The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Does anyone know why Vishe Rabb left the women's team (which is off the pretty nice start, by the way)? I just found out yesterday that she transferred to Alaska-Anchorage.

[laker]

Shows how hard it is going from high school to the NSIC, even if you were a MN. Mr. BB candidate. Hope those guys stay and get better.

I remember when freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity in college. For a lot of players, it was a good time of transition. For others, they were ready to play right away.

[MrAugustana]

I hate singling out college athletes, so, of course, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I wonder if we're not seeing Division 2 and the NSIC catching up to Ryan Miller.

He was a stud at NAIA Grand View and no doubt has talent. But after a more than respectable start to the season, he has hit a rough patch. In the five conference games so far, Miller is shooting 27 percent from the field (17 of 62). My sources tell me that's not optimal.

I've also seen on more than a couple of occasions opposing coaches try to take advantage of his size, having a larger guard back him down in the paint.

Perhaps he could better be used as a spark off the bench, sort of how Tanner Oedgaard was used during the glory years.

This is Augieholic's area of expertise, not mine, but I will mention that both Jeff Fylling and the coaching staff have praised Miller's defense on the pre- and post-game radio shows, specifically in regard to guarding key scorers on opposing teams. Obviously he had a tough time with Cartwright, but if I heard correctly, he was key in holding Malik Willingham to 14 points on 5-16 shooting in the Mankato win and I believe holding Nate Mohr for Wayne (averaging 15 a game) to 6 points. But it's possible he was guarding Eagins, who averages 12 and only scored 4 against us.

Obviously 27% is less than stellar when he shot 36% from three at Grandview, but from the eye test he seems to be our best on-ball defender from what I can tell. He's also fairly tough/tenacious when it comes for attacking for rebounds, loose balls, etc. I think toughness and grit are invaluable for a team like this that isn't going to win games purely on talent...especially not until they grow and develop more and better understand the offensive flow and defensive schemes.

Also, according to the current stats, he's shooting 36% from the field (43-119) and 31% from three (15-49), so I'm not sure where you were seeing the 27%. Regardless, those numbers still aren't ideal, but not the worst by far. For comparison's sake, Fink is/was only shooting 23% from three (8-35) and 29% from the field (24-82). Some of that could likely be the knee injury, but it's not as if Miller is hurting us any worse than most of the other players on the team—which is a different conversation, because it would be great if the whole team could actually shoot it better all around. Zac Johnson is only shooting 32% from three (9-28) and is shooting better from the field overall (45% on 27-60 shooting), but not much better from deep.

The only players I'd contend are shooting really well are Akoi and Rensch, who are both at/above 50% from three and from the field.

All in all, I personally think it would not be super helpful to relegate Miller to more of a Tanner Odegaard role, particularly from a defensive perspective. Johnson and Rensch aren't ready to hold opposing teams' scorers to lower scores and lower shooting percentages yet, and with our inability to make baskets at times, having weaker defenders out there is probably going to hurt more than help.

At the same time, Augieholic may jump in here and say, "You're absolutely right, Blue Ridge Viking..." and I'd likely defer to him.

Also, I will be curious to see how the Christmas break does/doesn't impact guys as far as getting a chance to rest and recover from injuries. You never know who has lingering issues from rolled ankles, knee tweaks, etc.

[Augieholic]

Ryan Miller had an awful weekend shooting the ball, going 4-25 FG and 1-12 3pt, He also missed a free throw late in the game Saturday that was exceedingly pivotal. It was easily his worst offensive weekend as a Viking. Maybe the he was sorting through his feelings about the , maybe he was not 100%, maybe simple spewing incoherent nonsense about the SCSU program distracted him, who can say?

Having said that he has been arguably the best defender for Augie this season and as mentioned earlier usually does this against the opposing teams best guard. They don't beat Mankato on Friday without the work Ryan did defensively. Sure, Cartwright had a game against him but most of those shots were well defended and we know better than anyone what Matt can do when he's dialed in.

This whole season to me is about being competitive and seeing who can be part of a tournament rotation in the next three seasons. Miller is a critical competitive cog and his former HS teammate Jake Hilmer coming to town this weekend may be the thing that kicks his shooting back into gear.

[Augieholic]

What a gloriously entertaining win tonight for Augie. Isaac Fink was back and looked like the guy we saw last season. Graves continues to figure out the D2 game and couldn't be stopped in OT when he started to dribble drive. Akoi Akoi was continues to flourish and took advantage of his size all night. Ryan Miller bounced back from a brutal stretch last weekend in a big way. He played a huge part in driving down Hilmer's shooting percentage, but Jake still did his thing dishing it to the open teammate, and his first half offense was electric.

