struggled to score with Kading on the court, granted Jake White was in foul trouble, but still.  NDSU’s best lineup was with Kading and Dexter Werner on the court, Omaha had difficulty scoring inside with the two of them on the court, but Richman insisted on going with Werner and AJ Jacobson as long as he could.  Is he not allowed to play all three of them at the same time?

5. IUPUI

Last week:  5th

Remaining opponents conference record:  28-22

I like the Jags, but the most they scored on their recent 3 game road trip was 58 points… The Jaguars have yet to lose a conference game at home, which is good for them because they have 3 of the last 4 at home…They only won their last two home games by a total of 3 points.

6. Denver

Last week:

Remaining opponents conference record:  15-23

The Pioneers have 2 of their last 3 on the road, and their offense makes them a dangerous team.  You know, that’s all I really want to say about Denver right now.  That’s all I really can say about the Pioneers before wanting to black out.

So, hey, Valentine’s Day was nice.  My wife doesn’t really care about Valentine’s Day, so that is pretty dope.  I made some spaghetti, but I threw in some mushrooms, zucchini, and scallops, and it was pretty tasty.  That was a side to the salmon we had, and I also made a pretty nice salad.  We each had our (current) favorite beers.  She had the Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, and I had the IRA from Zip Line.  That Zipe Line is pretty impressive.  You’re pretty jealous, right?  My Valentine’s Day was me drinking beer with my wife and us discussing how stupid Valentine’s Day is.

7. Oral Roberts

Last week: 8

Remaining opponents conference record:  23-15

The Golden Eagles only have one game this week and it is against Denver, which is really a game for them fighting over seeding in the Summit League tournament.  After that, Oral Roberts is at Omaha and South Dakota State.  Sounds fun.

Scott Sutton and Oral Roberts need to win their last three games just to finish at .500 in conference.  They have not finished below .500 since 2000-01.  The team doesn’t look like they are really “made for the future” right now either.

8. South Dakota

Last week: 7

Remaining opponents conference record:  14-23

The team lost their starting point guard, Shy McClelland, and a rarely used guard, Zach Dickerson, last week.  They are not an incredibly deep team in the back court, but they do have some depth in their front court.  Wasn’t South Dakota versus Oral Roberts one of the most anticipated preseason match ups for this conference?

9. Western Illinois

Last week: 9

Remaining opponents conference record:  27-21

They actually could still make the Summit League tournament.  Their last game against the season is against South Dakota, who is currently in the 8th spot.  Wait, so South Dakota versus Western Illinois might actually be important?  They could take advantage of North Dakota State not having Paul Miller on Wednesday, but if Miller is playing, let’s not kid ourselves… They also have South Dakota State, and now we’re all laughing and having a good time, but the Mav and IPFW fans are looking for God’s address to send him letters.  Actually, Western Illinois picking up a win at home against IPFW is not far fetched.

My trivial Summit League rankings: Jan 18

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1. IPFW, 4-1

Last Week: 3rd

Fort Wayne had a tough weekend on the road against South Dakota State and IPFW.  They were able to split the weekend and needed Max Landis, John Konchar, and Brent Calhoun to combine for 29-of-41 in order to pull off a win.  With the loss of Mo Evans, who was potentially a first team all Summit League player, the ‘Dons may need shooting like that from those three players in every single game.  Can they keep that up?  Regardless, if the team starts to take a step back because of missing Mo Evans, they were still going to be an extremely tough out in the Summit League tournament.

2. Omaha, 4-1

Last week: 1st

Omaha hit 10 threes against IPFW…Tra-Deon Hollins has hit 5 threes in the last two games after only hitting 7 all year.  Omaha will be even more dangerous of a team if they can get the three point shooting going.

By the way, Hollins has already broken the single season record for steals at Omaha.  Assuming Omaha plays at least one Summit League tournament game, Hollins is on pace to have the 4th highest amount of steals in one season ever in division one.

3. South Dakota State, 3-2

Last week: 2nd

This team needs Jake Bittle back in the lineup.  The Jackrabbits are 10-2 with Bittle in the lineup and 4-4 without Bittle.  It is not easy to lose a guard that shoots 55% from the field, and who forces his teammates to move on offense.  Imagine taking Tra-Deon Hollins off of Omaha for 8 games…or Obi Emegano off of Oral Roberts…or Mo Evans off of IPFW…oh wait.

The Jackrabbits have a tough week playing at Oral Roberts and at their instate rival South Dakota.

4. North Dakota State, 3-2

Last week: 5th

It has been interesting to see how this team has done since losing Lawrence Alexander.  They are not the same threatening team that they were the last few years, but they did just hold a tough South Dakota State team to 29% from the field.

5. Oral Roberts, 3-3

Last week: 6th

After losing 7 straight games, the Golden Eagles are on a three game winning streak with getting a healthy Obi Emegano back in the lineup.  Their next 4 games are at home against South Dakota State, Omaha, IPFW, and on the road against North Dakota State…whom they previously beat by 1 at home.

6. IUPUI, 4-2

Last week: 5th

Oral Roberts really showed who was the more athletic team between IUPUI and Oral Roberts last week.  IUPUI’s defense was really able to contain and frustrate the leading player of the year candidate, but they could not defend Oral Roberts’ three point shooting who was at one point 10-of-12 from deep.

The Jaguars rebounded nicely against Denver at home beating the Pioneers by 15.

7. Denver, 2-4

Last week: 8th

Denver’s style of play can always frustrate teams and their home court advantage gives them a leg up…by the way, I don’t know what the expression “leg up” means.

Denver is made up of almost all newcomers and the returning guys are career role players…which is actually somewhat fitting for a Princeton offense.  Teams of newcomers are typically inconsistent, unless you are Western Illinois, then you have career inconsistent dudes.  IUPUI just shot nearly 70% on the game against the Pioneers on Saturday…70!  And IUPUI is not necessarily known for being a juggernaut of an offensive team.

8. South Dakota, 1-4

Last week: 7th

The Coyotes almost had a comeback win at North Dakota State, but could not pull it off.  A few of their role players and freshmen have become non factors in league play.

South Dakota’s one win was against Oral Roberts, who was playing without Obi Emegano.

9. Western Illinois, 0-5

Last week: 9th

0-5…

I hate that the players on this team are so inconsistent that they are one lifetime performance away from getting a win over some pretty good team and someone saying “maybe they are good again.”  I also hate it that the once in a lifetime performance always seems to come against your team.

2015-2016 opponent preview, Game 3: Colorado Buffaloes

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After opening up the season with 3 games at Baxter Arena, the UNO Mavericks basketball team will take a nice little trip to the state of Colorado for a Sunday match up against the Buffaloes (and then Northern Colorado on November 25th).

