The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

A painful loss for sure, not just because of his BB skills as he is a quality young man as well. Generally when one door closes another opens, Augustana has a great group returning and highly touted recruits coming in. Maybe a surprise transfer coming AU way.

Augustana will still be very good next year as long as this doesn’t make another player or two decide to follow him down the transfer hole.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Augustana will still be very good next year as long as this doesn’t make another player or two decide to follow him down the transfer hole.

On the one hand, this is probably still true. Unless one or two more leave, the Vikes have a chance to still be pretty respectable next season.

The bigger bummer in my opinion is the fact that every Freshman of the Year under Billeter's tenure has gone on to break one of two major records in his time at Augie.

-Cody Schilling was Freshman of the Year and broke the career scoring record at Augie.

-Cameron McCaffrey was Freshman of the Year the next season and broke Cody's freshly-broken record.

-Dan Jansen was Freshman of the Year and obviously broke both of their scoring records.

-Jordan Spencer was Freshman of the Year and shattered Augie's career assists record (and is still fairly high up on the scoring record list, I believe).

Now, statistically, when you compare them to Plitzuweit as a freshman, he basically beats all of them:

Schilling's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, just under 2.0 assists per game in 817 minutes played.

McCaffrey's freshman stats: 12.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 assists per game in 623 minutes played (which is really impressive...and he only started 1 game)

Dan Jansen's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 assist per game in 756 minutes played

Jordan Spencer's freshman stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.3 assists per game in 1,003 minutes played (lots of minutes for a freshman...but he was a redshirt freshman at least)

AJ Plitzuweit's freshman stats: 14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.16 assists per game in 789 minutes played

Obviously there are a thousand factors that impact a player's career. He could've had a career-ending injury jumping on a trampoline this summer or something. But in terms of the on-paper trajectory of Plitzuweit's career at Augie, he was statistically on path to break the career scoring record and probably finish pretty high on the career assists record as well. And instead of seeing that potential realized with an outstanding career as a Viking, Augie fans will have to regularly see his name in the paper for 3+ years at a school most of us hate or at least strongly dislike.

So yes, we do still have talented players on our roster and for all I know we may get an amazing transfer or something who comes in and immediately replicates Plitzuweit's numbers, but as a fan who was clearly excited about what the next few years have in store for Augie, it's the lost potential of Plitzuweit's full career as a Viking that really stings right now as much as the impact it will have on next season alone.

And if it does influence any other players to consider leaving, it definitely will be even more disappointing. My hope is that the fact that he was going back to his hometown, having his mom coaching at USD, etc. makes it more of a unique situation than just a kid who wants to go D1 and is scared of the D2 to D1 transition.

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Augustana will still be very good next year as long as this doesn’t make another player or two decide to follow him down the transfer hole.

Im sure Tom is deep in the transfer portal game and he'll find someone we can use to try and make us forget the hurt.

My largest concerns going forward are two fold:
-AJ was literally the only above average dribble drive creator on the roster. He was the only one who could puncture a defense to open up space for the multitude of knock down shooters on the roster. Without him the offense had a tendency to stagnate and revolve around contested jumpers.
-Perimeter defense was a HUGE issue for Augie last year and contributed heavily to their first round demise at the hands of Crookston. AJ wasnt a lock down defender by any stretch but he had multiple moments where you saw the potential of someone capable of executing the game plan in a more than adequate way. Now he'll be replaced with someone new to the system (obviously this applies offensively as well) and while they may have better, equal, or worse athletic qualities the lack of system familiarity will take time to overcome.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

On the one hand, this is probably still true. Unless one or two more leave, the Vikes have a chance to still be pretty respectable next season.

The bigger bummer in my opinion is the fact that every Freshman of the Year under Billeter's tenure has gone on to break one of two major records in his time at Augie.

-Cody Schilling was Freshman of the Year and broke the career scoring record at Augie.

-Cameron McCaffrey was Freshman of the Year the next season and broke Cody's freshly-broken record.

-Dan Jansen was Freshman of the Year and obviously broke both of their scoring records.

-Jordan Spencer was Freshman of the Year and shattered Augie's career assists record (and is still fairly high up on the scoring record list, I believe).

Now, statistically, when you compare them to Plitzuweit as a freshman, he basically beats all of them:

Schilling's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, just under 2.0 assists per game in 817 minutes played.

McCaffrey's freshman stats: 12.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 assists per game in 623 minutes played (which is really impressive...and he only started 1 game)

Dan Jansen's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 assist per game in 756 minutes played

Jordan Spencer's freshman stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.3 assists per game in 1,003 minutes played (lots of minutes for a freshman...but he was a redshirt freshman at least)

AJ Plitzuweit's freshman stats: 14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.16 assists per game in 789 minutes played

Obviously there are a thousand factors that impact a player's career. He could've had a career-ending injury jumping on a trampoline this summer or something. But in terms of the on-paper trajectory of Plitzuweit's career at Augie, he was statistically on path to break the career scoring record and probably finish pretty high on the career assists record as well. And instead of seeing that potential realized with an outstanding career as a Viking, Augie fans will have to regularly see his name in the paper for 3+ years at a school most of us hate or at least strongly dislike.

