The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Is this game going into overtime?

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Now I'm not getting either. Did someone pull the plug?

Wayne up 77-73 with 4:10 to go.

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Might be a service to Augie fans if it's not.

Now I'm not getting either. Did someone pull the plug?

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Is this video not working? I did get live stats.

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/n...reamType=video

Might be a service to Augie fans if it's not.

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Is this video not working? I did get live stats.

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/n...reamType=video

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Augie leads Wayne by 4 at the half. Male Jordan Spencer's 11pts-4ast lead 10 Vikings who have scored while Cornelius and something called a Luke TerHark have spearheaded the 'Cat attack.

Fun fact: Augie shot 8-14 from the 3 point line and the FT line in that half.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Just stumbled across these comments from Coach K after the Augie/Duke game. Very complimentary of the Vikes and Augie as a program overall, as well as Jordan Spencer specifically and the graduated trio of Jansen/Schilling/Richter. (Comments about the Vikes start around the 6:15 mark or so.)

http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/pl...bml?id=5739258

Also, he has a pretty funny reaction to the question that follows his comments about Augie.

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Mr Mr: YES!

A post that would make Leo Tolstoy proud! You are already at midseason form. Heck, maybe even post season! This will give me a lot to chew on as I am stuck inside due to the storm.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Some thoughts on last night's game against NWMSU;

Bad:
1) Our first half was horrendous. Not taking away from NWMSU--they're #6 for a reason, and most likely will continue to climb higher than that--but we looked more discombobulated than we have in the past 3-4 years in that first half. As I noted last night, we had guys just throwing passes directly into various Bearcats' hands...people were jacking up bad 3s and missing fairly easy layups, etc. We just didn't look solid in any aspect of the game.

2) We couldn't ever get that key stop. Every time we'd cut the lead closer, we'd give up a wide open 3 (or two wide open 3s...or three wide open 3s...) and they'd bust the lead back open again. Even when we had it down to 10 in the final 3 minutes--not ideal, but still salvageable at that point--we immediately gave up either one or two 3s to let NWMSU seal it.

3) Our shooting isn't awful, but it's weird not having the feeling that we're going to make nearly everything, which is how last year felt sometimes. Instead of expecting to make an open 3, I'm relieved when we make it. We still shot 38% from 3 last night, but I would love to see that number get back up to the 43-44% we were shooting last year.

4) Probably other stuff I'm forgetting/overlooking.

Good:
1) Our second half was noticeably better. If we hadn't gone into halftime down by 24 courtesy of our abysmal first half, it might've been a fun game. I'm glad the guys could recover a bit of their dignity and come out playing a stronger game in the 2nd half. It wasn't enough, but it was at least a spark of life that I was afraid wasn't going to show up for the entire game.

2) We did just lose to the #6 team in the country by a total of 11 points. Sure, it could've been closer, but most teams in our conference would be quite pleased if they kept within 11 of NWMSU, regardless of how the game could have gone. NWMSU is playing with a roster that is comfortable and familiar with each other--the Vikes are incorporating several new faces, both with Busack and with our various freshmen and even our guys who didn't get many high-quality minutes last year while Jansen/Richter/Schilling (Augieholic--can we get a good nickname for that trio so I don't have to keep typing out all three of their names?) were doing damage. If we are clicking a little bit better as the season goes on, I could see this game being a lot closer, especially if our shooting gets a little bit better throughout the year. At least, I hope it will be closer if we cross paths with NWMSU again. Would be fun to knock them out of the Regional again. :)

3) Jordan Spencer continues to elevate his game scoring-wise, which we will desperately need him to do. 24 points on 10-17 shooting with 4 assists (unfortunately, 5 turnovers) is the kind of statline we'll need to see from him. I obviously wouldn't mind a 24 point game with 7 or 8 assists to 2-3 turnovers, but it's probably going to come in bits and pieces. He's a kid who hasn't been expected to score until this season, and that's not always a smooth adjustment. But I liked his shot selection and his confidence. Could be fun to see him turn into a 16-18 ppg type of player for the next couple of years.

4) Lucas Walford continues to impress with each outing. From what I had gathered reading online and talking to some friends who are plugged into Minnesota HS basketball, I was expecting him to see limited minutes and possibly even redshirt. Instead, he's starting to look like one of our best inside options. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if he started getting even more minutes sooner than later. Plus, I think he's averaging a dunk per game right now, which is astounding by Augustana University Men's Basketball standards.