This could be a fun trip if any UNO fans wanted to take an adventure to the neighboring state.  Colorado is always a great time, unless you are one of those people who like to binge watch the crap out of a show like Vampire Diaries instead of getting out and living life.  You got your great breakfast and lunch restaurants, some of the best breweries in the world, tremendous hikes with beautiful views, and if you were to also make this trip you could check out the Denver Nuggets take on the Clippers and Warriors.  You can also hear stories from locals on you should try edibles, but also not try edibles because you could die doing something dumb.

The Mavericks built a bit of a reputation of being able to give bigger conference teams a little scare over the last two years, by being close in games but then losing in the final minutes when depth became an issue.  The Mavs will not be afraid to go into Boulder and compete against the Buffaloes, but Colorado could be a little scary for a team that finished with a losing record in 2014-2015.

This is going to be used for memes in the future.
This is going to be used for memes in the future.

The Buffaloes lose their leading scorer, Askia Booker, a 6’2″ guard that averaged 17.2 pointes per game, and shot 39% from the field.  With that in mind, Colorado had a Providence transfer sitting out last season.  6’5″ junior, Josh Fortune will look to make an immediate impact for the Buffaloes this season.  Fortune averaged 8.4 points per game in his sophomore season at Providence, while also shooting 35% from long range.  Fortune became a big piece for Providence, who won the Big East in his sophomore season.  In the months of February and March, he averaged 11.4 per game after being inserted into the starting line up.  Combine Fortune with what Colorado has for a front court, and you have yourself very tough piece of competition in front of you.

Josh Fortune is the type of player that gave UNO fits last year. Doesn't Josh Fortune sound like a comic book villain name?
Josh Fortune is the type of player that gave UNO fits last year. Doesn’t Josh Fortune sound like a comic book villain name?

The Buffaloes will also see plenty of players in the post returning:

Josh Scott, 6’10” Sr: 14.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 54 FG%, 75 FT% in 2014-2015

Xavier Johnson, 6’7″ Sr: 10.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 45 FG%, 65 FT%, and 37 3pt% in 2014-2015

Wesley Gordon, 6’9″ Jr: 6.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.8 bpg,  55 FG%, 67 FT%

Tre’Shaun Fletcher, 6’7″ 5.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 45 FG%, 71 FT%, and 46 3pt%

While Colorado has a lot returning in the front court, the Buffaloes will not have much of their back court returning, so (I am guessing) the Mavericks will look to utilize the speed and shooting of Devin Patterson, Marcus Tyus, Tra-Deon Hollins, and JT Gibson as much as possible in this game.  While depth has been an issue for the Mavs going up agains these bigger teams, the Mavs will have some added depth this season with so many players coming back and quality players being added to the roster.

Relying on Patterson and Tyus is not a terrible thing at all.  In 4 career games against power conference teams, Devin Patterson has averaged 18.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.0 apg, and 2.0 spg while shooting 47% from the floor.  In 8 games against power conference teams, Tyus has averaged 8.4 ppg and 3.3 rpg while shooting 53% from the field and 47% from three point range.  So you have to feel comfortable with those two guys going against an experienced back court, right?

These two...
These two…

As the first road game and the first game against a big school, some of the Mavericks could have some jitters as this could be the biggest stage they have ever played on.  Colorado ranked 49th in the nation last season in attendance with 9,135 fans per game.  With that on your mind, Tre’Shawn Thurman had 12 points and 7 rebounds off of 6 of 7 shooting in his first big game his freshman season at Marquette.  Marquette averaged 13,657 fans per game last season.

Also Colorado does not really have that much of a home advantage.  If you ever frequent to Colorado, you will notice that not many people even really care about the Buffaloes (in anything).  The area has many people that have migrated from somewhere else in the country, which is why downtown Denver is filled with alumni bars to go watch their teams play.  The Giggling Grizzly is a Husker and a Michigan State bar, that can be weird on some days I am sure.

One advantage that Colorado has that people love to point out is the altitude.  It can be difficult for teams who are not used to it to come in and play for a full 40 minutes, especially with the Colorado players so accustomed to the atmosphere.    Actually, Colorado was 12-5 at home last season (if you include their CBI win) and 2 of those home losses were to Colorado State and Utah, who are both used to the altitude.  The other three losses were to Oregon, Washington, and Arizona who are not bad teams at all.  So maybe Colorado does have a geographical advantage here.  So can the Mavs maintain their pace from last season in Boulder?

Colorado finished last season with an RPI of 118, with Fortune being inserted into the line up, and much of their returning core coming back, Colorado will be looking to improve on that RPI.  Colorado had a trip to the CBI tournament where they lost to Seattle.  I kind of wanted to put a question mark at the end of that sentence.

So how do we look here?  Colorado is deep in the post, very deep actually.  Aside from the players listed above, they also have Tory Miller on the roster.  Miller is a 6’9″ sophomore who only averaged a shade under 9 minutes a game last season, but he is a Kansas City native who was offered by Creighton and Nebraska…so even the guy they are not using much has some upside.  Much of this game will rely on how well Jake White and Tre’Shawn Thurman can compete with that post, but as I have said it a few times before, Devin Patterson is the Mavericks’ blood line.  If Patterson can play well, the Mavericks will play well through him (did I sound real hippy-ish there).  Do you need evidence for that?

 

Patterson vs. Marquette: 26/6/8 and the Mavs win.

Patterson vs. UMKC: 8/6/3 and the Mavs lose.

 

I know there are more to stats than that, and I wish there wasn’t more to stats than that, but I have seen Patterson tweet that he loves the big games and the big opponents.  It seems like he loves these moments, and based tweets from Tre’Shawn Thurman since he was a senior in high school, I am pretty sure he loves these moments as well.  Man, I feel like a creep now.  When you have a senior leader bringing that energy and quality of play to the point guard position, you have a shot at getting another upset against the power team.  Obviously, other Mavericks will need to step up in order to get a win against a team like Colorado on the road, but Patterson has the ability to raise their ability with his great passing.

 

2015-2016 Opponent Preview, Game 1: UC Santa Barbara

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So there are 13 weeks until the Mavs basketball season starts, so what is a better time to start previewing their 2015 fourteen non-conference opponents?  Probably last week actually if I wanted to take it one team at a time.  Crap.  Oh well.  Here we go.