So yes, we do still have talented players on our roster and for all I know we may get an amazing transfer or something who comes in and immediately replicates Plitzuweit's numbers, but as a fan who was clearly excited about what the next few years have in store for Augie, it's the lost potential of Plitzuweit's full career as a Viking that really stings right now as much as the impact it will have on next season alone.

And if it does influence any other players to consider leaving, it definitely will be even more disappointing. My hope is that the fact that he was going back to his hometown, having his mom coaching at USD, etc. makes it more of a unique situation than just a kid who wants to go D1 and is scared of the D2 to D1 transition.

Freshman of year still bit of a sore spot with this Moorhead fan as thought Baumgartner was just as deserving. I think Fink can definitely come in next year and pick up some of the offensive loss for Augie.

[Ole.]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

I hope they look at Josiah Strong from Brooklyn Park, MN.He played PG at Navy last year and will be transferring after his freshmen year.

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Im sure Tom is deep in the transfer portal game and he'll find someone we can use to try and make us forget the hurt.

My largest concerns going forward are two fold:
-AJ was literally the only above average dribble drive creator on the roster. He was the only one who could puncture a defense to open up space for the multitude of knock down shooters on the roster. Without him the offense had a tendency to stagnate and revolve around contested jumpers.
-Perimeter defense was a HUGE issue for Augie last year and contributed heavily to their first round demise at the hands of Crookston. AJ wasnt a lock down defender by any stretch but he had multiple moments where you saw the potential of someone capable of executing the game plan in a more than adequate way. Now he'll be replaced with someone new to the system (obviously this applies offensively as well) and while they may have better, equal, or worse athletic qualities the lack of system familiarity will take time to overcome.

Always enjoy your analysis as I do not have a high basketball IQ.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

I hope they look at Josiah Strong from Brooklyn Park, MN.He played PG at Navy last year and will be transferring after his freshmen year.

We need Tyler Riemersma (a fellow Navy transferee) and Bennett Otto (a fellow Champlin Park alum) to put the full-court recruiting press on Strong to lure him to Augie.

Seriously, he looks like a suitable replacement for A.J. Plitzuweit, who the more I think about it could have been at the top of a lot of all-time Augie record books had he stayed.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

We need Tyler Riemersma (a fellow Navy transferee) and Bennett Otto (a fellow Champlin Park alum) to put the full-court recruiting press on Strong to lure him to Augie.

Seriously, he looks like a suitable replacement for A.J. Plitzuweit, who the more I think about it could have been at the top of a lot of all-time Augie record books had he stayed.

Looks like we are going in a different direction for Plitzuweit's replacement: https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanJames...50120896827392

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest.

At least you have taken the first step.

Step 1 of 12: We admitted we were powerless over Augieholism—that our lives had become unmanageable.

[Kiss My Ass]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

At least you have taken the first step.

Step 1 of 12: We admitted we were powerless over Augieholism—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Are basketball equines (Muleaholics) allowed to join your 12 step group? I can also bring a couple of friends.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Looks like we are going in a different direction for Plitzuweit's replacement: https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanJames...50120896827392

Makes sense for auggie...good player...can be a little too flashy at times, but is definitely a skilled pg. tough loss for scsu as he is kinda the home town kid they wanted and couldn’t get.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Makes sense for auggie...good player...can be a little too flashy at times, but is definitely a skilled pg. tough loss for scsu as he is kinda the home town kid they wanted and couldn’t get.

Honestly, sometimes we could probably use a little more flash. It's been a while since we annoyed opposing fans with flashiness (à la Yuriy Malashenko and the guns).

Which reminds me, I saw this tweet from Zimmer about a month ago and thought it was pretty solid (and accurate):

Just remembered how like 5-6 years ago Augie's Yuriy Malashenko started doing the '3' gesture with the fingers after hitting a 3 and everyone in the NSIC thought he should be thrown in jail. Now everyone does that on every 3.

— Matt Zimmer (@argusmattz) March 6, 2019

[Donkeydamus]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

At least you have taken the first step.

Step 1 of 12: We admitted we were powerless over Augieholism—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Are basketball equines (Muleaholics) allowed to join your 12 step group? I can also bring a couple of friends.

Sorry to horn-in on the Augie basketball thread. UCM basketball fans already have a 12 step recovery group (Donkeys Anonymous) to deal with our failed basketball program. In 2014, under coach Anderson, we were 30-5 and national champions. Since then, under coach "K" (klink), the Mules basketball program has hit the skids....we ain't worth a donkey crap. Our recovery group meets during the season at 5:00 PM on game day in the parking lot to throw back several shots of Mules Moonshine, so that we have the nerve to show our faces at the game.

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Are basketball equines (Muleaholics) allowed to join your 12 step group? I can also bring a couple of friends.

This is a non-dumbnominational group so all are welcome. I would also appreciate anyone with numerical abilities when we get to steps 11 and 12, since I have have a difficult time counting over 10 without taking off my shoes and socks.

Chocolate milk and cookies will be served. Limit of two.

[Husky]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Makes sense for auggie...good player...can be a little too flashy at times, but is definitely a skilled pg. tough loss for scsu as he is kinda the home town kid they wanted and couldn’t get.

If I remember right SCSU stopped recruiting him in high school as he stopped responding to us. Didnt get any d1 offers so he ended up at that JC.

Seen him play a number of times, liked him but like you said too much sometimes. Cant say I ever seen him shoot a very good % in a game but he didnt have much help at Monticello