The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Augie is 3-0, so this may be nitpicking. But the Vikings are getting nothing off the bench.

With the exception of Bennett Otto, these guys look afraid to shoot. I guess that's what the non-conference season is for -- give them some confidence in live action.

[NSU4LIFE]

Augie is 3-0, so this may be nitpicking. But the Vikings are getting nothing off the bench.

With the exception of Bennett Otto, these guys look afraid to shoot. I guess that's what the non-conference season is for -- give them some confidence in live action.

The good news is, they should win by around 40 today

[Augieholic]

Augie is 3-0, so this may be nitpicking. But the Vikings are getting nothing off the bench.

With the exception of Bennett Otto, these guys look afraid to shoot. I guess that's what the non-conference season is for -- give them some confidence in live action.

Definitely something to monitor as the season progresses. The other issue is the lack of dribble drive capabilities on the offensive end. Besides that this team is playing like the old men they are, fundamentally sound, dominating the glass, and rarely beating themselves.

[Augieholic]

I really like my first looks at Akoi Akoi. Extremely solid defensively for a freshmen and can guard a lot of different players. Keeps the offense moving with and without the ball. The FT stroke looks good, he even shot two tech FTs, so I would assume the outside shots will fall.

[Augieholic]

The offensive deficiencies of this Augie team given their talent level are astounding. The ball gets sticky, the off ball movement grinds to a halt, and hardly anyone can make a jump shot or beat their man off the dribble to create an open shot for someone else. Tom is gonna need to dig deep into the bag to fix this one.

[vikingfaithful]

Vikings have the 3-point flu resulting in 0-10 from behind the arc. Doane quite tall for an NAIA team.

[Augieholic]

Augie beats Doane by 10 after being down 10 at half. Second half was much better than the first. Alex Distras provided a nice boost of life to the offense.

[MrAugustana]

First half last night against Doane was rough. Hopefully we start better tonight against Grand View. Would love to see us actually get up big and give some of these bench guys who haven't gotten a lot of minutes a chance to get in and start showing they deserve more PT. We can't rely on our starters and 1-2 bench guys this entire season, especially with how tough the NSIC has been looking in these non-conference match-ups.

[vikingfaithful]

Coach Billeter was happy with improved shooting of team and overall effort of squad. Don't feel bad about AU victory over Doane by 10 points after seeing they beat Wayne 76-72. Another double-double for Tyler, nice win for Augustana,

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Bold prediction: Zac Johnson will be no worse than the team's second-leading scorer next year. I think he'll give Isaac Fink a run for his money. The kid can flat out shoot.

[MrAugustana]

Bold prediction: Zac Johnson will be no worse than the team's second-leading scorer next year. I think he'll give Isaac Fink a run for his money. The kid can flat out shoot.

Bold based on the limited sample size, but I won't complain if it's accurate. Curious to see what he looks like in extended minutes. Coach Billeter said on Friday night after the Doane game that some guys (like Alex Distras) were working their way into more playing time with their performance in some of these non-conference games, so hopefully Johnson continues to do the same. If he continues to come in and shoot that confidently, he'll have to be out on the floor. It would be huge to have some consistent offensive threats off the bench as the season goes on.

[Augieholic]

Bold prediction: Zac Johnson will be no worse than the team's second-leading scorer next year. I think he'll give Isaac Fink a run for his money. The kid can flat out shoot.

I love it. It takes a special skill to sit on the bench of 35+ minutes then come in and make an immediate play. He's done it twice in recent games. Obviously this Augie team struggles to score and Zac sticks out as someone that knows exactly how and when to attack. Plus it always seems to take teams a possession or two to adjust to lefty guards no matter how hard they prepare

Distras has to keep getting minutes as long as he's not a catastrophe on defense. He brings a pace to the offense that Jamo just can't replicate.

No matter what this game vs USF on Thursday is going to be hideous. Two teams that can't score throwing rocks combined with the heightened emotions of Cartwright vs Augie.....can't wait.

[vikingfaithful]

Nice having bench players provide 31 of 91 points. Akoi Akoi is showing much potential as is Alex Distras. Veron Eze can quickly slash his way to the basket. Zac Johnson has a big upside; we know he can shoot as with the rest of these young men their defensive play will have to mature. Too bad big man Angelo Winkel is injured.

[crixus]

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[MrAugustana]

Coach Billeter was on ESPN radio the other day. Apparently he's more forgiving of Matt Cartwright than I am. Shared some positive words about Matt as well as some thoughts on this year's team, how the season is going, etc. Pretty fun interview, as is typically the case when Tom's on ESPN with Jeff Thurn.

https://espnsiouxfalls.com/podcast/p...yertype=player