The Mavs will open their season at the brand new Baxter Arena in Mavtown with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.   Don’t you love it how nicknames of California teams (pro and college) make no sense?  This will be after Mav hockey will already be 10 games into the season, but there will not be any hockey this weekend, so really it is a great weekend to open up the season for the Baxter Arena for basketball.  UNO Men’s soccer should be in Denver this weekend for the Summit League tournament and championship, and hopefully the women’s soccer team will have made some noise at this point and maybe have already made the Summit League tournament.  This will also be the final weekend of the regular season for the volleyball team.

I know some Mav fans were expecting a bit time opponent to open up the arena.  Some were thinking the likes of Nebraska or Creighton, but the Gauchos are not a small opponent by any means.  In fact, they actually finished the 2015-2016 season with an RPI of 98.  If case you forgot: Creighton finished at 157; and Nebraska finished at 155, but I know it is more about the name and prestige for most.  The Gauchos also finished the year with a winning record, tied for 2nd with UC Irvine in the Big West, and a trip to the CBI where they lost to Summit League team Oral Roberts.

In addition to all of this, Santa Barbara had one win over a power conference team, Washington State.  I know Washington State is someone to not take incredibly seriously right now as far as power conference teams ago, but the Gauchos beat them 71-43.

Side note:  My Northwest friends are mostly Washington State fans.  Last year, when I heard UNO was going to Seattle and looking to play Washington or Washington State while in the Northwest, I told my Northwest friends that they might have a Mavericks versus Cougars match up.  They laughed and said “there is an easy win for UNO.”

Speaking of Seattle, remember when UNO lost to them and we were incredibly shocked by it?  The Gauchos beat Seattle 87-46.  Looking at the rest of their 2014-2015 schedule, they had some close losses to some good teams.  As mentioned, they lost to Oral Roberts by 4 in the CBI.  The Gauchos also traveled to Lawrence early in the year to lose to Kansas by 10, the Jayhawks had a final RPI of 5.  The team did also split games with Florida Gulf Coast, losing to Dunk City by 6 in overtime before beating them by 13 later in the non-conference schedule.

I really wish UNO and Colorado State could meet every year, the Rams are a fun team to watch, and they are “sort of local” with a large number of UNO alumni (and former Omahans) in the state of Colorado.  Santa Barbara lost to the Rams by 2.  Colorado State had a final RPI of 37.

Speaking of other teams I would like to see UNO play, but this is because of my wife’s fan hood, Santa Barbara lost to Oregon by 4 points in overtime in Eugene.  Also, a team I hate discussing, SMU, beat Santa Barbara by 7.  Larry Brown’s final experiment finished with an RPI of 27.

The Gauchos are coached by Bob Williams, who has been with Santa Barbara since 1998 after winning a Division 2 championship with (then D-2) UC Davis.  Williams has made the NCAA tournament with the Gauchos 3 times, his last time was in 2010-2011.

Who did they lose?

The Gauchos lost a huge piece of their team.  6’8″ and 265lbs Alan Williams averaged a double double in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons for Santa Barbara.  He was an All Big West player for all three of those seasons as well.  He is actually probably solely responsible for what kept Santa Barbara in the game against Kansas, as he showed to be too much for Perry Ellis, in which Williams had 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Williams averaged 17.3 ppg and 11.8 rpg his senior season, he also was not a terrible free throw shooter at 77%.  He had a 20 rebound performance in a 65-60 overtime win over Mercer.  Oh Williams also led the NCAA in rebounding in 2014 and in 2015.

Willaims did miss 6 games in 2014-2015 with the Gauchos going 4-2 in his absence, and those two losses were against UC Irvine and UC Davis, the two top teams in the Big West.

After finishing his career as a Gaucho, Williams played for the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets in the NBA Summer League, where he was named All Summer League 2nd team after a 22 points and 21 rebound performance against the 76ers.  He has signed professionally with a Chinese team.

I feel like Mike Rostampour would have loved competing against this guy.

Who do they have coming back?

Williams is obviously a huge loss, but he was not the only Big West 1st Team player that the Gauchos had.  6’4″ senior Michael Bryson also made the all conference team after averaging 14 points and nearly 5 rebounds a game.  Bryson loves taking threes, he made about 2 threes per game in 2014-2015 with a total of 68 on the year.  In comparison, CJ Carter, who led the Mavericks, made 48 on the season.  Bryson also shot 85% from the free throw line.

The Gauchos return two more wing players that averaged over 10 per game last season.  6’5″ senior John Green averaged 11 points and 4 rebounds per game, though Green was mostly used at the 4 position last season since, other than Williams, the Gauchos did not have much of a post game.  The team also return 6’3″ sophomore Gabe Vincent who averaged 10 per game, but did face inconsistencies throughout the year, as most freshman do.  Vincent shot 41% on threes on the year, and had a total of 57.

So you’re telling me there is a chance?

Probably the Mavericks biggest weakness last season was their perimeter defense, so you get a little scared when you hear they are facing a team with their strength being their group of returning wing players.  The Gauchos will be trying to adjust to life without a walking double double, and after Williams, the Gauchos did not have a reliable post game.

So the keys to the game could be how much the Mavs can work the ball into Jake White and Tre’Shawn Thurman, as well as how good of a perimeter defender new Mavericks Tra-Deon Hollins can be in the game…who sounds to be a pretty stellar defender.

This is not going to be as easy of a game as playing Central Arkansas to open up the year, but to get better the Mavs have to play the best, this is great competition.  As of right now, it does sound as if Santa Barbara has the edge, but hopefully opening up the new arena (to basketball) can create a great atmosphere to give the Mavs a great home court advantage in this game.

 

 

 

References from Space Jam to Bill Brasky can only mean one thing, South Dakota is coming to town

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Okay, you’re Lebowski, I’m a Lebowski, you’re along I-29, I’m along I-29, you used to be D-2, I used to be D-2, you’ve lost four of your last five, I’ve lost four of my last five, now get on with it.

Ever since joining the Summit League, I have always thought that the UNO Mavericks were on an even plain as the South Dakota Coyotes.  They are both former NCC members, both schools seem to be going after some of the same recruits, they are in the shadow of South Dakota State, and the Mavs kind of are too.  Since joining division one, UNO has gone 3-3 against the Coyotes, they split games in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, and UNO was able to pick up a come from behind win in Vermillion earlier this season.

Fact, Vermillion is a dumb name for a town.