5) It's one loss. Against a really good team. It's not like this game will decide whether or not we make the Regional or something. There's plenty of time for make up for this one if the guys focus and keep getting better.

Neutral:
1) As I mentioned in the game thread, it's weird to go into a game not expecting to win. I would've loved a victory last night, but I knew it was a relatively unfair expectation. That hasn't been the case for nearly a full season and a half. To me, that shows how impressive our program has been for two years now and I'm hopeful we'll be back at that point in another year or two.

2) The NWMSU broadcast crew was excellent. Pronounced names right, stayed reasonably neutral (they were more knowledgeable about the Bearcats, which is expected, but managed not to lean as heavily toward them as other broadcast teams can tend to do) and ultimately were very complimentary of the Vikes and our program as a whole. I appreciated their broadcast. Only thing I'd suggest is a timer on the screen somewhere rather than just the score indicator in the corner, but that's a minor detail...and I probably won't be watching many more NWMSU broadcasts moving forward, so it really doesn't apply much to me anyway. Just a thought.

3) Saw multiple Maryville news outlets reporting that the Bearcats' gym was filled to capacity or near-capacity and the crowd was feverish with excitement to take us on. I'm glad to hear our program has reached a point where we inspire that kind of fan excitement in our opponents. Similar thing happened up in Moorhead last year when Moorhead tried to pack the house last year, as well as up in Aberdeen, where Northern had their biggest crowd (was it that it was the biggest crowd for a single D2 game in the country last year?...something like that, I feel like) for their matchup with us. Kind of a cool thing to know our program has reached that status in the eyes of opposing fans and teams.

All in all, I would've loved a Viking win last night, but it definitely wasn't something I expected against a team like Northwest and a player like Pitts. A better first half effort would have been great, but, based on some of Coach Billeter's comments after the game, it sounds like the Vikes will be...working on those things. At one point Fylling asked something along the lines of how you do more to prepare for a game like this in the future and Coach Billeter responded with something like, "Practicing harder...practicing so hard we're puking..." So I'm guessing the Vikes will be working on some things in the coming weeks to prepare for conference play and hopefully ensure we don't come out flat in those games.

Could've been worse for sure. On to the Wildcats of Wayne on Monday. Based on how they played against SDSU Wednesday night, I hope our guys don't underestimate them. Unless SDSU is just really, really bad this year, Wayne's new coach might have them on a better track than they've been the past few seasons. Hope the Vikes are ready.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

This is interesting: http://goaugie.com/news/2016/11/17/m...watchespn.aspx

Augustana basketball doubleheader against Northern State on Jan. 14 to air on ESPN3/WatchESPN

Here's to hoping the Vikes can get the Wolves back for last year's fiasco up in Aberdeen.

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Anyone know what happened to Ben Weisbeck and Will Hoiseth? They aren't on the roster anymore.

I believe they both wanted more playing time than they were likely to get.

[Ole.]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Anyone know what happened to Ben Weisbeck and Will Hoiseth? They aren't on the roster anymore.

[Stanger86]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

And Jameson probably has a good 5-6 inches on Vinard, so that's extra encouraging. ;)

All jokes aside, that little bowling ball of a human was a thorn in Augie's side way too many times. Hopefully Jameson can be a similar thorn to other NSIC teams. But Birch was a pretty special player. One of only a few guys in our conference over the past several seasons where I would consistently think, I would really, really prefer to see him in an Augie jersey.

Yes he was!

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Vinard Birch came out of Eastview HS, if you want an example of the type of PG that program can produce.

And Jameson probably has a good 5-6 inches on Vinard, so that's extra encouraging. ;)

All jokes aside, that little bowling ball of a human was a thorn in Augie's side way too many times. Hopefully Jameson can be a similar thorn to other NSIC teams. But Birch was a pretty special player. One of only a few guys in our conference over the past several seasons where I would consistently think, I would really, really prefer to see him in an Augie jersey.

[Stanger86]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

One quote I found interesting:



I didn't realize it, but his conference includes Eden Prairie, Lakeview North/South, Apple Valley, Shakopee, and a few other very solid schools. He's somewhat small and doesn't have the high offensive numbers that incoming Augie recruits typically put up, but anyone who has started at point guard in a conference with Apple Valley, Lakeville North/South, etc. for four straight years will have to have put together some pretty good experience by the time he graduates.

Vinard Birch came out of Eastview HS, if you want an example of the type of PG that program can produce.