I didnt think this team could win this type of game but I'm happy to be wrong. Tomorrow will likely look very different given the opponent but hopefully Augie can win consecutive conference games for the first time all season.

[MrAugustana]

Fun to see so many guys step up in last night's win. Upper Iowa always plays us so tough, and after dropping one to Concordia last weekend, I did not have the highest hopes for this UIU game.

Great team effort. I was encouraged by Sam Rensch's continued development. He wasn't necessarily the most heralded recruit of Augie's 2022 class, but he seems to keep getting better with each game and has a tendency to hit big/tough shots when we need them.

Last weekend we had a big win, then came out and laid an egg the next night. Hopefully we don't do the same this afternoon and the Vikes come out locked in and ready to go against the Warriors.

We've shown we can win games when we play well. Now we need to play well with consistency instead of it being a roll of the dice on whether or not we're clicking or misfiring.

[Stanger86]

I thought I'd let everyone know that AJ Plitzuweit is leading USD in scoring this season

[MrAugustana]

I thought I'd let everyone know that AJ Plitzuweit is leading USD in scoring this season

Thanks bro.

[vikingfaithful]

I thought I'd let everyone know that AJ Plitzuweit is leading USD in scoring this season

I'm long over the dude. He has spent the vast majority of his 6 year career injured and probably would have transferred anyway despite his excuse for leaving Augustana. Schaefer and Cartwright bothered me more.

[MrAugustana]

Congrats to incoming Viking Brayson Laube on being named the KCRG Athlete of the Week: https://www.kcrg.com/video/2023/01/0...brayson-laube/

Also congrats to incoming big man Caden Kirkman for notching his first career triple double:

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[MrAugustana]

Also, here's a quick highlight video of incoming guard Arhman Lewis from a recent tournament where he was the game MVP in a win:

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[vikingfaithful]

I'm curious what other Viking fans think what is holding back the Viks from being more competitive? IMO Brady Helgren needs to become more assertive with his size and shooting ability.

[DapperDan]

I'm curious what other Viking fans think what is holding back the Viks from being more competitive? IMO Brady Helgren needs to become more assertive with his size and shooting ability.

Not a Viking fan but will weigh in anyway. They aren’t that good.

[Augieholic]

I'm curious what other Viking fans think what is holding back the Viks from being more competitive? IMO Brady Helgren needs to become more assertive with his size and shooting ability.

Short story: they have the worst FG% in NSIC games, they give up way more free throws than they attempt, and the defense can't be sustained for 40 minutes due to youth

Longer story:

DapperDan isn't wrong. The talent level, especially on offense, has been inconsistent at best. They have four guys with the ability to score in double digits each night - Fink, Graves, Miller, and Akoi - and the offense is dependent on making a healthy clip of contested jump shots. Those contested jump shots, many of which fell last year when a healthier Fink or LeBrun or Bryan were taking them are not falling this season, especially over the last few weeks. Fink was clearly not himself the first 6 weeks of the season but he's starting to look better. Graves can carry a team when he gets cooking. Miller has been extremely reliable the last few weeks which has offset Akoi's funk after a scorching start.

The young bigs have not developed as quickly as this team needed. Hinker is starting to show signs of growth and I did like Billeter putting him in the starting lineup this past weekend. Helgren is brutally slow and has a weak lower body so when he does catch a post up or get an offensive rebound it is difficult for him to put a productive move towards the hoop. Loge has been a non-factor which I think is the biggest surprise based on preseason hype. Unfortunately that happens.

I'm sure Tom is brutally stuck between trying to compete each night and just turning the underclassmen loose to see who can survive. That's probably why we haven't seen more of Sam Rensch, I think he's shown some promise on both ends as a wing who could be a starter in the next few years. Hopefully he gets more tick in the next few weeks to prove me right or wrong.

The Minot and Winona losses at home were killers for their faint NSIC Tourney hopes. This was always going to be a transition year and a .500ish record with the right amount of growth from the underclassmen could be a productive season and is mathematically still attainable.

[vikingfaithful]

An excellent assessment of the state of AU BB. Hopefully the freshmen start to grow in abilities and Fink finds his groove as his ankle gets stronger. Will miss Ryan Miller 1 year on the team, much like Mike Busack in 16,17. Tiedman and Otto have logged more minutes than Tom expected I believe.

On a side note Caden Hinker is having his own skills camp in Mitchell in July. Have to give the man credit for confidence. Only $40 to learn from one of the greatest Kernels ever.
Caden Hinker (@CadenHinker) / Twitter