The Coyotes field a squad that is mostly juniors and seniors on their roster, they have 9 freaking juniors on the roster.  There is not much height to the team, but they do have 6’10” James Hunter who transferred from Pac-12 powerhouse Washington State.  If you have an allegiance to the pacific northwest, you would know that was sarcasm.  With little height on the team, there is not much of a post game for the Coyotes.  UNO posts Mike Rostampour, Tre’Shawn Thurman, and Jake White were able to combine for 29 points, 26 rebounds, and shoot a combined 9-18 from the field in the first meeting between the two teams.  That is not to say that the Coyotes are a terrible rebounding team.  They matched UNO’s 38 rebounds in their game earlier this season, and 6’3″ Tyler Larson averages just under 8 rebounds a game.

Fact, South Dakota fans are weird.

I say these programs have similarities, but their fans confuse me.  I attended last year’s game in Omaha between the two teams.  A decent number of South Dakota fans showed up, which makes sense as they are the closest Summit League school to Omaha, and every fan was the same.  They looked as if they took a break from fixing their tractors, like they came down to Omaha and hit up an Applebee’s before the game, drank too much beer in Ralston Arena, and acted as if the Coyotes were the representing the Tune Land Tune Squad.  Have you ever seen those sketches from Saturday Night Live with Alec Baldwin and John Goodman drinking too much and shouting ridiculous stuff about a magical man named Bill Brasky?  Put South Dakota Coyote shirts on those two characters, and that’s what I saw in these people.  Always talking as if the Caps Lock button is stuck, or like they cannot take the Caps Lock off because there is a drink in that hand.

BRANDON BOS ONCE HIT A THREE POINTER WITH HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND HIS BACK AND HAD TO SHOOT THE BALL WITH HIS NOSE LIKE HE WAS AIR BUD.  TO BRANDON BOS!!!

TYLER LARSON ONCE DUNKED THE BALL SO HARD THAT HE PULLED OFF THE RIM AND HE FLEW OFF THE RIM INTO SUPER MARIO WORLD.  TO TYLER LARSON!!!

CASEY KASPERBAUER CAN HIT A THREE POINTER FROM SO FAR AWAY HE FLEW TO SUPER MARIO WORLD TO SAVE TYLER LARSON AND THEN SHOT A THREE FROM BOWSER’S CASTLE TO VERMILLION TO WIN A GAME OVER SOUTH DAKOTA STATE.  TO CASEY KASPERBAUER!!!

Watch out for characters like this when South Dakota comes to Omaha.
Watch out for characters like this when South Dakota comes to Omaha.

South Dakota takes a lot of threes, and they hit a lot of threes.  Overall they are 4th in the Summit in 3 point field goal percentage, but the numbers have dipped a bit recently and overall they have the 2nd worst field goal percentage in the league.  The game in Vermillion was the first game of the year in which UNO’s opponent hit more 3s than Omaha and Omaha still won the game.  So the post play for UNO is important here, as South Dakota has very little of it.

Much about the threes is the same for Omaha.  The Mavs have shooters, but they have not really put up a lot in a game in the last 5 games.  What do you define as “a lot of threes”?  I would probably say seven.  Seven sounds good.  Seven minute abs.  Seven little dwarfs.  Seven miles an hour.  Seven Costanza.  The Mavs have not hit more than 6 threes since January 14th and 18th.  They also have given up a lot of threes recently, as the perimeter defense seems to be facing a new challenge game after game.  The Mavs have given up 6 or more threes in each of the last 5 games, in fact there has only been one game this season in which the Mavs have given up less than 5 threes.  Yeah, take that Nevada.

These last 6 games for UNO are important.  You do not want to see the Mavs get any worse as they are trying to grow as a program, but with their current record they cannot finish above .500.  If they go 3-3 in their last 6 games they will match their 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 win totals of 11, which 2011-2012 is kind of skewed because the schedule was a mix of D-1, D-2, NAIA, and whatever else is out there.  They only had one win that year against a D-1 opponent, take that Northern Illinois.  Three wins is doable against South Dakota, Oral Roberts, Western Illinois, North Dakota, IUPUI, and IPFW.

These last three home games are the last home games we will see of seniors CJ Carter and Mike Rostampour.  Would you expect them to not go out with a bang?  They both bring it every single game, with the last three home games on the horizon, I cannot imagine them just taking a backseat, like, hey, let the guys that are going to be here next year get some time.  No, no, no, no.

In six career games against South Dakota, CJ Carter has only not made double figures once.  His sophomore season, the Mavs lost 95-72, and Carter only had 4 points.  Overall, in the 6 career games he has averaged 16 points per game and shot 43% from the field.

In three career games against South Dakota, Mike Rostampour has not scored less than 10.  He has averaged 12.6 points per game, 8.7 rebounds, shot 48% from the field, and shot 83% from the line.  Safe to say South Dakota’s front line is no match for Mike Rostampour?

How about Marcus Tyus?  In 5 career games he has shot 55% from the field and scored 11.2 points per game against South Dakota.  Tyus has turned into the most consistent scorer for the Mavs this season.

But does anyone else feel like we are due for a big time performance from Devin Patterson?  I would place a bet on that, but not like Krusty the Klown betting against the Harlem Globetrotters because he thought the Generals were due.

At one time, I thought that Patterson was the best pure point guard in the Summit League.  I still think that, but ever since his ankle injury he has not been the same.  The quickness is not there like it was earlier in the season.  I was told prior to the beginning of the year that he broke his toe and is letting it heal on its own, which may or may not be the best course of action.  Patterson’s game against Marquette of 26 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 11-12 free throws may be the best performance by a Mav ever considering the stage.  Patterson really is the biggest x-factor for this team.  He and Rostampour added toughness to this squad when they entered the starting lineup in 2013-2014, he may not be the scorer that Carter or Tyus are, but when Patterson runs the offense, and when he does well, the team does well.  I want my Patterson back.  It is just a lot of ground to make up when you take the best point guard in the league, give him an ankle injury, and slow him down given how important he is to the Mavericks.

There are some Omaha ties to this South Dakota team.  I do not have this 100% verified but I am pretty sure Casey Kasperbauer’s brother played at Nebraska and currently lives and works in Omaha, even went to graduate school at UNO.  Kasperbauer is from Carroll, Iowa, which has produced some decent basketball talent in past.  Junior Duol Mayot is a Omaha south grad, he was a great rebounder at the JuCo level, but he really has not gotten a bunch of playing time at South Dakota yet.  There was apparently some interest in Mayot to come to UNO, but I do not think that a scholarship was ever offered.  Freshman Dejon Davis is from Minnesota, an area that UNO likes to recruit out of, and he also had some interest from UNO, but I am also not sure if a scholarship was ever offered by the UNO staff.

Head coach Craig Smith is a former assistant of Nebraska’s Tim Miles, like Tim Miles he is known for improving teams.  He did it at the NAIA level, he was the national NAIA Coach of the Year in 2007, and he also helped Tim Miles improve North Dakota State, Colorado State, and Nebraska.  He gets to Nebraska and recruits, I am not sure how much of an influence he had on it, but at Colorado State they had 4 native Nebraskans on the team when they reached the NCAA tournament.  Along with Mayot, he has Logan Power from Lincoln as a walk on, and he also picked up a commitment from Norfolk’s Tyler Hagedorn, who also held an offer from UNO.  Smith has already led his squad into Omaha once already and almost came up with a win at Creighton, which makes Mav fans happy and mad at the same time.

Given the circumstances this kind of seems like a must win game for the Mavs.

By the way, am I the only one that wants South Dakota-UNO to be a big time rivalry?

 

Meet future Maverick J.T. Gibson

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With just a few weeks left in the basketball season, and with an 8-15 record, Mav fans may begin looking to UNO’s first full fledged season as a Division 1 institution.  It’s okay to admit it, we have been looking forward to the 2015-2016 season for quite some time now.

Let’s add some more hype to next season by taking a minute to discuss future guard J.T. Gibson.  I have stated before that it seems somewhat pointless to talk about recruiting, you do not really know what you have in a player until he is actually in a uniform on the court in a game.  But hey, let’s try it.

Just looking at a few things, the commitment of Gibson already seems like a win for the Mavericks.  The Mavs have wanted to recruit out of the state of Minnesota for a while now, even before transition, it was a great place to go on recruiting trips.  With only one division one basketball team in the state of Minnesota, which is a Power 5 team that can recruit nationally, it leaves a lot of room open for “the other guy” to come and try and sell brake pads.  That’s a Tommy Boy reference, a poor one, but still a Tommy Boy reference.

studentathletes
J.T. Gibson signed with the University of Nebraska at Omaha for basketball.

 

If you look at Gibson’s Yahoo profile, he held offers from Illinois State, La Salle, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, South Dakota, Western Kentucky, and the top dogs of the Summit League North Dakota State and South Dakota State.  He also visited NDSU and SDSU.  UNO has not gotten a commitment out of a guy yet that has had that many offers.  A goal of the basketball program was to grow into the next North Dakota State and South Dakota State, so to pick up a commitment from a guy that visited those two schools, shows us that UNO picked up a win.

Let’s not get crazy though, he still has to get on campus and play.  By that I mean, please don’t jinx it and go get in a fight with a Bison or Jackrabbit fan about how we’re better than them now, don’t be that dude.  Players have committed to UNO and vanished before, so let’s just appreciate what it’s worth for now.  The Minnesota High School Basketball bloggers and writers have referred to UNO picking up JT Gibson as a “steal”.  Some of them seem to think he could be at a bigger school, maybe not as an immediate impact like he would be in the Summit League, but an impact for sure at some point down the road.

Assuming and praying that Gibson is in uniform next season for UNO, he has the chance to contribute right away. UNO still has room for one more commitment and current players could still potentially transfer out, so there is still time for a lot of things to happen.  I have seen Gibson listed anywhere between 6’2″ and 6’4″, and he’s been scouted as being able to play the point guard or shooting guard.  So on paper it sounds like we have a special wing player that can do a lot.

One thing I would like to put a random disclaimer on.  I mention this kid’s height like it is an awesome thing, but height and athletic frame do not automatically equate to success.  I never want to refer to a player as “a kid with a great body.”  I was watching a Creighton game with some friends one time.  It was P’Allen Stinnett’ s first game at Creighton, also the first game for Kaleb Korver and Casey Harriman (among several others).  Biggest Douche in the Universe Nominee Travis Justice, that’s a South Park reference, kept referring to Casey Harriman as having a great body to the point that it became creepy.  It created four years of my friends and I passing jokes on Casey “the body” Harriman.  “The Body” faced many injuries over his career, and he was a classy dude, it was tough to watch him not turn into much at Creighton by his senior year.  I do not think we should ever tout someone as a great player because their body looks awesome.  The last thing I want to hear Gary Sharp say is “look at the body on Daniel Meyer.”  Just say it out loud, it’s seriously creepy.  The one take away you should take away from this is that Travis Justice is a freakin’ loser.  I met the guy once when I was in high school, I tried to be nice to him because hey, it was Mr. Channel 10.  Now I would just be a jerk to him.  Hey Travis, I am really sorry you lost out to John Edward.  The committee should have really given the award to you.  That’s back to the South Park reference.

Gibson’s high school team is undefeated (as of the 7th) and he has the most points in school history.  He is even up for Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota.  You are thinking of him on the floor with Tre’Shawn Thurman right now, aren’t you?  Gibson also comes from the same AAU team that some guy named Doug McDermott spent time on.

Here is a little video of him:

It looks as if he can shoot, and shoot well.  He also appears to be a good ball handler and passer, but I believe those skills get a little harder to showcase in the next level when you are facing tougher defenses, so we have to obviously wait and see if those skills will translate.  Would you compare him to any current and former Mavs?  Maybe the height of Justin Simmons, the shooting and ball handling of Marcus Tyus, the speed and penetration of CJ Carter?  Mavenstein!

Looking at the Mavs future, there will be J.T. Gibson along with (assuming these guys do not leave) Daniel Meyer, Tre’Shawn Thurman, Rylan Murry, and Devin Newsome as well as other signees C Zach Pirog and G Zach Jackson.  A decent crew it seems.  It certainly does seem attractive to think of those guys as a seniors with J.T. Gibson in the mix as a junior (along with the Zachs).

North Dakota State is a young team this year, they only lose Lawrence Alexander, who is the best player in the conference in my opinion.  They also have four decent commitments coming in, which includes a JuCo player named Malik Clements who once held a scholarship offer from UNO and they also have native Nebraskan Spencer Eliason, brother of Minnesota Gopher Elliott Eliason.

Oh, look who wanted this kid...
Oh, look who wanted this kid…

The other head honcho in the conference, South Dakota State, does not have any commitments yet, but they are also a somewhat young team that only loses two players to graduation.  South Dakota State could also land a transfer from a bigger school, or a juco player, they just have the power to do that.  They also have Nebraskan native Michael Daum, who also held a scholarship offer from UNO at one point, redshirting this season.

That’s not to say no one else in the conference has anything else sitting there for future purposes.  South Dakota picked up a commitment from Norfolk’s Tyler Hagedorn, another player UNO offered a scholarship.  You are also just sitting there thinking that Craig Smith is going to do something.  He’s waiting, he’s a sleeping giant that has already made South Dakota better, and will continue to make them better, until he probably gets a bigger and better job.  Denver picked up a commitment from a 6’5″ McDonald’s All American nominee (Rylan Murry was also a nominee, just sayin’).

On paper, it seems that the Mavs are inching closer to being comparable to North Dakota State and South Dakota State, and Gibson is one of the puzzle pieces to hopefully get us there.

Served on a North Dakota bun, we have an IPFW hate sandwich

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I do not really want to get in too deep about the South Dakota State game from Wednesday night, because it is pretty similar to everything that was said about the home loss to the Jackrabbits a few weeks ago.  SDSU is the best team in the league, and a goal for UNO basketball is to be on the same playing ground as them someday.  We are far from it right now.  The Mavs only graduate two players and so do the Jackrabbits, all four players that graduate from the two teams are key players, but maybe we should expect the same next season.  Patterson was able to defend George Marshall better this game and hold him to two points, but a combined 14-15 with 8-8 threes from junior guards Jake Bittle and Deondre Parks is clearly not good.  The Mavs need to figure out this perimeter defense thing.

The bench was no where to be found, but I must say that the Mavs bench put up some good numbers against Denver.  We need more of that every game.  I was out of the country for the Denver game, maybe I need to go the Caribbean for every game…

 

Hey North Dakota Hockey, screw you, I mean, let me take that back

I wish I knew more about hockey to say more than six words about it.  I love going to UNO hockey games.  I barely knew what hockey was before becoming a UNO student.  I saw it was free to go to the games and I did not want to be that guy that never took advantage of something like that.  That reminds me, I did not realize that Creighton only had 30 fans that cared about the basketball team until the other night against St. Johns.  Must be pretty hard to pretend you go to Duke when your basketball team is on an 8 game losing streak…

I have learned the rules of hockey, but I still have no idea what makes a good pass a good pass, and anything about any form of strategy.  If I had a kid that was in hockey and I was coaching the team, I would just say, “piss off the other kids until they fight you or do something else stupid so we can have more players than them for a few minutes.“

I do know this, I can hate North Dakota, but I have to respect North Dakota.  Have you ever been to North Dakota while a Sioux game was on?  You can not do anything else.  My father-in-law has a farm in Minot and my wife and I go see him from time to time.  Usually when we stop somewhere, the place is decked out in North Dakota and North Dakota State flags, if there is a hockey game on then ALL televisions are on that North Dakota game, any other time of the year then it seems there is always one television that is devoted to playing reruns of hockey.  The NoDakians know their hockey, and I love going to UND-UNO hockey, there are more people in green, more people in red/black show up to show their support, it is a great experience.

I hate University of Missouri sports fans more than I hate any other fan base.  Their fans make literally no sense, and most are addicted to something incredibly bad for them.  When their football team became good, their fans did not know what was going on.  All they knew was, BALL GO PAST LINE, WE GOOD, then they cheered to the look of the Missouri players looking happy.  Last year when UNO played UND in hockey at CenturyLink, that is when I realized that I actually know very little about hockey.  I do not remember the exact situation, but UNO looked like they scored a goal and they started to cheer, but the people in green started to cheer as well.  The Mav population looked instantly confused when the Sioux faithful started to cheer.  The goal was called off due to a penalty, and all of the people in green knew it before it was even announced.  The Mav population just reacted to what they did not even understand what was fully going on, the NoDakians knew what was happening before the arena staff knew what was going on.

I am not saying we have to like them, but we need to respect them, but when basketball comes around they can screw off.  I just bring it up because I have seen some hate filled tweets on the Twitter machine, which I realize are in good fun, but college hockey is as important to these people as college football is to Nebraskans.  I would not want to piss off their fans to fuel the fire of their players, even though that is kind of the thrill of a rivalry.  Plus North Dakotans drink A LOT, so if they made the trip, lets just butter them up a tiny bit so they can pump a bunch of money into Omaha bars and hotels.

IPFW

The Mastadons were picked as the preseason favorite of the league. but now they are sitting at 6th in the League with a 3-5 record in the conference.

The ‘Dons beat the Mavericks in both meetings last season, but by a total of 5 points.  Do you remember the last game they played?  It was senior day for the Mavericks.  IPFW was one of the top teams in the league and really the only one fans thought could contend with North Dakota State for the championship. The game was forced to overtime, it was close in the entire overtime period.  There were some miscues from each side that had you sitting at the edge of the seat screaming What The Hell?!

IPFW gets the ball and in a last ditch effort, IPFW’s Steve Forbes puts up a three (he has never officially made or attempted a three so far at IPFW), the shot is a miss, but the official blows his whistle.  A foul on John Karhoff.  The Hoff looks at the ref like he is going to murder him right there with 1000+ witnesses and not even care.  Boos come from everywhere in the arena.  The referees have to go to the monitor to, I assume, check to see if it was a two point or three point attempt.

I am still not sure if anyone has ever said that foul was legit or not, but it was called a foul.  While the refs were checking the monitor, the body language was not good like – oh shit, what did we do?  An official can never really say yeah I screwed up, my bad, I am sorry.  They always say, I called it as I saw it.  The only time in recent memory that I can think of a ref admitting fault is when the first base umpire made a terrible call to screw up a perfect game for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga.  Hey, at least Galaraga still got a sweet car out of the deal.  And the officials can look at the monitor and realize they made a mistake, but they cannot wave off the foul, so while I was watching those officials at the monitor, their body language was the body language of a couple dudes that realized that they are bad at their job.  It is not like I am mad at Steve Forbes, he did not make the call, but I do not recognize sports officials by name, so I just need a scapegoat.

A win probably would of had that big of an impact on the Mavs season.  After Forbes hit the free throws to give IPFW the win, I was thinking that the chances of going to the CIT were over.  I thought it was done, IPFW took away the positive feelings at the end of the year.  Thankfully, it did not eliminate UNO from postseason play and the Mavs could pick up their first post season win a few weeks later.  But still, the Mavs felt stripped of a win on senior day.  Karhoff, Matt Hagerbaumer, Justin Simmons, Alex Phillips, and Caleb Steffensmeier did a lot for the basketball program, they all played great on their senior day, but were screwed out of a win we felt.  And this is the IPFW team that went on to beat South Dakota State, and then only lose by three to conference champion North Dakota State.  I will say that is the first time I have seen Mav basketball fans boo out the refs, so perhaps it was a bonding experience for Mav fans.  I almost feel like we need to avenge that Karhoff’s foul*.  #win4theHoff

*I still do not believe that was a foul.  John Karhoff could walk up to me and say that it was indeed a foul, and I would not believe him.  I would think IPFW employed The Madhatter to put a mind controlling device on John Karhoff to say what they wanted him to say.  That’s a Batman reference.

UNO and IPFW are actually pretty similar teams on paper.  They have both lost to IUPUI, South Dakota State by a bunch, Western Illinois, Oral Roberts, and beaten Oral Roberts and won at South Dakota.  Their back court is roughly the same size at UNOs with Isaiah McCray at 6’0″, 6’2″ Max Landis, and 6’0″ Mo Evans.  They have been playing a little bit of small ball with 6’5″ Joe Edwards at the “four”.  Really it seems the plan is to stretch the floor with their four guards and then swing the ball around so they can work to get the ball into Steve Forbes in the post.  I based this off of the little bit of what I watched from IPFW at South Dakota last night, and also a little bit of nothing.

Something I did notice is that when South Dakota would run the crap out of the ball, it was difficult for IPFW and mainly Steve Forbes to keep up.  Steve Forbes probably does not look forward to a team that plays the pace of the Mavs.  It would be like a English bulldog with a stupid look on his face trying to chase down a black lab.**  When South Dakota would have to get into a half court offense, they were more successful when they got the ball inside to a post player who could put the ball to the floor and basically run around Forbes.  So what sounds good against something like that?  Tre’Shawn Thurman and/or Jake White?  This looks like it could be another close game between the Dons and Mavs.

**This may be kind of a fat joke, but I do not like making fat jokes.  I find them to be uncreative, and someone can always lose weight and you will just look like an asshole for making fun of them a while ago.  And Steve Forbes could beat me up at recess if he wanted.

This is a match up of two teams that have been underachieving in what has been an awkward year for the Summit League.  Something that was brought to my attention when I was listening to UNO-South Dakota State on the radio on Wednesday night is that most teams in this conference are not losing much to graduation. South Dakota State is graduating two players, North Dakota State is only graduating one player, Denver is graduating two.  IPFW and South Dakota each have three seniors in their rotations.  This season should mean more to them, they have the most to lose.  Most other teams are trying to build onto something for the next year or two.  It will probably be more tough to pick up conference wins next season with most teams seeming to be loaded with juniors.  IPFW does have four juniors in their rotation, but no other team has as many minutes from seniors as the Mastadons, they need this more.  The time is definitely now for them, but would that mean that there is more pressure on them to win this game?

Some thoughts:

UNO and Creighton play at the same time on Saturday, what a bum deal.  The CenturyLink gets a Jays Basketball-UNO Hockey double header.  I really cannot wait until next year when we can host UNO Basketball-Hockey double headers in Aksarben.

If neither UNO and Creighton make the post season, is it against the rules to schedule them to play?  Like an Omaha Mega Bowl?

Some milestone notes:

  • Mike Rostampour is 10 rebounds away from tying Matt Hagerbaumer for most rebounds by a Mav since transition.
  • Devin Patterson is 1 assist away from his 100th career steal as a Maverick.
  • Marcus Tyus is 1 steal away from tying Caleb Steffensmeier for 3rd most steals by a Mav since transition.
  • In his last game, Tre’Shawn Thurman passed Marcus Tyus for 2nd most points by a freshman since transition.

 

A pretty bias view of the Summit League

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I think it’s pretty pointless to create preseason rankings and predictions before the non conference schedule.  They never really take transfers, junior college players, or freshmen into account.  Just:  This team has this returning, so screw it, we’ll pick them as number one. The non conference schedule is over now (well UNO has North Dakota at the end of the year), so maybe it’s time to start with some predictions?

There is not really a team that is far out ahead of the rest of the conference this year as compared to North Dakota State last year, or South Dakota State in 2012-2013.  There is not a Nate Wolters caliber player really, or even a Taylor Braun.  There isn’t really a large amount of great post players in the Summit this season, but there are a lot of great players at the wing position.  So how do I think it could end up?

1. South Dakota State  9-5  RPI:  141

Before the year started, I thought that South Dakota State would be the best team in league.  In my opinion, they have the league’s best post player Cody Larson, please don’t mistake me for thinking of him as the best post player in the league for me liking him as a person though.  Between watching on tv and in person, I’ve only seen Cody Larson play in five games, and he was kind of a whiny guy when I saw him in person…granted who knows what Mike Rostampour was doing on the floor to get him in a bad mood.  He sure is consistent though.  He averaged 13 points per game, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists last season, and he is doing the exact same thing through 14 games this season.

At the beginning of the year I wrote out some random and awful notes about each team’s roster and miscellaneous stuff.   My notes for SDSU:  Best post player, 2 seniors, 5 juniors, best coach in the league, big team, lots of size, Wisconsin transfer (George Marshall)…

Any time you have a former SEC and a former Big 10 player on the same team in a conference like the Summit League, you’re going to have some success.

2. IPFW  7-6  RPI: 262

The Summit League picked IPFW to win the conference, and it makes a lot of sense.  The Mastadons have size, experience, and really a good all around roster.

Steve Forbes missed 3 games due to an injury, but once he’s back to his regular Hulk like strength, the ‘dons will get on a roll going into conference play.  He returned against Cal Poly and picked up 12 points on 4-12 shooting and only had 2 rebounds.  He’s not going to stay at that poor shooting and that little amount of rebounds forever.  When you first see Forbes you instantly make fun of him.  How could that 300 pound guy run?  Does IPFW have a football team?  Then he starts posting up, and you realize it creates several problems for your teams post players.  It can create a lot of fouls on your team trying to keep him out of the paint.  Out of the 10 games that Forbes has played in, he has had 4 double-doubles, yeah one was against Michigan-Dearborn, but another was against Georgia Tech.

Alongside Forbes the ‘dons have Joe Reed at 6’8″ who is capable of getting 10 points a game.  IPFW also has Isaiah McCray, Mo Evans, and Joe Edwards who all score in double figures.  They have several weapons, it’s true.

Yet despite having a well balanced lineup, IPFW best win from an RPI stand point is over Miami (OH) at 297.  The ‘dons do beat the teams they are supposed to beat, so when they’re picked to win the Summit, maybe they will win the conference they are supposed to win.

3. Denver  6-7  RPI: 228

The Pioneers don’t score a lot of points, they don’t rebound the ball very well, but they play the Princeton offense and they do it well.  As a team the Pioneers shoot 49% from the field, 73% from the line, and 39% on threes, and they only turn the ball over 11 times a game.  Sure their games may be boring and no they haven’t won consecutive games yet this year, but they’re a tough play.  Only 3 of their losses have been rough.  The Pioneers lost by one to undefeated Colorado State, by two to Bryant, by six to Stanford in Palo Alto, and by ten to ranked Northern Iowa.

Denver only has 2 seniors and 4 juniors, but they’re all good and all essential to the operation of the team.  Senior wings Cam Griffin and Brett Olson lead the show and are enough for the Pioneers to pick up wins.  The Pioneers don’t really have much size with only two players that are 6’7″ or taller, but you don’t really need much of a post game when you’re running the Princeton offense.

4. Oral Roberts  6-7  RPI:  210

Coming back the Summit League, Oral Roberts had a tough non conference schedule, but Oral Roberts has always been cool with that.  They feel it makes them a better team by the time non conference comes, and that’s probably true.  They were able to pick up a win against city rival Tulsa who is currently sitting at 61 in RPI.

Scott Sutton is a good coach, he’ll have his team ready.  By the way when I started this I was mixing his name up with Sean Sutton…absolutely the wrong person to mix him up with.  Scott Sutton is rumored for a job at a bigger conference school every year and it never happens.  When ORU Athletic Director is contacted for a reference I find myself wondering if it’s like on The Office when Will Ferrell is giving Ed Helms a reference but is constantly referring to him as completely average.  If you want someone to go above and beyond, then yes, he’s probably not your guy.  Though if you want someone, who will do just enough to keep you happy, then yes Andy Bernard is the guy for you.

Oral Roberts is led by possibly the toughest 1-2 punch at the wing position in the Summit with junior wings Korey Billbury and Obi Emegano who lead the team in scoring and in rebounding.  Again not much size to this team with only 3 players at 6’7″ or taller, but Oral Roberts has a good history in the Summit.

5. Omaha  6-6  RPI:  309

So clearly a blog called “Omavs Blog” is going to have more details on the Omaha Mavericks, but I’ll try to not talk about it too much because much of it has already been talked about.  We thought the win over Marquette was the biggest non conference win by a Summit League team, and it’s the biggest name that a Summit League team beat, but Oral Roberts has the best RPI win with their win over Tulsa.  Omaha also has the worst loss to Chicago State, and in my completely bias opinion, the Mavericks would’ve won that game with Devin Patterson and Jake White in the lineup.  They’re both incredibly important to the team.

If the Mavs continue to have injury problems, they will not finish in the top half of the league, but that’s true with anyone really.  There are still a lot of new faces for the Mavs and trying to figure out a rotation with Jake White and now Devin Patterson out of the lineup has created some issues of getting into a flow with the Mavericks.  The Mavs have size and balance on their roster for the first time, they just need to get it all out on the court for once for a few consecutive games.  The biggest problem for the Mavs is turnovers, too many damn turnovers.

6. North Dakota State  8-5  RPI:  232

Yeah I went there.  I like North Dakota State, so it’s incredibly sad that I’m not entirely sold on them.  They lost a lot from their conference championship team last year.  Yes, they have the best player in the conference, Lawrence Alexander, and A.J. Jacobson is right up there with Tre’Shawn Thurman as contenders for Freshman of the Year, but they are quite young with only 3 upper classmen and have a new (but good) coach.  They don’t shoot all that well as a team at 40%, but they only turn the ball over 10 times a game.  NDSU also is quite big, their shortest player is only 6’2″.

There isn’t really a win that sticks out for the Bison as far as anything that should be shocking.  The Bison are another team that win the games they are supposed to win.  They did start the year out rough on the road against Texas and Iowa, losing both games by 30 plus.  The Mavs are 0-4 against North Dakota State since joining the Summit League, but could this be the year Omaha picks up a win against the Bison, or at least not get embarrassed?

7.  South Dakota  6-8  RPI:  284

Yes, I went there again.  Several people were down on the Coyotes before the season started, with good reason, but 6-8 in non conference for South Dakota is far above anyone’s expectations.  UNO beating Marquette was a big surprise for everyone, but South Dakota taking Creighton to two overtimes and only losing by 3?  That’s the biggest surprise in the Summit League in my opinion.

It’s been kind of a running theme that many of the teams around the conference are pretty young, but everyone in South Dakota’s rotation is a junior or senior, and they can shoot.  I probably sound like I am in love with experience or something, but in a conference like the Summit League, experience matters.  There was always that high school team that was never really had that great of a roster, but they were loaded with seniors, and those teams can surprise someone from time to time for an upset.

Has anyone noticed that 6’3″ Tyler Larson is averaging 16 points per game and 8 rebounds per game?  He’s also leading his team in assists with 3.6 per game.  Any team in the Summit would kill for that production.

8.  Western Illinois  5-6  RPI:  323

Garret Covington is a great player, but there is not much else going on with the Leathernecks.  As a team they only shoot 32% on threes, and 40% from the floor.  Ouch.  They have 5 wins, but two of them are against Anderson and Greenville, you probably haven’t heard of them… Another two of their wins were only by three points at home.

Junior College transfer JC Fuller has shown some promise and is starting to show some consistency scoring in double figures in their last 4 non conference games.  Fuller, to some extent, had some interest from Omaha.

9.  IUPUI  4-10  RPI:  293

Honestly, I’m surprised the Jaguars have four wins.  They don’t score many points, in fact, their leading scorer Marcellus Barksdale only averages 8.4 points per game.  They also don’t rebound that well, or shoot that well at 40% from the field.  Let’s just say this isn’t going to be their year.

But looking ahead, they have a brand new arena, and have you seen the dorms at IUPUI?  It’s like living in a 5 star hotel.  Matt O’Leary, Nick Osborne, Darell Combs, and Jordan Pickett are all sitting out due to transfer, and they’re all guys that would help this team out this year.  When you have a pretty young roster getting playing time and learning to play together, and then the next year you throw in some guys that have played and sat out a year to basically practice, you’re going to improve quickly when those transfer players get eligible next season.

All Summit League First Team

C  Steve Forbes  SR  IPFW

F  Cody Larson  SR  South Dakota State

G  Tyler Larson  SR  South Dakota

G  Lawrence Alexander  SR  North Dakota State

G  Devin Patterson  JR  Omaha

All Summit League Second Team  (Alphabetical Order)

G  Korey Billbury  JR  Oral Roberts

G  CJ Carter  SR  Omaha

G  Garret Covington  SO  Western Illinois

G  Obi Emegano  JR  Oral Roberts

G  Cam Griffin  SR  Denver

All Freshmen Team

G  Aaron Brennan  IUPUI

F  A.J. Jacobson  North Dakota State

G  Paul Miller  North Dakota State

G  Reed Tellinghuisen  South Dakota State

F  Tre’Shawn Thurman  Omaha